The 3-Count Review: Monday Night RAW 27/08/12

A steady rating with generally bad content.


This is what RAW has been like since Summerslam. For some reason, it always feels as though WWE Creative take it easy after one of their "Big 4". Instead of truly capitalising up and down the card on the momentum gained from Summerslam, it feels as though WWE is in cruise control at the moment. Brock "retired"via a HORRID Tout last week instead of continually making a mark on WWE talent. AJ is back to being her crazy self instead of evolving her character. The Tag Champs are back fighting the Prime Time Players. Even The Miz, our IC Champion is back to jobbing!

Regardless of these facts, there were some things to like about RAW this week. Punk/Lawler stole the show (which wasn't too hard to do) and Kane gave us a snapshot of what WWE comedy used to be like. SO, without further ado, lets see what made Monday Night Raw tick this week.....

# 1: C.M Punk vs Jerry 'The King' Lawler - A throwback to the classics:

The only saving grace of this show was the segments involving CM Punk and Jerry " The King" Lawler. Thankfully, the segments involving these two pros were so great that there's no way you could flat out hate this show!

These two definitely had their work cut out for them this week. From the moment RAW started, it was obvious that around 80% of the audience were fully behind Punk (and his new Heelish haircut!) which made me worry. How were they going to effectively get across the point that Punk is now "the man in the black hat"? Ultimately, all it took was strong articulation and conviction from Punk as a flat-out bully and the ever-sympathetic aura of Lawler as a WWE Legend.

What made these segments so effective was their simplicity. Punk was the overbearing "Ive had enough" Heel that was pushing around a guy who, back in the day, was one of the greatest draws in North American Pro wrestling. What does the wily veteran do when bullied? He fights back. Punk's interaction with the WWE Hall of Famer was tremendous, playing off facts and twisting them ever so slightly to prove his point. "I'm sorry for the man you've become" was the line of the night by Punk.

This was counteracted by Lawler's mid-show Babyface promo accepting Punk's challenge for later that night. It seems as though every time Lawler gets into the ring and cuts a promo, you can't help but be drawn to every word/facial he gives to the audience. There is so much to sympathise/empathise with. Plus, there's no complexities to his motivation: he is a guy who has the credentials, and "has never backed down from a fight in his life". This promo got an amazing reaction from the live crowd, showing that all you need is conviction, logic and blunt motivation in your promos to connect with an audience.

While many frowned upon their main event cage match, i loved it. While it was slow in parts with very little action to speak of, the match felt like a classic "old school"battle between two heated rivals. CM Punk turned his "Heel-o-metre" to the max during this match, shouting out insults via singing as he beat the hell out of Lawler. In his mid 60's, Lawler can still keep up with the best WWE have to offer, pulling out all his trademark manuvers. In the end, the No. 1 Contender John Cena watched on helplessly as a re-born CM Punk beat Lawler down as he screamed "BEST IN THE WORLD" to the fallen WWE Legend. I've always been a fan of Heels/Babyfaces using verbal cues to further articulate their point of view and this match was no exception. As Cena screamed "You've gone too far!"i couldn't help but listen to the audience. Everyone was booing viciously. Punk and Lawler, by throwing it back to traditional roots, had achieved their goal: Take the beloved WWE Champion and turn him into a full-fledged Heel. Cena came off as a guy wanting revenge and Punk came off as a prick that needed to be taught a lesson in REAL respect. Great great stuff coming out of the main event angle of this weeks RAW!

# 2: Thanks for the memories Triple H?.....i think not!

Unfortunately, Punk vs Lawler was the only really good thing to come out of WWE's flagship show this week. While many would say I'm wrong in this regard, i didn't consider Triple H's "retirement"segment to be anywhere near the level of what Punk and Lawler achieved. Here's why.

WWE ticked all the right boxes leading up to this segment. They had several great video packages (especially the final package) covering the legendary career of one of WWE's best workers from the last 20 years. I have never shyed away from the quality WWE production brings to any project they are associated with. In this case, they maintained that reputation. My hat goes off to these people once again.

Then we finally got the "retirement"speech and things started going downhill from here. This isn't a knock on Triple H's delivery. It wasn't his absolute best, but it did what it needed to do. My criticisms come from knowing the product all too well. From that perspective, i found it VERY hard to engage with the true crux of the segment. In short, i didn't believe a word Triple H said this week on RAW.

It didn't help having this segment at 10pm with an hour of television remaining. If you wanted to get over the severity of this segment, why not have this promo at the end of the show? By airing the segment at this time in the show, it made it very hard to believe that Triple H - a guy who has done it all in this industry- was planing to officially retire on a random episode of Monday Night Raw, let alone during a completely random time slot!

More so, the last time Triple H had his arm broken by Lesnar, didn't he have a mechanical device attached to his shoulder so to put over the severity of the injury? And didn't Triple H loose his Summerslam match with Lesnar due to the animal breaking his arm AGAIN via the use of the Kamura over a dozen times? You would think having that submission hold on your arm that many times would mean that Triple H's injured limb would be back in the same contraption? Instead, he comes out in a shoulder cast under his shirt and seem to have very little problem moving it around. Attention to detail is important in these angles when you are trying to put over an injury as being the main motivation for leaving a profession. By paying attention to these elements, you put over the injury and, in turn, put over the guy who committed the injury.

All in all, there was no way i was believing Triple H was done with wrestling after last Monday's segment. Triple H tried to convey real emotions that would accompany a promo such as this, but it never sat right with me. If it was up to me, i would have Triple H retire and be done with Brock Lesnar, thus, freeing him up to wrestle new opponents going forward. However, if know the industry like i do, Lesnar vs Triple H 2 is on the horizon. Maybe even at next years Wrestlemania in New Jersey. In my mind and as fan who will be sitting in the 5th row next year at Wrestlemania, this is NOT a good idea. Lesnar/HHH at Summerslam was good, but not great. Its positive qualities stemmed from the freshness of the bout. Now that I've seen this match, i have no real urge to see them fight again, especially on another major stage. At this time, the rivalry between these two is nowhere near as hot as WWE thinks it is. Lesnar destroyed HHH clean with the Kamura like he should of. Let him fight someone new and use Lesnar's limited dates to build up to matches that fans in 2012 have never seen before. Lesnar vs Taker, Lesnar vs Rock and Lesnar vs Punk all have better drawing power than a match where evidently Triple H will get his win back over the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.

If this "heartwarming" promo leads to another match where Triple H embarrasses Lesnar like Cena did at Extreme Rules, i will look back on Triple H's "retirement" with even more distain.

# 3 "When things begin to suck, don't go out there and tell us!"

For almost an eternity, Vince McMahon has had a fascination with using WWE mouthpieces such as announcers and managers to express his inner-most thoughts on the directions of angles, segments and matches as they happen. It's only in the last year or so that he has began to express himself in more overt ways than before. This week on RAW, we were treated to one of the worst examples of this in a long time.

There is no doubt that there are "down times" during any pro-wrestling show: once a prominent segment (such as the Punk/Lawler promo) airs, it is smart to provide something that is less engaging. This gives audiences a chance to catch their breath and interact with a segment that is of lesser importance. Due to RAW going 3 hours now, there are more segments such as this airing on a regular basis be it Ryback squashing an opponent or a mid-card tag team match up. In theory, having more of these segments should mean that positive exposure levels on upcoming talent are increased. However, segments such as the Diva's match on RAW this past Monday are occasions when increased exposure surprisingly isn't such a good thing after all.

By the end of the 2nd hour, we were all privy to an example of Vince using Vickie Guerrero to express how much he dislikes the Diva's Division of the WWE. During a reasonably acceptable match between Divas Champion Layla and Natalya, Vickie stormed out and demanded the match finish soon as she had "something important to say". Sure, she got heat for this as she should of. However, WWE continued to focus on Vickie yawning and checking her wrist watch. All the while, Layla and Natalya, two of the best Divas in WWE, are attempting to pull off a match in hopes of entertaining the fans. To make matters even worse, the hard camera operator was told to keep Vickie in the centre of the shot. This meant that Layla and Natalya's match was pushed all the way to right of the frame! By the end of the match, just so that everyone knew the pecking order in WWE, Vickie the Heel told Layla the Babyface to "get out of the ring"....which she did without any hesitation!!!

I am a big advocate of never overtly disgracing anything on your TV show, no matter how bad it is aesthetically in the eyes of the fans. By doing so, you tell the fans watching "do not believe or spend time investing in these characters or the segments that they are in because they suck!!" Furthermore, fans watching via TV are encouraged to change the channel and watch something else. Having Vickie treat the division this way is SO DUMB on so many ways. If anything, it is ridiculously short-sighted: wouldn't you want to keep building up every facet of your company so that they remain relevant and, in turn, earn you more money in the long run!? Instead, Vince sees it to be more important to ridicule the work rate of a division on national television that to repackage/rebuild it.

Things like this really irritate me and remind me not to be surprised why WWE has only produced a handful of legitimate draws in the last 10 years. Please Vince, "When things begin to suck, don't go out there and tell us!"


Match Results Express:

• Ryback def Jack Swagger via pinfall (*) :

Yet another man who is involved with a loosing streak gimmick. Even though Ryback botched a Back Body Drop by landing Swagger right on his head (!!), I wonder why it wasn't Swagger working with Ryback for the last few weeks instead of Jinder Mahal. Swagger's a former World Champion and a MUCH better worker than Mahal. Regardless, a very short match for a 3 hour show. Nothing of importance here except fans are into chanting "Feed Me More".

• Diva's Champion Layla def Natalya via pinfall (*) :

Both ladies tried to get the fans into their work, but it was hard with Vickie out there telling everyone not to care. Layla attempted to dance with literally NO reaction from the crowd. Had an ok finish, but again, very hard to care. Disappointing from two of WWE's best divas.

• Non-Title Match - John Cena def Intercontinental Champion The Miz via pinfall (**) :

By the time Cena and Miz came out, i was dying for a good match. What we got was one of the better Miz/Cena bouts in a long time. However, i am convinced Miz/Cena lack good main event-calibre chemistry. Miz seemed to return to his boring old offence, using the running boot WAY too many times which diminished things a tad. The finish picked things up nicely until Cena hit his "5 moves of Doom" and pinned Miz clean after an AA. Considering i usually expect this move set to be reversed by the time Cena sets up for the AA, i was surprised how much of a geek Miz came off due to the finish. I understand that Cena needs a clean win going into Night of Champions. i just wish it wasn't The Miz: a guy who's just come off an impressive victory over former WWE-Champion Rey Mysterio at Summerslam. All in all, an acceptable, solid "Top of the Hour"bout.

• Santino Marrella def Heath Slater via pinfall (1/2*) :

Anytime you have a match involving childish/immature angle with a sock puppet infatuated with woman, it is hard to care about ANYTHING. There was so much to hate about this segment/match. Why have Slater talk about "getting back on track" via Tout, only to have him job to guy who was distracted during the finish!? Slater's time as a jobber needs to end soon. You telling me that Slater couldn't of won here for the hell of it?!

In regards to the Cobra's stroyline ill say this: there was only one man who pulled off a sock puppet gimmick in the WWE. That was Mick Foley as Mankind. Why did it work? Because Mankind was conveyed as an INSANE Babyface who kept Mr Socko within the realms of his character. This is why Mr Socko was successful as part of Mankind's persona. Santino Marella is joke, NOT INSANE. So, to have him try to convey that a sock puppet has feelings/a mind of its own is BEYOND believable, even for little kids. WWE, KILL THIS ANGLE NOW!!

• Sin Cara and Brodus Clay (w/ The Funka-dactiles) def Damien Sandow & Cody Rhodes via pinfall (*3/4)

An infuriating ad break meant that the start of this match was cut out which is ridiculous in terms of engaging with a pro-wrestling match. Regardless, i doubt i missed anything of value. Basic tag match that was fine when Rhodes and Cara were in, and was messy once Brodus was involved in the finish. That headbutt to Rhodes looked attrocious. Cara brought life into the match with a dive to the outside, but that was about it. Note to WWE: how is Damien Sandow a "martyr"? He hasn't done anything martyr-like since the DX angle at RAW 1000, nor has he brought up that tagline since! Another example of WWE rehashing all taglines/catchphrases that don't even describe the character anymore.

• WWE Tag Team Champion R-Truth (w/ Kofi Kingston) def Daniel Bryan via countout(*) :

By this time, i was getting tired of 2-3 minute matches on a 3 hour show. Even though this match featured Daniel Bryan, i remained disappointed and yearning for a lengthy wrestling contest. Match started off ok, but degenerated into an angle where the fans chanted "Yes" at Bryan. Truth's attempt to get the crowd to "Yes" was uninspired and it lead to Bryan, as always, chanting "No" into a fan's face. At this point, i am getting tired of this gimmick. Yes, i can imagine these chants would be fun at a live event (Hell, me and about 780000 other fans started these chants live at Wrestlemania back in April!). But as a fan watching it on TV, i can only get so excited. Nothing match and a nothing segment.

• World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus & Randy Orton def "Mr Money In the Bank" Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio (w/ Ricardo Rodrigues) (**3/4) :

A really fun tag match with 4 guys you can always count on. Before the match, i also loved Ziggler pre-match promo using Jericho's entrance to mock the departure of Y2J. THIS is what you do when a Heel sends a popular Babyface packing, NOT bitch about a stipulation that is almost 2 weeks old!

The heat on Orton was solid and the action built nicely to a great Hot tag sequence between Ziggler and Sheamus. As Sheamus pinned Ziggler yet again with the Brogue Kick, 2 things dawned on me. First, even if Ziggler eventually cashes in the MITB breifcase on Sheamus, there is no way in hell he will be seen as a legitimate Champion. Jobbing to all the top stars on SD every week will do that to you. Secondly, this tag match made me realise that THIS is the best that SD has to offer in regards to their main event roster. Whats bad about this is that we have seen all four men fight each other MANY times in the last year. Thus, what is their to look forward to in terms of big time main event matches for the title that will draw any big audiences? Sheamus/Orton may get our attention as we have only seen them fight once before 1-on-1, but THAT is a match you save for a Wrestlemania. Regardless, a good fun tag match with 4 awesome superstars.

• Zack Ryder def David Otunga (*) : 

At this point in the show, i was checking my watch and wondering when we were going to get to the main event. Kane on commentary did NOTHING as he weirdly said.....absolutely nothing. I guess Michael Cole trying to talk to Kane was WWE's attempt at comedy. If anything, the constant cuts to Kane sitting and saying nothing deterred from the Superstars-quality match we had going on in the ring. Not surprisingly, no one cared about this one. What was even more stupid was that Ryder was dominated throughout and then suddenly hit his finisher for the "out of nowhere" win. If this was an attempt in getting people to care about Ryder more, then it was a MASSIVE failure. Kane came in and choke slammed Otunga. This means his Anger Management classes are working ....*Yawn*.

• Steel Cage Match: WWE Champion CM Punk def Jerry "The King" Lawler (** 3/4) :

It's official: CM Punk is a dastardly Heel. As i stated before, unlike many others, i loved this main event because it did exactly what it needed to do to get Punk to where he needed to me. Sure, the fans were dead for this match (due to the lack of good show content) , but that didn't mean what was going on between the ropes wasn't effective. As stated before, i loved Punk talking trash to Lawler during the match and LOVED Punk's post-match beating of Lawler as he used sharp elbows into the chest of the WWE legend. Sure, the match was slow and methodical, but that was the beauty of it: take your time so to let what your doing in the ring have an effect of your audience. A bloodied Punk made Lawler tap to the Anaconda Vice while screaming "Best in the World!!" (a finish sequence he should use all the time going forward as a Heel). A great main event match that was "old-school" and engaging!

Thanks for reading folks!

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