Tuesday 30 August 2011

WWE Raw Review, 08/29/11


Raw is live from Tulsa, OK., this week as the build towards the upcoming Night of Champions pay per view continues! Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and 'Good Ol' JR' Jim Ross welcome us to Raw as the COO himself, Triple H, makes his way to the ring.

OPENING SEGMENT-TRIPLE H, KEVIN NASH, CMPUNK

An interesting start to Raw, both informative and entertaining. Triple H immediately dropped the bombshell that Smackdown superstars, for the foreseeable future, will be able to appear on Raw. Triple H did not, however, mention whether Raw superstars are able to appear on Smackdown, however they will be appearing on this weeks 'SuperSmackdown'. Good move in my opinion as the WWE roster isn't as strong as it once was, but this also means that superstars lower in the card will presumably have less TV time on Raw.

Hunter goes on to address the ongoing situation involving Nash and Punk, and calls out Nash for lying to him last week. He gets CMPunk instead. CM appears pretty jovial as he makes his way down the ramp. CMPunk chants start as Punk applauds Triple H for his 'performance', implying that Nash and Trips are in cahoots. Not long before Nash interrupts, complete with entrance graphics, titantron and the original nWo theme music. Nash admits to lying to Trips last week, and questions what kind of man Hunter is for allowing CMPunk to get away with badmouthing his wife. Nash's mic work has only improved in recent weeks, he's much more natural when running off dot-points rather than reading a script. Nash reveals that he has officially been signed to a WWE contract by Johnny Ace.

Punk is his usual self throughout the segment, referring to Nash as a 'champion ass-kisser' and stating that while Trips doesnt wear the pants in his marriage, he does wear Steph's panties--by far the line of the night. Overall an entertaining segment as usual, which ultimately leads to Nash vs Punk being made official for Night of Champions

SINGLES MATCH-RANDY ORTON VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER w/ VICKIE GUERRERO

Smackdown vs Raw action to kick off MNR; World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. United States Champion Dolph Ziggler, with Vickie in tow. Above average TV match to kick off Raw. These two have great chemistry and it definitely showed. Vickie appeared frustrated with Dolph throughout the match as the commentators discussed Vickie's longing to expand her managerial portfolio to include the likes of Jack Swagger, who was shown watching the match backstage.

Nice back and forth action throughout the match, but it was the finish which was by far the coolest moment in this one. Orton countered the sleeperhold, launched Dolph into the air, Dolph bounced off the canvas and Orton caught him in mid-air with an awesome RKO for the 1-2-3.

WINNER: RANDY ORTON
RATING: 4/5

No surprises there. Would have liked to have seen Ziggler get the big win but Orton is the WHC, going into a steel cage title defense tomorrow night on Smackdown, so it wouldn't have made much sense for Orton to lose to the US Champion the night before.

IN-RING SEGMENT-JOHN CENA, MARK HENRY, CHRISTIAN, SHEAMUS

John Cena makes his way to the ring as children everywhere squeal in delight. Cena discusses Del Rio, and claims that he has mastered the art of douchebagery. A little attitude from Cena every now and then is welcomed. Cena tells Del Rio that if he wants some, he can come get some. Del Rio, however, is in Mexico dealing with Visa issues so he gets Mark Henry instead.

Mark Henry puts himself over as a monster, talking about all the superstars he's taken out over the last few months. Henry tells Cena he'll be joining his 'Hall of Pain'. You see, its a play on words, as 'pain' rhymes with 'fame'. Cute. Henry is quickly interrupted by the, err, other number 1 contender for the WHC; Christian. Christian says he hates a guy who comes out and whines and bitches and complains every week. 'Bitch' AND 'douchebag' in the same segment?! Cena prepares to throwdown with Henry and Christian before Sheamus makes the save, setting up for tonight's tag team main event of John Cena and Sheamus vs. Mark Henry and Christian.

SINGLES MATCH-CMPUNK VS. THE MIZ

Miz cuts a nice little promo on the way to the ring, putting over himself as 'the most must-see WWE Champion of all time'. Punk looks bored in the ring as Miz delivers his catchphrase. Punk's been doing a helluva lot of talking on Raw in recent weeks, so it was refreshing to see him in action, against someone other than John Cena.

Despite being the biggest Punk mark as of late, even I thought this match tended to drag on at times, and the crowd didn't seem too into it. Miz dominated the majority of the match before Punk began to mount some offense. Punk hits the macho man elbow from the top and sets up for the GTS before R-Truth rushes to the ring and the match is thrown out.

WINNER: NO CONTEST
RATING: 3/5

Following the match, Punk attempted a GTS on Truth but was distracted by the appearance of Kevin Nash. That distraction was all that was necessary for Miz and Truth to attack Punk, setting him up for another Jacknife Powerbomb from Big Sexy. They hype the tag team main event as Raw goes to commercial.

Back from commercial and we're informed that the world premiere of the trailer of Triple H's new movie (surprisingly NOT The Chaperone 2) will debut tonight.

SINGLES MATCH- SIN CARA VS. JACK SWAGGER

I used to be able to tell whether it was Mistico or Hunico under the Sin Cara mask, but to be honest I have lost that ability as of late. I can only assume it was Hunico as he used the springboard moonsault as his finish. Not a big fan of the Sin Cara lighting either.

About a minute into this one Vickie Guerrero makes her way down the ramp, to Swagger's delight. Dolph comes out not too long after, jumping on the apron and distracting Swagger. The distraction allows Cara to hit a nice springboard tornado DDT, followed by his finish for the win.

WINNER: SIN CARA
RATING: 2.5/5

Looks to me as though they're setting up Dolph vs Swagger at Night of Champions for the United States Title, and possibly also the managerial services of Vickie Guerrero. This one ends abruptly with Dolph and Vickie storming from the ringside area.

WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH- KOFI & BOURNE (AIRBOOM) VS. McGILLICUTTY & OTUNGA

This one is off to a great start as Kofi's pyro doesn't go off...awkward moment. Lawler does his usual tactic of burying Otunga and McGillicutty, questioning their charisma and star power.
This match literally lasts like 2 minutes, with Kofi scoring the pinfall victory over McGillicutty following the Trouble in Paradise.

WINNERS: AIRBOOM
RATING: 2.5/5

McGillicutty and Otunga get in Lawler's face following the match, knocking his headset off and staring him down. Can only assume this will lead to McGillicutty and Otunga reinventing themselves, which is needed in my opinion, because frankly King's correct in thinking they are bland.

DIVA'S MATCH- KELLY KELLY w/ EVE VS. BRIE BELLA w/ NIKKI BELLA

Typical diva's match with lots of screaming and shennanigans. Beth and Natalya are shown backstage as Natalya (rather awkwardly) discusses with Beth her grievance with the diva's. Another quick match here as the Bella's perform 'twin magic' to get the better of Kelly.

WINNER: BRIE BELLA
RATING: 2/5

Interesting to note that this was Kelly Kelly's first loss since the Over the Limit pay per view event. The commentators hype the main event, which is up next, as they cut to commercial break.

Following the commercial a nice video package for Alex Riley plays. I thought the package did a nice job of putting over A-Ry, who has been on a roll as of late. His absence was pretty obvious from tonight's show, which may or may not be due to the influx of Smackdown stars. We also get to see the trailer for Triple H's new movie 'Inside Out'. Another five star acting performance by The Game. Has to be a contender for Best Picture in anyone's books. I will be surprised if this one doesn't do well. Anyway, we now return to the wrestling portion of tonight's program as Mark Henry makes his way to the ring for the main event.

TAG TEAM MATCH- MARK HENRY & CHRISTIAN VS. SHEAMUS & JOHN CENA

This was a solid, roughly 10 minute main event TV match. Christian and Henry had control of Sheamus in the early going before SuperCena would eventually come to the rescue, scoring the pinfall victory over Christian following the Attitude Adjustment. Mark Henry looked like a legitimate threat, a dominating force, and the fact that it was Christian who did the job may be a sign that he will not be winning the WHC from Randal on Smackdown. Overall, a decent main event tag match.

WINNERS: SHEAMUS & JOHN CENA
RATING: 3.5/5

Cena and Sheamus celebrate their victory to send the crowd home happy, but not before Triple H and CMPunk show up on the titantron. Triple H informs Punk that his match with Nash has been cancelled, and that instead he will go one-on-one with The Game himself. Not sure why this match is being rushed out, as I expected it to maybe take place at Survivor Series rather than Night of Champions. A Triple H/ Punk match is hard to predict though, as there are multiple factors at play here, so if nothing else it should ensure that WWE's streak of compelling television offerrings continues.

Stars of the Show:
-Mark Henry
-CMPunk
-Kevin Nash

Positives:
-Nash/Punk/Triple H segment evolves
-Smackdown stars highlighted heading into the special live Smackdown
- More 'attitude' in promos

Negatives:
-multiple 'throwaway' matches
-lack of build towards NOC, outside of the Punk/Triple H/Nash fued

OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5





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