Aside from sparkling commentary from Jim Ross and a great episode of Piper’s Pit, Raw Old School was a complete waste of time. Sure, the little montages and jokes to the old production values of the show were charming, but the overall wrestling action was a joke.
The WWE had a good opportunity to show off some of their newbies on Monday, with the Nexus involved in two big matches. The first had David Otunga taking on Kofi Kingston, which turned out to be a lackluster contest, which ended with Kingston’s finisher in unspectacular fashion. The second bout, between R-Truth and Wade Barrett was a disaster too. Simply put, R-truth needs to rap less and wrestle more. On the other side of the ring, it’s obvious that Barrett needs a new finisher. Simply put, his “Wasteland†maneuver would have been a set-up hold for a marginal wrestler like Sean O’Haire back in the day.
If this guy is going to be taken seriously, he needs a move that puts people in the seats.
In other matches, Vladimir Kozlov and Santino Marella became the number one contenders for the tag team titles after defeating the Uso Brothers with Marella’s cobra finisher. What a joke. Marella is funny and deserves a spot on the show, but seriously, to beat a team of two good young pups like that is an idiotic move on the WWE’s part.
However, even more sillier was the pacing of the Jack Swagger and Daniel Bryan match. With Ross calling the action and these two fantastic athletes in the ring, this could have been classic. Instead it’ll be remembered more for Ross hitting the increasingly annoying Michael Cole with his cowboy hat. After the match, it was obvious Ross is still on top of his game and what a shame. This show needs him more now than ever.
The last segment of the show was a great one, but proved how far gone the WWE is. Listening to Roddy Piper talk about how John Cena can’t let Barrett win the title without earning it, because it would tarnish the title was beautiful, it really was, but it’s too late.
Letting rookies like Swagger and Sheamus win the title and guys like Rey Mysterio who in spite of his excellence in the ring should have won the title years ago when he could actually still go at an optimum level, have tarnished this title for the foreseeable future.
While having an event like this was cute and nostalgic, in the end, it did nothing special and nothing you’ll remember, but that’s how this company rolls nowadays. In order to watch the best these guys have to offer, you’ve got to pay for it.
It’s getting old boys
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