Thank You For the Matches Boys

Powered by three solid matches, this week’s Monday night Raw was easily the best of the year. An interesting surprise at the end will undoubtedly fuel next week’s show as well, as CM Punk’s new Nexus continues to turn the heat up on John Cena.

With Punk coming back from injury and Cena not at 100 percent, many expected this match to be a turned-in one. However, seeing both wrestlers trading signature maneuvers and exchanging several close kick-outs, this match was easily one of the best on Raw this year. The appearance of WWE rookie Mason Ryan [who bears a shocking resemblance to former WWE champion Dave Batista] at the end of the match was a nice twist as well. Using a sit-out version of the uranage suplex, Ryan manhandled Cena, giving fans the first real “oh crap” moment of the year.

With that being said, what will this guys role be in the new Nexus?

While it’s impossible to know the answer to that question, it’s great to see WWE creative using Punk better than they did last week. Seeing him take a semi-beating from Ryan before getting him to bow before him at the end of the show, Punk’s cult leader persona took a big turn in the right direction this week. Having him hold his own with Cena in the ring as well helped make him credible as heel on Raw and quite possibly could be the push the show desperately needs.

Last week, Raw desperately needed some quality matches and this week, aside from the main event, two matches especially delivered. Dolph Ziggler’s contest with Randy Orton was filled with solid maneuvers and even though Orton semi-botched his finisher, the match continued to show that Ziggler can hold his own with the top stars on both Raw and Smackdown, not looking out of place by any means. Is he ready for a title run? Not quite yet, but he’s proving every week that he’s gaining the necessary starpower and is being showcased by the company.

The best match of the night however was the one between John Morrison and Daniel Bryan, who could put together an excellent face-face feud. With the Bella twins looking like they may join Morrison’s camp, it’s going to be an interesting angle, with both of these young stars sweating it out in the ring. For the short term, this is an opportunity for the WWE to give fans a series of amazing matches leading into the Royal Rumble, which could lead into something bigger at the pay per view. With that being said, it’s obvious both of these guys have bright futures with the company.

Negatives on Raw this week were The Miz’s appearance, which did nothing to bolster his reputation in the ring, but did give him some more heat leading into his upcoming match with Orton. While it’s fair to say he’s one of the more hated heel champions in recent WWE history, the guy has not sold the fans on his ability in the ring. Once he does that or the company finds a way to do it for him, The Miz will be a reputable champion. Right now though, he’s a time-filler on the show.

The same thing goes for Alberto Del Rio, who continues to appear on Raw and do nothing to improve his chances in getting over as a heel with the fans. His repetitive catch phrases and over the top facial expressions are a thing of wrestling’s past and in order for him to be the type of heel the company thinks he can be, he needs to wrestle more and pick the right times to speak. Currently, all he does is open his mouth at the end of matches, which plays into his heel character, but does nothing to make him appear as formidable in the right.

Regardless of these small annoyances, seeing the quality of the matches improved as much as they were, Raw must continue to develop their angles and keep the pace up in the ring. If that happens, Raw may silence the critics that believe the show and the “sport” has lost its luster.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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