The first ten minutes of last night’s RAW, where technical difficulties plagued the opening segment, were a sign of things to come on an overall average show.
The mediocre matches ultimately dragged RAW into the mud. It’s understandable that during the low tide professional wrestling is going through that these guys would want to protect themselves more during TV tapings, but if the WWE is to ever usher in a new era in sports entertainment, they have to deliver higher quality matches on RAW.
Luckily, the resolution of the Alex Riley/The Miz and Kharma situations were enough to make you want to watch the whole show. As far as Riley/Miz is concerned, Riley has quickly gotten over with the fans, but can these two have a solid match together, or is Riley still too green?
As far as Kharma goes, her promo was something special. Honest and minus kayfabe, Kharma told the WWE Universe that she was pregnant. The Bella Twins came in after [ushering back kayfabe] and the moment of sincerity was soon gone. But the fact that she was honest with her fans was pretty classy and one that allowed her to not let the events of last week serve as a stamp on her WWE career.
At the same time, it robs her of any heel momentum she had, making her return next year an interesting one.
The storyline in progress between R-Truth and Cena, is slowly, but surely picking up pace. R-Truth is coming into his own as a heel, in spite of some hiccups during his promos. It’s fair to say he can’t hold his own with Cena on the microphone and that hurts this angle. The fact that Cena is a routine worker doesn’t give someone with the versatility of Truth the canvas he needs to paint on.
Regardless, this is a fresh match up that should be entertaining if given a real chance.
However, that didn’t mean that the entire show was a home run.
The mediocre matches and inane Memorial Day vignettes [the opening one was good enough] took the air out of a RAW that could have been memorable.
As a result, last night’s RAW was nothing special.
Matches:
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston: For a match they devoted so much time to, it was filled with basic moves and no real animosity. While you have to be happy the brass let these guys go this long on RAW, the match itself was missing something. Both of these dudes have problems on the microphone and any angle they’re involved in has to be wrestling heavy. While this one was, in the end, the match was yawn-inducing. Both of these guys are capable of wrestling at a high pace, but the counters were slow and predictable and made the contest drag. The close pin-falls towards the end of the match helped it a tad, but overall this was a mediocre match that Ziggler won with the zig-zag.
Eve Torrez and Kelly Kelly vs. Nikki and Brie Bella: This match was simply fodder. No pace, no real purpose, other than to get these four beautiful women on the show. No one will complain about it, but they should. Wrestling fans deserve better because these four are capable of so much more.
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio: Again, a match with no real zing. This “renewed†rivalry was just a way to kill time before the main event. Sure, these guys went out and worked hard, but there was no real reason for it. After Mason Ryan interfered to induce a victory for the new Nexus leader, both Mysterio and Punk were no better than they were before the match. What does this match prove or do for these guys’ future?
Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne: Much like last week, Swagger delivered most of the offense here. However, unlike last week, Bourne got the surprise win with a counter roll-up off an attempted German suplex.
John Cena vs. R-Truth: Was this even a match? R-Truth returned to the same fan he had a problem with earlier and threw a drink in his face. Insert ping-pong ball here. Of course, Cena had to come to the rescue. This was entertainment in the purest sense.
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