After a night of surprises during Vengeance, this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW was all about set up for Survivor Series.
In spite of a lack of overall suspense and the bizarre promise of an appearance of “The Muppets†next week, the matches were decent and it’s obvious that there will be a few high profile matches next month.
One of them might be a tag team match between the team of John Cena and the Rock vs. The Miz and R-Truth.
Regardless of the buzz that match is sure to provide, it’s hard to ignore some of the lulls in the show. Patience is often a virtue in the world of professional wrestling and it’s clear that some will be needed to get through the boring and now weekly spots of John Laurinaitis, whose less than mediocre mic skills kill the show’s momentum every time he opens his mouth.
Something needs to be done as far as his presence on the show is concerned. Someone with more charisma needs the GM spo; not a behind the scenes guy known more for his work as a match planner.
In his own defense though, the crowd has been hunkering to see him get beaten up.
That nearly happened early in the show.
After Kevin Nash cost Triple H and CM Punk their match last night against The Miz and R-Truth, “The Game†wanted to confront “Big Sexy,†to start RAW, but was confronted by Laurinaitis instead. After a boring dialogue between these two, HHH left the ring and that’s where Nash got the better of him. Hit from behind with a sledgehammer and later beaten while on a stretcher, it’s obvious that a Nash/HHH encounter is imminent.
The bigger question here is why. Can Nash’s body maintain a pace needed for a match with Triple H? Will fans be interested? Nash’s mic work isn’t nearly as good as it used to be either, so the overall potential here is limited. Instead, both Triple H and Nash should be putting over or developing a young face or heel. This is just a waste of both of their time.
What won’t be a waste of time is a CM Punk/ Alberto Del Rio program. These two should be able to have a great match and as long as Punk gets some mic time, this could work out well.
But will it happen?
Matches:
Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes and Christian:A good opening match that saw all four competitors do a nice amount of work. After Orton delivered a dropkick on Christian, who came off the top rope, Sheamus got the hot tag and went through his arsenal of set up holds, including the Irish Curse Backbreaker. However, Christian was able to spear Sheamus and change the tide. All of a sudden, the match took on a TNA type of flavor, as Orton hit the RKO and a few seconds later, Sheamus finished Rhodes with the Celtic Cross for the win.
Santino Marella vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Jack Swagger and Vicki Guerrero: Marella did the job here, as he delivered some offense, but fell after a Zig-Zag. After the match, Swagger joined the party and gave Marella the Ankle Lock. Soon enough, Mason Ryan hit the ring and took out the trash.
Natalya w/ Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox: After Natalya set the tone and was all over Fox, a surprise roll-up earned the Rhianna-look alike the win.
John Morrison vs. Wade Barrett: A fun contest that may be the start of a longer program in spite of a botched finish. The former Nexus leader threw Morrison an old-school beating for most of the match, but Morrision made the typical face comeback. After he hit Barrett with his knee to the jaw, the two traded nearfalls and counters. A minute or so later, Barrett botched the finish, which called for him to catch Morrison on his shoulders and deliver the Wasteland finisher. After he dropped Morrison the first time, he picked him up and hit the move for the win.
John Cena and Zack Ryder vs. R-Truth and The Miz: This became a handicap match after Truth and Miz took out Ryder. Overall, it was terribly routine, with none of the competitors adding anything new. After Truth hit Cena with a water bottle, Cena earned the DQ victory. From there, Miz hit the Skull-Crushing Finale on Cena, followed by R-Truth’ jumping Downward Spiral.
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