The first show after a pay per view is supposed to set the scene for the next few weeks of shows and the next big event.
Aside from an excellent 12-man tag match at the end of hour one, this week’s Monday Night RAW did neither.
The final segment, which revolved around Triple H’s tenure as Chief Operating Officer, was bland and a complete bore.
Overall, it has got to be one of the weakest main storylines the company has written since the “Attitude†era.
The show started off well enough though, as it featured four matches during the first hour. Unfortunately, none of them were any good. Three of them were job matches, which saw Randy Orton, Santino Marella and Mark Henry gain lop-sided victories. The other match, a tag match between Kelly Kelly, Eve Torrez and the team of Beth Phoenix and Nattie Neidhart never got started.
A big tease, this week’s RAW did nothing as far as story development. Sure, Triple H’s angle will develop over the next few weeks, but nothing really memorably good happened during this episode.
Matches:
Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre: A routine job match that saw McIntyre receive two RKOs, while he administered barely any offense of his own. After the match, World Champion Mark Henry hit the ring and he and “The Apex Predator†fought on the outside. It was an interesting way to start the show to say the very least.
World Champion Mark Henry vs. John Morrison: For a second, you thought Morrison had a chance, but Henry came out of nowhere and caught Morrison with the “World’s Strongest Slam†for the win. Like the opener, Henry made a statement as well, as he hit Morrison with his finisher once again.
Kelly Kelly and Eve Torrez vs. Divas Champion Beth Phoenix and Natalya Niedhart: Kelly went crazy and took out Phoenix before the match got close to getting started. Ultimately, it was a waste of time. Kelly is super over as a face. This just confuses the audience. Although it makes her more of a real character, it’s a bit out of her character to act the way she did.
Santino Marella vs. Jinder Mahal: Wow. Just wow. Guess what? You guessed it; another job match. Marella beat Mahal with the Cobra in less than a minute. What does this accomplish?
12 Man Tag: Cody Rhodes, Christian, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, David Otunga and Alberto Del Rio w/ Vicki Guerrero vs. John Cena, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne, Sheamus and Mason Ryan: Earlier in the show, there was a terrible round of “Pass the mic and bitch,†which forced Triple H to hit the ring and get a few cheap pops. In spite of that, the eventual match itself was fun and frenetic. It was one of the best matches on RAW this year. It had an old-school Survivor Series-esque feel to it, as every superstar got in the ring at once during one scene. Ironically, considering the short matches earlier, this contest lasted well over 30 minutes. While the commercial breaks almost killed all of the intensity, it was worth it. Every superstar had a few moments to show what he had as well, but Bourne got the biggest pop after he delivered the Shooting Star Press. Sheamus ended up getting the win however, after he hit Ziggler with the Bicycle kick. At that point, the match went into TNA mode, as every competitor hit a signature move of sorts, except Otunga, who hit a measly neckbreaker.
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