WWE RAW Coverage: The Beginning of a New Era?

With Money in the Bank over and done with and an episode to go before RAW’s 1,000th episode and Summerslam a few weeks after that, RAW needed to set the scene for something special.

The CM Punk/Big Show main event could have been breathtaking, but a sloppy finish to the match took away from an otherwise solid program. John Cena’s boy scout image worked out well for once and Show continues to be a more than functional main event heel.

The Daniel Bryan/AJ marriage proposal and a few spots during the Punk/Show match stole the show. There were a few other memorable moments as well.

Rey Mysterio’s return signals a return to mediocrity for Alberto Del Rio- nothing good can come for him in a feud with the fan favorite. Welcome to the mid-card Del Rio.

The same thing can be said for The Miz, whose return, as Eve’s tag partner, isn’t exactly where a former WWE champion should be.

On the other side of the coin, Dolph Ziggler’s feud with Chris Jericho may be Ziggler’s last stop before a real title push. You heard it here first.

Get used to it boys, the scene is a-changing.

Matches:

WWE Tag Team Champions R-Truth and Kofi Kingston vs. The Prime Time Players: Darren Young and Titus O’Neil w/ AW: Contrasting styles met in a so-so opening match. AW needs to be disconnected from the microphone though. Holy crap is his headset banter annoying-just a terrible idea. Kingston hit the Trouble in Paradise and Truth followed it up with the Little Jimmy for the win.

Zack Ryder vs. Alberto Del Rio: The Mexican Aristocrat worked on Ryder’s arm inside and outside the ring from the beginning. He caught Ryder in a rather unceremonious cross-arm breaker for the win. After the match, Rey Mysterio made his return and hit Del Rio with the 619.

Heath Slater vs. Rikishi: Standing side kick, stinkface, Samoan Spike and Bonzai drop=Game Over. After the bell, the Uso’s came and danced with their dad.

Daniel Bryan and AJ vs. Eve and The Miz: So great that AJ gets the biggest pop of all the contestants in this match. Eve and The Miz were stiff in this one, but AJ and Bryan got the win after Bryan interfered and reversed an Eve rollup. After the match, Bryan told AJ he loved her and proposed. She said yes.

Jack Swagger vs. Ryback: Swagger hit a powerbomb and a Swagger bomb early on, but couldn’t latch on the Ankle Lock. Ryback snapped back and hit three sloppy-repeated powerbombs and a clothesline. Too bad the bell never rang.

Brodus Clay vs. JTG: Even with his new-look, JTG was no match for Clay. T-Bone Suplex, Headbutt and a Splash and it was all over.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. The Big Show: This was an old-School kick-punch match early on. Stiff and slow, but emotional. Show was in control, but couldn’t put Punk away. Fighting back with vicious kicks and knees, the match picked up Punk was able to hold his own. He nearly won with a big elbow, but Show still had some gas left in his tank. Show nearly won with a Chokeslam, but Punk got his leg on the rope. After Show hit the referee, he got DQed. Terrible end to what could have been a match of the year candidate.

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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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