Faith. FAITH!
For two hours, that one word loomed large over the Raw broadcast as an ominous message from the leader of the new Nexus, CM Punk. In leading his minions, he told them to have faith as they were threatened with removal from the Royal Rumble if they interfered in Punk's matchup with John Cena. Was CM Punk just confident in his ability to beat Cena or did he have a greater plan in mind?
By the end of the broadcast, we would all find that out. There was in fact a greater plan involved as CM Punk got his adversary disqualified from the matchup when a Batista look-a-like (I'll explain who he is later) struck Punk in the face. This man soon took a knee before Punk to accept initiation into the new Nexus.
So, did this strategy help land any of these men on the HOT list? Did cowardice perhaps put them in the NOT column? And who else stood out on the Raw broadcast? Let's find out:
HOT
1. Mason Ryan - I told you that I'd let you know who the Batista clone was. He is the current FCW (developmental territory) champion and somebody the WWE was interested in getting onto television due mostly in part to his look. It's been rumored that Ryan would be brought up soon to replace the role in the company that Batista had, and what better way than to literally follow a similar path. He's now fully entrenched in the major faction on Raw, where he will get maximum exposure as the muscle of the group. If they go the Batista route, Ryan will eventually turn on Punk to receive his mega-push. Yes, it was done before, but it's a story that never fails to deliver. We will see about all that in the future, but for now, Ryan made a major impact on Monday night and provides legitimate muscle for Punk's group. Let's just hope that Punk's cry of faith doesn't lead to Ryan having some stupid, religious based ring name.
2. The Miz - Remember when he won the title two months ago and people thought that he'd look silly matching up with the best Raw had to offer? Watch this Monday's episode of Raw and then proceed to fully digest the crow that you will undoubtedly be eating. Miz interrupted Cena's promo to start the show when Cena vowed to get back the title this year. While Cena downplayed him as a threat, Miz was relentless in his verbal tirades. I'd argue and stand behind the fact that even though Cena's feud is with Punk now and Punk eventually came out to join the party, the portion between Miz and Cena was more entertaining and had the better lines. Later on, Miz came out and DESTROYED the other top face of the company, Randy Orton. Orton had just beaten Dolph Ziggler in a tough match and Miz's attack was brutal. He made good on his promise to declare himself awesome when Orton was destroyed and he did so in a rather maniacal tone. If you watch these scenes and still think Miz doesn't belong, then you either need your head checked or just aren't ready to accept the present and future. This kid BELONGS and will be there for a long time. He is a WWE main eventer and a legitimate threat to the babyfaces. Why? Because he's indeed awesome.
3. Mark Henry - Yep, it's that time of year. There was a stupid heel (in this case Ted Dibiase) who said that no one could throw him out of a ring and layed out the challenge. Cue Henry as it's ALWAYS him. After doing it with ease, an impromptu battle royale broke out and despite the Celtic King being involved, Henry stood alone in the ring at the end. We know this is just temporary to give the loyal employee Henry a nice moment every now and again, but he definitely got to shine on Monday. He's a big dude, so to make him seem like a Royal Rumble threat isn't a terrible thing. It will end up helping some up and coming heel who eliminates him, and little stories like that can go a long way to helping get a guy over. It's very smart booking and takes something simple like this. On top of all that, the dude fathered a hand with an 80 year old woman. The guy deserves a break every now and again!
NOT
1. Randy Orton - This week's "it sucks to be me" recipient is WWE's resident Viper. Yes, this man has been dominating the ranks for a long time, but I can't remember a time where he looked as helpless as he did on Monday. He was left in a beaten heap at the hands of Miz and Alex Riley, punished for the sin of earning back the #1 contendership. Despite winning his match against the upstart Dolph Ziggler, being annihilated and humiliated the way he was is grounds for being on the NOT list any week. Couple that with the fact that Orton has been booked as unstoppable over the past year and this event really stands out. Great for Miz, awful for Orton. Look for the Viper to get some revenge next week.
2. The Usos - I'm not sure if these guys are talented or not, as their matches last as long as Ted Dibiase does in bed with Maryse. Joking aside, I thought that they might be the next Tag Team Champions in an angle that would show Tamina as using Santino to help her "bruddahs" capture the gold. It didn't happen. While this would have been a great angle, and one that could have given the Tag Team Titles an actual feud, what we got was a 2 minute squash where Tamina did absolutely nothing but stand there. The potential was there and it would be way more intriguing than Santino with Tamina. I think WWE screwed the pooch on this one, and as much as I enjoy Santino and Koslov, dropping Tamina to actually have a feud could have been a lot of fun.
3. Daniel Bryan - In my crowning achievement on this site, I predicted that Bryan would come back at Summerslam. At the event, Bryan was on fire, forcing several Nexus members to tap out. His "tap or snap" mantra was in full force and Bryan seemed like a wrestling machine. If you were the WWE, you'd want to capitalize on this and make "tap or snap" t-shirts and continue to push Bryan as an intense wrestling machine right? Wrong. Instead, WWE turned Daniel Bryan into a nerd, giving him "flight of the concords music" and having him unsure of what to do with female attention. It was bad, but now it's worse. Yes, Bryan is still United States Champion, but he is about to engage in an awful angle. His valets, the Bellas, basically made an on air bet over who would take his virginity. Essentially, a man who can break your limbs in the ring is being booked as a dorky virgin. Does anyone else see the problem with this? It demasculates him and makes him look incredibly less intimidating in the ring based on character alone. Why fix what wasn't broken? This guy should be snapping bones in the ring, not being booked as a nerdy virgin. Anyone who was a fan of this guy should be embarassed with where he has gone as a character.
Not included again on either side were CM Punk and John Cena. Notably, they main evented the show and as was stated, Mason Ryan was the real story there. The match was fantastic, but with no clear winner, the feud continues. I'd like to see more depth be added to the feud, as adding members to the Nexus doesn't give us more depth as to the grudge Punk truly has for Cena. The more you give with a feud, the more the fans can get behind it. I'm all for adding Ryan to the group as 5 members looks more right than 4 and every group needs a muscleman, but next week better bring some real development to the story.
We also should see Randy Orton's retalation and I will continue to hold out hope that Melina explains her heel turn as she was on commentary this week and didn't say a word. At some point, you have to explain why you have changed your attitude, and I will be waiting!
Until then, I will continue to enjoy Raw, which was solid again this week. If each week has at least two solid matches along with some great promos and story development, count me in! Just please, let Daniel Bryan come out next week and say he slept with Eve and hasn't been a virgin in years to just end this stupid story!
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