If I told you that a Raw broadcast in 2011 would involve Triple H, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, a superstar returning from injury, John Cena in a cage match, and the building of a number of feuds for Wrestlemania, you'd think it would be a can't-miss show right?
It missed.
From subpar promos to pre-taped appearances, there was a lack of energy throughout this broadcast. There was also a lack of wrestling, as the main event cage match that last 11 minuutes was about double the rest of the matches COMBINED. If you've noticed, the shows I've touted have featured at least two GOOD matches in the two hour span. Monday was simply not in that camp.
What we did get from Monday was more build towards Wrestlemania, which is definitely a good thing. Orton/Punk and Lawler/Cole were made official for the big show, with the latter happening under the pretense that Cole have his "trainer" at ringside that night as well as his choice of guest referee.
Stories were pushed and there was A LOT of talking, but who was HOT and who was NOT? In fairness, I won't include the writers and bookers for giving us this mediocre show, but there are certainly talents worthy of each spot this week. Let's fine out who they are:
HOT
1. The Miz - I'm willing to take any flack for this that comes at me, but of the three main event promos given on Monday by John Cena, The Rock, and The Miz, I felt that Miz's was the best. This is substantial, as Miz's character is seemingly the "forgotten man" in the Rock/Cena war of words. He spoke of this, but reminded us that he can't be forgotten because he's the one with the title. Then, he showed us what he meant by reaking havoc on the main event. His use of his camera phone and his tweets that went out while at the announce table were a great example of how being with the times can benefit the product. Moreso than tweeting about your opponent in your spare time, Miz tweeted while at the table. You can get on twitter, find @mikethemiz, and see what he just wrote LIVE on television. That's pretty cool in a way. It's little things like these that make Miz the next generation of wrestler. While Triple H spoke of being the last of a dying breed, Miz is at the forefront of the new breed of wrestlers. Despite what some will tell you, new can be good, and Miz did a great job on this show of proving that. The more I see him perform in this storyline, the more I get the sense that WWE might let him go over at Wrestlemania. We'll see though.
2. Michael Cole - The job of a heel is to make you hate his/her guts and make the fans want to see the babyface kick his/her ass. Is there anybody doing that better than Michael Cole? Right now, every WWE fan is patiently waiting for the moment when Lawler finally gets to pound Cole's face in, and that is very much due to the excellent work Cole has done as a heel. I loved the work he did this Monday as he talked a big game but hid behind his trainer. This is similar in some ways to Bret Hart/Vince McMahon last year, but Cole is get infinitely more heat and people want to see him get his ass kicked almost more than they wanted to see Vince get his kicked. The match is official now and even though it won't be a 5 star classic, I think it has the potential to be quite entertaining in a lot of ways. It should be interesting to see who Cole chooses as his guest referee and I'm kind of hoping that JR ends up being in King's corner somehow. As long as Cole gets his ass kicked in the end, that's all that matters. Nobody has deserved it more since Vince in 1999.
3. Evan Bourne - It was a month ago that SM Punk predicted that Bourne would return in the Royal Rumble, but I disagreed. A guy like Bourne is someone who isn't yet ready for that "big return", but at the same time is a guy the WWE wants to invest in long term. Thus, he was the big return on this edition of Raw, sandwiched between shows that returned Undertaker, Triple H, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Obviously, Bourne doesn't yet stack up to these legends, but when he is the lone guy to return on a show, it still means something. Plus, his short victory on a beaten Sheamus was a way to give him a victory over an established star and get people talking about him right off the bat. It worked as Bourne's name was trending on Twitter within minutes. It's amazing how Twitter is becoming the barometer of success, but nonetheless, you have to figure that Bourne will enter the Money in the Bank and even have a chance to win it. If not, I can see a strong run in the midcard with a belt on his waist by the end of the year. Either way, it's just great to see that beautiful shooting star press again!
NOT
1. Sheamus - This week's "it sucks to be me" award goes to.............the guy who got it last week! This week was even worse for the Celtic Warrior as his entire night consisted of getting beat up. First, he came out to confront the man he thought he retired, Triple H. That resulted in a beatdown capped with a pedigree through the announce table. Then to add insult to injury, he had to participate in his scheduled match against Evan Bourne which lasted all of about 40 seconds. It was a fair skinned folly and a night to forget for Sheamus. The question now becomes "when will this losing streak end?" Sheamus is only going to get angrier........and redder with every loss. Will this humble him, or simply grow his rage? Only time will tell I guess. For now, it simply sucks to be Sheamus.
2. Alex Riley - If anybody is a close second to Sheamus, it's Riley. He started the night by delivering a terrible joke comparing John Cena to a bathroom (a john) that even Michael Cole made fun of him for. Then, his mentor placed him in a cage match with John Cena with his job on the line. The odds of Riley beating Cena weren't great, but with Miz's help, he almost got it done. Still, the end result is that Riley is out of a job and that will pretty much always land you on the NOT list. This could end up being a positive for Riley though, as some additional training and a re-debut could do him wonders. The crowd will be familar with him and he does have camera presence, he just has to drop the cornball aspect to him. It's now Wednesday and I'm still recovering from that horrible line he delivered! Riley has a bright future but a grim present. Happy trails for now, Mr. Riley!
3. Michael McGillicutty - The McGillabuddies are not happy! In what is becoming a weekly occurence now, McGillicutty became the second Nexus member to succomb to the punt of Randy Orton. If only John Cena had thought of this tactic, he may have avoided working for the group! Of course, the Viper is way more ruthless than John Cena could ever dream to be, and it seems that he will keep eliminating Nexi (I figure this is the plural for Nexus) until he has only Punk left to face. If I were David Otunga and Mason Ryan, I'd start packing my bags for FCW! Mr. McGillicutty has already done so, as well as Husky Harris, and you guys will probably be next. So will we see the son of Mr. Perfect again? I think so. If he can ever get that stick out of his ass, he might develop a personality to go with above average ring skills. That might give us a decent superstar. A little time honing those skills might do him a lot of good.
It seems that firings and being written off tv are the "it" happenings around the WWE these days. Over the past few weeks we've seen Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Kelly Kelly, Vickie Guerrero, and Alex Riley lose jobs, with only Edge and Kelly regaining them as of now. Couple that with Harris and McGillicutty's fates and you have a lot of characters off TV for periods of time. It's a unique brand of writing and I'm sort of curious where it all goes.
On another note, The Rock's promo just didn't do it for me. He was passionate and it was a different kind of promo from him, but if you are going to speak passionately about your love of the business, you need to do so in a ring. I know that they are avoiding a Rock/Cena confrontation as long as they can, but his words simply don't mean a lot coming from his home. Plus, for the first time I can remember, The Rock was rambling and a bit nonsensical for part of his promo. It was very disappointing for me as a huge Rock fan, but it's very hard to take his side in this feud. Cena's point of being there every week to show his love still holds true, and Rock did himself no favors by not being there. I love the Rock, but he's all talk on this one. I have an idea for where this should all go, but we'll talk about that when Wrestlemania draws closer.
If even The Rock isn't producing, you know the show isn't so good. I get that they are building towards Wrestlemania, and while those aspects weren't bad, there simply wasn't enough wrestling on this show. Not only that, some of the promos just didn't hit home with me. I didn't love Rock's, I didn't love Triple H's (which seemed to bury this generation of wrestlers btw), and the HBK thing was basically a video package with clips of him talking. The overall mood of the show was underwhelming, but I believe that is a product of just this week. Wrestlemania is still shaping up and I'm still excited about that.
Next week, we will see Steve Austin, possibly The Rock, Michael Cole's guest referee (maybe), and more build for each big program. On paper, the show has plenty of potential. Let's hope it doesn't fall flat again.
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