Last night's show featured an announcement that was monumental, unprecedented, and set up probably the biggest match in a long time. But in the words of Alberto Del Rio, you already knew that. Well, you should already know that because I told you just a couple of hours ago on this very site!
Oh, and by the way, there was other stuff that happened on the show too.
Yes, none of it was as big as the Rock/Cena announcement, but how could it be? That's like saying you met Josh Matthews after meeting President Obama and not being impressed. WELL NO KIDDING!
Still, this show did have some good stuff despite not really indicating which direction most performers will be going moving forward. It was fun, had some good wrestling, and even had a highly anticipated debut.
So, other than Rock and Cena (who got a full article devoted to them and thus are exempted from this list), who was HOT and who was NOT? Let's find out:
HOT
1. Sin Cara - It doesn't take a face to make a connection, and that was very clear last night. The well hyped former Mistico made his WWE debut last night, showcasing his athleticism in saving Daniel Bryan from a Sheamus beatdown. It looks as if this is the beginning of a feud and it could be a good one. Sheamus has already shown that he can work well with smaller opponents and he sold Cara's offense pretty well last night. Most people are still in awe of Cara's diving cross body last night, and for good reason. He got a lot of height on it and his style should garner him a lot of fans. For those that don't remember, this is what Rey Mysterio was like in WCW circa 1996-1997. The difference though is that it seems WWE is going to give this guy every chance to succeed while WCW basically kept Mysterio down in cruiserweight hell. I've included the Sin Cara debut video below. If you aren't impressed, let me know so I can find you and give you a nice slap! Seriously, it was a short debut and it left you wanting more. That's about as good as you can ask for and I'm sure many of you will be excited to see what this kid does next week.
2. Steve Austin - The host of Tough Enough (which I'll touch on in a separate article) brought his cast out for the WWE Universe to see. On first glance, many of them don't look like stars, but I'm sure I would have said the same thing about John Hennigan and Mike Mizanin back in the day (John Morrison and The Miz if you were confused). Bringing out a bunch of misfits doesn't land you on the HOT list though, but taking action does. We know that Stone Cold won't wrestle again (or at least that's what he keeps saying), but the audience got his greatest hits yesterday. You got the mudhole stomp, the middle finger elbow drop, and the Stunner. That's pretty much all you'd be looking for in any Austin match these days and you got it on Raw. For old school fans, this was pretty exciting as it's always fun to see Steve Austin get physical. This also may have laid the seeds for an Austin/Miz match. I have my doubts, but if Austin is going to come back, why not make it to try and shut up this generation's most boastful superstar. It would make a lot of sense and you "never say never", but I won't get too excited until I see it. Last night did excite me though as it's been years since we've seen Austin do anything but stun people. You got a little more last night and that can only been seen as a good thing.
3. Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, and CM Punk - A 15 minute match on Raw? You better believe it! And it was smart too, as two top feuds were placed together into one big match that got them all on TV. This show did little to show where everything was going for Extreme Rules, but to take two matches that went over well last night, put the players into a big tag match and say "give us 15 good minutes" was a smart idea. For people who like the in-ring action, this was a fun bout and certainly one where the outcome was in doubt until the end. It's always good to have a solid match on Raw and this one was it yesterday. Great stuff and I hope each broadcast has at least one solid match each week. That to me is a can't-miss segment.
NOT
1. Daniel Bryan - Well, he finally got his rematch. Of course, it was in front of 1/4 the live crowd on Raw and got all of 5 minutes. This is a guy that looked like a monster at Summerslam and has basically been reduced to nothing at this point. He's still a kid that can go in the ring as good as anyone, but he really lacks direction at this point. I'd love to see him drafted to Smackdown to feud with Wade Barrett for the Intercontinental title. There, he would get TV time to do what he does best, wrestle. Plus, that is a built in program in that Bryan was kicked out of Barrett's Nexus. This could revive him a little and hopefully allow him to show off for the WWE fans. As for last night, he got basically no offense in on Sheamus and essentially was used as fodder to allow for Sin Cara's debut. It's weird to think that because Bryan himself was well regarded by fans upon his debut and now here he is, helping to put over someone else in their debut. Sin Cara just took Bryan's place on Raw and I think he needs to go to Smackdown very badly. Again, let the kid wrestle! It's what he's good at.
2. Evan Bourne - It was rumored that upon Evan Bourne's return he would be receiving a big push. We're still waiting. I'd hope that after Wrestlemania season that guys like Bourne will be looked at for possible pushes, but for now, I hate seeing Bourne jobbing out. This is a guy with athleticism that you just can't teach and he gets 3 minutes of TV time to put over a guy who needed a little shot of adrenaline after coming up short at Wrestlemania. I know that he sells well, but I'd like to see Bourne get a legit shot at a midcard title at some point. It was a mistake to think that he'd skip the midcard and go to main eventing and that push he got last year with wins over Jericho are long forgotten. Put this guy in some sort of feud where he has a chance and let him show off in the ring. Again, it's about showcasing a performer's skills and masking his faults. In Bourne's case, let the kid fly!
3. Michael Cole - I've NEVER done this before and I probably won't again, but this time it has to be said. Either Cole needs to cool it with his character or he needs to take it out of the announce booth. The problem is that he is this huge jerk and then tries to call matches as if he were a babyface. Method acting says that you stay in character at ALL times and he either needs to do that or go home. I'd be perfectly fine with Josh Matthews becoming the play by play guy if Cole can't do it but it just makes no sense for Cole to be doing what he's doing. There's no consistency in it and it's getting annoying to me. He's a great heel and I wouldn't mind seeing him as a manager, but it's either that or announcer. The WWE needs to pick one, and soon. Hell, I'd be fine with him being revealed as the General Manager at this point. It makes the most sense and it would give him something to do that keeps him in that character and away from the announce table. Go with that so we don't have to hear him jump from heel to face and back again within 5 minutes!
It's probably clear that this show was about two things: Sin Cara's debut and the major Wrestlemania 28 announcement. Everything else was simply about entertainment as basically no storylines were actually advanced. If you are looking for that on a weekly basis, you probably hated this show (saved for the last half an hour), but if you like good wrestling and can go a week without true storyline advancement, it wasn't terrible. With all that said, Extreme Rules happens before you know it, so next week better bring a lot by way of setting up that show! Until then, let's dream the sweet dreams of Sin Cara's first WWE match.....
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