Last week's Raw ended with an emotional last segment that saw Cena assemble the team that he believes will take down the Nexus at Summerslam. On paper, that sentiment should be absolutely true, but when you have a more talented team, you tend to have more egos floating around that can take that team out internally. That is exactly what played out this week on Raw, as tensions between all the members of the Raw team seem to be spiraling out of control, while the Nexus look as strong as ever. Does this mean Nexus is HOT this week? Are all the Raw team members NOT? Not necessarily, but I think you might be surprised who fits where in this week's edition of HOT of NOT:
HOT
1. The Great Khali - What? I know, I never thought he'd be on here either, but I could not justify keeping him off this week. For starters, he spoke English! Sure it was only like 3 words, but it's the first time anyone ever understood the guy! He also did a great job building tension with Edge, and an even better job in the segment with the Nexus. It might get overlooked in the coming weeks, but don't forget that Nexus declined to beat up Khali. Could this mean Khali and Ranjin turn on Team Raw to join Nexus at Summerslam? I'm not sure, but at least there's intrigue around the one guy who most felt didn't deserve to be on Team Raw just one week ago. Lastly, Khali actually took a finisher well this week, and that has to count for something!
2. Chris Jericho - Sometimes, this man truly amazes me. Actually, most of the time he does. Week to week, this man gets cheers as he comes out due to nostalgia and respect for his work, but he is so good at what he does (best in the world as he claims), that he can always turn the cheers into boos. He played his role perfectly last night, looking to usurp power of the team from Cena and make the story more about him. Also, working face for most of the match and turning on Cena was a nice touch at the end to show that he simply can't take a back seat to the man in orange and that he is making this about himself. Jericho continues to show that you have to watch everything he does, because more often than not, it is gold.
3. John Cena - Well, it was either Nexus or Cena, and I gave the nod to Cena for making another reference to the internet community that absolutely cracked me up. He went through the justice league and said "I'm not superman". To some, that was just pointing out the obvious, but that was a direct shot at the internet wrestling community, who has dubbed the man "Super Cena" due to his Hogan-like comebacks, his no selling in such situations, and perhaps his super strength. This was a great way to take a subtle shot at those people, and the whole dialogue Cena had with Jericho was just phenomenal. It's also interesting that Cena is trying to relieve the tension within the team, but he was unable to do so. I think you can expect Cena to cut a Knute Rockne type promo soon. He's going to have to to get his team on track.
NOT
1. Evan Bourne - What happened to this guy's push? Last week when Team Raw was being introduced, most expected Bourne to be on it. When he wasn't, speculation grew about a possible Bourne/Miz U.S. Title match at Summerslam, but that hasn't happened yet either. Last night, Bourne's only appearance was on the JOB squad that got killed by Nexus. Granted, Bourne did the best he could when he was the only man left, but the fact remains that he was on the lesser team when he very easily could have been on the "A" sqaud that actually fought Nexus at Summerslam. Unless they pit him against Miz, his push may be slowly coming to an end.
2. Yoshi Tatsu - You don't see this guy on Raw often, and now you may never see him again. After a major announcement was made by WWE management banning the use of knife edge chops, this cerebral Japanese performer decided to begin his match with just those sort of chops. Yep, numerous chops that were blatantly obvious to those watching. I'd be surprised if he keeps his job after that. He's talented, but talent can't overcome stupid, and doing something that you KNOW is banned is pretty stupid.
3. Michael Cole - A lot of people don't like Cole simply because he "isn't J.R". I personally don't have that much of an issue with him, but I had to put him on the list this week for a major mistake. When he got the second GM email he said "I have a manger........er an email from the General Manager". If I penalized Ted Dibiase for his "Money in Bank" line, I have to penalize Cole. Sorry Cole Miners, but the play by play man played himself onto the NOT list this week for embarassing himself to not only the home audience, but to the live audience as well.
Will next week bring serenity to Team Raw? Will things get worse? Will Khali learn a couple of new English words? We could find out now since Raw was actually taped last night for next week, but in the spirit of fun, I will wait until the show airs to find anything out. Until then, check out NXT tonight for the second elimination.
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