Last week's ending to Raw had the wrestling world buzzing like it hasn't in years. Despite a more comedic "viewer's choice" show for almost 3 hours, 15 minutes of attacks and destruction stole the show. It was so shocking that this week's episode of Raw became an absolute must watch. Of course, hype this high generally results in disappointment, but with an angle this big, it seemed almost impossible to completey fail. Did this Raw provide any answers? Were any more matches made for Fatal 4 Way since only 2 were on the card prior? You bet on both.
While it was obvious that the NXT rookies would be the focus of the show, there were still other matters to take care of. What makes this angle so impressive though is that literally every segment has most viewers asking "will the NXT guys attack now?" Of course, only a few resulted in such acts, so the balance of the show was quite well done. It's not easy to walk the tightrope of characters despising others but also "protecting their turf" from invaders, but I felt it was done very well on this night.
Before mentioning the NXT involvement in the show, it would be quite important to mention that, for some odd reason, a Fatal 4 Way match occured on the program for the United States title with the Fatal 4 Way Pay Per View A WEEK AWAY! Isn't that the concept of the show? Why waste a solid match on free TV? This isn't TNA! On the positive side, The Miz won the title back and Zack Ryder was a participant! I'm glad to see Ryder getting the push over Dibiase, as other than his dad's name and gimmick, Dibiase has nothing to offer at the moment while Ryder has one of the most unique and interesting characters I've seen in a while. I'm still waiting for Ryder to start a "Jersey Shore"-like faction. At the moment though, he is still waiting in the wings while Miz is champion. He will face R-Truth for the title in a singles match at Fatal 4 Way. I wont' reiterate how ridiculous this is, but hopefully it will at least produce a solid match.
The women also found their way onto the Pay Per View, as it was announced that Eve will defend her title in a Fatal 4 Way (logic. WOW!) against Maryse, Gail Kim, and Alicia Fox. I'm glad to see Gail get time on a PPV, and I hope this match gets at least a little time to let the workers shine, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not let Maryse win again! Of the 4, she is still the worst ring worker. The only way I'd be ok with her winning is if Miz retains and they rekindle that storyline romance (which carries over into real life by the way).
In other news, Big Show made a Raw appearance to hang with his buddy, Raw guest host Mark Feuerstein. His appearance gave us an amusing backstage segment involving show, "Main Event Mark", Ted Dibiase and Virgil, though Ted did his best to suck the comedy out of the whole thing. This encounter led to a tag team match between Mark/Show and Ted/Virgil. Of course, the fan favorite host won, getting the pin on Virgil after he channeled his inner Scotty 2 Hotty and did the worm. The main thing to note about these segments is that comedy is infinitely done better by Big Show. While Feuerstein was energetic and comedic, it's Big Show's presence that put it all together. I suppose when you take someone with comedic timing, not just a comedic look, these segments have a lot more potential. Hell, I'm just happy the comedy portion is no longer "Hornswoggle running around and hoping people will laugh."
Another note to take from that match was that we have probably seen the last of Virgil. Ted of course took ANOTHER piece of his father's gimmick and stuffed a 100 dollar bill down the fallen Virgil's throat and left him laying in the ring. It was rumored that Virgil was to be done after Dibiase's match with R-Truth, but due to the botched finish as a result of Dibiase's concussion, Virgil was kept around a little while longer. I actually think this is a good thing for young Ted, as I believe he won't truly get over until he starts developing a charter all his own.
The last thing to note before we start the NXT conversation is that Chris Jericho, the ultimate team player (from a backstage perspective), did a heck of a job putting Evan Bourne over. Bourne looked to be very much Jericho's equal, and the booking was perfect in that Bourne walks out looking strong, and Jericho still looks like a nasty heel. I guess they are quite serious about pushing Bourne a bit.
Of course, all of these segments, including a tag team match at the end of the night, played fodder to the much larger NXT story that is developing. After last week's vicious and unexpected attack, the world was wondering what possible motives these rookies may have had. As it happens, that very question was answered right at the top of the broadcast, as Wade Barrett and his fellow NXTers explained that this battle is against WWE management, citing improper accomodations, NXT conceptual changes, and overall poor treatment as reason enough to justify their attack. These men felt as though the indescretions against them should result in contracts for all of them, complete with the best of accomodations. Of course, Wade Barrett already has a contract, but as an employee, he went to bat for his NXT bretheren. This led to Barrett losing his job, as Bret Hart fired Barrett for his disrespectful behavior. It's actually an interesting story development, because now the whole faction are unemployed renegade with seemingly no one on the inside. However, even without contracts, their story was not over......
After being fired and removed, John Cena essentially laid down the challenge to the NXTers who attacked him last week, and they were quick to answer that challenge. In an interesting development, this led to an all out brawl between NXTers and contracted WWE wrestlers. This even included top heels in Edge and Sheamus. Many were wondering why Sheamus, a dasardly heel in his own right, would help his nemesis, John Cena, in fending off the interlopers, but after a really good promo, there was no mystery. Sheamus let it be known that he, like everyone else in the back, aren't going to let the NXT guys take their show away, and that if anyone is going to take out Cena, it's him. That sentiment is echoed throughout, as despite personal differences, all the wrestlers believed they have earned the right to be there while the NXT guys have not. So while two men in the back may have a dispute, there is no dispute of their right to settle it in the ring, whereas nobody believes the NXT guys have earned that right, and thus, faces and heels alike ran the NXTs out of the arena. Of course, they were not yet done.......
Although the odds seemed to be in WWE's favor, NXT still had something up their sleeve. Bret Hart did not want to see the top stars attacked, so he called for the entire locker room to stand on stage during the main event to prevent an attack. Of course, this left the back wide open, and NXT struck just after the 11 o'clock hour, destroying property and kidnapping Bret Hart. They ended up putting him into a limo, where an unidentified driver proceeded to drive the thing around like a bumper car at an amusement park, crashing into everything in sight. The final bang was a full speed reverse smash into another car, and the show ended with a beaten Bret Hart being told that he has until Sunday to answer NXT's demands for contracts. It was quite a scary attack for the current PG environment, and I like how this faction continues to push the envelope, despite the casualty of Daniel Bryan's job. Vince McMahon knows that you cannot bow to pressure when you have a good thing going, and this follow up to the original attack is evidence of that. I'm pretty excited to be attending Fatal 4 Way this Sunday, as there may be some huge developments in regards to this storyline there.
What separates these current editions Monday Night Raw from the ones frm previous months is that feeling of unpredictability. With this huge overlying story, the feeling is that they can strike at any time, making the viewer wonder about each and every match. It's amazing what one big story can do, but it really can have a profound effect on the rest of the program. If removed from the show, this show was still pretty solid in a lot of ways, but the NXT stuff really puts it over the top. WWE is truly firing on all cylinders right now, and I am probably more excited for this Pay Per View than any event I've been to since about 2000. That's saying a lot, but I do believe that my anticipation is justified by some long overdue quality story writing.
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