The growing battle cry for wrestling fans is the simple "I Want Wrestling" mantra. This is definitely something I subscribe to as, although the simple act of "wrestling" has never been what the business was about, the ratio of wrestling to utter stupidity has reached dangerous levels in many promotions. WWE itself, the biggest wrestling promotion on the planet has, for many years, been more about working the mic than running the ropes.
But last night's RAW actually had wrestling. 6 matches in total filled out the show's two hours. However, even after that, I found myself relatively bored with the whole thing. The reason? Let's hit the recap and try to discern that...
- Number One Contender: Alberto Del Rio opens the show with a monologue about why he should be given a shot at the title. Before he gets too far, however, Rey comes out and says basically the same thing. Then the Miz. Then R-Truth. In fact, this opening segment is something that WWE just recently did when setting up the cage match for Extreme Rules. While this sort of thing works on occasion, it all just felt so tired as the opening this week. Don't get me wrong, with Rey and ADR just arriving on RAW, it's good to see them getting in the title picture already, but couldn't this be done another way?
- Anyway, the GM rings in and decides to make a triple threat match for the main event to determine the number one contender. That means that R-Truth ends up getting left out, allowing for him to continue his tirades about not getting a shot at the "big one". Again, this opening did one thing, and that was to set up the main event. Yet it took up a good chunk of show, and only POSSIBLY advanced one storyline. It just wasn't what the show needed to open up.
- Just Put her in a match, already!: A Divas tag match takes place, but really the only notable thing is that, as is the norm now, Kharma comes out during the post-match to attack somebody. This time, it's Eve Torres (who we miss get decked by Kong because of some shoddy camera work). I don't deny this has been an entertaining string of appearances by Kharma, but at some point, I think the audience GETS IT. Just put her in a match already so Kharma can show off some more of her repertoire!
- So Much for Mason Ryan...: So Mason Ryan actually gets a legitimate shot at Kane, which I figure is going to be used to further set up his big MONSTER persona. It doesn't. A mediocre match that ends in a disqualification as Kane was on the verge of victory. Kane and Big Show then clear out Nexus. I don't know if it's because they want Kane and Show to be in a collective feud against Nexus, but then what the heck was the random Mason Ryan thing last week? I didn't get it, and there just wasn't a good match to attach to it.
- Ziggler vs. Santino: Santino takes on the "new look" Ziggler in a bit of a squash. I'm glad that they're actually BUILDING up Ziggler as a legitimate threat again, likely to take on Kofi Kingston, but a squash is a squash. Just another "meh" installment.
- Zack FUCKIN' Ryder!!!: He makes an appearance... I was excited.
- Cena vs. Riley: Alex Riley, who for some reason is not on SmackDown despite being drafted there, takes on John Cena for the "honor" of his master, the Miz. This was actually not a bad match. The problem, however, is that I don't think anybody believed Riley had a chance in this match. At all. It was fine, sure, and I liked Cena's taunting of Miz by doing multiple AA's on Riley, but it just wasn't terribly exciting. Decent, though.
- This is the angle that never ends. It just goes on and on my friends...: Cole and Lawler are feuding! Isn't that so great that this dumb announcer vs. announcer feud has been going on for a good three months or more now? I know I sure am. More of this nonsense ensues, and Swagger hits Lawler from behind. Awesome.
- Kingston vs. Swagger: Out of nowhere, Kofi defends his belt against Swagger. I'm kind of getting fed up with this lack of build up for these secondary titles, but WHATEVER! A MATCH! And heck, this was a good one, which is probably to be expected with the quality of performers both these dudes are. Kofi takes the victory in the match of the night.
- The Main Event: Rey, Del Rio, and Miz square off in the main event. This was another great match (yeah, surprising I know), but the problem was, despite the stakes and the people involved, the audience gave no reaction! I don't understand what their problem was, but despite their being some pretty good three-person spots in this match, nobody seemed to care. Still, there were some really cool moments here in a good match. Still, I feel like it's silly that Miz took the victory, and the number one contender spot. I woulda liked to see somebody else take on Cena, but oh well. Cena makes the match for Over the Limit as an "I Quit" match, and R-Truth attacks Rey as the show ends. Weird...
In the end, Monday's episode of RAW has me torn. On the one hand, it had a lot of wrestling for an episode of RAW. On the other, very little of that wrestling was either quality or worthwhile. There was some good stuff, but the pacing was so off that it made it difficult to enjoy. If I had to give it a score, I'd give it 3 out of 5 for sheer volume and for the pair of quality matches included.
SmackDown sum-up coming up later this week, as is the showcase, so stay tuned all five of my loyal readers.
Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment