Welcome to another wonderful edition of 10 Thoughts on Raw and welcome to WWE in 2011. In case you didn’t already know, you now have the ability to follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime, where you can not only get wrestling thoughts, but all sorts of other treats straight from my mind to your digital device.
Enough about me, how about we get to the thoughts?
1. What a match from The Miz and John Morrison. That was a PPV quality match that was enhanced by the announcers making it seem like a major deal. It is rare that I compliment the Raw announce team these days, but Michael Cole and Josh Matthews did great work with this match.
2. John Morrison continues to show that he is taking the next step forward in his in-ring work. He has flashy spots, but he is learning to tie them together and make it look like he is actually in a fight, not just doing backflips for no reason. This was in the top three matches of his career and I hope WWE follows this performance up with a major moment or two in the Royal Rumble to continue his momentum.
3. Wait, so The Uso’s aren’t jobbers anymore? I can’t complain about building up a tag team, but WWE could find better ways to do so than victories over the champions. That is my personal least favorite path to the #1 Contendership because it makes the champions look weak going in.
4. The exchange between CM Punk and Wade Barrett definitely held my attention. They could have some great promo exchanges together as time goes on. If the fans had to pick a side in this one, I wonder who they would pick. Would they believe that the devil they know (Punk) is superior to the devil they don’t (Barrett)?
5. Alberto Del Rio on Raw is a good play for WWE. I usually prefer for the brand split to be firmer, but introducing this character who could be the next World Heavyweight Champion to the Raw audience is an important step in his development. Also, he was in a really awesome car this week.
6. Once again, Michael Cole gets one right on his criticisms of R-Truth and his awful singing down to the ring. Thank you Cole. You had a great night.
7. Does anyone else ever want the ominous steel cage theme music to play in other precarious situations in their life?
8. If the main event cage match could only be won by escape from the cage, why was there a referee in the ring?
9. I case you’re wondering about WWE and their ability to make new stars, you need to watch this episode of Raw. Miz, John Morrison, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and Alberto Del Rio all delivered big and showed that they have made it to the upper echelon of WWE Superstars. Suck on that TNA.
10. CM Punk’s betrayal of Wade Barrett played out perfectly tonight. I’m very interested in where the Wade Barrett character goes from here. I still believe a Smackdown run could be in the cards, but a Raw babyface turn wouldn’t surprise me.
10a. Randy Orton as #1 Contender does not appeal to me because it is giving out a major main event at the Royal Rumble, which doesn’t need a major championship match. That said, I do not know when WWE could get back to this match if they do not do it now.
Really good episode of Raw tonight. WWE turned up the heat knowing that Monday Night Football was over and that they had two major main events to allow to play out. Good wrestling tonight and story lines were moved forward. This was everything a major episode of Raw should be. Thanks for reading and make sure to check the Twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.
