10 Thoughts on WWE Raw Supershow 10.24.11- SLEDGEHAMMER! (HHH, Nash, Cena)

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Welcome back to 10 Thoughts on Raw and the last installment I’ll be doing for a little while. Another fine Inside Pulse Wrestling staff member will take over here and Caught in the Ropes will just go dormant in the mean time while I work on a friend’s game project. Since I need to make the soundtrack and work on sound design with him (and I haven’t recorded music in a while, so I need to get used to it again), it’s going to eat up all my free time. The game will eventually be released on Steam, and I’ll let you, the readers, know about it once it’s finished. Since I’ve seen all the design documents and a lot of the art assets, I think it’ll be pretty damn neat once it’s all said and done. One final thing, check out Steven Gepp’s latest article where he articulately describes how the WWE and TNA are turning him away from major professional wrestling, and Mr. Gojira’s take on Bound for Glory.

1. Cole may make the claim that the world is still buzzing about Vengeance, but looking around it seems that the only thing that was swarming around Vengeance was anti-buzz. Nobody cared, nothing was settled, and I think most of us can remember when Big Show and Brock Lesnar made the ring explode. Yeah, it’s a neat idea to have the main-event contested in a busted ring, but that’s not enough to make Vengeance more than what it was, which was mediocre at best.

2. So, how did HHH not see the Kevin Nash run-in coming? He’s been doing that crap at nearly every PPV over the last few months. I guess I could just chalk it up to lazy writing or poor pattern recognition on Hunter’s part, but I can’t excuse it. So, since this angle has been axed and rebooted, is Nash going to face off against HHH at an upcoming PPV? Why waste this on HHH? Let Punk get the rub from this, damn it, just like you originally planned!

3. Okay, so the HHH storyline and the subsequent attack by Kevin Nash has taken, um…the show’s first half-hour or so. That is way too long. It doesn’t help that the original attack and the replays that followed clearly show Nash’s hand covering the head of the sledgehammer. This whole angle could have played out in a number of ways that would take less time and be just as effective. At least the WWE finally hinted at Stephanie’s complicity in this whole debacle, which fans have been anticipating for months.

4. Ah, Raw is back in the good ol’ USA and back to apathetic, basically lifeless crowds. Despite the success of Raw and the awesomeness of the crowd last week, the other shows in Mexico failed to deliver, as far as ticket sales are concerned. Not a good sign for those of us hoping to see the WWE increase the amount of events they put on in Mexico.

5. The Last Man Standing stipulation for the WWE Championship match was obviously used to give Cena an easy excuse for losing his match. That’s the problem with a lot of gimmicks now: the inclusion of a particular gimmick often gives the ending of a match away. Now, that could be due to overuse, but regardless, the WWE needs to cut back. They’re like gimmick junkies.

6. Damn, Santino’s on Raw? Sorry Zack Ryder took your job, man, even though I never really enjoyed your gimmick. Ryder makes for a better mid-card comedy guy though since he’d actually be believable as an IC or US title winner. Santino was never believable when he used finishers like The Cobra or the Salute Flying Headbutt.

7. Wait, CM Punk gets to talk tonight? Why on Earth doesn’t this guy get a promo segment every single damned episode or Raw? Come on, WWE, let the guy do what he does best, and that’s make a bumbling fool out of John Laurinaitis. He’s still getting a pretty solid reaction out of the fans, at least top three in the company right now, and he ought to be treated as such.

8. WHY THE FUCK WOULD THE WWE HAVE NATALYA LOSE TO ALICIA FOX? I usually try to avoid swearing in my columns, but what the hell? Alicia is the closest thing to a jobber that the Diva’s division has. Has the WWE forgotten what it takes to make someone look dominant? They built Natalya and Beth as the Divas of Doom, but they haven’t looked strong or intimidating in months.

9. So, how much longer will John Morrison be a part of the WWE? Talk is that Morrison is planning on leaving the company when his contract expires, and that’s no real surprise. I’ve been saying it for a while: Morrison is a talented wrestler, but he can’t talk on the mic, and that’s going to limit his effectiveness in the WWE.

10. Well, I was interested in seeing Zack Ryder in the main-event, but the WWE took that away immediately. I would also like to see Miz and Truth beat Cena in the middle of the ring, but at least they’re taking it to him. Of course, considering the manic-depressive nature of the WWE Creative staff, it won’t stay that way for long. Especially since The Rock is going to team up Cena at Survivor Series. Hey, isn’t it weird that the only thing that really got a rise out of the crowd was the mere mention of The Rock’s name? Almost as weird as Cena spittin’ all over his mic.

Patrick Spohr learned everything he needed to know about the English language from the Jean-Claude Van Damme classic "Cyborg", including how to artfully describe Jean-Claude being crucified. Armed with this knowledge, Patrick has become a freelance writer of fiction and not-quite-fiction, or non-fiction to the layman.