1. These video Rock promos are really suffering from the law of diminishing returns. He gets a good line or two during them, but they just don’t make him feel special the way a live appearance does, and worse, they cheapen the live appearances. Since Raw is hyping a 3-hour show based on his return…
2. CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio put on master classes on working with big guys in very different manners. Punk kept Henry to a fast pace, bumping off of him, allowing both to look good, while Del Rio’s grounding of Show was good, classic wrestling storytelling. Interestingly, it was reminiscent of Shawn Michaels, who would work a big guy like Punk, and Bret Hart, who works similarly to Del Rio. Punk’s beatdown of Del Rio to get the title shot was exactly the kind of move he needs to be making, by the way.
3. The Muppet segments were awesome, particularly cool being Beaker and Sheamus, but Kermit dealing with Swagger and Gonzo enjoying his Team Vickie beatdown were all classic. The only one that didn’t work for me was Hornswoggle and Miss Piggy. Apparently even the Muppets can’t make Hornswoggle watchable.
4. Cody Rhodes is going to be a big star. Not only did he look incredible in his tag match with Barrett against Air Boom, his facial expression when he bagged Kermit were likewise top notch. In the ring, he can not only work, but also differentiates his moves and style enough from the rest of the roster to really stand out. Of everyone not on top now, he’s the guy I can most easily see moving to the main event permanently.
5. Teasing JR for the Michael Cole challenge? Fail. At least JR wasn’t embarrassed, yet. We all know it’s coming, though, as a commenter raised the point – he keeps coming back for it.
6. Notice how badly Zack Ryder made it seem like he wanted the win? That’s huge and really makes the crowd care. His being so earnest makes the crowd want to see him win and, when he does, it becomes cathartic.
7. Moment of the night from Ivan’s Raw Report: Miz comes out, and we go back up to the balcony. Statler: “Waldorf, John Cena is going to be wrestling next! You can’t see me!†Waldorf: “I can’t see anything.†Statler: “Well, he’s going to be wrestling the Miz, so consider yourself lucky.â€
8. The Divas costumes all being so much more covered up than their usual attire amused me. Think that’ll send a red flag about their attire to anyone in the back?
9. Cena-Miz is a main even that makes sense, but, in Atlanta? Really? The fans get the same main event as the last time WWE were in town, at a far bigger show, with a far lesser run in this time, as we’ve gone from The Rock running out to Truth. And amazingly, Cena looks even worse with army shorts and sneakers than he does in Jorts, then he killed both Miz and Truth alone. I can see why he’ll need Rock.
10. Overall, this was a pretty entertaining Raw. It wasn’t s as good as their awesome Summer run, of course, but, well, the Muppets saved any number of segments that could have been terrible, the wrestling was fast-paced, and the crowd energetic. It’s probably a 6.5, but is getting bumped up thanks to a lack of Hunter. Rating: 7/10
