{Ed. Note: Sanders and I never really got together before Raw to discuss who was covering the show. Hence, two 10 Thoughts on Raw columns this week. By the way, any links you see, link to desktop wallpapers or our Redbubble store. – MJH}
1. Having Shawn Michaels open Raw (complete with his classic entrance with pyro) was a great hook for those people (myself included) who have been iffy on Raw lately. Michaels is a new wrinkle in the same story they’ve been telling since July & it’s just enough for me not to switch the channel right off the bat. His exchange with Randy Orton was good but a little off in some parts. One was Orton’s line about how Shawn knows that Orton will always be better. It was too forced & pretty hard to swallow no matter how big Orton’s ego is supposed to be. Besides for that, it was short but strong opening segment. It always hurts me a little inside when we’re able to see that Shawn Michaels could still wrestle a fantastic match and we’ll probably never get to see it. It was also a nice touch how Michaels played both sides of the fence when closing the promo. On one hand, he’ll have no problem hitting Orton with Sweet Chin Music. But then he followed it up with the “DX/Suck It” line to keep that Triple H relationship on your mind. We know how great HBK could pull off this “conflicted” referee position since the Hell In A Cell match between Triple H and Undertaker featured a similar scenario with HHH being his best friend but yet Shawn had so much respect for Taker. There’s no chance of this WWE Championship match having that much emotion but I can see Michaels tapping into that angst come match time.
2. Decent match that was short enough that Orton & Miz never had to stall. The finish played out nicely as Orton got a cheap win, Miz has an excuse for the loss and we now have a pretty good explanation as to why Bray Wyatt is targeting The Miz. The Wyatt Family needed direction fast and if their next target is The Miz, at least it’s a target. Let’s just hope Wyatt’s injury isn’t so severe that this story will drag on for too long though.
3. Does anyone else who lived through the JBL/Eddie Guerrero feud think it’s hysterical that JBL is such an El Torito fan?
4. I honestly didn’t think Triple H was getting over as well as a heel as he is until he got knocked out last week & the reception he received this week. Fans almost always seemed a little indifferent to him unless he was “picking on” Daniel Bryan, which is a testament to Bryan’s character and not Triple H’s. But it seems now that Stephanie and HHH have blatantly said they are the “villains”, fans KNOW they can boo and mock them with freedom. I did love Stephanie’s line of, “With my power and support, Triple H is the WWE.” It was a great line that makes Stephanie sound like she’s the true boss & HHH is just the figurehead.
5. I should have known when I saw Tons of Funk that we would be seeing the Real Americans and a Cesaro Swing. There was more to this match than I ever expected. There was the impressive fisherman suplex into a bridge from Brodus Clay, the dead-lift gutwrench suplex to Tensai and the always astounding Neutralizer to Clay. I’m surprised how much The Real Americans have REALLY been playing to the crowd lately though. And thanks to the Cesaro Swing, the crowds are responding well. I wonder how the feud with Los Matadores is going to play out when people are only going to want to see Cesaro “Swing” El Torito.
6. That was one of the better executed “Beat The Clock” attempts I’ve seen in a while. Kudos to everyone for being spot on with the timing. I would have LOVED to see CM Punk vs Paul Heyman in a one-on-one Hell In A Cell match. They’re good enough storytellers that the match quality didn’t have to be that great for them to put on a very entertaining match. The addition of Ryback is an obvious “WWE” necessity but another Punk/Ryback match isn’t very enticing. Is anyone else bothered that they never make mention of the fact that Brad Maddox used to be a crooked referee that Paul Heyman paid off?
7. JBL just suggested a Daniel Bryan/Brooklyn Brawler match. Now I want to see that match.
8. Good match between Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan who both seem to have learned their craft somewhat similarly. It’s surprising we haven’t seen more matches between these two but I’m sure we will in the future. The finish left A LOT to be desired. I did like that Del Rio didn’t win with a cheap roll-up or that Bryan didn’t just knock out Del Rio and leave. My problem is with what was happening on the Titan Tron. We’re meant to believe that the cameraman & the trainer are too afraid of Randy Orton to prevent a possible rape of one or more women? That and the cheesy screaming we heard were just a little too much. You could have just shown Orton going into the trainer’s room without ever showing the Bellas back there & still would have gotten the same result.
9. I actually liked the “iPhone video package” MUCH more than the stereotypical hype videos we get when John Cena returns from injury (although turn the damn phone sideways when recording a video! Sorry, pet peeve of mine.) It wasn’t too dramatic and showed his progress in a real way that proves the man is a freak of nature when it comes to recovering from injury.
10. The Shield should come down the entrance ramp one match and really surprise the hell out of their opponents. I loved the in-ring introductions for a Tag Team Championship match though. We get it for the other major championship matches, why not the Tag Team title matches? Anyway, I’ve said since this story started that Cody Rhodes and Goldust seem like the first tag team to actually have a chance to take the belts from The Shield. There’s something about a natural partnership and a legitimate/personal back story that connects with both a crowd & a television audience. This had to have been a dream for Cody and Dustin & the fact that they were able to see it through is phenomenal. You can tell that Goldust has been working his ass off for this opportunity and it to see it pay off is just awesome. Granted the Big Show run-in was expected, seemed somewhat necessary and I could have done without it, this was a great match with a great story and a legitimate feel-good moment when The Rhodes Brothers were handed the Tag Team Championships (even though the decision may be overturned). Much better Raw this week than last with the Hell In A Cell buildup immensely better than what came before Battleground.
