Welcome to another edition of 10 Thoughts on Raw. This is a big show coming out of last night’s Hell in a Cell PPV. What is the future for John Cena and The Nexus? Who will challenge for the WWE Championship at Bragging Rights?
For more wrestling thoughts, check out itswilltime.wordpress.com, where right now I’m talking about how WWE can replace Michael Cole as their lead commentator and why it should be done and you can read some of my post-Hell in a Cell thoughts.
Also, make sure to check Pulse Wrestling on Tuesday night to see the all new, mostly-nightly Will Time column.
1. I’m surprised to see The Nexus and John Cena open tonight’s Raw. That could have been saved for the main event and teased for most of the show.
2. John Cena did some great work during the tag team match. Some of it was overblown, but he sold the angle well.
3. Before the Raw GM said that John Cena had to fall in and follow Wade Barrett I was worried that WWE would give this whole angle away in a night. Way to show some restraint.
4. After last night’s intense match, why is Sheamus competing at full strength. Losing a Hell in a Cell match should mean that a guy is out for at least two weeks. This is just more devaluing of the gimmick.
5. Why was Daniel Bryan used for Sheamus to beat? Primo, Goldust and Yoshi Tatsu are still on this show. Does this mean that since Bryan is done with Miz he is not a major player?
6. Michael Cole was in rare heel form tonight. How much longer can he call Raw? WWE is damaging their brand by having their lead pitchman for PPVs be a major heel. People can’t trust Michael Cole and therefore don’t believe him when he says that a show is a can’t-miss event. For the extended version of this thought, check out itswilltime.wordpress.com.
7. Edge and Miz will be great team captains for Bragging Rights. This makes Miz look totally major league since last year the captains were DX. It’s all just another step in building him up.
8. Goldust is in great shape and laid Dibiase out with one hell of a suplex. Him and Dibiase can have a really nice program together that elevates Diabiase and Maryse’s relationship.
9. If I were WWE, I probably would have hyped the 20 Battle Royal before Raw. It’s newsworthy in that is crowns a new number one contender and it’s a match that a lot of fans tend to enjoy. Not hyping this was TNA bad.
10. Why eliminate Evan Bourne so soon in the match? You can illustrate the point that Sheamus means business with less valuable talent than Bourne.
BONUS THOUGHTS!
11. Although it’s been done before, I like the idea of John Cena creating dissent within Nexus without getting too physical. The group imploding is more interesting than it being beat.
12. Why should I care that Mark Henry is emotionally hurt by John Cena being in Nexus? In the end they both want the championship, so that friendship shouldn’t matter in a Battle Royal.
13. Michael Cole called the match as if the true goal was to eliminate Nexus and not get a WWE Championship shot. Poor choice Cole.
14. Why is it that we hear that Edge was traded to Smackdown about 12 times, but not once have the announcers asked who Raw would be getting for Edge?
15. Really great tension and a hot crowd for the end of the Battle Royal. If there was more time to build up to Bragging Rights I would have liked to see that moment this week.
16. With all of the Cena drama, I had almost forgotten about Randy Orton. Barrett vs Orton may not seem like the biggest main event, but with big names in the Bragging Rights match it is a good choice. This is also a very fresh match, which matters a lot.
That’s all for me this week. I hope you didn’t mind the very large amount of thoughts. I didn’t mind writing them. For more on Michael Cole and his future check out itswilltime.wordpress.com and make sure to check back Tuesday night on Pulse for Will Time.
