10 Thoughts on WWE Raw for 11.15.2010 feat. Old School with the Return of Jim Ross

Reviews, Shows, Top Story, TV Shows

Welcome to another fantastic edition of my 10 Thoughts on WWE Raw! This week, we’re going old school and you all know that when Raw goes three hours I have trouble keeping it down to just 10 thoughts. Remember, there are a ton of exclusive columns on my blog itswilltime.wordpress.com that you would absolutely love reading.

Now on with the thoughts!

1. The entire first five minutes of this week’s Raw were great fun. The old school set (an amalgamation of 1995 and 1997) looked really good and the banners and ring aprons made the entire show feel great.

2. I like the idea of John Cena protecting Randy Orton from The Miz to protect his job. It is a fun story point to this rivalry with Wade Barrett and John Cena that we haven’t seen yet.

3. “Sexual Chocolate” Mark Henry! That was an absolutely awful gimmick, but reliving it for an evening was fun.

4. Old school promos in the corner of the screen. I love seeing this storytelling device. It makes the match mean more and is such a little thing to do.

5. Alright, so Tyson Kidd is the heel. Good to know. Thanks WWE.

6. Harvey Wippleman might be my least favorite manager. Why couldn’t Ezekiel Jackson beat him up?

7. I didn’t hate John Cena squashing Alex Riley. It needed to happen and it provided a nice tease of what the buildup to Miz vs Cena could be.

8. Both of the John Morrison segments tonight were pretty good. I was worried when he grabbed a microphone after kicking Sheamus, but he wasn’t bad. Morrison’s backstage chat with the legends was a little more disappointing, but he did not strike out. Sheamus vs Morrison should be an exciting match.

9. Not a bad match between Otunga and Kofi Kingston. The George Steele run in was fantastic, although it made no sense. This whole night is getting looked at in a cheery way by me just because the nostalgia kick is so fun.

10. One of the underlying stories of the evening was Wade Barrett finally claiming his legitimacy and saying that there would be no need for a screwjob at Survivor Series. His match with R-Truth helped make him look like a true threat to be WWE Champion in this match.

BONUS THOUGHTS!

11. The Sgt. Slaughter vs Alberto Del Rio match was silly, but still entertaining. I still have nightmares about the Raw that Slaughter hosted in Calgary last year, but he may have redeemed himself tonight.

12. Holy crap! Jim Ross on Raw! I love it. He looks great and I’m happy to hear Jim Ross’ voice again.

13. Isn’t it funny how Ross starts talking and the product immediately seems more legitimate. He says something and I do not have to question him and wonder who’s side he is on. Ross is the best play-by-play man of all time and I guarantee PPV buys would go up with him behind the desk.

14. Shut the hell up Michael Cole. I want to put you on an island with R-Truth rapping and forget that the two of them exist. Cole used to have credibility but hearing him here talking about Ross, I want him gone.

15. On top of a segment with JR announcing, we get a great Piper’s Pit with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Piper’s promo about never winning a WWE Championship gave me chills. It made the belt mean more as we heard about all of the legends that never held it.

16. John Cena’s promise to call it fairly at Survivor Series was a great touch to the match. We all know that he will be put into a situation where he will have to make a choice, but it is better to believe that he will just be impartial.

17. What a great go home segment going into Survivor Series. Everyone played their parts well and sold me on a Survivor Series show that I was actually dreading.

Wow! This was the best three hour Raw show that we have seen. It might have even been the best show this year. It had it’s flaws, but it turned out to be a really fun show. This is the type of show that reminds me what what wrestling was when I fell in love with it.

Will is a 23 year old graduate student at UC Irvine. He is going to school for Stage Management and has always been passionate about pro wrestling. He began writing "The People's Column" in 2009. In 2010 he started his own wrestling blog, which is growing at an alarming rate. He is married to a beautiful woman (pictured on his profile) who accompanies him to most wrestling events that he goes to. Will is thankful for everyone who reads and interacts with him on Pulse and on his blog.