For Your Consideration…An Indiscriminate Number of Thoughts on RAW 12/27/10

For Your Consideration…An Indiscriminate Number of Thoughts on RAW 12/27/10

Welcome back to the longest running, action-adventure, passive aggressive, day-late-and-a-dollar-short column on the world wide web, For Your Consideration. I’m your another year older host Andrew Wheeler, and I want to apologize again for missing the live Judicial Review. We here at FYC (yes, I spoke about myself as multiple entities) pride ourselves on being here every step of the way, but sometimes the opportunity to go out and celebrate one’s birthday with the wife, close friends and a nice glass of Scotch, one cannot help but make the tough choices.

Of course, the one week I miss happens to be one of the more important weeks in WWE Television this year. Super. I did, however, get a chance to catch RAW (on my brand new HDTV purchased by my amazing wife as easily a top 3 birthday present of all time) and figured I would toss out some thoughts on the show. I’ve done this before with PPVs and figured as a one-off, it would be fine with everyone. With that being said, you can always find me on the Twitter gimmick (http://www.twitter.com/awheeler316), friend on the Facebook gimmick or just post your comments down below.

An Indiscriminate Number of Thoughts on RAW 12/27/10

1. Seeing RAW on HD is actually pretty cool. I even dug the crawl on the bottom of the screen because it was so clear. That “ooh” and “aah” about ads during a match lasted about twelve seconds.

2. Cena’s entrance still generates a ridiculous pop whenever he comes out. Say what you want about the guy but he has sustained his heat for a longer period of time than a lot of main eventers.

3. John talking about the diet soda incident was pretty funny. Like I said last week, there’ve been feuds about less (shampoo, coffee, beer). I knew that Punk was going to say that it was about so much more, but for about twenty seconds, John Cena constructed a logical promo setting up an angle about a beverage, man.

4. Where the hell can you still find a soda for 75 cents?

5. Punk’s dissection of John Cena was absolutely priceless. He kept up the intensity and the pure bile needed to get this thing over convincingly. And, just like the Jeff Hardy feud, Punk is making coherent and logical arguments about why he did what he did. Ask any writer worth his salt and he’ll tell you that the best villains are the ones who think they’re completely justified.

6. Did anyone else find it odd to hear Batista’s name mentioned on television again? Vince usually doesn’t namedrop someone unless he’s trying to get them back in the fold, so maybe this is them extending out some feelers (an expression that is just incredibly creepy).

7. John firing back with his Nuremburg justifications as to why he attacked Nexus and Batista was a very subtle way to help turn more people against him. He was justifying actions that, if he were completely in the right, he wouldn’t need to justify. To the general audience, this is a way to give credence to what Punk’s saying.

8. Cena then going on to talk about how he makes fun of everyone made him seem desperate and defensive, and it was intended to do that. His character’s defense mechanism is the humor, and whenever you tell someone that his joke went too far, he always feels the need to say that he was just joking around and makes fun of everyone.

9. While the promo overall was killer, it did go a little too long without a direction. The whole “I’m gonna call you out” payoff just didn’t fully deliver. On the plus side, I could happily live with several more weeks of these two jousting on the stick (which sounds a lot more homoerotic than it should).

10. Yes, Teddy absolutely needed to job here. You can’t do the old “I’ve hit rock bottom” angle without actually hitting rock bottom, and jobbing cleanly to Santino is about as baseline granite as you can get.

11. I did not like the Miz/Mizfit backstage promo. The acting felt WAY off as Mizfit just seemed like he was waiting to deliver his line. It was brutal. Then John Slo-Mo-Rrison pops up and does nothing to elevate the preceding. How the hell did one of the best guys on the microphone get this awful? As a heel he was supremely entertaining, but as a face he’s so bland and generic that if you close your eyes you’d swear you were listening to 2002 Edge.

12. So if John Slo-Mo-Rrison wins, he gets to name the time and place for the match but if he loses he forfeits his title shot? How the hell is that worth the risk for a face to take? He has a GUARANTEED shot at the title. Guaranteed. Locked in stone. And he risks this to do what, exactly? Choose the venue? That’s like saying I’m going to hand you a million dollars and you say you’ll risk the million dollars for a chance to get a million dollars in pennies. I know this is absolute nitpicking, but I hate when they make the faces look like complete goons…even more than I hate The Goon.

13. Hey, Alex Riley jobs again. He almost seems like he’s regressing in the ring, which isn’t a good sign. The guy delivered killer promos in NXT, but once he lost his alpha dog gimmick and became a lackey, he hasn’t had any true intensity. Riley’s been in there with Cena, Orton and Morrison, so I expect him to step up a little.

14. I like John Morrison demanding his title shot next week. This one actually made sense. John’s never won the big one (as per federal statute, ECW World Title runs no longer count, which explains why Chavo was dressed like a bird), so he’s anxious to do it as soon as possible. Also, the pressure is off for Morrison to have to deliver in a World Title Match against Miz, who also hasn’t had that much main event exposure. Will Morrison win? Absolutely not. Since it’s Falls Count Anywhere, Mizfit will try to interfere but be neutralized. Sheamus will then come out and extract revenge on Morrison which will bring out Orton which sets up a nice four-way for the PPV.

15. I really hope the Miz/Mizfit promo about focusing on Lawler wasn’t starting the slow burn for them to separate. Mizfit may not be shining in his role but he serves a purpose and is helping to make The Miz seem like a big deal.

16. So did Tyson Kidd’s bodyguard Natt Norgan fail a Wellness Policy or something? That was a puzzling squash, especially when they were setting up a nice Kidd/Bryan feud. So now we’re supposed to take Tyson seriously as a contender when he just got flattened by the World’s Strongest Nonentity?

17. Miz cuts ANOTHER promo? Really? Really?

18. Was Jerry wearing that sweatshirt because he was chilly or because he lost his ring gear?

19. I think I’m good with the Miz/Lawler matches. You guys can stop now.

20. Punk’s little vignettes where he’s talking to the cameramen and the trainers about how they should get ready for what he does to Cena were nice. They make him seem like a cocky prick, which is fine. The Snooki comment scared me…until I found out that she responded. Well, I guess the company’s going to promote Garfield being dropped on New Years.

21. What does it say about TNAwful when they can’t even get A-List members of “Jersey Shore” to acknowledge their programming?

22. A Diva tag match? Natalya on commentary? Thank you very much, fast-forward button.

23. “We’re back with this match joined in progress.” We had time for The Miz to cut eleven promos but not enough time to show the entirety of what would have been a three minute Bryan/Ryder match? That blizzard must have done something to Creative. “You got that moisture on your head.”

24. Hey, Miz attacked Lawler again. Good. This is continuing. This is happening. What could go wrong with having a new champion feud with a veteran and an upper midcarder? Jericho’s first run as Undisputed Champion was an unquestioned success…right? Right?

25. People seem upset about the Sheamus/Orton match. I’m perfectly fine with it. They’re two main eventers who got a chance to go out there and put on a decent match. They had some time, did some nice stuff and ended with a clean pin. Sheamus still looks like a threat (as well as the Lord of the Trees) and Orton’s RKO is reestablished as a lightning fast finisher. When the Rumble match becomes a four-way, the WWE needed to give us a fresh reminder that Randy and Sheamus don’t like each other.

26. So Cena’s big move was to call out the guy who was going to call him out? He’s no Lanny Poffo, that’s for sure.

27. Seeing Nexus without Wade Barrett really hammers home my claim that they are the Mid-Card All-Stars.

28. Otunga played the role of sniveling heel who’s had enough really well. This was the same reaction he had when he proposed to Jennifer Hudson.

29. The repetitiveness of the Nexus beatdown was intended to feel stale. Again, the subtle elements at play were surprisingly effective, which makes me wonder how the same staff couldn’t find a single damn thing to do with Kaval-ki.

30. Punk’s post-beatdown-beatdown could have been incredibly anticlimactic, but instead it was a really smart idea. When he sat down in that chair, there was genuine tension. It was a quiet moment that resonated, and it hammered home the fact that Punk is one of the best in the business today.

For Your Consideration…On Punk joining Nexus

So CM Punk has stepped into Wade Barrett’s shoes and become the leader of Nexus. This was a big, bold move that made next week’s RAW must watch television. Between the intrigue of his decision and the FREE Miz/Morrison title match, RAW should do very strong numbers. With an unproven champion, doing other “big” things certainly relieves the pressure on The Miz a little.

I like the idea of putting Punk in Nexus. I don’t see this as a major, longterm move, but CM Punk certainly adds new legitimacy to a group that was looking rudderless after John Cena wiped them all out and essentially muderballed Wade Barrett.

Punk does well in the cult leader role, and unlike the Straight Edge Society, these guys should be around for a little while. This helps further the Nexus/Cena storyline for a few more weeks while allowing for a Punk/Cena feud in which it isn’t just going to be CM Punk getting FU’d over and over again.

The Nexus storyline has been surprisingly resilient, surviving the initial loss of Daniel Bryan and adding a better roster while cutting the lesser members. The Nexus storyline has allowed the WWE to do a number of interesting angles, including Cena as a member and the intrigue around Barrett/Orton. Now, with Punk on board, you have an Internet darling that can potentially make the group into an even stronger stable.

Without making Punk align himself with Nexus, the WWE was left in an uncomfortable position, like the back of a Volkswagen. How could they have a Punk/Cena storyline AND a Cena/Nexus storyline occur simultaneously? If they tried this, it would marginalize Punk’s role in the feud, since he wouldn’t be the primary villain. On the other hand, if they just kept Nexus off television they would lose any heat they may still have (a precious commodity in the current climate).

People are leaping to the conclusion that this will forever ruin CM Punk. Really? So one of the most talented guys in the industry is going to be ruined by entering a main event feud with the biggest name on the roster? This is the same CM Punk who made the stale “heel shaves people’s heads” gimmick work. He made the lame mask work. He’s exciting to the wrestling community because he’s actually someone who can draw tremendous amount of heat in a TV-PG environment and yet still come off as edgy. If any of that parlays onto Nexus, this whole thing is a success.

The Royal Rumble could very well have two four-way matches headline the show. Smackdown still has the same four guys feuding at the top, and while an Edge/Del Rio main event could be interesting, it leaves Rey and Kane little to do but enter the Rumble and be eliminated. On the other hand, Rumble has been a time for lame duck contenders (coughBobHollycough), so maybe Del Rio will get a chance. RAW will undoubtedly feature some form of Sheamus/Morrison/Miz/Orton, which is a nice mix of proven main eventers and potential new main eventers. The Rumble itself has always been a draw, as it is a very fun match (when done right). On top of that, a Cena/Punk match bolstered by Nexus is enough to make this a can’t-miss show for the general wrestling public.

In the end, it’s the WWE showing continued support for CM Punk, which is a good thing. Without him leading Nexus, he could have fallen into the murky upper-card heel pit that Edge found himself in. Like I always say, marks have the knee-jerk reactions while smart fans look at the big picture. This move shows that Vince has faith in Punk and if he makes Nexus a hot angle, he has once again shown that he can spin anything into gold.

This has been for your consideration.

[Editor’s Note: This was written before knowledge of the John Cena injury. His potential leg injury only further justifies putting Punk in Nexus as now Punk and his Merry Midcarders can claim responsibility and run a one-sided feud for a few weeks to help establish CM Punk as the most dastardly man this side of Danny Davis.]