Welcome to this week’s 10 Thoughts on Raw. One would think that there might be some big things going down this week as the 3 Hour Summer Shows usually have some sort of ‘surprise’ ending. Vince being killed, Vince having an illegitimate son, Nexus attacking, ECW’s rebirth all come to mind. Well tonight should be a great one either way.
1. Why don’t they have a unique set-up for this week’s show? The stage should be set-up differently than any other Raw. The only real change I noticed is the bar across the top of the Titan Tron says All Star Raw. As Angle would say, ‘well whoopty freakin’ do.’ They could have done something different. It should have been made to look more like a PPV entrance. It would change the atmosphere and give this show a different look than just an extended Raw.
2. Well I called them moving del Rio vs Kane to this show, but it actually held my attention so bravo to del Rio and Kane. Alberto even came off as dangerous as he wasn’t looking for the win, but instead to take out Kane entirely. Big Show is back and he’s pissed off as ever. Still… is Big Show really going to beat del Rio at Capital Punishment? Really?
3. Seriously we had two 5 count DQs in one show? First del Rio and then Christian? All to establish that they are heels who don’t care about rules? Hell let Christian hit Rey with the ladder and then perform a Splash off of the top, but please just swap it up!
4. I thought they would have more cross-brand matches than they did, but alas what point would that have made? That would have just been matches that we could have expected a month or two ago on their own respective brands. Hey Iain! I need you to explain the need for brand extension in 5 words.
5. I once again am impressed with the handling of R-Truth. He takes out John Morrison, costs Cena his main event match, and then creams him with the water bottle. No, I don’t know how plastic filled with hydrogen dioxide compressed against the heavyweight champion’s cranium is supposed to severe his abilities to rebound. However, he didn’t come back from it.
5a. I loved the R-Truth interaction backstage involving John Morrison being taken out. Have to love R-Truth stealing Mr. Anderson’s attack patterns and using them on John Morrison.
6. Sheamus was the #1 Contender for the World Title last week right? Well how is the former #1 Contender fighting SANTINO? I thought this was ALL STARS week. He should have been fighting someone of equal caliber such as… yeah never mind. Where was Mark Henry anyways? He wasn’t on SmackDown either… Oh hell, Zack Ryder wasn’t even on the freaking show. And it’s his home town for Pete’s sake.
7. I really got into the Christian and Rey match tonight. That feud could very well be an interesting one for future times, but with the Nexus interference, Christian’s inability to hit the Killswitch, and Mason demolishing Mysterio, it worked. This is the only part of the Punk/Rey feud I’ve even cared about since they were thrown back together.
8. Holy. Crap. How. Did. Alex. Riley. Get. So. Popular??? Seriously Riley gets into the ring with freaking The Miz and ROWDY RODDY PIPER and who gets the chant? Not Rowdy, but RILEY! I’m just shocked at how well the crowd brought Riley in and have totally enveloped the guy. He’s over huge and my only guess is that fighting Miz is THE way to get over younger talent. Look at Daniel Bryan for instance! He got some serious cheers when he feuded Miz.
9. I was a big fan of the Austin-involvement this week. All of the segments involving del Rio, Miz, Dolph, and Punk were phenomenal. I had to say that the best one was the Punk one as a feud between Austin and Punk is one made in heaven. Austin loves beer, Punk would rather drink horse urine. Austin doesn’t like mocking, Punk can’t help but point out failures and mock his adversaries for them. Dream feud there.
10. Overall the crowd seemed pretty dead, I guess that was the calm before the storm of the Ryder Riot. The only match I can solidly remember the crowd getting behind was the main event with Cena vs Punk. Seriously who cheers Let’s Go Cena/CM Punk during a resthold? Only the LI, that’s who! I guess they just gave up on seeing Foley, Ryder, or Hawkins.
Overall a pretty decent show, next week looks to be an interesting show, but alas I will be in Lincoln, Nebraska with no computer or TV so I’ll be interested to see how it all folds out.
Thanks for reading!
And quite frankly my dear… that’s a wrap!
