Welcome back to 10 Thoughts on Raw! Well, Money in the Bank was one hell of a Pay-Per-View, and it should provide the WWE with ample story-line fodder for the next couple of months. Unless, you know, they screw it up. Well, tonight’s episode of Raw will go a long way towards answering some of the remaining questions following MITB. Will Punk make an appearance? What will Vince do without a heavyweight title for his flagship program? Will Cena stay fired for at least a week? I won’t hazard a guess; the WWE already made a fool out of me and my roundtable picks.
Before things get underway, I’d like to thank everyone for sharing their often outlandish theories regarding the Punk/Cena storyline. Considering the length of Foxxxy’s comments last week, I can only assume Foxxxy has written a doctoral thesis regarding the greater ramifications of the Punk/Cena/McMahon dynamic already. Actually, this whole angle has turned the entirety of the IWC into a bunch of amateur conspiracy theorists, which is an insult to the important work of professional conspiracy theorists, the totally 100%-sane individuals devoted to uncovering the nefarious machinations of the lizard people. The same lizard people who might have co-opted Nickelback into their plans for world domination. Or maybe Nickelback are the lizard people! Hmm…I’ll investigate this later. On to the thoughts:
1. Wow, what the hell is going on with Vince’s jacket? He looks like a ’70’s pimp in corporate attire. I’m no fashion expert, but I can’t imagine walking out in front of a crowd dressed like that. Especially considering how built Vince is; it’d be like putting a juiced-up bodybuilder in an Easter Bunny costume.
2. The tournament format makes sense to me, more-so because I predicted this move. It doesn’t make sense to just place a new belt on Alberto del Rio since he already has the MITB briefcase. Where would they go with del Rio’s character if he had the belt AND the briefcase? I guess they could still put the belt on him this week if del Rio cashes-in later tonight, but I think he should hold on to the case for a while.
3. I did believe that the Miz’s injury was more serious than it has turned out to be when I first saw the fall on Sunday. It’s good the guy is still able to work; the ‘E already lost Punk and Sin Cara last night, they can’t afford to lose too many other guys. Yeah, I think A-Ry’s pop is dying down quite a bit; moving him to Smackdown and putting him in an Intercontinental title feud could help him out quite a bit. Is it just me, or is having A-Ry attack Miz’s injured knee in this fashion kind of a heel move? Riley is looking a little slow tonight; I don’t know if he’s still worn-out from his MITB match last night. And the Miz wins! This makes sense; A-Ry is too green, and the Miz is starting to get a good pop from the crowd (listen to the pop he got when he came back to action in the Raw MITB match).
4. I’m guessing when they call John Morrison “dynamicâ€, they’re not talking about his mic work. I like the guy in the ring, and it’ll be nice to have him back, but he seriously needs to improve his promo-cutting abilities.
5. What are the “severe consequences†that are coming to Cena? They already stated outright that Cena will be fired if he lost, so what else could they possibly do to this guy if he’s no longer an employee of the WWE? Is this some ugly foreshadowing on the part of the ‘E? If Cena isn’t even off TV for a week…again, then the WWE has officially killed the “You’re Fired!†angle forever.
6. Del Rio’s unmasking of Rey Mysterio was fantastic, along with Rey hopping onto the adjacent ladder while covering his face. Hey, Ricardo is back! Man, I missed that guy; I guess I wasn’t aware of how big a part of del Rio’s entrance he was until he was gone. Know what else was awesome? Kofi using the top-rope to leap-frog over Jack Swagger straight onto the ladder on Sunday. I think Kofi and del Rio have shown some good chemistry tonight, to get off the topic of MITB. Kofi winning makes sense here as well; del Rio stalking the new champion behind the scenes and striking at the most opportune moment just makes more sense.
7. I have a hard time believing that Mysterio will win the belt. As I mentioned in my MITB roundtable picks, Mysterio is nearing the end of his career, and what happens if he gets injured while he has the title? We know how much the WWE hates having someone lay the belt down, but if his knee gives out again they might have no other option. Wow, remember the hype behind the Bret Hart/British Bulldog Intercontinental title match? It’s kind of bittersweet to be reminded of a time when the IC belt was such a prized, respected title. Okay, I think Josh Matthew’s look when Kofi ended his promo was kind of…interesting. There was a certain air of quiet longing there. It’s okay, Josh, you’ll find the right one some day.
8. Dolph Ziggler having a good match? That’s un-possible! Ziggler obviously wasn’t going to win this thing while he still had the US title around his waist, but I think he’s starting to come into his own on the mic, and I’d like to see him with the WWE championship. That being said, it may be time for the WWE to take Vickie out of his corner and let him develop a new character. She did a good job of bringing a lot of heat on Dolph, but her usefulness here has run its course. I know, here I am talking about Ziggler in glowing terms again. If I keep this up, people will start talking…
9. So, we have the Miz and Mysterio in the final. I…huh, Vince is swaggering his way out to the ring in his Pepto-Bismol jacket. Pushing the championship match until next week? I guess that’s a good way to keep the suspense going.
10. The crowd in Green Bay is behind CM Punk, which is nice to see. At least Lawler won’t be able to claim that Punk’s reception in Chicago was simply due to hometown bias anymore. Well, well, well, Cena is here. Can the WWE suck it up and keep the guy off TV for even a week to sell this? Cena has kept the dumb jokes to a minimum, and I think he did a good job in his promo here. His Hulk Hogan, TNA reference surprised me. HHH? I knew he was going to make an appearance soon, I just thought it was going to be last night. While it’s a good idea to start painting HHH as a powerful executive, I worry that this is turning into an Invasion-esque company split. Uh-oh…this is starting to feel like an episode of Impact, what with all the legal maneuvering.
Okay, big hand to Vince and HHH for their performances to close the show. I think they did a great job. Cena did a good job as well, and I’m not even all that pissed that the whole “You’re Fired!†angle didn’t come to pass; HHH negated the whole firing, so that issue fixed itself. However, I worry that we’ll see Vince try to worm his way back into the spotlight and feud with HHH by-proxy, kind of like how he feuded with Shane after the purchase of WCW, and we all know how well that worked out. I really, really don’t want to have Raw drawn into a quagmire of legal motions and lawsuits. I’ll see you next week! And Rhett, thanks for publicly calling me crazy. One of these days, you’re gonna’ get got!
