Welcome back to 10 Thoughts on Raw, the best destination for stickin’ it to Rhett Davis. Tonight we’ll see who will be crowned WWE champion, as well as witness the fallout from the Hunter takeover. I know a lot of people took to the internet following last week’s Raw in order to espouse that “Raw = Fail,†or some such droll witticism. I’ll just say that last week’s episode was not what I hoped it would be following one of the best-reviewed WWE PPVs in recent memory, but it didn’t ruin the storyline. There are a lot of ways this could go; some good, some bad. If, after a month or so, the WWE looks to be taking a blowtorch to the Punk storyline, then I’ll be right alongside many of you laying siege to the Titan Towers. Until then, I’ll hold off and see what the WWE has in store for us. Before we get to the thoughts, I’ll address a few comments from last week’s column.
Michael: I’ll say this about your idea for del Rio: it could work, but to me it opens up the door for a lot of possibly overbooked angles involving the MITB briefcase. If del Rio can just hand over the contract for the belt, could we see future angles where a MITB winner barters with their MITB contract to get something they want, or get a different title shot? I like that the briefcase is, so far, pleasantly straight-forward. As for Vince’s questionable decisions, I don’t think that HHH thought that the tournament was one of them. Vince wanting to fire Cena and Vince approving the Punk match were probably the two major ones he was discussing. That’s just my opinion of course.
Phil: I’ve always seen Morrison as a mid- to upper-mid-carder mainly because he has never been good on the mic. Could he get better? Certainly, and he has the in-ring ability to back it up, but I don’t know if he’s the kind of talent who will ever be a top promo guy. Once he comes back we’ll be able to see where he stands.
Sideshowbob: I guess anything is possible, but I don’t see that angle popping up. After all, it’s only been a couple of months since Sinclair Broadcasting Group purchased RoH. If the TV deal doesn’t work out to their liking, WWE could pick up the promotion, but I doubt it. I’ll say this: if Sinclair is staring down bankruptcy again like they were in 2009, and the company needs to dump assets, that would be the most likely time for Vince to make a move since he could purchase the company at a bargain-basement price.
Wally Kovacs: I agree with you there. I think Vince may be greasing the wheels with RoH so the two companies can come to some kind of talent-trading agreement. The WWE could pick up RoH talent, and the WWE could promote the company, give them cash for outgoing workers, and loan workers to them on a part-time basis.
1. Opening up with the Championship match? I think the WWE might be setting us up for some shenanigans tonight. This Virginia crowd seems much more against the Miz than some other crowds in recent weeks. However, I could certainly see him making a face turn at some point in the not-too-distant future.
2. God, I know you’re the heel on commentary, Cole, but your whole spiel about how Mysterio couldn’t make public appearances as a champion because of his mask is ridiculous. I don’t want to see the belt on Mysterio, but does Cole forget that Rey makes a ton of public appearances as it is? It’s distinctive; there are plenty of arguments against Rey winning the belt, but that might be the stupidest one I have ever heard.
3. Eh, I guess this was inevitable, but I don’t like it. This should have been an opportunity to put the belt on a young guy. The match itself had some okay spots, but overall it felt pretty rusty; the chemistry was kind of lacking here. Yes, it’s Alberto! I…damn it. This seemed like a good opportunity for Alberto to pick up his first WWE championship, but I guess they’ll be putting that off.
4. Is it just me, or does the US championship belt look like it was made from a do-it-yourself, paint-by-numbers kit? It’s not as hideous as the Diva’s belt, but it just doesn’t look that good to me. At least Dolph is in a match with someone other than Kofi this week.
5. I’ve already insulted Cole, so know it’s King’s turn. Jerry, never…EVER try to inject topical political humor into your repertoire. I think your comedy is death…just like that trailer-park moron from the Keystone Light commercials. Leave it to advertising executives to be delusional enough to think that a greasy-haired .38 Special-reject would ever be attractive to a woman that still has all her teeth.
6. Huh, I thought they would have held off on bringing out HHH until the end of the night. You know what, let me keep time on how long Hunter’s promo takes. Oh, damn it. Would I rather see Cena or Mysterio with the belt? That’s like asking me if I would rather shoot my left foot or right foot. Okay, the promo took about 17 minutes, but that wasn’t all HHH running his mouth, so it could have been worse.
7. Is JR coming back full-time? Please say it’s true; the broadcasting booth has been sorely lacking for a while. I would like to see them pick up somebody new, but having JR back behind the desk is better than what we’ve got right now.
8. Zack Ryder! Giving him a chance to beat up Cole on Raw could help with his babyface turn. I would suggest that the WWE give Zack a new entrance theme because his current theme is totally forgettable. Maybe the ‘E will finally start pushing the guy now, or it might be just another false-start. Considering the lack of bankable talent in the company right now, they should just give the guy a shot and see what he can do. The crowd reaction was really muted, however. While he might be popular online, he needs to make some in-roads with the casual fans.
9. Is this burgeoning del Rio/Kofi feud a good thing for Alberto? The match was pretty good, but I think the WWE needs to start putting him in some main-event matches and build him as a main-event player. They’ve done that on occasion, but they’ve also stopped it cold in the past.
10. This championship match hasn’t been good, but having JR on commentary again is so much better than the status-quo that has been forced on us. AA, and Cena wins the title, and we’re right back were we started. I didn’t want Rey to win the title tonight, but I have to feel a little bad for the guy, winning the title and losing it again within a night. And here comes Punk.
Well, that episode of Raw just kind of sucked. Punk returning was an interesting twist, though he didn’t do anything, and having JR back is good. But I don’t understand putting the belt on Cena; the dude lost his match fair and square, and having him win back the title within two weeks makes the whole tournament a bunch of filler. Hunter could have just negated the MITB match and given the belt back to Cena for all the good it did. Not only that, but the WWE made this win look weak since Cena was fresh and Mysterio had already worked a match earlier in the evening. I suppose that the WWE will consolidate the titles at Summerslam, and hopefully get rid of the spinner-belt (there have been rumblings that the WWE will change it). All I can say is that we’re headed for another week of impassioned debate here at Pulse Wrestling; some people will love the fact that Punk is back already, some will hate it. Really, it’ll only be as good as the WWE is willing to make it. Oh, and if Cena beats Punk clean, I’ll be heading to Titan Towers with a pitchfork.
Pluuuuuugssss!
Check out the latest installment of CB’s World where Chris discusses the last time HHH reigned over the WWE.
We also have Pulse Glazer’s sure-to-be controversial Monday Morning Backlash where he asks, “Who is the best wrestler in the WWE today?”
Andy Wheeler waxes passive-aggressive over at For Your Consideration.
And the rest of the staff will have much more for you throughout the week!
