Welcome back to 10 Thoughts on Raw, everyone not named Rhett Davis! I won’t waste a lot of time this week, so let me get a few things over with. In Caught in the Ropes this week, I give some thoughts on recent news from WWE and TNA, including Gail Kim quitting, the new Diva’s storyline, and Kurt Angle as champion. I’ll also recommend this week’s installment of CB’s World, where CB discusses the Gail Kim situation as well, along with a few other subjects. Without further ado, Nickelback is violating me musically so that means it’s time for some thoughts.
1. HHH again? I don’t think that a bunch of execu-speak is the best way to start off Raw. I also don’t like that he’s taking up a lot of air-time in this storyline, time that could be devoted to Punk. Wow, big boos from the San Jose crowd when HHH mentioned Cena and big cheers for Punk. Last week, Punk’s reception was more muted and Cena’s reception more raucous. Okay, Hunter, who are you bringing in as guest referee? Oh…yourself. Great, just great. Damn it, this is unnecessary.
2. Man, was that a technical snafu? It sounded like the mic levels on Cena and HHH were way too low, and JR and company ended up completely talking over them. Having Cena’s music playing at the same time didn’t help either; I have no idea what either one said to the other. Oh, and now they have to play it back without the commentary. Yeah, that was a technical gaff.
3. How long are the WWE going to pummel us with Jack Swagger’s joke of a title run? Ever since he lost the Heavyweight Championship belt, the dude can’t win a match. The WWE can’t expect us to still take the guy seriously because he won the belt once.
4. Punk versus Alberto del Rio; that seems like more of a challenge than Cena versus Jack Swagger. You know, since Alberto actually wins matches.
5. So, are we headed for a Miz/Mysterio feud, or a Miz/Kofi feud? I guess since it appears that Dolph is heading into a program with Alex Riley, this might be Kofi’s next stop. Well, the match tonight was good, at the very least. Actually, it sounds like Rey is headed towards a championship feud after Summerslam, so I guess it will be Miz/Kofi for now. There are worse things the WWE could promote.
6. Punk’s promo before his match was better than last week’s, I’ll say that, but it still feels like he’s reading off a script. I think if the WWE learned anything from the worked-shoot, it’s that Punk is even better on the mic if he’s given free range to say whatever the hell he wants since he can still stay within the PG guidelines.
7. King, you don’t like it when guys tell you how successful they are? You used to practically wet your pants whenever The Rock came out to the ring, and he did nothing but tell people how successful he was. The del Rio/Punk match was pretty damn good, though; I’d like to see Alberto and Punk feud over the belt at some point.
8. Please squash Eve, Beth. Please…please..SHUT UP, KING! Will you stop prefacing every comment about Kelly Kelly with a remark about how much she gives you a boner? I’m tired of it. Great, now you’re gonna try and make Kelly Kelly look like a strong champion? After how many months? Kelly Kelly is worthless, absolutely worthless, and if there was any justice in this world she would find herself “future endeavoredâ€. Everything Beth said, about how Eve and Kelly are giving women’s wrestling a bad name, is totally true. Besides, the stink face sucks.
9. I do like that A-Ry got rid of that ludicrously ugly vest he had been wearing out to the ring. Now we’ll just have to see if this feud with Dolph can get some of his pop back. Well, making school-yard jokes about somebody’s breath isn’t going to do it. Particularly when you’re not funny. You know what? A-Ry just looks like a total jerk after this. Well, hopefully this will get Vickie out of Dolph’s corner permanently.
10. One thing I want to say about the Punk video-package: the NFL Film’s narrator kicks so much ass. I want that guy to follow me around and narrate everything I do, no matter how banal. He just gives everything an amazing sense of gravitas.
Bonus Thoughts:
11. Ha! Did Morrison just take out the cameraman? Almost. Ouch, Truth tripping Morrison off the crowd-control barricade was a rough looking spot.
12. I think Christian’s promos have increased in quality over the last couple of weeks. They’re not amazing, but they feel less forced and stilted. I’ll be checking out Smackdown this week, if only to hear Christian’s announcement and see if Sheamus’ pop keeps up. Fans last week were really behind the guy; he got a better reaction to his face turn than I thought he would.
13. Okay, that’s the CM Punk I like, the Punk that is constantly taking pot-shots at guys and making fun of Creative. The Rock’s little video was great as well. Cena’s segment…not as good. Kind of stupid. Just like all his old promos. He shouldn’t have been laughing and smiling after The Rock’s video; he should have been pissed. I did like the smark call-out though. Everything else sucked.
That’s the fire I want to see out of Punk night in and night out on the mic. He really picked it up at the end of the show. Cena spent his time playing to his fan-base, but he didn’t do the kind of job on the mic that we’ve seen in previous weeks. The other obnoxious aspect of this whole night is HHH sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, and that’s the Punk/Cena match at Summerslam. Including him basically guarantees that there are going to be shenanigans in that match. He seems headed for another heel turn, considering the remarks he made to open up the show, but I’m not too enthused with the idea of him crowding the spotlight again. I’m fine with him as the authority figure in the WWE; I’m not fine with him making the show about himself. That’s all, and I’ll see you next week!
