For those of you interested, I reviewed SummerSlam at my blog here: http://jctopropereport.blogspot.com. I thought it was a slightly below average show. Nothing changed, except Triple H’s arm is “broke” again. WWE needs to do something in these next couple weeks to get fans talking again.
More Two Word Promos!
RAW started with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Heyman talked about how HHH fought through a torn quad, but couldn’t fight through Brock Lesnar. Lesnar forced HHH to quit last night. Quit on his family, company, friends and fans. Lesnar stripped HHH of his dignity and man hood. Heyman said it was a fight to the finish, a finish HHH asked for when he told Scott Armstrong to let things go before the match. Heyman asked Scott Armstrong to come to the ring. Armstrong reluctantly came to the ring. Heyman said last night he had two words for Triple H, tap out. Tonight, Lesnar had two words for Armstrong: good job. Heyman called Lesnar the new King of Kings and the Conqueror of the WWE Universe. Brock and Heyman left.
Segment Analysis: Heyman needs to stick around and tag along with a heel that needs to get over. Heyman is great on the mic. It seems like that was a final send off for Brock for a while. I wouldn’t expect to see Brock back until Survivor Series time. I would have liked to see him at Hell In A Cell. Heyman did a good job putting Lesnar over. Good opening. Survey Says: 3.5/5
Hey, Where’s The Special Sin Cara Lighting???
Six Man Tag: Kofi/Truth/Sin Cara vs the Prime Time Players and Cody Rhodes. Kofi and Young started. Kofi applied a headlock then hit a flying elbow. Kofi tagged in Truth and they hit a double hip toss. Cody Rhodes came in and ducked a clothesline. Sin Cara puleld him out of the ring and went to the top but Cody moved. The tag champs hit double drop kicks on the PTPs into commercial. Back from break, Kofi rolled out of a head lock and tagged in R-Truth. Truth connected on a kick to the back of the head for two. Young caught Truth with an elbow. Cody made a blind tag and hit a back drop. Cody quickly tagged in Titus O’Neil. Truth fought out of a head lock but Titus caught him with a boot. Darren Young came back in and applied a headlock. The heels continued to work over Truth. Truth eventually caught Titus with a kick to the face. Sin Cara and Cody were eventually tagged in. Sin Cara hit a kick to the face and a crossbody. The PTPs broke up the cover. Truth tossed Kofi onto them on the outside. In ring, Cody tried taking off Sin Cara’s mask, but Cara scored a quick roll up for the win.
Match Analysis: Not bad, but not good either. The action was just average and the PTPs continue to get no closer to the tag titles. Crowd was surprisingly in to Sin Cara. Good feud continuation for Cody and Sin Cara. Nothing but average. Survey Says: 2.5/5
David Otunga asked A.J. if she needed legal counsel and offered his services. A.J. said Otunga could wrestle tonight. Matt Striker asked A.J. if she will let Punk pick his opponent tonight like he asked. A.J. said yes, pending her approval.
Ryback beat two jobbers by DQ when Jinder Mahal interferred. Ryback fought out of the camel clutch with a back drop.
Jericho and Ziggler argued backstage. A.J. came in and made a rematch. If Jericho loses, his contract is terminated. If Jericho wins, he gets Dolph’s MITB contract.
MORE TRIPLE THREATS!!!
Alberto del Rio came out and complained about being robbed at SummerSlam. Del Rio demanded another World Title Match against Sheamus right now. A.J. came out. She said she can’t book a World Title Match. That was Booker T’s job on Smackdown. But since Del Rio was dressed, he could be in another match. Randy Orton came out.
Before the match started Sheamus came out for commentary. Orton took control early. He bounced Del Rio off the ropes and hit a suplex. Orton hit a jumping knee drop. Del Rio reversed Orton and applied a head lock. Del Rio kicked Orton in the knee and hit a drop kick to the face. Del Rio went to the top but Orton knocked him off and hit a superplex. The two exchanged punches until Orton started going into his normal offense. Orton went for his middle rope DDT but Del Rio escaped and connected with an enziguri. Orton surprised Del Rio with a backbreaker but Del Rio caught Orton with some kicks. Del Rio went for the cross armbreaker but Orton countered with a swinging neckbreaker. Orton hit his middle rope DDT. Ricardo distracted Orton. Sheamus scared him off. Orton told Sheamus he didn’t need his help. Del Rio hit a back stabber. Orton put his foot on the ropes and pointed it out to the ref. Orton caught a distracted Del Rio with an RKO for the win.
Match Analysis: Good TV match. But it looks like we are getting ANOTHER Triple Threat Match. It seems like they planted the seeds for Orton joining this feud with Orton yelling at Sheamus. Del Rio takes another loss, but he will probably still get a World Title Match. I wouldn’t have had Orton win if he wasn’t going to be put in the World Title picture. Survey Says: 3/5
Damien Sandow vs Brodus Clay. Sandow worked over Clay’s injured knee early. Clay shoved Sandow down and hit a back drop. Clay hit a belly to belly then an elbow drop. Sandow went right back to Clay’s bad knee. Clay semi hulked up and hit a splash in the corner. Sandow side stepped Clay in the corner and scored a roll up win. Clay attacked Sandow after the match.
Shawn Michaels talked up that HHH guy, and how he doesn’t know if this is the end. But if it is, he wento ut as a fighing warrior. This HHH stuff is going to get unbearable the next couple weeks.
Big Show squashed David Otunga. Is he a face again?
Be Careful What You Wish For…
Miz and Daniel Bryan vs Zack Ryder and Kane. Bryan refused to wrestle Kane and tagged in Bryan. Kane dragged Miz in the ring and hit an uppercut. He tagged in Ryder who hit a missile drop kick. Miz caught Ryder with a punch then hit a boot to the face. Miz tagged in Bryan. Bryan hit some knees to the back then chest kicks. Bryan tagged in Miz. Miz kicked Ryder in the face then applied a chinlock. Bryan came back in and hit some kicks in the corner. He charged at Ryder but Ryder ducked and Bryan hit Miz. Ryder tagged Kane. Miz jumped off the apron. Bryan slapped Kane then Kane went off. Bryan ran through the crowd. Kane snapped and chokeslammed and tombstoned Ryder and beat up the time keeper.
Segment Analysis: And you people were all happy to see Ryder on TV. So Kane is bat shit crazy again? I don’t know what the point of this was. We get that Kane is crazy. But why did he beat up Ryder? And where is this all going? Survey Says: 2/5
C.M. Punk chose John Cena as his opponent, so long as he agreed to his stipulation late tonight.
Kaitlyn won a Divas Battle Royal to Become the #1 Contender for the Divas Championship.
Brock Lesnar touted that he is leaving the WWE for good. Riiigghhhhtttt.
Why Does Jericho Have To Be In A Crappy Band?
Jericho vs Ziggler. Jericho started with a couple of quick roll ups for two. Jericho landed some punches in the corner. The ref broke it up, allowing Ziggler to get the upper hand. Ziggler charged at Jericho in the corner but Jericho caught him with a kick to the face and a missile drop kick. Jericho hit a springboard drop kick into commercial. Ziggler had a head lock applied back from break. Ziggler hit his jumping elbow drop for two. Jericho got out of another head lock with a back drop. Jericho caught Ziggler with a kick to the face. Jericho hit an axe handle off the top rope. Jericho perched Ziggler on the top rope and landed a hurricarrana for two. Dolph caught Jericho with a DDT for two. Dolph went for a ZigZag but Jericho held on to the ropes. Jericho went for a Lionsault but Ziggler got the knees up. Dolph hit the ZigZag for the win.
Post match, Jericho attacked Dolph with the briefcase and hit the Codebreaker.
Match Analysis: Not on par with last night’s match. Much shorter. Jericho barely gets any send off for losing his contract, but HHH gets a 10 minute walk off. That match really did nothing for Dolph. I don’t know what the point of it was. It also could have been made bigger if it was built up as a PPV match. Dumb booking on the WWE’s part. Survey Says: 3/5
R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find Out What It Means To Me!
C.M. Punk came out. He went over to Jerry Lawler and told him to admit that it was a lie when he said that he turned his back on the WWE Universe. Lawler said that he felt that is what had happened at that moment. Punk asked for an apology, but John Cena came out. Punk asked why Cena couldn’t wait and instead come out here and steal the spotlight. Punk said its typical. Ever since he became WWE Champion he has been taking a back seat to everyone. Fans would ask him why he didn’t main event but he said every one of his matches is the main event. He let Cena go on last out of respect. But he’s done taking a back seat to a guy he’s beaten 3 times already. Punk said the reason Cena is the #1 Contender because he will beat him again. Punk said all Cena has to do is admit that Punk is the best in the world, and the WWE Title shot is his.
Cena said that through all the ups and down, his fans still respect him even though he hasn’t been WWE Champion in nine months. Cena said he will not call him the best in the world because to succeed, Cena has to believe that he is the best. Cena said he never doubted that he could beat The Rock. Cena brought up his year long Title reign and how he never had to ask for respect. Cena said he is not here to stroke his ego and said to choose anyone he wants, and if it isn’t him, he can live with it. Cena said if Punk walks into his hometown and leaves WWE Champion, then there will be a mutual respect between them.
Cena left and Punk went back to Lawler and demanded an apology still. Lawler came in the ring. He said it was all a mis-understanding, but if this is what he wants, he apologizes. Punk asked Lawler to say he is the best in the world. Lawler said he couldn’t do that. He went to walk back to the announce table but Punk caught him with a kick to the head. The show ended with Punk looking over Lawler.
Segment Analysis: So wait a minute, Punk beat Cena twice last year yet he still does not have Cena’s respect? What makes this match coming up so different? Weird ending to the show. I liked Punk completely ignoring Cena’s rant as if it never happened. There’s no better way to try and get Punk heel then beating up Lawler. But if you are WWE Champion, aren’t you considered the best in the world in the WWE’s eyes? The end accomplished the goal of getting Punk heel heat. Punk is on a mission to get respect at any cost. Survey Says: 3/5
OVERALL
I didn’t think that was a good RAW. The beginning and end were good, but everything else in between just felt like filler. The Orton/Del Rio match was okay, but it is leading to another Triple Threat match down the line. We don’t know again if Big Show or Kane are heels or faces. Paul Heyman was good on the mic to start the show. Punk was good on the mic to end it. The fact that Jericho barely got any type of a decent send off is a joke to me. Hopefully the focus of RAW now goes to Punk/Cena and we don’t have to deal with montage upon montage of Triple H for the next few weeks. The show definitely felt like it was dragging at times. Like SummerSlam, the show gets a 4.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
