Ricardo Rodriguez d. Zeb Colter and Big E. Langston - This was a battle of sidekicks to determine the stipulation for the World Heavyweight Championship match, and aside from the fact that Big E. - the only one who should really be booked as a threat physically - lost the freaking match, this wasn't a bad bit of humor and made sense in WWE's style of programming. The match would have pulled two stars if it went with a logical ending, but it will settle for 1.75 stars and 5/10 for the segment.
Cena and the Make-a-wish kids - This wasn't exciting, but I do appreciate what John Cena does here and it's one of the few times I don't mind WWE pushing itself as a community company. 4.5/10
| Seriously, who approved this creepy thing? |
Randy Orton d. Cody Rhodes - Holy crap! This was awesome! Cody and Randy work really well together and it's great to see that they got some time to work here. Cody came off looking more competent than he has at any point in the last few weeks and the Beautiful Disaster is still an epic move that should be allowed to finish more people. A lot of people weren't happy about the second RKO, but I really didn't mind given that it makes sense a heel would try to blindside a face. I give the match 3.5 stars and 8.25/10.
Naomi d. Nikki Bella via ref taking complaints seriously? - I want to give the WWE points for actually having two real feuds in the Divas division that make some sense. I really do. But it's hard to do that when matches only last a minute, and decisions are overturned randomly. The commentators were joking about instant replay, but given the commentary last week, I honestly am concerned the writers are doing an angle where Twin Magic doesn't work because one girl is 'natural' and one isn't. I suppose I'll settle on 6/10 for the segment.
| Anyone really think WWE isn't shameless enough to do an angle based on this? |
I don't understand how a company can end their brand extension because they don't think enough people watch the secondary show to give it credibility, and yet they want to focus on building credibility of their 'A' show jobbers by giving them time on the 'B' shows they know nobody watches. Stephanie McMahon cannot possibly believe that by having one continuity and building all the feuds on Raw, that will somehow make people want to seek out SmackDown and Main Event to 'get the whole story.' How often does that tie-in theory work in comics? How many people actually stick with the books tied into an event comic? Not that freaking often! They buy to complete the story, the book gets a quick spike, and then readers leave in droves. You want SmackDown and Main Event to rely on one or two big ratings 'pops' per year to keep the networks around, fine. I've already limited myself to Raw as it is, so by all means, keep giving me reasons not to DVR your other programming.
Oh, this was a Shield segment, right? Yeah, all three of them gave nice, emotionally charged promos and the Hell No run-in helped increase the investment in the big tag title feud that appears imminent. I guess I'll go 7.5/10 for the segment.
Dolph Ziggler d. Kofi Kingston in Neverending Feud Story Part 1,942: Championship Edition - You've seen one of these matches, you've seen them all. The only difference is there were title belts around their waists. WWE seems to have locked in on the formula to diminish the interest in Champion vs. Champion matches, matches between two solid workers, and secondary champions all in one segment. Nothing bad here and the match was its usual 2.5-star self, but it is a sad day when I find I no longer care about these two competing against each other. 5.5/10
Building the Divas Title feud/Ryback whining about some shizz - Oh look, more actual Diva content! I love that this exists, even though I'm certain this will not lead to more in-ring airtime. I'll give two bonus points and go 7/10 for the sheer joy I feel toward the work that seems to be going toward making the Divas credible, even if it's only to push a reality show.
Jack Swagger d. Zack Ryder - This existed. I don't care about either man anymore and Swagger now sucks interest out of a room like a vacuum. Get a better manager, Jack, and be less awkward. I no longer care for you. 1.25 stars and 3.5/10
Alberto Del Rio d. Antonio Cesaro - Next up on the 'Kill the U.S. Championship Show,' Alberto Del Rio beats the guy who challenged for the belt literally two days later. Why they didn't just job a 3MB member or someone like that is beyond me, but at least they gave Cesaro some offense this time. Actually, I shouldn't hit this one that hard. At least Cesaro seemed like he belonged in the ring with a main eventer at times in the match. The match was 2.5 stars and the segment translates to 6/10.
| If this image is in a wrestling blog, you're doing something VERY wrong. |
Mark Henry Tug of War/Fandango-Khali dance off - I almost forgot about the Mark Henry bull crap, and was ready to lambast it until WWE proved its incompetence by writing a second, even crappier gimmick segment in the same damn hour. These three-hour shows are just a pain in the ass sometimes. WWE Raw should not feel like that bizarre Brady Bunch Variety Hour from the 1970s. Henry's random thing at least built up a feud and could be argued to exist, but the Fandango thing did nothing for anyone and I despise it. These segments will go 2.5/10 and 1/10, respectively.
Shield beats the WWE's top singles and tag team competitors - There is something to be said for the accomplishment given here. The Shield has officially beaten every level of competitor in this company since their debut and they are a serious threat to anyone. I'm still concerned that the writers don't have a real plan, especially considering that they will eventually have to go for singles titles and building these guys individually really hasn't been much of a priority, but for now, this works for me. Match: 2.75 stars. Segment: 7/10
Overall: This show was much improved over last week, and there's actually some things to be excited about again. Huge portions of the show were uninteresting, but at least this time there were some awesome things to mitigate that problem. The show averages out to a 5.3, but I'm going to add .5 for having some better effort in place for at least SOME of the competitors and divisions. There actually feels like there's some direction outside of Triple H and Cena's feuds and that's a big deal to me. 5.8/10
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