Blowin’ Smoke with Kemper Jones
Welcome to the debut edition of Blowin’ Smoke with Kemper Jones, here on wrestling-edge.com. I would first of all like to thank the owner of the site for inviting me to run my column here. I was writing a column around the same time last year and gave it up shortly after the holidays due to a hectic schedule. I’m back, and hopefully better than before. I really look forward to getting my thoughts out there, and I’m more than happy to hear your thoughts as well. Be sure to send me an email, or join my columns Facebook page by using this link. I have my previous column on there now and am contemplating adding an archive of the ones from my previous run.
Raw: As I See It – 10/18/10
It’s 10:26 and I just started Raw on my DVR. I assure you, I haven’t read anything about the results. I’ve decided to move laundry night to Tuesdays so that I can do this column as I watch Raw each week. There may be some times I don’t but if I don’t, I’ll still get a column up about something that week.
The kid from the Big Show’s new movie is hosting. I can’t remember his name but I know he’s also the kid in the new PSP commercials. They’re pretty funny but they’re not as good as the Kevin Butler PS3 ones. Those are hilarious.
Theodore Long is out to resounding boos. He says he’s taking over Raw only to be interrupted by the Anonymous GM. Cole reads an email telling Long to leave. A referee comes out with the Bragging Rights trophy. Funny, I haven’t seen that since a week or two after the event last year. GM starts freaking out because Long is at the podium. Long disconnects the computer and announces Team Smackdown led by Big Show. Swagger didn’t come out with his eagle. I haven’t seen Reks in a looong time. Is he supposed to be a jacked Rob Zombie?
Miz comes out in his Raw t-shirt, complete with C patch. He brings up that he was the only Raw superstar to win last year. He went against Morrison when they were IC/US champs. Does that mean Ziggler/Bryan this year? I’d like to see that. I still don’t understand what advantage Santino brings to the team. It looks like the Mark Henry role is being filled by a returning (and oddly, smiling) Ezekial Jackson. I hope Henry’s brother gets well soon. I like the idea of Jackson being back. I wonder if they’ll bring up him being the last ECW champion or if they’ll continue to ignore ECW’s existence.
Raw retreats. Why the hell would they do that? Big Show offers to leave the ring if Miz will go one-on-one against him tonight and Miz reluctantly accepts. Cole once again insists how great Miz is.
For once, I’m glad for a recap. I fell asleep shortly before the main event last week and never got around to seeing it. It was a lot better than what WWE.com made it out to be. Barrett delivered a one promo that showed why he is where he is. His spot in the main event us much more deserved than Sheamus’ rocket to the top.
Hart Dynasty against Rhodes/McIntyre begins after the break. Great ovation for HD, but that’s no surprise since they’re in Calgary. I’m not a fan of the break up they’ve been teasing, but I’m thinking tonight could be the night. I’m not really into the Rhodes/McIntyre team. At a time where the tag team division is crumbling, they’re splitting actual teams left and right. Instead they put the titles on these two. DH Smith goes for the sharpshooter while Kidd was setting up for the Hart Attack. Drew from behind with the Futureshock DDT and the win. Natalya tries to play peacemaker and we cut to Cena.
Cena/Orton face-to-face and Randy accuses Cena of trying to help Barrett win the title. Something about a face threatening to kick people in the skull seems off to me. It was OK when he was a crazy heel, but now he smiles all the time. At least before, he came off as maniacal. He enjoys it now.
Why am I seeing an R-Truth music video/vignette? It’s actually not that bad. If they show this every week, they can save us a full match. The video was just his song with clips of his match spots.
I’m not gonna read his book, but I like seeing Goldust doing something. I know it’s been, but it fresh in this day and age. I haven’t seen him on Raw regularly for some time. He squashes Zak Ryder and Dibiase attacks from behind while Aksana and Maryse fight over the Million $ Belt. Ted ends up laid out by Goldust in the end.
Kane/Orton is announced for Smackdown. Could be good, but I’m just gonna read the spoilers. It suppose, it could help the ratings.
Nexus in the back and Barrett tells Cena to give McGillicuddy/Harris all he has. After that he told him to get him some water. Nice touch.
The guest star kid is playing Smackdown vs Raw 2011 until Miz threatens him. Show with the save. For anyone interested, Amazon is running a deal where you get a $10 gaming credit if you preorder.
The previous Cena/Nexus segment was made 10x better when it cut back to Cena serving Wade his water. Wade thanked him and then dumped it in Cena’s face. I love seeing Cena go through this. It’s so demeaning. Sure, he’ll get revenge in the end, but its great to see him humiliated.
Cena/Orton vs McGillicuddy (McG)/Harris is up next. I’m glad those were the only two from NXT season 2 that made it to the main roster, with the exception of Kaval. At least we don’t have to sit through Percy Watson trying to be a bad guy. They may be the tag team breakout of Nexus when these guys eventually split. I don’t know if I see any of them main eventing, but they’d be great IC/US contenders. The rest of Nexus comes out and stands at the top of the ramp. The great thing about the youth movement going on in WWE is getting never beens in the ring with top guys. It’s great experience early in their careers.
When did McG start doing the neck snap flip from the middle rope? It’s a good way to switch it up since Ziggler’s been doing the vintage Mr. Perfect move for some time now. Orton gets the hot tag after they work over Cena. Orton/Cena get the win shortly after. Cena goes for the handshake, but is told to leave the ring by Barrett. That’s right, you’re his bitch! Nexus surrounds the ring and Cena is told to watch them destroy Orton. He looks so sad as they beat down the champion. I think he might cry.
Otunga, Slater, and Gabriel hit their finishers on Orton and Barrett asks for a mike. Please, Oh please, tell him to give him an FU (sorry, AA). Cena ordered in the ring, very slowly. I CALLED IT! Barrett orders him to do and as he’s set up. Damn, Barrett has Cena set Orton on his shoulders to set up his finisher. Cena walks away in disgust. Could’ve been amazing if he did the AA. Even better if he made him do the U/CM punch.
Vickie out (Damn you, dual branded show). She announces Ziggler who is actually given mike time. He puts over his relationship with Vickie. Ziggler was fine without her. He didn’t need her to get him heat. Daniel Bryan comes out, and says he can make him tap out. As I also called, he challenges him to a match at the PPV. He easily accepts, but then says they can do it now. He slaps Bryan, and then hides behind Vickie. Ziggler immediately taps after the Lebell Lock is applied. Refs can’t get him off as Divas make their way to the ring. They dump glitter (why glitter, I’ll never know) on her and then they dance with Bryan. Cole says he’s scared of girls. He dances with them until doing the splits. Reminded me of Too Cool’s dance. He does the splits after a flip and falls to the ground. Dances some more. My fiancé made the rewind and rewatch this.
Alicia vs Natalya is up next. Another squash for Nattie? Longer than last time, but pretty much. Lay-Cool interrupts her post-match celebration and talk shit about Canada and the Harts. Michelle locks her in the Sharpshooter until Natalya reverses it and the bitches run off. I think that may have been a #1 contenders match, because Cole said one of the champions will be defending against Nattie this Sunday. She’ll probably win the belt this time around.
A recap of the CM Punk attack on Bourne to explain his absence due to surgery. If it weren’t for the injury he’d probably be on Team Raw. I didn’t pay much attention to the Team SD/Hornswoggle/Long segment that followed. I can’t imagine I missed much (it did have Hornswoggle in it).
Here we go with the Stand Up for WWE campaign. I don’t know how I feel about this. I don’t want WWE to be made to look bad because Linda’s involved in politics. I wont’ get into my personal politics. I don’t agree with Linda’s politics, but there’s no reason for WWE to be involved. This is the world of politics, however. Nothing’s off limits. I know that WWE does a lot of self-butt kissing with their self-promotional videos, but they really do need to fight for legitimacy. You can’t get by on the scale of WWE without reaching for the demographics that they do. I know what a lot of people say about the PG era we’re currently going through, but there has to be transition. The Attitude Era was beyond stale, and as a father, I’m glad it’s a cleaner environment now. It’ll go back at some point. And then it’ll be PG again. It’s a cycle that will repeat over and over.
The guest start’s name is Bobb’e J Thompson. Took me until 1:45 into the show to get his name. He introduced Big Show, who entered with most of the SD roster. Miz enters by himself, even leaving Riley behind. Oops, no it’s the Raw roster. Mark Henry is there. I figured he was still gone.
After Team WWE/Nexus at Summerslam, Bragging Rights, and then Survivor Series next month, I’m going be seriously burnt out on large tag-team elimination matches. That’s way too many in such a short period of time. If they’re going to keep up with the number of PPVs they have, they should shuffle them around.
Long decides the match is now a SD vs Raw battle royal. I predicted in my last column that Cena would lead a Nexus team in the match. We’re running out of time for that to happen. I couldn’t be wrong, could I?
Guys are flying out of the ring quickly when the battle royal begins. Hornswoggle steals Cole’s headset. It’s the one person that’s worse at announcing than Cole. I did enjoy seeing him attack Cole with the flagpole. Del Rio and Morrison eliminated each other. They did a good job of keeping the camera on them, as they were both on the ropes outside the ring. Swagger attacked Edge after they were eliminated. Miz is hiding outside the ring. It comes down to Jackson, Bryan, Sheamus, and Show. Bryan out, and Sheamus/Zeke take it to Show. Zeke out, and Miz runs in. Edge with the save. I thought he was out, but I guess I was wrong.
Cut to Nexus in back and Cena is ordered to raise Barrett’s hand. He obliges and then walks out. And, copyright marker in the corner.
Afterthoughts
Not a bad lead in show for Bragging Rights. I can only assume that Raw will get the victory this Sunday. They’re not going to have Raw lose two years in a row. Plus, SD got the victory tonight. I’ll do my best to get some PPV predictions done before the show.
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