Live from San Antonio, Texas this is the Raw Deal for episode #1002. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @johnreport if you’re not doing so already. This was written live on Monday night.
There was a video package highlighting last week’s events that led to Big Show & John Cena each becoming #1 Contenders for CM Punk’s WWE Title.
The “Tonight is the Night” song by Outasight welcomed us to the show. I do not miss Nickelback. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler welcomed us to the show.
The Raw GM AJ Lee skipped her way out to the ring. She was wearing a white suit complete with pantsuit. No skirts for her. AJ announced Randy Orton vs. Big Show for tonight. She also announced Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena. She was going to say something more when CM Punk’s music played.
The WWE Champion CM Punk made his way out to the ring to a nice ovation from the appreciative San Antonio crowd. Punk said he was there to apologize to AJ for yelling at her at the end of last week’s show. He said she doesn’t deserve to be disrespected just like him. He said: “I’m sorry.” She accepted the apology. Punk asked her to cancel the triple threat match at Summerslam because he could lose the WWE Title without being pinned. AJ told him that the match still stands. Punk says is this revenge from her because he didn’t accept her marriage proposal. He suggested that AJ isn’t the evil Raw general manager and that she should do the right thing.
John Cena’s music started up. He did the Usain Bolt hand gesture as he walked down to the ring. That’s very timely of him. Cena got in Punk’s face with AJ in between them. Cena said Punk has become one of those guys that demands respects when he should be somebody that just plain earns the respect. There was a loud “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chant. Cena said he’s been WWE Champion 11 times and he has to fight every night for respect. Well played based on those crowd chants. Cena said to AJ: “By the way you smell great.” Then he shook her hand. Well he is on the road to being divorced after all.
Punk said he didn’t interfere in the match. He said Cena put his hands on him. If you’ll recall, Show was the one that threw Cena into Punk while he was at the announce table. Punk went on a rant about how he won’t be disrespected by anybody. Punk said he saved Cena last week: “You’re welcome John boy.” Don’t call me John boy, but call Cena it all you want. They continued to talk trash to eachother as Punk pointed out that he beat Cena last year at Summerslam when they met.
Big Show’s music started up. He made his way down the entrance ramp. AJ took control. She told Show and Cena to save their aggression for their matches later. Punk said he should have a match and that the champion deserves to be in the main event. AJ said the WWE Universe will get to pick Punk’s opponent for later. She said the fans will vote on Twitter between The Miz, Kane and Rey Mysterio. She said voting starts now because Punk’s match is next.
It’s #PunkRey #PunkKane #PunkMiz I assume it’s Mysterio or Kane since they’re both babyfaces and they want to book Punk as a heel. That entire segment went about 15 minutes.
Analysis: I thought it was a strong opening segment. Punk was more heel this week than he was last week. Trying to back out of the triple threat match was very weak of him in terms of being a respectable champion. The fans booed him for that. He also whined a lot. Of course his main complaint was that he wasn’t in the main event and of course he’s working the opening match. Cena did a good job of calling Punk a coward, basically. Show didn’t say anything, which is for the best. That’s what I like. Let the stronger talkers talk more. Accentuate the strengths. That’s how you should book segments like that.
There was a graphic telling us that Brock Lesnar and Triple H would both be on Raw tonight.
(Commercial)
Back from break, the poll results were in. Mysterio got 47% of the vote. Kane got 31% of the vote and Miz got 22% of the vote. This is the “RawActive” match of the night. It’s so interactive that you got a whole five minutes to vote.
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio (Non-title)
I’m having flashbacks of their awesome feud in 2010 when Punk was a heel and of course Mysterio was the face. Lawler is making his point that the championship demands respect, but not necessarily the man holding it. Cole mentioned it was Punk’s 264th day as WWE Champion. Punk controlled the action early with a nice backbreaker for two. They went out to the floor where Mysterio hit a senton and both guys ended up knocked out on the floor. It was time for the vintage “floor to commercial” break spot of the night.
(Commercial)
Back from break, the action picked up in the ring. Punk was in the ring working on Mysterio with a body scissors. Mysterio came back with a splash off the top. Mysterio countered a roll up with a hard kick to the face. Mysterio got a boot to the jaw, then Punk had him in GTS position and then Mysterio was able to counter that into a 619. He connected on it. Mysterio went to the top rope for the splash, but Punk got his knees up. Go To Sleep ends it for Punk after 10 minutes of action.
Winner: CM Punk
Analysis: ** That’s the kind of match I want to see on Raw more often. They got ten minutes of time (seven minutes that we actually saw) and told a good story. The first part was slow, but as expected the action picked up, the nearfalls were good and the right guy went over clean. It doesn’t hurt Mysterio to lose to the WWE Champion. It’s also good for Punk to beat a guy of Mysterio’s status. Thumbs up all the way around.
Coming up later: Randy Orton vs. Big Show. Also John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan, which is being advertised as the first time ever. I assume that’s right since I can’t remember it.
In the backstage area, Alberto Del Rio backed his car into his own parking spot backstage. Nice Ferrari. Who gets the job of covering up the rental plates? That’s quite the job.
(Commercial)
There was a video package for Wade Barrett’s return. They showed him in a bare knuckle fighting setting. “I am Wade Barrett and my barrage has just begun.” Didn’t say when he was back. I would assume shortly after Summerslam.
Backstage, Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez were talking to AJ. They said she may do something crazy. She ended up booking him in a match that would be next. Del Rio told Ricardo to get his gear.
They advertised Shawn Michaels live on Raw tonight in his hometown of San Antonio. Why wouldn’t you announce this last week? So silly.
Analysis: I think that was about two minutes of “action” before that break. Very annoying.
(Commercial)
The “Did You Know?” was about their deal with the Armed Forces Network, which is pretty cool.
Alberto Del Rio w/Ricardo Rodriguez vs. Christian
Christian didn’t even get a full entrance. That’s never a good sign. Del Rio was still tying his boots as he made his way out. They replayed his assault on Sheamus by the car last month, yet they completely leave out how he lost clean to Sheamus last month. Del Rio is there for Sheamus to beat again until Ziggler or Barrett is in that spot as top contender. Del Rio threw Christian into the security wall and then gave Christian a single arm DDT. Christian came back with his awesome uppercut punch and then a cross body press off the top for two. Del Rio went for the shoulder attack, but Christian countered into a rollup for two. Del Rio then went after Christian’s arm with some kicks. Del Rio missed a senton splash out of the corner. Christian went for the Spear, but Del Rio countered with a superkick (HBK tribute?). Christian came back. He went to the top rope, Rodriguez distracted the ref, Del Rio hit Christian in the head with his boot and then Del Rio slapped on the Cross Armbreaker for the win after four minutes.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Analysis: * Good match, but it only went about three minutes. I don’t think anybody believed Christian had a shot, which is a shame. That’s how he’s booked though. Obviously, Del Rio got the decisive win because he’s in the World Title match at Summerslam.
Sheamus showed up on the video screen. He was by Del Rio’s car. He grabbed the keys of the car that happened to still be in there. Sheamus said he was taking the car on a tour of San Antonio. Sheamus left while Del Rio looked on from inside the ring. Then he left the ring after Sheamus left.
Analysis: So now the cops will show up to arrest Sheamus for car theft right? I’m kidding.
As we get to the start of hour two, the match coming up after the break is Randy Orton vs. Big Show.
(Commercial)
The announcers kept talking about Sheamus stealing the car. I would assume we’ll see him in some segments later in the show.
Randy Orton vs. Big Show
Orton entered first to a thunderous ovation. Show dropped Orton with a side slam. Show grabbed a chinlock. Orton came back by blocking a charge attempt out of the corner, a clothesline and then a dropkick to put Big Show down. Orton still has one of the best dropkicks in the business. Big Show countered the RKO attempt with a Chokeslam. Orton kicked out. The match is only three minutes in, so of course Orton was going to kick out. Big Show gave Orton a shoulder block to knock Orton out of the ring. They brawled outside the ring. Show chopped Orton hard in the chest. Show rolled Orton back into the ring. Show grabbed Orton by the throat and threw him out to the floor one more time. Show chopped Orton hard in the chest. Cole said “did you hear that?” when they were standing three feet away from it. Orton shoved Show into the ring post. Orton went for the RKO. Didn’t work. Show hit the Spear on the floor. The ref counted them both out for the double countout after six minutes.
Match Result – Double Countout
Post match, Show rolled Orton back into the ring. Show went for the KO punch, but Orton ducked it and hit the RKO to put Show down. The crowd cheered loudly as Orton’s music played.
Analysis: *1/2 It’s the “we don’t want to book either guy to lose” finish. Lawler said “what a match” after it was over. What do you mean “what a match” Lawler? It was just a regular match that never got into that next gear to be anything of significant. Big Show lost at No Way Out, he lost at Money in the Bank, he didn’t win last week, he didn’t win this week and he’s still getting a WWE Championship match at Summerslam. You can try to figure out why they book a “dominant heel” to not win matches. I’m tired of trying to understand the “logic” of this.
More hype for Lesnar and Triple H for later. We don’t know what they are doing, but they will be there.
Also Shawn Michaels will be here later. We don’t know what he’s doing either.
(Commercial)
Before the Ryback squash, they showed a pre-match promo where Ryback said he has an appetite. That’s where “Feed Me More” comes from. Something like that. Does it matter?
Ryback vs. Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins
Reks & Hawkins have to tag out. Ryback gave Reks a powerslam early. He tagged out, so Ryback gave Hawkins a boot. Hawkins tagged in Reks. Hawkins distracted Ryback, so Reks dropped Ryback with a clothesline for two. Ryback dumped both guys outside the ring by giving Hawkins a back body drop over the top to the floor He rolled Hawkins back into the ring. He gave him his hard clothesline. “Finish Him.” That led to his Shell Shocked finisher even though Cole never called it that. He covered Hawkins for the win after about two minutes.
Winner: Ryback
Post match, he yelled “feed me more” and the crowd joined in on the chant.
Analysis: 1/2* Typical Ryback match. I guess that ends the “feud” they had for a few weeks. He’s had issues with Jinder Mahal on Smackdown. I guess he’s slowly working his way through the heel jobbers.
Coming up later is John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan. (Note I actually wrote AJ Bryan there. Thank you editing ability.) I assume that’s the last match on the show. Not a very far off assumption on my part I think.
(Commercial)
Did You Know? WWE’s main Facebook page adds over 40,000 new fans every day. And they underlined every for effect. I think I “like” it but I don’t think I ever look at it.
The Primetime Players (Titus O’Neil & Darren Young) w/AW vs. Primo & Epico
O’Neil hit a nice slam on Primo as the heels worked him over. O’Neil gave Young a front suplex so he splashed on top of Primo. No stupid comments from AW this week unlike last week. Young went for a suplex, but Primo countered for a two count. Young hit a nice powerslam on Primo. AW said Young is like Mother Teresa – he can do no wrong. That’s certainly more PG than the Kobe Bryant-Colorado joke from last week. Epico got the hot tag from Primo to a mild reaction. Epico cleaned house. He hit rolling back suplexes to Young after he knocked O’Neil off the apron. O’Neil pulled Young out of the ring. AW told his guys to leave. As they were leaving, Kofi Kingston’s music played as he showed up with R-Truth. Epico & Primo brought them back to the match. Epico hit Young with a Back Stabber for the win after four minutes.
Winners: Primo & Epico
Analysis: *1/4 I’m not sure if this means we’re going to have a three team feud or what, but it seems like that would be the smart match to do at Summerslam. I had no problem with Kofi’s music playing in this instance. If he had just appeared the heels wouldn’t have seen him. The way they did it was night.
There was no Rosa with Primo & Epico because last night she reported to the cops that she was hit by her fiancé, who is former WWE superstar Jackson Andrews. She was in tears in the San Antonio airport when she reported it. The story is on TMZ if you haven’t seen it.
Cole called both of those teams “new” even though Epico & Primo have been teaming up for quite a while. That led to him bringing up Damien Sandow as they showed a clip of him getting attacked by DX two weeks ago. Then last week he took out Brodus Clay.
Sandow was interrupted by Josh Mathews as he walked backstage. It’s Sandow vs. Clay up next.
(Commercial)
Quick Plug: TJR Radio tomorrow night Tuesday April 7 at 10pmET. We had been doing Wednesday shows before, but now we have moved to Tuesday. Two hours live talking Raw, Summerslam and more tomorrow. Click HERE to listen. If you miss it live we’ll put a link up on TJRWrestling.com on Wednesday letting you know how to listen.
Brodus Clay made his entrance. Damien Sandow attacked him at the top of the ramp. Sandow went after the left leg of Clay. His attack was vicious. He put Clay’s leg up against the ramp and then he stomped down on it while Clay yelled loudly.
Analysis: It would be nice if he had a leg submission move that he could have applied there to make it mean more. It was still a good attack that he started with a chop block. I would personally like to thank Sandow for attacking Clay before he could do his dancing.
After a replay, Sandow said: “You did this to yourself Brodus. You did this to yourself.”
Back in the GM’s office, AJ talked to Daniel Bryan who now has “No! No! No!” on his shirt. He said he was calm now. He agreed with her decision to put him in a match against John Cena later. He wanted to join the WWE Title match at Summerslam to make it a four way. She said he already had a match at Summerslam. Against? Kane. He yelled “no” she yelled “yes” and they repeated that a few times.
Analysis: That was fun. I think we all expected Bryan vs. Kane after last week. I would assume Charlie Sheen sits at ringside and gets a shot in on Bryan to cost him the match.
(Commercial)
After the break, Kelly Kelly made her entrance. This was her big return after having a summer break.
Kelly Kelly vs. Eve
I know that of late I’ve been a supporter of Eve, but that’s mostly when she’s not wresting. Kelly dominated the action. She hit her elbow in the corner. Eve bailed to the floor. Kelly threw her into the security wall. Kelly hit a cross body block off the top for two. Eve countered a Kelly headscissors by slamming her face first into the mat. Cole kept talking about Tout. I didn’t care. Eve grabbed a headlock. Kelly came back with a kick to the face and then she was YELLYING UP. She hit a hurricanrana to win the match after about three minutes.
Winner: Kelly Kelly
Analysis: 1/2* It seems like we’ve seen this match many times before and it’s never been that good. You know what match we need to see? Beth Phoenix vs. Natalya. Never been done in singles. Use them. They’re better than these two.
They recapped the grand theft auto from earlier when Sheamus stole Alberto Del Rio’s Ferrari. Sheamus did a tout that we’re going to see soon.
Triple H and Brock Lesnar is coming soon. Shawn Michaels is up next.
(Commercial)
The top of hour three meant an introduction for San Antonio’s own Shawn Michaels, who is my favorite wrestler of all time. He’s wearing a brand new “MR. Hall of Fame Shawn Michaels” shirt that says “Showstopper” on the back. He got a thunderous ovation as expected.
Michaels thanked WWE for being a part of the 1000th episode of Raw two weeks ago. He said that when he heard that Raw was going to be in his hometown of San Antonio he figured that there was no way “old hashtag HBK would miss that.” He said the more things changed the more things stay the same. He said everybody backstage was talking about the clash of Triple H and Brock Lesnar. That led to the music of Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar showed up along with Paul Heyman.
Paul Heyman said it’s not surprising to him that everybody wants to know what Shawn thinks about Lesnar vs. Triple H. Heyman said “you sir are the greatest in-ring entertainer in the history of WWE.” I agree 100%. Heyman said that Lesnar is not showing up to Summerslam to entertain. He said Lesnar is showing up to fight Triple H and show once again that he is the baddest man on the planet today. Michaels said he’s not there to dispute the attributes of Lesnar. Michaels said the guy he’s going with at Summerslam is Triple H. He said he believes it down to his core. Michaels said he wanted to be at Summerslam to see the match personally. Michaels said he would be in Triple H’s corner at Summerslam. Heyman rambled on, but Lesnar grabbed the microphone. Lesnar said the only reason Michaels thinks Hunter can beat Lesnar is because Michaels has never been in the ring with Lesnar until now.
The music of Triple H started up. He’s not Hunter Hearst Suit McMahon Helmsley this time. Instead he’s in a Triple H shirt along with jeans and taped fists. He went into the ring for a staredown with Lesnar. Lesnar pointed to Triple H: “I’ll see you at Summerslam.” Then he pointed at Michaels: “I’ll see you before then.” Lesnar left with Heyman.
Analysis: It was a good segment because they are leaving us wanting more. We want to know what’s next. What did he mean by saying he’d see Michaels before Summerslam? It likely means some kind of an attack on an episode of Raw before Summerslam. We don’t know when or where, but it’s a nice way to keep people interested in the story. I’m also a fan of Michaels in the corner of Triple H. I still think Lesnar will win at Summerslam, but maybe that’s more of a hope than anything.
They replayed the clip of Sheamus stealing the car from earlier. There was a 15 second Tout clip of Sheamus sitting in Del Rio’s car by the Alamo in San Antonio.
Analysis: At least we haven’t see any fan Tout’s so far. That’s a win in my book.
(Commercial)
The “Did You Know” segment told us that more viewers than every show on ABC, Fox, ESPN and CBS.
Chris Jericho was at the announce table wearing a Dolph Ziggler shirt. Jericho to Cole: “You’re as mediocre and goofy as always.” This is why I’m a Jerichoholic forever.
Alex Riley vs. Dolph Ziggler w/Vickie Guerrero
Riley didn’t get an entrance, but I’m sure he tried to “say it to my face” when he did walk down to the ring. Jericho commented on his losses, but he said he did earn those big matches he had. He said maybe this is the spark he needs to turn things around. Ziggler worked over Riley in the corner. Riley came back with fists, but Ziggler hit the best dropkick in the business to regain control. Ziggler did his best to keep Riley on the ground. Riley came back with a nice hiptoss looking variation. Riley missed a charge in the corner, which led to Ziggler hitting a neckbreaker. Jericho stood up on the announce table. He said he was going to Tout the video of Ziggler taunting Jericho. Riley ended up rolling up Ziggler for the pin.
Winner: Alex Riley
They didn’t even show Riley after the win. It was all about Jericho laughing at Ziggler.
Analysis: * Short match. As mentioned, they didn’t even put over Riley getting the win because they wanted to focus on Ziggler’s feud with Jericho. Knowing how WWE books things I would expect Ziggler to beat Riley convincingly on Smackdown or Raw next week. The Jericho/Ziggler match isn’t official for Summerslam yet, but it’s only a matter of time. It should be fantastic.
AJ did a tweet to say that Miz vs. Kane is up next because they didn’t get picked to face CM Punk earlier.
(Commercial)
The “Be A Star” commercial aired. My favorite part of Raw. Alicia Fox: “They called me…a boy.” I’m not a fan of bullying. I’m a fan of Alicia saying that in that way.
There was another Sheamus Tout in Del Rio’s car. He had some food and he spilled it on the car. Oh the comedy of those 15 second Tout videos. At least it’s better than fan Tout videos.
Before the next match, Jerry Lawler said AJ Lee was doing a great job as GM. Michael Cole agreed. You know Vince is really high on the character when he doesn’t even have the announcers bicker about it.
Kane vs. The Miz (non-title)
Admittedly I missed the first part of this match. Three hour shows are long. Sometimes you just gotta go. I returned from my little break to see Miz attack Kane in the corner. That didn’t work. Kane dropped Miz face first into the turnbuckle Kane hit a Chokeslam for the win. The match went about four minutes.
Winner: Kane
Analysis: Like I said earlier, the guy with the Summerslam match went over. Miz doesn’t have a Summerslam match yet. Is he banned from it? That’s a Jerry Piven “Summerfest” reference. Google it. Anyway, I’m not sure why they love to have champs lose non-title matches, but it seems to be a weekly thing.
It’s 10:33pmET and they are advertising Cena vs. Bryan coming up next. This early? Yes. I approve.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Matt Striker talked to Daniel Bryan. Bryan said he didn’t want anybody chanting “yes” anymore. The crowd chanted it to piss him off. He kept yelling “no” repeatedly.
Sheamus returned with Del Rio’s car in the same parking spot. It looks like he drove through some bushes with it and he said it smelled. He gave keys to a guy, then told him to not tell anybody about it.
Analysis: Maybe he forgot he was on a television show.
Daniel Bryan made his entrance for the main event. He was yelling “no” on his way to the ring while the crowd yelled “yes” at him of course.
Backstage, Del Rio blamed Rodriguez for what happened to the car. Rodriguez cleaned the car by removing a pylon from the front seat and a piece of shrub from the windshield.
(Commercial)
At 10:33pmET they said Bryan vs. Cena was next. Two commercial breaks later it’s 10:43pmET and it’s not on yet. That’s creative hyping.
Back from break, they hyped that @TomArnold on Tout was talking about Raw all night. It took them 2 hours and 45 minutes to mention it. They love you, Tom Arnold.
John Cena made his entrance for the main event. He received a loud ovation. We got a replay of last week’s match that led to Cena earning a WWE Title shot along with Big Show at Summerslam.
John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan
It was 14 minutes after they said “Cena vs. Bryan is next” that it actually started at 10:47pmET. Loud “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chant as Bryan kept yelling “this is about me.” Now the fans started to chant “yes” repeatedly. The San Antonio crowd has had a busy night of chanting. Bryan knocked Cena out to the floor and then the man they call Goat Face hit his awesome running knee attack off the apron onto Cena on the floor. Bryan got into a “no/yes” shouting match with a guy in a referee shirt at ringside. There were a group of them there. That was funny. They went to break four minutes into the match for the vintage floor to commercial match.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Bryan had Cena in a submission hold. He followed it up with kicks in the corner. Bryan hit his running dropkick in the corner for two. Cena made a comeback, but Bryan avoided an attack and Bryan kicked the ropes while Cena’s head was up against the rope. That’s a spot Bryan’s been doing of late. I like it as a vicious kind of move. Bryan kicked Cena in the back of the knee and then dropped a knee drop on Cena’s face. Bryan gave Cena an arm submission hold. Cena hit a flying shoulder tackle followed by his spinning suplex. Cena hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle fist drop. I wonder how many times I’ve written that over the years? Cena went for the Attitude Adjustment, but Bryan countered with a guillotine submission. Love that counter! They had a nice exchange that ended with Bryan getting a rollup for a two count. Bryan gave Cena a stiff kick to the head for two. The crowd was chanting “yes” to piss off Bryan. Bryan hit a top rope headbutt all the way across the ring for a two count. Bryan went for the kill, but Cena countered with a STF. Bryan countered it with what Cole said is now the No Lock. Cena powered out of it. Cena connected with the Attitude Adjustment after 15 minutes for the win.
Winner: John Cena
Analysis: ***3/4 That was one of Cena’s best TV matches in a long time. He’s had good PPV matches a lot, but as far as TV matches go that’s one of his better ones. Of course I’ll be the first to credit Bryan for that because he is, in my opinion, the best in-ring performer in all of WWE. Their chemistry was really good considering they haven’t had a singles match before tonight (I assume that’s true). Hopefully they have a real feud in the near future because if they do I think they could even improve on the effort they gave us tonight.
Post match, CM Punk went into the ring. Bryan was gone. He held the WWE Title in front of Cena’s face. Cena shoved Punk out of the way because he saw Big Show running to the ring. Cena picked up Show for the AA. CM Punk knocked Show off his shoulders. CM Punk went to the announce table. He told Lawler that he let people walk all over him before, but take a look right now because Raw will end with CM Punk holding the WWE Title in his hands. Punk went back into the ring. He gave Show a kick, but Show caught it. Show KNOCKED OUT Punk. Then Cena got up and Show KNOCKED OUT Cena. Show grabbed the WWE Title. He put it on his shoulder. He stood over his two fallen rivals and raised his hand in the air triumphantly.
Analysis: I’m not sure why they had Punk put on the headset to cut that promo since the crowd in the building were unable to hear it. Perhaps it was because they didn’t want him getting cheered. I’m not surprised that they had Big Show looking dominant. Like I pointed out earlier they haven’t really booked him that strong in matches in terms of wins, so this was a good way to have him get his heat back. The last two weeks Punk was the dominant one. This week it was Show. Next week it will likely be Cena. That’s how it usually goes.
Raw ended with Big Show holding the WWE Title over his head.
————–
Three Stars of the Show
1. Daniel Bryan
2. John Cena
3. Big Show
The Scoreboard
7 out of 10
Last week: 7
2012 Average: 5.86
2012 High: 9 (January 30)
2012 Low: 3 (July 9)
Last 5 Weeks: 7, 6.5, 7.5, 3, 6
Final Thoughts
It’s another 7 out of 10. It’s not like I do a scientific way of rating Raw. I just look back on everything that happened and felt that it was a slightly better than average (average is just under 6 as you can see) show.
I liked the in-ring action quite a bit. The main event went 15 minutes. The action was exciting with Bryan coming very close to winning the match a number of times although I don’t think anybody was too surprised that Cena ended up being victorious.
It’s hard to explain the rest of the show except to say that nothing was too bad on it. While there wasn’t anything shocking or ground breaking, it was generally pretty good. While I’m still hesitant about liking the three hour concept, at least they had less filler this week. The in-ring action was better, the promos didn’t bore me and they cut back on the lame comedy bits although the Sheamus segments were below average in that department.
Plus there was no usage of Tout by fans, so that gets a big stamp of approval from me. I was fine with the Tout’s from Sheamus. I don’t need to hear fans using Tout.
I really enjoyed the San Antonio crowd as well. They were loud the whole show. They went along with every single chant that WWE wanted them to do especially with the “no/yes” stuff that is really a lot of fun still although I can see it getting annoying eventually.
————-
That’s a wrap for this week. Let’s bring it home with some quick plugs.
TJR Radio is tomorrow night Tuesday April 7 at 10pmET. We had been doing Wednesday shows before, but now we have moved to Tuesday. Two hours live talking Raw, Summerslam and more tomorrow. Click HERE to listen. If you miss it live we’ll put a link up on TJRWrestling.com on Wednesday letting you know how to listen.
Check out TJRSports.com for articles covering all sports. We’re still pretty new. It’s a lot of fun, though. I’m sure once the Olympics are over and I’m not glued to the couch I’ll do some more writing over there.
If you’re looking for a good place to talk wrestling, sports, entertainment, beer reviews (!) and anything else on your mind then check out my friends at The-Oratory.com.
I’ll be back next week with the Raw Deal once again. It may be live again next Monday. Not sure yet. I think Canton’s Corner on Saturday will be an all Q&A edition so check out TJRWrestling.com on Facebook because I’ll ask for the questions on there most likely on Thursday or Friday.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
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