I wrote this live tonight starting at 8pmET. It’s not a full play by play, but the thoughts were live. I won’t do it every week. I just thought I’d do it this week since I was away last week in Cancun, Mexico for a friend’s wedding. What a week. But now I’m back with tonight’s King of the Ring edition of Raw.
WWE Raw
November 29, 2010
Philadelphia, PA
There’s no John Cena in the WWE open anymore. I doubt that will last too long. Announcers are Cole, Lawler and the great CM Punk.
Alex Riley came out to tell us about a huge party for new WWE Champion The Miz later tonight. CM Punk on Alex Riley: “Looks like he’s dressed for court.” Wow. DUI reference! Haha. I didn’t watch all of last week’s Raw, but heard Punk was amazing like he was on NXT. I love him in that role. Good way to keep him on TV for a few months while he recovers from injury.
Opening KOTR match is Del Rio vs. Bryan. Match of the night already?
KOTR: Alberto Del Rio vs. Daniel Bryan
I’m a big fan of both guys. The crowd is cheering mostly for Bryan although it’s Philly, so they’re smarter than you’re average crowd. Two minutes in they went to commercial. Also “Who knew that a DUI gave you job security?” was a gem of a line from Punk. He rules.
(Commercial)
They came back from break with Del Rio in control. Cole said that King of the Ring winners have combined for 62 World/WWE Title wins. Howard Finkel gave them that stat. Way to make yourself useful, Howard. Bryan got a couple of nearfalls to come back. I think this would make for a great feud in the future. I think Del Rio will get pushed higher up the card first, though. Nice German Suplex for two by Bryan followed by a dropkick for two. Del Rio got his own German Suplex for two. That looked stiffer. Del Rio missed a charge and Bryan jumped on him. He’s selling the right arm badly. Bryan misses a leap. ADR slaps on the cross Armbreaker for the win. That’s my pick to win the tourney.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Analysis: **1/4 Very solid 10 minute TV match. Not enough time to be great, but I liked their chemistry and they really did a good job of building up to the finish. I like that they put Del Rio over so strong too. That’s what this tourney needs. Clear winners are a good thing.
They showed past King of the Ring winners including Edge (2001), Bret Hart (1993) and Brock Lesnar (2002). Nice of them to reference Lesnar. What, no Mabel references? Haha.
(Commercial)
Did You Know? WWE TV Programming is available in over 600 million homes worldwide. That’s lovely.
Hey, it’s R-Truth back with his “What’s Up?” song again. The Getting Crunk one got wished the best in its future endeavors. He spoke about Cena getting fired. He said Cena went out like a champ. He said he did it for the fans. He said the war against Nexus hasn’t started yet and he’s calling out anybody from Nexus to face him. Backstage, Mathews went to talk to Nexus and it’s Michael McGillicutty answering it.
But wait. The camera got knocked over and MM got attacked by somebody in jeans & sneakers. Then that person did the “You Can’t See Me” hand gesture. I wonder who that was. Or maybe I don’t.
So I guess there’s no match for R-Truth.
(Commercial)
KOTR: Cody Rhodes vs. John Morrison
I’d expect Morrison to win here. Cole tried hard to put over Cody’s gimmick mentioning his grooming tips. Morrison’s win over Sheamus at Survivor Series was called an upset, so that could be a potential final. I think if Del Rio doesn’t win it’ll likely be Morrison. Haha Punk mentioned being King of the Ring in 1992 in Rio De Janeiro like Pat Patterson’s IC title “win” the first time that belt was handed out. There wasn’t actually a tournament or match there. They just handed the belt to Patterson.
I love how Cody freaks out when he gets in the face. Finish came at about the 7 minute mark with Morrison hitting the knee to the face. Both guys missed jump kicks, but Morrison was able to hit his Flying Chuck kick to set it up.
Winner: John Morrison
Analysis: *1/2 Solid wrestling from both guys. Would have liked to see it get more time, but it was still fine by me. Nice pop for Morrison getting the win. The push is working.
The Raw guest star is Miss USA Rima Fakih. She will be crowning the new King of the Ring.
Another plug for the Miz coming up later.
(Commercial)
KOTR: Drew McIntyre vs. Ezekiel Jackson
Cole asks: “Has Drew McIntyre been chosen to be King of the Ring?” Hell no. He’ll be losing quickly. His push has been cut very short. They should stop calling him The Chosen One because he’s not even close to that spot anymore. Big Zeke comes out second. I think he’d be better as a babyface.
The commentary’s better than the match. Punk called himself a wrestler and Cole said he’s not a wrestler, he’s a superstar. If you don’t know they’re supposed to be call themselves superstars instead of wrestlers. They went to the floor about two minutes in. They fought out there. Drew held onto his foot and Zeke wasn’t able to get back in the ring in time. Double countout finish.
No Winner due to Double Countout
Post match, Zeke attacked McIntyre to get his heat back.
Analysis: 1/2* This was so short at about two minutes.
The winner of Sheamus vs. Kingston goes onto the finals. If you think King Kofi Kingston if going to happen you’re crazy. Look at the initials. Sheamus is winning that. Maybe Morrison goes over Del Rio to set that up as the finals.
Backstage, the Bellas talked to Daniel Bryan. One of them thought he was hurt and the other thought he was fine. Alex Riley showed up to rip on him and say he should have listened to Miz more. Daniel thought he was doing just fine with the US belt & the Bellas hanging out with him. Riley said it was Mizfest 2010. Everything sounds better with Fest.
(Commercial)
They showed clips of The Miz winning the belt last week as we reach the top of hour two, which is normally hour one. The Nexus attacked Orton earlier in the show, targeting the knee. Barrett hit the Wasteland, then Cena popped up, pulled the ref out, hit the AA and Orton hit the RKO for the win. Cue The Miz. Orton was still hurting, so Miz cashed in the briefcase, worked on the knee and finished him off with the Skull Crushing Finale. I thought it was really well done and really well booked. I’m a little upset that I missed it live, but watching it a few days later was cool too. And of course the reaction of the little girl in the crowd was tremendous.
The Miz is coming out now. The announcers say Orton’s not there. He’s got a patella contusion. Contusion = bruise.
The Miz comes out with the belt. It’s still the spinner belt. They need to get rid of that thing. Just don’t let TNA design the new one. Michael Cole is jumping up and down at the announcers desk going “woohoo” repeatedly. Pretty funny actually. Miz said he didn’t need the pyro. He didn’t need the partying. Haha. He showed clips of the little girl as proof of how fans reacted to him and he called her “The Miz girl.” I wonder if she’s signed to a developmental deal yet. He spoke about his history and how people didn’t think he’d reach that level. To people like JBL (who apparently was very hard on him when he was starting out), HHH, John Cena – I say this: “The Miz is WWE Champion.”
He mentions Orton’s not there due to a knee injury. He says his pride is injured because he was embarrassed last week. He says he’ll be the longest reigning WWE Champion in history. I highly doubt that. If you remember anything from this speech take this: “If anybody says you can’t do something or that you can’t live your dream – believe them. Because you can’t.” Then he says he’s an exceptional person that can do it. He’s one in a billion because he’s actually achieved his dreams. He mentioned Piper two weeks ago and he talked about the guys that never held the belt. He referenced the history of the WWE Title book, rattling off names. Cue Jerry Lawler.
Lawler says he never won that belt either, but that Miz won the belt after Orton got beat up by 7 guys in a night. Miz says he sounds like a bitter old man. Cole told Lawler to stop. He told him to sit down, relax and let Miz have his moment. Lawler says if you’re any kind of champion you’d call somebody out to defend the belt against that person. Lawler mentioned he’s been there since 1993 and he never got a title match, so he asked for a title shot. The crowd cheered. Miz says he’s not interested in defending the belt tonight, so Lawler told him he’s a champion, but not awesome. He’s a coward. Miz says he’s done nothing in 40 years, he’s a shell of a Hall of Famer.
Email time from the GM. Cole reads it off the paper on the computer and announces The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler for the WWE Championship later in the show. Smell the ratings. Wow, there are adult men wearing Cena shirts. That’s just wrong. The GM adds that there’s a PPV in a few weeks called TLC. He makes the main event tonight a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match. It’s Lawler’s birthday too by the way, he’s 61. I doubt he’s taking too many big bumps.
Good segment. I thought they could have had somebody better than Lawler challenge Miz, but obviously he’s somebody Miz can go over clean in an impressive manner.
(Commercial)
They plugged Miz vs. Lawler coming up later.
KOTR: Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston
A year ago Sheamus was about to become WWE Champion while Kingston was feuding with Orton and looked to be getting the big push. A year later Kofi’s in a lower position on the card while Sheamus is considered a top guy. It would be a shock if Sheamus doesn’t win this match.
Kingston got control with a nice dropkick and a clothesline followed by the Boom Drop for two. He went for a move while Sheamus was in the corner and he got crotched on the top rope. Sheamus went for his finisher, Kofi fought out and hit the Trouble in Paradise kick. Sheamus slid out to the floor, though, so he couldn’t cover. We got a “vintage Kingston” from Cole when he did a kick through the ropes. A guy that’s been there for a few years get a vintage. Kofi leapt off the top and Sheamus KO’d him with the Brogue Kick. He didn’t have much offense, but that finished him off.
Winner: Sheamus
Analysis: *1/2 A decent five minute match. It was mostly Kofi on offense with Sheamus using the counter to score the win.
The KOTR tourney continues with Morrison vs. Del Rio and Sheamus in the finals due to the bye.
Tomorrow is the finale of NXT season 3, which has become quite the trainwreck. At least they know that it is.
(Commercial)
Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel vs. Mark Henry & Yoshi Tatsu
Wow they got Yoshi on a Raw match. You know it’s a 3 hour show in that case. And it’s KOOL AID~! time! Of course the heels are working over Yoshi. Hey look, it’s John Cena walking through the crowd. Cole loves him. He loves most heels, but he loves Cena too. Yoshi makes the hot tag to Henry, but nobody cares because Cena’s there. Splash gets two and the match breaks down. Wendy Slater hits the boots to the face and then he falls victim to the World’s Strongest Slam. Henry pins him for the win.
Winners: Henry & Tatsu
Post match, Cena hops the rail, pulls Slater out and puts him through the announce table with the AA. He did it after he cleared the monitors on the table. He’s the nicest former WWE superstar that makes it into the ringside area and puts people through tables.
Analysis: ½* The tag champs lost clean to a team that we’ve never seen on Raw before and nobody cares because of the Cena thing. They don’t care about the tag titles. No other way to say it.
The crowd did pop huge for the Cena stuff, though, so I guess it’s working even though (like CM Punk said) it’s the worst security staff. I wonder if it will lead to more “fans” jumping the rail. That could be fun. Or disastrous. I’m only kidding. It won’t lead to more of that.
(Commercial)
They recapped the actions of “fired” John Cena. I’m pretty sure you can buy merchandise of “fired” John Cena on WWE.com too.
Backstage, Otunga, Harris & Gabriel spoke. I don’t think the longer hair and beard works for Gabriel. Maybe Kelly Kelly likes it. They are apparently dating, FYI. Barrett showed up. He said he’s going to end this thing with Cena tonight. Sure he will.
Backstage, Jerry Lawler was getting dressed and Arn Anderson shows up. He works for WWE. He mentioned how TLC matches can hurt. Lawler says he can’t pass up the opportunity at the title. Arn says there’s one thing you have to do: beat him.
They show Cole & Punk at the announcers desk, which was now broken. Punk says that King has a chance because Miz could fall to the floor and Lawler could climb up to win.
It’s King of the Ring semis time: Del Rio vs. Morrison. I want my own personal ring announcer. The match is after the break.
(Commercial)
Morrison comes out after the break.
KOTR: Alberto Del Rio vs. John Morrison
Wow they mentioned 1995 King of the Ring Mabel and Cole said it was a unique time for WWE. That’s another way of saying it was one of the worst periods in the history of the company. ADR gets the first two count of the match. He continues to work on him when all of a sudden his car horn starts ringing. It’s Rey Mysterio. Del Rio looks at him. Morrison hits the Flying Chuck kick for the win. Only 4 minutes? That’s disappointing.
Winner: John Morrison
Analysis: * Not much of a match. I thought they’d get a lot more time, but that didn’t happen. I thought Del Rio would win the whole thing. Now it can only be Morrison or Sheamus.
The finals are set. It’s Morrison vs. Sheamus. I’ll go with Morrison for the win, I guess.
I just got a tweet on Twitter saying: “i just saw a john report sign, it was green and behind rey when he stood on alberto del rio’s car” Screencaps please! Or I’ll find it later.
Barrett calls out Cena next.
(Commercial)
They show a replay of Barrett losing to Orton last week.
Here comes Barrett for a promo. He says he’s the only person on the planet that can bring Cena back to WWE. He is? What about Vince? He promises us that Cena will never work in WWE ever again. Yes. And Santa Claus is real. He promises us that Cena will suffer a beating. Backstage, Cena cuts a promo. He is in the parking lot and Barrett wants security to go after him. Cena points out that security won’t help Barrett because Nexus beat them up. Cena is confronted by Nexus. He says he’s not the only enemy that Nexus has and a bunch of the other Raw babyfaces come out to save him. Cena gives Gabriel the AA on the hood of the car. Kozlov: “How do you like huh?” Cena says this doesn’t stop until he gets his hands on each of them. That means he’ll see you next week.
When I got fired from a job I didn’t show up the next week. Cena’s such a rebel! This is obviously a lame angle for any adult, but the kids are popping huge for it. I guess it’s working? I dunno.
(Commercial)
Here’s a recap of the Cena segment from before the break. Punk tries to say it’s assault and battery. He’s just a fan. Stop using logic.
Here’s a recap of the Cena segment from before the break. Punk tries to say it’s assault and battery. He’s just a fan. Stop using logic.
Oh and here’s The John Report sign held by TJR reader Anthony Venneri: 
They recapped the Santino/Tamina kiss.
Natalya, Gail Kim & Melina vs. Tamina, Alicia & Maryse
About a minute into the match, Santino came out to sing to Tamina. He sang the “I think we’re alone” now song. She left with him and he liked it. Natalya got tagged in and made Alicia tap to the Sharpshooter. The crowd was pretty dead for it, but can you blame them when they took the focus off the match?
Winners; Natalya, Gail & Melina
Analysis: ½* Way to short to be anything at about 3 minutes or so. Natalya being champion is a good thing, though. She’s my favorite current WWE diva.
They did a video package on Jerry Lawler’s career. Again, it’s his 61st birthday today. I guess it’s a way to honor him.
(Commercial)
The Did You Know was plugging the Make A Wish work WWE has done. They do great charity work, no doubt.
Backstage, the newly bearded Ted Dibiase was looking at a toy belt. Maryse gives him a pep talk saying he’s tapped out twice to a geek smaller than her…Daniel Bryan. She went to say more and he told her to shut up. He’s so mad he’s growing to grow more facial hair.
Backstage, more acting with Husky & Otunga walking backstage planning something WITH A CAMERA watching them. That’s how I plan surprises too.
Backstage, Josh Mathews spoke to Morrison & Sheamus backstage prior to their KOTR matchup. One has a tan. One doesn’t. Both have beards, though. “You’re slim pickings, fella” is what Sheamus’ grandma used to say apparently. Morrison says it doesn’t matter that Sheamus is fresher, stronger or that he looks like powder. Then he says only one of them is walking out King of the Ring and they have a staredown. That match is next.
(Commercial)
They plugged the 3 hour Slammy Award show in two weeks. I wonder if it can be as bad of a show as last year’s? Probably not.
The special guest ring announcer is a “lifelong fan of WWE” Rima Fakih, who is Miss USA. Yeah she’s alright. She says nothing except that the following match is the finals of the King of the Ring. I’m so glad she’s there. Where would this show be without her? At least they didn’t put her in backstage segments.
King of the Ring Finals: Sheamus vs. John Morrison
I’m going Morrison just because Sheamus is a two time WWE Champion. Morrison could benefit from it more and I would love to see him get a push. Sheamus took control early, hitting Morrison with a knee, which sent him to the floor. And there’s our vintage commercial spot. Yeah I said vintage. Deal with it.
(Commercial)
We come back with Sheamus still in control. The deal is that Morrison’s left arm is hurt from earlier in the night. Every time he took a bump he grabbed the arm. I like when wrestlers properly sell moves. Yes I said wrestlers. I don’t have to say superstars. Morrison made a comeback, but Sheamus went back to the arm and got a two count with a clothesline. Sheamus goes for the High Cross (Razor’s Edge), but Morrison counters with a back slide. Sheamus charges in, Morrison hits a back elbow and hits a lovely spinning DDT for two. Great spot. I like the chemistry of these two.
Sheamus continues to work on the arm of Morrison, putting him in a Fujiwara Armbar. You think Lawler would call that like Punk did? Of course not. He continues to work on the arm. The crowd is pretty hot for the match, rooting for Morrison. Morrison’s able to counter, he goes up for Starship Pain, he hits it, but Sheamus gets his knees up. Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick. No cover. There’s the High Cross by Sheamus. Three count and it’s over. Match was about 12 minutes.
Winner of King of the Ring: Sheamus
Analysis: *** A very solid match. I liked that Sheamus was working over the arm the entire time and Morrison did a good job with the believable comebacks. As I said I really liked their chemistry. They work well together.
I’m not a huge fan of Sheamus winning only because he’s been a two time WWE Champion before. I think it would benefit Morrison more. However, this sets up King Sheamus to feud against the returning King of Kings, Triple H. He’s due back anytime now. Sheamus, now with crown, robe & scepter gets on the microphone: “Long live the king.” That crown looks like it cost $10. Maybe $20. Can’t afford a better one. Nobody’s buying the PPVs after all.
Miz vs. Lawler next.
Check me out on Twitter at Twitter.com/johnreport where I’m being followed by many people in the wrestling business and I try to have a lot of fun. You’ll get links to my work as soon as they are posted.
(Commercial)
I love how John Cena is fired, yet they just promoted his DVD. In other words, we know our fans our idiots. Let’s not try to sell an angle. It’s silly to do the firing angle in the first place, though. It’s too fake even for WWE.
WWE Title in a TLC Match: The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler
Punk tries to put over the possibility of Lawler winning because if Miz falls down Lawler could always get it. This match is starting at 10:54pmET, so they should get about 10 minutes or so. Again, it’s Lawler’s 61st birthday. I assume that’s why they put him in the main event here. It could be his “last” match although in wrestling who really knows?
In ring, they set up a couple of chairs. Miz gave him a backbreaker on one of them. Miz told Riley to get him a ladder. Lawler grabbed a chair and gave Miz multiple chair shots to the back. They were very safe chair shots. Riley ran at Lawler, so Jerry punched him. Have to say Lawler has thrown some of the best punches in wrestling history. Lawler brings a ladder in, it gets propped up in the corner and he gives Miz a backdrop onto the ladder. Riley gives Lawler a clothesline. Jerry gets up and shoves Riley off the apron and he goes through a table.
The Miz takes control again. He gives him a suplex onto a chair, which was on the ground. Miz goes to the top with the chair even though he almost never goes to the top. Lawler crotches him. Lawler fights him on the top and pushes him off the middle rope through a table on the floor. Crowd is getting excited. Cole gets up from the announce table to help Miz. Cole goes in the ring to pull Lawler down as King asks him what he’s doing. Lawler decks him and then pounds on him a bit more. Both guys climb the ladder. Miz grabs the belt in his right hand, uses it as a weapon and hits Lawler in the head with it. Miz won the match in 12 minutes.
Winner: The Miz
Analysis: ** The match was better than I thought going in. They did a good job of making people think Lawler might win. That includes CM Punk, who did a great job in putting over Lawler’s chances.
Post match, Punk ended the show talking about the action and how Miz was the future of WWE.
Three Stars of the Show
1. The Miz – Good promo. Solid job working with Lawler too.
2. Sheamus – The new king. I like him as a performer.
3. CM Punk – He’s such a great announcer. He’s funny and he puts over thetaction in the ring better than the others.
Special shoutout to Anthony Venneri for holding “The John Report” sign.
Worst Moment of the Week
The divas tag.
5.5 out of 10
Last week: NA
It was alright. My problem was that it took Miz, Riley & Cole to beat a 61 year old man that never won the WWE title. That’s not the best way to put over your new WWE Champion. I guess it’s hard without Orton at the show.
The King of the Ring tourney was okay. Nothing special. Like I wrote I thought it would have benefitted somebody like Del Rio or Morrison more than Sheamus, who is really only King of the Ring so that it can add to his feud with the returning HHH. I’d rather they use the $10 crown to help the career of a midcarder.
All the stuff with Cena was good in terms of drawing a reaction from the kids although it’s a huge logic hole for anybody that likes to think during a wrestling show. I guess I should think less.
The rest of the show? Largely forgettable. I just watched it for 3 hours and can’t remember anything else. So there ya go.
At least there was a sign that said “The John Report” on it, though. That was definitely a highlight.
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