WWE Raw: Just a few thoughts... (28/10/2013)

WWE Raw - Monday 28th October 2013

I just thought I'd address a couple of issues that I started thinking about after watching Raw this week. Probably nothing crazy or anything you haven't already read or thought yourself but just thought I'd throw it out there anyway...

Shawn Michaels / Daniel Bryan segment
So, just in case you didn't know, Shawn Michaels superkicked Bryan at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, costing him the match and the WWE Championship. After seeing this, along with HBK's conflicted look, I felt that the explanation would be that he was looking after his best pal (HHH) after Bryan delivered a running knee to WWE's COO. I really hoped that this wouldn't be the explanation and that it would be a full-on heel turn (if you're going to do it then go the whole way?!).

Unfortunately, it was the case and HBK explained that he was looking out for HHH as he had done for him in HBK's darkest days. So, does that mean that Michaels was ALWAYS going to do this and we shouldn't have voted for him? I don't know. There are a lot of people saying that this heel turn (from Michaels) was 'great' and it worked. I completely disagree. For me, I didn't feel that this was a heel turn at all. Michaels gave valid reasons for why he did what he did, was conflicted throughout until Bryan wouldn't shake his hand, got a little shitty that Bryan wouldn't shake his hand and backed it up with the 'I'm Shawn Michaels, dammit?!' but there was nothing of any huge aggression in it. It was a babyface explaining that he kind of messed up; not a full-on heel turn. HBK is too 'nice' nowadays (ever since turning to God) for me to buy him turning heel. A little pointless then...

Besides, it's not as if HBK is going to be around for that long to make a heel turn worth it. He'll go away and come back in a few months time loved more than ever?! Oh, and to the people who think that there will be a HBK vs Bryan match in the future: You need to take your hands out of your pants...

The Wyatt's attacks
The short of it is that The Wyatts attacked Daniel Bryan (after the HBK segment) and CM Punk a little later on Raw. In both cases, Bray Wyatt would say that 'the Devil made him do it'.

At Hell in a Cell, Paul Heyman described himself as the 'Devil' and 'Satan of the WWE'... so does two plus two equal four here? Is Paul Heyman going to be behind The Wyatts? I don't see it myself; The Wyatts are a mysterious, 'devil's rejects', hill-billy group that has a more-than-adequate mouthpiece in their leader, Bray Wyatt. Heyman is great, and a genius, but it just doesn't fit. Bring them to the main event scene, but let them do it under their own steam.

My first thought was that the 'Devil' could be Triple H in this situation. If you like, a modern version of 'The Higher Power' storyline of 1999 when Vince McMahon was revealed as the ultimate leader of the Corporate Ministry. Back then, The Undertaker was mysterious and all-powerful; who better to be the only one to have any control of him than the boss himself. So why not here, too? The Wyatts don't need to be part of The Authority (or whatever Triple H and co are calling themselves) but simply do their dirty work in putting Bryan and Punk in their places.

Kane
Hell in a Cell saw the return of Kane. He came to the ring to gain revenge over the guys that had 'kidnapped' him two months ago - aiding Miz in the process as he was taking a beating from Rowan and Harper (there's a lot of Wyatt family in this post eh?). Once he had cleaned house, he turned and delivered a Chokeslam to Miz. Now this was just a standard 'Kane's back and he's just reminding everyone' return, but should we have seen this as a heel turn? If so then WWE need to realise that to turn someone heel they should probably think about using a well-loved babyface to get the point across, not Miz; someone that people really couldn't give a crap about!

Then, on Raw Kane would defeat the jobber-treated Miz in about ninety seconds before calling Stephanie out. He would then seemingly berate her for the pain and suffering that she had put others through in the last couple of months, concluding that it was, in fact, best for business. He would then offer his services to her ('...the monster is yours to unleash') before giving her his mask.

Conclusions
I like that there seems to be new storylines starting/brewing but there are a few unresolved things that I think will be left behind. For starters, Daniel Bryan has been launched into the main event, been screwed four pay-per-views in a row and seems like he will move onto The Wyatts for the meantime? He still hasn't had the payoff that he deserves. Neither have the fans. As it stands, he has proven that he is the B+ player that Triple H and Stephanie have labelled him. He needed to win the title without any screwing or controversy, with a lengthy reign of some sort. Instead he is a two-time champion with a combined reign of about a day. As for the fans; they have paid for four pay-per-views now in the hope of seeing their hero claim the big one. I'm hearing of figures of $200 dollars being paid over that time and there has been no payoff, just continual screwjobs. I'm not saying these people should have refunds as screwy finishes are what you expect in wrestling from time-to-time, but four in a row is a bit ridiculous! By now the babyface should have prevailed otherwise he is a complete loser that we should throw on the scrapheap!

I don't see why I should care about him when he hasn't proved the heels wrong.

Kane's return says to me that when he was taken away (by the Wyatts), he was brainwashed to their way of thinking? Maybe this explains his change of attitude along with Bray Wyatt's 'Devil' talk - maybe Triple H? My hope is that Kane's allegiance to Stephanie doesn't result in him being her hired gun against Big Show. That match is old news and has been done to death over the years. Slow, crap matches, too.

At Survivor Series, Orton needs to be in an elimination match (to give him and the WWE title a rest for a month) and it should be Triple H vs Big Show. I don't see any other way to go unless they're serious about replacing Bryan with Show for a pay-per-view or two. Seems a step back to me, though...

Despite these thoughts, I'm still really into what's going on in the WWE. There are new storylines brewing and there a lot of unanswered questions (Kane's role? Wyatt's 'Devil'?) to be getting on with...

@jimmosangle

WWE Raw thoughts 2/9/2013

The last few weeks of WWE television have been some of the best in a very long time. In fact, it could be said that it's the best since I've been watching WWE. Although it's not the risky, attitudinal stuff I remember from 1999-2001, it is a compelling show for the PG era that we now live in. This is down to it now being about a very fundamental factor: The battle between Good and Evil.

Daniel Bryan vs The Establishment
The months leading to Summerslam saw Daniel Bryan's popularity soar. With John Cena's injury, coupled with the events that transpired at the end of Summerslam, Bryan has been shot into the number-one-guy slot. This is refreshing as he is a babyface that we all actually like and want to succeed. At the other end of the scale is the new WWE Champion, Randy Orton. Now corporate-backed, Orton is the ultimate villain that we all despise due to his screwing of our new hero's crowning glory at Summerslam. And to top it off, in Randy's corner is the new, evil boss Triple H. Austin vs McMahon 2.0 has began.

The last few weeks have seen Bryan (and Orton) start the show, be talked about throughout, and then end with a cliffhanger - usually with Bryan beaten down and seemingly without hope. It's brilliant stuff as all we want to see is Bryan gain the revenge that he rightfully deserves. Eventually we'll see this happen, but for now we are continually pissed off that he keeps getting cut down - it's all great stuff that will give us an ace pay-off when Bryan finally 'wins'. We hope.

Raw: Ryback destroyed Ziggler (after Ambrose attacked)

As well as the tyrannical boss and the evil champion, Bryan has had to deal with 'hired guns' The Shield. On Raw last night, Ryback also seemed to be a tool at the disposal of Triple H and co. as he dominated Dolph Ziggler - another face that is being punished for speaking out against the new regime. After a shorter-than-expected World Heavyweight Championship run, and ending his feud with ex-girlfriend AJ and heavy, Big E Langston, this is a positive road for Ziggler to be travelling down as it could result in him joining Bryan as the newest 'made-men' in the WWE.

Trying his best to add to the face side of the fence is Big Show. Last night, along with the last couple of weeks, showed the anguish and utter frustration Show has as he wants to do the right thing. It's now been mentioned that he has money issues - something else to tug at our heart-strings.

Ultimately, the top three faces - Bryan, Ziggler and Show - have been put in their places and it'll be great to see them get their payback for the weeks of beatdowns.

Cody Rhodes
Although I've been disappointed that Cody and Damien's (Sandow) feud has seemingly been ended, I'm happy that the future could be very bright for Cody.

Last night, Cody made the mistake of talking out of turn to Triple H and Orton and found himself in a match (vs Orton) with his job on the line. Not realising that Cody is having time off, I thought he was going to get a valuable victory over Orton (whether it be clean or due to Bryan interference). Unfortunately, it wasn't to be and after a hard fought battle, with Cody hitting Cross-Rhodes for a near three-count, Orton delivered an RKO and sent Cody packing.

An emotional Cody tore into the McMahons on departure

Later in the night, as Cody was being escorted out of the building, he delivered a blistering promo about the McMahon's hatred of the Rhodes'; humiliating his father twenty years prior, his brother a few years after, as well as dashing Cody's dream, too. I'd have thought that Cody will have time off for his wedding before returning and being instantly elevated after this revealing information about the McMahon/Rhodes history and feud. A new chapter can be written with Cody doing well from the potential situation.

Other
The Punk vs Heyman situation continues to grow and be a very good supporting storyline to the Bryan vs HHH/Orton. Both are great storytellers and have such a personal history that it writes itself. Week after week, these guys sell the Night of Champions pay-per-view (if Bryan hadn't already!) more and more, giving us the hope and belief that Punk will finally get his revenge on Heyman after his betrayal at Money in the Bank. Punk guaranteeing that he will 'break' Heyman's face is a sight I'd pay good money to see!

Some excellent, gripping storylines happening right now on WWE TV; can't wait to see what happens next.

Fantasy Booking
I've read rumours today that this Big Show turmoil could all be a set-up so that he helps Bryan only to screw him over at Night of Champions. I'm willing to see how this plays out, but despite this being the umpteenth time that Show would have turned heel, it's not the worst thing that could happen.

Could this be the newest addition to the new regime?

If it did happen then it could keep Bryan occupied for a month or so whilst someone else (Ziggler?) challenges Orton. In that month, Bryan could slay the giant - a huge feather in his cap - before going back and demanding another shot at Orton for the next pay-per-view. It continues the chase and keeps us drawn in hoping on hope that Bryan finally gets his moment of glory.

@jimmosangle

WWE Raw rant 21/1/2013 - Lead to the Royal Rumble

This weeks Raw was the 'go home' show leading to the Royal Rumble (this Sunday, 27th January). It featured The Rock/CM Punk feud and also a Beat the Clock Challenge to determine an individual to pick his Rumble spot.

The show started with Vickie and Paul Heyman coming out to the ring. Although they were showing a 'united front', they both took the opportunity to show the other's song that The Rock sang about them last week. Vickie then caught wind that The Rock had arrived - Vickie had already stated that he would be banned from the arena tonight. This led to a few scenes where Rock would talk to three police officers (indy workers) letting them know that he would get his way into the arena eventually.

Later, CM Punk and Heyman came out to the ring. Punk was carrying his own belt for a change, and this was for a purpose as he went onto say that he holds the championship closer to his heart than most men hold their families. He also referred to it as 'the most prestigious title that the WWE has to offer' - this is a result of him making it prestigious. Agreed. He would then go onto make another valid point - The Rock is here to 'sing songs and tell jokes' whereas Punk is here to 'hurt people and be champion'. Another ace promo from the Best in the World on the mic (making Cena's promo at the end of the show look even more ridiculous!). It baffles me why they leave top level promos like this to when part-timers like The Rock come back - I know it's Wrestlemania season but promos like this make feuds/matches MUST SEE; they should do this the rest of the year.

The last segment between the champion and challenger involved Heyman coming out to the ring by himself (with Punk safely hidden in a private sky box).

Paul explains his job and does some of the usual ass kissing to the champ. Also refers to Rock being 'January's Flavour of the Month'; I really hope he's right there. He also references popular belief that it's a forgone conclusion that Punk will lose at the Rumble. The last few weeks have put doubt in my mind that The Rock will walk away from the Rumble with the belt - a job well done by those involved.

The Rock's music hits and out comes the Great One - with a ticket that one of the cops gave him - Wow, I didn't realise that with a ticket it entitled you to get in the ring and cut a promo?! That's noted for the next time me and my friend go to a show! Some of the usual stuff from Rock before throwing in a few trademark catchphrases and then the lights went out... they then came back onto show The Shield delivering a beating to Rock. After a brief comeback they managed to keep him down and then deliver the triple powerbomb, leaving Rock bleeding from the mouth. The last three weeks have been varied in this feud - week 1 was face to face promo; week 2 a brawl; and now week 3 saw more talk from a distance before adding a potential factor to the Rumble match.

Another main feature of this weeks Raw was a 'Beat the Clock Challenge' where the winner would get to pick their Royal Rumble entry spot. This spotlighted six guys - Ziggler, Sheamus and Orton (World Title contenders), and Barrett, Cesaro and Miz (the best of the mid-card challenge). Despite the loss and draw, Cesaro and Barrett continue to be dominant mid-card champions. Cesaro has been kept strong throughout his US Title reign, and Barrett is heading the same way. It was nice to have a Beat the Clock Challenge where you could see all six guys coming out on top. The usual set-up is to have three favourites against three lower card guys where the outcome is easily predicted. All three matches went 10+ minutes and this was time well spent on these guys. Dolph ended up getting the best time after distracting Sheamus enough in his match, so that the time ran out on him. Unfortunately, Vickie gave him the choice of picking numbers 1 or 2 - possibly a chance to put in a Shawn Michaels/Ric Flair performance? (NB: I miss the Rumble set-ups where they used to have an 'over the top rope challenge' to determine the number 30 spot)

The final build towards the Rumble match was at the end when John Cena came out to stake his claim to winning. He started this promo by talking to a kid close to his age and mental ability. After a long, fast, crazy, stupid, pointless start to this, he eventually got to the point of what he's going to be doing this Sunday. Two questions though: Why didn't he compete in a Beat the Clock Challenge? Does it really matter if he did as whatever position he's in he'll probably win?

After stating he'd win, Sheamus made an appearance to say he'd win. This followed by all the main guys (and a fair few jobbers) coming out to say the same. Commence mass brawl to end the show.

Best of the rest;

• Big Show and Alberto Del Rio both had squashes over jobbers leading into their Last Man Standing match at the Rumble. Not sure the thinking behind having this boring match type again? Basically they both counted to ten; Show in English; Del Rio in Spanish. REALLY liking face Del Rio - this turn was definitely needed.
• Ryback defeated Heath Slater (w/ Jinder/Drew) in about two minutes. This was his first squash in a while and separated the men from the boys leading to the Rumble.
• Diva's division moved on after Eve quit last week: New Champ Kaitlyn was against Alicia Fox in an easy win - watched by Tamina.
• Huge comedy segment with Kane and Daniel Bryan graduating from Dr Shelby's Anger Management course. This stuff is silly as hell but is so entertaining/funny. It's also Kane's lowest point as a monster. If he ever 'snaps' and goes monster heel again, I don't think I can believe it.
• Punk and Heyman run into Vince who informs them that if The Shield interferes in Punk/Rock match then he will be stripped of the title. Hmmm I feel a prediction coming on - urgh I feel dirty!
• Second Hall of Fame inductee: Bob Backlund

@jimmosangle

WWE Raw rant 14/1/2013 - 20th Anniversary

I've read a lot of reviews that didn't like Raw this week. Personally, I really liked it - not a great show, but a good show with a lot of positives going forward. As far as an 'anniversary' show - this one being the 20th anniversary; it wasn't great. I think people were expecting ALL the stars to come back and this just didn't, and maybe wasn't going to, happen.

The biggest stars of the last twenty years that showed up were, obviously, The Rock, Mick Foley (accepting his Hall of Fame induction), and Ric Flair (as part of the MizTV segment). At the end of the show we were given Mike Rotunda, Jamie Noble, Dave Finlay and Arn Anderson to break up the fight between CM Punk and The Rock. Booker T was there, too, for what it was worth. I was hoping for Max Moon ad Damien Demento.

Others that were expected included Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker. I have a feeling that Wrestlemania is a much bigger priority and the latter three will be involved somehow with that, so Raw wasn't half as important in comparison. I wasn't disappointed that they didn't show - I would have loved it but I understand there's a bigger picture in the next three months.

As I said at the start, I felt that this show was good. There were some good segments that were positives for the future. The Shield shared time in the ring with Mick Foley (about to deliver a speech regarding his Hall of Fame induction), although this time was a few seconds before Ryback and co. came and made the save, it was still nice that The Shield can interrupt anyone - fellow superstars or even Hall of Famers.

As stupid and comedic as the Ric Flair/Miz/MizTV part was, again I felt it was good for Miz and Cesaro to have that interaction with the sixteen-time World's Champion. Ric Flair was going to be on this show so who should he have 'given the rub to' instead? With the amount of ring time that Miz has had lately, he could do with any pat on the back that he can get from returning legends.

Another positive that I'll take from this Raw was the encounter between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. I fully expected the usual Orton win (as he's a World Title contender and Barrett is the mid card Champion) but to my surprise, Barrett pulled out the clean win. As much of a surprise as this was, it also made sense; Barrett could do with a big scalp like this to contribute to a strong IC Title run. It won't hurt Orton at all at this stage. Yes, he wants to be World Champion again, but that's not going to happen anytime soon - firstly, he NEEDS the rumoured heel turn. I can see this happening at the expense of Sheamus (maybe at the Rumble?), and then maybe we can talk about World Title expectations. So from now until the Rumble (or whenever they hope to achieve a heel turn), it really doesn't matter who they job him out to.

Alberto Del Rio continues to grip my attention. It's really refreshing to see him, with the World Title, and against Big Show. In the last few months, it's seemed that Smackdown only had two stars - Show and Sheamus - but since his face turn, Del Rio has a new lease of life. This is a side of him that we haven't seen before. It looks as though he has a Mexican version of Daniel Bryan's chant on his hands, too (Si! Si! Si! Si! Si!). After the spoiler of him winning the World Title last week, I was apprehensive as to how they were going to pull this off and make it look believable. After watching it for myself, I found myself enthralled in this match - I believed.

The opening segment of Raw involved Del Rio and Big Show setting up the rematch at the Rumble. It was also nice to see that they started the show with the boss (Vince) and the longest serving (full time) active member of Raw (Show). Even though this is the case, Vince still wanted to be called 'Mr McMahon'! I remember Vince telling Show off at Wrestlemania 15 and that ended very differently that night.

There was a Steel Cage match between John Cena and Dolph Ziggler. This had the usual outcome of a Cena win. As great as these two have been the last couple of months, this feud now needs to end. I know there are people that believe that wins and losses don't mean anything, but Ziggler cannot keep losing to SuperCena. Instead of him becoming a credible threat, Ziggler is constantly being put in his place - beneath Cena. It makes no sense to have a feud this one sided. The only time Ziggler has been victorious is because AJ messed it up for Cena. Apart from this, Cena has kicked out of Ziggler's best moves EVERY week.

Best of the rest;

• Obviously, there was the 'Rock Concert'. This is reduced to a bullet point as it was just Rock being his usual jokey self. The Paul Heyman song didn't really do it for me but the Vickie Guerrero 'Horrible Tonight' tribute was pretty funny. It was nice to have a brawl at the end as these guys can't keep having epic promos every week. I like how Rock keeps counting the days down in his promos, telling Punk 'time's up'. It's good that people KNOW when the pay-per-view is due to simple plugging.
• Kane and Daniel Bryan provided the top comedy moments of the night. This edition of Raw saw the return of Dr Shelby for their four month assessment. This broke down when he brought Cody and Damien in to 'test' Kane/DB; Shelby getting Kane/DB to 'get' Cody/Damien when he couldn't contain his own anger! Looking forward to the Tag Title match at the Rumble as we should now get new (and deserving) champions.
• Diva's Championship finally changed hands after a four month rivalry. This was a change that was definitely happening as it was reported that Eve was 'retiring' from wrestling/WWE. Maybe this forced WWE's hand in giving the title to Kaitlyn. Either way, hopefully we'll get some new women coming up from the ranks/NXT and we'll have some matches that'll catch the attention. This division is at an all time low so the only way is up.
• I think I'm being very hopeful if I think there's a chance that Brodus Clay will go down the route of being a '400lb Monster' anytime in the future. Fingers crossed. Keep the Funkadactyls about though...
• ALWAYS good to see two legends from when I was a kid - The Rock and Sock Connection in fine form. Foley copying Rock's catchphrases as in 1999/2000. Great line when Foley replied to Rock's 'Trust me'; 'You Rock Bottomed me last year?' - Rock blew this off with a very true statement about today's fan's memories; 'Nobody remembers that!'.
• Special shout out for one of the 20th Anniversary's flashbacks - Stuttering Goldust! I remember absolutely pissing myself at them skits with him in. Dustin Runnels, you legend!

Prediction for the Rumble: Sheamus to eliminate all three 3MB members. Then, he, Orton and Ryback take care of The Shield, followed by and Orton/Sheamus altercation.

WWE Raw rant 7/1/2013

The first Raw of 2013 shaped up to be a memorable one as it saw the return of The Rock. It also saw CM Punk's return to action after the 'injury' he acquired on the lead up to TLC in December. This would be in a TLC match for the WWE Championship against Ryback - the man that caused Punk to miss action in the last month.

There were two main talking points from Raw this week;

John Cena and Dolph Ziggler
As he had the last laugh of Raw in 2012, it was only fitting that John Cena be first out for the first Raw of 2013. He started out by letting everyone know what they could expect on the show; the TLC, WWE Title match between CM Punk and Ryback and, of course, the return of the 'Captain of Team Bring It', The Rock. He then went onto stake his claim to winning the Royal Rumble.

This then led to Dolph, AJ and Big E Langston to come out to confront Cena. Things broke down very quickly into a typical Cena comedy routine, where wiener jokes were the order of the day. This led to a Mexican wave... that audience should be ashamed of themselves. Dolph cut this short to, rightly, say that everytime Cena gets beat he simply laughs it up. It's all a big joke to him.

I have to completely agree with Dolph. It's really weird that in the last year and a half it seems that the heels are the ones telling the truth. Normally a heel should only BELIEVE their own bullshit, not actually SPEAK the truth. It's gotten to the point where I would say that Ziggler, following on from Punk, is saying exactly what we're all thinking. There seemed to be a hint of actual annoyance in his voice that Cena doesn't take things as serious as he should.

This is probably a big reason why people boo Cena so much. Surely this is all giving the wrong message to WWE's target audience? Cena's message seems to be that it's ok to be a loser, because if you're in the boss' pocket then your position is guaranteed. This is an awful message to be sending out. The other message being sent out here is that the lying, sneaky, cheating heels are telling you the truth (Punk in June 2011, Ziggler now). A heel's job is for you to hate them - not to sympathise with them; not to want them to get revenge on the face. Yet, with Cena's laugh-it-off attitude all the time, I'd love to see Ziggler get one over on him. He deserves it.

Anyway, this segment ended with Cena wanting to fight. Big E took the mic, to say his first words on WWE TV - agreeing that Dolph would fight Cena there and then. This seemed to upset Dolph and AJ - maybe something that will cause the break-up of Big E from them somewhere down the line. The match went as expected, with Cena kicking out of ALL of Dolph's best - the Zig Zag and the newly acquired Superkick - before hitting a AA for the win. Back to same old, same old then. Big E got involved in this match to try to help Dolph win, hitting his Big Ending finisher. Something I don't understand is - after the various attacks/finishers on him; why doesn't Cena want revenge on Big E at all?

The Rock and CM Punk
This was the segment that had everyone's attention. Punk came out first. It was noted that he has held the title longer than anyone in Raw history - I think that's a worthy thing to note going into the Rumble match against an icon. Punk explained the true meaning of a 'pipebomb' - Honesty; Truth. He also admitted to selling out - or in his case, cashing in on popularity.

Next was name dropping; saying that John Cena can have an awful year - as he did in 2012 - and it doesn't matter; he'll still get title shot after title shot after title shot. Daniel Bryan is a submission expert that puts a smile on his face to please everyone. Brodus Clay is a 400-pound monster that dances for everyone's enjoyment. He even mentioned that the invisible Little Jimmy has a better spot on Raw than a 'workhorse' like Tyson Kidd. These were all valid points as to what you have to do to be 'popular'.

Punk then went onto mock legends such as Flair, HBK and Edge, who all said they performed for the enjoyment of the fans. This is something that Punk has never done - he has always done what he has done for himself - 'you don't get to win!' was then repeated until The Rock made his entrance.

The Rock started off, and continued here and there, to be his usual jokey self. When talk got serious, so did he though. Rock gave huge credit throughout for Punk's 414 day title reign. He also recognised him as a major threat. Other statements that were clearly designed to give credit where credit is due was when Rock said that Punk has one of the most creative minds in WWE history. He followed this up by saying that when he became the WWE Champion, he also became the biggest jerk the world has ever seen. Great respect shown here.

Things got really serious towards the end of this segment, as they were face to face in the centre of the ring. After Rock had done his obligatory catchphrases ('Finally...', 'It doesn't matter...' etc) he told Punk that he can't stop him becoming the WWE Champion at the Royal Rumble. Punk responded by saying that Rock can keep coming at him with his catchphrases and jabs, but they won't mark the champ's face - 'I'm going to kick your ass' - short, simple and to the point.

The line of the segment was when Punk told Rock that his 'arms are too short to box with God'. Raw finished with a bang as Rock delivered a Rock Bottom.

This interaction was the best that has happened since the Rock/Cena program last year. Although throughout the year Punk has gotten on the mic and delivered the best promos around, he's never gotten as serious since the infamous first 'pipebomb'. Before The Rock came out Punk delivered some more home truths a la June 2011; unfortunately this wasn't as controversial as he wouldn't have had as much 'creative control' over what he said here.

It was interesting what he said about the likes of Daniel Bryan, Brodus Clay and Tyson Kidd though - Kidd, especially, should be on Raw more often but I suppose hasn't quite got what WWE is looking for in him. DBryan and Brodus do what they need to get popular and stay on TV. Shame things aren't different.

It was also nice that Rock gave Punk credit for his title reign, as well as giving him props for what he has accomplished in the last year and a half. This feud is only going to get better in the next few weeks.

Best of the rest;

• The TLC match between Punk and Ryback went as expected; I get the feeling they might have gone with what they would have done at TLC (ppv). After it looked as though Ryback couldn't be stopped at the top of the ladder; the lights went out... seconds later they were back on again and The Shield (Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns) were up the ladder, attacking Ryback (again). This all led to a triple powerbomb through a table and onto the steel entrance steps. Punk obviously retained. Some good spots in this match - mainly Punk being launched or suplexed into the ladder, or going through a table. Ryback vs The Shield continues going into the Rumble.
• Cody and Damien (Team Rhodes Scholars) got a much needed win against the Tag Champs (DBryan and Kane). I think if they'd have lost again then that would have been the end of their threat. Hopefully there will be a title match at the Rumble and Cody/Damien can get what they deserve. Finally.
• Orton and Sheamus both destroyed 3MB (separately). The only hint of the dissension from Smackdown was when Orton got interviewed and Sheamus was mentioned as a threat at the Rumble. Orton didn't seem to like this.
• After his match with Orton, and against Miz on Smackdown; are things looking up for Heath Slater (and 3MB)?
• Wade Barrett with a simple enough win over Santino. Ricky Steamboat was in Santino's corner - will this lead to another return of The Dragon? After his showing against Jericho a few years ago, it might not hurt to...
• Cesaro with another IMPRESSIVE Neutraliser on Khali. After, they fuelled the possible Miz feud.
• I didn't realise that the Eve/Kaitlyn angle has been going 4 months now. Please end it and move on.
• Kofi was back to jobbing; losing in under 30 seconds to World Champion Big Show. I know they need to make Show look strong but they could've done that with anyone - not a guy that is/has had a decent feud with Barrett over the Intercontinental Title and could do with elevating. Sorry Kofi, your stock just lowered a little there...

You can look out for more of my posts here on my blog, or follow me on Twitter @jimmosangle

WWE Raw rant 31/12/2012 - New Years Eve

This weeks Raw was more back to normality. It was always going to have a New Years theme surrounding it but set a few things up nicely heading into 2013.

It was announced by everyone's favourite talkshow host, The Miz, that it would be a 'Champion's Choice' night, in which all the champions would choose their opponents. Ok, so with a majority-heel champions list, I wondered who they'd 'challenge' themselves with?

My feelings were right as Eve picked a returning, 89 year-old, pregnant again (yep, it's 1999 all over again) Mae Young. This didn't happen though due to Mae's pregnancy and Eve had to settle for a beating from Kaitlyn. Again (sigh).

The US Championship match saw Antonio Cesaro beating American hero Sgt. Slaughter and getting some good heat for beating the Sarge in Washington DC. The Big Show also made us think that his title reign was in doubt when he picked the dangerous Ricardo Rodriguez to be his challenger for the night.

This segment will, obviously, be forgotten for the match itself. A positive that did come out of this was Alberto Del Rio - offering his support to Ricardo before the match and also giving appreciation to him for always being there for him. This was then backed up by him admitting that he had treated Ricardo like dirt and this was not on - nobody, including him [Alberto] should treat RR like dirt. This seemed really heartfelt and, for me, has solidified Del Rio as a face. I thought it was a little easy for the WWE to just put Del Rio as Miz's partner at TLC but this interaction on Raw has swayed it for me now. It's something NEW and POSITIVE leading into 2013. Added to this, they'll probably go with a Big Show vs Del Rio angle now.

Another title match on 'Champions Choice' Raw saw Kane/Daniel Bryan defend the Tag Team Championships against 3MB members Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre. A simple enough win for Kane and DB when Daniel pinned Drew after a flying headbutt.

The Champion who decided to challenge himself the most was Kofi Kingston. Backstage, while Kofi was asking if Sheamus was ok (after the beating he took from The Shield earlier in the night), Wade Barrett came up and goaded Kofi into giving him the match for the Intercontinental Title. Kofi could've picked Hornswoggle or Little Jimmy (again, sigh), but he did the right thing and gave Barrett the rematch from TLC. In what was probably the match of the night - due to it being a serious title match instead of a joke booking - Barrett delivered the Bullhammer to Kofi for the much deserved win and change of champion. Barrett Barrage picking up pace going into 2013.

The main event of the evening saw a 'New Year's Toast' conducted by Dolph and AJ (of course, accompanied by Big E Langston). Throughout this, Dolph questioned the WWE Universe's decision to vote John Cena the Superstar of the Year. This followed by Dolph listing the achievements that John has accomplished in 2012; The build up and LOSS to The Rock; Lesnar kicking his arse on the Raw after Wrestlemania; John Laurinaitis PINNING Cena at Over the Limit; Cena being the first to cash MITB in and LOSE and, of course, Cena's latest PPV outing - LOSING to Dolph in the ladder match at TLC.

Cue John Cena coming out for the toast. And John being John and such a great guy; admits that Dolph is right. He then goes on to defend himself and basically challenge Dolph to step up in 2013. This was a really good interaction between the two and is a great way to kick Dolph up the arse going into the new year. It was then finished off with Dolph and AJ being covered in shit to finish the show. Happy New Year!!

Other Raw highlights;

• Punk made the usual appearance while his knee 'gets better'. This week he brought out his own doctor to assure people of the legitimacy of his injury. Vince then made a SHOCKING (as always) appearance to doubt this and say that Punk will compete against Ryback next week on Raw, and if he doesn't the Heyman will take his place instead.
• Sheamus took a beating from a returning Shield this week. Later in the show, The Shield were confronted by Ryback, Sheamus, and a returning Randy Orton. There's six entrants for the Rumble then...
• Maddox was put in his place the best way that Heyman knows how.
• Vickie farted.

Happy New Year... and I'll say it again, as I did last week; next weeks Raw should be completely back to normal!

@jimmosangle

WWE Raw 24/12/2012 (pre-taped on 18/12/2012)

This weeks Raw was taped last Tuesday night after the commercial free Smackdown (part of WWE week). The crowd must have been pretty wiped out after going through both Smackdown and a three hour Raw... luckily, it was pretty fun (or should I say cheesy?!).

Raw started with all the superstars singing a carol, conducted by John Cena - leader of the Cenation AND the WWE Superstars here. This was really cringey as some of the main players had lines that referred to themselves. Merry Christmas everyone...

There wasn't much continuation of storylines here apart from AJ and Dolph showing they're together further, and also mocking Cena for the TLC ending. This was done in a few backstage/hotel room skits where they'd be snuggled and mocking John-boy. I suppose it showed them getting closer in a romantic and festive set-up as well as giving them the night off (pre-taped skits). These segments all culminated in a Edge/Lita style kiss that got so out of hand that they ended up knocking the tree over.

The main story of the night surrounded newly-turned-face Alberto Del Rio. At the start of the show, stand in Raw host Santa Claus (yes, this is how cheesy/festive/kid-like this episode of Raw was?!) was giving out presents to the crowd, when Del Rio's music played, seemingly to bring Del Rio out for a match? What happened next could've ruined Christmas for us all...

As Del Rio came out in his BMW, honking his horn (you'd have thought this was warning enough to St. Nick) he viciously mowed down Santa at approximately 1 mph. In my opinion, Santa turned round and rolled down the bonnet - a complete over-sell there! This then led to medics, referees (useful?) and others to attend to help Santa - all the while, Ricardo Rodriguez and Alberto were in shock at what just happened. Alberto would then protest his innocence, and that it was an accident, to the distraught WWE Superstars backstage who still think that Santa is real. This led Booker to choose Cena (who else?) to fight Del Rio in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight in honour of Santa...cue Santa chant from the losers in the back...

Throughout Raw there were several updates on Santa's condition a la Jerry Lawler's heart attack. Wow, they really will do ANYTHING!

This all ended with a comedy match as the main event, with Cena using several 'presents' along the way (bowling ball, chair, tv monitor) to counter Del Rio's arsenal of weapons, including a pie and a teddy bear that Cena no-sold. Typical Super Cena. This ended with a Santa run-in, Mr Socko (ah it was Foley all along! That's the guy I'd want to be Santa!) followed by an AA by Cena for the ultimate Christmas win. Fun match. Not sure if this was wise in the eyes of the kids for Del Rio to be the guy to run Santa over if they want him to be cheered; I know Raw was a bit of fun this week but still; pick a proper, 100% heel to do the deed if Cena's going to eat him up anyway?! Ricardo was comedy gold though; blubbering like it was the end of his world!

Again, Punk came out to show his face despite his injury. Without wrestling this guy is still undoubtedly the best in the world on the mic. The usual stuff from him and Heyman here: 400 days as WWE Champ (technically 394 at the time). Also, Punk said that Ryback needs to be punished as not only did he injure Punk, but he single handed RUINED Christmas for everyone by doing so. He also ate the whole turkey - damn him and his appetite! This section ended with a Ryback promo to forget (as they all are), where he says they'll have a TLC match on January 7th (first Raw of 2013). He then started a 'T-L-C' chant a la 'Feed Me More!'. Wow, talented.

A special mention now for the match of the night - which had the most at stake - the King of the Jobbers match between Zack Ryder and David Otunga. Otunga started off by explaining how educated he is...ZZZZzzzzzz... before Ryder came out to save the day (a new direction for him). Ryder won with the Rough Ryder for his first win this year? Winner, and OFFICIAL King of the Jobbers: Zack Ryder.

Other Raw highlights;

• Miz seems to be R-Truth's replacement to challenge (and lose) to Cesaro after getting the pin on Barrett during the Miz/Kofi vs Cesaro/Barrett-let's-combine-the-mid-card-titles match. Prediction: Battle royal (for No.1 contendership to US title) on Main Event will probably be won by Miz
• Cody (and mustache) couldn't get revenge on Kane for putting them out for 25 days
• Sheamus beat Show in a LumberJack Frost match...
• Shockingly, the divas all dressed as naughty Christmas sluts... didn't see that coming
• Maddox got ANOTHER chance at a contract (seeing as he's had about four opportunities; can I have just ONE??) - and lost to Khali (w/ Hornswoggle) Khali managed a few words in English but I think maybe he was just drunk...
• Tag division: 12-man tag match (not 6-man this week!) featured the Usos, Prime Time Players, Gabriel/Kidd and 3MB (oh and jobbers Brodus and Tensai) - Usos got the win again - GOOD!
• Kane and Daniel Bryan exchanged gifts: Kane gave DB a Slammy (DB very happy!) and DB gave Kane a puppy to which Kane said 'Thanks! I'm starving'.
• No Shield or Big E Langston... no harm done as it was the Christmas edition and I suppose everything was babyface-winning-focused.

Merry Christmas everyone... back to normality with Raw next week I hope!!

@jimmosangle

WWE Raw rant 17/12/2012

The Slammy Awards

This week a lot happened throughout the show so I'll break it down into sections: Matches, Slammy Awards and then the best bits of this weeks Raw.

Matches

• Rey (w/Sin Cara) defeated Damien Sandow (w/Cody Rhodes & mustache) after a 619/Splash from the top corner. Does this mean Rey/Sin Cara are back in contention?
• Kaitlyn defeated Diva's Champion Eve after a Gutbuster in about 2 minutes
• IC Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Tensai with Trouble in Paradise after a minute. Wade Barrett then attacked Kofi; pushing him into the ring post before hitting The Bullhammer. Feud continues...
• Great Khali (w/Natalya) defeated David Otunga with the chop in about a minute or so
• Brodus Clay defeated JTG with a splash in 2 minutes
• Cody Rhodes (w/Damien Sandow) defeated Sin Cara (w/Rey) with Cross Rhodes accompanied by yellow light throughout the match
• The Miz, Alberto Del Rio & Tommy Dreamer defeated 3MB (Slater, McIntyre & Mahal) when Dreamer hit the DDT
• Ryback defeated US Champion Antonio Cesaro via countout when Cesaro grabbed his belt and left. Therefore no actual loss for either - both strong
• Vickie & John Cena defeated AJ & Dolph Ziggler by DQ due to Big E Langston's interference

 Slammy Awards

• 'Tell Me I Did Not Just See That' Award presented by Smackdown GM Booker T. Boogeyman made an appearance which prompted Booker to coin his catchphrase / the award's name. Winner: Kofi Kingston for his Royal Rumble handstand.
• 'Comeback of the Year' Award presented by The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & BA Billy Gunn). Winner: Jerry Lawler (obviously?!). In this segment, JBL gave credit to Lawler, ranking him with the likes of Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura as the best Colour Commentators in history. Richly deserved.
• 'Kiss of the Year' Award presented by Vickie Guerrero. AJ is nominated each time but with a different guy - Kane, Punk, Bryan & Cena. Winner: AJ & John Cena. This was followed up by AJ not wanting to explain her actions from TLC. She then kissed Dolph, who got into it, too. Slut!
• 'Superstar of the Year' Award presented by Ric Flair. Winner: John Cena who then gave up the award to Ric Flair? Why? God, he's such an ass kisser - if you want to give respect to a legend, don't give up the award you've just been given. Flair hasn't been around in 2012 so giving him that award is irrelevant.
• 'LOL Moment of the Year' presented by Santino & Tensai. Santino with a nice piss-take of Tensai referring to him as Albert! Also, "Tensai is Japanese for 'Fat Albert'". Winner: The Rock (who isn't there to receive the award). Daniel Bryan comes out to say he should have won - comedy!
• '#Trending Now' Award presented by Layla & Zack Jobber. Winner: #FeedMeMore.
• 'Newcomer of the Year' Award presented by Sheamus. Winner: Ryback who then quoted Owen Hart - "Enough is enough & it's time for a change". Respect to the big man for that.
• 'Match of the Year' Award presented by 'Mean' Gene Okerlund, Ricky Steamboat & Jim Ross. Winner: Undertaker vs Triple H - End of an Era (Wrestlemania XXVIII). Triple H (& haircut) out to accept. Most notable part of the speech was when he said that we haven't seen the last of the Undertaker. Big Pop.

Best of the rest

After the apparent surprise that Ric Flair was out to present an award (even though I swear I heard a 'wooo!' and his voice leading to the reveal), Cena decided to honour Flair in his acceptance speech before giving him the award that he just won. We get it John, you're such a good guy... blah blah blah. Cena then left and out came CM Punk and Heyman to verbally smash Flair. Punk also said that Cena has had an awful year so how does he get 'Superstar of the Year'? Oh and also to add to Punk's case; he's now been Champion for 393 days. Wow - respect earned.

This then led to Punk saying he could kick Flair's ass with the one good leg that he has. Flair accepted and made his way to the ring. Punk was then true to his word and knocked Flair silly with a crutch before being knocked out the ring. This then leads to Heyman getting tangled in a Figure Four. Flair then had a bit of mic time - notably letting Jerry Lawler know that he loves him. Great respect between two absolute legends.

Next up, The Shield made their way through the crowd to confront Flair. Luckily, Kane and Daniel Bryan came down to make the save, but were overpowered by the numbers game. Shield are making a name for themselves by doing this. Just as it looked as though Flair was going through the announce table, Ryback storms to the ring to make the save. The Shield leaves as the numbers are now against them. Flair then thanks Ryback, Kane and DBryan which leads to a backstage segment of Kane shouting 'YES!', Bryan shouting 'NO!' and Flair shouting 'Wooooo!!' before Ron Simmons ends the comedy with a 'DAMN!'. Huge segment there. Where was Cena to save Flair after all that went down? Respect my arse!

More Big Show/Sheamus... please let this be over now; it's gone three months already. Let's have some variation now. Segment ended with Show laid out on the mat, which brought out Ziggler to cash in! There was a massive buzz from the crowd at this possibility before Cena came out to mess it up. Bastard! Cena should be pissed at AJ, not Dolph, for what went down at TLC.

The Shield continued their assault on anyone and everyone as it was shown them beating on Dreamer backstage. This then brought Ricardo to try to help out before he received a beatdown, too. I assume this will mean another 6-man match involving Miz teaming with Del Rio and another mystery partner?

The Dolph/AJ vs Cena/Vickie match started with AJ on top of a giant ladder about to explain herself. This didn't materialise though as the other competitors then came out. The match came down to Ziggler and Cena as AJ and Vickie left not long into it. AJ then came out with NXTer Big E Langston (Ryblack). He looked mad, and when he got to the ring he destroyed Cena to end the show. I love it when he gets levelled!

So we have another NXTer in the mix. I'd heard that Big E was making waves in NXT but that they didn't want to bring him through yet as he's very similar to Ryback. But I suppose it's good that AJ has some muscle in her corner against Cena - even though Cena didn't seem fussed that she'd turned on him, let alone lost the match at TLC. Shrug it off John, you'll have another shot soon enough.

My only worry is that they feed Big E to Cena quite soon. I hope they give him a dominant, Mark Henry-like, monster build so that he isn't just fodder straightaway. If he's going to feud with Cena and lose, make him strong like they have with Ryback.

As I said at the start, a lot of stuff happened here. It was good that they had something like The Slammys to take most of the time up this week. The three hours didn't drag so much. It was surprising how short most of the matches were though - some were completely pointless unless they've got plans going forward. JBL was commentary-gold again this week. He was a great ass kicker in his day and will be an even better commentator.

WWE Raw rant 10/12/2012

I've decided to shorten my Raw rants from this week on as the three hour shows, as well as making notes on everything throughout, is sucking the life out of me! I also decided that I would try to watch the show and try not to jot everything down, every minute! I need to start to enjoy Raw again as the three hours is really becoming a chore - it's been said before, and it'll continue to be said by everyone, that the three hours unneeded - matches have become longer and in some ways this is a good thing. On the other hand, some of these matches result in a non-finish or run-in and this makes that 10-15 minutes given to a match seem for nothing  if you're going to screw a match then do it after 3 minutes! Everything else feels like way too much filler.

From now on I'm going to focus on the main parts and anything else that REALLY stood out - as I did a few weeks ago. For some reason, in the last few weeks since then I've commented (or felt like I have) on everything that's gone on. I mean, my time shouldn't be taken by The Great Khali and Hornswoggle for even a minute?!

The show kicked off with Dolph Ziggler atop of a ladder, with the MITB briefcase hanging from the ceiling. This was another good promo from the man that is a World Title run away from being a main event mainstay. He rightly pointed out how many opportunities Cena's had and how many he's squandered - and now Vince is dangling ANOTHER carrot (briefcase) for Cena to get ANOTHER chance at gold. Sheamus and Show came out to continue their non-contact crap to end this segment.

I feel as though Cena is part of this situation as they want to keep him occupied whilst the Punk/Rock match at Royal Rumble is around the corner. I've also read several articles that have predicted that Rock vs Cena at Wrestlemania could be a unification match - I really don't think this will happen and I really hope it doesn't either. Rocky doesn't deserve that type of match - he's going to be about on-and-off for three months before leaving again and that magnitude of match should be reserved for the guys that are about 365 days of the year. Also, DO NOT give that briefcase to Cena - he messed up the WWE Title contract so why does he get a crack at the other one?

This week saw the return of 'crazy' AJ. In the last few weeks, AJ has been fairly sane compared with earlier this year when she was involved with Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. After being given a 'main event' level match with Vickie later in the night, she seemed to regain her ultra-unstable tendencies - going in the men's locker room and embarrassing Cena, and later, going psycho when she lost to Vickie. Towards the end of the show she wanted to accompany Cena to the ring but was told to stay back as it could be dangerous. I don't think this sat well with her.

As I said at the start of the last paragraph; I felt that she returned the craziness this week - and with my (as others have) prediction that she might ruin Cena's chances in the ladder match with Ziggler, this is fitting for her to act this way, and this extreme, again.

The fatal four way tag team match (elimination match, apparently) featured the return of Cody Rhodes. This return wasn't hyped at all. He was teaming up with usual tag partner Damien Sandow to face The Usos, The Prime Time Players and Primo/Epico. The winner of this would then go on to face Rey and Sin Cara at TLC to determine the number one contenders. Why are they automatically in that match? Did I miss something?

It's good that now Cody is back the tag team division can resume. The champions have been involved with The Shield seeing as Punk is out for a few weeks and with Cody out, the tag division went a bit quiet. Now it's back; we have a mustache'd Cody, Team Rhodes Scholars can now finally get the gold, and the Usos gave a great showing in this match - eliminating both Primo/Epico and the Prime Time Players. It was pretty easy to see Cody/Damien winning this match and probably going on to beat Rey/Sin Cara (again) at TLC.

Later on MizTV, Cody and Damien were promoted further. Miz tried his hardest to get one over on them but was put in his place by Sandow mocking him. Babyface Miz has a lot of work to do - repeating 'really?' over and over and over again is going to get REALLY boring, REALLY quickly.

Raw finished with a good old fashioned mass-brawl involving all the main event guys from the TLC matches - with the exception of Sheamus and Show not being able to touch each other. The Shield kicked this off by attacking Cena for the first time - leading many to jump on the theory that they are working for Ziggler - hmmm not sure about that one; he was probably the only top level face they hadn't gone for.

This brought out Bryan/Kane/Sheamus to add numbers to the faces. The only thing left after this was the 'Austin' style run-in by the popular monster face - in this case the role of Austin was played by Ryback. Kind of like the watered down, PG era version of an Austin, breaking glass entrance!

Last note of this last segment/match on Raw was Lawler's comment to Ziggler with regards to the upcoming ladder/MITB match at TLC: I could've sworn Lawler said that the briefcase 'was' Ziggler's. Is that a Michael Cole-esque, Wrestlemania 15 cock-ups letting us know that he'll lose the contract to Cena on Sunday??

Other notes from Raw;

• They combined the IC and US title storylines again this week. Fair enough having Cesaro, Barrett and Kofi (just) but Truth needs to go away. Cesaro with more momentum this week - star in the making!
• Zack Ryder continues to job to Del Rio - he managed to last over 5 minutes this time around though. With more Cena plugging on Twitter, Ryder will soon have another crappy mid-card title run...
• Get Khali and Hornswoggle off my TV/laptop!!!
• Vince had his hand up Vickie's arse again this week - getting her to take the fall for his decisions. Let her do her job or get rid of her!
• The Best in the World (and Raw) made an appearance to reinforce that he's the reason we tune into Raw each week - even with a dodgy knee, Punk MUST be on Raw every week - we need him. I think he's still suffering from the effects of his surgery though as he seems to think he's been champ for 388 days? Last week was 379 so this week must be 386! I suppose even Punk's allowed a mistake every now and then...

WWE Raw rant 3/12/2012 + Punk/TLC update

I watched Raw in full at my brother's this week. Them three hours really dragged! It's probably just a rumour and a mistake by the TV guide(s) in America, but I hope they do go back to two hours again - just do it and don't even make mention to it - I'll forgive you instantly and get on with my life!

This weeks edition of Raw gave us a lot of The Shield - creating more enemies that will eventually come back to bite them in the arse. Two enemies that continued from last week were Kane and Daniel Bryan; these two starting off Raw 'united' - walking to the ring together and DB in a more serious mood (no 'no' chants/shouting). They started off against The Prime Time Players - a cover for the inevitable decent from the sky box of The Shield. This all ended with a win for Kane and D Bryan and a beatdown from the three former NXTers.

In the backstage, there was a nice arse-licking segment between the ultimate good guys - John Cena and Sheamus - is Sheamus Cena's apprentice; to get him to be as annoying as him when he finally hangs his boots up?

AJ vs Tamina free on TV? So they're not going with this on a PPV at some point? This makes me think further that they're going to ditch this angle and have AJ turn on Cena at TLC. I'm unsure where that leaves Tamina though? Would she instantly turn face as a result?

Punk out next with Heyman. He rants that it's unfair that he has to defend against Ryback for a third time. He also goes onto say that he's the reason that people tune into watch - also agreeing with us all that three hours is a chore! Please have a word with Vince...

Out comes Miz to confront him about taking a lie detector test to prove that he has no connection to The Shield. Along the way there was a very interesting personal aspect to this. As well as getting Miz in contention for a future WWE Title challenge, I think there was possibly some true feelings brought out in this segment. There were a few hints to how Punk feels about Miz backstage - this was evident in the CM Punk dvd when Punk said that he wasn't best pleased that Miz main evented 'Mania a couple of years ago.

Really not a big fan of the Cena/Sheamus vs Ziggler/Show match - stereo finishers followed by a Cena pin on Ziggler. Second week running. This surely makes it inevitable that Ziggler will retain the MITB at TLC? Cena already had the WWE MITB contract and messed it up so why does he deserve a shot at the World Title contract? Also, Dolph has been on a good run since Survivor Series and after the last two weeks needs to beat Cena to carry that on. If he loses at TLC, he's back to square one. How many chances will Cena keep getting??

Brad Maddox and Vickie have a conversation about him getting another shot at getting a contract. After sucking up a bit he gets that opportunity - against Randy Orton. Nice, simple squash - followed by The Shield beating down Orton. Maddox definitely needs to be part of this group eventually otherwise he'll be back on NXT for good if he keeps getting battered after two minutes. I got thinking about these four new guys - how come The Shield can just run riot and that's ok, but Maddox has to earn a contract? They're both former NXTers so why can't he just be part of Raw as they've done? Flaw...

I keep reading how the Alberto Del Rio vs Sin Cara match was so good. It was pretty good, but I swear Sin Cara messed quite a few moves/spots? Most notably for me was the Handspring Back Elbow that he just about connected with. Maybe I was being too picky here.

I always like seeing Vince back but not sure about pushing Vickie into decisions like he has the last couple of appearances on Raw. He put her in that role and now seems to monitor how she's doing from time to time - she's had this type of role before so what's the need for his appearance? Take your hand from out of her arse! As well as making Ziggler vs Cena at TLC (Ladder match; MITB contract on the line), she (Vince) also makes it that if Punk lies in lie detector test, then Heyman has to face Ryback next week.

Vickie is confronted in the back, first by Dolph - not impressed by having to defend the briefcase (again) and then by Heyman - great little stare down; I wondered who was going to blink first?!
Prediction: Just lately, Vickie hasn't overdone the 'excuse me' crap and has been bullied a lot. She's also had Dolph read her the riot act. If AJ does align with him at TLC, I can see Vickie becoming face sometime soon - her and AJ can't both be heel? Still not sure exactly of AJ's motives but they can always go with the 'crazy' card again.

Tag match between Cesaro/Barrett vs Kofi/R-Truth is ready and waiting before Teddy Long comes out. He decides that either the US or IC title will be on the line and a Raw Active vote will decide which. Three minutes later and the votes are in(??) - the heel champion has to defend. Shock there, eh?

This was a great move by Long - maybe he should make fatal four ways in future as they turn out better than his usual favourite match type! A really entertaining match was topped off by a great finish - everyone performing their finishers before Cesaro caught Kofi in the Neutraliser (complete with hands connected at the last minute, so that it's not a Styles Clash!) for another deserved win. His build has been great since day one and this goes nicely before their Champion vs Champion match on Main Event. It's no bother to Kofi that he lost this - he's been in the same spot for a few years now. I still hope that he and Barrett do each other proud and up the value of that great title. Please do not devalue the US belt by giving it to Truth at TLC, though...

The Main Event was the lie detector test on MizTV. As I said before, there was a lot of personal digs here between Punk and Miz - I hope this gets Miz in contention as Raw is in dire need of another/different face challenging. The Miz isn't quite ready but he's (worryingly) possibly the best hope there is at the moment.

When the test came down to the all-important question of whether Punk is in cahoots with The Shield, the three newbies entered the scene to beat on Miz and trash the MizTV set. After Kane, Daniel Bryan and eventually Ryback cleared the ring, Punk was left alone with Miz. After berating him and kicking him out of 'his' ring, Ryback appeared behind him and used a table, a ladder and a chair to leave the champion in a heap as Raw ended. What match are they meant to be having at TLC?...

Verdict
Again, there were some positives this week. Unfortunately the three hours really did me in this week!

The Shield were all over the show this week and it was nice to see that they made some new enemies (Orton/Miz). The only worry here is that all these new foes will all gang up on the three and send them packing. Although my prediction of a Ryback/Kane/D Bryan vs The Shield main event this week didn't happen,there is news today (Wednesday) that I've read that Punk's out of TLC (knee injury) and the 6-man tag is in place as the new main event. I'll take that one.

Even though Punk can't wrestle at TLC, it's good that they're giving the WWE Title a break for one PPV - they should've taken this opportunity at Survivor Series and left him in the 5on5). I hope that the World Title gets top billing as a result - this will give it a bit of worth back. Either that or the 6-man tag will stay as the main event; there will need to be a prize in this match though and I'm not sure if the Tag Titles will cut it.

• Last note on Raw was another nice promo from Damien Sandow followed a comedy match with Santino - by far the funniest guy on Raw. Sandow reacted accordingly and got an easy win. You're Welcome!

WWE Raw rant 26/11/2012

I felt this weeks show was really good and actually had direction for the next few weeks. It had several areas where there was intrigue into what will happen next - this hasn't happened in a while for me.

I'm going to take a more in depth look at the rest of the show instead of my usual of just focusing on the 'main' parts - obviously these will still get the focus that they deserve!

Ryback vs Titus & Vickie segment
The show started by recapping the 'scandal' of two single people dating. Remember kids; it's now a scandal to date a fellow single person...

After a stretched out squash (where I swear Ryback kicked out of Titus' finisher after 1?!) Ryback got on the mic to tell us he's hungry for the third week running. The 'security' guys (where can I get myself one of them?) came out to confront Ryback, ready for the arrival of Vickie. Ryback seemed to get what he wanted just by breathing heavy towards Vickie - at TLC it will be CM Punk vs Ryback in a TLC match for the WWE Championship. No shit, didn't see that one coming. Big positive is that they're giving Ryback time on the mic - although he is crap at the moment and his tummy's rumbling as the weeks go on, it's good that he's getting the opportunity to show something different.

Rosa, Hornswoggle & Alberto Del Rio
This is starting to take my interest as Del Rio seems to be getting something different here. Although in recent weeks the AJ/Cena/Vickie crap has ruined the usually 'cute' relationship angle that's been used in the past, I can see Del Rio and Rosa being used the way it should be. There's some real potential here to get Del Rio going again. By putting Rosa with ADR, they have the potential to recreate an Eddie & Chyna dynamic - which could see Del Rio become face - somewhere down the road - if done well. It also has the added element that Ricardo could become jealous with the attention that Rosa will be getting. Looking forward to developments in the coming weeks. Nice win for Del Rio, and Khali speaks English?!

Punk/Heyman/Vickie & 'The Shield' interview
Punk and Heyman gave Vickie crap for making the TLC match. I've got a feeling that she gave Ryback the match because he's on the poster for TLC behind her. Vickie then makes a Raw Active match - either Punk will face #WWEBryan or #WWEKane. Surely Bryan must win this? Hmmm...

Next up, Michael Cole interviews Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns. He starts by asking if they have any connection to Punk. Of course they deny this. Really nice intro promo for these three, Rollins and Ambrose did most of the talking - is this because Reigns isn't the best on the mic? He did say that he'll talk when he's got something to say. Good excuse. They gave a little explanation and this was all that was needed going forward.

Fandango vignette followed, nice to see another up-and-comer but a dancer? Really? Good luck with that one...

Tamina, Raw Active vote, Troops visit
Tamina beat Alicia Fox after selling a bit more than I thought she would. This was after a prerecorded interview where she said she was still after AJ - she hasn't had anything to do with AJ since Survivor Series so I'm going to go with WWE dropping that one in favour of whatever's going on with Cena and Ziggler.

Apparently at this stage of the show, #WWEBryan is trending. I'm not too hot on how exactly trending works, but I'd guess that means he's winning the vote?

The clip on the troops visit (by Vince, Miz, Eve etc) was accompanied by Sgt Slaughter's theme music! Superb!

Cena/Ziggler & Barrett/Kofi
John-boy was out next and I died a little more inside at the thought that this crappy storyline STILL isn't over. All of this segment pointed towards not trusting AJ before Ziggler came out and got straight to the point - talks of beating up Cena last week and then sets up Cena vs Ziggler for later in the night. I'm a little surprised that they are going to give this away free on Raw?

Barrett was out next for commentary for the Kofi vs Tensai (jobber) match. This was meant to show that Kofi can take out big guys - even if that big guy gets beat by little guys every week. Great notch there Kofi. Finishes with Barrett handing Kofi the IC belt. Good little feud for both of them - hopefully they can both be elevated by this a little more and help that belt get back to where it should be.

Kane/Daniel Bryan vs Rey/More Del Rio
Another fun comedy spot with Daniel Bryan and Kane leading to the result of the Raw Active vote - 59%/41% in favour of Kane... ok, so much for trending. RED RULES!!

Daniel Bryan was then next out for a 'first time ever' match with Rey. Really fast paced match that went over 10 minutes. Nice win for Rey. Another loss for DB.

Adding to my previous comments earlier on Del Rio/Rosa; she thanks him for defending her honour. Don't worry love, it won't be the last time.

Ziggler vs Cena
Nice build up to this FREE one on one match, starting with an interview with Dolph followed by a recap of the brawls the two had last week. Again, this match went 10+ minutes and I was surprised to see Cena pick up a clean win - surely there's no money in this being at TLC if they're going to have a decisive match on Raw? (Especially as Cena kicked out of the Zig Zag). This segment ended with AJ sticking her tongue down Cena's throat again. God, this is getting like the public displays by Edge and Lita. Cringey.

It dawned on me that there was still an hours worth left of the show. This is what kills me most weeks!!

Sheamus vs Cesaro
Excellent match between these two and really raised Cesaro's stock further. He's been really impressive since debuting and a match against a main eventer was needed to let everyone know what he's got. Worth mentioning in this match was that Sheamus sold a lot - something I'm not used to seeing from him. Also, there was a move where Cesaro got Sheamus up in a reverse torture rack and slammed him down on his back - this should be someone's finisher (and should definitely be used by Cesaro more often). This match also protected Cesaro as he lost via count out (therefore not pinned). Quote of the match goes to Lawler: "I used to date a girl who spoke five languages - she couldn't say 'no' in any of them! woo hoo!". Comedy genius from the King!

Damien Sandow vs Jobber
In a lesser match of the evening, Sandow defeated Zack Ryder after delivering the Terminus - the end bus stop, no? He followed the win by performing the 'Rotation of Illumination', otherwise known as a girly cartwheel. This guys is awesome on the mic, though, and I can definitely see him being a dominant mid-card champion at some point. Jobber defeated - You're Welcome.

CM Punk vs Kane
The main event of the show was CM Punk defeating 'the people's choice' Kane. This was followed by The Shield jumping the guardrail and entering the ring to beat down Kane. Daniel Bryan attempted to make the save but was also beat down for his troubles. Ryback then inevitably entered the fray and was eventually overcome by the three newbies, finishing the show on his back [again] and Punk standing tall.

Not a bad show this week. There was a little snippet of what The Shield are about and it left intrigue into what's next. It was also good to see them put such an indestructible force on his arse for the third time. It was a little disappointing that they gave away Cena vs Ziggler free on TV - I can still see them doing a match at TLC, but after Cena's clean victory I don't see who'd want to pay to see it again so soon.

Other pluses were that there were three decent matches that went 10+ minutes each, Sandow on the mic again and [for me] Del Rio is heading for something that is new and has potential - this is much needed to freshen him up again.

Predictions: I think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and say that AJ will turn on Cena at TLC and align with Ziggler (where Vickie fits into this I'm not sure). I also think that at TLC, The Shield will be revealed to be working with Punk (when they help him win, giving Ryback ANOTHER loss).

Next week on Raw I'm going to go with a six man tag match: Ryback/Kane/Bryan vs The Shield.

WWE Raw rant 19/11/2012

Congratulations to CM Punk and his year long WWE Title reign - respect is well deserved now. Prestige being brought back to a belt that should mean something EVERY day of the year. More on Punk/365 days later.

Haven't seen a the whole show in full as yet; only snippets and matches here and there... enough to go on though and say where I think we're going after this weeks episode!

I haven't seen the opening Ryback promo, but I don't hold much hope as it'll probably be along the lines of feeding on everyone and being hungry blah blah blah... work still needed on that side of his game. This was followed up with a squash over Jobber Tensai; complete with a Shellshock(ed?) that he actually managed this time around. Back to the usual formula of making Ryback look strong after a PPV loss - this would be continued at the end of the show, too.

The two main situations of Raw this week started with the Vickie/AJ/Cena odyssey. I write about this every week even though it is really pissing me off now! Vickie brings out two 'witnesses' (awful actors) to give more 'evidence' on the AJ/Cena 'affair' (just to remind everyone: they're both single). This basically came down to a brawl between Cena and Ziggler, resulting in Cena injuring his knee on the way out of the ring chasing Ziggler up the ramp. Still not sure if this is staged or if he actually has hurt his knee in?

Later in the show, AJ confronted Ziggler in the heel dressing room and gave him some slaps after being put in her place. This led to another Cena/Ziggler brawl that resulted in a toilet cubicle being destroyed (awesome!) and Cena's knee needing more attention. The payoff to this whole train wreck will hopefully be a match at TLC - for once I hope Cena's knee injury is part of the build up so he'll make said match.

The main event of the evening was the celebration of CM Punk's title reign. Punk, Heyman and chart showed where Punk ranks with the other lengthy reigns in history. Loved the mocking of Sammartino, Hogan, Austin and Rock... especially Punk copying their mannerisms along the way.

Out comes Ryback to rudely interrupt. As he approaches the ring, Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns ambush him and put a beating on him. It takes several minutes to finally get him weak enough to deliver another three man Powerbomb through the announce table (a repeat of the PPV finish). This was good for three reasons: (1) Punk could then finish the show celebrating over a fallen Ryback (as should be the case after this milestone). (2) It highlighted the three newcomers - again in a main event slot and (3) Even though Ryback got put through a table he still came out looking strong as it took three men to beat him down (after attempting to break free from the beatdown).

Prediction (for TLC): I think from this edition of Raw; and the second time Ryback has gone through a table; I'm going to go with CM Punk vs Ryback in a Tables match - unfortunately, I can see Ryback losing this one AGAIN (as a result of Rollins/Ambrose/Reigns/Maddox? interfering). I just hope that three PPV loses in a row won't hurt him too much. As said earlier, it looks to be Cena vs Ziggler coming up too - finally a chance to really get Ziggler up to that next level and justify the imminent MITB cash in. Win or lose, a great showing against Cena WILL do Ziggler's career no end of good. I still hope for him to go over Cena CLEAN.

Also, it seems that Sheamus vs Big Show will go another month (after the DQ finish at Survivor Series) - therefore, with all the chair shots Sheamus gave Show, I can see this being a Chairs match at TLC (too obvious?)

Other Raw thoughts:

• Barrett is being given a new feud in Kofi Kingston. I suppose while Sheamus/Show go another month, they have to keep Barrett's momentum going. Hopefully a Intercontinental title run will do him good and 'up' the title a little more. I still love that belt...
• Always impressed when smaller guys show awesome strength picking bigger guys up - credit to Cesaro for doing the best he can with what he's given. Please don't give that US title to R-Truth in the rematch...
• I haven't seen the whole of the Del Rio/Orton 2 out of 3 falls match. I hope that this loss made Del Rio look good and it's not lowered his stock further.
• Tag team division still looking good - Rey/Sin Cara/Kane/Bryan beat down Titus and Darren (as is to be expected). Hopefully a triple threat will come out of this at TLC.
• Miz looked pretty good, and won clean, over David Jobber. Nice to mix things up a bit with his continued face turn.
• I hate the Diva's division but fair play to WWE for bringing Tamina back into the fold. It needs a power-house after the loss of Beth Phoenix. Actually, it needs a lot more than that. Remember the days when it had actual stars like Trish and Lita?

WWE Raw rant 12/11/2012

The last Raw before the Survivor Series was possibly one of the best in a long time - explaining confused situations from the last couple of weeks.

The show opened with a John Cena-narrated tribute to Veteran's Day/US troops around the world. There were several plugs throughout the evening and I really respect this partnership that the WWE has with the armed forces.

This was the first time that I remember seeing the 'recap' opening to Raw (complete with the epic-voiceover-guy!). Issues raised were the Jerry Lawler return, the [awful] Cena/AJ/Vickie situation, the Brad Maddox/Ryback confrontation and Punk's epic 358 day WWE Title reign. Not sure how I feel about this opening - give me a few weeks to get used to it!

Orton vs Ziggler gets turned into a tag team match by Teddy Long (Is he famous for this or something?!) - with the additions of Kofi and Alberto Del Rio on the sides of their Survivor Series teammates. A positive from this match was that the faces sticking together after - no mention of their heated rivalry before - a nod to the average wrestling fan's memory of previous feuds! After this match Ziggler had stayed in the ring and was joined by Vickie. Great, we're going to get more allegations that nobody cares about! I can't understand why Ziggler would still be sticking his nose in this crap unless there's going to be a Cena match out of it.

Prediction #1: After being floored, I can see that being a reason why Ziggler would screw Cena out of the title at Survivor Series and then start a proper feud between the two that can stretch over the next couple of months.

Also from this mess is now the possibility of Cena and AJ getting together in the future. The 'never would happen' line was quickly taken back by Cena... I pray that this leads to the possibility of AJ going crazy and scorned that Cena even said that it would never happen - another person who could screw Cena at Survivor Series maybe?

The best segment(s) of Raw came next with the Jerry Lawler return. Cole and JR welcomed back Lawler to a greatly deserved reception. This guy had a major heart attack and is back just TWO MONTHS later. Respect. Enter Lawler to thank the fans and everyone for the support over this situation. Once he'd said what he needed to say there was only one thing to do with this section of the show - get some top heel heat - enter CM Punk.

Punk began to berate Lawler, saying that he was trying to steal the spotlight by having the heart attack. He followed up by comparing figures; Lawler was clinically dead for 15 minutes. For Punk this meant nothing compared to the 358 days that he has been WWE Champion... and if Lawler doesn't 'croak before the PPV', he'll see that figure raise to 365. This was then followed up with the fake Heyman heart attack and Punk 'save' - which Punk is taking credit for on Twitter still!

This was such a great situation to gain some hatred for the top heel in the WWE. Playing off a real life situation was always going to create controversy - the one thing you can take from this is that if Lawler was ok to go through with this then it was justified to do. After all; he is the guy that this happened to do.

Foley coming out, and the confrontation that followed, cleaned up the traditional survival match, too. It was nice of Foley to say that he was pissed that their 5on 5 match was cancelled, but he's pleased that Punk's been forced into the triple threat so that Ryback/Cena can 'teach him a lesson' by taking the WWE title away - the only way that Punk will be taught one. I kind of feel that Foley being 'Enforcer' in the main event was his retribution, unless they revisit this feud after Survivor Series. Great, emotional promo from Foley here, too.

Just a quick note/prediction on Punk reading Heyman the riot act backstage to sort the problems he has: Maybe somewhere down the line, after 'x' amount of tellings off (and Punk losing the title to Rock at the Rumble), Heyman turns on Punk and brings Lesnar out, setting up a 'Mania match between Punk and Lesnar? Everyone else is coming up with their crazy scenarios so this is mine! The only thing in my mind saying this isn't a possibility is that Punk hasn't been a heel that long so turning him face probably won't happen for a while yet.

Ryback vs Maddox was as expected (and it bothered me a little that the WWE 13 game clip gave away the finish?!). Bit of a longer squash than usual but I suppose he deserved a bigger beating. I can't help but wonder what Heyman spoke to Maddox about earlier in the night:

Prediction #2: Maddox screws/distracts Ryback at Survivor Series. So to recap the earlier prediction (#1); I think Ziggler has enough of a reason to screw/distract Cena and Maddox will distract Ryback enough so that Punk can pin Cena (again *yawn*) to retain heading towards TLC.

Other thoughts

• Can't believe they gave Cena vs Punk FREE on Raw. But I suppose after loss after loss, he needed the win going into the PPV.
• Daniel Bryan and Kane started to get a little boring, but the talk before the tag match was awesome! Bryan's jealous girlfriend act was a nice addition to their partnership.
• Miz revealed on Team Foley was no surprise - after quitting Team Punk and one slot being left on the face team, there wasn't many names that could've filled that space (were Ryder or Santino ever getting on that team?).
• Were Cole and Lawler both faces on the show?
• Please let Cesaro retain at the PPV and that be the end of R-Truth... also, they REALLY don't like Tensai (bring back Albert!!)
• The future: 8 man tag team match between Rey/Sin Cara/Gabriel/Kidd vs PtPers/Epico/Primo was a great showcase of the tag team division - great high flying, cruiserweight action at times! Them matches with Cesaro have really raised Gabriel and Kidd up to being mainstays on Monday nights.
• I wonder if it hurt Cena's hand when he missed the devastating, potentially paralysing move that is the 5 Knuckle Shuffle!

Final thought; It's 7 years ago today that Eddie Guerrero passed away... RIP Eddie, Viva La Raza!! You are still massively missed!!

WWE Raw rant 5/11/2012 - Birmingham

This post is a lot earlier than usual as me and a mate were at the tv taping of the show, live in Birmingham, England! I think we spent most of the show trying to get on camera than we were keeping up with everything going on in the ring!

The night started out with the Superstars taping. The highlight of this for me was the Michael McGillicutty vs Tyson Kidd match. When these two square off it seems like a little nod to Curt Hennig/Bret Hart matches twenty years ago. I only wish that McGillicutty could/would use his real name - the places he'd get if he had that Hennig name!

I've looked into the order of how Raw went down and it's pretty much how I remember it last night. I think I was expecting it to be all over the place but I'm pretty sure it was as it will be shown on tv. The stop/start nature of taping this show made me think they'd tape it in whatever order and stitched it together ready for showing on Sky/tv.

The main issues/storylines presented on Raw were of the Survivor Series lead-up, the ongoing Cena/AJ/Vickie crap and the Brad Maddox explanation.

I was absolutely baffled that they have completely changed the Survivor Series Team Foley vs Team Punk match. Punk and Ryback have now been taken out of the match and have been joined by good ol' John Cena for a triple threat for the WWE Championship. Additionally, Dolph Ziggler has now been named as the captain of the team previously led by Punk - so Foley came back to get back at Punk and now his (if it still is his) team's objective is void?!

Also thrown into the mix is the fact that The Miz has quit the team (later replaced by Wade Barrett). This is surely so he can be entered into the World Title picture seeing as he has been involved with Sheamus the last week or so. I've also read rumours that there's a future face turn on the cards; so maybe there's the possibility of him filling the void left by Ryback on Team Foley?

All of this begs the question 'why change the Survivor Series line-up?'. For me, the Team Foley vs Team Punk made sense. It furthered current feuds and also gave the WWE Title a break from being defended for a month - which isn't a bad thing - why does the title need defending at every ppv? In a traditional Survivor Series match Ryback could beat Punk clean and everyone gets what they need out of the match - Punk still has the title going into the TLC ppv (probably against Cena) and Ryback still looks strong and has the rub from Punk as well as a clean win to his name.

The biggest result of Survivor Series would have been the Cena vs Ziggler match that seemed to be a certainty due to this awful AJ/Vickie allegations storyline. As much as I'd like Ziggler to beat Cena clean to gain some credibility, I think whatever the result it would be a massive step for Ziggler's career. Instead, he's going to have to pull something extra special in the 5 on 5 match he's now part of. They've got no problem elevating Ryback due to his meteoric rise, but Ziggler again has to settle for second best.

From what we could see/hear of the Brad Maddox explanation, he did a pretty good job considering that the 'evil referee ending' was last minute. Maddox' reasoning that he's wanted to be a WWE Superstar all his life and he's tried every avenue to get there but had door after door slammed in his face was a good cover. It's good that WWE has trusted him and given him this tv time and there's potential that he can become a regular as a result of this. Obviously, he's going to get destroyed next week (vs Ryback) but will probably earn a contract due to Punk interfering (leading to a reveal that Maddox/Punk/Heyman were in this together all along - very beneficial for Maddox). I haven't seen anything of Maddox' career so far (possibly from FCW?), but will take a look to see if he's worth the upgrade to Monday nights.

Other Raw/live show notes:

• Rey got an entrance (to get a massive pop from the live crowd) whereas Sin Cara and R Truth had to settle for already being in the ring - Three hours to fill and they still can't give everyone entrances! Rey/Sin Cara's mocking of Prime Time Players was very funny and gave me and my mate the idea to follow suit when the camera panned round to us!

• Very surprised to see Daniel Bryan lose in two minutes to Cody Rhodes. This was followed by Kane squashing Damien Sandow. Pointless couple of matches as neither team takes an advantage going into a future title showdown.

•  Sheamus vs Miz was half decent. The standout moment for me and my mate was when Big Show held the Wold Title up and we tried to get in the camera shot either side of his head (Note: hoping to find footage of this on Youtube!).

•  Nice to see Kofi get a win over Alberto Del Rio. The last few meeting have been squash matches in favour of Del Rio, but this is clearly a sign that they want Kofi to go places (even if it was a roll up after Orton's titantron video distracted Del Rio). Also it would be a slap to the Intercontinental title to have its holder job again. Small note on this match/segment was ADR bumping into Rosa Mendes backstage - hinting at a new manager for him maybe?

•  Santino was absolutely hilarious - I love that guy and would be very disappointed if WWE ever decide to let him go. He and Ryder were in the ring for a while before Primo/Epico came out and he had Ryder in stitches.

•   Nice win for Barrett (over Brodus Clay) on home soil. He got a huge babyface reaction! After Raw ended, he came out and gave an unrehearsed speech that in 9 years as a wrestler he has never been cheered. He was very grateful and surprised (I didn't understand this though as hes English - of course he's going to get that reaction?!). This ending to the show was a nice touch but was ruined by Cena's presence; licking the hometown hero's ass - I'm sure Cena thinks by doing this he'll get cheered more and come across as a top bloke?!

WWE Raw rant 29/10/2012 (+HIAC finish thoughts)

Hell in a Cell thoughts

After reading about the HIAC WWE title match, I had to find it on Youtube so I could see if they'd protected Ryback enough. The finish saw referee Brad Maddox low-blow Ryback and then fast count when Punk rolled him up.

I suppose this was the best 'bad' finish they could come up with. I'm not a great fan of this but I suppose it did what it needed to do - keep Punk as the champ and make Ryback look strong from it. Even though he was pinned, he got back up, destroyed the ref and the then Shellshocked Punk on top of the cage; ending the PPV in command. Additionally, with no Cena on the show I suppose they weren't holding any hope of this PPV doing so well - so why put any effort into the finish (i.e having someone of worth coming back for a non-finish).

Raw

Raw kicked off with Punk (flanked by the 'belt carrier') basking in the glory of still being the WWE Champion (344 days). Out comes Mick Foley to give Punk crap on not living up to the legacy of HIAC (He won - surely that's the point? Was he meant to throw himself off the cage for it to mean anything?).

Randomly they decide to resolve their differences with a traditional Survivor Series match. I really like it when the Survivor Series actually delivers these types of matches but this seemed VERY random. It seems like throwing a match together to keep Punk's title reign going all the way to the Rumble. This way it 'rests' the title for a month and will probably result in Ryback getting a pin over Punk (when it doesn't matter) this time around.

It's a little disappointing that they haven't got a title match lined up for Punk's one year anniversary of capturing it - maybe they'll do something the week before?

Things of note in this segment: Punk again owns Cena by referring to himself being Kryptonite to the WWE's Superman (win after win after win). Also, I was surprised that JR's memory is letting him down - he seems to think that the HIAC finish was the most controversial he's witnessed in four decades in the business - so Montreal doesn't count then JR?

After smashing JTG (back to good ol' fashioned jobbers), Ryback cuts his first promo - not much to it and ended with a chant of his catchprase. A LOT more work needed before this guy stays at the top - he can't rely on just brute force forever!

The other main storyline from Raw is the growing AJ/Cena/Vickie saga. I really have no interest in seeing this. If it means Cena vs Dolph at Survivor Series fair enough, but just get these guys arguing it out - and not because of some 'affair' that might or might not have happened! I can't stand Cena (character) but he doesn't help himself by getting shitty over the allegations Vickie directs at him/AJ. If anything it really makes him look guilty - guilty of what though? They're both single - therefore get on with it John-boy!

As far as a potential Cena/Ziggler match in the future (more than likely at Survivor Series seeing as neither are part of the Foley vs Punk match) I can only see it going one way - a Cena win - WWE seem to continue to think that Ziggler can keep losing week after week, month after month and then win the World Title and it not look like crap! If they are going to give him that belt anytime soon then I'd rather see him STRONG leading up to it - not getting his arse handed to him all the time. I really hope they give him the win over Cena - clean - and then have him progress from there. That will be the perfect springboard for going for the big one.

Next on my hit-list is Irish Cena - Sheamus - he is getting more annoying by the week. I'm so glad that he lost the World Title as hopefully he'll get pissed off about it and get some attitude/aggression back.

The most annoying part of his speech was when he admitted that he 'didn't come to the WWE to always win'. I was absolutely shocked that he would admit something like that; he might as well say 'ah well, I lost the title but I'm having a great time and it's about the taking part, not the winning'. I always remember the likes of Triple H saying that if you're not in this to be 'the man' then you shouldn't be there - take note Ginger-boy!

This show felt very random by the end what with the random challenge of a traditional Survivor Series match - Foley hasn't been around for weeks and now he decides to show up to get back at Punk. The teams were a bit easy to predict too (Ryback/Kofi/Bryan/Kane/Orton vs Punk/Rhodes/Sandow/Miz/Del Rio) and could've been recruited/revealed in the coming weeks. I suppose this is a way to get some matches out of it without Foley having to be around until the PPV.

Lastly, there was no 'Brad Maddox payoff' on Raw - I'm not sure if they're selling the beating Ryback gave him (with wasn't much) but by next week, if they decide to reveal why he did what he did, nobody will care. It seems to me that his non appearance reinforced that the whole scenario was a last minute decision that they wanted to sweep under the carpet as soon as possible so that HIAC could be forgotten about and the Punk reign/Ryback 'strong' could continue.