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.