Not really my usual type of article this week so this one may feel a little shorter than normal. Reason is I’ve had a lot to do this week and I really couldn’t be arsed watching Raw again after the disaster that was last weeks show because, after all, I’m a casual fan and my remit is to behave as such. That said I did watch Raw or at least all the bits I was interested in which took me about 20 minutes. So let’s get started with my thoughts and musings on the bits I did see.
I saw Daniel Bryan win Superstar of the Year and the roster behave like this was a complete shock despite Bryan having the best crowd reactions this year and being generally awesome. It’s embarrassing that we’re supposed to be surprised anyone other than John Cena would win it. If I was saying this in front of Stephanie McMahon she would have just interjected then that Triple H would have been a worthy recipient.
I saw Mick Foley suggest in a real half arsed way that the bar for ‘OMG’ moment of the year had been raised this year. In a time when we’re not allowed blood in the show the bar has been raised higher than an overweight, middle aged hero trying to kill himself all those years ago.
The rest of the show was largely nondescript until the final segment.
I really enjoyed the final segment and was largely a hit for me. I don’t like being critical of Raw (yes I am aware that I am) so it’s important to highlight when things really work like the last segment did. I thought Randy Orton’s promo wasn’t all that but it served its purpose well. Cena’s was excellent and very enjoyable as a viewer.
The highlight of the segment was, obviously, Daniel Bryan. Despite his purpose being to stand in the background among such wrestling alumni as Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Mick Foley (Stephanie McMahon note: Don’t forget Triple H), CM Punk and The Great Khali, Bryan managed to steal the spotlight by doing absolutely nothing. Which is in itself a testament to how over he is.
Granted it was his hometown support but it remains a valid point. I thought Cena including him was smart on Cena’s part because to ignore it would have been a mistake and by offering Bryan a potential rematch it poses a very interesting question for TLC. To be fair to Triple H I thought he sold his annoyance remarkably well. Too well some are suggesting.
The brawl breaking out was good fun and escalated into some really exciting potentials that I hope WWE takes good advantage of. CM Punk laying HHH out was nearly as good as HBK laying out CM Punk which was nearly as good as Daniel Bryan laying out HBK which was nearly as good as Randy Orton lightly brushing into Stephanie McMahon. While I would have loved for maybe Bret and Foley to get involved it was more than good enough as it was. Hey remember when the Big Show was in a big personal feud with The Authority? No me neither.
If I had any complaints about it, and trust me this hurts me more than it does you, it’s that the Unification match is important on a personal level rather than a professional and this is more of a professional feud to me. That’s only being picky though. A real complaint would be Triple H’s music playing to end the show as he stands over the WWE Champion but even that was rescued by making Cena stand next to them and pull ‘WTF’ faces at Randy Orton.
All in all though much better this week. It’s made next week’s show something worth watching. Now I’ve said that it’ll be complete shit and Triple H will be the new Unified World Champion. Please Wrestling Gods other than JBL don’t let that happen.
– By TDF