OPENING SEGMENT- I love that Maddox’s entrance music is a drum roll. That’s GENIUS! How has no one ever thought of that before?
Anyhow, this segment was AWESOME! Cena addresses the doubts that anyone in the audience might have about Dragon being a viable main eventer… and at the same time it felt like the writing team was shooting on management (and if you don’t believe me, listen to Maddox’s comments about Dragon’s supporters being a “vocal minority”). GREAT stuff all three guys.

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. SHEAMUS- 7/10
Great match! A great story which build to a GREAT finish and Sheamus still looks strong in defeat.

BOOKER T & TEDDY LONG BACKSTAGE- so if both of these guys were fired, why are they still on TV now? I guess Booker can show up whenever wants because he is a Hall of Famer, but why is Teddy still here. This storyline between these two was a complete and total failure. Anyway, Teddy was annoyingly flat here, but the good news is that he said “I’m out of here,” so maybe he’ll be off of TV for a while. YAY!

CHRISTIAN vs. TITUS O’NEIL (w/Darren Young)- 4.5/10
Apparently WWE.com had an article that said PTP want to make their mark in singles competition. I guess this works well as an excuse to temporarily remove them from the tag team division so they don’t have to face their fellow heels, the Shield, or constantly job to their babyface challengers.

RYBACK PROMO- decent. This sets up well for a babyface return for the Big Show.

MARK HENRY, USOS, & SHIELD SEGMENT- Henry calls out the Shield so they come down and beat him up until the Usos come out and make the save, and these guys get the better of the Shield. So the Shield get their butts kicked AGAIN. Remember how they won every single brawl for their first six months? Well ever since that first loss, they have gotten their butts kicked more often than not... and by guys lower down on the card than the guys they were beating up six months ago.

JOHN CENA & DANIEL BRYAN BACKSTAGE- painfully over-scripted, but these guys did a decent job with it.

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. DARREN YOUNG (w/Titus O’Neil)- 4/10
Big E. attacks Ziggler after the match… but Ziggler gets the better of him? WTF?!

MIZ TV WITH THE CAST OF TOTAL DIVAS- HORRIBLE! The Miz first introduces all of the Divas. Then he invites Lawler in the ring to do his job for him. I guess Miz was just feeling lazy today. With a work ethic like that, it’s no wonder he isn’t on the card at Summer Slam.
So Lawler got into the ring and said hi to all of the Divas by name. If Lawler was going to do this, the what the hell was the point of wasting time by having The Miz introduce them? In fact, what was the point of Miz even being out here?
Anyway, slipping perfectly into his role of creepy old perv, Lawler says hello to all of the Divas. The last one in line, Eva Marie, one of the new ones. Says “I don’t like the way you’re looking at me” and slaps Lawler across the face. A few issues here:
1. From the way she was talking here, it is painfully clear that this woman is not ready for WWE TV.
2. More importantly, Total Divas is supposed to be a reality show, and the purpose of this segment was to get people to watch it. If Total Divas is going be a reality show, how does it help get people to watch it by doing a clear and obvious work on your worked wrestling show?

TRIPLE H & BRAD MADDOX BACKSTAGE- great. It put over the McMahon angle and Triple H put Dragon over huge.
MADDOX & STEPH BACKSTAGE- anyone else find it a bit comical that Hunter and Steph JUST missed each other?

CODY RHODES vs. FANDANGO (w/Summer Rae)- 4/10
Sandow was BRILLIANT on commentary!

CM PUNK PROMO & SEGMENT WITH HEYMAN- 100% AWESOME!

ROB VAN DAM vs. WADE BARRETT- 4.25/10

DANIEL BRYAN’S GAUNTLET- PERFECT SEGMENT! It is impossible to watch this and not think that Dragon is a main eventer, an awesome wrestler, and one tough S.O.B.
If I were rating this as a match… I might go as high as 9.5. The reason I have chosen to rate this as a segment rather than as a match is the finish. In terms of the story of the match, I really didn’t like the finish. The story was about Dragon overcoming odds and surviving an enormous amount of punishment, and having Ryback stand tall over him at the end of the match doesn’t do that. It does, however, work perfectly well if we view this as a segment because Dragon still looks ultra-tough and it also sets up for some friction between Dragon and Cena as well as sets up a main event for next week.

VINCE & MADDOX BACKSTAGE- bad. Vince tells Maddox to make Dragon face someone who is bigger than he is… well isn’t that what just happened? Three straight times?
As for Dragon vs. Kane next week… I don’t like it. Kane should be involved with the Wyatt Family, and I don’t want them sticking their noses in Dragon’s push.

Overall, an awesome Raw, capped off by a Match of the Year Candidate.

Big Red Machine wrote: MARK HENRY, USOS, & SHIELD SEGMENT- Henry calls out the Shield so they come down and beat him up until the Usos come out and make the save, and these guys get the better of the Shield. So the Shield get their butts kicked AGAIN. Remember how they won every single brawl for their first six months? Well ever since that first loss, they have gotten their butts kicked more often than not... and by guys lower down on the card than the guys they were beating up six months ago.

i thought the same thing, but then i thought that at least the Usos are a team that should be better in terms of team work than the Shield just because they've been training together all their life, and Henry is no push over. But even then, i wouldn't expect them to win a 3-on-3.

Big Red Machine wrote: MIZ TV WITH THE CAST OF TOTAL DIVAS- HORRIBLE! The Miz first introduces all of the Divas. Then he invites Lawler in the ring to do his job for him. I guess Miz was just feeling lazy today. With a work ethic like that, it’s no wonder he isn’t on the card at Summer Slam.
So Lawler got into the ring and said hi to all of the Divas by name. If Lawler was going to do this, the what the hell was the point of wasting time by having The Miz introduce them? In fact, what was the point of Miz even being out here?
Anyway, slipping perfectly into his role of creepy old perv, Lawler says hello to all of the Divas. The last one in line, Eva Marie, one of the new ones. Says “I don’t like the way you’re looking at me” and slaps Lawler across the face. A few issues here:
1. From the way she was talking here, it is painfully clear that this woman is not ready for WWE TV.
2. More importantly, Total Divas is supposed to be a reality show, and the purpose of this segment was to get people to watch it. If Total Divas is going be a reality show, how does it help get people to watch it by doing a clear and obvious work on your worked wrestling show?

doesn't matter, nip slip happened.

Big Red Machine wrote: DANIEL BRYAN’S GAUNTLET- PERFECT SEGMENT! It is impossible to watch this and not think that Dragon is a main eventer, an awesome wrestler, and one tough S.O.B.
If I were rating this as a match… I might go as high as 9.5. The reason I have chosen to rate this as a segment rather than as a match is the finish. In terms of the story of the match, I really didn’t like the finish. The story was about Dragon overcoming odds and surviving an enormous amount of punishment, and having Ryback stand tall over him at the end of the match doesn’t do that. It does, however, work perfectly well if we view this as a segment because Dragon still looks ultra-tough and it also sets up for some friction between Dragon and Cena as well as sets up a main event for next week.

I think the biggest problem here was that Cena came out and kinda stole Dragon's thunder a bit. It would have been perfect for me that Ryback lost via DQ, and then you could have Cena come out and check on Dragon, just to be stopped by Maddox saying that Dragon won, the gauntlet is not over, and out comes Big Show. The shock value would have been amazing, and Cena could have thrown in the towel for Dragon, so Dragon could have the perfect excuse to get pissed off at Cena and add some heat to their feud. I just thought that the annoucers kept saying, "how many are there? Is this the last one?" so I expected more than the usual 3.

Another scenario would have been to bring out the Wyatt Family as the fourth challenger, but they simply kick Dragon's ass. This brings out Kane and Cena to even the odds AND THEEEEEN Maddox announces Kane vs Dragon with both of them reacting in the middle of the ring.

cero2k wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote: DANIEL BRYAN’S GAUNTLET- PERFECT SEGMENT! It is impossible to watch this and not think that Dragon is a main eventer, an awesome wrestler, and one tough S.O.B.
If I were rating this as a match… I might go as high as 9.5. The reason I have chosen to rate this as a segment rather than as a match is the finish. In terms of the story of the match, I really didn’t like the finish. The story was about Dragon overcoming odds and surviving an enormous amount of punishment, and having Ryback stand tall over him at the end of the match doesn’t do that. It does, however, work perfectly well if we view this as a segment because Dragon still looks ultra-tough and it also sets up for some friction between Dragon and Cena as well as sets up a main event for next week.

I think the biggest problem here was that Cena came out and kinda stole Dragon's thunder a bit. It would have been perfect for me that Ryback lost via DQ, and then you could have Cena come out and check on Dragon, just to be stopped by Maddox saying that Dragon won, the gauntlet is not over, and out comes Big Show. The shock value would have been amazing, and Cena could have thrown in the towel for Dragon, so Dragon could have the perfect excuse to get pissed off at Cena and add some heat to their feud. I just thought that the annoucers kept saying, "how many are there? Is this the last one?" so I expected more than the usual 3.

That would have been F*CKING FANTASTIC!

no mention of Brie's nip slip? I see your point about the Miz TV segment; why even have it be Miz TV? Why not just have Jerry Lawler introduce them?

Personally, I'd have given the PTP singles matches higher ratings than RVD v. Wade and Cody v. Fandango; I was VERY impressed with Young and O'Neil here.

Big Red Machine wrote:

cero2k wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote: DANIEL BRYAN’S GAUNTLET- PERFECT SEGMENT! It is impossible to watch this and not think that Dragon is a main eventer, an awesome wrestler, and one tough S.O.B.
If I were rating this as a match… I might go as high as 9.5. The reason I have chosen to rate this as a segment rather than as a match is the finish. In terms of the story of the match, I really didn’t like the finish. The story was about Dragon overcoming odds and surviving an enormous amount of punishment, and having Ryback stand tall over him at the end of the match doesn’t do that. It does, however, work perfectly well if we view this as a segment because Dragon still looks ultra-tough and it also sets up for some friction between Dragon and Cena as well as sets up a main event for next week.

I think the biggest problem here was that Cena came out and kinda stole Dragon's thunder a bit. It would have been perfect for me that Ryback lost via DQ, and then you could have Cena come out and check on Dragon, just to be stopped by Maddox saying that Dragon won, the gauntlet is not over, and out comes Big Show. The shock value would have been amazing, and Cena could have thrown in the towel for Dragon, so Dragon could have the perfect excuse to get pissed off at Cena and add some heat to their feud. I just thought that the annoucers kept saying, "how many are there? Is this the last one?" so I expected more than the usual 3.

That would have been F*CKING FANTASTIC!

I, concur

cero2k wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote: MIZ TV WITH THE CAST OF TOTAL DIVAS- HORRIBLE! The Miz first introduces all of the Divas. Then he invites Lawler in the ring to do his job for him. I guess Miz was just feeling lazy today. With a work ethic like that, it’s no wonder he isn’t on the card at Summer Slam.
So Lawler got into the ring and said hi to all of the Divas by name. If Lawler was going to do this, the what the hell was the point of wasting time by having The Miz introduce them? In fact, what was the point of Miz even being out here?
Anyway, slipping perfectly into his role of creepy old perv, Lawler says hello to all of the Divas. The last one in line, Eva Marie, one of the new ones. Says “I don’t like the way you’re looking at me” and slaps Lawler across the face. A few issues here:
1. From the way she was talking here, it is painfully clear that this woman is not ready for WWE TV.
2. More importantly, Total Divas is supposed to be a reality show, and the purpose of this segment was to get people to watch it. If Total Divas is going be a reality show, how does it help get people to watch it by doing a clear and obvious work on your worked wrestling show?

doesn't matter, nip slip happened.

I actually just read a comment by someone that the timing of the nip slip seems to have been awfully convenient

Big Red Machine wrote:I actually just read a comment by someone that the timing of the nip slip seems to have been awfully convenient

I like to think this segment was rewritten on the fly by Vince himself...

"ALRIGHT!!! Dunn, let's do this! Gonna be HUGE for the new show! YEAH!!! Gonna be... what the fuck!? GET MIZ OUT OF THERE!!! GET HIM OUT, DAMMIT! People hate him, cue Lawler! I said LAWLER DAMMIT! LAWLER KNOWS HOW TO SELL THE WOMEN!!! Kevin, who's the one with the red hair? I don't know her name either. Get her on the mic... no NO!!! GET HER THE HELL OFF THE MIC! DEAR GOD GET HER OFF THE MIC!!! Well, don't have her take out Lawler! What's wrong with you!? Now we HAVE to use Miz... fuck it, we're done... have em all take their shirts off, that's all we got left. DO IT DUNN, DO IT!!! I'M VINCE MCMAHON, DAMMIT........AAAAAHAHAHAHAAA SERIOUSLY!? GREAT WORK DUNN! I didn't think you'd do it. It's a keeper!"

Bob-O wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote:I actually just read a comment by someone that the timing of the nip slip seems to have been awfully convenient

I like to think this segment was rewritten on the fly by Vince himself...

"ALRIGHT!!! Dunn, let's do this! Gonna be HUGE for the new show! YEAH!!! Gonna be... what the f**k!? GET MIZ OUT OF THERE!!! GET HIM OUT, DAMMIT! People hate him, cue Lawler! I said LAWLER DAMMIT! LAWLER KNOWS HOW TO SELL THE WOMEN!!! Kevin, who's the one with the red hair? I don't know her name either. Get her on the mic... no NO!!! GET HER THE HELL OFF THE MIC! DEAR GOD GET HER OFF THE MIC!!! Well, don't have her take out Lawler! What's wrong with you!? Now we HAVE to use Miz... f**k it, we're done... have em all take their shirts off, that's all we got left. DO IT DUNN, DO IT!!! I'M VINCE MCMAHON, DAMMIT........AAAAAHAHAHAHAAA SERIOUSLY!? GREAT WORK DUNN! I didn't think you'd do it. It's a keeper!"

solid gold! =)) =)) =))

Bob-O wrote:

Big Red Machine wrote:I actually just read a comment by someone that the timing of the nip slip seems to have been awfully convenient

I like to think this segment was rewritten on the fly by Vince himself...

"ALRIGHT!!! Dunn, let's do this! Gonna be HUGE for the new show! YEAH!!! Gonna be... what the f**k!? GET MIZ OUT OF THERE!!! GET HIM OUT, DAMMIT! People hate him, cue Lawler! I said LAWLER DAMMIT! LAWLER KNOWS HOW TO SELL THE WOMEN!!! Kevin, who's the one with the red hair? I don't know her name either. Get her on the mic... no NO!!! GET HER THE HELL OFF THE MIC! DEAR GOD GET HER OFF THE MIC!!! Well, don't have her take out Lawler! What's wrong with you!? Now we HAVE to use Miz... f**k it, we're done... have em all take their shirts off, that's all we got left. DO IT DUNN, DO IT!!! I'M VINCE MCMAHON, DAMMIT........AAAAAHAHAHAHAAA SERIOUSLY!? GREAT WORK DUNN! I didn't think you'd do it. It's a keeper!"

you forgot to include a "MY SON SHAANE!!" in there