BRM Reviews the 7/25/2011 Raw

[Big Red Machine]

WWE TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio- 7.75/10

DEL RIO ALMOST CHASHES IN- It wasn’t bad, but I think that WWE is too in love with this “the bell didn’t ring” thing.

Evan Bourne vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)- 4.75/10- good, but too short.

BELLAS SEGMENT- dumb. Why doesn’t the marked Bella go WASH IT OFF WITH WATER! It does, however, make sense to have the babyface ask the referee to mark the Bellas right before every match (like Kelly Kelly did).

EVE TORRES & KELLY KELLY vs. MARYSE & MELINA- 3.75/10. Not good, but moderately entertaining for other reasons.

JR RETURNS- I don’t care. My first though upon hearing his music was “That’s not CM PUNK’S MUSIC!” This is at least JR’s 5th or 6th return. It’s like Sting’s returns to TNA. I just don’t care anymore. The stuff with Cole was dumb, too. What they should have done was have Cole stand up and say “I refuse to be PUSHED ASIDE for JR.”

R-TRUTH SH*T- They have killed what used to be a good character by turning it into comedy.

MORRISON RETURN- Good stuff.

MICHAEL COLE vs. ZACH RYDER- N/A. It was dumb, but it got Ryder on the show, and he got a HUGE pop!

KOFI KINGSTONG vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO- 5/10. Too short. These are up-and-coming stars! You need to give them time!

WWE TITLE MATCH: Rey Mysterio(c) vs. John Cena- 8/10 Don’t get me wrong. I’m not happy about the hot-potato Title, but the match was great.

PUNK’S RETURN- HATED IT! What they should have done was have Punk return by costing Cena the WWE Title match. That would have been much more important, and it would have played into Punk’s comment “I hate this idea that you’re the best.”

[badnewzxl]

1. the Bellas' Segment: You're looking WAAAY to into it. This had NOTHING to do with wrestling at all; you notice the Bellas weren't even on the show. It was just a way to plug their sponsor.

2. J.R. Return: I too did not care much. I honestly thought it was gonna be the return of Y2J.

3. You liked Truth's gimmick and DIDN'T think it was comedy? I thought it was comedy from the very beginning.

4. Punk's return: I thought it was okay. Having Punk cost Cena the title would be pointless to Punk; the true champion. Having Cena win the "vacant" title benefits Punk more; Punk beat THAT guy for THAT title, so Punk's the true champ. So long as Cena has the belt, Punk can easily claim that HE is the true champ.

[Big Red Machine]

1. the Bellas' Segment: You're looking WAAAY to into it. This had NOTHING to do with wrestling at all; you notice the Bellas weren't even on the show. It was just a way to plug their sponsor.

2. J.R. Return: I too did not care much. I honestly thought it was gonna be the return of Y2J.

3. You liked Truth's gimmick and DIDN'T think it was comedy? I thought it was comedy from the very beginning.

4. Punk's return: I thought it was okay. Having Punk cost Cena the title would be pointless to Punk; the true champion. Having Cena win the "vacant" title benefits Punk more; Punk beat THAT guy for THAT title, so Punk's the true champ. So long as Cena has the belt, Punk can easily claim that HE is the true champ.

1. Cole said that the reason they weren't on the show was because they went home because this happened.

3. In the beginning, it wasn't.

4. Good point.

[kiel297]

For once, I'm actually gonna have to disagree with your bad points. I personally thought everything about this RAW was done reasonably well. Kelly Kelly was actually entertaining for once as well.

JR's return got a huge pop from me, I'm not gonna lie. I will always mark out for JR no matter how many times he returns.

Punk's return also got a huge pop from me, simply because I heard Cult Of Personality and I was like "OH MY CHRIST. IT'S HIM." I also like the fact that Punk is the anti-hero now. Within a few weeks he managed to go from full on heel to "the Voice of the Voiceless". Also, at first I thought it was gonna be a fake-out with some sort of message from Punk appearing on the titantron, so seeing Punk walk out there with the title belt made it even better.

The Triple H segment I loved every part of. Especially the bit with R-Truth. It's been a long time since WWE has literally had me in tears of laughter, and Triple H/R-Truth managed to do that last night.

[cero2k]

BELLAS SEGMENT- dumb. Why doesn’t the marked Bella go WASH IT OFF WITH WATER! It does, however, make sense to have the babyface ask the referee to mark the Bellas right before every match (like Kelly Kelly did).

i hated this segment, i mean, it make sense, but i had no idea who that guy was. I had to google his ass. I thought it was James Franco in disguise.

JR RETURNS- I don’t care. My first though upon hearing his music was “That’s not CM PUNK’S MUSIC!” This is at least JR’s 5th or 6th return. It’s like Sting’s returns to TNA. I just don’t care anymore. The stuff with Cole was dumb, too. What they should have done was have Cole stand up and say “I refuse to be PUSHED ASIDE for JR.”

i don't like this. i'm really tired of King and JR at this point. I used to hate Cole, but now he's the only bearable thing to listen on RAW. and i hate to say it, but i had to agree with Cole, isn't supposed to be bring in the new and out with the old, yet they bring him back.

WWE TITLE MATCH: Rey Mysterio(c) vs. John Cena- 8/10 Don’t get me wrong. I’m not happy about the hot-potato Title, but the match was great.

I'd be pissed off if i was mysterio, being booked in a title match against Cena less than two hours later of winning the title in what was a pretty good match against Miz. I really hope Mysterio would ask for his rematch clause, but it will only end up hurting him more if he loses again.

PUNK’S RETURN- HATED IT! What they should have done was have Punk return by costing Cena the WWE Title match. That would have been much more important, and it would have played into Punk’s comment “I hate this idea that you’re the best.”

i'm gonna disagree with you, Punk had to be brought in like this, it was the only way. Punk doesn't need to prove anything, he beat Cena, he's the legit WWE Champ, even if they won't recognize him. This is what Punk went to the Comic-con to do, he showed that no matter what WWE is trying to do to have a champ, HE IS the champ. The only thing i didn't really like was him coming back so soon.

[yourcrapsweak]

I'm just gonna say that the highlight of the show for me, for the first time ever, was the divas match.

[Big Red Machine]

Punk's return also got a huge pop from me, simply because I heard Cult Of Personality and I was like "OH MY CHRIST. IT'S HIM." I also like the fact that Punk is the anti-hero now. Within a few weeks he managed to go from full on heel to "the Voice of the Voiceless". Also, at first I thought it was gonna be a fake-out with some sort of message from Punk appearing on the titantron, so seeing Punk walk out there with the title belt made it even better.

Maybe its because I have only seen two of the Summer of Punk shows (I have two more, but haven't gotten to watching them yet), but I didn't pick up on Cult of Personality. And I feel like the same is true of the majoirty of the WWE audience, which, I think, is the opposite of what Punk needed. He needed a huge, immediate, pop.

As for Punk being the "voice of the voiceless"- not yet. Not until he brings back a Colt Cabana or a Luke Gallows.

The Triple H segment I loved every part of. Especially the bit with R-Truth. It's been a long time since WWE has literally had me in tears of laughter, and Triple H/R-Truth managed to do that last night.

I'm not saying it wasn't funny. I just think it was funny at an inappropriate time.

[badnewzxl]

1. the Bellas' Segment: You're looking WAAAY to into it. This had NOTHING to do with wrestling at all; you notice the Bellas weren't even on the show. It was just a way to plug their sponsor.

2. J.R. Return: I too did not care much. I honestly thought it was gonna be the return of Y2J.

3. You liked Truth's gimmick and DIDN'T think it was comedy? I thought it was comedy from the very beginning.

4. Punk's return: I thought it was okay. Having Punk cost Cena the title would be pointless to Punk; the true champion. Having Cena win the "vacant" title benefits Punk more; Punk beat THAT guy for THAT title, so Punk's the true champ. So long as Cena has the belt, Punk can easily claim that HE is the true champ.

1. Cole said that the reason they weren't on the show was because they went home because this happened.

3. In the beginning, it wasn't.

4. Good point.

3. That's fair; I think I just found it funny. When Truth was mumbling/talking to himself with that cigarette in his mouth, I cracked up. He was def MORE serious between ER and OTL, but during the build up to CP and for all the time following, Truth has been HILARIOUS! However, last night's bit with HHH was kinda stupid (mainly bc I hate HHH's "comedy." Never like the way he tried to be funny), but I think Truth is gold. He's totally refreshed his character....

[NWK]

1. I'm going to have to disagree with you on the Divas segment because WWE was advertising BEER. Who drinks beer (well, mostly anyway)? Adults do, meaning that WWE was trying to appeal to the adults for the first time in several years.

2. R-Truth is one of the best characters in WWE right now, simply because he can be used as either a comedy character or a serious character. He isn't eternally cemented to the role of comedy character like say Santino. I would like to see a series of matches between Morrison and Truth, with the two essentially trading wins, so that the two can be established as evenly matched, with neither burying the other until the very end of the feud.

3. I have mixed feelings on the Punk return. As much as I love to see Punk in any way on WWE TV, they could've drawn out the angle with Punk disrespecting the title over Twitter and showing up at indy events with it. However, the fact that the whole Punk thing was left at a cliffhanger keeps me optimistic that they won't finish up this angle too early.

[Big Red Machine]

1. They have been playing to adults for years. PG does not mean "for kids only." Look at CHIKARA. Or even better... look at ROH. It would need very few changes (and almost none in the ring- [just stop Davey from saying the f-word while kicking people, and Hero from calling people bitches]) in order to be come PG (basically, censoring the Briscoes promos).

[badnewzxl]

1. I'm going to have to disagree with you on the Divas segment because WWE was advertising BEER. Who drinks beer (well, mostly anyway)? Adults do, meaning that WWE was trying to appeal to the adults for the first time in several years.

2. R-Truth is one of the best characters in WWE right now, simply because he can be used as either a comedy character or a serious character. He isn't eternally cemented to the role of comedy character like say Santino. I would like to see a series of matches between Morrison and Truth, with the two essentially trading wins, so that the two can be established as evenly matched, with neither burying the other until the very end of the feud.

3. I have mixed feelings on the Punk return. As much as I love to see Punk in any way on WWE TV, they could've drawn out the angle with Punk disrespecting the title over Twitter and showing up at indy events with it. However, the fact that the whole Punk thing was left at a cliffhanger keeps me optimistic that they won't finish up this angle too early.

1. THIS! Anyone who's seen the Keith Stone Keystone commercials can tell that this was merely just another one; they all feature Keith somehow satisfying a hot chick on a whim. It def was NOT about wrestling (wrestling related, yes; but it was totally about Keystone light. I thought that was kinda cool. They should have done that with Geico when Truth talked about saving money on his car insurance, lol.

2. GREAT points; couldn't agree with you more. I've never enjoyed Ron Killings this much.

3. I like Punk's return bc it means he can disrespect WWE right in their faces. He may not have signed a new contract, but since he's the champ, he can still appear. I like that he has this much power....

[badnewzxl]

1. They have been playing to adults for years. PG does not mean "for kids only." Look at CHIKARA. Or even better... look at ROH. It would need very few changes (and almost none in the ring- [just stop Davey from saying the f-word while kicking people, and Hero from calling people bitches]) in order to be come PG (basically, censoring the Briscoes promos).

PG implies that it is specifically FOR kids; it's called parental guidance bc parents should watch it with kids so the kids can understand it properly. Targeting adults and making a show enjoyable for adults is two different things. Spongebob has some stuff in it adults can enjoy but it's still a show for kids. WWE has been a show for kids for quite a while. Advertising beer is EXPLICITLY targeting adults. HHH's O-ring comment is sorta PG bc kids have absolutely no idea what the hell that meant; it was over their heads. Beer is not....

[Shogun Rua]

WWE TITLE TOURNAMENT FINALS: The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio- 7.75/10

As I was watching this match, and at the conclusion, I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if BRM will give this higher than a 5." I liked this match a lot, the only problem being Cole and King arguing over commentary for the whole thing.

Evan Bourne vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)- 4.75/10- good, but too short.

I still can't get into a Dolph Ziggler match very much. I like Evan Bourne, but whenever Dolph is in the ring, he is usually in control with a slow pace. And his sleeper hold is not convincing at all. He should get some pointers from Joe.

PUNK’S RETURN- HATED IT! What they should have done was have Punk return by costing Cena the WWE Title match. That would have been much more important, and it would have played into Punk’s comment “I hate this idea that you’re the best.”

I had only seen one CM Punk match outside of the WWE when he used Cult of Personality as his music, and I still recognized it right away. And even though his return wasn't "historic", it's better than him leaving messages on the titantron for weeks on end, or just randomly having his music play every week. I think they should have kept him off of T.V. for a little while longer, to kind of get people to think he isn't coming back. But, it was good anyways.

The whole Cole/JR/Triple H/R-Truth thing dragged on way too long. But, Triple H talking to the imaginary people made me laugh.

[Rabid619]

I liked this match a lot, the only problem being Cole and King arguing over commentary for the whole thing.

Yeah i didn't like that either. It sounded like they were trying to kill the focus on the match, they partially succeeded. They're supposed to be unbiased but they definitely weren't for that one.