BRM Reviews the 1/30/2012 Raw

[Big Red Machine]

OPENING SEGMENT- Good. It hit all of the important points for tonight's show, gave Dragon a chance to be a bit of a jerk, and put Sheamus in the ring with both champions.

WADE BARRETT PROMO- good

RANDY ORTON vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)- 3.5/10. One of these men barely took any bumps and barely let his opponent get in any offense whatsoever. Can you guess which one it was?

BRODUS CLAY (w/Naomi & Cameron) vs. TYLER REKS- squash

PUNK & DRAGON BACKSTAGE- hmm... of the two of these guys, I didn't think that Dragon would be the one being the preachy, moralistic heel. Dragon's words here are actually pretty ironic, considering that Dragon is not a Vegan by choice, by rather because his body started rejecting the proteins found in most foods, including meat. For him, meat literally was poisoning him... but he (legit) has no moral problem with eating it.

CM PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN- 7.5/10... now THAT is trolling! F*CK you, Jericho! Great booking here, as Dragon gets another BS win to brag about. I also have to complement them on the way they did this. As a general rule, whenever something that feels like it should be the main event does not go on in the main event spot, it usually means something is coming that the booker feels won't be a satisfying finish (this doesn't always mean the finish will be bad: Joe & Punk's first 60 minute draw in ROH went on in the semi-main event spot because Gabe wasn't sure how the crowd would react to a 60 minute match and a draw for the World Title). This was my first thought when I heard that this wasn't going to be the main event, but they gave this match just enough time that they convinced me that nothing was going to happen... then they had the DQ. GRRRR! Screw you, Jericho!

THE MIZ vs KOFI KINGSTON- 5/10.

JOHNNY ACE & DAVID OTUNGA SEGMENT- okay

THE ROCK VIDEO-PACKAGE- same one from the Royal Rumble

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH: Beth Phoenix(c) vs. Eve Torres- squash

KANE PROMO- Good promo. I really liked Kane saying that he is doing this "help" Cena get to where he needs to be to be able to beat The Rock. The special lighting and graphics annoyed me.

CENA-KANE BRAWL- good. This really felt like an escalation of violence from Cena. It felt like he took it to the next level. I think he should have given chase when Kane ran away, though.

TRIPLE H & JOHNNY ACE SEGMENT- Great segment... until the Taker thing happened. I really don't want to see Triple H vs. Taker again.

Overall, a pretty good episode of Raw.

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Cole (after Orton kicked out of one of Ziggler's big moves)- "Wade Barrett realizing that will be his fate come Friday night on Smackdown"- what will be his fate? That he will kick out of one of Dolph Ziggler's moves? That is a weird thought process for him to have, considering that he will be wrestling Randy Orton, not Dolph Ziggler.

[badnewzxl]

I was kinda confused about the Taker/HHH standoff. Are we spose to believe
a) HHH is now trying to remain professional and not get personally involved or
b) HHH doesn't think Taker is up to the challenge. The pat on the shoulder just seemed like he was consoling Taker to me.

I DEF don't wanna see HHH v. Taker again; last year it was No DQ. What the hell are they gonna do this time?

[yourcrapsweak]

Why was Dragon vs. Punk (WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VS. WWE CHAMPION) put so low on the card for no reason? A Champ vs. Champ match should at LEAST be main event.

[badnewzxl]

Why was Dragon vs. Punk (WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VS. WWE CHAMPION) put so low on the card for no reason? A Champ vs. Champ match should at LEAST be main event.

it WAS the main event; the 10pm main event, but still a main event. They HAD to have Taker come out last....

[Big Red Machine]

Why was Dragon vs. Punk (WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VS. WWE CHAMPION) put so low on the card for no reason? A Champ vs. Champ match should at LEAST be main event.

From a kayfabe POV, Johnny Ace's job evaluation had to be the last thing.

[badnewzxl]

Why was Dragon vs. Punk (WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VS. WWE CHAMPION) put so low on the card for no reason? A Champ vs. Champ match should at LEAST be main event.

From a kayfabe POV, Johnny Ace's job evaluation had to be the last thing.

AND Taker's return HAD to be last....

[Big Red Machine]

Why was Dragon vs. Punk (WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION VS. WWE CHAMPION) put so low on the card for no reason? A Champ vs. Champ match should at LEAST be main event.

From a kayfabe POV, Johnny Ace's job evaluation had to be the last thing.

AND Taker's return HAD to be last....

But that is not kayfabe.

[badnewzxl]

But that is not kayfabe.

true, but it still had to be the last thing that happened; Taker returning will ALWAYS be the main event

[Big Red Machine]

But that is not kayfabe.

true, but it still had to be the last thing that happened; Taker returning will ALWAYS be the main event

It was in the middle of the show last year,

[badnewzxl]

But that is not kayfabe.

true, but it still had to be the last thing that happened; Taker returning will ALWAYS be the main event

It was in the middle of the show last year,

yea, and it had weeks of build; ppl already knew it was coming bc of the dated promos. Last night it was a surprise, and a perfectly satisfying swerve. I was genuinely afraid that HHH was gonna fire Ace, then Taker comes out .

[kiel297]

There was one thing that confused me about Chris Jericho running into the Dragon/Punk match. Michael Cole, after the fact, kept on informing us that as Jericho made physical contact with Bryan first, Punk was disqualified.

At a fundamental level, yes, this is true. The man who is attacked wins the match. However Jericho attacked both men. The purpose of his running in was to attack CM Punk. Bryan was in the way, so he shoved him. But nonetheless, he attacked BOTH men. So why is Punk disqualified and not Bryan? The match should have gone to a double disqualification.

[Rabid619]

At a fundamental level, yes, this is true. The man who is attacked wins the match. However Jericho attacked both men. The purpose of his running in was to attack CM Punk. Bryan was in the way, so he shoved him. But nonetheless, he attacked BOTH men. So why is Punk disqualified and not Bryan? The match should have gone to a double disqualification.

Referee saw it as whoever got hit first is the winner, regardless that both men were attacked. Double DQ only happens when both guys do something or have something done to them at the exact same time. It also was done to continue Daniel Bryan's thing where when he wins and celebrates to the extreme.

[kiel297]

At a fundamental level, yes, this is true. The man who is attacked wins the match. However Jericho attacked both men. The purpose of his running in was to attack CM Punk. Bryan was in the way, so he shoved him. But nonetheless, he attacked BOTH men. So why is Punk disqualified and not Bryan? The match should have gone to a double disqualification.

Referee saw it as whoever got hit first is the winner, regardless that both men were attacked. Double DQ only happens when both guys do something or have something done to them at the exact same time. It also was done to continue Daniel Bryan's thing where when he wins and celebrates to the extreme.

Well then the referee should re-take his training course. If a stable storms the ring and attacks both men, it's taken as a no contest. Double DQ was a bat term to use, because as you said that's when both men give reason to be disqualified. But, the referee doesn't look at whichever guy the stable attacks first, and then disqualifies the other man. Nor should that logic apply to single attackers. If the attacker makes physical contact with both men in succession before the decision is announced, then the decision should be announced as a no contest.

If Jericho had attacked Bryan, the DQ been announced, and THEN he attacks Punk, then I get that, because the referee's decision has been made.

[Big Red Machine]

At a fundamental level, yes, this is true. The man who is attacked wins the match. However Jericho attacked both men. The purpose of his running in was to attack CM Punk. Bryan was in the way, so he shoved him. But nonetheless, he attacked BOTH men. So why is Punk disqualified and not Bryan? The match should have gone to a double disqualification.

Referee saw it as whoever got hit first is the winner, regardless that both men were attacked. Double DQ only happens when both guys do something or have something done to them at the exact same time. It also was done to continue Daniel Bryan's thing where when he wins and celebrates to the extreme.

Well then the referee should re-take his training course. If a stable storms the ring and attacks both men, it's taken as a no contest. Double DQ was a bat term to use, because as you said that's when both men give reason to be disqualified. But, the referee doesn't look at whichever guy the stable attacks first, and then disqualifies the other man. Nor should that logic apply to single attackers. If the attacker makes physical contact with both men in succession before the decision is announced, then the decision should be announced as a no contest.

If Jericho had attacked Bryan, the DQ been announced, and THEN he attacks Punk, then I get that, because the referee's decision has been made.

I agree with Kiel's logic but when both people are attacked in quick succession, that should be a double DQ. A no-contest is when something happens like the match never gets started because it becomes a huge brawl and the ref can't even get enough control to start the match.

[badnewzxl]

At a fundamental level, yes, this is true. The man who is attacked wins the match. However Jericho attacked both men. The purpose of his running in was to attack CM Punk. Bryan was in the way, so he shoved him. But nonetheless, he attacked BOTH men. So why is Punk disqualified and not Bryan? The match should have gone to a double disqualification.

Referee saw it as whoever got hit first is the winner, regardless that both men were attacked. Double DQ only happens when both guys do something or have something done to them at the exact same time. It also was done to continue Daniel Bryan's thing where when he wins and celebrates to the extreme.

Rabid has it right; this happens FAR more often than a double DQ.