BRM Reviews the 10/22/2012 Raw
Posted: Oct 24th, '12, 00:02
WWE TAG TEAM TITLE #1 CONTENDERS TOURNAMENT FINALS: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. Rhodes Scholars- 6/10
Best opener I can remember on Raw in a long time. Hooray for the heels winning clean.
They keep saying that Rey is "mentoring" Sin Cara, but we never see anything along those lines at all. The only thing along these lines that has even been mentioned in any sort of semi-specific terms is Cole's comment tonight that Rey "has really helped Sin Cara become acclimated with the move to the United States and the WWE," which is all well and good... until you remember that Sin Cara made the move a year and a half ago!
DRAGON & KANE PROMO- didn't like it. When it comes to this tag team, Dragon has been the one to be the douchebag, not Kane. I also didn't like the choreographed "Hell no." We have been told that, outside of the ring, these two can't get along at all. It would have been much better if one of them jumped the gun and their timing was off, causing the other to get angry (maybe use this to set up Kane doing his douchy thing with Dragon).
KOFI KINGSTON vs. MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY- 1.75/10
Too short
CENA & PUNK SEGMENT- okay. I get Ryback not cutting promos, but having Cena basically cut a promo for Ryback felt a bit odd.
ANTONIO CESARO vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL- 3.5/10
Should have gone a lot longer, especially if they were going to have the champ lose.
AJ RESIGNS AS GM OF RAW- A few things here:
1. Did I miss something? Where the hell did this "fraternizing with one of the Superstars on the roster" thing come from?"
2. Really, this is what gets AJ removed from her job as GM? not being a crazy person, assaulting employees, and metaphorically giving the WWE Board of Directors the finger with her treatment of the "developmental coach they assigned to her?"
3. The brilliant babyface every-woman AJ character whose dream was to be a wrestler that I fell in love with on NXT seems to have now been officially removed from continuity. BOO!
4. Most importantly... THIS MAKES NO F*CKING SENSE! We have had tons of GM's in relationships with wrestlers (Steph & Hunter, Dolph & Vickie, Edge & Vickie, Teddy Long & Krystal, Teddy Long & Aksana... and that is just the last five years) and no one has ever had a problem with it before. And the cherry on top of all of this stupidity: Anyone remember when Vince offered AJ the GM job? It was off-screen, sometime on the day of the 1000th Raw. And what was one of the major selling points of the 1000th Raw: AJ GETTING MARRIED TO DANIEL BRYAN!
The Heyman stuff- a good heel promo, but why does the Board need a new GM named immediately? They waited six weeks between firing Johnny Ace and naming someone else.
VICKIE IS NAMED "MANAGING SUPERVISOR"- why the new title? Also, why Vickie? It seems to me that, from a kayfabe point of view, Teddy Long is the most logical choice (seeing as how he was a GM for years and won't have an inclination to favor any particular superstars *cough!*Vickie & Dolph*cough!
Vickie's interactions with Heyman felt extremely lame and cliched. Her steel stuff on AJ was okay, aside from one little detail? How can AJ have an affair with someone if she isn't married?
So overall... a sh*tty segment that makes no kayfabe sense at all, that was only slightly saved by AJ assaulting Vickie at the end.
RYBACK vs. THE MIZ- squash. Based on Miz's earlier statements on commentary, wouldn't it have made more sense for Miz to run away and Ryback win by count-out? Squashing Miz doesn't help Ryback at all, and running away will get Miz more heat than getting squashed will.
EVE & KAITLYN SEGMENT- okay, so Eve is bashing AJ for supposedly being with a bunch of guys, so Kaitlyn says "Even if it is true, who are you to talk? You were with Ryder then tried to get with Cena." Whoops Sorry. That is what would happen in the parallel universe where WWE remembers things that happened before the beginning of someone's current feud. Instead, WE had Kaitlyn say that Eve is also unprofessional because she had someone jumped from behind (way to stand up for your friend there, Kaitlyn. You don't even try to say that they are just rumors and that AJ really isn't a slut). Facepalm.
The only enjoyable part of this segment was when Layla ran in to break up the scuffle and Eve shoved her from behind, so Layla said "Really?" and turned around and just went after Eve herself.
SHEAMUS & BIG SHOW BACKSTAGE- great
DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. DANIEL BRYAN- 7/10
GREAT match, and I loved the finish with Kane getting the crowd to chant "YES," screwing Dragon up, despite having good intentions.
Then Matt Striker comes out and says that Dragon and Kane must participate in something called a "therapeutic game show." There is no way this is going to be a good thing. Striker did a do a good job with his delivery, though. He got his fear over very well.
THE NEWLY-TAGGED GAME- I love Damien Sandow right now.
THE BIG SHOW vs. KANE (w/Daniel Bryan)- n rating. Good segment.
AJ & CENA BACKSTAGE- ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought that they were using the word "fraternizing" because they didn't want to say "having sex with" on their PG show (although I'm not sure why they couldn't have just used the phrase "an inappropriate relationship with"), but apparently THEY MEANT IT LITERALLY!
I can buy that Vickie saw AJ and Cena having dinner together and decided to spread the rumor that they were sleeping together but for AJ not try to fight it when the truth is SO F*CKING SIMPLE AND PLAUSIBLE IS... well... almost as dumb as Dixie Carter & AJ Styles deciding that it would be better to let the world think they were having an affair than to reveal that they were actually helping a recovering drug addict! In fact, the only reason I'm not flipping an even bigger sh*t about this is because AJ is crazy, and Cena's reaction was pretty much exactly the same as mine.
CENA & VINCE SEGMENT- good
ZACK RYDER vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)- 2/10
Standard two minute WWE match that does nothing for the winner and buries the loser.
CENA & VICKIE SEGMENT- not bad, but when was this date? And did Cena, a married man, really ask another woman out on a date on NATIONAL TV?!
DOLPH ZIGGLER PROMO- DECENT
PUNK & HEYMAN BACKSTAGE- eh. This was also completely unnecessary.
LUMBERJACK MATCH: CM Punk vs. Sheamus-7.5/10
Great match, and I loved the finish.
AFTERMATH- GREAT! The only thing I would have done differently would have been to have Ryback just plow through a line of heel lumberjacks on his way into the ring.
Overall, a very good episode of Raw in the ring, but all of the GM stuff was just complete and total crap. A good go-home show, though.
Best opener I can remember on Raw in a long time. Hooray for the heels winning clean.
They keep saying that Rey is "mentoring" Sin Cara, but we never see anything along those lines at all. The only thing along these lines that has even been mentioned in any sort of semi-specific terms is Cole's comment tonight that Rey "has really helped Sin Cara become acclimated with the move to the United States and the WWE," which is all well and good... until you remember that Sin Cara made the move a year and a half ago!
DRAGON & KANE PROMO- didn't like it. When it comes to this tag team, Dragon has been the one to be the douchebag, not Kane. I also didn't like the choreographed "Hell no." We have been told that, outside of the ring, these two can't get along at all. It would have been much better if one of them jumped the gun and their timing was off, causing the other to get angry (maybe use this to set up Kane doing his douchy thing with Dragon).
KOFI KINGSTON vs. MICHAEL MCGILLICUTTY- 1.75/10
Too short
CENA & PUNK SEGMENT- okay. I get Ryback not cutting promos, but having Cena basically cut a promo for Ryback felt a bit odd.
ANTONIO CESARO vs. JUSTIN GABRIEL- 3.5/10
Should have gone a lot longer, especially if they were going to have the champ lose.
AJ RESIGNS AS GM OF RAW- A few things here:
1. Did I miss something? Where the hell did this "fraternizing with one of the Superstars on the roster" thing come from?"
2. Really, this is what gets AJ removed from her job as GM? not being a crazy person, assaulting employees, and metaphorically giving the WWE Board of Directors the finger with her treatment of the "developmental coach they assigned to her?"
3. The brilliant babyface every-woman AJ character whose dream was to be a wrestler that I fell in love with on NXT seems to have now been officially removed from continuity. BOO!
4. Most importantly... THIS MAKES NO F*CKING SENSE! We have had tons of GM's in relationships with wrestlers (Steph & Hunter, Dolph & Vickie, Edge & Vickie, Teddy Long & Krystal, Teddy Long & Aksana... and that is just the last five years) and no one has ever had a problem with it before. And the cherry on top of all of this stupidity: Anyone remember when Vince offered AJ the GM job? It was off-screen, sometime on the day of the 1000th Raw. And what was one of the major selling points of the 1000th Raw: AJ GETTING MARRIED TO DANIEL BRYAN!
The Heyman stuff- a good heel promo, but why does the Board need a new GM named immediately? They waited six weeks between firing Johnny Ace and naming someone else.
VICKIE IS NAMED "MANAGING SUPERVISOR"- why the new title? Also, why Vickie? It seems to me that, from a kayfabe point of view, Teddy Long is the most logical choice (seeing as how he was a GM for years and won't have an inclination to favor any particular superstars *cough!*Vickie & Dolph*cough!
Vickie's interactions with Heyman felt extremely lame and cliched. Her steel stuff on AJ was okay, aside from one little detail? How can AJ have an affair with someone if she isn't married?
So overall... a sh*tty segment that makes no kayfabe sense at all, that was only slightly saved by AJ assaulting Vickie at the end.
RYBACK vs. THE MIZ- squash. Based on Miz's earlier statements on commentary, wouldn't it have made more sense for Miz to run away and Ryback win by count-out? Squashing Miz doesn't help Ryback at all, and running away will get Miz more heat than getting squashed will.
EVE & KAITLYN SEGMENT- okay, so Eve is bashing AJ for supposedly being with a bunch of guys, so Kaitlyn says "Even if it is true, who are you to talk? You were with Ryder then tried to get with Cena." Whoops Sorry. That is what would happen in the parallel universe where WWE remembers things that happened before the beginning of someone's current feud. Instead, WE had Kaitlyn say that Eve is also unprofessional because she had someone jumped from behind (way to stand up for your friend there, Kaitlyn. You don't even try to say that they are just rumors and that AJ really isn't a slut). Facepalm.
The only enjoyable part of this segment was when Layla ran in to break up the scuffle and Eve shoved her from behind, so Layla said "Really?" and turned around and just went after Eve herself.
SHEAMUS & BIG SHOW BACKSTAGE- great
DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. DANIEL BRYAN- 7/10
GREAT match, and I loved the finish with Kane getting the crowd to chant "YES," screwing Dragon up, despite having good intentions.
Then Matt Striker comes out and says that Dragon and Kane must participate in something called a "therapeutic game show." There is no way this is going to be a good thing. Striker did a do a good job with his delivery, though. He got his fear over very well.
THE NEWLY-TAGGED GAME- I love Damien Sandow right now.
THE BIG SHOW vs. KANE (w/Daniel Bryan)- n rating. Good segment.
AJ & CENA BACKSTAGE- ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I thought that they were using the word "fraternizing" because they didn't want to say "having sex with" on their PG show (although I'm not sure why they couldn't have just used the phrase "an inappropriate relationship with"), but apparently THEY MEANT IT LITERALLY!
I can buy that Vickie saw AJ and Cena having dinner together and decided to spread the rumor that they were sleeping together but for AJ not try to fight it when the truth is SO F*CKING SIMPLE AND PLAUSIBLE IS... well... almost as dumb as Dixie Carter & AJ Styles deciding that it would be better to let the world think they were having an affair than to reveal that they were actually helping a recovering drug addict! In fact, the only reason I'm not flipping an even bigger sh*t about this is because AJ is crazy, and Cena's reaction was pretty much exactly the same as mine.
CENA & VINCE SEGMENT- good
ZACK RYDER vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)- 2/10
Standard two minute WWE match that does nothing for the winner and buries the loser.
CENA & VICKIE SEGMENT- not bad, but when was this date? And did Cena, a married man, really ask another woman out on a date on NATIONAL TV?!
DOLPH ZIGGLER PROMO- DECENT
PUNK & HEYMAN BACKSTAGE- eh. This was also completely unnecessary.
LUMBERJACK MATCH: CM Punk vs. Sheamus-7.5/10
Great match, and I loved the finish.
AFTERMATH- GREAT! The only thing I would have done differently would have been to have Ryback just plow through a line of heel lumberjacks on his way into the ring.
Overall, a very good episode of Raw in the ring, but all of the GM stuff was just complete and total crap. A good go-home show, though.
However, it would be nothing compared to y reaction when Jeff won his first one. You guys would have loved that one I'm sure.