GOALS AND ACCOMPLISMENTS – LOOKING AT RAW 11/21/11
By Revin Samuel on 11/22/2011 9:27 AM
I don’t know if I need to mention this or not, but just to clarify I generally watch these shows and do commentary live as it happens.
What the goals should be for the November 21, 2011 Raw should be?
• I caved and ordered Survivor Series and thought it was a good show mainly because the awesome MSG crowd therefore from a business standpoint I think they should be pushing the pay per view and what happened to make it feel important
• CM Punk said if he won the WWE Championship that things would be different; I hope that isn’t ignored and we get a Punk promo where he no doubt will make the title feel important
• Alberto Del Rio has been made to look a fool twice now as WWE Champion, he needs to be made to look strong tonight
• Let’s use Jonah Hill the same way we used Hugh Jackman. BTW anyone else surprised Hill agreed to go to Hershey, PA, no offense to anyone who lives there, but almost A List actor, small town Pennsylvania, something feels off about it.
• Let’s begin the hype to TLC and perhaps get our main event matches laid out. WWE doesn’t promote their pay per views well generally so let’s see if they can change it up with their last pay per view of the year
Show Breakdown
- Awesome CM Punk promo. I love Punk promos generally because he makes not of things were all thinking like ‘WWE Universe’ and “Sports Entertainer’. Interesting that Punk-Del Rio is next week so either they have a different plan for TLC, were looking at some type of screw job or they haven’t made up their mind yet. Does Punk vs Ziggler have the titles on the line? I assume they are just promoting this as Champ vs Champ
- Ryder is over like a million dollars right now and I’m glad they are sticking with him even though he did it without their help. Ryder doesn’t suffer anything in defeat. I heard a Sean Waltman interview where he stated that if you push Ryder too fast, you take away what makes him feel special and he’s right on point with that and I have no problem with Ryder losing to the former WWE Champion who needs a win going into his title match next week. Bonus points to WWE for showing Rock putting over Ryder
- Sheamus-Jack Swagger. I believe that’s four straight pinfall losses for Swagger. The man deserves so much better than this, such short sighted thinking on WWE’s part. On the other hand Sheamus continues his march as a top tier guy
- Kevin Nash, learn how to say ‘Madison Square Garden’. I’m sure if that was someone else Vince would have been screaming in Cole’s headset to bury them on commentary. Why is Kevin Nash resigned to a talent contract in storyline, yet he hasn’t had a match yet? I find it kind of contrived that we see him every week yet he never wrestles, even though he’s doing house shows. If every talent got this kind of treatment they’d all be looked at as more important. Didn’t the preview for Raw mention Triple H and Kevin Nash back in the same building? Or maybe that was only for local advertising
- The twitter mentions haven’t been too bad tonight, hopefully it stays that way. Again as I’ve mentioned in previous columns, I don’t mind the twitter pop ups on the screen. I am not particularly annoyed when Cole mentions it on commentary from time to time, but I never want to hear wrestlers talking about it
- Cody Rhodes with the kneepads and what looks like a new body. The kneepads definitely make him look more like a main event star. Good win for Cody who continues to recover from the feud with Randy that did nothing for him. I still feel like Santino turned face too early years ago, but now it doesn’t matter. Speaking of which, I hope Cody doesn’t turn face based on the reaction he got from the MSG crowd and it looks like he’s going into a feud with Booker T, I’ve got no problem with that. I trust Booker can do what’s necessary to put Cody over.
- Ziggler deserves most improved mic skills award for 2011. If he or Cody Rhodes don’t get one of the two big titles before then, they are my picks to win Money In The Bank hands down next year
- Why is the Miz in a bullying commercial? Who makes these decisions?
- I must say, I am kind of annoyed Ziggler-Punk is not the actual main event of the show. It emphasis who is really important when they put Cena in the last spot, hopefully it’s worth it. I guess when ratings trend down every week during the show, you might as well go with your bread and butter in the main event segment to see if he can stop the pattern
- They should probably stop mentioning that Dolph is a former World Champion, it doesn’t help him and devalues the title
- Cole made a great point that Del Rio is in the back watching the Punk-Ziggler match to take pointers and in addition to that I’d like them to give us an inset shot of Del Rio watching on the monitor to study up
- Thanks to Michael Cole for mentioning that neither title is on the line after Booker flubbed and said it might not be Punk defending the title next week
- What a fantastic match between Punk and Ziggler. I like the random fan trying to get a “This is wrestling” chant going; he probably would have had better luck in MSG!
- That Steve Austin DVD looks very intriguing and that would be back to back good ones from WWE following the awesome Hart-Michaels production
- Was that a vignette for the return of Kane?
- I said in my Smackdown report that I thought they had done a good enough job with the Big Show-Mark Henry program that I wouldn’t have a problem with a one month Show title reign as long as Daniel Bryan helped cause Henry to lose. It turns out they didn’t go that route and I am glad Henry continues his what has to be considered lengthy title reign for 2011 standards. Good basic promo from Big Show to continue the pro wrestling 101 program that is happening between him and Mark Henry
- That segment for the divas probably did more for them than having a two minute match. Not that it matters since they are just another cog in the machine, but I hope Alicia gets the next shot at Beth
- Cole calls Wade “A naturally born leader” on commentary and he’s right. They really should give Wade a stable, because it would totally play to his strengths as a character. Individually he’s just another guy rising through the ranks that they may or may not stop pushing
- Before the Wade-Kofi match even happens, I can predict that one half of the tag team champions will lose yet again. This role would be better suited for an Alex Riley or a John Morrison if he’s still around. Let Kofi get some wins on Superstars if he is treading water until Bourne returns from suspension
- At least they threw a twist into this match by having Orton come out to distract Barrett. I’d of had Randy join commentary as oppose to sitting in a chair as let him talk up the “Barrett Barrage” to give Wade some more credibility with the viewing audience
- Another nice win for Wade to keep his winning streak going and I like the added touch of looking Randy in the face while he does his finishing move. This has been a pretty strong effort for Raw so far
- They are really building this Cena interview up, I am curious, hopefully he’ll be able to refrain from smiling and acting like nothing matters
- Cena continues to be unlikeable as he enters the ring no selling everything and full of smiles
- “It was not my night, I found myself on the other end of a Rock Bottom” - I was going to rip into Cena for not knowing how to build a match or show vulnerability in his character, but then Miz came out and said what needed to be said. Smart idea by WWE Creative have Miz say what Cena knows but won’t admit, Cena gets serious, however totally buries Truth and Miz. I didn’t like this part of the segment as I didn’t see the need for Miz and Truth to split. I hope Truth isn’t going babyface.
- Cole finishes the show with this line “What this proves is that Miz is a threat” and Lawler says “What?” I am not sure how I am supposed to interpret this, are we heading to a Miz-Truth feud or is Miz moving on to something else? I guess will find out next week on Raw. Interesting cliff-hanger and I like that Raw didn’t end with Cena being the last face we saw. That being said Punk and Ziggler should have gone on last to showcase that Punk is indeed “the face of the company”
What was accomplished with this week’s Raw?
The Good
• I like the overall show. A vast improvement over what we’ve seen from WWE lately on their A show
• Great storyline developments on all fronts. Punk and Del Rio both get big wins heading into their match next week. Cena showcases some seriousness and lets us know that yes he was affected by what happened at Survivor Series and an interesting development with Miz and Truth
• Smackdown storylines are a heavy focus. A new fresh feud with Cody and Booker T. Randy and Wade, Big Show and Mark Henry.
• No cog in the machine two minute diva matches.
• The commentary was pretty solid with Cole and Booker. I am not sure if it’s still bad or if I’ve just gotten use to it, but I don’t mind the tandem of Cole and Booker T
• Twitter promotion was not overbearing
• No Jonah Hill...probably a good thing. Maybe I was right after all and Jonah’s team just assumed Raw was in Philly or Pittsburgh
The Bad
• Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston. This doesn’t even really deserve a knock against it, but I just wish WWE wouldn’t be so short sighted. You could have easily thrown Drew McIntyre in with Sheamus and had Riley face Barrett as oppose to feeding a current tag team champion and Former World Champion in for clean losses that are consistently happening to them and I don’t think it’s supposed to be a losing streak storyline for either of them
• Truth and Miz breakup. I don’t know where it’s going so I don’t want to totally knock this, but Truth hasn’t been a heel that long and I don’t want him going babyface just yet. I don’t think I am ready for a Miz-Truth feud, but will see how it plays out.
• The Kevin Nash-Triple H story needs to go somewhere as Nash isn’t a good enough promo to be doing the same promo week in and week out. I am going to assume Triple H was going to return tonight, but they changed their mind so Nash cut a brief promo, but if this was what they had planned they should have flew Sean Waltman or Shawn Michaels in and had them confront Kevin Nash on his betrayal of their buddy
What needs to be accomplished next week on Raw?
• What’s next for John Cena?
• Is the Miz a threat or are we going into a Truth-Miz program, which I don’t think I want to see, but I guess it will do if they have nothing else for them
• Let’s move forward with Ryder and Ziggler and Nash and Hunter
• TLC hype. No TLC promotion whatsoever so hopefully they get on that next week!
Feedback: revinsamuel@rogers.com
