WWE presented Monday Night RAW from Houston Texas last night and now that the dust has settled a little, what did we think?
Opinion seems to be divided as the show never grew to the heights of RAW 1000 or other previous anniversary shows. What that being said the show wasn’t poor by any stretch of the imagination.
If Ric Flair had not made his return at the Slammy’s a few weeks ago and this week’s RAW was his first appearance back, then I think the show may have felt different. We got some solid matches, typical comedy segments with Rock, Mick Foley’s HOF announcement and Zack Ryder moaning on Twitter.
A small note on Zack Ryder – I appreciate the fact that you made a name for yourself on the internet and managed to build a fan base but let’s be honest, you had your shot. I know it wasn’t a great shot being involved in a doomed angle between Cena, Kane and Eve but when it came down to it, you were poor on camera. Going back on Twitter and moaning isn’t going to get you anywhere a second time round. Congratulations though, you now have 1 million Twitter followers. Not that you did anything to get those followers apart from moan and request for them. If you want to make it Zack, make an impact, do something controversial, make yourself stand out. Don’t fall into the crowd and moan when people are walking faster than you.
Back to RAW and another person that got a lot of stick was John Cena. Now before everyone thinks that I am just about to jump on the bandwagon and moan about Cena’s victory over Ziggler, I’m not. Sure the victory annoyed me but what’s the point in moaning about it, it’ll never change. I am however extremely annoyed at his work ethic. We all know that Cena will likely win any match that he is in and WWE are seemingly obsessed with making sure Cena looks strong after his apparent “bad” year. However, Cena in the past two weeks has been hit with everything but an 18 Wheeler Truck and the shockwave from a Nuclear Bomb and still manages to look like he’s ready to go for a jog at the end of his matches. We all know that his technical skills are not fantastic but would it really hurt to make your opponent look good? To make it believable that you nearly got beat? To give the guy in there with you a bit of a rub and show some sense of realism? No, you feel the need to get all hyped up on adrenalin and forget that you have just taken 6 moves that knock anyone else out and walk up the ramp like everyone else is made out of cardboard. Anyway, things won’t likely change on that front anytime soon.
Miz showed again that he isn’t suited to being a face with his awkward moment with Ric Flair. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You need to be an extension of your own personality and make the character your own. The second it looks forced and you’re on the quick road to “Superstars” and “Saturday Morning Slam.”
I have to give a shout out to John Pollock and Wai Ting for making me laugh earlier today from LAW Radio as they discussed Alberto Del Rio’s recent face turn and after this Monday’s opening segment with his Mexican coloured trunks, looking like he may be turning in to the Mexican version of the Lex Express, which they dubbed the Mex-Express and that he should have a T-Shirt made name “You Can’t Si Me!”
Wade Barrett had an impressive victory over Randy Orton who is seemingly taking time off or is about to turn heel and Antonio Cesaro also cut a fantastic promo on Ric Flair. These two men are my picks to watch in 2013 because at the moment they are booked realistically and put in some fantastic effort between those ropes.
With that being said, it was as if this Anniversary of RAW crept up on them and they struggled to do much more than a normal show that moved most stories forward towards the Royal Rumble. Overall, this show was far from poor and although it didn’t have the same impact as other anniversary shows it certainly provided entertainment, just not the nostalgic entertainment you may have been expecting.
Whatever you think about last night’s efforts it has to be better than the mediocre show that was TNA Genesis on Sunday. I’ll leave TNA for another time but they have an awfully long way to go yet and at the moment it seems they are in reverse…
Did you enjoy RAW? Did you want more? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter at @BeansOnToastUK or email me at [email protected].
