A RAW Opinion
By Joe

Welcome everyone to another edition of A RAW Opinion, before I talk about Raw, I just want to say WWE TLC was one of the best PPV’s of the entire year! I loved Zack Ryder becoming US Champ, although I would have rather seen him win it in his hometown at Survivor Series, my opinion, makes no sense as to why they had him lose then but the next month capture it anyway. I loved Daniel Bryan walking out as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and of course CM Punk walking out still WWE Champion, the TLC was a great match as well.

Tonight, WWE Raw started off with a drum roll, CM Punks voice introduced us to the show, made fun of John Laurinaitis and then talked about winning at TLC, his music rings out and he comes to the ring to talk more in depth about winning his match at TLC, he then asked about the US Title match, brought out Zack Ryder to a huge ovation. Then he talked about the chairs match, brought out Daniel Bryan to a huge ovation as well. Crowd was LOVING this segment, as was I. CM Punk gave the microphone to Ryder and then Ryder handed it over to Daniel Bryan. The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio interrupted the promo, John Laurinaitis shows up and to no surprise makes the main event of Ryder, Punk and Bryan VS Miz, Ziggler and Del Rio.

Rematch from TLC between Randy Orton and Wade Barrett announced for the first match of the evening, I honestly couldn’t care less about this feud anymore, I’m tired of Orton and I really don’t care much for Barrett, not a bad match, the end wasn’t good, Barrett got DQ’ed after a thumb to the eyes, he beat down Orton and then delivered Wasteland through a table, sadly continuing this feud.

Alicia Fox VS Beth Phoenix next, sadly I’m not expecting much because this isn’t PPV, I don’t know why WWE gives the WWE Divas some decent time on PPV but not on TV, the PPV Divas matches are actually very good for the most part. Match lasted about one minute, give or take a couple of seconds. Alicia picks up the win after a reverse DDT and a somersault leg drop, at least it wasn‘t a roll up. Alicia gets on the microphone and wished everyone a “Foxy Holiday.”

Sheamus coming to the ring, his opponent is Jinder Mahal, I really don’t care, Sheamus wins again with the Celtic Cross. Someone give Muhammad Hassan a call, please. I would welcome him back over this joke.

Another video promoting WWE Network, I was tempted to say out loud “I want my MTV” (Those of you over 20 should get that, basically in the 80’s MTV aired videos with a retro vibe to them trying to get people to watch the network)

John Cena out next for a promo. His “some people like me, some people hate me” shtick is getting old now. Now he talks about how Kane returned and choke slammed him last week. He told Kane that if last week was a case of “wrong place wrong time” he’ll let bygones be bygones, Mark Henry interrupted Cena, BOOM! Lights go out, music starts up and out comes the Big Red Monster Kane! They gave him a new titan tron, pretty sweet. Looked like he was going for Mark Henry, but then turned his attention to Cena, Kane got up on the apron and Cena goes after him, Kane gets the upper hand and applies what looked like a claw hold, Cena passed out, Kane ripped off Cenas shirt and left with it. Pretty good segment, although I don’t understand why Kane wouldn’t go after Henry especially since Henry was the one who “put him out of action.” I do like how they’re building Kane VS Cena though, hopefully they make Kane look strong and have him go over Cena.

Primo and Epico with Rosa Mendes going up against The Usos. I love Rosa Mendes, and I don’t have a problem with Primo or Epico, but why did WWE insist on pairing them together? They’re like WWE’s version of Mexican America, and I know Primo and Epico are Puerto Rican, but It’s still the same concept. Primo and Epico get the win after Epico hit a backstabber.

Cody Rhodes interview backstage, talking about Booker T, he gets interrupted by Santino, Santino has a “Christmas present” for Cody, he shoots his arm out of a box wearing his cobra hand puppet, apparently they have a match tonight. Great…

Santino VS Cody next, I was surprised Santino got what little offense in that he did, Cody won with an Alabama Slam. I was pretty surprised Booker didn’t come out either during or after the match and distract Cody or attack him.

Brie and Nikki Bella arguing backstage again, in front of John Laurinaitis, he calmed them down, Vickie comes in and tries to talk about what happened to Dolph last night, Hornswoggle interrupts, has a mistletoe in his hand and pulls Vickie in to a kiss.

Video package of Zack Ryders big US Title win from TLC. Zacks dad talking about how great it was watching Zack win it and how proud him and everyone else was of Zack.

Interview with Big Show talking about winning the title and then lost it just minutes later. Big Show saying he takes the blame for Daniel Bryan cashing in since it was him who told Bryan not to wait until WrestleMania, Josh was trying to stir the pot with Big Show telling him he knows he’s gotta be more mad then that because of how short his title reign was. Big Show looked mad and then walked off, pretty decent segment, seems like they’re building toward Big Shows one millionth heel turn.

Intros for the 6 man tag get interrupted by the new “It Begins” video This video has the person say “I cannot help you anymore, you understand?” With the word this week being “Prophetless”

Zack Ryder, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk all come to the ring through the crowd, pretty cool to see since all three are pretty much champions “the people” want to see. Damn good start to this 6 man tag match, Miz, Ziggler and Del Rio got cleared from the ring, Ryder dove over the top rope taking out all three, Bryan ran the apron and jumped on Ziggler with a double knee, Punk dove off the top rope to the floor, taking out Ziggler and Miz, pretty awesome spot. The main event as a whole was great, I enjoyed it a lot, CM Punk, Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan got the win after Bryan countered the Cross Arm breaker into the LaBell Lock, forcing Del Rio to tap out. After the match they all celebrated with the fans, CM Punk ended the show standing on top of the announce table as Michael Cole yelled at him. A quick tidbit, it looked like Del Rio got legitimately hurt during the match, the referee threw up the X after the match as Del Rio laid on the mat.

My overall thoughts on the show:

I’m glad that the Raw after a great PPV like TLC was a great show, I could have done without a few things, but the segments with Punk, Ryder and Bryan more then made up for them, Orton VS Barrett, again, as much as I don’t care anymore, it was a solid match, Kane beating down Cena was booked great, I loved the video package with Zack Ryder and his dad, great stuff, the WWE always does great work on video packages. Seeing a new titan tron for Kane was good, hopefully this is a sign pointing to them keeping him in the mask for a long time. No Brodus Clay again this week, I really don’t know what they’re waiting for, and it doesn’t seem like they even care anymore to be honest, they haven’t mentioned him by name in weeks. The new video was pretty good, I am now officially saying the video is for Chris Jericho, and here’s why, in his books he talks about how religious passages and bands are a big part of his character, from his last name Jericho to “The Walls Of Jericho” finisher, and all of the videos seem to have a religious vibe to them, so taking what I’ve read and combining them with his books, I have to say Jericho. My Raw rating for tonight, I have to give it 3.5 out of 5, I really enjoyed it, thought the booking for the most part was spot on, and it was a great job of making the show after a very good PPV, great as well, nice to see the WWE didn’t let up on the gas, so to speak. That’s it for this week, as always, I love seeing what you guys have to say, so comment and discuss the show, thanks for reading.