We are just one day removed from WWE Over The Limit, which I thought was a very good PPV, aside from one or two things it was a very solid show, the main event sucked wrestling wise, but I thought it was VERY entertaining, I would hope nobody was expecting a good wrestling match between those two, I wasn’t and I enjoyed it until Big Show showed up, making things very predictable, I’m sure Big Show will be on Raw tonight so I’ll get into more detail on him a bit later on.
With that pretty long introduction allow me to say, welcome to another edition of A RAW Opinion, the column that takes you through WWE Raw and gives you my opinions on the show, I really hope Raw steps it up tonight, the past few weeks have been terrible.
We start with a video package highlighting what happened last night with Laurinaitis, Cena and Big Show. Cena comes out and talks about he’s lost a bunch of these matches and usually he says congratulations and moves on, he paces around before yelling “what the hell happened?” He then talks about how he was giving Laurinaitis a taste of his own medicine for being a bully, until Laurinaitis ran away, he talks about Big Show brought him back out only to knock Cena out cold with the WMD punch. Eve comes out and introduces John Laurinaitis, Laurinaitis comes out and talks about all the “injured” he had to be treated for at the emergency room after the PPV. Laurinaitis then brings out the man he “rehired” on Saturday before the PPV. David Otunga comes out and we have an impromptu first match. John Cena VS David Otunga. Alright, first off, if Big Show was rehired on SATURDAY, wouldn’t that mean Big Show was technically a contracted WWE Superstar? The stipulation said if ANY contracted superstar got involved they’d be fired, I give up, It’s giving me a headache now…
John Cena VS David Otunga on now, Cena gets the squash win with the STF, afterward Reks, Hawkins, Darren Young and Titus O’Neil came out and attacked Cena, Sheamus ran out and he and Cena cleaned house. Laurinaitis announces a 2 on 3 lumberjack handicap match, Cena and Sheamus will team up.
Ricardo Rodriguez is in the ring, Santino comes out and says he never understands anything Ricardo says, he says his accent is terrible. Santino hits Ricardo with the cobra after a back and forth exchange and does Alberto Del Rios introduction.
Alberto Del Rio VS Randy Orton up next. Pretty decent match, Del Rio was disqualified after Chris Jericho interfered and delivered the Codebreaker on Orton. Jericho got a microphone and started screaming he’s the best in the world, he gave Orton another Codebreaker and started yelling some more, he went back in the ring, picked Orton up and delivered a third Codebreaker.
During the match Michael Cole backtracked and said Laurinaitis re-signed Big Show early this morning, but he heard that Laurinaitis had a verbal deal with Show on Saturday, nice job covering up Laurinaitis’s giant screw up.
Daniel Bryan comes out next and talks about how he was screwed at Over The Limit, he shows the footage of Punk tapping out. Bryan says he made Punk tap out and if they met again he’ll win, he demands a rematch, CM Punk comes out from the back, he says he wants to clear up the controversy, he says he pinned Daniel Bryan 1, 2 3. He shows footage from SmackDown where he hit Kane with a steel chair so Kane would think it was Punk. CM Punk introduces Daniel Bryans opponent, Kane. CM Punk is on commentary. Punk left the table and grabbed a chair, he went to hit Kane but Bryan grabs the chair, Kane turns around and sees Bryan with the chair, he beats him with the chair, he choke slams Bryan in the middle of the ring, he went to leave but went back and delivered a second choke slam. Afterward Punk went in the ring to “check on Daniel Bryan” Punk locked Bryan in the Anaconda Vise, Bryan tapped out quickly, Punk let go got up and started yelling “YES”
CM Punk is walking backstage, AJ runs out and wants to thank Punk for beating up Daniel Bryan, Punk tells AJ she’s been acting like a fool lately, AJ cries, Punk tries to calm her down and AJ hugs him.
Up next Justin Roberts introduces the NEW Intercontinental Champion, Christian. Christian goes one on one with Jinder Mahal. Surprised the match lasted as long as it did, Christian gets the win but it was pretty back and forth.
Kelly Kelly VS Beth Phoenix up next. Beth wins, decent match, and it got longer then 2 minutes, which for a Divas match on Raw is amazing.
Up next is the 3 on 2 handicap match. Cena and Sheamus’s opponents are Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Lord Tensai, who was introduced as only Tensai. The lumberjacks are basically every heel in the company. Super Sheamus took out half of the lumberjacks during the match. Big Show walks out on to the top of the ramp and watches on. The ring fills up with the lumberjacks, all the faces run down on the ring and there’s a giant brawl in the ring, Cena leaves the ring and heads backstage, he gets in Laurinaitis’s face and asks him where Big Show is, Laurinaitis says he doesn’t know and leaves, Cena then gets punched in the face with the WMD as the show ends.
Much better show then last week, I thought tonights Raw was good. I enjoyed it a lot. Going back to last night, Cena brought it up tonight, why would Big Show help when the new GM would have hired him back anyway? The way they did it still doesn’t sit right with me because it makes zero sense, yes Big Show was hired back anyway, but the guy who fired him would have been fired as GM and Show would have been back anyway.
Divas match was pretty enjoyable, I’m glad they gave it a bit of time, they really deserve to showcase their skills. They are talented, they just need the chance to show it.
Good to see Hawkins and Reks on Raw, but again WHERE IS ZACK RYDER?
Not sure what they’re doing with Kane, don’t know if they’re trying to turn him face or if it was just for tonight, but heel VS heel doesn’t work well, even though the reasoning for it was because of what happened on SmackDown on Friday night.
CM Punk was great tonight, as always.
I give this show 4/5. That’s all for this week, come back next week where I rant about WWE Raw in A RAW Opinion, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the column as well as the show.
Ringsidehustle.com 
4/5!? That’s negative numbers, right?
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I know 4/5 is crazy! Punk vs. Bryan is the ONLY thing worth watching on RAW now
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I thought it was a very good show, the beginning with Cena was great, the only thing I could have done without was Santino/Ricardo.
I thought the lumberjack match was a bit blah, but I loved the huge brawl at the end, and then Cena getting punched in the mouth out of nowhere.
The divas match was also good tonight.
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Great Article on Raw, Over the Limit was pretty good, Punk vs Bryan was amazing, the fatal 4 way was very good too, hopefully my article on “The Revolution will be uploaded soon!
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I dug Cena bringing up the computer as G.M.
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I thought Raw was worst than last week. Cena just rambled on for about 10 minutes which was just stale, boring and a little moany.
I can comfortably say that I’m already NOT looking forward to No Way Out. The last Big Show/Cena feud was abysmal, we don’t need a re-run.
I’m not surprised Layla didn’t wrestle either after that complete botchfest of a match at Over The Limit!
I agree that the only real good thing that came out of Raw was the confirmation that Bryan/Punk would be continuing. I call 1 hour Iron Man match!
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If you had just lost to John Laurinaitis wouldn’t you have the same reaction Cena did? Would you rather he came out and acted all goofy like he usually does? Cena was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. People hate goofy Cena and apparently people hate Cena when he has a natural reaction.
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Bingo
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Pretty much same old shit. He took 10 minutes to make a point that he could have made in a minute. Not only that as per usual hes opening and closing the show in angle which is complete crap.
I can only hope he takes that much deserved break he was talking about at Extreme Rules soon.
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Actually, I’ve heard that beiing at work can help you keep your mind off thing when going through a rough patch. He may need this right now.
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He should’ve said, that he should’ve seen it coming, because EVERYONE should’ve have seen it coming. And for WWE to dare call that one of the “darkest days in WWE history,” is so ignorant considering what day it was, not to mention played out.
They epically botched the storyline, by saying Show re-signed Saturday, and if it hadn’t been for “If Big Show” trending on Twitter, they never would’ve noticed.
If they wanted to make Reks/Hawkins/Titus/Young to look good going forward, they lost any credibility they have left. I mean, if they can’t take care of two guys, one via blind attack, how are we supposed to actually believe they can win other matches?
The Santino/Ricardo segment was funny, but what was the point?
Jericho interfering in the ADR/Orton match also seemed random, though, I didn’t watch OTL. So, I don’t know if it stems from something that happened on the ppv, or what; would’ve been nice for some explanation, or something, ANYTHING.
So, Christian is a face now? Ok…
I can’t even remember watching this match, nor the following diva’s match.
Closing the show like they did, well, someone on Twitter summed it up best: “it screams ‘we don’t know what the hell to do next.”
The whole show, minus Punk/Bryan, came off as completely pointless.
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Christian turned face at OTL.
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Well everyone KNEW it was gonna happen, but Cena had to play like he thought Big Show was going to watch Laurinaitis get what was coming to him. Most fans are smarter then the booking, but the talent can’t exactly come out on national tv and throw the writing under the bus.
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He could’ve played along and still say that.
For example:
-Cena’s entrance~
He gets in the ring with a smile on his face, and says, ” I should’ve seen it coming. I should have…seen it coming. You know, I’d do just about anything to keep my job, because I love what I do each and every do. I love performing for all you in the WWE Universe. I love granting wishes, and kicking asses. I would do ANYTHING, even get a divorce (if he’s willing and can legally say this) So, I shouldnt expect everyone else back in that lockerroom, not to do the same, and that includes the Big Show….” yada yada.
Then when Show turns, Cena can be telling him throughout the storyline that he knows Johnny Ace is behind this, and that Show isn’t really like this, etc. So, we’ll be left with the question of whether or not Show is in this for himself, or Ace is really controlling him.
Would be much more interesting than, “well, I’m a heel, now I crush Cena”.
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I’m still thinking this may be a set up against Ace.
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Why go through a setup, if you could’ve gotten rid of him at OTL?
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Perhaps, they want to humiliate him? Letting him go now would be a mistake. They’d be able to make his life a living hell.
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Cena ripped apart the Nexus single handily. Any up and comer placed in a feud with Cena has no hope of getting over or progressing their career.
In fact I can’t think of anyone Cena has helped get over?
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Again, people are angry with Cena over how CREATIVE is booking him. And Cena has helped put guys over. Whether it be in a match or on the mic. He helped Ryder, until again, creative decided to stop pushing him for some dumb reason.
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Cena took out a bunch of rookies in Nexus. He played off of their insecurities. Nexus, now and with these couple years to learn, would be scary.
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My gripe isn’t with Cena as a person, but with his character and the way he and people around him are booked. But then I’m sure John Cena himself has a large input into his own storylines.
Apart from Ryder (who’s career was on the rise until he got involved with a Cena storyline and has since dropped right back to the bottom) has Cena helped get over?
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Edge became a cemented top heel.
Brodus Clay wouldn’t have even been gotten a WM payday if not for Cena.
Miz was helped be Cena(but his attitude backstage has hurt him).
Slater will always be known as “Wendy”. 🙂
Punk got that huge push last year(and is expected to have it ramped up later this year).
Spoke on Daniel Bryan’s behalf after he was fired following the initial Nexus attack.
RVD(but the whole weed thing hurt him).
And there will be many more to come.
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Did anyone notice that Big Johnny said that no one is allowed to touch him and then Sheamus nearly knocks him to ground? Shouldn’t Sheamus be fired?
Also, did anyone notice that the crying Cena female fan in the “Punk We Trust” shirt at Over The Limit shown during the beginning of RAW looks just like the crying Cena female fan in the “Punk We Trust” shirt at Extreme Rules? And if she’s a Punk fan, why does Cena make her cry? Hmmm….
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Yeah they’re kind of entirely different wrestler’s. It’s unusual that someone would have raw emotion for two big stars.
And yeah, Sheamus, technically, should be fired.
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I doubt Sheamus would be fired whether Ace wanted to or not. The board would have said it was an abuse of power.
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True, but the way I see it is they’re trying to slowly create an evil John L. So if they are going that way, he has to be ruthless and take ”action”.
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As I said, Cena personally I don’t have a deal with and anyone who he has helped using his power backstage is a different story (although I’ve not really heard about some of the above)
But Edge, Punk and RVD were really the catalyst to there own success.
Guys like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Undertaker.. You can list as people who have helped put others at the top whilst in their prime.
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Edge, Punk and RVD were going to be stars, but Edge would not have been cemented as the top heel if not for his feud with Cena. Punk did not have to go over Cena in order to be a top guy, but the win did help solidify it. RVD would’ve been a top guy if not for the weed issue plus I still say his win should’ve been clean without Edge or Paul E. getting involved.
HBK, HHH, and Taker already had that legacy/respect thing going on so they didn’t need the title. They were already bigger than the title. Cena is reaching that point.
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I really didn’t care for Raw this past week. The Big Show heel turn doesn’t make sense, they’re some that are still complaining about Reks & Hawkins even though they’re finally being used on Raw, Ryder is still being erased, just to name some.
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Perhaps they turned Show heel, because Henry is out after surgery and they need another monster heel to take his place?
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When Raw goes 3 hours, it will be another hour of poorly thrown together crap.
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This is the exact time WCW went downward, when they added a 3rd hour to Nitro. I’m hoping WWE is smarter though and actually does something worthwhile with the extra hour.
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I have not been on as I have been sick all week.
Some interesting comments have been made, I agree Joe that it was much better than last week, without a doubt. It got a 3.0 rating this week. The most annoying part was when Lauranitis said he’d fire anybody who touched him, not long after Sheamus pushes him out of the way?? The fuck?!
I prefer Big Show as a heel but they scripted it wrong. The BOD said that if anyone interferes in the match, they’d get their contract terminated. Big Show could of just done what he did, play Cena and helping Lauranitis, then because of Big Show’s help, John L would reward Show with a new contract, as he was no longer employed by WWE. Why say he was rehired on Saturday?
I know Show coming out was predictable but they could of booked it better like. Perhaps Show knocking out John L and then to Cena, drags John L on Cena to get the win.
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Later in the show Michael Cole said he was actually re-signed early Monday morning, but a deal had been talked about on Monday, it was just covering Laurinaitis sucking at his job lol.
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Ah mustn’t of heard that, lol.
Hopefully John L will stop botching every week.
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Hopefully, but I doubt it lol, he’s always good for at least one a show.
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That actually might be used in the future to help humanize the guy and turn him face.
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WWE went for the swerve and it was so ridiculously hyped and promoted that the majority of fans saw it coming almost a week before it happened.
It was a poor play by WWE, they should have known better. It was such an obvious swerve to the educated fans it was almost like a slap in the face for those who ordered the PPV.
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And if there hadn’t been a heel turn by Show, many in the IWC would be bitching that they swerved the swerve.
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