Positively Raw 10.19.10: Welcome to Raw is Positive!

Hello and welcome to a brand new column on 411mania Wrestling. My name is James Cooke (no relation to Steve Cook) and this is the first ever Positively Raw!

In this weekly column, I have made it my mission to rid the internet of some negativity. Every week, many armchair bookers take to the web and moan and groan about every aspect of anything to do with wrestling, and the show that suffers the most from this is WWE Raw. I’ve therefore taken it upon myself to try and find at least 3 positive aspects from each episode of Raw, to prove that it’s not all bad, and where possible, to try and find something positive to say about the most heavily criticized of segments.

With the introductions now out of the way, let’s find the positivity from WWE Monday Night Raw 10.18.2010!

1. Smackdown vs. Raw 2010

With the second annual Bragging Rights taking place this Sunday, it was an inevitability that Smackdown was going to invade Raw tonight, so the show kicked off with Smackdown GM Teddy Long coming out to introduce Team Smackdown to the Raw audience. First of all, I’d like to say that I enjoyed the interactions between Teddy Long and Michael Cole, with Cole almost assuming the role of the actual GM of Raw. It was also interesting to note that the audience didn’t know who to cheer and who to boo, as Smackdown were the ones invading Raw, the show which they had paid to watch, but then again, no one likes Michael Cole.

We then had ourselves a stare-down after The Miz arrived and introduced his team for Raw, which was followed by a brief scuffle. This lead to our main event being announced of a Captain vs. Captain Match, The Miz vs. The Big Show.

At the end of the night, the main event pretty much began as a lumberjack match, with the entire Smackdown and Raw rosters surrounding the ring to support their team captains. The match was however, barely a minute old when Teddy Long emerged yet again, pretty much foreseeing that this was only ever going to end in chaos anyway, and changed the main event to a Smackdown vs. Raw over the top rope battle royal. This was fine, as it involved the entire rosters, not just the Bragging Rights teams, therefore not putting either team over as stronger than the other before Sunday. I liked that there was some dissention amongst the Smackdown team, as Swagger continued his feud with Edge, despite them being teammates, which ironically lead to Smackdown winning the contest. It was also great to see something slightly different in The Miz lying in wait outside the ring, only for his plan to be foiled by the ultimate opportunist Edge, who had used the same tactic involuntarily.

2. Daniel Bryan: The Next Santino?

Midway through the broadcast, Vickie Guererro made her presence felt on the red brand by coming out to a chorus of boos and taking credit for Smackdown invading Raw tonight. She then introduced us to Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler, who proceeded to tell us just how great that he is. The couple were soon interrupted by United States Champion Daniel Bryan, who admitted that he’s never been a ladies’ man, but made it clear that he could beat Dolph anytime, anywhere. With Bragging Rights this Sunday, and only half a handful of matches announced at the time, it made perfect sense to set up the two ‘mid-card champions’ against each other, to represent their brands in a one-on-one contest. The Intercontinental and United States champions faced off at last years Bragging Rights, so why not make that a tradition of the annual event as well as the 7 vs. 7 team match-up?

Bryan and Ziggler soon found themselves outside the ring brawling (well, Bryan was brawling anyway) and Ziggler eventually found himself tapping to the Labelle Lock. While this was going on outside the ring, Eve lead a group of the divas out to dish out some humiliation to Vickie, although I must admit, I don’t quite understand how throwing a bucket of glitter over someone is that humiliating. I noticed that it was red, which signifies Raw, but surely paint would have been better and a lot more fun.

The segment ended with Bryan surrounded by the divas (Cole calling him a ‘nerd’ the whole time) and being pushed into the middle to dance. Bryan played it up well, looking awkward at first, before getting right into it by breaking out a backflip and attempting the splits. He acted a little like Santino in this segment for sure, but this works because one of the only criticisms people seem to have over Bryan is that he lacks charisma. This segment proved that Bryan is not afraid to have a little fun and have a laugh at himself.

3. The Cenexus saga continues

The biggest story of the year rolled along this week as my fellow countryman Wade Barrett continued to display his power over John Cena. After humiliating, mocking, and flat out bullying Cena last week in spectacular fashion, Barrett sought to continue this week. The backstage segment in which Barrett gave Cena his instructions was extremely well done, and the ending of Barrett telling Cena to bring him a glass of water was a great touch that made me, and the live audience by the sound of it, laugh a little. It didn’t finish there though, as we were shown the Nexus locker room again as Cena returned with Barrett’s water, only to have it thrown in his face. This storyline appears to be going the direction of having Barrett play the schoolyard bully over Cena and is playing out very well, as most will be able to relate to it. It’s starting to gain Cena some support from the adult male portion of the audience once again too, which was needed if he’s not to turn heel anytime soon, although they’re not quite fully there yet. I did hear some laughs before the boos started when Barrett threw the drink in Cena’s face.

Cena went on to team with Barrett’s opponent for Sunday, WWE Champion Randy Orton. This was a good tag match in which Orton and Cena beat Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty, hitting both of their finishers one after the other to garner a great audience reaction. The party was soon cut short though, as Barrett ordered Cena to step out of the ring and watch as the rest of Nexus beat down Randy Orton. The storytelling was great, as Cena was forced to stand and watch as Nexus delivered a beating to the WWE Champion that looked similar to the ones that they laid to Cena when he was WWE Champion back in the Summer. Barrett then called Cena into the ring and told him to give Orton and Attitude Adjustment, before changing his mind. The reason Barrett changed his mind was what was most intriguing here, as he said it was to give the spotlight to him. Barrett then hit Orton with a Waste Land instead of allowing Cena to hit the Attitude Adjustment. This gave me the impression that maybe Barrett is slightly concerned that Cena could be overshadowing him as a part of the Nexus. A great subtle touch that could play a big part of the story to come if WWE plays it up well.

4. Stand up for WWE

Looking far and wide across the internet since Raw last night, one of the biggest discussion points has been the extended video package that was aired on Raw last night, in which all of the charity work, celebrity praise and exceptional statistics that WWE has gained over the years was highlighted, before asking the audience to log on to WWE and stand up for the company.

These videos appeared on WWE.com yesterday and have been the recipients of a ton of criticism in forums and in comments sections. Many feel that this was pathetic and that WWE are exploiting the good that they have done, with the majority claiming it to be in aid of Linda McMahon’s run for senate. I, however quite enjoyed the package. It may well have something to do with Linda’s campaign, in fact a video on WWE.com admits that it is, but at the end of the day WWE have done all of that stuff. They have supported the armed forces and have helped communities and children. They deserve to be able to tell the world about the good that they have done once in a while. I mean, why keep it secret? As for the stand up for WWE thing, I personally like that too. Wrestling is often scrutinized as some ‘lower’ form of entertainment, when in actuality it’s not at all. It’s come a long way over the years and WWE have lead the charge. I’m proud to be a WWE fan, I enjoy what they do, which incidentally is why I tune in to Raw every week!

Even Eric Bischoff has stood up for this idea and he never seems to like anything that WWE does.

On that note, I leave you for the week. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this column as much as I have writing it. Until next time, stay positive!