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411’s Instant Analysis 05.09.11: Monday Night Raw

May 9, 2011 | Posted by Sat

WILLKOMMEN!
Welcome kids to a little fun we’re going to have here at 411. The Instant Analysis column is the companion piece to 411 Live Pay-Per-View Coverage and features immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus in Instant Analysis is on first thoughts and initial reactions instead of play-by-play, with the goal of providing you with instant access to writers’ thoughts on the show. We have decided to give these a try for some of the TV shows, so let’s see how things work out…

SEGMENT ONE: About that WWE Championship Match at Over the Limit…

This was a well-written and executed opening segment with Alberto Del Rio, the Miz, Rey Mysterio, and R-Truth all arguing for why they deserve to face John Cena for the WWE Championship at Over the Limit. The amount of ego that clashed on the mic in this segment was staggering. Del Rio discussed his destiny again, the Miz said he cheated last week because he didn’t want Cena to, and R-Truth took credit for John Morrison being out (I love his new entrance, too). The decision for a Triple Threat Match featuring Del Rio, the Miz, and Mysterio should lead to R-Truth making his presence felt. All in all, this worked, and I’m glad to see a mix of undrafted Raw guys and drafted Smackdown guys mixing it up.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

SEGMENT TWO: The Bella Twins vs. Eve & Kelly Kelly
Match Result: Kelly Kelly pinned… a Bella…
Match Length: One minutes, twenty seconds

Let’s be honest, this match was just a prelude to Kharma coming to kill Eve dead. And that’s good enough for me.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

SEGMENT THREE: Mason Ryan vs. Kane
Match Result: Kane via disqualification
Match Length: Two minutes, fifteen seconds

Mason Ryan starting things out strong and, then, falling prey to Kane’s stronger ring awareness and strategy made sense. Ryan looked like a dominant monster of a man, but too young and inexperienced to match up with Kane. Bringing in the New Nexus suggests a title match at Over the Limit, perhaps? Not a long match, but the storytelling was solid and advanced the angle that began last week.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

SEGMENT FOUR: Santino vs. Dolph Ziggler
Match Result: Dolph Ziggler pinned Santino
Match Length: One minutes, forty seconds

Man, Dolph Ziggler just looks so generic and forgettable now, doesn’t he? Boring haircut, regular tights… his old look wasn’t amazing or anything, but it stood out to a degree. This was just a squash match. He looked okay, but I’d rather see the ‘new and improved’ Dolph Ziggler take on some challenging talent in the ring.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

SEGMENT FIVE: Smackdown Recap / The Truth

Smackdown recap… why not just piss people off again tonight, WWE? But, the way they put this together does suggest they have a plan for Christian/Randy Orton. And that’s good, right? R-Truth becoming more unhinged and crazier by the week… that is good. The video was put together well and R-Truth is definitely someone who demands attention now. Plus, Scott Stanford’s delivery of “What’s up?” was fantastic. But, this was a filler segment.

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

SEGMENT SIX: Alex Riley vs the Miz
Match Result: John Cena made Alex Riley tap
Match Length: Three minutes, ten seconds

The progression of the Miz and Alex Riley’s relationship seems to be heading where all relationships like this wind up in wrestling: with the two men at odds. It was interesting that Riley responded to the Miz berating him by trying to prove himself and make it up to the Miz by challenging John Cena to a match. It wasn’t much of a match with Riley only taking control briefly. The finish suggests that the Miz/Cena feud isn’t over with Cena hitting two Attitude Adjustments and putting on the STF to send the Miz a message. I liked Riley in this segment – he’s definitely come around on the mic and looked more comfortable than usual.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

SEGMENT SEVEN: More Cole/Lawler Crap

Is it just me or did Michael Cole seem oddly subdued here? He didn’t have that same obnoxious energy in this segment as he usually has. That didn’t make this segment much better; and the WWE teasing a Hall of Fame ring-centric match only brings back the awful TNA ring story… But, we all knew it wasn’t over when Cole and Swagger won at Extreme Rules. This, though, was just boring. No one seemed to want to be there.

Rating: 4.0 out of 10

SEGMENT EIGHT: United States Championship Match – Kofi Kingston (C) vs. Jack Swagger
Match Result: Kofi Kingston pinned Jack Swagger
Match Length: Just under nine minutes (with commercials)

Best line of the match came from Michael Cole: “The submission move that Swagger’s made famous: the Ankle Lock.” When Swagger put on the Ankle Lock while Kingston was on the apron, I expected him to actually pull him off the ropes. That would have been nice. Instead, Jerry Lawler returned, distracted Swagger, Kingston forgot to sell his ankle, and Swagger didn’t get to become the All-American American United States Champion… which, come on, seems like a no-brainer. Still this was a good match. Both men did some nice counters and played with their usual routines a bit. They clearly have good chemistry as demonstrated in their Smackdown feud last year. Hopefully, this isn’t the last time we see these two wrestle. The Lawler “I just touched his tie” excuse was lame, but Swagger accepting Lawler’s challenge for a match on Cole’s behalf was actually kind of cool. Too bad the match ended as an excuse for more Lawler/Cole bullshit – but, it was still the best match of the night so far and Lawler was vicious.

Rating: 7.75 out of 10

SEGMENT NINE: The Miz vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio
Match Result: The Miz pinned Rey Mysterio
Match Length: Fifteen minutes (with commercials)

A promising main event and one that began with a lot of energy and speed. I was surprised at how non-stop it was before hitting the commercial break — which came right after the Miz and Del Rio grounded one another with a double clothesline. Del Rio and the Miz both targeting Mysterio made sense, but I was more excited when the two heels began mixing it up. Mysterio’s presence seemed like a token face to cheer when we had two young main eventers facing off for the first time. That Mysterio rarely showed up in the match beyond a punching bag showed what his role was here. Even his bit of offense near the end of the match felt like it was there just to give the heels an excuse to come back and look good. The finish was a little cheap, but a heel couldn’t win this cleanly, of course — plus, Riley got to make it up to the Miz finally. Del Rio really looked good in the match, better than usual, honestly. The Miz winning was the right call and it’s clear that, when Cena is finished with the Miz, Del Rio will be there. Cena choosing an “I Quit” match pretty much confirms that Cena will retain the belt… will he ever lose one of those? But, damn, great match — and R-Truth coming out of nowhere was a surprise.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

FINAL THOUGHTS

Segment of the Night: Alberto Del Rio vs. the Miz vs. Rey Mysterio

Trash Segment of the Night: More Lawler/Cole Crap

Final Analysis: All in all, a rather strong episode. Good story development, lots of wrestling to advance stories, a couple of strong matches, good mic work… I really enjoyed tonight’s episode. I would have liked to see Swagger take the US Title, but that’s just a personal thing. The main event was a really strong performance by all three men, particularly Del Rio. This seems like the episode of Raw the WWE should have put on last week.

Verdict: 7.5

411 RATINGS SCALE:
0 – 0.9: Torture
1 – 1.9: Extremely Horrendous
2 – 2.9: Very Bad
3 – 3.9: Bad
4 – 4.9: Poor
5 – 5.9: Not So Good
6 – 6.9: Average
7 – 7.9: Good
8 – 8.9: Very Good
9 – 9.9: Amazing
10: Virtually Perfect