411’s Instant Analysis 10.22.12: WWE Monday Night Raw

Welcome to this week’s Instant Analysis of Monday Night Raw. I’m your humble reviewer, Chad Nevett and I am returned once again. This time, from getting married. Yes, there is a woman insane enough to marry me. I’m as surprised as anyone. So, I hear that Ryback is getting the Hell in a Cell match and that I didn’t miss the tag team tournament finals last week as I feared I would. It’s the go home show for Hell in a Cell and I’ve barely seen any episodes of Raw since Night of Champions. Definitely the best person to be reviewing tonight’s show. Definitely. Then again, it’s up against Monday Night Football, game seven of the NLCS, and the third presidential debate, so I may, in fact, be the only person watching tonight. Let’s get to it…

SEGMENT ONE: #1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament Finals Match – Rey Mysterio & Sin Cars vs. the Rhodes Scholars
Match Result: Cody Rhodes pinned Rey Mysterio
Match Length: A little under 12 minutes

This was a fantastic way to kick off the show. Simply by starting with a match is enough to mix things up, but delivering the finals of the tag tournament definitely started the show well. Both teams were impressive here, working as cohesive units. Something like Rhodes saving Sandow from the 619 before Sin Cara took out Rhodes and Mysterio took out Sandow on the outside was simple, yet very effective in getting across both teams as just that: teams. I loved the way that Rhodes and Sandow worked a classic heel tag style by cutting the ring in half and dominating Sin Cara, while Mysterio and Sin Cara developed some of their tandem moves, like Mysterio holding Sandow on the ropes so Sin Cara could do a Springboard Moonsault onto him. I did think that Mysterio and Sin Cara had a better shot at making it to the tag title match, so the Rhodes Scholars winning was a surprise. So far, Raw is off to a good start.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

SEGMENT TWO: Kofi Kingston vs. Michael McGillicutty
Match Result: Kofi Kingston pinned Michael McGillicutty
Match Length: Around two and a half minutes

The match may have been brief, but it did the job of making Kofi Kingston look good and continue to put over Trouble in Paradise as a ‘can happen at any time’ move, which seems to be the latest thing with Kofi Kingston. Plus, the Miz was quite good on commentary with JR and Michael Cole. Fun segment for what it was.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

SEGMENT THREE: John Cena Puts over Ryback

There’s an odd artificiality to the way that John Cena openly advocates Ryback as the guy to beat CM Punk. Instead of Cena putting him over in the ring, he’s doing it on the mic and it doesn’t ring entirely true. His feud with CM Punk has been heated — but so heated that he’d rather see Punk lose than win himself? I’m not sure about that. It seems more like the WWE pushing someone through illogical means than anything else. And I don’t mind Ryback; I just don’t buy Cena’s attitude here.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

SEGMENT FOUR: Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel
Match Result: Justin Gabriel pinned Antonio Cesaro
Match Length: A little over four and a half minutes

Hey, wow, Antonio Cesaro lost a match. They’d managed to have him mostly be dominant since winning the title, particularly the last few weeks. Gabriel picking up the win is a step forward, if only for a feud where Cesaro will look better in the long run for overcoming an opponent that actually poses a threat. And the match was pretty good, too.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

SEGMENT FIVE: AJ Out, Vickie In

So… there are rumors that AJ has been involved with a superstar and the Board of Directors replace her (kind of) with someone who, as Smackdown GM, used her power to continually put over her boyfriend/fiancé/husband Edge? Or used whatever means available to promote her boyfriend Dolph Ziggler? That doesn’t really make any sense. Oh. Shit. I’m not supposed to remember anything that happened more than two months ago unless the WWE directly references it, am I? Sorry.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10

SEGMENT SIX: Ryback vs. the Miz
Match Result: They fed him more
Match Length: Two and a half minutes

Ryback squashed the Miz, pure and simple. What else would you expect? Ryback looks great heading into Hell in a Cell and that was the goal. Mission accomplished.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10

SEGMENT SEVEN: Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler
Match Result: Dolph Ziggler pinned Daniel Bryan
Match Length: 13 and a half minutes

Wait… Dolph Ziggler just won a match? That doesn’t seem right… Surprisingly, this match took a while for me to get into it. At first, it seemed like two guys kind of messing around, but, as it progressed, they built a good match and drew me in. There was a logic and flow to what they were doing, creating a genuine sense that either man could win. The final few minutes were quite thrilling and Ziggler hit some big moves, rather than simply selling some. Rarely do I call for 13 and a half minute TV matches to be given more time, but I am curious what would have happened if this had gone another five minutes…

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

SEGMENT EIGHT: The Newlytag Game

Um… this was a whole lot of nothing. There was one laugh with Kane introducing himself, but, otherwise, what was the point of this? Filler? What a waste…

Rating: 2.0 out of 10

SEGMENT NINE: The Big Show vs. Kane
Match Result: The Big Show pinned Kane
Match Length: Five and a half minutes (joined in progress)

Hey, the tag team champions both lost in singles matches. Is there any match we’ve seen more than Kane/Big Show? This was fine, trying to put over the idea that the Big Show is at his most focused and serious… months after his big feud against John Cena where he seemed pretty damn focused and serious. I guess logic dictates that Team Hell No retains the belts on Sunday…

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

SEGMENT TEN: Alberto Del Rio vs. Zack Ryder
Match Result: Alberto Del Rio made Zack Ryder tap out
Match Length: A little over two and a half minutes

And we’re really into that point in three-hour shows where it’s hard to care through no fault of the performers. I mean, there isn’t a large difference between this match and the Kofi Kingston match earlier in the evening other than the fact that it’s two hours later, several matches later, and it’s hard to keep up one’s attention and enthusiasm. Really, Del Rio and Ryder got put in the shit position. This was fine for what it was, but it a simple victim of pacing and structure.

Rating: 5.0 out of 10

SEGMENT ELEVEN: Lumberjack Match – CM Punk vs. Sheamus
Match Result: CM Punk pinned Sheamus
Match Length: 18 minutes

This was what you hope for in a champion versus champion match on Raw. Lots of time, both men looking great, and even having all of the lumberjacks out there to watch made it seem like a big deal. This match was big enough to warrant the locker room watching from ringside. They worked the gimmick extremely well, like Sheamus getting knocked to the outside early and no one touching him, because he was on his feet — they wouldn’t attack him until he was sent to the outside and wasn’t standing. They even called back to that in his final trip to the outside where he fought through the same group that avoided him at first. Even though he ate the pin, he looked like a nearly unstoppable beast that was ready to not just take on CM Punk, but everyone else out there — and it was that willingness, in a sense, that cost him the match. He wrestled a pure brawling power match, while Punk was methodical and clever in the way he picked apart Sheamus. Like Punk said a few months ago, a champion versus champion match SHOULD be main event at WrestleMania level, but, at least, effort went into making this seem like a bigger deal than the average Raw main event.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10

FINAL THOUGHTS Segment of the Night: CM Punk vs. Sheamus Trash Segment of the Night: The Newlytag Game Final Analysis: A hit and miss episode of Raw. In general, the work done in the ring was good, if not great. The matches all had clear points and they accomplished what they set out to do — some through excellence, some merely through workmanlike basics, but the end results were clear. Outside of the ring was where the show really suffered. A somewhat out of nowhere story involving AJ fraternizing with talent (apparently, John Cena?) and resigning, only to be replaced by the recent queen of abuse of power in the name of fraternization Vickie Guerrero (without any irony, of course)? Hey, even if they played up Vickie’s history, it would make for somewhat interesting drama, but continue the ‘In what world is a business run by the likes of the fictional WWE Board of Directors’ subtext that has seemingly run through every decision they’ve made over the past year. And, once again, because it would not be a three-hour Raw without me bitching about it being three hours… the length hurt it again. Cut down the fat and you would have had a much stronger episode. Verdict: 6.9 411 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

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