By Shane McKinley, PWTorch specialist

-There were a lot of hot segments in this Raw, with the performers delivering in their, uh, performances. Raw was sure a lot more entertaining than that Jets-Raven slow slugfest. Either Chad Ochocinco was nervous, didn’t want to be there, or WWE told him to tone down his character quite a few notches. His bit with The Miz might make SportsCenter, but the rest of the Ocho Show was a no go. Not Mini-Me bad, but kind of a letdown. Like "Legendary" box office earnings letdown.

-I have no doubt that "weirdo" Daniel Bryan will be eating a loss this Sunday, but it’s a bit surprising that people are still interested in these two knuckleheads trading blows with each other. One of this feud’s strengths is that it feels fresh, while the PPV main events are marked with a “haven’t we seen this already?” vibe.

It's also funny how Michael Cole ratchets up his voice to a pig squeal when he sees the Miz just walking to the ring, but when John Morrison is bouncing off walls, Cole acts like his dog just died.

-Evan Bourne does that victory sign not for peace, but to show how old he is. Air Bourne should wear captain’s wings on his shirt and pretend he’s an airplane when going out to the ring. Zoom.




-Where, oh where, is Edge going? His buddy Zack the Tool is backing him up as Edge plays loser to guys like Health Slater, The Great Khali, and Mark Henry lately. That “bodyslam challenge” with Evan Bourne was mind-numbingly pointless. Hey, Ring of Honor, you might be in trouble while WWE’s lame bodyslam challenges will live on. Edge didn’t even have enough heart to do the traditional “Ric Flair Flop” (he put his hand out during the fall). His punches looked weak and he looked like he just didn't give an effing eff. But, can you blame Edge?

-There’s a general rule I have with wrestling: don’t follow crap with more crap. Case in point, after Edge’s bodyslam challenge, R-Truth and Ted DiBiase decided to do a dance-off competition. Come on, WWE. Remember, I watched that ECW reunion show. I even caught some of NXT. I’ve had my fill of busting a move, getting jiggy with it, and popping and locking. “Hey man, what do you remember about wrestling in 2010? The feuds? The characters?” “Nah, man. The dancing. The never-ending dancing.”

If I wanted to see some dancing, I’ll watch NXT, the equivalent of playing musical chairs for an hour. By yourself. Only three more weeks until NXT is vanquished from TV.

-But, then the idea of William Regal dressing up like Goldust amused me...and then the unexpected and fresh match-up of JoMo vs. Sheamus pulled me back in.

-Perhaps WWE Studios should do an “Expendables” flick with Orton, Cena, Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, Edge, and Rey Mysterio. I’ll go see that.

-Jericho telling Michael Cole to shut up was great playing up how tired fans are of the “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but I’ve received an email from the general manger and I quote..." zzzz. It Looks like they’re wrapping up the mysterious Raw General manger feud soon (I hope) and putting Nexus on the backburner. (A month ago, Nexus was looking to overthrow the company with a heavy focus on Nexus on every Raw. Now, Nexus are just Wade Barrett’s goons.)

I hope Jericho decides to stick around after the PPV (just a gut reaction, I don’t know the story backstage). They’ve set up an Edge-Raw G.M. potential storyline, but once again I’m going with my gut and saying that Sheamus retains this Sunday. My second pick would be (of course) Randy Orton.

“Oh look, Jericho! There’s a cage hanging over your head! You’ve got a handicap match with the tag champs next!” The Jericho-Raw G.M. bit was straight from WWE’s playbook in combating Monday Night Football. Instead of building compelling storylines and feuds to see play out on a weekly basis, the next Raws will feature more “gimmicky” matches in order to entice viewers to stick around.

-If They Were In TNA” #137: Regal would be the manager of the British Invasion. Vince Russo would propose that Regal would steal a now heftier Goldust’s wig and that a Wig Ladder match would take place on the next Impact. Raising the bar, people.

-The main event was Team 3D putting grandmas through tables. They even lit one on fire and powerbombed some poor old lady through it. Then, they danced afterwards with R-Truth and Eve while everybody smiled and clapped. I’m honest.

-Overall, a very flashy Raw that did its job of hopefully drawing viewers away from the Jets-Ravens game by dipping into the bag of tricks. Did it hype the PPV enough? Eh. Night of Champions doesn’t exactly scream out “Buy Me.” Night of Champions still has that “old” feel to it, namely Undertaker-Kane and wondering if WWE will pull the “Orton as Champion” trigger.

Plus, C.M. Punk vs. Shrek at the PPV too. You lucky Punk fans, being stuck in a dead-end feud.




Wade Barrett incredulously winning the gold will instantly make everybody throw up (who has Wade defeated recently one-on-one?), Jericho’s contract status plays a part, Edge’s character is just silly nowadays, and I don’t care about Cena winning the gold. So it boils down to Orton and Sheamus.

What I’m hoping for on the Smackdown side is that Kane retains. It doesn’t matter if it’s a dirty win, as long as Kane retains this Sunday. This standard Undertaker feud (you almost expect Night of Champions to feature Paul Bearer coming down with an urn) could become interesting if Undertaker loses. And then there’s the Hell in the Cell PPV coming up.

What I’m hoping for this Taker-Kane feud is to take the plot for that ol' Clint Eastwood flick “Unforgiven.” Clint’s character in that movie comes back out of retirement (or a “vegetative state,” if you will). Clint was a killer back in the day, but now he’s old, feeble, and pretty much a sad sack of crap. It’s not until the end of the flick that he becomes a stone cold killer. I would like to see Undertaker fail in his match with Kane, because I can swallow Kane as a dominant champion.

Email is mckinley.torch@gmail.com

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