It's 6 nights from the Royal Rumble. Tonight's Raw will feature the WWE Champion taking on the World Heavyweight Champion. Also, Natalya defends her Divas' Title against Melina.
I'm glad they didn't start Raw with such a big main event. I like the idea of the GM having scheduled that for later, so they can't do it. Smart.
The first match seemed very thrown together. How'd we end up with Tyson Kidd, Jack Swagger, and Drew McIntyre in this one? I like the idea, but it seemed like they just picked 3 random guys. And 2 of them were from Smackdown! I guess maybe it was to get them exposure on Raw.
It's kind of weird to me that Punk keeps the Nexus name and music, given that he's changed their attire and there's only one member of the original group there. But the name is pretty over, so I can live with "New Nexus". Well, it looks like they're not going to play the Batista card with Ryan. I guess that would mean he'd have to try to emulate Batista they're thinking? And since Batista isn't there, I can definitely see why they didn't go with it. Every plan has its pros and cons.
Gang warfare time. This could be the main reason there are 40 people in the Rumble this year. I wonder if we'll see Barrett turn his back on The Corre when he gets a shot to win a title shot at Mania.
Why would they not want both groups in the Rumble? I think that'd be an added attraction. It's definitely something I'd look forward to. Hopefully it descends into a brawl and neither group is out. Because it'd be harder to fill 40 spots when some of them aren't in there.
Glad that WWE finally explained what all these Smackdown stars are doing on Raw.
Alberto Del Rio without R-Truth? Interesting. I'm glad that WWE is pushing the Rumble so much.
Michael Tarver... I smell foreshadowing. Which side does he choose in the Nexus-Corre war? And who does Skip Sheffield pick when he returns?
Heck of a tag team match here. WWE's doing a great job getting over multiple potential winners for the Rumble.
Hmm, are they teasing Cole vs. King at the Rumble? I think people would definitely want to see that.
I would really like if they had saved Melina vs. Natalya for the Rumble. It was a good break from Laycool and Melina played her role pretty well. Melina should have gotten DQ'd or beat up a face Diva this week with Natalya on commentary, then after Natalya makes the save, Melina bails and the match is made for Monday.
But maybe they're leading to something here, like Laycool gets the title back and then faces the wrath of Kong? If so, I think they're rushing it. Spend time building up Kong with vignettes and squashes first. Laycool should be down the road, not the first stop. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe we're leading to Natalya vs. Beth at WrestleMania?
I'd be remiss if I didn't give Natalya and Melina credit for a good match though. Applause to both of them, especially for that ending spot. Wow.
Good segment with Cena, Miz, and Riley. Miz has improved drastically on the mic and at working the crowd.
Solid Champion vs. Champion match. Miz didn't get pinned, and Ziggler attacked an injured Edge, so there's no comeuppance for them until the PPV (as it should be). Orton got close to doing serious damage to Miz, but he escaped to set up their match on Sunday. Good work all around, but if we aren't getting Cole vs. Lawler, the bickering is overkill.
If Barrett vs. Punk ends with a "Fingerpoke of Doom" scenario where they combine both factions, serious "WTF?" levels will be reached. Good promo by Barrett nonetheless.
More crazy shenanigans with DiBiase/Maryse and Bryan/the Bellas. I'm not really sure where they're going with this, or why, other than to have more material to fill out NXT.
All that to lead to Gail Kim feuding with The Bella Twins? I don't get it, except again to have something to do for NXT.
Miz and Ziggler vs. Edge and Orton? Killer main event for Smackdown. WWE continues to make Miz and Ziggler like a big deal. I hope we get a "Rated RKO" reference.
Clever mind game by John Cena. Even more clever reversal by the GM. Was this a 5-star match? No. But it was entertaining and that's what matters. Sports entertainment doesn't mean 2 hours of pure wrestling. Sometimes things can get dramatic too. Obviously the crowd ate it up.
Hell of a way to end the show and put over the Rumble.
One final thought. Was anyone else expecting Michael Tarver to come out and announce that he was Raw GM? He'd be playing his old Nexus/Corre buddies (who kicked him out of the group) and John Cena, who took him out. I definitely wouldn't rule it out. It beats the heck out of my idea that it was Triple H.
That's all for tonight. Tomorrow I'll be back with coverage of NXT.
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