What’s up wrestling fans? Welcome to the return of my weekly Raw review exclusively here on WrestleZone.com! While the format of my review has changed slightly since I last wrote the weekly report, I think you’ll find the format of me has changed very little. In fact, it hasn’t at all. I still have an oddly thick beard and agree that Chris Cash talks too much. That said, let’s take a look at last night’s edition of Monday Night Raw brought to you live from Louisville, KY.
Overall I thought this show was a major letdown coming off the heels of a PPV as solid as I thought Judgment Day was. On the other hand, what exactly could you expect when you consider that Raw’s presence on the PPV consisted of 2 matches? This was the basis of the sub par Raw in my opinion, as the only real Judgment Day fallout pertained to John Cena, Big Show, Randy Orton and Batista. The rest of the show presented the opportunity for the 2009 Raw draftees to shine, however, ultimately kept them at bay with filler story lines and weak segments.
THE GOOD:
Although it’s going to be hard for me to come up with a huge laundry list here as most of Raw’s laundry last night was soiled, I did think that The Miz was great last night and is continuing a great trend he set for himself since his debut on Monday nights .The segment that he did at Judgment Day was fantastic, and it served as a really nice compliment to the follow up bit on Raw last night.
What works about The Miz is that WWE is not only giving him edgy, smart material by allowing him to exploit real flaws in John Cena’s character, but they are also giving him the rub from the company’s top baby face. This is how you elevate mid-card talent. This is also something we saw a glimpse of when MVP first confronted Randy Orton several weeks ago, but he’s unfortunately coasted back down to the upper middle end of the card since that encounter with the Champ.
Santino Marella is definitely a highlight of the show when he’s on the air. I also think WWE is doing a great job transitioning him into a baby face as the crowd has definitely been aiding the process since Santino began working in more of a comedic type of role on Raw. That said, however, I am going to have to initiate another Santino discussion on the bad side of Raw because I think Santino works in doses, not gallons like were fed last night.
THE BAD:
This, unfortunately, is going to be the longer section of the review. Overall my general feeling here is that nothing on the show popped. It all fell flat, and the opening segment set that unwavering tone. It felt to me like Ric Flair was not there for any other purpose than to help spike the ratings for Raw. He came out to deliver a message that Vickie Guerrero was so upset about the finish of the Judgment Day main event that she had to make a rematch for the Extreme Rules PPV. If she was so upset why didn’t she just restart the match at the PPV? Why didn’t she come out and make the announcement herself to Randy Orton? It didn’t make any sense. Flair was reduced to the role of a messenger and in the end the segment set up a main event we have seen a variation of for the past month or so on Raw: Legacy vs 2 Faces.
I spoke before about the combination of Cena and Miz helping elevate the mid-card talent, so what does Santino working with Chavo do for either of them? Chavo is a great in-ring talent, but it has been proven many times that he is just NOT over with the crowd. So a directionless comedy segment between him and Santino seemed to serve no future purpose other than to make the audience giggle for a few moments in the present. Case number one of Raw filler.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
