ARCHY’S ANALYSIS
WWE Monday Night Raw Review 6/27/11
By Adrian Arciuli for Wrestlezone.com
Rating- 6/10 ENDING 10/10
Simply put it, this week’s Monday Night Raw will be talked about for years to come.
CM Punk gave one of the most captivating and controversial promos we’ve ever seen on WWE TV.
This will have wrestling fans all over the world talking because it was and felt real.
It was perfectly produced in the sense they cut off his microphone at just the right time and closed the show with him still talking.
It definitely was a “worked shoot” similar to Joey Styles’ anti-WWE promo during the ECW re-birth.
The Attitude Era may be long in the past but that was as close to it you will ever get in terms of promos.
It was compelling, edge of the seat stuff which was great television for every kind of wrestling fan. This will leave people wanting MORE and MORE.
A great hook for next week’s show, but it’s a pity the show is taped because the “hardcore audience” which the promo was targeted at will know what is going to happen.
One small problem I had with the Punk’s promo is that WWE’s main audience (kids and families) wouldn’t have understood half of what he said.
When he mentioned Colt Cabana and John Laurinaitis, the hardcore fan knew what Punk was talking about. But do kids and families get all that? Well, I don’t think so.
I’m sure everyone will be interested to see what WWE does with Punk now.
Now to the rest of the show.
Up until the ending, it was your average run of the mill Raw. I thought the Alex Riley and Rey Mysterio vs. Miz and Jack Swagger match was exceptional.
The crowd ate up the action from start to finish and it was a great wrestling match. I would have preferred to see the heels go over in this one as Riley has completely owned Miz since he turned on him.
Mark Henry continues to kick ass in a big way. I liked the way he used the cage door to put Big Show through the cage, because it made the attack look more vicious than it could have been.
For instance, he could have just given him a World Strongest Slam on the door or bashed him with it, but he took a more violent option. Henry played his character perfectly once again this week and his mocking of the crowd was just pure gold.
Was it just me or did everyone else find Booker T overbearing. He was just way to over the top when he talked. To make it worse the announcers fake laughed through every one of those backstage segments.
Shawn Michaels was solid in his smaller than usual role on the show. Its funny how WWE says they are pushing new talent but HBK gave three up and comers “Sweet Chin Music”. Nice way to get new talent over isn’t it. Also it was nice to see DDP in his brief cameo.
The Divas segment was short and sweet and I thought it was quite effective. Kelly Kelly is clearly the most popular diva right now and I hope WWE continue to position her as the top female in the company.
Dolph and Kofi wrestled each other once again, wow what a surprise. I love the two, but the matchup is getting old and stale. Let’s hope creative can come up with something interesting to add some spice to the feud going forward.
Sin Cara vs. Evan Bourne was a nice high energy match. I felt that the pair used too many high-flying moves in a five minute matchup though.
RAW MATCH RESULTS AND RATINGS
Kane vs. CM Punk, WINNER: Kane via Count out
Rating: 1/5
Length: 5 minutes
Evan Bourne vs. Sin Cara, WINNER: Sin Cara
Rating: 1.5/5
Length: 6 minutes
Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston, WINNER: Kofi Kingston
Rating: 1.5/5
Length: 9 minutes
Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio, WINNER: Alberto Del Rio
Rating: 1/5
Length: 5 minutes
Kelly Kelly vs. Nikki Bella, WINNER: Kelly Kelly via submission
Rating: 1/5
Length: 2 minutes
Alex Riley/Rey Mysterio vs. Miz/Jack Swagger, WINNERS: Riley/Mysterio
Rating: 3/5
Length: 13 minutes
John Cena vs. R-Truth, WINNER: R-Truth
Rating: 1/5
Length: 5 minutes
If you have any suggestions for Archy’s Analysis, contact me via twitter at @ausportingpost or email at ama760@uowlive.edu.au.
