Randy Orton vs. Heath Slater Review:
Orton controls early on Slater, throwing him into the ring post. He hits uppercuts onto Slater, and dominates Slater with kicks on the mat. Orton hits a knee to the throat of Slater, as Slater tries to escape. Slater hits an eye poke, followed by a spinning heel kick to the back of Orton's head. Slater gets a headlock applied to Orton, until Orton hits head butts onto Slater. Slater hits a double leg spine buster, and tries to work down Orton. Orton gets back on the offensive, hits a scoop power slam, and connects with his patented DDT. He sets up for an RKO, connects, and gets the win.
Reaction:
A solid match between the two, even though it made NO sense to have Slater on Raw. There are so many other wrestlers they could have had here, and he was furthest from my mind. Why not Drew, Cody, Ted, Swagger, Barrett, it is just far from my mind. I do not get this, do not understand some match bookings, but at least it was not a bad outing by a young Slater. Orton looked strong, even though no Henry means no meaning. This segment gets a C.
In Ring Segment Review:
The number one contender of the WWE Championship John Cena makes his way to the ring. Cena talks about Del Rio's attacks on him two weeks ago. Ricardo Rodriguez comes out and introduces Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio says Cena does not get it, because he is giving Cena a fighting chance. He goes on to talk about his attacks on Cena, and says he wants to face him at Night of Champions. Last week, Del Rio said he did not show up because he is trying to protect Cena. He says he only speaks for himself, and introduces Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Christian. They beat up Cena, as Sheamus, Alex Riley, John Morrison clear the ring of the heels. Riley, Cena, Sheamus, and Morrison stand tall in the ring as Theodore Long makes an 8-man tag team elimination match. Cena/Sheamus/Riley/Morrison vs. Christian/Barrett/Ziggler/Swagger
Reaction:
We get to see the best mid carders for a match, but will this carry over week to week on Raw Supershow? I like the segment where Del Rio brings others in, but I still feel he needed to do something before on Cena besides talking to progress this feud. This segment gets a B. I wanted more face to face interaction, maybe a little cat and mouse type game between Cena and Del Rio.
John Cena, John Morrison, Sheamus, and Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, and Wade Barrett Review:
Riley hits a suplex move onto Barrett as we start the match off. Barrett hits a side slam and gets a two count. Barrett chops away at Riley, as he kicks him in the stomach. Barrett misses a big boot to the face, as Morrison and Ziggler enter. Morrison hits a spinning heel kick, as well as a reverse back drop. Morrison misses a knee to the face, but punches away at Ziggler. Christian distracts Morrison, as Swagger tags himself in and applied the ankle lock, causing a distraught Ziggler to leave. Morrison taps out, as Vickie Guerrero comes out to the ring. We head to a commercial break with Morrison eliminated. Riley and Ziggler go back and forth, as Riley hits a powerful spinebuster. He gets distracted, as Ziggler takes over offensively. Swagger once again tags himself in, makes Alex Riley tap out and is eliminated. Sheamus comes in, as Sheamus hits elbows and knees, controlling Swagger. He gets to Barrett, who tangles Sheamus in the ropes and knees him in the stomach. Barrett hits a thunderous kick to the face of Sheamus. He gets a two count, and locks in a sleeper hold. Sheamus fights out of the submission hold, and hits a boot to Barrett. He chops away at his chest, and hits a high knee to the throat. Sheamus goes up top, and hits a flying shoulder block off the top rope. Sheamus reverses Barrett, hits a Brogue Kick and pins Barrett. Christian enters, and gets a two count on Sheamus. Christian goes for the Killswitch, but Christian slaps Sheamus in the face. They chase outside and through the crowd. Sheamus beats down Christian until both get eliminated by way of countout. Cena faces Ziggler and Swagger now. Cena cleans house, until Ziggler hits a drop kick and gets a two count on Cena. Swagger gives Cena a shot to his kidneys, until Cena takes over. He hits his flurry of moves on both men, and hits a double five knuckle shuffle. Cena clotheslines Ziggler, but Swagger hits a belly to back suplex. Ziggler tags himself in, and he and Swagger argue. Ziggler gets hit with the AA and is eliminated. Swagger locks in his Ankle Lock, but Cena locks in the STF. Del Rio comes out and Cena hits the AA to stop him in his tracks.
Reaction:
This match was entertaing from beginning to end, having Cena look strong…shocker. I enjoyed the entire match because we got to see all different types of guys work together. You saw some great pacing, great action from Riley, Barrett, and Swagger specifically. With the crowded 8 man tag match, they really scripted enough timing for everyone, excluding John Morrison. They built two storylines, possibly three with Sheamus/Christian in one match, which works perfectly. They ended Raw entertaining, as this segment gets an A-.
Overall:
Monday Night Raw was a tale of two shows. The first hour was lackluster, dull, and had no interesting point besides Nash being "fired." The in-ring segment was nothing amazing, and even excluded the usage of Punk. The tag team match was sub par, but what do you expect with Mahal and Khali as opponents? We should have had an altercation from Miz and Truth here, not later in the show to have more than one week to build up their match with Air Boom. Phoenix shows how good she is in the ring, even with a half step off from Eve throughout. We had cuts of Del Rio backstage but did not really do much to enhance his program with Cena. We get he wants to avoid Cena, but the segments were misplaced and too short. Hour one got a C- for me, but hour two picked up the show. We got to see a great match between Punk and Truth who work well together with timing and their athletic abilites together. Orton/Slater match made no sense, but it was entertaining to me because it showed you some of the talent Slater has. He still did not deserve to be on Raw. I also enjoyed Ryder getting some TV time, and using it to his advantage. The main event was great, as we got to see many different options in the ring. Barrett and Swagger looked extremely good to me in the ring, really carrying the match. With Vickie still garnering a lot of heat, I liked how her "men" were last against Cena. This shows how good the mid card wrestlers really are, and there is not much of a gap, given the right time and program. The pace of the match stayed hot throughout the main event, and having a quick Del Rio enter at the end made sense. It was great to see all of these guys in a match with enough time, and not a rushed ending. Well Done. With hour one getting a D, hour two gets an B+, so Overall, I would grade this Raw a B-.
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