While I some problems with the the opening segment, I enjoyed it:
Randy Orton: delivered on the points he needed to and I thought him and Vince McMahon had some interesting chemistry.
Vince McMahon: more or less, same as Orton. Plus, I thought he had some good chemistry happening with Cena. However, with that being said, my problem is that, I ask, why in the world was Vince McMahon doing all of the talking for Orton? That, combined with the fact they had Orton exit the ring when Cena hit the ring, lead for feeling that Orton was more of after-thought. Considering the fact that Cena and Orton are the ones feuding here, not Cena and McMahon, I consider that to be problem. However, the same time, considering the quality of the segment, and that Orton, regardless of that, was still able to accomplish, more or less,what he needed to, I am willing to be bit forgiving. Though, in turn, what I am not willing forgive is, unless I am missing something here (if I am, I apologize in advance) is the complete lack of explanation on how Vince McMahon knows his "child" is male. Call me crazy, however, I would consider to be significant plot point and yet --- there was no explanation? He simply stated things as if they were, some how, self-evident, without explanation to us on how he obtain this information. For me, that hurts the angle, from logic standpoint.
John Cena: surprisingly enough, in general, I would say that on rare occasion, he was able to strike the right kind of emotion and tone.
Other than that --- I thought Cena slapping Vince in the face was kind of weak. Punch or FU would have seemed more appropriate. Though, to be fair, I appreciate the fact that Vince showed little bit of continuity, by selling it for the rest of the segment and the one follow that.
In regards to the women's tag-team match, seems kind of redundant at this point. I mean, at times, seems as if we are having one of these things almost every other week. In short, I would describe as being, more or less, women's version of the handicap match. The wrestling itself was nothing special. In way, probably good idea that it was kept short.
In regards to the Regal announcement, while useful, I think it would have made more sense to book it after the match, not before.
It was good to see Val Venis make appearance on Raw that did not involve his ass being kicked and to be honest, the bit where Daivari put his hat (or whatever its called) on Vince McMahon drew chuckle. Also, I really appreciate the continuity references from Coach, even daring to go far as back as last year, mention guy WWE has not seen in almost year.
I though was Cody-Benjamin was slightly more entertaining than Cody-Haas from last week. Also, some what related note, I appreciate and enjoy the way they are booking Cody. While he is, so far, winning all of his matches that do not involve Randy Orton,not only is barely accomplish these victories, however, seems as if he is doing so by sheer luck. Considering the fact Haas and Benjaim are veterans, where as Cody is rookie,the way he is being pushed is logical. In another words, unlike the usual "complete domination" treatment that WWE will usual gives to its rookie superstars in recent years, Cody is having to, slowly but surely, work on getting better.
As always, London and Kendrick are entertaining and it was good to see them on the winning side of things. From wrestling perspective, for my liking, they were the highlight of the show.My only wish is that there appearances on Raw would be the standard, not the exception.As far as Cryme Tyme is concerned, having them talk on the mic, while match is talking place, seems kind of rushed and uneven. Reminds too much of TNA.
Segment Between Simmons, Maria, Santino and Jillian was decent. I appreciate the fresh setting and amusing ending. Though, with that being said, the gimmick of Simmons saying "damn" and words that rhyme with that is starting to wear thin, for my liking.Other than that, I am still enjoying Santino and once again, while it was brief, I appreciate the fact WWE (Santino, in this instance) showed some more continuity.
King Booker segment, itself, I thought, was nothing special. As in, it was not really "good" or "bad" --- just kind of there. However, as always, I enjoyed the performance from the man himself, especially during the parts where "Booker T" character was "slipping" into the equation.
The match between Carlito and Kennedy felt boring and uneven. Did not help matters, either, that this was heel vs. heel match. Beyond the some what recent match between Orton and Edge, in all honesty, I can not think of the last time that worked, on legit level. Other than that --- this cannot mentioned enough. I appreciate WWE showing some more continuity, this time with Kennedy. Normally, WWE would want you to forget about something such as Umaga loosing to Lashley, however, not tonight. Kennedy mentioned it and in all honesty, I do not think Umaga was critical damaged because of it. After all, everyone is "human," even "monsters" along the lines of Umaga.
Snitsky's promo was surprisingly good, especially for what is was. In short, I felt the guy was not only able to strike the right tone and emotion for his character, however, for the situation at hand. Too bad there is not character there to match what was coming out of his mouth because if he could produce more of that kind of work, I think could potential be over as legit heel.
The main event match, I thought, was decent. I would say it was probably, more or less, around the same range of enjoyment as London/Kendrick vs. Cade/Murdoch match was from earlier. Booking wise, while I am not really fan of Snitsky as character, I appreciate and enjoyed the fact that kept both men looking strong, without sacrificing Snitsky to Cena or having Cena give unrealistic rub to Snitsky. This is the kind of rare occasion where I would say not only DQ ending acceptable, however, I would go as far as to say it was necessary.
At the end of day, despite the obvious flaws, I would say I enjoyed last night's episode of Raw. Not great, but I would go as far as to say there was good show to be had. The wrestling was acceptable and the entertainment was decent, two things that I thought, were improved from last week. In addition, as of late, while not perfect by any means, WWE and company has been getting better-and-better about not only giving us dose of continuity - however - giving us more of it. Personally, in that regard, on this night, I thought they were better than then they had been in long time.
On top of everything else, for my liking, I felt as if most everyone had direction, clear one at that --- another important part of wrestling show, as far as I am concerned.
That, and I really appreciate the fact that, for whatever reason, WWE decided to leave senior citizen's club out of tonight's events. While, in general, I find most of those guys to be entertaining, most of them do little to nothing to advance the product as whole. For that matter, as far as I am concerned, advancing the product is something of which should be one of the top properties in any wrestling product, whether it be WWE, TNA, ROH or anyone else out there. At the end of the day, in regards to practically every member of the old folks home, I would say "less is more."
Bottom line: while things could be better, as far as I am concerned, this is more along the lines of the kind product, on Raw side of things, WWE needs to be producing.
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