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WWE hit the ground running after the rather lackluster Over The Limit Pay-per-view, giving Batista his exit, introducing a new General Manager, crowning a new U.S. Champion, introducing (sort of) new talent to the tag division, and setting up the main event for the Fatal Four Way PPV. Not an amazing episode of Raw, but they did get a lot accomplished. On the downside, if you were hoping for Ted DiBiase or Mark Henry to get any sort of push, you may want to take some time off from watching Raw. And whatever happened to that John Morrison guy, anyway? There was also the usual waste of time with guest host Jon Lovitz. Really, can we just ditch the concept already?
Here's my thoughts on the show, as it happened:
I was surprised to see Batista come out at the start of the show, as I figured we wouldn't be seeing him (at least for a while) after he went through the stage at Over The Limit. His selling of his injuries was pretty comical, but at the same time he got a ton of heat with his promo, ranting about filing a lawsuit against everyone. Enter Bret Hart, our new General Manager, who shuts down Batista's demands for a rematch with an offer to wrestle fellow injured WWE star Randy Orton for a spot in the Fatal Four Way main event. Batista refuses, so Bret calls it a forfeit and Orton gets in the main event. That was a clever way to get Orton into the PPV without having to actually wrestle. Batista rants about quitting, and in fact, does so. As Batista is exiting, I am expecting Mark Henry to come out and get some revenge on Batista, at the very least push his wheelchair out the door. Nope, doesn't happen. Good segment, but a missed opportunity.
Of course, that's because Mark Henry has a chance to qualify for the Fatal Four Way main event... against Sheamus. Yeah, Henry has no shot. Sheamus works over Henry's arm for a while, then the World's Strongest Enhancement Talent came back with clotheslines and bodyblocks, only to have Sheamus kick out of his splash. Henry misses an avalanche, tries a press slam, but his bad arm gives out and Sheamus hits the pump kick for the win. I did like that they told a story with Henry's hurt arm playing into the finish, but was anyone expecting a different result?
They announce that because he is now Raw General Manager, Bret Hart is vacating the U.S. Title. No shock there. They announce Miz vs. R-Truth for the belt later in the show. I guess that explains why R-Truth got the win over DiBiase at the PPV. Putting him in a title match after a loss wouldn't make much sense. It is sort of weak to only have one match for the belt. A tournament would have made more sense.
The Jon Lovitz and Maryse bit was pretty lame and silly. She wants to win his contest, but then suddenly becomes totally indignant to him? Whatever.
Edge wants a title shot and pleads his case to Bret Hart, saying he wants John Cena to be his opponent in a qualifying match. Jericho enters wanting a shot, and Hart makes it Edge vs. Jericho vs. Cena, so both men get their shot, and Cena also gets the chance to shut them both out of the bout. Jericho's comments about "making me an enemy" to Hart didn't make much sense, given what went down last week. I'd say they are already enemies!
Undertaker is back on Smackdown this week. The show can certainly use him.
Eve & Gail Kim vs. Maryse & Alicia Fox. Now, Diva Booking 101 says that since Eve won at the PPV, either Maryse is going to get the pin here to put her back in contention, or Alicia Fox is going to win and set up a new feud for Eve. Gail hits a few spots, then we had that awkward sunset flip/blind tag bit. Maryse and Eve go at it, and it turns out Alicia Fox kicks Eve in the face so Maryse can hit the DDT for the pin. I guess this was WWE's way of making both Maryse and Alicia contenders to Eve, but I have a feeling they will just stick to the Maryse-Eve feud for now. After all, Fox has that blindingly bright future accompanying Zack Ryder to look forward to.
I really enjoyed the U.S. Title match with R-Truth and The Miz. Going into the match, I figured Ted DiBiase would probably get involved, costing Truth the match, or Jericho would interfere, and we'd get Truth & John Morrison vs. Jericho & Miz down the road. Instead, we just got a really strong singles match with no outside interference. They had a very fast pace early on with Truth's dropkick and rollup before they went to break. Truth crash lands on a dive, and Miz takes control with some really good shoulder work. This was just a fun bout, with Truth hitting a flapjack and dropkick off the ropes to set up a series of near falls. This was better than a lot of the matches on the PPV the night before. Truth gets the clean pin with the Lie Detector and we've got a new U.S. Champion. Okay, be honest, when the draft happened, who thought R-Truth would be winning PPV bouts and championships while John Morrison wasn't even getting TV time?
John Cena went into his usual over-the-top delivery while talking about being a fighting champion. I liked his intensity at the end of the promo, but most of his lines are so "comic book superhero" it just bores me. But hey, whatever keeps selling those orange t-shirts to the kids!
Months ago, WWE did that really lame talent show bit with the Osbournes. So, naturally, WWE decided to revisit that segment with Jon Lovitz. At least Lovitz was a little funny with his lines, so the segment wasn't a total disaster... just a waste of time. Khali & Singh ripping off Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein should be punishable by arrest. Jillian getting buzzed as soon as she came out was worth a chuckle. Then, the segment went from "tolerably funny" to just plain stupid. A guy pulling out his fake eye. Ted DiBiase wanting to buy the eyeball. Santino Marella using the Vulcan Neck Pinch, which works on Virgil, but not on DiBiase. DiBiase lays out Santino with Dream Street. Lovitz plugs his comedy club. What a waste of time, and it was just sad to see that this is what WWE is doing with DiBiase. Maybe he was better off in Legacy!
I was looking forward to The Hart Dynasty vs. William Regal & Vladimir Kozlov, but the match was over before I could even finish that thought. That could have been a good match. Some people jump the Harts and lay them out with top rope splashes. Who are these people? Don't know. And as a reminder to how meaningless the tag belts are, no one bothers to find out who they are for the rest of the show. Wouldn't, oh, I don't know... THE NEW RAW GENERAL MANAGER want to know who just attacked his family members? Now, if you read this site, you know who they are, but seriously, NO followup at all?
The four remaining NXT rookies get some mic time, and for some reason Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel now think Heath Slater should be gone. If you watch NXT, you know they used to want Otunga gone. Otunga wants Slater gone, and Slater wants Otunga gone, and I guess they will wrestle on NXT. Or at least it would make sense for them to. Anyway, this sets up Jerry Lawler replaying Daniel Bryan slapping around Michael Cole, and they emphasize that Bryan called Cole a poor man's replacement for JR. Cole says his attorneys told him to demand an apology in the ring, or he would sue Bryan. Really? Those attorneys must not like Cole either.
Jericho and Edge had a nice face off backstage, planting the seed that they would race to beat the "weakened" Cena first, until Edge mentioned he might go for Jericho. Are we sure Edge isn't still a face?
Time for the main event, with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler both stating they had previously wondered if Edge and Jericho would form an alliance. Really? Six weeks ago, Jericho and Edge were trying to injure each other. Anyone remember that? This was a solid match, with all three men working hard. Cena didn't show much wear and tear for someone who was supposed to be through a "grueling" match the night before, other than collapsing during an Attitude Adjustment attempt, which Jericho turned into a nice DDT. The match picked up a lot towards the end, and the last few minutes were really good with the STF/Walls/Spear false finishes. The actual finish, with Cena taken down with a Codebreaker and Jericho getting pinned with a spear was good, as it not only put Edge in the main event, but it showed how "anything can happen" in a multi-man match. Sheamus and Randy Orton come out, and we've got our four-man staredown to end the show and begin the hype for the PPV.
What To Make Sure And Watch If You DVR'd The Show: Truth vs. Miz, Jericho vs. Cena vs. Edge.
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