February 25, 2011

Monday Night Raw Review: 2/21/11

Yeah, I knew the tuesday thing wouldn't last. Sorry to get your hopes up.

WZ Coverage

The Good:

Cena's promo. I'm glad he dusted off the PhD in Thuganomics. It was literally the only thing he could do to get the fans back on his side after the Rock totally owned him last week. I can't wait to hear the backlash from the gay jokes.

Orton/Punk. This is going places, and I like it. This is a great angle, mostly because everyone had forgotten about Orton punting him. I know I did. Now we have a revelation that this might be why Punk went heel. I hope they don't drop the ball with this.

Del Rio/Kofi. I hope this leads to a title feud. Maybe with Kofi's kayfabe injury, there'll be a tournament that Del Rio will win, then Kofi will return to seek revenge. It's been done before, but it's the most likely scenario. That, or a straight up title match.

Taker AND Trips returning in one night. While I'm not a big Triple H fan anymore, Raw needs him the way SD needs Taker. Plus I dig Taker's new entrance. I don't know much about pyrotechnics so I always find it cool when they can perfectly aim lightning.

Hacksaw in the hall of fame. I think he's a good addition.

The Bad:

Only showing pictures from the PPV's. This bothers me every time. I don't really watch PPV's so I kinda want to be able to see some highlights that aren't stills. I can understand why they do it, because they want people to spend the money to see it, but at least give those that can't or don't want to pay for it a chance to see at least something.

Punk's ass scrape. I'm all for some violence, but that just looks painful. I don't like seeing guys get legitimately hurt.

The 2/21/11 hype. We know who it is, just get it over with. Plus, it's supposed to be a surprise. Don't put a time on it. Honestly, I think it would have been better to do for Taker what they did for the Rock. Just shut off every damn light in the place and do it that way. Maybe I'm being too critical because I'm glad Taker's back, but they could have done it a lot better.

Cole interviewing Lawler. Well, just Cole's half. I liked Jerry's part. I'm more upset about the fact Cole was able to bash Jerry's recently deceased mother on air. I guess it wouldn't have happened if Jerry wasn't cool with it, but I just don't think it's right.

Cole vs. Lawler at WM. I want to see Cole get his ass handed to him, but I just don't think WM is the place and nor is King the person to do it.

WTF:

Cena on my good list? AGAIN? Is this the apocalypse?

Miz having trouble saying "unquestionably, undoubtedly....etc" he's usually good on the mic but this was just funny.

This one isn't so much WTF but I still laugh at it: Punk using Orton's full name. I giggle every time and I don't know why. Maybe it's because Orton is supposedly this cool, tough, hardened SOB, then to her his name is Randall kinda kills that persona.

Why did they put Taker and Trips in the middle of the show?

Did Taker just break character? I have NEVER seen any flicker of emotion on his face until now.

Why put the belts on Cena and Miz for literally 5 minutes? What did it accomplish?

Only 4 matches? C'mon, you can do better than that.

The Matches:

Morrison vs. Punk --  Great match. I loved the way they sold their injuries from last night (take notes, Cena). I wish it had gone on a little longer, but it was pretty good for the length. Both guys had some great moves here tonight. Morrison is continuing to get a good push. I hope they have him face Danielson for the US Title.

Rating: 8/10

Bellas vs. Eve and Gail Kim -- I don't overly like divas matches, and I don't overly like tag team matches. Put them together and we have a clusterfuck. Don't get me wrong, when done right, they're both great. This was not one of those cases. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing the whole twin schtick as well. Yeah, we get it, they look enough alike that the ref can't tell the difference. It's old. Do something else.

Rating: 5/10

Sheamus vs. Mark Henry -- I said I wanted them to do something other than give Mark Henry random tag partners, but this is not what I had in mind. Henry looked sweaty -- I mean sloppy, well maybe both -- as ever. Add to that they stopped Sheamus' push dead in its tracks (assuming that he doesn't feud with Danielson) and we have a pretty shitty match.

Rating: 5/10

Miz/Cena vs. Slater/Gabriel -- Yeah, This was pointless I'm not even going to bother. This goes for both matches.

Rating: 3/10

Average Match Rating: 5.3/10 (-1.2)

Match of the Night: Morrison vs. Punk

Overall Show Rating: 8/10 (+0.5)

I gave the show an 8 for it's surprisingly decent promos and the returns of Taker and Triple H. There was some great setups for things to come, but at the same time the show was lacking a little bit. I think this is the highest rated Raw I've reviewed.

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