WWE Raw Report
Date: 11/08/10 from Manchester, England.
The Big News: Santino Marella was awesome.
Show Analysis:
John Cena started the show in the ring with a hokey scroll introducing Wade Barrett. Barrett got a face reaction but it wasn’t as much as I would have expected. The crowd seemed dead for much of the show, but I’m not sure how much of that was the micing. WWE this time didn’t do anything to artificially turn the crowd on Barrett. I think that was an excellent decision. Nobody really buys a heel saying bad things about their hometown, so all it really accomplishes is making the crowd a little colder and making the character seem a little less hot.
Barrett said that they would all have a party to celebrate his upcoming title win. He reprimanded David Otunga for undermining him and taking Nexus to Smackdown. He told Otunga to make sure he is successful next time. He then criticized John Cena as referee last week. Cena started doing his weekly goofy comedy to undermine the seriousness of his angle. He then said he would take out Barrett after Survivor Series. Barrett wanted Cena to introduce him as champion, but they were interrupted by Randy Orton.
Orton pointed out that he is still champion. He said that he is fighting Barrett for the title, not Cena. He added that he doesn’t care if Cena is fired, just that Barrett never has the title. Barrett said he has men behind him and Orton doesn’t. Hey now. That brought up the annoying GM. Excuse me, anonymous.
The GM canceled Barrett’s announced celebration. So what was the point of that? The GM also announced Barrett vs. Orton must end via pinfall or submission and that the remaining members of Nexus are banned from ringside. The GM also announced Team Nexus vs. Team Orton 10 on 10 with John Cena as referee for the main event of the show. The GM said he or she would select Orton’s teammates. Cena shoved Otunga after this announcement.
WWE does mystery partners for later in the show all the time, but it is always the same regular characters. They might be able to boost ratings for mystery partner tags if every once in a while they brought in a non-regular wrestler to fill a mystery slot as a one-off surprise. Also, in a random note, Jerry Lawler was not on commentary and they announced a couple times that he had a knee injury.
Eve Torres and the Bella Twins beat Maryse, Alicia Fox and Tamina. The faces dressed in Man U attire and the heels in Liverpool attire, which meant the faces got a mixed reaction because a lot of people don’t like Man U. It feels like they’ve made this mistake over and over again when coming to the UK.
The heels worked over Eve. Eve made the tag and a brawl broke out. Maryse hit a DDT on one of the Bellas, but the Bellas did a switch and the other Bella rolled up Alicia for the pin. Backstage, Barrett said that Otunga wouldn’t be a part of Team Nexus and instead would wrestle Cena in a singles match.
Usos beat Hart Dynasty. Kidd hit a springboard plancha into a huracanrana on the floor. Kidd missed a springboard elbow and the Usos worked him over. He eventually got the tag to David Hart Smith. Smith hit clotheslines, a belly to belly and a running powerslam. Sadly it didn’t seem like the powerslam got much of a reaction despite it being a tribute to his father who was one of the UK’s top international stars. Jey then hit a kick and splash off the top for the pin.
Backstage, Orton said that he did care about his partners in the main event because he needs to get the best of Nexus. Miz came in and said that he would be one of Orton’s partners. Elsewhere, David Otunga got the cold shoulder from the other members of Nexus. He said that when he asserted he is the best member of Nexus, he was just talking about Cena and not the other guys. He wanted the other guys to help him against Cena but they weren’t receptive. When he left, the other members of Nexus made fun of him. I can’t figure out if they’re giving Otunga an identity outside the main group to get him over more or because they are going to dump him like Michael Tarver and Darren Young.
Goldust beat Ted DiBiase. Goldust hit an arm drag, clothesline over the top and inverted atomic drop. DiBiase retaliated with a clothesline and chin lock. Goldust fought back with a bulldog and powerslam. Maryse took the million dollar title from the ring announcer during the match, but Aksana then came out and took the title. Goldust rolled up DiBiase for the pin. This was well worked while it lasted.
John Cena beat David Otunga. Nexus came out with Otunga but Barrett gave the signal and the other guys immediately left. Otunga went to leave but Cena gave chase and brought him back. Otunga got a little offense and then Cena hit the five knuckle, FU and applied the STF for the tap. This was reminiscent of Cena-Darren Young, which doesn’t bode well for Otunga.
Backstage, Barrett pointed out that Otunga got pinned on Raw last week, pinned on Smackdown, and then embarrassed Barrett in his hometown this week. Barrett said he would give Otunga a chance to redeem himself. He told Otunga to take Nexus back to Smackdown and take on Edge in a match. However, Barrett told Otunga that if he doesn’t beat Edge, he will be done with Nexus.
Next up was one of the best WWE comedy segments in a very long time. It was Santino and Vladimir Kozlov coming out for tea time. I know, that doesn’t sound that good, but it worked very well. Santino said they had been studying British culture: James Bond, Austin Powers and Mr. Bean. However, Santino added that he keeps almost getting killed trying to cross the street and encouraged the Brits to drive on the other side of the road.
Santino said he wanted to make amends with Sheamus. Sheamus came out and said he thinks Santino is misunderstood. He said that he knew someone like Santino in Ireland with only one friend, a donkey. Sheamus said that everyone called him the village idiot. Santino thought he was talking about the donkey, not the person Sheamus was comparing him to. Santino kept trying to get on Sheamus’ good side but then he would make accidental references to Sheamus being pale and get really nervous.
Santino said there were only two reasons Sheamus could be angry: overexposure to gamma rays or being excluded from activities with other children because he was a ginger. The crowd was really into this whole segment. Santino said he won’t exclude Sheamus from fun. Sheamus responded that Santino is so funny he couldn’t remember why he hates Santino. Santino then said he couldn’t remember either. Kozlov pointed out it was because Santino beat Sheamus. Sheamus was mortified by this and the crowd began chanting for Kozlov.
Santino went to pour tea for Sheamus but he couldn’t keep his hand steady because he was so nervous. Of course he spilled the tea on Sheamus and the crowd reacted big. Sheamus got angry and pushed over the table. The GM then made Santino vs. Sheamus. Santino was so great here and this seems to be planting the first seeds of an eventual Sheamus face turn.
Sheamus beat Santino via DQ. Santino ran away but the GM told Santino to get in the ring or be suspended. Santino went for the cobra but Sheamus hit an ax handle and stomped him into the ground. Santino was begging off and then hit a low blow for a DQ. He then threw a big celebration until Sheamus laid him out with a Brogue kick. John Morrison for some reason ran out again and gave Sheamus a springboard kick. I think Santino and Sheamus are being helped in this program, but Morrison’s presence doesn’t help anyone.
Backstage, Barrett told Cena to do the right thing. He said that if Cena does he can be back at WrestleMania and Nexus will become a memory. However, he noted that if Cena doesn’t do his job the right way it will be his job in WWE that becomes a distant memory.
Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris and Heath Slater beat Randy Orton, Miz, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and R. Truth. David Otunga came out to watch the match. Nexus worked over Bryan including a Husky Harris head over heels clothesline. Slater missed a dive into the corner, Bryan hit a superkick, and tagged Orton.
Orton came in with clotheslines, a powerslam and a draping DDT on Barrett. Barrett retaliated with punches and went for wasteland but Orton got out and hit a back breaker. A big brawl broke out. Orton hit another back breaker and was setting up for the RKO when Alex Riley and Miz hit the ring. Riley hit Orton with the briefcase and Miz hit the skull crushing finale on Orton. Barrett then pinned Orton for the win.
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this show. I thought the comedy was very good and the wrestling good as well.
The Big News: Santino Marella was awesome.
Show Analysis:
John Cena started the show in the ring with a hokey scroll introducing Wade Barrett. Barrett got a face reaction but it wasn’t as much as I would have expected. The crowd seemed dead for much of the show, but I’m not sure how much of that was the micing. WWE this time didn’t do anything to artificially turn the crowd on Barrett. I think that was an excellent decision. Nobody really buys a heel saying bad things about their hometown, so all it really accomplishes is making the crowd a little colder and making the character seem a little less hot.
Barrett said that they would all have a party to celebrate his upcoming title win. He reprimanded David Otunga for undermining him and taking Nexus to Smackdown. He told Otunga to make sure he is successful next time. He then criticized John Cena as referee last week. Cena started doing his weekly goofy comedy to undermine the seriousness of his angle. He then said he would take out Barrett after Survivor Series. Barrett wanted Cena to introduce him as champion, but they were interrupted by Randy Orton.
Orton pointed out that he is still champion. He said that he is fighting Barrett for the title, not Cena. He added that he doesn’t care if Cena is fired, just that Barrett never has the title. Barrett said he has men behind him and Orton doesn’t. Hey now. That brought up the annoying GM. Excuse me, anonymous.
The GM canceled Barrett’s announced celebration. So what was the point of that? The GM also announced Barrett vs. Orton must end via pinfall or submission and that the remaining members of Nexus are banned from ringside. The GM also announced Team Nexus vs. Team Orton 10 on 10 with John Cena as referee for the main event of the show. The GM said he or she would select Orton’s teammates. Cena shoved Otunga after this announcement.
WWE does mystery partners for later in the show all the time, but it is always the same regular characters. They might be able to boost ratings for mystery partner tags if every once in a while they brought in a non-regular wrestler to fill a mystery slot as a one-off surprise. Also, in a random note, Jerry Lawler was not on commentary and they announced a couple times that he had a knee injury.
Eve Torres and the Bella Twins beat Maryse, Alicia Fox and Tamina. The faces dressed in Man U attire and the heels in Liverpool attire, which meant the faces got a mixed reaction because a lot of people don’t like Man U. It feels like they’ve made this mistake over and over again when coming to the UK.
The heels worked over Eve. Eve made the tag and a brawl broke out. Maryse hit a DDT on one of the Bellas, but the Bellas did a switch and the other Bella rolled up Alicia for the pin. Backstage, Barrett said that Otunga wouldn’t be a part of Team Nexus and instead would wrestle Cena in a singles match.
Usos beat Hart Dynasty. Kidd hit a springboard plancha into a huracanrana on the floor. Kidd missed a springboard elbow and the Usos worked him over. He eventually got the tag to David Hart Smith. Smith hit clotheslines, a belly to belly and a running powerslam. Sadly it didn’t seem like the powerslam got much of a reaction despite it being a tribute to his father who was one of the UK’s top international stars. Jey then hit a kick and splash off the top for the pin.
Backstage, Orton said that he did care about his partners in the main event because he needs to get the best of Nexus. Miz came in and said that he would be one of Orton’s partners. Elsewhere, David Otunga got the cold shoulder from the other members of Nexus. He said that when he asserted he is the best member of Nexus, he was just talking about Cena and not the other guys. He wanted the other guys to help him against Cena but they weren’t receptive. When he left, the other members of Nexus made fun of him. I can’t figure out if they’re giving Otunga an identity outside the main group to get him over more or because they are going to dump him like Michael Tarver and Darren Young.
Goldust beat Ted DiBiase. Goldust hit an arm drag, clothesline over the top and inverted atomic drop. DiBiase retaliated with a clothesline and chin lock. Goldust fought back with a bulldog and powerslam. Maryse took the million dollar title from the ring announcer during the match, but Aksana then came out and took the title. Goldust rolled up DiBiase for the pin. This was well worked while it lasted.
John Cena beat David Otunga. Nexus came out with Otunga but Barrett gave the signal and the other guys immediately left. Otunga went to leave but Cena gave chase and brought him back. Otunga got a little offense and then Cena hit the five knuckle, FU and applied the STF for the tap. This was reminiscent of Cena-Darren Young, which doesn’t bode well for Otunga.
Backstage, Barrett pointed out that Otunga got pinned on Raw last week, pinned on Smackdown, and then embarrassed Barrett in his hometown this week. Barrett said he would give Otunga a chance to redeem himself. He told Otunga to take Nexus back to Smackdown and take on Edge in a match. However, Barrett told Otunga that if he doesn’t beat Edge, he will be done with Nexus.
Next up was one of the best WWE comedy segments in a very long time. It was Santino and Vladimir Kozlov coming out for tea time. I know, that doesn’t sound that good, but it worked very well. Santino said they had been studying British culture: James Bond, Austin Powers and Mr. Bean. However, Santino added that he keeps almost getting killed trying to cross the street and encouraged the Brits to drive on the other side of the road.
Santino said he wanted to make amends with Sheamus. Sheamus came out and said he thinks Santino is misunderstood. He said that he knew someone like Santino in Ireland with only one friend, a donkey. Sheamus said that everyone called him the village idiot. Santino thought he was talking about the donkey, not the person Sheamus was comparing him to. Santino kept trying to get on Sheamus’ good side but then he would make accidental references to Sheamus being pale and get really nervous.
Santino said there were only two reasons Sheamus could be angry: overexposure to gamma rays or being excluded from activities with other children because he was a ginger. The crowd was really into this whole segment. Santino said he won’t exclude Sheamus from fun. Sheamus responded that Santino is so funny he couldn’t remember why he hates Santino. Santino then said he couldn’t remember either. Kozlov pointed out it was because Santino beat Sheamus. Sheamus was mortified by this and the crowd began chanting for Kozlov.
Santino went to pour tea for Sheamus but he couldn’t keep his hand steady because he was so nervous. Of course he spilled the tea on Sheamus and the crowd reacted big. Sheamus got angry and pushed over the table. The GM then made Santino vs. Sheamus. Santino was so great here and this seems to be planting the first seeds of an eventual Sheamus face turn.
Sheamus beat Santino via DQ. Santino ran away but the GM told Santino to get in the ring or be suspended. Santino went for the cobra but Sheamus hit an ax handle and stomped him into the ground. Santino was begging off and then hit a low blow for a DQ. He then threw a big celebration until Sheamus laid him out with a Brogue kick. John Morrison for some reason ran out again and gave Sheamus a springboard kick. I think Santino and Sheamus are being helped in this program, but Morrison’s presence doesn’t help anyone.
Backstage, Barrett told Cena to do the right thing. He said that if Cena does he can be back at WrestleMania and Nexus will become a memory. However, he noted that if Cena doesn’t do his job the right way it will be his job in WWE that becomes a distant memory.
Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris and Heath Slater beat Randy Orton, Miz, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and R. Truth. David Otunga came out to watch the match. Nexus worked over Bryan including a Husky Harris head over heels clothesline. Slater missed a dive into the corner, Bryan hit a superkick, and tagged Orton.
Orton came in with clotheslines, a powerslam and a draping DDT on Barrett. Barrett retaliated with punches and went for wasteland but Orton got out and hit a back breaker. A big brawl broke out. Orton hit another back breaker and was setting up for the RKO when Alex Riley and Miz hit the ring. Riley hit Orton with the briefcase and Miz hit the skull crushing finale on Orton. Barrett then pinned Orton for the win.
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this show. I thought the comedy was very good and the wrestling good as well.
posted by Todd Martin at 10:42 PM
4 Comments:
I hate to deal the race card, but...if your speculation about Otunga is correct, it's interesting that the WWE has booked Nexus to, one by one, get rid of all of its black members.
(The only other two out of the group, Daniel Bryan and Skip Sheffield, were removed for non-storyline reasons.)
Glad you liked the show. I found it to be kind of dull, but not too bad.
Miz is a clown with delusions of grandeur whose sole reason for having Money in the Bank is because Vince thinks there's money in this reality TV graduate winning the title. No, there isn't. I've got two words for Miz. David Arquette. Thank you.
Wade Barrett can't really say he beat Randy Orton this time, as it's only because of Benedict Mizizzle. However, Barrett's chances of winning the title are actually decreasing, IMPO.
Interesting how they had people like Husky Harris & the Rhodes brothers talk about their dads, but Chavo Guerrero was missing. WTF?
I think the main reason Barrett was getting mixed reactions is because there were a hell of a lot of kids at Raw (less at the SmackDown taping tonight), and even some of the adult fans seemed to not want to cheer for Super Cena's arch nemesis.
The Santino skit was absolutely hilarious, and I'm 95% sure they cut a little bit of it out from the TV broadcast, probably due to time constraints as the whole skit + match lasted about 15-20 minutes..
The top pops were probably for (in no order) Cena, Miz, Santino, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and the Hart Dynasty (Natalya got very loud cheers on SD). Orton got decent reactions, but I didn't think it was particularly loud. It wasn't helped he didn't hit a single RKO (he won with a belt shot in the dark main event).
Loudest boos were probably for Michael Cole & the Anonymous General Manager. It may have been strung out past it's sell by date in some peoples eyes, but the heat it gets is unbelievable when you consider it's just a laptop.
I hate mentioning it, but Ted DiBiase and The Usos were practically buried by the silence the crowd offered them.
Lastly, I just want to say thanks to WWE for providing 2 nights of mostly quality entertainment, even with some big stars missing.
Funny...I read about the Santino bit ahead of time. Lo and behold, it's the only portion I watched via the DVR. Good times. Todd, you're a smart man.
- Matt in Anchorage
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