WWE Raw Report
Date: 05/30/11 from Omaha, NE.
The Big News: Kharma announced her pregnancy and R. Truth got a fluke win over John Cena.
Show Analysis:
The opening segment had severe technical difficulties. R. Truth was at a merchandise table ranting and raving with no sound. They went to the commentators, with a five second or so delay between the audio and video feeds. They went back to R. Truth, who came through the audience yelling at people in John Cena merchandise. He went into the ring, and around this time the video started going out every 10 seconds or so. Truth said that everyone is conspiring against him.
John Cena interrupted by coming to the ring. He said Truth has gone off the deep end and asked Truth what is wrong with him. Truth said that it’s the people, and that ever since he stopped rapping and dancing they don’t like him anymore. Cena said that if Truth wants a match, he can have it. Truth said that was what he wanted. The GM then made Truth vs. Cena for Raw, with no little jimmies allowed at ringside. What about Virgil?
Dolph Ziggler beat Kofi Kingston. Ziggler worked over Kingston. Kingston came back with a clothesline and the boom drop but missed trouble in paradise. Ziggler applied a sleeper but Kingston escaped. Kingston missed the frog crossbody and Ziggler hit a famouser for two. Kingston then missed the S.O.S. and Ziggler used the zig zag for the win. This was good while it lasted.
Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez came out. They said that what happened to Big Show was an accident. Del Rio added that bad things happen to bad people. Del Rio said that Show owes him money for damaging his car. He then insincerely told Show to get well soon. Del Rio and Rodriguez play so well off each other.
Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres beat the Bellas. Eve was kind of in control when the Bellas did the switch and took over. Eve made her comeback with a northern lights bomb and got the tag to Kelly. Kelly came in with a whirlybird, stinkface, bulldog and famouser for the win. It’s weird seeing the stinkface return in the midst of a toned down product, but if someone’s going to use it that might as well be Kelly.
Michael Cole in the ring defended Alex Riley being fired by Miz. He then criticized the Raw GM for re-signing Riley. Wasn’t Riley signed to Smackdown? Cole called out Riley and reprimanded him for turning on Miz. Cole said Miz was like a father to Riley and that Miz is emotionally scarred by the betrayal. Cole kept ranting and raving until Riley told him to shut up. Riley called Cole annoying and arrogant like Miz. Cole responded by calling Riley a bastard.
Riley threw Cole down and then grabbed him by the neck, at which point Miz attacked Riley from behind. A brawl ensued with Miz initially getting the best of it. He kept yelling at Riley that he made Riley. Riley then made his comeback and beat up Miz around ringside. Miz ran off through the crowd.
CM Punk beat Rey Mysterio. Punk hit a back breaker and applied a figure four headlock. Mysterio came back with kicks, a tope, a top rope senton, a springboard crossbody and a victory roll. Punk cut him off with a back breaker, but Mysterio countered a GTS attempt into a huracanrana. Mysterio took out Mason Ryan, which gave Punk the chance to go for the GTS again. Mysterio avoided it again but couldn’t counter with a move of his own and Punk kicked him in the head for the win. This was a very good match and I always appreciate clean finishes.
Kharma in the ring said she had two childhood dreams. The first was to be a WWE wrestler. She tried out for the second season of Tough Enough but Jim Ross said she was too fat to be a WWE female wrestler. So she went to Japan and scrubbed floors in exchange for learning how to wrestle. She went to wrestling promotions in every corner of the world until finally her dream came true and she joined WWE.
Kharma then said her other dream was to be a mother and she will be because she is currently pregnant. She said that she can’t compete and risk the health of her child, but she will be back. She thanked the fans for letting her follow her dream. Kharma did a great job here and the promo was very well received by the audience.
The Bellas then came out. They made fun of Kharma for being fat. They congratulated her for finding a guy to hook up with. They mocked her for being unable to respond physically. Kharma teased going after them and they panicked. Kharma said she hopes they are still here when she comes back because now she has a new dream.
I had mixed feelings on this segment. On the one hand, I liked the way Kharma came off as sympathetic and likeable. It’s nice to see WWE portray a woman who isn’t drop dead gorgeous in a positive way. With that said, it’s going to be awfully hard to book her as a face when she comes back. It’s just so hard for anyone to buy people like Bellas as a physical threat trying to get heat on her in a match. They may be tempted to feud her with men quickly, and that has a whole different set of problems with it. I guess we’ll see.
Evan Bourne beat Jack Swagger. They tumbled together over the top rope early. Swagger sent Bourne into the apron and worked him over. Bourne then abruptly rolled up Swagger for the win. These last two weeks with Bourne and Swagger are like a perfect seminar on how to book to get nobody over.
R. Truth beat John Cena via count out. The story of the match was that Cena kept beating up Truth, with Truth getting no offense in. A frustrated Truth would retreat out of the ring, jaw at the fans, and then return to the ring to get beat up some more. Cena finally went after Truth on the outside, but Truth caught him with a punch as he was going over the barricade. Truth got back in the ring and Cena was counted out. This was a terrible finish and the match was completely counterproductive in getting over Truth as a challenger for Cena. Truth came out worse than he went in.
After the match, Truth threw a drink on a plant at ringside. It was soda so it’s unlikely to help him grow.
Final Thoughts:
I liked most of this show a lot. It had good wrestling and good build throughout the first three quarters of the show, although unfortunately the main event was completely counterproductive.
The Big News: Kharma announced her pregnancy and R. Truth got a fluke win over John Cena.
Show Analysis:
The opening segment had severe technical difficulties. R. Truth was at a merchandise table ranting and raving with no sound. They went to the commentators, with a five second or so delay between the audio and video feeds. They went back to R. Truth, who came through the audience yelling at people in John Cena merchandise. He went into the ring, and around this time the video started going out every 10 seconds or so. Truth said that everyone is conspiring against him.
John Cena interrupted by coming to the ring. He said Truth has gone off the deep end and asked Truth what is wrong with him. Truth said that it’s the people, and that ever since he stopped rapping and dancing they don’t like him anymore. Cena said that if Truth wants a match, he can have it. Truth said that was what he wanted. The GM then made Truth vs. Cena for Raw, with no little jimmies allowed at ringside. What about Virgil?
Dolph Ziggler beat Kofi Kingston. Ziggler worked over Kingston. Kingston came back with a clothesline and the boom drop but missed trouble in paradise. Ziggler applied a sleeper but Kingston escaped. Kingston missed the frog crossbody and Ziggler hit a famouser for two. Kingston then missed the S.O.S. and Ziggler used the zig zag for the win. This was good while it lasted.
Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez came out. They said that what happened to Big Show was an accident. Del Rio added that bad things happen to bad people. Del Rio said that Show owes him money for damaging his car. He then insincerely told Show to get well soon. Del Rio and Rodriguez play so well off each other.
Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres beat the Bellas. Eve was kind of in control when the Bellas did the switch and took over. Eve made her comeback with a northern lights bomb and got the tag to Kelly. Kelly came in with a whirlybird, stinkface, bulldog and famouser for the win. It’s weird seeing the stinkface return in the midst of a toned down product, but if someone’s going to use it that might as well be Kelly.
Michael Cole in the ring defended Alex Riley being fired by Miz. He then criticized the Raw GM for re-signing Riley. Wasn’t Riley signed to Smackdown? Cole called out Riley and reprimanded him for turning on Miz. Cole said Miz was like a father to Riley and that Miz is emotionally scarred by the betrayal. Cole kept ranting and raving until Riley told him to shut up. Riley called Cole annoying and arrogant like Miz. Cole responded by calling Riley a bastard.
Riley threw Cole down and then grabbed him by the neck, at which point Miz attacked Riley from behind. A brawl ensued with Miz initially getting the best of it. He kept yelling at Riley that he made Riley. Riley then made his comeback and beat up Miz around ringside. Miz ran off through the crowd.
CM Punk beat Rey Mysterio. Punk hit a back breaker and applied a figure four headlock. Mysterio came back with kicks, a tope, a top rope senton, a springboard crossbody and a victory roll. Punk cut him off with a back breaker, but Mysterio countered a GTS attempt into a huracanrana. Mysterio took out Mason Ryan, which gave Punk the chance to go for the GTS again. Mysterio avoided it again but couldn’t counter with a move of his own and Punk kicked him in the head for the win. This was a very good match and I always appreciate clean finishes.
Kharma in the ring said she had two childhood dreams. The first was to be a WWE wrestler. She tried out for the second season of Tough Enough but Jim Ross said she was too fat to be a WWE female wrestler. So she went to Japan and scrubbed floors in exchange for learning how to wrestle. She went to wrestling promotions in every corner of the world until finally her dream came true and she joined WWE.
Kharma then said her other dream was to be a mother and she will be because she is currently pregnant. She said that she can’t compete and risk the health of her child, but she will be back. She thanked the fans for letting her follow her dream. Kharma did a great job here and the promo was very well received by the audience.
The Bellas then came out. They made fun of Kharma for being fat. They congratulated her for finding a guy to hook up with. They mocked her for being unable to respond physically. Kharma teased going after them and they panicked. Kharma said she hopes they are still here when she comes back because now she has a new dream.
I had mixed feelings on this segment. On the one hand, I liked the way Kharma came off as sympathetic and likeable. It’s nice to see WWE portray a woman who isn’t drop dead gorgeous in a positive way. With that said, it’s going to be awfully hard to book her as a face when she comes back. It’s just so hard for anyone to buy people like Bellas as a physical threat trying to get heat on her in a match. They may be tempted to feud her with men quickly, and that has a whole different set of problems with it. I guess we’ll see.
Evan Bourne beat Jack Swagger. They tumbled together over the top rope early. Swagger sent Bourne into the apron and worked him over. Bourne then abruptly rolled up Swagger for the win. These last two weeks with Bourne and Swagger are like a perfect seminar on how to book to get nobody over.
R. Truth beat John Cena via count out. The story of the match was that Cena kept beating up Truth, with Truth getting no offense in. A frustrated Truth would retreat out of the ring, jaw at the fans, and then return to the ring to get beat up some more. Cena finally went after Truth on the outside, but Truth caught him with a punch as he was going over the barricade. Truth got back in the ring and Cena was counted out. This was a terrible finish and the match was completely counterproductive in getting over Truth as a challenger for Cena. Truth came out worse than he went in.
After the match, Truth threw a drink on a plant at ringside. It was soda so it’s unlikely to help him grow.
Final Thoughts:
I liked most of this show a lot. It had good wrestling and good build throughout the first three quarters of the show, although unfortunately the main event was completely counterproductive.
posted by Todd Martin at 10:21 PM
5 Comments:
I thought they did a good job of making Truth a real asshole here. You're right about him needing to be established as a threat though, and I hope that comes next week with his title match. To be honest though, I'm taking a real liking to the angry black man. He's liable to do just about anything.
EGM3 says: I'm skeptical of Karma's return since several times she said the forbidden W-word. If she is brought back she'll probably be bounced around like Mark Henry until she becomes meaningless.
Hopefully they are going to lighten up on "wrestling." Vince actually used the word in his two paragraph obit of Randy Savage, which I thought was a positive sign.
If Impact Wrestling (TNA) had similar technical difficulties, everybody would have buried them.
R. Truth got no favors during the beginning of the show with all the technical problems and with fans laughing during his serious angle outside the ring.
I thought Kong's promo was great. I am fairly certain that she will return as a face considering she will get a big pop when she returns, her promo and her confrontation with the Bella twins.
Truth is turning the tech issues into part of his angle, claiming it's part of the "conspiracy". Luckily, they haven't gone all the way and played the race card here, considering that hasn't worked in the past with African-American athletes on the roster (i.e. Booker T, D'Lo Brown, Shel Benjamin).
I felt Kharma actually stepped out of character to address the crowd. That said, whomever wrote for the Bellas to turn this into an angle was off base.
Alex Riley has yet to win a match since leaving NXT. It'd be nice to build him up before a PPV meeting with Miz.
Punk pinning Rey was not clean, not with Mason Ryan trying to interfere at the end. I say, in a rematch, the ref uses discretion after reviewing the last match, and ejects Ryan beofre the first bell. Then, you can say Punk could win cleanly.
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