It's been a couple of years since I've done this, but after I resigned from http://www.2xzone.com/ last weekend, I resolved that I would start doing reviews of WWE programming in this space.
Monday Night Raw Supershow is in Kansas City this week. Amazingly, no one took a shot at the luckless Chiefs, who opened the NFL season at 0-3 after winning the AFC West last year.
Triple H, the "Chief Operating Officer", opens the show. Footage is played of Miz & R-Truth cutting a promo following the Night of Champions PPV on 9/18, and, then, the lame, insincere apology for referee abuse in that same PPV, given directly to Triple H the next night. HHH fired them anyway, so the "$250,000" fines handed to them were just a harbinger of things to come. World champion Mark Henry was also hit with a similar fine for his abusive actions toward announcers Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler on last week's show. Lawler is in absentia, with Booker T moving over from Friday Night Smackdown to fill in. More on him later.
A parade of crybaby heels began with US Champion Dolph Ziggler and his valet, Vickie Guerrero, whose lack of entrance music and stale gimmick make her ripe for reassignment, even if management doesn't see it. Ziggler got some publicity from his match vs. Zack Ryder last week after actor Hugh Jackman, acting as a guest cornerman for Ryder, clocked the arrogant Ziggler after Guerrero was ejected for interference. Intercontinental champion Cody Rhodes, the WWE's answer to the Phantom of the Opera, was next, followed by Christian, who has been saddled with a whiner gimmick again.
The following matches were made:
1. Christian has a gauntlet to run through over the next week, starting with John Cena, followed by Randy Orton on Smackdown, and Sheamus at Hell in a Cell on Sunday.
2. Ziggler defends vs. Ryder.
3. Rhodes' arrogant smack talk gets him a IC title defense in a battle royal, which is our first match.
Rhodes won thanks to Christian interfering with Sheamus and the use of his protective faceguard, which he really no longer needs, an example of the creative team riding a gimmick far past its expiration point.
Beth Phoenix & Natalya Niedhart defeated Divas champ Kelly Kelly & Eve Torres in a return from last week, with Phoenix earning another title match vs. Kelly by pinning the champ with the Glam Slam.
World champ Mark Henry's match vs. Great Khali never started because Henry ambushed Khali before the bell with a belt shot and the World's Strongest Slam.
WWE Champ John Cena came out and cut a promo putting over the Hell in a Cell three way vs. CM Punk & Alberto Del Rio. The challengers would join the announce team in short order while Cena faced off with Christian. Cena won when Del Rio attacked, leading to a DQ. Bad idea here, as it devalues all concerned. Punk made the save, this despite Christian being tossed to the announce table, raising Punk's ire.
Ziggler needed a distraction from Guerrero and interference from Jack Swagger to beat Ryder, but the post-match double-team on Ryder led to the tag champs, "Air Boom" (Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne) rescuing Ryder. Smackdown GM Theodore Long then made it a 6-man tag, daring the heels to find a partner. That partner was presumed to be Mason Ryan, just back from the disabled list, but, at a critical juncture, Ryan turned on Swagger & Ziggler and left Ziggler all alone for Ryder to collect an immediate receipt. A US title do-over is likely now for Sunday, though one hasn't been announced yet.
Punk defeated Del Rio by pin after a crescent kick to the back of the head. Cena was on commentary, and Punk served a receipt by tossing Del Rio to the announce desk. The camera missed Del Rio's houseboy/ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, the love child of Wayne Newton & Desi Arnaz, attacking Punk after, but Cena prevented him from escaping, trapping the hapless Rodriguez in the cell as it was lowered to the floor. Punk & Cena hit their finishers on Rodriguez in succession, but Del Rio laid them both out with chair shots to end the show.
Meanwhile, Triple H's problems will continue as former tag champ David Otunga met first with VP/Talent Relations John Lauranitis, then convened a meeting of Ziggler, Rhodes, Christian, & Guerrero to discuss the prospect of a lawsuit, charging unsafe working conditions. So Otunga is now being repackaged as a locker room lawyer. He does own a degree from Harvard Law School, but all roads in this angle obviously lead to the return of CEO/Chairman Vince McMahon, before the end of the year. And that is a mistake that shouldn't happen.
McMahon's been down this road before, using others to sabotage someone's administration. Did it to his own daughter, Stephanie, on Smackdown 8 years ago, and the only ones in this drama who were around then are Cena, HHH, & Christian, and of those three, only Cena was a Smackdown regular at the time. HHH, of course, reaped the benefits, as he & Stephanie were wed after she was written off television. Because McMahon believes the general audience won't remember that, he won't allow it to be referenced, but he should. It's plot holes like that one that insult the viewers' intelligence, but then again, McMahon's been doing that for years.
Bottom line is, nothing good can come out of this angle. It never does.
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