WWE Raw Review 11/07/2011 - CM Punk Contract Signing

THE BIG NEWS: CM Punk tears up his newly vamped WWE contract and promises to walk away from the WWE with the title at Money in the Bank. Six days before Money in the Bank and two weeks after cutting one of the most memorable promos in WWE history, CM Punk reemerged from his temporary suspension with a smile on his face and a loudspeaker in his hands. He recapped what had transpired over the past couple of weeks and how he had been penalised for speaking his mind about WWE politics, passionately exclaiming that in his hands a microphone was not just a tool; it was power. He then explained that he wanted Vince to settle their contract negotiation inside the square circle later on in the show. This brought out John Cena who graciously cut out his usual lame comedy and actually delivered a fantastic, concise promo about how Punk shouldn't fall in the same trap of taking him for granted as numerous legendary figures in the past had done from Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kurt Angle and a nice mention of the late Eddie Guerrero. At this moment the two men were interuppted by the Raw General Manager (still in its unbearable anonymous gimmick form) with Michael Cole announcing that John Cena would be wrestling next in a handicap match. Punk humurously wished him good luck through the speaker. This was an intense start to the show with an impressively heated crowd and proof that Cena in a calm, tough man role can work the mic very well. After the segment I was both excited about Punk's upcoming confrontation with Vince and with his title match this Sunday against Cena and this is thanks to the fact that both men were allowed to be themselves and effectively demonstrate their passion. If only more modern rivalries would follow the same principle.... Handicap Match: John Cena defeated Nexus Tag Team Champions David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty

rating: 2

Cena began by outwrestling both men on the mat before enduring a lengthy beat-down and then recovering with his usual Cena comeback. Every time Cena tried to finish off McGillicutty however he fell victim to the numbers game with Otunga making the save. The finish saw him FU McGillicutty, then use a degree of intellect to actually throw his other opponent out of the ring before coming back to make the succesful pinfall. This was a convincingly hard fought victory for the champion and whilst these type of matches usually end up burying the opponents, I don't think it matters in the case of these two green, uninspiring Nexus members. The contract negotiation between CM Punk and Vince McMahon was advertised before an impressive video package promoted this Sunday's PPV bout between Mark Henry and Big Show. The producers responsible for this one really do deserve a huge round of applause for managing to make a match that is going to be all kinds of awful actually appear gripping and dramatically intriguing. Backstage Vince McMahon caught Dolph Ziggler, Drew Mcintyre and Vickie Guerrero in the act of imitating and insulting him and so mockingly ordered that two of his rising stars should prove their worth later on in a handicap match against The Big Show. This was followed up by Vince telling the whole world that they can go to hell in response to interviewer Scott Stanford's question about what he had to say to people about the CM Punk contract situation. Divas Match: Kelly Kelly defeated Melina via pinfall (DUD) This was a beauty and the beast contest. The beauty being Kelly Kelly's appearance and the beast being her horrendous wrestling capabilities. She is without question the worst worker on the roster and this match was once again the usual mistimed, poorly constructed shambles that these €œsmart, sexy and powerful Divas€ have turned into a sort of hideous art form. After getting a quick pinfall, the Divas champion was interruppted by the Bella Twins who had been offering inane commentary at the announcers desk and who then proceeded to continue with petty drivel about Kelly Kelly being overly skinny and having poor facial skin. Promos like this often make me think that I'm watching women in their mid-teens as opposed to their mid-twenties. The whole thing escalated into a mass scrap with Kelly Kelly attacking the twins, the twins gaining the advantage and then Eve Torres making a momentary save before also being taken down. In all this was just a gamut of screeching, yelling and botching. Kelly Kelly will defend the title this Sunday against Brie Bella. The only crowd response to that one will be the odd middle aged wolf whistle. Following this they did the angle where they put the ladders in the ring and have each of the superstars declare why they are going to be the victor in the upcoming Money in the Bank ladder match. The competitors came out one by one (except for an absent Rey Mysterio) and basically insulted one another whilst hyping up their own abilities. This segment seemed very low rent for two key reasons. One is that the process of one wrestler talking before being interuppted by another wrestler always seemes horribly rehearsed and that superstars mocking and belitting their upcoming opponents downgrades the value of the contest that they are supposed to be promoting. In the end the Raw GM stuck his anonymous nose in again and demanded that six of the eight money in the bank competitors would take part in a multi man tag match. Six Man Tag Team Clash: Alex Riley, Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne defeated The Miz, Jack Swagger and R-Truth via pinfall

rating: 2.5

Fun, fast paced match with Bourne taking the early beat-down from Miz and R-Truth before Kofi getting the first hot tag and running wild before enduring his own beat-down at the hands of Jack Swagger. In the end Riley got the final hot tag and pinned Swagger. Following the match, all hell break loose with Miz taking out Riley, Kofi taking out Miz, Truth laying out Kofi, Bourne laying out Truth and Del Rio arriving to lay out Bourne and take out everyone else with a ladder as he stood gloating inside the ring. There is enough talent in this Money in the Bank ladder match to ensure a quality tussle but this go home segment did little to arouse much interest. A quality video package recapped the Vince/Punk/Cena storyline. Handicap Match: Big Show versus Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler resulted in a double count-out (DUD) Not much of a match with Show dominating Mcintyre inside the ring and on the outside whilst Ziggler hid under the ring apron like any self-respecting rising star should (note sarcasm!). The finish came when Show was busy decimating McIntyre up the ramp leading both men to be counted out. Up the ramp Big Show threw Mcintyre into the big WWE logo and was about to chokeslam him off the stage before Mark Henry arrived to sphere all three of them over the edge. That bump is probably the most exercise Henry has endured in months. In all, this helped to hype up Henry as a dominant force but the WWE have tried for so many years to push him as a monster and failed so badly every time that you wonder why they insist on going through it all over again. Contract Negotiation Main Event between CM Punk and Vince McMahon If I gave a star rating for segments then this would be close to the full five. It began with Vince walking out with his cocky, characteristic walk and then reentering until he got the reaction that he desired. He was holding the contract and basically sat down at the table inside the middle of the ring, childishly mocked Punk and casually asked the man to come out and get the whole thing over with. Punk himself was in no mood for being belitted though. After mocking Vince's walk he proceeded to stop his boss dead in his tracks as he spoke about a new contract which demanded that he would basically be the new poster boy of the company. He told Vince that his new contract entailed that he would be allowed his own private jet, that his face would be on the tiatron and that they would turn his life story into a wwe movie. He then demanded that Vince apologise for suspending him, to the fans for not listening to them and to his talented fellow wrestlers and companions who he had unmercifully fired. He then called Vince a bully and rejoiced in watching him have to squeeze out an apology. Cena came out however and told Punk that while many times he wanted to badly punch his boss in the face he didn't because he loved the company and he loved his fans. He called the two men selfish and petty and labelled Punk as a hypocrite for being prepared to turn his back on something that he claimed to love. Punk then passionately got in Cena's face and said that Cena loved playing the role of the underdog but as a ten times champion he had become the very thing that he hated, a dynasty like the New York Yankees. This provoked Cena into punching his foe and that was the last straw for Punk who dashed up the ramp and tore up his new contract. Despite being offered everything under the sun, he clearly valued his dignity more and said that after Sunday when he won the title he could quite happily go off and be the best wrestler in the world somewhere else. VERDICT: The WWE have clearly put all their eggs into one basket for the upcoming Pay Per View but luckily for them that basket happens to be filled with gold. Cena played his part on this show but CM Punk has basically single handedly made Money in the Bank a valuable purchase. He has gripped fans with his undying passion and his promise to leave with the WWE Title after winning on Sunday has created a genuinely intriguing situation surrounding his bout with the champion. Punk, Vince and Cena played their part in an amazing go-home angle with Vince being dragged off his high-horse and Cena and Punk sticking rigidly to their principles. Both opponents have respect for one another but both also want to desperately kick the others teeth down their throat and their intense confrontations has raised the intensity and interest of the crowd and indeed at the moment the company in general.