Live from Atlanta The Big News: A pre-taped promo was aired in which The Rock agreed to partner John Cena at Survivor Series. Meanwhile The Muppets had fun on Raw, CM Punk became the number one contender to Del Rio's world title and John Cena defeated The Miz in the main event of the show. In a Nutshell: The Muppets appeared on a show that felt like it was both written and booked by a bunch of muppets backstage Rock was on the titantron to start the show with a pre-recorded promo. He spoke about how himself and John Cena represented different eras and different generations (you know a bit like how Justin Bieber and Bob Dylan represent different generations) and then shot down Cena's proposal to be on his team at Surivor Series with a resounding Hell no asking why he would want to slap Cena's hand as his tag partner when he would much rather just slap the lips on his face. Then he said however that he had started to listen to all the millions of twitter followers who had pleaded for him to team up with Cena and had decided that for the sake of the fans and because Team Bring It despise Miz and Truth he would in actual fact accept Cena's offer to be his tag team partner at Survivor Series. Before all the little Cena fans got too excited though he wanted to make it clear to Cena that the beating he gave Miz and Truth would be just a small taster of the ass whooping he was going to hand to him at Wrestlemania. Whilst typically well delivered from the great one this promo actually brought to attention a crucial point albeit why would The Rock want to partner John Cena at Surivor Series? Before when the match was just booked as a traditional tag match it made sense that from a storyline perspective the company were trying to spice things up by forcing the two wrestlemania opponents to be on the same team. But when actually giving the option to the superstars themselves it appears somewhat baffling that Cena and Rock would be willing to co-exist. Rock has no reason to hate Miz and R-Truth and his logic about despising them made very little sense seeing as he does not occupy a regular slot on Raw and so has nothing to do with their current revolution. All this promo really accomplished was to make fans more excited about Rock and Cena locking horns at Wrestlemania and therefore a tag match with Cena and a partner versus Rock and a partner at the next PPV would actually have been a more dramatically satisfying and logical route to go down. Match: Mark Henry defeated CM Punk via DQ Before the match they replayed the ring collapsing from Vengeance. John Laurenitis then came down and confirmed that if Punk won this match then he would be given a title shot at Del Rio. Yes you read that right. If Punk could beat a world champion, he would be granted a title shot at another world champion. They tied up and Henry quickly knocked Punk down with some fists and stomps in the corner. Henry then proceeded to whip Punk forward before aggressively whipping him back into the ring post. Punk struck back with some kicks and got a sleeper hold on the big man only to be thrust forward onto the mat. Henry then knocked Punk over the ropes but Punk hung on, landed a springboard clothesline to take Henry down and then executed the Macho Man Elbow for a two count. At this point Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez emerged. Rodriguez climbed into the ring, hammered away at Henry with some fists and then took of his shoe and clobbered him some more to cause the disqualification. * Post-match a frustrated Punk launched himself out at Del Rio with a suicide dive. Del Rio then scampered so Punk turned his attention to Rodriguez. He thought about hitting him but then witnessed Henry stirring and so instead he threw Ricardo inside the ring straight into a worlds strongest slam. This was a lose/lose situation on paper so no surprise to see it fare the same fate in execution. Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy were up on a table arranged near the titantron. They did a little introduction before Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger interfered and basically expressed their annoyance that so much attention was being given to these well muppets. Kermit told Swagger that they didn't want any trouble from Swagger or his mother. An offended Vickie then engaged in a verbal excuse me battle with Miss Piggy. It was unfortunately not a patch on the famous woo off in 2005 between Kurt Angle and Ric Flair. Santino then arrived and told Swagger that he should stop bullying Kermit and Piggy and instead focus on warming up for his upcoming match which would of course be a continuation of the epic Santino/Swagger series. Swagger said he'd have Dolph in his corner but Santino informed him that Dolph would be busy in action against Zak Ryder. Kelly Kelly then emerged and kissed Kermit the Frog who did quite a majestic job of selling his delirious delight. Eve won the Divas Costume Battle Royal to become the number one contender for the Divas Title All the Divas were dressed as famous characters except Kelly Kelly who just looked like she belonged on the Godfather's Ho Train. Beth Phoenix provided commentary as a quick series of eliminations boiled the field down to the quartet of Natalya, Kelly, Eve and Alicia Fox. The valiant heel took care of Kelly and Fox before Eve sneakily eliminated Natalya. Talk about a role reversal. ½ * In another backwards move Natalya and Beth, the heels, were then outnumbered by the faces and wisely decided to scamper. This could of course all be excused if the wwe are planning to slowly turn Natalya babyface and challenge Beth for the title in a couple of months time. On a positive note, I thought Eve and Beth did a hell of a job at Vengeance and I'm looking forward to see if they can recreate the same magic in their rematch. In the back Dr Bunson was busy creating an energy drink that he wanted Beaker to send to Santino. Beaker eagerly went on his way only to be interrupted by Christian who subsequently dropped the ingredients out onto the floor before telling him better luck next time nerd. Christian getting so agitated by this muppet and taking so much pleasure in bullying him really was a thing of beauty. Sheamus then emerged. Christian scampered and Sheamus told Beaker that he wouldn't be able to make the family reunion later in the year. He then spiked Beaker's ginger hair before departing. This wasn't the right segment for two upper midcarders but it was very funny nonetheless. Tag Match: Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett defeated Air Boom via pinfall Cody and Bourne locked up to start with Rhodes forcing his opponent into an overhead wristlock. Evan wrestled out and landed some kicks and then tagged in Kofi who came flying in with a right fist. Kofi took control for a while but after knocking Barrett off the ring apron, Cody kicked the ropes to send him tumbling to the mat. Kofi then suffered an extended beat down but executed a monkey flip on Rhodes as double tags were made. Bourne got some kicks in on Barrett and attempted a hurrancana which Barrett reversed to set up Bourne for the barrier wasteland which Bourne then reversed into a successful DDT manoeuvre Awesome spot right there. Rhodes then broke up the pin and sent an emerging Kofi to the outside whilst Bourne got up, ready to plant Barrett with the shooting star press. Wade recovered to grab him mid-air however and took him to the mat with the barrier wasteland second time of asking. ** Very nice finishing segment though it's kind of silly to have the tag team holders lose to what I assume is only a temporary tandem in Barrett and Rhodes. The idea of a champion is for them to represent the pinnacle of their division and if they are so comfortably beaten then what are they doing as champs in the first place. Post-match Christian arrived to attack Kofi before Sheamus cleared house of all the heels. I guess this could well be planting the seeds for a survivor series multi-man. We got a shot of the old muppets Statler and Waldorf watching the action from a booth up above. Statler did the what chant and Wardorf said that we've gone from Stone Cold Steve Austin to two men who belong in the stone age. Punk walked into Laurenitis' office and wanted to know if he thought that what he saw in the ring was fair and impartial. Laurenitis said that Punk was still allowed his match at Survivor Series so long as Del Rio agreed to give him one. So remind me what was the point of that farcically booked number one contenders match again? Match: Big Show defeated Alberto Del Rio via pinfall What they attempted and executed was fine with Del Rio grounding Show with a series of holds on both his arms and legs. The exasperated selling on behalf of both men was very well conveyed but the problem was that no-one cared and thus the dull periods of silence meant that the match seemed to drag on forever. Eventually however Show snapped his way out of a leglock and managed to evoke some emotion from the crowd as he rose to attempt a chokeslam on his opponent. Del Rio thwarted it however and kicked at the giants knees before dropping him with a DDT for a near fall. Del Rio then attempted a rope assisted enziguri but was hit with Big Show's knockout punch whilst in mid-air. And there's another champion just beaten on free tv in order to hype up the challenger for the other world title. ** What are the odds on Del Rio squashing some poor midcarder next week in a vain attempt to build back his heat? Post-match CM Punk arrived and grabbed the mic along with a bottle of water. He then entered the ring, poured the water on Del Rio's face and told him quite plainly that he was going to lock him in the anaconda vice until Del Rio agreed to give him the title shot. And that's exactly what happened with Punk confirming to the crowd that the champion had said yes. The angle itself was pretty cool but everything else from the contrived manner in which it was set up by Laurenitis to the stupid match booking helped to make it a failure. Punk should've just done this last week and then we could have had a proper non-convoluted built based on that rare art of two men wanting to beat the crap out of one another for the sake of wearing the gold. There was no need for Henry, Show nor Laurenitis to be involved in any of this. Backstage Gonzo told Fonzy that he could be a wwe champ if he put his mind to it. Cue Swagger and Ziggler who stretched out his arms and tied them around his face. Fozzy was sensitive to his buddy's pain whilst Gonzo wondered how they knew that he needed a rearrangement. They aired a trailer for the Muppets Movie. Santino defeated Jack Swagger via pinfall Basic guest star comedy match. Swagger had Santino locked in the Ankle Lock but Santino wormed his way out of it to send Swagger into the ropes. An exhausted Santino was then handed the energy drink by Beaker in a nice touch of continuity before choking on the substance, spitting it out into Swagger's face and using the distraction for the sneaky pinfall. ½ * If wwe logic is anything to go by then Swagger will have another hype video package on next weeks Raw. Zak Ryder defeated Dolph Ziggler via pinfall (MATCH OF THE NIGHT) Fluid exchange to start as both men bounced across the ropes like wild animals whilst leapfrogging one another along the way. Zigger got the advantage with a shoulder block but Ryder retaliated with some armdrags. Solid momentum was maintained throughout towards a very confusing finish which saw Ryder initially rewarded the match as the ref missed Ziggler's foot on the ropes during a pinfall attempt. The ref then spotted this however and allowed the match to continue but despite this scenario presenting the perfect opportunity for Ryder to look good in defeat, he then proceeded to win away, holding the ropes to thwart the zig zag before planting Dolph with the Rough Rider. ** 1/2 Stop me if you've heard this one before but for the third time on the night a champion was defeated on tv for free. What on earth has happened to the age proven formula of challengers and champions being treated as equals before facing off on PPV to determine who the better man is. Video package from last weeks Raw centring on Nash taking out Hunter with a sledgehammer. It was announced that Triple H would be out for five weeks and confirmed that Nash had been resigned and would be on Raw next week. Maybe he can bring Hall and Waltman with him, after all the company is dying out for some fresh main event talent. Michael Cole stood up on the announce desk with a microphone and brought everyone to his attention. Despite having plugged his advertised challenge all night he then claimed that JR had not turned up because he was suffering from inflammable bowel disorder. Oh the hilarity! He continued in the same vein by holding out a diaper and claiming that JR should have worn it coming down to the ring. Former wwe talent Lance Storm recently appeared on a wrestling observer podcast and said that he was boycotting this show because of the incessant JR burials. More to the point though is why on earth JR continues to allow himself to be treated as Vince McMahon's weekly source of humiliation. Doesn't he realise that the wwe need him much more than he needs the wwe? We got another shot of Statler and Waldorf who said the only thing worse than listening to Michael Cole was.... nothing. Backstage Miss Piggy was feeling Morrisons abs and wondering if they could go out to a restaurant (with a jealous Melina in tow that segment would be money). Morrison politely declined and instead presented Piggy with Hornswoggle who had a Piggy tattoo on his ankle. Hornswoggle kissed her and Piggy hit him in the gut. She then tended to Hornswoggle who appeared to enjoy the attention. Kermit commented on how this was even weirder than their show before being bagged by Rhodes. Up in the booth Statler did Cena's You can't see me hand taunt to which Waldorf replied that he couldn't see anything. Statler then got dizzy from shaking his hand and fell off his chair. These two were quite great. Match: John Cena defeated The Miz via submission Cena overpowered Miz early on and took him down with a fishermans supplex and a dropkick before missing a splash that effectively got Miz back into the match. Miz then worked over Cena with some hard kicks and knees to the back and shots to the face before Cena made his comeback building towards an attitude adjustment which Miz reversed into a DDT. Miz then came off the ropes and tried to kick Cena in the face but Cena ducked and swept up the legs of his opponent to lock him in the STF. Miz escaped and took out Cena with his back/neckbreaker combo and then called for the skull crushing finale. Cena landed his top rope leg drop after initially being thwarted before going for an another AA only for Miz to capitalise with another DDT. Cena then sent Miz to the barricade but he was attacked from the audience by R-Truth wearing a scream mask. Miz used the distraction to throw Cena in the ring and tried to capitalise with an STF but Cena just reversed this into a STF for the submission win. ** Post-match Cena then took out Truth with an AA before taking off the scream mask to expose his face. Broadcast then ended with the poster boy smiling like he didn't have a care in the world. Verdict: Had this been a muppet show which happened to feature wrestlers then it might have been a success as I found the majority of their comedy enjoyable and appreciated the the manner in which they were given all encompassing roles around the vicinity of the building. As a wrestling show however this was a downright appalling edition of Raw rounding off what has been one of the worst months in the history of the show. Let's start with the Cena/Rock fiasco. To begin the show Rock tried to convince everyone that the threat of Miz and Truth was basically the reason why he had agreed to partner Cena at Survivor Series. In the main event however these two apparently dangerous, despicable heels were so incompetent that they couldn't even take advantage of Cena with the element of surprise at their disposal leading Cena to leave them both laying as the show went off the air. So what on earth does he need The Rock for then and more importantly why on earth does The Rock want to help him? Then there is the fact that the company have just lost all sense of how to build up effective champions with no less than three title holders losing cleanly in the middle of the ring. Why are the separate world champions and challengers intermingling in order to develop their feuds? And if Big Show just beat Alberto Del Rio then wouldn't it stand to reason that he'd be pretty confident of taking away his title instead of focusing on Mark Henry? And if they want Zak Ryder to defeat Dolph Ziggler then why not just make Ryder the United States champion? It's this complete lack of long term planning and logic coupled with some needlessly complicated booking that at the moment is effectively turning Raw into something of a joke.