WWE Raw Review 21/11/11 - John Cena Causes Awesome Truth Split

The Big News: John Cena caused the break-up of Awesome Truth with Miz laying out Truth to close the show. Meanwhile Punk and Ziggler faced one another in a match of the year candidate and it was announced that Punk would defend his WWE title next week against Alberto Del Rio. In a Nutshell: The CM Punk era opens with a bang! CM Punk came out to start the show. He told a story about the time when his teacher in first grade had asked all the pupils the standard question about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Some he said had desired to be astronauts and others fireman and policemen but when questioned he had answered that all he wanted to be was a professional wrestler. Not a sports entertainer he was careful to note but a professional wrestler. He talked about how he had made that wish come true and risen from the very bottom of the wrestling food chain right up to the WWE and wanted everyone to know how special it was for him to walk out of Madison Square Garden as the WWE champion. He explained that this was a belt that he had earned on his own terms without ever trying to be someone else and that now it was going to stay around the shoulders of the new face of the WWE. He then started to talk about change bringing up another request for the WWE ice cream bars and saying that he wanted John Laurinaitis out of the company. This brought out Laurinaitis who wanted to congratulate him. Punk no-sold his false compliment by responding that he couldn't hear over the chants telling him that he sucked. Punk then told Laurinaitis that he wanted him out because he was nothing more than a soul sucking, middle management douche. Laurinaitis humorously corrected Punk by telling him that he was actually upper management before trying to convince Punk that he too had a wild side and unleashed it by announcing that next week Del Rio would be granted his rematch for the wwe title. Punk mocked this attempt at rebellion and told Laurinaitis that he would rather face Del Rio right now. Laurinaitis however said that Punk would be facing Dolph Ziggler on tonight's show. Punk said that there was nothing creative or innovative about that decision because the fans clearly wanted to see Zack Ryder take on Dolph Ziggler. Laurinaitis responded by saying that Ziggler was already scheduled to face Alberto Del Rio. Punk finished the segment by saying that tonight he would beat Dolph Ziggler, then next week he would beat Alberto Del Rio and that some day, somebody would beat some sense into John Laurinaitis. 1) Alberto Del Rio defeated Zack Ryder via submission Very short match. Del Rio worked the arm from the off with Ryder getting in a brief flurry of offence by hitting a flapjack and his bro kick. Del Rio then countered a Rough Ryder into a bodydrop then executed an enziguri on his opponent before making him tap immediately to the crossarmbreaker. * They showed a graphic of the Rock Bottom on Cena from Survivor Series and promised that Cena would have his response later on in the show. 2) Sheamus defeated Jack Swagger via pinfall Similar match to last week with Swagger grounding the Irishman and Sheamus worming his way out of holds to land his power moves. They build fluidly towards a tidy finish as Swagger avoided the brogue kick and took Sheamus down with the ankle lock before Sheamus kicked his way out of harm and planted Swagger with the kick second time of asking. ** ½ Kevin Nash cut a promo from the top of the ramp. He said that last night he sat in the back of Madison Square Garden and wondered what might have been. It was an arena which had many fond memories for him such as when he defeated Bob Backlund in eight seconds and where four friends (himself, Shawn, Triple H and Scott Hall) all put their friendship above the business in the infamous curtain call incident. He then said that when he returned to the wwe he had discovered to his dismay that one of those friends Triple H had become merely his boss. He explained that Survivor Series should have been himself and Hunter taking on Cena and Rock but it didn't happen because Triple H is gone with his neck broken at the hands of his own sledgehammer. He finished by saying that whilst Survivor Series may have gone one thing clear to him is that he is the only survivor of their group. Cody Rhodes came down to the ring before his match to cut a promo about losing the mask and the freedom it has granted him before being interrupted by Santino. Unfortunately he still had the stupid voice and fifties horror laugh. 3) Cody Rhodes defeated Santino via pinfall Very quick tussle as one would expect with Rhodes avoiding the cobra and planting Santino with a cross Rhodes for the pin. ½ * Post-match Cody Rhodes went over to the announce table to address Booker T's criticisms at commentary before splashing some water in his face. Dolph Ziggler put over his two wins at Survivor Series in a backstage interview and then argued that he was the new face of the wwe, not CM Punk. 4) CM Punk defeated Dolph Ziggler via pinfall Another great night for these two. They began with some mesmerising chain wrestling exchanging side headlocks before pulling off an incredible sequence that saw Dolph jump over Punk with Punk pausing in the middle of the ring, forcing Dolph between his legs, ducking under Dolph's jump and then Dolph flipping over Punk and scampering to the outside after struggling to make enough contact for a sunset flip. Dolph returned to the ring and came back on the offence with a neckbreaker, stomps and an elbow. He continued on the assault and went for another neckbreaker which Punk reversed into a backslide pin for a two count. Dolph regained momentum with a clothesline and a facelock with Punk getting in some rights and a back supplex to break the hold. With Dolph in the corner, Vickie then attempted to distract Punk by blowing him a kiss which the straight edge superstar laughed off before throwing an emerging Dolph into the corner. He then attempted his high knee but Dolph got out of dodge as Punk slowly collapsed to the floor outside leaving Dolph to celebrate with a headstand. A series of near falls then escalated towards the conclusion. Punk hit the knee and a bulldog for a two count, Dolph then moved out of the way before Punk could land his elbow and planted his opponent with a five star dropkick when he came towards him, Ziggler then tried to set up Punk on the top rope for a superplex but Punk knocked him down and hit his elbow for another two count. Punk then attempted the GTS but Ziggler countered it into a reverse supplex and then transitioned the move into a pinfall for a two count of his own. Finally Punk reversed a fame asser attempt into a powerbomb and then hit the GTS for the pinfall victory. **** 1/2 Big Show came out to the top of the ramp with a mic and said that at Survivor Series he had proven that he was stronger than the worlds strongest man and that whilst Henry may have ended the night as champion he had to be carted out of the building with his belt. Show then motioned with his fist as a sign of what Henry could expect to find when he returns from his injury. Backstage Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox were playing as themselves in the latest WWE videogame only to be interrupted by Natalya and Beth Phoenix who commented on the game's realism before cruelly adding that the barbie dolls probably don't cry on the game like they do in real life. I was actually trying to pay more attention to the game to see if art imitated life in regards to Kelly's rope running. 5) Wade Barrett defeated Kofi Kingston via pinfall Wade had Kofi set up for wasteland early but Orton's music hit to distract him and the viper proceeded to watch the remainder of the match at ringside. Solid brawler versus high flyer display that culminated in Kofi getting a near fall with a cross body, Barrett avoiding a boom drop attempt but Kofi regaining the advantage with a kick around the corner ropes. Kofi then tried a springboard but Barrett kicked the ropes and dropped a flustered Kofi with the wasteland. ** ½ John Cena came out to discuss the events of the previous night. He did his usual joke spot before running down to the ring and then excitedly summed up all the energy in the building whilst once again greeted by thunderous boos from the crowd. Cena then spoke of how himself and The Rock were able to co-exist against the odds but that Rock ended up hitting him with a rock bottom following on from some choice words between the pair. He then put over Mania as being exactly what it needed to be and that is a battle between the two biggest.... But before he could finish that sentence Miz emerged with Truth to bring Cena back to reality as they spoke about how he was showed up by The Rock at Survivor Series with 17,000, fans chanting €œDon't tag Cena€ which of course prompted the crowd at present to repeat that exact chant. Truth then wound up Cena some more by informing him that Rock would be putting boots to asses at Wrestlemania in Miami. Cena proceeded to insult both men with some jokes about their looks before turning Miz and Truth against one another by letting them know what they said about the other behind their back. Cena then left them to ponder his words as he departed the ring. Miz tried to persuade Truth that Cena was just trying to set them against one another and called Truth stupid for not comprehending what had just happened. Truth didn't appreciate being called stupid though and the two men got in each other's face with Miz pushing Truth and Truth knocking Miz to the mat. Miz then patched things up and convinced Truth that they should head after Cena but as they were walking up the ramp he pasted Truth with the skull crushing finale to end the show. Analysis: The Good: CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler stole the show in a perfect champion vs champion match in which Punk pulled off the victory but Ziggler was made to look ultra competitive in defeat. It was a tight, back and forth contest where the crowd were rooting for the face but respected the efforts of the heel with both men exhuming a ton of passion in the build up towards the finale. Ziggler's really starting to show signs of greatness as a heel worker with his mid-match handstand celebration inside the middle of the ring being a particularly glorious highlight. Meanwhile Punk has now made the adjustment to working as a face and is starting to interact with the crowd on a very intimate level during his matches. These are the kind of bouts that are pivotal to getting a midcarder noticed and building them up towards the main event scene and if I was a booker I would suggest that Ziggler shortly drop the US title to Zack Ryder, win the Royal Rumble and go on to face Punk for the WWE title at Wrestlemania. They have great chemistry and could put on the type of match that would leave fans with more than just The Rock and John Cena on their minds when they left the building. Punk should also be complimented for his engaging promo which started the broadcast. With so many title changes and arbitrary back and forth verbal battles about being the number one contender over the past several months, it was refreshing for a champion to actually appear human and likeable and express how much it meant to be holding the gold which he tied in with a nice background story about how wrestling is something that he genuinely always wanted to do back from when he was in elementary school and how it has been his obsession ever since he could remember. When a wrestler cares this much about the title, it makes the fans care about him holding that title and that's exactly what his opening speech accomplished. The aftermath of Barrett captaining his team to victory against Orton was handled nicely as Orton intently watched over Barrett's victory against Kofi Kingston and then teased attacking him in a neat post-match silent exchange. Another feud which keeps Orton away from the title can only be a good thing and should do wonders for Barrett who has kind of fallen off the radar this past year. The seeds were nicely planted for a Cody/Booker feud with Cody splashing the commentator with water and whilst I usually object to announcers feuding either with themselves or superstars, Booker is not so far removed from the ring and could actually give Cody a good rub within their feud. I'm enjoying these promos near the titantron. It saves valuable time without every single wrestler having to walk to the ring and back again for the sake of a short piece of mic work and has a more grandstand feel than simply standing between the ropes to talk. For solo promos at least I hope they become a mainstay. The Bad: It seemed that a great opportunity for drama was missed in the main event promo involving Cena. Miz and R-Truth. Cena smiling off the humiliation from the night before played nicely into the Miz callously reminding him about all the insulting chants and how Rock stole the show but instead of pondering these issues, Cena merely responded with some wisecracks about his two rivals who then inexplicably turned on one another whilst Cena rode off into the sunset. In contrast to the human element that Punk exhibited at the start of the show, Cena proved once again here that his character is merely a robot who doesn't seem to care that the fans boo him and doesn't seem to care about The Rock belittling him and just keeps on grinning and rising above the hate. Had Cena solemnly walked off after The Miz had torn into him then it actually could have posed some intriguing questions about Cena's state of mind and would have also presented a chance for Miz and Truth to get some heat by delivering some more bullying remarks as Cena departed the arena. I may be made to eat my words if Cena is in fact in denial about his real feelings surrounding the events at Madison Square Garden but at present it feels that merchandise is just that much more important than characterisation. On a positive note though , it's probably better for Miz and Truth to engage in a serious feud against one another as opposed to doing midcard comedy as a unit. Both are very good on the mic when handed proper material and have far more chance of getting themselves over fighting each other than being buried by main eventers. After delivering two really good promos on the past episodes of Raw, Nash looked a little lost out there on this show. He messed up his opening line and didn't seem as convincing in his emotion. The Ugly: This is sort of becoming a running gag now that whenever Del Rio loses, some poor sap has to do the job the week after. In this case that poor sap happened to be Zack Ryder who was made to look like an incompetent joke against the former champion just as he was starting to really build a rapport with the fans. Sometimes it's as if the company are actively trying not to make new stars and it's even more amazing that on a night when they did everything perfectly with Punk and Ziggler they began the night by doing the exact opposite in a match with Del Rio and Ryder that set Ryder back and didn't get any more heat for the Mexican. Even a short match would have been excusable if Ryder had taken a long time to tap to the crossarmbreaker in a finish that would have promoted both the deadliness of the submission and the toughness of the rising babyface. Verdict: On the whole this was a refreshing episode of Raw with some fantastic wrestling and a really promising night for the midcarders not named Zack Ryder. ****