WWE Monday Night RAW 6/4/2012
The BI-LO Center Greenville, SC
Michael Cole interviews John Cena.
Just when we thought that WWE was toning down Michael Cole's heel persona, they swerved us all. Cole starts right out the gate with his angry face on and spends the first few minutes throwing everything that the Big Show has done in Cena's lap. It was almost like we had travelled back in time one year when Cole was the biggest heel in the company due to his overbearing commentary. I think this is a bad thing. What we don't need is Cole back on the headset burying talent when we are on the cusp of a major youth movement. Bad thing indeed.
John Cena defends himself, and they go back and forth. This brings out Big Johnny who gives Cena the chance to pick his opponent for tonight like Big Show did last week. Cena picks Michael Cole.
Great. I guess it wasn't enough that I paid $45 to see a Pay Per View headlined by that Cena/Laurinaitis abortion. But now the main event for tonight's show could very well top that as the years worst match. And I decided not to drink tonight, what was I thinking?
Non-Title: Sheamus© vs Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler started out on fire tonight. Watching this match made me think that Ziggles took the advice that Paul Heyman gave to all the young talent on Twitter last week. He said the up and coming talent needs to “Step Up, Stand Up and Get Noticed.” It's all about maximizing your opportunities in this business and Ziggler is doing just that.
As for Sheamus, he is doing great with what he has been given. You have to respect the guy for everything he is doing on Smackdown. Randy Orton getting Suspended, and a very shallow talent roster has put a huge strain on "The Great White" to carry "The B Show", but I have faith that "The Milky One" can do it.
Finish: Ziggler eats a Brogue Kick and sells it like a shotgun blast to the chest. Fin.
Winner: Sheamus©
Post Match: Del Rio attacks Sheamus on the ramp and puts him in the cross armbreaker while Sheamus' body hangs off the stage.
Nice touch that has me wanting to see their match at No Way Out a lot more than I did before.
David Otunga lets Big Johnny know that Vince McMahon will be giving Laurinaitis a job performance review next week.
So the most evil man in WWE history will be giving Big Johnny a progress report? That should be interesting...
Sin Cara vs Hunico
This was Sin Cara's first match back on RAW since he got injured. I missed his return on Smackdown this week, but he looked good tonight. A little sloppy, but I think that the terrible lighting they use for his matches, combined with working under a mask has a lot to do with the mistakes he makes in the ring. So I tend to cut the guy some slack.
Finish: Head Scissors into a face plant on Hunico sets up the three count.
Winner: Sin Cara
Ryback vs Arthur Rosenburg and Stan Stanski
The jobbers take the mic and give us one of the worst promos/poems of all time as they speak the entire thing in unison. And yes, one of the guy's name is Stan Stanski. Unbelievable. Ryback continues the Goldberg routine and this was another squash as expected.
Finish: Ryback picks up both guys and delivers a Samoan Drop. He then stacks them in the ring and pins them both.
Winner: Ryback
Non-Title: CM Punk© vs Kane: There Must Be A Winner
Before the match Daniel Bryan comes out to do commentary. He then does a little Q&A with himself.
Daniel Bryan: "Has AJ gone nuts? YES! Will Kane destroy CM Punk? YES! Will Daniel Bryan become WWE Champion at No Way Out? YES! YES! YES!"
Simply awesome.
Bryan has taken this role and ran hard with it. And I would not mind it if he won the title at the PPV. At the same time I really would like to see Punk continue his reign. It's been a long time since I have witnessed as a fan, a feud in which I cared about both guys in it as much as I do Punk/Bryan. Then there is the addition of Kane. I think he equally adds to, and takes away from the appeal of the match at No Way Out. I like that Punk and Bryan have been playing Kane against each other, but I would much rather see another classic one-on-one bout from these guys. Have Kane destroy Santino or something and keep him away from these types of matches, I say.
As for the match itself, I was able to catch their bout from Smackdown last week, and I thought tonight's was the better of the two matches. The crowd was really into it as well which is always good. Punk really works well as the underdog, which WWE has to see. That being said, I really do think we will be seeing a Punk/Lesnar match for the WWE Title this year. Just think about the sympathy Punk could get from the crowd if that match is to happen.
Finish: Bryan gets involved and Punk responds by attacking him at ringside. When Punk gets back in the ring he gets caught by Kane and Chokeslammed. Kane then pins the WWE Champion.
Moment of the Night: Kane is staring down AJ who is cowering in the corner. AJ then stands up and flashes Kane her "Crazy bitch smile". The Big Red Monster then backs away and walks off rather than deal with her craziness. This was so awesome. Unless this means that they are planning a swerve, and she will join up with Kane. That I really don't want to see. I would much rather they kept her where she is in this feud, and have her join back up with Bryan.
Non-Title: R-Truth & Kofi Kingston© vs. Tyler Reks & Curt Hawkins
The match starts in progress which always sucks and I wish WWE wouldn't do this kind of thing. But the good news is Reks and Hawkins get a match on RAW against the Tag Champs. I've been talking these two guys up to anyone that will listen for a while now. I think that if they are pushed right, they can become legit stars. I don't think that it's a huge secret that WWE needs more Tag Teams, so why not give these guys a shot. They are both decent in the ring and work really well together. But what do I know? I'm just a wrestling fan.
And I will say that this makes two weeks in a row that we are given three different non-title matches. Why couldn't this one have been for the titles? It's not like there is any other teams out there working their way up to a title shot. And having Kofi & Truth defend the belts makes them look like fighting champions. What does WWE have to lose in that equation?
Finish: Kofi hits Hawkins with Trouble in Paradise to pick up another win for the tag champs.
Winners: Trouble in Little Jimmy's Paradise©
Before the next match Big Johnny tells John Cena that before he gets his hands on Michael Cole, he must go through...Tensai.
John Cena vs Tensai
As much as I complained earlier about having Michael Cole as an overbearing heel on commentary, I thought he was hilarious during this match. The guy got me to laugh through this suck fest, and for that I thank him.
Finish: Cena hits the five moves of dooms leading to a pinfall.
Winner: John Cena
John Cena vs Michael Cole
This was all too reminiscent of the Cena/Big Johnny debacle. First Cole tried to escape through the crowd and Cena chased him down only to give him a noogie and toss him into the ring. Cole then begs for his life, before growing a set of balls and stepping up to Cena.
Cena responds by ripping his clothes off and stomping him in the testicles. You know, like Lou Thesz would've done. He then chops him in the chest so hard it echoed in the arena.
Cena then puts Cole in a chin lock and makes him apologize to Jerry Lawler for everything he did last year, and to Jim Ross for driving him out of WWE. He even gets an edorsement for JR's BBQ sauce out of him, before dumping the sauce all over him. Make it stop.
During all of this, Tensai gets back in the ring and delivers one of the best Baldo Bombs in wrestling history. Cole however is only able to get a 2 count.
Finish: Cena recovers to nail Cole with an Attitude Adjustment to pick up the win.
Winner: John Cena
Final Verdict: This was not a great show by any means. There was a few bright spots but that ending pulled the show down several points as far as I'm concerned. What was the point of it all anyway? We started off the show, and ended it with Cena and Michael Cole taking up TV time. And for what? Logic would have suggested they were building toward a continuation of the Cena/Big Show story. But not only was Show not used tonight, if I were a casual fan tuning in for the first time in a while, I would think that Cena was feuding with Michael Cole. And that is not a good thing.
Punk vs Kane, Sheamus vs Ziggler, and Reks & Hawkins getting TV time were really the only good things to come out of this episode. And that is not enough to pull this show out of the fail pile.
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