Tuesday, December 20, 2011

12/19/11 RAW

Ratings:
Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett: *1/2

Alicia Fox vs. Beth Phoenix: DUD

Sheamus vs. Jinder Mahal: N/A

Primo & Epico vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso: *

Cody Rhodes vs. Santino Marella: 3/4*

CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, & Zack Ryder vs. Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, & Dolph Ziggler: **3/4
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Reviews/Thoughts:
First of all, last week, when Kane came back with a form of his old mask and a remixed version of his original theme, the first thing I did was to go on YouTube and listen to his debut theme some more -- followed by his debut at Badd Blood 1997. Then I marked out again when Daniel Bryan won the World Heavyweight Title last night. Two markouts in the last week...are you serious, bro? Actually, maybe make that three. Can't forget about Ryder's U.S. Title win as well.

And we're in Philly for RAW! Oh yeah!

Killer opening. Punk starts, introduces Ryder, and Daniel Bryan. Wow, a few years ago, I never woulda thunk these guys would be getting these pushes. I'm so happy they got the opportunity. E-C-Dub chants! Here comes Miz, Ziggler, and Del Rio. Laurinaitis sorts this all out with a six-man tag, which I'm all for. Ha, Laurinaitis being creative? That made me laugh.

Barrett and Orton again in a rematch from last night. Nice use of the ringside area. Wait, WTF? Since when does a thumb to the eye cause a DQ? That was extremely lame. At least we had a broken table post-match.

They mentioned Nash's "injury" from the PPV. From what I've read, it was meant to be Nash's final hurrah in the company as a performer. I'm not even calling it full-time because he wasn't really on TV that much the last few weeks. In any event, I'm glad this could at least give some up-and-coming stars TV time.

Divas match. Wait, Alicia Fox trending on Twitter?! Never woulda thought that would happen. Well, this one was over as I wrote this damn paragraph. Beth got legit hurt in this one, probably from Alicia's front somersault legdrop. Beth had a noticeable lump on her right temple post-match. Alicia is also getting a little mic time. I guess she's getting pushed. But it also makes me wonder...where's Naomi? I woulda liked her to get more in-ring action. Naomi was the most athletic of that divas season of NXT. A shame we haven't seen her since -- but she's apparently touring with the Smackdown crew, so maybe we'll see her in 2012.

Jinder's rockin' the turban tonight. Didn't matter. This was basically a squash, and I refuse to rate it.

Cena promo time to address Kane. Instead, it's Mark Henry, groin injury and all. ROFL, "Sexual Chocolate" chants were hilarious! Oh man. Oops, here comes Kane -- and he has his black mask on over his usual red one like last week. Kane beats down Cena, bloodies Cena's lip, and takes his shirt.

Cousins and brothers in tag action. End sequence was nice. One of the Usos went flying over the top...ouch. Not really a great backstabber, but it works.

Santino's cobra present was predictable, but still amusing. This obviously meant Cody would win. Cody wins with the Alabama Slam. Maybe he's trying to get another signature move over. Note that most main eventers generally have more than one big move. Looks like there are big things on the horizon for Cody.

VINTAGE Hornswoggle and Vickie! Add mistletoe. Enough said.

Oh geez. Big Show's all emotional. At least it's not as bad as when he first won the WWE title many moons ago. Um, Josh, yeah, that didn't help.

It's main event time, but again those cryptic vignettes pop up. One guy online has stated it could be a Punk/Jericho storyline brewing. That would kick so much ass....

Whoa, Ryder, Bryan, and Punk ALL come through the crowd! Yes! Real good stuff here. Best part was the finish and the post-match celebration.

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