Tuesday, April 3, 2012

4/2/12 RAW/HOF Ceremony

HOF Ceremony:
Jerry Lawler was the emcee. Killer video on the Horsemen. Dusty Rhodes is the presenter. Nice shot of Dustin Rhodes and Rey Mysterio. People clearly came to see Flair. Good to see Barry Windham there. Standing ovation for Arn. Just wish they were inducted sooner.

Mike Tyson inducted into the celebrity wing. HHH and HBK are presenters. Oh man, they had me cracking up. Classic. Oh, a good shot of Wade Barrett in the crowd. Hope he's recovering well. Tyson's family in the crowd.

A small video package of the other inductees. Rikishi and other family members accepted on behalf of the late Yokozuna. Mil Mascaras and Ron Simmons were also inducted.

Last inductee for TV was Edge. Very heartfelt and emotional speeches from Christian and Edge. Really depicted such a feel-good story coming true.
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Ratings:
Santino Marella vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger (U.S. Title): *1/2

Lord Tensai vs. Alex Riley: N/A (squash)

Mark Henry vs. CM Punk (WWE Title): **3/4

Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes: N/A

The Miz vs. Zack Ryder: *1/2
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Reviews/Thoughts:
Johnny addresses the roster before the show. Wasting no time making matches. People Power! New era!

Whoa, Rock's on RAW?! How the hell did that happen? Guess he was staying for one more show. Huge ovation as usual. "Boots to Asses!" chants. Still a little dumbfounded they let him win at WM, although I'm sure it'll become clearer in the coming days and weeks. "JHG" now trending worldwide. ROFL, how much do you have to suck to get cut from the CFL? Was that "YES! YES! YES!" chants?! Epic.

Whoa, Rock's proclaiming he'll be WWE champion again. Maybe next year?

U.S. Title match next. As expected, Ziggler and Swagger team up on Santino, then both heels turn on each other later to give Santino hope. Cobra to Swagger for a Santino win!

Holy crap, Brodus Clay now has a storyline with Swagger and/or Ziggler! And Santino and the cobra are dancing. Now I've seen everything -- I think.

Yes! Lord Tensai debuts with a manager, Sakamoto. They reference that Tensai was a former WWE superstar (Albert/A-Train) that went to become a wrestling star in Japan...all true stuff. Looks like Tensai has no body hair anymore, glad to see that. Mauling headbutts rule. A very deliberate beatdown. I liked the water spit into the hand and the claw. Very simple, but effective, especially when you're dealing with such a huge man.

WWE Title match next. Punk still selling the "back injuries" from his WM match with Jericho. Henry attacks the back to no end. A LOT of "YES!" chants when Punk hits elbows or kicks. Good grief, they seriously want Daniel Bryan. Henry really looked strong in this one. Great Punk comeback with chops and kicks. Big flying elbow. Two big running knees but Punk got thrown to the outside. Countout win for Henry. Boo.

Johnny wants more competitive matches. Punk will be defending a lot. I hope this actually means we get good matches....

Oh, it's Jericho! And he wants a drink with Punk! I guess they'll have a rematch at Extreme Rules. Booze poured all over Punk. Trick alcohol bottle to the skull of Punk. And to think, a couple years ago, this woulda been majorly cheered, right R-Truth?.

Wow, Sheamus is BOOED big time. Clearly Daniel Bryan territory. Yet, Lawler and Cole pretend like that doesn't matter. Hey, Alberto Del Rio is back! Aw, I thought it was a cool DeLorean and not a Mercedes. Woohoo, new challenger for Sheamus...and it's ALLBERTOOOOOOOOOOOOO DEL RIOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Sheamus and Alberto on Smackdown.

ROFL. The crowd still wants Daniel Bryan. Epic. Uh oh, ADR's mic on the fritz. Brogue Kick! Oops.

DB backstage interview. Or not. Vintage angry Bryan!

MGK is getting booed. Not new.

Cody Rhodes facing Kofi tonight. Oh, Big Show with a video for Cody about a couple minutes in. It's a Cody Rhodes embarrassing WM moment! Guess two can play at that game. Oh right, match still going on. Trouble in Paradise gets three. Not rating it.

Cena calling out Rock? They've said that like 100 times so far. Grr.

Again, Abraham Washington (not mentioned by name) appears. He gives his card to Mark Henry. Possible managerial role? Good way for AW to get back on WWE programming.

Eve Torres comes out. Hoeski chants. Good to know she's getting a reaction now. Thank Ryder later. Fans want Ryder. Oh, Eve admits she can't manipulate Johnny.

I'm hoping this is the start for Miz to get back on the main event track. Or at least not in the doghouse. Getting the pin last night was the best thing to happen to him lately. Did Lawler just compare Ryder with Tim Tebow? Uh, could do better than that. Cena apparently "arrived at the arena" during this match.

Standard match here. Broski Boot hits tonight, no Eve to distract Ryder. Ryder into the post, then SCF for three. Miz on a roll!

That's it for wrestling. Here comes Cena to call Rock out. Clearly getting booed tonight. Cena's more serious tonight! You know, either the crowd was saying "What a loser!" or "Fuck Madusa!" Madusa (Debra Miceli) was in the state during WM but did not attend. No clue how I got that latter chant, but eh, it happens. Cena still not gonna lash out at the WWE Universe, even though the crowd is getting closer to Hammerstein levels (but not totally there, and never will).

Cena's not calling Rock out.

ROFL, CROWD WANTS LESNAR!

Cena wants to invite Rock down to the ring. Rock has Cena's respect. Crowd STILL wants Lesnar....

"YES! YES! YES!" Good grief, what the hell is with the Miami crowd and Daniel Bryan?!?!!

OH SHIT, HERE COMES THE PAIN! Lesnar out to a HUGE ovation. He offers his hand...OOPS! F-5 TO CENA! That was awesome.

Incredible show tonight. Outstanding.

1 comment:

Red said...

YES! YES! YES!!!!!!!!