Tuesday, November 20, 2012

11/19/12 RAW

Ratings:
Ryback vs. Tensai: 3/4*

Wade Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston: **1/4

Kaitlyn vs. Aksana: DUD

Antonio Cesaro vs. Brodus Clay: 1/2*

Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio (2 out of 3 Falls): ***1/4

Great Khali vs. Primo & Epico: N/A (lost brain cells)

Miz vs. David Otunga: *1/2

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow: **

Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan & Kane: **3/4
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Headed out for Thanksgiving, so ratings will be delayed for the next week or so.

Ryback starts the show, and he's pissed. He wants Punk and the three guys who attacked him at Survivor Series to come down to the ring. Vickie sends Tensai to the ring. Fun. Ryback no-sells a bunch of offense. Meathook clothesline. Hey, he got Tensai up for Shellshocked this time! Ryback with a decisive win.

Barrett and Kingston next. WB with hard shots throughout, yet the offense isn't glamorous. Kofi's moves are a different story, though. Last few minutes were great. Trading offense, a few near falls. Bullhammer wins it for Barrett.

Cole and Lawler mention the three guys who attacked Ryback at the PPV. Also a video package of Ryback nuking Brad Maddox. Now you can see the Brad Maddox Experience on YouTube. Yay?

Punk has the "I"m a Paul Heyman Guy" shirt! Heyman has a Punk celebration tonight. Matt Striker is doing the Movember thing and now has to ask all the questions that could get his ass kicked. Ha, even Ryback is invited to the celebration. Punk doesn't look too thrilled.

Here's the short divas segment again. Aksana works on Kaitlyn's left arm. Aksana can't sell offense for beans. Kaitlyn comeback looked horrible. Just couldn't get into this match at all.

Truth back on commentary as Brodus faces Cesaro. I didn't care about the match except for Cesaro's Neutralizer on Brodus. Great feat of strength there.

Cena honored in a video package for granting over 300 make-a-wishes.

Back to the AJ Scandal stuff that generally makes me cringe. Vickie brings two people to the ring with her. Vickie is getting booed big time. I'm assuming real names aren't being used for those two. Woman works in a restaurant; she said AJ and Cena wanted a private table in the back and being touchy-feely. Guy is a parking attendant and said father of a family parked next to AJ and Cena complained to him. AJ understandably livid. Vickie about to show the cell phone pics, but Cena comes out.

And then all hell breaks loose with the AJ/Cena makeout session! First of all, I am now jealous of John Cena. Second, get a room for these two.

Ziggler comes out to attack Cena. Looks like Cena injured his left leg during this one. Could be an ankle or Achilles' tendon injury. AJ and Cena managed to trend on Twitter (again).

Finally, a great match. 2 out of 3 falls between Del Rio and Orton. ADR attacked Orton's left arm from the start. ADR gets the cross armbreaker on and Orton quickly taps. Smart to tap early on first-fall submissions. ADR continues the onslaught on the left arm for the second fall. ADR got DQ'd quickly after that for excessive beatdown on Orton using the ringpost. Ricardo then got ejected after ref caught him assisting ADR. Love how each mocked the other's signature pose. ADR even tried the RKO (countered). Solid finish with Orton nailing the RKO for the victory.

Cena's left knee gets taped up. Saying possible torn meniscus.

Khali and Hornswoggle?! NO! Hornswoggle has flowers for Rosa. The flowers spray water. Khali nukes both Primo and Epico in a handicap match. I swear I lost more brain cells.

Miz relishing the face push now as he takes on Otunga. Otunga with more physical offense this time. I think it's just about the best Otunga has looked in a match, but that's not saying much. How could Lawler not know Miz was a southpaw all this time? SCF gets three.

Scott Armstrong off TV tonight to sell the effects of the Brogue Kick he took from Sheamus during the World Title match at Survivor Series.

Sheamus cuts a promo carrying a steel chair. He wants Big Show again. Show says Sheamus doesn't deserve to be champion because the Irishman is barbaric. Hey, good time for Sandow to enter. A physical, lengthy match. Sandow in control for most of the match. Sheamus with his signature moves in the last couple minutes to get the win.

Tamina is now Vickie's bodyguard. Nice suit. AJ says she's gonna do something about all this now that Cena's injured. She goes to the guy's locker room to confront Ziggler. Ziggler says AJ's trash. AJ with the mentally unstable physical attack. Cena's there, so Ziggler and Cena take the bathroom apart. Cena favors the left knee again. Love how everyone but Titus stayed out of it, even though there were a bunch of superstars there. Way to go.

Primetime Players on commentary now as Sin Cara and Mysterio compete in tag action against Team Hell No. Vintage disagreement between Bryan and Kane. Team Hell No isolates Sin Cara. Mysterio gets in and duels with Kane. Rey with the 619, but gets caught on the splash. PTPs interfere and ref throws the match out. PTPs get a double 619. Sin Cara with the senton to D-Young and Kane with a chokeslam to Titus.

CM Punk celebration is next. Great Heyman promo. He has a poster board to highlight the top WWE Title reigns in history. Looks like Punk will eclipse Cena's 380-day reign and that'll be as high as he gets (the others are in the 1,000+ day range, which no one would dare do nowadays). Punk apparently has to get to 2018 to touch Sammartino's reign. Nice video package on Punk's title reign. Good job to bring Austin into all this. Would be great if he came back for one match against Punk.

Ryback comes out to get his hands on Punk. Rollins, Ambrose, and Reigns jump Ryback again. Numbers game eventually catches up to Ryback. Same spot that ended Survivor Series. Ryback through the announce table again. Punk stands over Ryback to end the show. Interesting to note that Punk gave props to Rollins when Punk made his cameo on NXT a while back, but also remember that Reigns wanted a shot at Rollins and the NXT Title. Ambrose is presumably the highly-touted blue-chip prospect, but not much else known right now.

There has been talk of making another Punk stable with Rollins, Ambrose, Reigns, and Heyman. The events at the end of RAW took a giant step in that direction. It would be great, if just to get new guys the exposure on a larger scale. The three guys attacking Ryback should be ready for the big time. It's also another way of probably saying "you're gonna get future endeavored soon" to the expendable talent in the back.

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