"On the Marc" 10/15/2012 Monday Night Raw Review

Live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Tennessee

Commentators: Michael Cole & Jim Ross

Championship’s roll call: WWE Champion: CM Punk… World Champion: Sheamus… Intercontinental Champion: The Miz… United States Champion: Antonio Cesaro… Tag Team Champions: Team Hell No… NXT Champion: Seth Rollins… Diva’s Champion: Eve Torres

Big Show opens the show. He calls the debate that he was in a few weeks ago a joke, cleverly created by Booker T and Sheamus to make him look foolish. He shows what happens when Sheamus tries to Brogue Kick a giant; clips of Show blocking the move and upending Sheamus over the top. He loves that footage. We move onto clips from SmackDown this past week with the punch machine. He promises to kayo “our” world champion and become the largest champion ever. Show aims to correct the fourth-five second mistake tonight; fans of course chant “forty-five seconds”. He DEMANDS Daniel Bryan in a match RIGHT NOW! In the back R-Truth, Little Jimmy, Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel, Santino Marella, Kane and Bryan watch on a monitor. Bryan wonders what everyone is looking at. GM AJ Lee shows up and tells him to get out to the ring. He asks Kane if he has his back; Kane laughs so Bryan screams “no!” at him. Kane replies with “yes!” and Bryan yells “no!” at each person individually (including Little Jimmy) on his way through the Gorilla Position into the ring. 5.5/10 How do you make a Big Shoe promo entertaining? Insert: Daniel Bryan.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show:   Show beats the crap out of Bryan and chops the snot out of him in the corner. Bryan kicks back but gets goozled over the top to the floor. Show comes out after him as we head to break. We return with Show humbling Bryan and pounds on his ribs. Bryan tries to fight back but gets entangled in a bearhug. During the break, Show stiffed Bryan with a spear; back to the bearhug, Bryan tries to elbow free so Show chucks him aside. He hits the reverse avalanche but Daniel floors the big man with a low dropkick to the patella. Bryan tries to psyches himself up and No Kicks Show while he is on his knees; he concludes with the Buzzsaw No Kick and gets a two and a half. Show still has the power kickout. He hits a pair of running No Dropkicks in the corner; he heads to the top but Show catches him in a chokeslam to squash Bryan and get three. Post-match, Kane comes out laughing at Bryan so Show threatens the WMD to Bryan drawing Kane to come to his aid so Show retreats. Bryan and Kane then get into an argument. Shocking. 4/10 This served its purpose to get Show over as a major threat. They’ve booked Sheamus so strong Show has to dominate for anyone to think he has any shot (which he doesn’t) versus Sheamus at the PPV.

Here is your winner… Big Show @ about 6:00 (broadcast) via chokeslam.

Paul Heyman is in the ring with the WWE title and something that looks to be on an easel that is covered under a drape. Heyman says CM Punk is going to make his decision right now; he mentions that he’s had said WWE title for 330 consecutive days. He introduces the man himself. Punk runs over how last week was a microcosm of his life; someone disrespects him and calls his integrity into question, so he proves them wrong. He does not care if the person is Bret Hart, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, or John Cena or The Rock but least of all, the fans. If you disrespect him he will put you down; last week it was Mr. McMahon’s turn to feel his wrath. Punk calls it typical Vince: making everything “all about Vince.” He says McMahon disrespected him so he SLAPS his face. Punk adds that he victimized him so severely that we will never see McMahon “in this very ring” again; it also took two superstars to save him from Punk. He moves onto the ultimatum but before the decision; he shows the poster for the Hell in a Cell PPV, which is a picture of him as the Devil. Punk says, comparatively speaking to the fan, he’s an angel. Onto the decision; it’s the Devil he knows versus the Devil he don’t know. First off, Ryback, the Devil he don’t know; who is a monster that has physically inserted himself into a conversation he has no business being a part of. Moving forward to the Devil he knows, Cena, a man who he has broken mentally and physically, “our hero.” Punk actually quotes Heyman calling Ryback “the next big thing”. I wonder if that little comment will lead to the rumored Brock Lesnar/Punk match at WrestleMania XXIX. Punk unveils his decision but plays heel to the crowd for a while. The fans continue to boo so Punk tries to postpone the decision until later in the night. Mr. McMahon cuts him off and says that he is going to teach him a little more respect. Vince says that he had his chance and he blew it. There will be a contract signing tonight where Vince will reveal his opponent; Vince adds now he has Punk’s fate in his hands… respect that. 4/10 Essentially, this was one huge waste of time save for a few inside comments from Punk; the decision is McMahon’s. The WWE did give Punk another opportunity to heel it up a bit though before Vince ruined the party.

We find out that Layla’s mom died of breast cancer in a Susan G. Komen segment.

“Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay (w/Cameron & Naomi) vs. Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez):   Hey, it is bodyguard verses former employee. No one gets an entrance; ADR looks really mad probably because he versus Randy Orton has been booked for HIAC. They lock up and Clay backs him into the corner but it’s reversed; Clay turns it right around clubbering Del Rio in the corner. Clay tries the Schuplex but ADR blocks; Brodus hits the ropes and plows into Alberto with a Vader Splash. Del Rio tumbles to the floor but hangs Brodus’ arm on the top rope. ADR hits the enziguri to the arm and a low dropkick. Del Rio slaps on a keylock. Clay clubbers back but Del Rio keeps him at bay and works the arm. Clay fires him off the ropes and hits the rhino head-butt; he misses an avalanche in the corner and ADR capitalizes with an enziguri to the back of the head. Del Rio snags him the cross-armbreaker for the tapout. 3/10 Short squash to “send a message to Orton”. Brodus has fallen to a funky bulbous jobber to the stars; put him in a tag team with R-Truth and let them entertain.

Here is your winner… Alberto Del Rio @ about 4:55 via cross-armbreaker submission.

In his locker room, WWE Champ CM Punk, bitches at Paul Heyman about Mr. McMahon taking his HIAC decision from him. Paul gives him an “I told you so” speech; he adds that you can win a battle with Vince but never the war because he’s the owner of the company. Punk wants to fight McMahon. He tells Heyman to go and let Vince know.

Zack Ryder & Santino Marella vs. The Prime Time Players:   If Big Show hadn’t already wrestled, I’d peg this match for him to show up and destroy everyone. We JIP with Darren Young wearing Santino down with an armlock; Santino tries to fire back but an O’Neil tag stops that. Marella hits a surprise split-legged stunner on Titus but it just stumbles the big guy. He still manages to make the hot tag to Ryder who unloads with punches, double knees in the corner, and a missile dropkick. Zack hits the forearm in the corner, the precursor to the Broski Boot, and he nails it. Young breaks up the pinfall. Here’s how I predict the ending will go, just insert move name in the blank: Santino charges in but gets nailed with blank; Ryder hits Darren with a blank to eliminate him from the equation but gets pinned by the Clash of the Titus immediately following. Let’s see, here goes: Santino charges in but fails, as usual, and gets stunned by the Gut Check. Ryder wipes him with the Rough Ryder but wanders right into the Clash of the Titus and gets pinned. Post-match, The Band shows up, dressed in jeans and leather jackets; well they are really going with the Band look here. They beat up Ryder and Marella and celebrate with air guitar. Mahal is still wearing his turban in case you were wondering. Slater officially names the group “The 3MB” which I assume stands for the three man band. Drew looks like he belongs in Poison. 2.5/10 Have I been watching this shit for too long? It just occurs to me that the Players are the only legit tag team kept somewhat strong, in this new tag resurgence; all of the other strong teams (including the champs) are teams of predominantly singles wrestlers. As far as the 3MB goes, at least these three have some personality now; Slater works for me as a “front man”.

Here are your winners… The Prime Time Players @ about 4:15 (broadcast) via Clash of the Titus pinfall.

Vickie Guerrero comes out to inform us that Dolph Ziggler has something to say. Dolph complains about Ryback waltzing into a potential title match and he has had to bust his ass for years to get one little opportunity (MitB case). Ziggler states that he earned his MitB contract; he calls Ryback a fly-by-night. He says he deserves a title match and wants to face CM Punk at the PPV and then cash in the MitB contract and win both titles at the PPV. David Otunga, of all random people, comes out; he says that Ryback does not deserve the title match but neither does Ziggler, Otunga does. Otunga makes an old lady joke at Vickie and GM AJ Lee skips out for some reason. She respects their opinions but they will get to wrestle a two-on-one handicap match versus Ryback.

Ryback vs. David Otunga & Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) two-on-one handicap match:   If Ziggler jobs here… although, I wonder if he’ll nail his double Shell Shocked for the stacked pinfall. Fans chant “feed me more” at Big Hungry; Ziggler will get to showcase his usual overselling but here it may actually work. Dolph hits a standing dropkick, which staggers Ryback but makes him mad, and he ends Dolph with a Sheffield Lariat. Dolph tags Otunga in who tries his hand at Ryback but gets caught up on his shoulders with an Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder. Ziggler tries to sneak but Ryback stares him down; Dolph grabs the MitB briefcase and leaves. Ryback don’t work by the hour and plants poor Otunga with Shell Shocked to score the quick pinfall. 4/10 I’m not all for Ziggler jobs but in this case, Ryback should have done the stacked pinfall here and beat them both; may as well go full ass with him.

Here is your winner… Ryback @ about 3:50 via Shell Shocked pinfall.

In his office Mr. McMahon is on the phone when Paul Heyman comes in. Vince does his usual slime ball comments and Paul kisses his ass, verbally. Heyman delivers the challenge after he pumps Vince up. The cravat is that if Punk wins he chooses his opponent… but the match will not be CM Punk versus Vince it’s going to be Paul versus Vince. Elsewhere, AJ Lee is meandering around when Matt Striker approaches her and asks for an apology from Team Hell No. He makes the mistake of using the words “nuts” and “crazy” around her so she books him in a match against Kane.

Justin Gabriel vs. Antonio Cesaro:   This was so entertaining on WWE Superstars last week, it made it to Raw, but here I’m expecting a three minute squash. A cut-in promo from Cesaro says that the United States needs him as its champion. They lock up and Cesaro tries a German suplex but Gabriel flips out; he nails one spin kick but hits the ropes and gets UPENDED with a clothesline. I’d say that was a 0.8 Jannetty. Cesaro hits a leaping stomp and pounds in the corner; Jim Ross notes that Cesaro is heavily influenced by Karl Gotch, the man he took the Neutralizer from. He props Gabriel across the top turnbuckle vertically and knees him in the gut. Another double stomp follows and the fans get the silly “USA” chant for the match; more to rile Cesaro considering neither is from the United States. He keeps kicking away in the corner; a gutbuster follows. Cesaro applies a reverse bearhug. Well, it’s not a three minute squash. Gabriel tries a comeback but Cesaro pulls him back down by the trunks, cleverly hiding it from the ref. Gabriel tries a comeback for real with the second-rope moonsault into reverse DDT. Justin mounts the buckles and HITS the 450 splash! He sells it like he hurt himself; the commentators claim he countered with a shoulder but Gabriel remains on offense. Cesaro cleverly rolls towards the ropes and gets his foot on the rope to break up the surefire pinfall. Gabriel is frustrated. He heads to the apron and springboards… right into a European uppercut. Oh, he’s dead now. Cesaro ends with the (Gotch-Style) Neutralizer. He still sells the 450 after the match. 6/10 Pretty entertaining squash for Cesaro, not as good as the WWE Superstars match, but had a few more exciting moments. Cesaro was winning here but there was a brief shadow of doubt after the 450 connected.

Here is your winner… Antonio Cesaro @ about 5:05 via Neutralizer pinfall.

Kane vs. Matt Striker:   Good thing Striker has his trunks with him just in case he gets booked in a match. Jim Ross answers my point that Striker is a “former wrestler” and former wrestlers always come prepared. Pre-match, Striker tries to talk himself out of the match; he still asks for the apology though. Striker asks him what would Dr. Shelby say. Kane offers a hug and Striker reciprocates… and then Kane chokeslams him for three. Post-match, Michael Cole says to never call GM AJ Lee “the C-word”; that is wrong on a few levels. Kane grabs the mic and interviews him; this Team Hell No has really brought out Glen Jacobs’ personality and he’s pretty funny. Kane calls it “a great effort in a highly competitive match”. He asks how Striker feels to which he gets no reply, “I couldn’t have said it any better himself… I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!” 6/10 As far as a match goes it was nothing, the post-match, stuff was absolutely entertaining. Kane’s personality is the backbone for the Team Hell No success. I never thought that Kane would be one of the most entertaining wrestlers on Raw.

Here is your winner… Kane @ about 0:20 via chokeslam pinfall.

Highlights from the Larry King: Live segment, from last week, leads to The Miz already in the ring for MizTV. He makes fun of the “hayseeds” in Nashville. He introduces his guest, and opponent for WWE Main Event, Kofi Kingston. Miz asks him if he likes being relevant thanks to himself and that he will carry him just like everyone else in the WWE. Kofi defends the footage; Miz runs through the disappointing career of Kingston and calls him a “B-player”. Kofi is none too pleased with that reality check but admits that Miz may be right… but he’s going to beat him for the IC title and make it “must see TV” and challenges him to a match tonight. The fans cheer so Miz says “really” a lot but accepts the challenge. Miz promises he will win and calls Kofi a novelty act. Kingston attacks him sending Miz into a tizzy. 5/10 That sequence sold the IC title match for Main Event well; why they are giving the match away tonight I don’t know. Here’s my call: Kofi wins tonight and loses on Wednesday.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett:   Rematch from last week where Tensai ruined it; Sheamus dispatched with him on SmackDown to that leaves one piece of business left. I still want an extended feud between these two. They lock up and stalemate in the ropes. Barrett gets a rear waistlock but Sheamus DROP-TOE HOLDS into an armbar. Whoa, what match am I watching? He wrings the arm so Barrett punches him in the mouth; Wade takes over in the corner and works Sheamus’ arm. It gets reversed and they fight over a keylock. Barrett tries a hiplock but it’s countered with a short clothesline; Wade to the apron which draws Sheamus over to entrap him with O’Clubbering but Barrett punches his way free. Back in the ring, Wade pounds away some more; he hits the pump-handle slam for two. Barrett applies a chinlock and rides Sheamus with it. Sheamus quickly begins a comeback and hits Irish Hammers and reverse elbows. The Finlay Roll follows. Barrett rolls to the floor so Sheamus leaps off the apron with a shoulderblock. Big Show decides to wander out to the ring with a chair (presumably to sit his duff on) as we head out to break. We return with Sheamus in control with Show sitting on the stage watching. Barrett sends Sheamus onto the apron; he misses the boot off the apron and Sheamus pulls him onto the apron with him. He clubs Wade to the floor and he tries to toss Barrett into the steps but Barrett leaps over them (like last week’s match); Wade tries to kick them back into Sheamus’ knees (like last week’s match) but Sheamus knows it’s coming, and stops short. Wade tries a shoulderblock between the ropes but Sheamus sidesteps and buries a knee into his face; Barrett collects himself quickly and savate kicks Sheamus off the apron. Barrett awaits a countout but Sheamus returns at nine. Barrett works knees to the guts and pounds on the midsection. He entangles Sheamus in the ropes with knees; now the boot to the chest knocks Sheamus into the apron. They fight on the floor and Wade tosses him onto the announce table. Back in the ring, Barrett nets two; he applies a Camel Clutch style chinlock in the ring. Sheamus begins to anger up and fire off an Irish Curse. Both men down. The real comeback with Irish Hammers, shoulderblock in the corner, kneelift, and Bulldog Powerslam follow, for two. Michael Cole even notes the powerslam is homage to Englishman Davey Boy Smith. Jim Ross mentions the irony of an Irishman using a famous Englishman’s finisher in an attempt to fell another Englishman. Anyway, O’Clubbering follows, for all ten punches. Sheamus alters the approach with a suplex back into the ring for a nearfall. Show is pacing on the stage. Barrett comes right back with a hammer-toss for a Bret Bump and a clothesline; he ascends to the second rope for a elbow drop for two more. Barrett looks for Wasteland (first time since his return); Sheamus wriggles free and tries a Brogue Kick but it’s ducked. Barrett snags him off the rebound in Winds of Change for another nearfall. Barrett comes in while Sheamus in within the ropes; he kicks Wade’s leg out and heads up top for the Battering Ram. Barrett ducks, Sheamus rolls through, and charges in the corner meeting a savate kick. Sheamus catches the boot and back-heel trips him into the Texas Cloverleaf. That draws Big Show down to the ring. Sheamus releases the hold because of the potential giant thread; Barrett tries to take advantage but Sheamus counters again and hoists him up for White Noise. Barrett blocks, slips free, and tosses Sheamus into the ropes; Show pulls the top rope down, drawing the DQ. Show tosses Sheamus back into the ring for Barrett to attack but Sheamus quickly retains his wits and nails him with a Brogue Kick. Show tries to get at him but Sheamus dispatches with him as well and sends him to the floor via clothesline and celebrates in the ring. 7/10 Barrett was made to look good (until the very end). This was a very entertaining brawl between these two; again an extended feud over the world title would be a nice shift in gears. It would be stiff and brutal. Plus the WWE could play up the English versus the Irish.

Here is your winner… Sheamus @ about 13:50 (broadcast) via DQ.

In his office, Mr. McMahon is in his office when John Cena enters. Vince asks him how the arm is. Cena tells him he’s not a doctor but he WANTS CM Punk in the cell.

WWE Divas Championship Eve Torres vs. Layla:   Layla gets her rematch this week. They lock up and Layla brings her down; Eve gives the clean break in the ropes so they get into a little shoving match. Eve holds a headlock and laughs. Layla tries to free herself but an arm wringer follows. Layla reverses into an armbar but Eve tosses her through the ropes onto the floor in an awkward bump. Torres works a kick and a pair of nearfalls; she slaps on a standing figure-four neck scissors. You don’t see that move very often. She rolls through and holds the neck lock. Eve rolls onto her stomach and slams Layla onto the mat, face first, a few times. She makes the ropes, predicating the break. Layla tries to fight back and hits a straight kick to the face. She hits a hair pull arm whip and the bouncing crossbody for two. Layla heads onto the rope but Eve tosses her off, onto the back of her head, and gets the three (despite Layla’s foot on the ropes). 1/10 Incredibly boring; all rest holds and few high impact, painful.

Here is your winner… Eve Torres @ about 2:15 via ring rope trip pinfall.

In the back, Team Hell No gets into a little conversation; Kane is psyched over the beating of Matt Striker. They get into a “yes/no” battle. Bryan suggests Kane face Big Show next week and informs Kane that he’s the tag champions. After that, Mr. McMahon talks to Ryback; who tries to psych him up. Ryback only has one thing to say: “Feed me Punk”. Vince will take that into consideration.

In the Honky Tonk Central bar, The 3MB show up and hop up on the stage… and get booed out of the building.

Primo & Epico (w/Rosa Mendes) vs. Team Rhodes Scholars:   The Scholars have a video wall now and the ring announcer calls them Rhodes Scholars; this was supposed to be Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara in the finals of the tourney but they get the Colóns instead because Mysterio has a touch of the flu. The Colóns attack from behind as I’m reminded that they are (supposed to be) heels. They extricate Rhodes and Sandow quickly follows (on his own volition). The bell had not rung yet. Finally we get two heels in the ring (Primo and Cody) so the match can officially start; Primo tosses Rhodes off the ropes and hits a nice dropkick. Epico tags in and Primo whips Cody into him for a dropkick for two. They work another tandem spot where an Epico suplex leading to a Primo Hilo. Rhodes misses a corner charge off a reversed whip and Primo schoolboys him drawing Sandow in for the distraction and Cody takes over. Rhodes slings him into the ropes for the Hollycost and Damien adds a nice punch from the apron; Sandow legally exchanges and hits shoulderblocks in the corner. He applies a vicious chinlock and wears him down. Primo escapes but gets caught in a grapevine and Cody tags in; Rhodes stomps his face. Cody hits a few short knees and Sandow reappears to nail the Cubito Aequet. For some reason Stephanie McMahon is trending on Twitter; I must have missed something in an earlier promo. Back to the chinlock for Sandow and then follows up with a kneepadless knee drop; Cody comes back in and more stomps follow. Primo fires back with left hands but Rhodes overpowers him and tags Sandow back in as the fans and commentators begin to get bored and restless with the match. Probably burned out from the prior two and a half hours of Raw since they were mega hot earlier in the evening. I felt the same way back when Ring of Honor used to have near four hour shows. More hot tag teases follow utilizing drop-toeholds and clotheslines. The actual hot tag comes out of nowhere when Primo gets a short leapfrog over Sandow and stumbles into Epico. He comes in to Taco Bell mild sauce reactions and hits Sandow with clotheslines and dropkicks; the rolling backdrop suplexes follow. The lateral press draws Cody and Primo in and then both get tossed. Sandow and Epico trade counters until Epico misses a springboard crossbody and Sandow snags him with Terminus for the merciful three. 2.5/10 Dear Lord that was long and boring; the heat segment went on FOREVER. I normally like both Cody and Sandow but for some reason the team is a recipe for boredom, similar to Lance Storm and William Regal. I’m sure the Luchadores versus Scholars will be much better.

Here are your winners… Team Rhodes Scholars @ about 7:55 via Terminus pinfall.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz:   Both guys are already in the ring; well, they did get entrances earlier during the MizTV segment. Kofi starts off full of fire and Miz fires right back; this is apparently to wet our appetites for the title match at WWE Main Event on Wednesday. Kofi spear takedowns Miz, who retreats to the floor; Kingston chases right out after him with a clothesline. Back in the ring, Kofi tries to springboard back in but Miz ducks so Kingston swiftly runs the ropes with a dropkick. He kicks Miz’s midsection and chokes him in the corner with a boot. He gets a little overaggressive in the corner and Miz stunguns him, and then floors him with a clothesline. The advantage is short lived as Kingston is on fire tonight. Miz reverses a corner whip and nails the Awesome Clothesline. He heads to the top, which is normally Kofi territory, and hits a leaping sledge, for two. Chinlock time. Kingston quickly fires back and counters a backdrop suplex with a weight-shifting crossbody. Jim Ross reminisces back when Kofi was a legit threat to the main event back at MSG when he was battling (heel) Randy Orton, then the push fell flat and he received mere intermittent stalled pushes from then on. Miz hits (what I believe to be called) the Reality Check, although I have been calling it the Vintage Neckbreaker, but I’m not sure. Vintage Neckbreaker is cooler sounding, plus the commentators just call it a neckbreaker anyway. Miz hits the chinlock again. Kofi frees himself with a backdrop suplex; he fires back with doubles chops and leaping clothesline. The Boom Drop would have followed but Miz rolls to the apron. Kofi charges, Miz thinks shoulder to the guts through the ropes but Kofi is one step ahead, and nails a kick to the face. He looks to suplex Miz back in but he slips down Kingston’s back and tries the Skull-Crushing Finale. Kofi counters into an S.O.S. try but Miz reverses that into another SCF… but Kofi slips free again. Miz charges and Kingston sidesteps him and CLOBBERS him with Trouble in Paradise for three. Man, he kicked him SQUARE in the head there. Post-match, the doctor checks to see if Miz is still in the same time zone as the rest of the Nashville is; a close-up reveals a decent amount of blood on a gauze pad. 6/10 This was a good match but Rule #4 of pro wrestling states, when a non-champion defeats a champion cleanly right before the title match the percentage of said wrestler getting the title drops to zero. Good match though and I hope Miz doesn’t have a concussion. I’m sure people will complain about Kingston being too dangerous or careless in the ring now.

Here is your winner… Kofi Kingston @ about 6:15 via Trouble in Paradise pinfall.

Mr. McMahon comes out for a contract signing and to decide who CM Punk’s opponent for HIAC will be. Let’s get Punk, Paul Heyman, Ryback and John Cena into the ring; I guess we’ve forgotten about Vince verses Heyman. McMahon begins to ramble but Punk instantly cuts him off and calls Vince an egomaniac. He signs the contract and says that he will break either of the opponents. Punk, the psychologist, calls Vince and Cena two peas in a pod; egomaniacs, inferiority complexes, insecure jealous little men. Cena shuts him up and says that Punk’s held the title for 330 days; Cena RESPECTS the achievement but tells Punk to shut the hell up. Vince intervenes and says he has made a decision but John says, “Hang on, I’m not done yet.” He looks at Ryback and wonders if he even cares about the WWE title or just wants to kick someone’s ass; John feels Punk needs to get his ass whipped (little Steve Austin there). Cena says that Punk’s head, for the next two weeks, will be filled with three little words… “Feed me more”. Cena leads a big chant and leaves the ring a Ryback heads over and signs the contract. Vince calls it official and Punk is looking a bit overwhelmed… or perhaps scared shitless. Fans chant again, Punk gets in his face, so Ryback slams his face off the table and hits Shell Shocked as the building explodes. 5/10 Well that closing segment woke the crowd out of their three-hour coma. They really have painted themselves into a corner with Ryback, I feel that the WWE has pushed him to the main event a bit too quickly; although, he’s the second hottest act in the WWE right now (Team Hell No) may as well capitalize. Problem here is does Ryback lose yet? Otherwise he’s the new WWE champion.

OVERALL 6/10 Average show that was amplified by a mega hot crowd; unfortunately they burned out at about the two hour and fifteen minute mark. The ending woke them up. The Ryback push is official to see what he can do in a main event capacity. Boy the original Nexus was a pretty good crop; all but Michael Tarver is still in the WWE.