3 Things You Need To Know About Raw (TLC Go Home Show)
Consistently boring that is. As if the show wasn’t already a chore to watch, the slow pace of the show of late where they save any big storyline advancement until the third hour makes the first two hours really unwatchable. And by that third hour, you’re so fatigued that I’m not sure it’s worth it.
Also, because Raw is so long, it makes me less interested in watching any other WWE TV for the rest of the week. I’ve started Smackdown every week for the last two months and haven’t finished one show.
1. I’ve figured out why I hate Sheamus so much.
In reality, Sheamus should be over by a ton. He’s fun, he wins, and he’s decently charismatic. But there are two big problems here. He undercuts all the heels so no one takes the heels seriously. At the start of this show, Dolph Ziggler was in the ring explaining why it is idiotic for him to have to face John Cena for his briefcase and Sheamus interrupts him. The Big Show then came out and actually cut a great promo about how he’s an ass-kicker. And of course, Sheamus undercuts him and makes jokes.
Now, people may say that John Cena does this all the time and that’s exactly right. It makes Cena annoying. Except, Cena didn’t start acting like that until he was way over. Sheamus isn’t. So he not only comes off as a Cena knockoff, but he also does it while not having the same equity that Cena does. Sheamus could not only use a heel turn, but he could use some time away. They won’t do that because they see him as Cena’s equal on Smackdown, but he’s just going to burnout. Cena won’t burnout because he’s seen as an absolute star. Sheamus isn’t there. He’s not even close.
He had a long match with Dolph Ziggler (yes, again) which went to a DQ finish after a chair shot. And then he booted Ziggler to hell into the chair, rendering it meaningless.
2. Just give Antonio Cesaro the World Title already.
Cesaro was the wrestling star of this show. He caught Kofi Kingston off the top rope into a backbreaker and then hit a neutralizer to win. But that wasn’t the best part of the match. He had one of the greatest near falls in a long time, grabbing the bottom rope while being pinned when I’m sure most thought he was done. I know they want to give him a slow build, but really, the guy is the best person they have on Smackdown who we aren’t tired of and should be in the World Title picture.
The uppercut forearm needs to lead to some finishes. His timing on the move is so excellent. It’s my favorite move going right now.
3. Ryback and The Shield are saved for last.
This has now worked for two weeks in a row. They’ve saved Ryback for the very end and he gets a tremendous pop. The Shield was saved for the end as well. John Cena was ready to beat the Big Show in a match that seemed to take 10 hours and the Shield attacked him causing Kane and Daniel Bryan to come in for the save. Ryback then entered and the people went crazy. All of his stuff looked super sloppy, but it didn’t really matter. He was over. And seemingly, so is this match, though I imagine Daniel Bryan will have to carry most of it for his side. It was a good way to end the show, but man, it took forever to get there.
Other tidbits that may be of interest
– The Miz called Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes’ mustache “The Pink and The Stink”. How’d he get that passed the PG censor?
– John Cena was pretty funny with AJ as she entered the men’s locker room. We were to assume there were naked dudes in there and as Cena tried to get AJ out of there, he had to whisper to the guys that he was sorry so she didn’t hear him. It was funny, but the angle still sucks.
– The team of Vince McMahon and Vickie Guerrero making matches is okay for what it is, but it sure wasn’t as fun as it was last week.
– Vickie throws Brad Maddox to the wolves by having him RKO’d and so he helps her beat AJ? Hmmm.
– Wade Barrett shouldn’t be losing.
– CM Punk was in a single segment and that was it. His injury is so serious that he misses a match and all he said is that he’d be at the PPV. His segment with Paul Heyman was pretty insignificant.
– The Slammy’s are next week! They didn’t hype anyone coming back, so I doubt it makes a dent at all in the rating.
And here’s the card for this weekend
– AJ Lee vs. Layla vs. Kaitlyn vs. Alicia Fox vs. Natalya vs. Tamina Snuka vs. Aksana vs. Rosa Mendes (pre-show)
– Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow) vs. Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio (number one contender’s tables match)
– Antonio Cesaro vs. R-Truth
– Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett
– Big Show vs. Sheamus (chairs match)
– Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena (ladder match for Ziggler’s Money In The Bank contract)
– Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) and Ryback vs. The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns) (TLC match)
