Monday Night Raw Review – 2/25/13

Monday Night Raw aired Monday 2/25/13 like it always does. Here’s a little review:

The show opened with Vince ready for a fight. He said he was going to fight Paul Heyman, and he certainly did just that. Give it to Paul for getting in some shots of his own, albeit they were all cheap, but Vince with an injured hip still got the upper hand on Mr. Heyman until…………………….Brock Lesnar. Of course, the last time Brock and Vince were in the ring together; Vince was given a broken hip. Just when it looked like history would repeat itself, HHH returns! Haircut and all, HHH checkers the face of Lesnar with punch after punch. A brawl ensues throughout the arena, which results in 2 things:

1) Lesnar is busted open……………..hard. Staples-in-head hard.

2) The pretty much guarantee that Lesnar and HHH will meet at Wrestlemania.

Cool! A very intense segment. I am not the biggest proponent of blood, but it is cool to see it once in a while.

Rating: Two Thumbs Up

And our first match of the show:

Ryback vs Dolph Ziggler

The writing is on the wall. Ziggler’s in for a big push. He has the MITB briefcase, and I predict that he will win the World Heavyweight title. But right now, he is doing what WWE loves to do with their people in line for a big push…………that is lose. Ziggler and Ryback had a good match. Ryback is a monster, and Ziggler’s superb selling made Ryback look like a million bucks. A back and forth match that with a failed intervention from AJ and Big E resulted with Ryback dropping Ziggler with ‘Shellshock’ to get the 1-2-3.

Good match. It’s a shame to see Ziggler lose week after week, but the ring action was good.

Rating: A thumb and a half

CM Punk makes his way out for a promo. Given that he has a match tonight, I do not expect a pipe bomb from him, but his message is simple. His match with Cena tonight to determine the challenger for the Rock and his title. He talks himself up, even calling himself God. His message was short but sweet and he departs to get ready.

Not the best Punk promo, but it served it’s purpose. I feel as if it wasn’t necessary though.

Rating: A thumb.

And the latest inductee for the Hall of Fame is…………………………..Donald Trump

A video package is shown of his highlights with WWE, including his battle of the billionaires match with Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania.

Thoughts: His inclusion in Wrestlemania 23 made it a huge success. So even though I think the guy is slime, it is fitting and I can’t fault them on the choice.

And now our next match:

Mark Henry vs The Great Khali

Pretty standard squash match. Great Khali just…………..cant move. Why WWE keeps him around actually baffles me. Henry wins with the World’s Strongest Slam

We’ve seen this before. They really could of done something else.

Rating: Half a thumb.

Tune in this Friday on Smackdown because Fandango will make his grand debut. I can’t wait!

Miz TV Segment with Jack Swagger, Zeb Coulter, Ricardo Rodriguez, and World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio:

Really, Swagger didn’t have much to say at all. I felt like this was a Zeb Coulter vs Del Rio feud. The exchange on the mic was very cool. Politics and the public opinion interest me, so I was naturally attracted to this segment, but Del Rio stepped it up a bit. Promo-wise Del Rio has been a bit shaky. Tonight was the exception. I felt like it accomplished it’s goal, and I am very much looking forward to the rest of this program.

More Jack Swagger please. He’s not the best on the mic, but he can work a bit more.

Rating: A Thumb and a half.

Back from a commercial Swagger laid out the Miz after Coulter accused him of bias interviewing. They will meet later on in the show.

Mr.5 languages Antonio Cesaro vs Randy Orton

Shorter match. A little surprising. Nothing to spectacular about the match. Orton delivers an RKO to an air born Cesaro for the win. Cesaro right now has no feud going into Wrestlemania and a loss to Orton does not help cloak this fact.

Rating: 1 thumb.

Backstage features Hell No arguing. Surprise, I know. They agree to put their problems aside and let bygones be bygones. Daniel Bryan brags that he could beat the Prime Time Players tonight with one hand tied behind his back or if he was blindfolded. Bricky (Brad Maddox and Vicky Guerrero) come out and added the stipulation that Kane must have his hand tied behind his back and that Daniel Bryan must be blindfolded.

Brad Maddox is awesome. I want to see him just wrestle and win. Like all the time. He’s cool.

Rating: A thumb and a half.

Sheamus comes out for his Oscar snubs. It eventually turns into a constructive criticism over Wade Barrett’s performance in ‘Dead Man Down’. Barrett doesn’t appreciate the criticism and brags about his movie stardom. Barrett misses a clothesline and retreats from an impending Brogue Kick. After all, Barrett doesn’t want to ruin his good looks for the premiere.

The Sheamus and Barrett feud has potential. I feel like the mocking of Barrett’s small role is a little juvenile though. I just want to know what happened to Bo Dallas.

Rating: A thumb.

Cody Rhodes vs R Truth

Cody and Truth have a standard mid card match. Cody’s matches have been really short on Raw, but he got a little more time tonight. Truth looked decent for his first match back after that nasty injury. Damien Sandow was on commentary, which further lends the question as to if the Rhodes Scholars are back together. Whatever their status is, his commentary was great. Truth his the What’s up for the win and clears the ring of Sandow afterwards. No help from Kofi was necessary I guess.

Rating: A thumb.

Prime Time Players vs Hell No

This match was not going to feature much in ring wizardry. Bryan pretty much had action with everyone EXCEPT for his opponents. He almost locked the ref. in the No Lock and even gave his partner Kane a forearm. Kane tagged in and cleared house, beating D. Young with a Chokeslam. Oh how the stock of the Prime Time players have fallen.

Rating: A thumb.

The Shield are in the ring cutting a promo. They install fear into everyone in the locker room and their 3-o record shows it as they list the names they’ve dropped recently. They really talk themselves up. And it’s hard to argue with results. They challenge any team to come and fight. Sheamus is out on the ramp alone and dares them to fight him. As Ambrose and Reigns leave the ring, Orton sneaks in and levels Rollins win an RKO. He retreats back into the crowd as the first stone in this new chapter has been cast.

Sheamus’s inclusion is starting to confuse me. It is confusing to have him multiple feuds as I cant keep track. I thought the Shield’s mic work was good. Reigns and Rollins are becoming valid talkers.

Rating: A thumb and a half.

The Miz vs Jack Swagger

Wins over people like the Miz help Jack Swagger immensely. He looked good just throwing the Miz around like a rag doll. Miz had his moments in the match, but Swagger was solid in his victory over him with the Patriot Lock. A good night for the Swagger-Coulter pairing.

Rating: A thumb and a half.

Cena is interviewed backstage before the main event. He claims he put his title shot up on the line to get back into the groove. He guarantees a win tonight.

Typical Cena interview.

THE MAIN EVENT: WWE Championship shot up for grabs.
John Cena vs CM Punk

Wow! Match of the Year candidate no doubt. This match had a little bit of everything. Hard hitting moves with smart in ring psychology. It flowed and never had a dull moment. It took more than signature moves to put each other away, as Cena busted out a Hurricanrana and Punk a Piledriver, a banned move! Words can’t do this match justice. But Cena pulls out the win with the Attitude Adjustment in about 20 minutes. Cena will now challenge the Rock at Wrestlemania 29!

Rating: 2 thumbs up

Final musings: A good episode of Raw. The show started strong and ended stronger with some nice trinkets in the middle. Nothing was terrible at all. My one criticism is the lack of attention given to the tag team and divas division, but that’s a problem with WWE in general. A good episode of Raw and a strong statement on the direction of the WWE going into Wrestlemania.

Thanks for reading!