Tonight’s was Raw episode #1009 live from Albany, New York. This edition had the fallout of the end of last weeks show, the return of Mick Foley, an interview with Jerry Lawler and John Cena addressing his injury. But what was featured the most during this edition were young superstars, if only a Dean Ambrose would’ve appeared.
The show opens up with the best duo in the company aside from Daniel Bryan and Kane. CM Punk is sitting in a chair while Paul Heyman addressed what happened last week by showing the replay. After that he called out the young referee Brad Maddox to make him apologize and then hear him resign. The young referee did apologize but didn’t resign. This made the WWE champion mad and he started to insult him and Paul Heyman joined him by saying he was a “scab” a “replacement”. That’s when the WWE did what they do best make fun of things that are competition, this time was the current NFL situation with the replacement refs. After insulting the ref the WWE champion started to insult AJ and that made her come out. This proved to be a bad idea because immediately as she came CM Punk started to make fun of her by showing everybody why she treats him the way she treats him. First they showed the images of her failed proposal and then CM Punk starts to imply that the two of them made have had sex by saying that she know he is the “Best in the world” and that he is the reason of her skip in her walk. After that the slimy Paul Heyman knelt in one knee to propose to AJ telling her that they will make the best power couple in sports entertainment history. At the end AJ responded with a slap to Heyman’s face, this could mean the end of AJ’s power as Raw GM since the Board of Directors said she couldn’t touch any person from the staff or she would get fired. But WWE isn’t known for its continuity.
After a commercial break AJ is backstage talking to Brad Maddox. She starts talking nicely to him and then goes on her mood swings and tells him that with another bad call he will get fired.
Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler: Just starting the match the referee kicked out Vickie Guerrero and R-Truth out of ringside in the best decision a referee has made tonight (MNF referees not so much). After this the match was just great. The match was one of the best TV matches of 2012. It was mid card pay-per-view caliber.At the end the victory for Dolph Ziggler without Vickie at his side made him look more credible. Also R-Truth should be in singles competition again.
Footage of Dr. Shelby with Daniel Bryan and Kane in a Café were shown. Once again hilarious stuff with Kane being the highlight of the segment with his waiter role.
Prime Time Players vs Santino Marella & Zack Ryder: Just a short match to establish the tag team of Prime Time Players. Each day that goes on the WWE shows that the tag division is slowly coming to life. It will be interesting to see what’s next for Darren Young and Titus O’Neil.
We got a surprise appearance from Mick Foley. He came to address the sudden change of CM Punk but he is interrupted quickly by the man itself. After that magic happened. In this Promo Mick Foley mentioned how CM Punk responded his Text Message after his famous rant last summer and said how it meant to him that. The he told that CM Punk has to defeat Cena in Hell in Cell to earn the respect he craves just like he did years ago. Punk then says something that makes sense he has defeated Cena on multiple occasions but they still tell him he has to defeat him. He then tells that he’s been the champion for 309 days and he is the 10th longest title reign in history. But then Mick Foley told him the best quote I heard when it comes to wrestling: “Do you want to be another statistic or a legend?”, that quote just defines what is wrestling it isn’t about numbers is about moments.
Ryback vs The Miz: After destroying MizTv last week we got this no-title match. Just another short Ryback match where the IC Champ got some offenses but then ended losing. Is good to see Ryback move on to bigger opponents but the WWE might be giving him more than he can chew. Also during this match a stupid fan make his way into the ring. He was lucky that Scott Armstrong took him down on not Ryback.
Another Café segment where Bryan and Kane talk about the ending of Smackdown and how they destroyed the tag division. This is when the orgasm scene reference of “When Harry Met Sally” comes to play and also a little cameo from Mae Young.
AJ is backstage talking with the referees. After all referees go Alberto del Rio with David Otunga and Ricardo Rodriguez joined her. She then announced Sheamus, Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio vs Alberto del Rio, David Otunga and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Tyson Kidd vs Wade Barrett: Another short squash match to show the new Barrett. With Barrett’s new finisher being an elbow I see a problem with Kassius when he comes up to the main roster. Also Kassius elbow is more impressive.
Michael Cole has the announced Interview with Jerry Lawler.
David Otunga, Alberto del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez vs Sheamus, Sin Cara & Rey Mysterio: Short and fun match to watch. Good to see Ricardo get the most ring time even if he lost. Not so fun not seeing Sin Cara get injured with the White and Gold attire, after all his track record of getting injured every time he used the attire made me think it could happen.
A final segment of the Café saga was shown. This time was Daniel Bryan eating a meatball and Kane eating a salad. This makes Kane burp and Bryan vomit over Dr. Shelby.
After a commercial break the tag team champions come out to see the result of the poll that will give them their tag team name. The poll reveals that the fans choose Team Hell No over Team Friendship and Team Teamwork. After that Damien Sandow who wore a new T-Shirt and Cody Rhodes attacked both of men. After that they reveal the new name of their tag team which is “Rhodes Scholars”.
Layla & Alicia Fox vs Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres: Short match that only took place for the aftermath. An injured Kaitlyn makes her way out and reveals that who took her out was blonde. Then Eve argues with Beth and then attacks her. At last some development in the Divas division.
Tensai vs Brodus Clay w/ Cameron and Naomi: The match started and it was soon interrupted. Big Show made his return and attacked Clay and Tensai. That happened and then it was announced that Randy Orton will face him this Friday on Smackdown.
Main Event of the night was the injured Cena being the cheesy good guy that is Cena. Thankfully CM Punk came out with Paul Heyman who added a nice touch by carrying the WWE title over his head to get more heat. Also CM Punk made a little kid sad by not shaking his hand, pure gold in just seconds. When Punk took the mic he said something very true that there are young guys that deserve a shot at his title and that Cena always get titles handed into him. Then he gives 5 second to Cena to leave but ends up getting heat by lead pipe. Then the show goes back to Punk when he attacks Foley and when he wants to go back and hit him again he sees terrified Ryback who appeared from nowhere. The most disappointing ending you could expect,h Punk’s facial expression was perfect for a Undertaker appearance not a Ryback appearance.
This show was all about young superstars. Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston had a great match that helped Ziggler’s card rise even more. Prime Time Players and Rhodes Scholars where given a spotlight. Kaitlyn got mic time. Sin Cara was the one that made a pin in his tag match and not Rey Mysterio or Sheamus. Wade Barrett is still on a roll. Even young referees like Brad Maddox where given some mic and TV time. But of course the big young push given tonight was to Ryback. He defeated the IC Champion and closed the show. Crossing fingers that Ryback doesn’t get a shot for the WWE title. Crossing fingers he gets caught violating the wellness policy. Aside from the horrible ending in which someone like The Undertaker would’ve fitted better. Daniel Bryan and Kane are still gold, just like CM Punk and Paul Heyman. But the highlight of the show was Mick Foley’s promo with CM Punk. Can’t wait for next week and see if the WWE will make the biggest mistake and give Ryback more than he can chew too soon.
Final Score: 9.5/10
