Raw Ramblings

Cena announces his partner WWE.com

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

I have a lot on my mind after finally seeing the end of Monday Night Raw from October 24th.  I'm shaking my head and doing a lot of wondering.  I'm going to jump around here, so please accept my apology for these ramblings.

I'll start with the main event.  I thought it was cool booking Zack Ryder to be John Cena's partner against the Miz and R-Truth.  The beatdown even made sense.  What I don't understand is why Cena then picked the Rock to be his tag team partner at Survivor Series.  There are a couple of things that bother me here.  First, it was announced WEEKS ago that Cena and the Rock would be teaming up in a traditional five man Survivor Series tag team matchup.  So the choice made by Cena had already been announced, and Jake the Snake Roberts circa Wrestlemania 7 could see it coming. (yes, I've used that one before) Why aren't we getting the 5 on 5 match?  Maybe we will.  I thought the way they were setting it up previously we could have gotten Cena, Rock, CM Punk, Triple H, and maybe Ryder against Miz, Truth, Kevin Nash, Alberto Del Rio, and someone else.  Another question about this match, WHY would the Rock want to team with Cena.  Of course, he hasn't responded yet, so I guess we'll have to see how this plays out over the next couple of weeks.

Cole disses JR again

Notice how many times Michael Cole brought up Twitter?  Geez, not only did he bring it up non-stop, he failed to talk much about the company's website, WWE.com.  Joey Styles pointed that out, ironically enough via Twitter.  Plus, I HATE  the way they are burying Jim Ross.  I don't understand the reasoning behind it.  The pictures last night were lame and on the surface this just appears to be another way to jab at the broadcasting legend.  My gut tells me JR is going to show up in Atlanta and be humiliated one last time before fading into the sunset.  It's not right to treat him like that.  I don't blame Cole for this, I question the WWE's motives though.

Shane Douglas & Johnny Ace

Punk and Cena both made cracks to John Laurinaitis riding a skateboard.  I have to wonder how many fans actually get the jokes. For those who don't, Laurinaitis was a surfer dude/skaterboy babyface in the late 1980's in WCW.  He and Shane Douglas were the Dynamic Dudes.  I think the WWE should have put up some pics or done a video or something better to explain this.  The target audience now was probably either not born yet or just in diapers when this angle was going on in WCW.

Looks like they're setting up Dolph Ziggler to feud with Mason Ryan.  I really hope they don't take the U.S. title from Dolph.  He is in my opinion the best heel on the show right now.  I hate to see John Morrison slide down the ranks.  Good for Wade Barrett though.  I know you can't have everyone at the top of the pack.  Where the heck is Daniel Bryan?  He won Money in the Bank, I figured he'd get a little more TV time at least.  The Divas match was fine.  I just hope this doesn't end with Natalya Neidhart and Beth Phoenix feuding.

Nash bashes his "best" friend (WWE.com)

Speaking of hoping for things to not come true, please keep Stephanie McMahon out of this angle.  I have a feeling she's somehow behind all of this.  I thought the beatdown of Triple H with the sledgehammer was pretty good actually.  But do we really need or want to see a feud from nearly 10 years ago revived?  It's a little Impact Wrestlingish in my opinion.  One has to wonder though with all the names they're bringing back (Rock, Mick Foley for Raw in three weeks), will Shawn Michaels somehow get involved here too?

Punk beats down ADR

Alberto Del Rio is the champion, but it doesn't feel like it.  It's similar to when the Miz held the title.  It seems like the focus of the show is still around John Cena.  The company needs to start doing a better job of elevating talent and giving them a chance to run with the ball.  I'm still not completely sold on ADR, and the lack of effort coming from creative isn't helping.

So many questions, which I guess is good.  We can't have everything solved in 120 minutes, or we'd stop watching each week.  I'll be curious to see where things go.  But if anyone from WWE happens to read this, my main point today is (I have two actually): Bring back the traditional 5 on 5 (or 4 on 4) tag matches at Survivor Series, and secondly LEAVE JR ALONE!  Either bring him back and let him do his job or leave him off TV and stop berating him.

Here's my video review too.  Your thoughts?  Post them here, on Facebook, or Twitter.