Triple H comes out to start things off with two big announcements to open up the show. The first of which is that we're going to be indefinitely treated to Raw Supershows featuring wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown and the second was that CM Punk and Kevin Nash are [or atleast WERE] going to square off at Night Of Champions. The opening segment wasn't great. Nash still seems to have a hard time keeping up, but he did get in Triple H's face about Punk's comments about Stephanie, asking "what kind of man are you?" He also dropped the bomb that John Laurenitis has signed him to a "lucrative contract."
Based on tonight's show the idea of combining the two lineups was a stroke of genius, case in point being the night's first match between Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton. The Raw roster was starting to feel a little stale and thin and it worked nicely to have a few Raw vs. SD matches to add some spontaneity to the night. Orton and Ziggler worked really well together, the crowd was hot and I really thought DZ was gonna pull it off after a superkick, but Orton bested him.
Cena comes out to address the Del Rio situation but is interrupted by Mark Henry whose definitely over with the Raw crowd. I love Mark Henry's demeanor, even while he's scarier than shit, he's got these deep pensive eyes that command. There's fury when he's enraged, but when he approaches the ring he's eerily calm. Christian and Sheamus enter into the foray and we have ourselves a development. After a commercial break Laurenitis is in back with Charles Robinson standing him like Grover Dill in A Christmas Story. As Triple H enters Laurenitis tells him that he set up a tag team match for the main event between Cena/Sheamus and Henry/Christian. Triple H immediately tells Laurenitis that he already set up that match and to remember whose running the show. (Just for future references: referee Charles Robinson.)
Immediately after this we're told, for the first time of the night, that Miz and CM Punk are gonna have a match. Normally this sort of match would be mentioned at the beginning of the show, with another plug somewhere in between, but they just did it. I love this loose feel, the idea that they're not just going to phone in episodes and expect us to swallow it. Miz comes down with a microphone giving him time to cut a quick promo while not wasting time. Punk and Miz worked pretty well together and I enjoyed the match, even with an awkwardly timed commercial break. Just as Punk's about to gain the edge and possibly the pin, R-Truth comes out and after Punk holds his own for a bit Nash comes out and delivers a Jackknife.
More Swagger/Ziggle/Vicki drama as Ziggler costs The All American American a match against the real Sin Cara.
New tag champs Air Boom take on McGillicutty and Otguna who are once again sporting the ominous backwards hat and a hoodie look. JR and King spend most of the match talking about how boring these two guys are, obviously showing blatant disregard to the tag teams new threads. After Kofi pins McGillicutty the two come out and take issue with Lawler, smacking his head set off and yelling the same thing over and over again. Coupla hoodlums.
Fuck the Bella Twins.
The main event is a disappointment. I don't think it did Mark Henry any good and, well, Christian is supposed to have a World Title match tomorrow and I don't know how we're supposed to expect him to beat Orton after he's pretty much squashed by Cena. BUT cut to backstage and H is watching on TV when Punk walks in. Triple H spoke to the board of directors, the match with Nash is cancelled, CM Punk will be facing Triple H. It seems like all that "what kind of man are you?" talk had an affect. Cut back to the ring and Sheamus and Cena are celebrating in the ring together, which I think fully symbolizes a face turn for the Great White Hope, and I fully support that.
It's hard to be pessimistic about any of this right now. And tomorrow night we get to do it all over again for Super SmackDown!
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