First Raw of the New Year....

.......And what a Raw it was. I know it seems like Miz and Morrison are the secondary story to the Cena/Punk feud, but they opened the show with an amazing Falls Count Anywhere match that served it's dual purpose. It put Miz over as a credible champion, and showed Morrison's crazy parkour style and gave him a taste of the Main Event level. I'm sure before they hit the curtain, Alex Riley was thinking "Shit. What's going to happen to me this week?". But really, he's doing better than that one guy that won Season Two of NXT. What was his name?

They threw the obligatory 3 minute diva match in early this week. I don't see why it had to be a Six Man tag. Why not just have Melina interfere in one of Nattie's matches or something?

Seems like The Usos are the treading water on Raw. How many times have they been Number One Contender only to come up short? Unless the Tamina/Santino romance is a swerve for Jimmy and Jey to gain control of the belts, I don't see the point of this. Why did they split up The Dudebusters again?

I liked that they didn't open the show with Punk and Nexus. It built the suspense of the story and I know that was the part of the show I was waiting to see. Was Wade Barrett suppose to be part of the original storyline or was he rushed back because of Cena's injury? I'm curious to see how far WWE pushes Punk with this angle. Could he win the Rumble? With Orton in the title match it seems wide open this year. But once again, I feel that if this story does make it to Wrestlemania it's just so Punk can be led to slaughter. It's not what I want, just what I feel is going to happen. But I do look forward to the interaction of the two.

Alberto Del Rio defies the Brand Extension by showing up tonight. I like Del Rio, and I hope that he doesn't get buried too much this Friday in the blow-off match with Mysterio on Smackdown. He cut a good promo and then had a nice match with Mr. Jobber To The Stars, R-Truth. My only complaint? Somebody needs to tell Truth that when you're in an arm bar, it fucking hurts. It's not like the Sharpshooter where you might have a chance to get out of it, Del Rio is BREAKING YOUR ARM. Tap out. Immediately. That's what's up.

If you've watched WWE for more than 5 minutes you knew how the Main Event was going to end. Face vs. Heel vs. Heel. Winner faces Heel champion. A nice, fairly long cage match with Orton winning by escape, which saves anyone from having to eat the pin. When Punk climbed the cage just to pull off Barrett's Nexus armband, I died laughing. Punk is the master of subtlety.

So now we have our WWE Championship match set for Royal Rumble. We also have word that Cena "might" be back next week. This Raw was a good show for setting up the storyline elements for the next PPV with little crap in between. I'm looking forward to next week, how about you?

Smackdown Live.

Match by match my thoughts on tonight's Smackdown. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane: It's a match between two of my least favorite wrestlers. This is more entertaining to me:



I actually changed to G4 and started watching a fight show on there. The no DQ rule made for a more painful end for Rey. Of course it seems like he can't lose clean to anyone any more. I must admit though, I like Alberto Del Rio. Anybody else laugh when Rey gets hurt? My favorite was "Ah! Dios Mio!" from the Swagger ankle lock. It actually seems like Del Rio is getting some heat, but you know how they pipe in sound on taped shows.

Why is it when everyone gets hurt now we get the "Owen Hart just died" voice from the announcers?

Here comes the SES. I bet Serena's future endeavors will be on WWE.com later tonight. Punk got new ink and the return of the Anaconda Vice. Hells yeah. Can anyone cut a better promo? "Be better, or be gone." Well, bye Serena.

Dashing Cody Rhodes is giving advice on body shaving. Nice. And now for Ziggler to retain by shady means. I won't be paying attention until the Zig Zag.


No Zig Zag, but Grisham gets props for his current event comments about grabbing some beer and hitting the emergency exit.

Here we go with yet another recap of Kane and his soap opera music assisted promos. WWE is acting like this is the first time that Kane has ever turned on Taker. Selective memory. On a personal note, it's really nice outside, and for the first time in awhile, no mail.

Oklahoma represent!

Did Kaval take charisma pills or what? I guess Del Rio is killing jobbers to build up more credibility. Did anyone stop and wonder what the point was to the Big Show and SES Storyline? Seems to me like it's too soon to split them up. But what do I know?

Ten minutes to go. Here comes the GrandpaTaker. Vengeance, revenge, rest in peace. Why do I continue to watch? Why do I say that every time? Okay. I'm out.

Thoughts on Smackdown.

Not much to say about Smackdown. I usually read the spoilers and see if it's even worth watching. Here are a few thoughts on the subject:

I get it. We're suppose to despise Drew McIntyre. But his gimmick as "The Chosen One" doesn't work with me. So help me, I hope he doesn't win the Smackdown Money In The Bank.

Speaking of Money In The Bank, I really wish Christian would win. After 2 years of coming close, I think it's time.

Why did they put the belt on Rey Mysterio?

CM Punk's injury really effed up my Fridays for the next 6 weeks.

Cody Rhodes new entrance? Epic.

I hate the way they build Jack Swagger up, just to make him look like a coward 5 minutes later. I also can't stand Kane. While Swagger belongs in the main event, Kane should not be anywhere near it.

Thanks to the shitty weather my Dish Network is failing on me so no thoughts on the latest episode of AAA. I guess my next post will be on Monday's Raw. I should really be in bed.