MONDAY NIGHT RAW
October Week 1, 2011
Pre-show: Brodus d. Riley (66); McGillicutty and Otunga feel underused and want a shot (66); Ryder begs HHH for some sort of opportunity, and gets an IC Title shot IF he can win tonight (74)
-HHH opens the show in the ring. He has three big announcements to make after last night. Firstly, he is bringing back the brand split, tired of all the chaos from people jumping shows and whatnot. Tonight's Raw is a SUPERSHOW to commemorate the occasion, but that's it. Secondly, he calls Laurinitis to the ring. He wants him to move to Smackdown. Laurinitis protests, but HHH insists that Raw is under control and he needs him as a presence on Friday nights.
Rating: 59
-Finally, he calls out Kevin Nash, who he knows is in the back. HHH knows Nash has a Legends contract, and if he's going to keep showing up at WWE events and doing as he pleases, he needs to back it up in the ring. He tells Nash to lace up his boots, as he has a match tonight!
Rating: 87
-Match: Morrison v. Barrett
In my little world, Morrison is not in fact in the doghouse. He takes a lot of abuse, but scores with a rollup to take home a win.
Rating: 73
-Match: Sin Cara and Air Boom v. Sin Cara II, Otunga, and McGillicutty
The heels fail to impress much as the faces roll to a victory.
Rating: 66
-Match: Nash v. ???
Nash's opponent turns out to be Justin Gabriel. Time has obviously been unkind to Nash no matter how he tries to hide it, but he's still able to put away the flier.
Rating: 69
-Match: Ryder and Ryan v. ZigSwag v. Priceless
It's explained that Ryder and Ryan get shots at Cody and Ziggler if they can come out on top here. Cody and Ted spend the entire match arguing, and Cody eventually walks out. Ted doesn't care much, so the match essentially boils down to the faces and Vickie's cronies. Swagger struggles against Ryder, and while he's able to reverse the Rough Ryder into a slam, he's making Vickie nervous. She screams at him for a bit, and the distraction is enough to cost him the win.
Rating: 77
JR and King have good announcer chemistry! Fancy that.
-A video plays, hyping Cody's run as IC champion and Ryder's recent rise to fame.
Rating: 68
-Match: Kelly/AJ/Kaitlyn/Alicia/Eve d. Divas of Doom/Bellas/Maryse
Rating: 58
-Punk confronts HHH backstage, and complains about his lack of a match. Punk accuses HHH of holding him down by keeping him out of the main event, calling it a typical burial. HHH says that if Punk wants a push so bad, why not actually earn one? He'll fight Sheamus later tonight.
Rating: 92
-Match: Sheamus v. Punk
Punk's able to give as good as he gets, but the match is ultimately decided by Christian, who runs in on Sheamus.
Rating: 75
Sheamus/Punk poor chemistry
-Christian gets an opportunity to vent his title-related frustrations as he pounds away at the Celtic Warrior.
Rating: 85
-Match: Cena and Orton v. Del Rio and Henry
A good back and forth match. Cena has the upper hand and is about to put away Del Rio when AWESOME TRUTH come out of the crowd! They go after both sides, having no trouble cleaning house on the tired competitors. The match is ruled a no contest.
Rating: 83
-The fighting continues in a confused melee until security hits the ring to break it up and haul off Truth and Miz.
Rating: 92
-Laurinitis comes to ringside with a thoughtful expression. He tells security to be gentle with Awesome Truth, and apologizes for their rough treatment. He would like to invite them to be his guests this week backstage at Smackdown.
Rating: 67
Post-show: HHH says Awesome Truth might as well fight since they're here (97); Cena/Orton d. Awesome Truth (66)
Overall: 74, failure.
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