Did Raw Get Rocked?

Raw opened with the ‘Cole Challenge’. I watched the show live on Monday night and I’m still not sure if I liked this segment of not? It was funny in bits, but maybe went on a little too long if anything. I don’t like what seems to be WWE’s need to embarrass Jim Ross. The man is a legend in his profession and instead of letting him bow out of full time commentary gracefully, they have him dancing round the ring? I’m fairly certain that if he didn’t want to do it he wouldn’t, but still it’s a bit of a shame that this segment could be one of the last times we see JR on Raw.

Like many people, I wasn’t shocked by Foley’s return on Monday night. He’d shown up at Raw house shows in the UK and with The Rock at this week’s Raw, it made sense for him to make his TV return here. I actually enjoyed the Cena “This Is Your Life” segment. It was car-crash TV, but I think Cena and Foley saw that and played it well. It was pretty random to see Bull Buchanan on Raw again, looking old and out of shape. I wonder what he’s doing and if he still wrestles? Without a doubt, the best way to end it was for The Rock to do exactly what he did: in, Rock Bottom, out. The music didn’t stop, he didn’t cut a promo. It was genius whoever thought up that ending and it leaves the door open for Foley to have some sort of involvement on Sunday. Whether you think that’s a good thing or bad is up to you to decide.

Some other things worth mentioning on Raw. Cody Rhodes is no longer wearing his mask. I can honestly say Rhodes is one of the main reasons I watch Smackdown every week. I think he is great in the ring and I love the gimmick he has been working. It’ll be interesting to see where they go with the character from here. I just hope they don’t change him too much.

At Survivor Series, Christian is out and Ziggler is in. I wasn’t shocked at this at all. In fact, the only thing I was shocked about was that Ziggler wasn’t in the match in the first place! I guess they only wanted Ziggler to defend his US title, but now it seems he’s doing double duty for the second PPV in a row. Will this become a regular thing or will they just have him drop the US title and have him pushed to the main event? My hope is the latter.

I hope WWE decide what they are doing with Mason Ryan soon. I don’t like the week on week pointless show of strength and power. We get it. The guy is a powerhouse. Give him a program to work with someone. I hope that WWE use their head and have him run a program with Brodus Clay. I think the size and power of both men could lead to a really good mid-card rivalry.

As far as I know, there was no mention of Evan Bourne being suspended. The fact that he is a tag champ and he should’ve been stripped of the title appears to have been brushed to the side too. I think this should’ve been dealt with better.

So, did Raw get Rocked? In my opinion, I’m not so sure. When I was growing up and watching The Rock, I was always a fan. He wasn’t my favourite wrestler, but I always loved a Rock promo. I can’t put my finger on why I’ve not been a fan of his return. It just seems to me that he just keeps doing ‘bitch’ moves. I wasn’t a fan of him getting involved with the main event at Wrestlemania. He should’ve waited til the match was over, then attacked Cena. Then on Raw, stopping Cena’s AA to do a second Rock Bottom before leaving the ring, it looked like he was running away from a face to face with Cena. If he would’ve stayed in the ring after and stared down Cena, that would’ve been better. Or if he’d have let Cena do the AA, then Rock Bottomed him, that would’ve made more of a statement.

It just makes me think that he’s going to basically leave Cena half-way through the match at Survivor Series, only to come back out and cost him the match just to steal the limelight again. What is he scared of? That Cena is a bigger star than him? If nothing else Survivor Series on Sunday will be interesting to watch.