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Powell Editorials


WWE Raw Hitlist: Randy Orton beats Edge and Chris Jericho to earn a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam, John Cena puts a team together to battle The Nexus, The Miz teases cashing in his MITB contact
Jul 20, 2010 - 01:43 PM


Dot Net Members are listening to 82 minutes of new audio featuring Jason Powell and Rich Twilling's separate reviews of Monday's WWE Raw television show. You can access all Dot Net Audio on the ad-free version of the website for as little as $5.50 per month via the Dot Net Members' Signup Page.

WWE Raw Hits

The Miz teases cashing in: Miz's transformation from being an obnoxious pest heel to a true money player is off to great start. One of my favorite moments of the show was watching Miz stroke the Money in the Bank briefcase as if he was Dr. Evil and the case was Mr. Bigglesworth. The tease of Miz cashing in was great and I hope to see a lot more teases before Miz eventually cashes in. There's no reason to rush this. WWE should take their time and get as much as they can out of the briefcase concept by having Miz tease cashing in numerous times (including at house show events) before he finally does months from now.

Randy Orton vs. Edge vs. Chris Jericho: I was shocked to see this match in the opening segment and it seemed like the live crowd needed a couple minutes to get going. Orton winning the Triple Threat and now challenging Sheamus at SummerSlam was predictable, yet a logical move with Triple H out of the picture due to injury.

Sheamus vs. Evan Bourne: Sheamus was fantastic last night. I enjoyed his boastful promo about dominating John Cena, and I got a kick out of the way he acted tough while discussing his truce with Nexus. Yes, he's beat Bourne on television repeatedly, but they always work well together. I loved the post-match MITB bit with Miz, but I didn't care for Randy Orton channelling The Rock by trying to get the crowd to say "RKO" along with him during his confrontation with Sheamus.

John Cena and Nexus: I don't think anyone over the age of 12 thought Cena was going to join Nexus, but I liked the way he stayed in serious mode after he left the ring and revealed his team. I was worried that we were going to get fun time Cena rather than the serious Cena that the situation called for. I know there are plenty of complaints about Great Khali being on Cena's team instead of Evan Bourne. This is good placement of Khali given that he won't have to do much, and I'm hopeful that Bourne will be challenging Miz for the U.S. Title at SummerSlam. Let's not forget that Nexus could always take out one or more of Cena's teammates before the show.

John Morrison: It looks like they're tweaking Morrison's look to some degree by sending him out there in jeans rather than his usual garb. I'm all for it. There's only so far he can go with the modern day Jim Morrison look, and he has main event potential if he can show improvement on the mic and stop telling cornball jokes. His feud with Ted DiBiase should lead to quality matches, but I always worry when WWE books two wrestlers who both need wins because it generally leads to booking that doesn't make either wrestler look too strong or too weak.

The Nexus beat up Chris Jericho and Edge: The verbal exchange between Jericho and Edge was great, and I suspect they will end up fighting one another during the SummerSlam tag match, which will set up Nexus winning. The attack on Edge was well done, but I found it odd that Jericho played this up in an over the top cheering manner rather than acting more confident to make it seem like he was aligned with Nexus all along. I could tell what was coming next just based on Jericho's cheerleading. That said, it was a surprise to see Jericho and Edge unite with Cena by the end of the show.

Overall show: This was the best edition of Raw in 2010. There really wasn't a dull moment on the show. The Divas match turned into a segment that spotlighted the Ted DiBiase and John Morrison feud, and the comedy tag team match was quick and painless. Everything else felt like it had a purpose. I also liked the way they pulled back on the anonymous general manager gimmick. As I wrote last week, I'd like to see them save it for when it matters, and they did that last night. Again, this was just a hell of show that started to set the stage for what should be a very entertaining SummerSlam show.

WWE Raw Misses

Wade Barrett vs. Mark Henry: I'm giving this a miss even though it was a compelling segment simply because Barrett was actually wrestling. I just hated the idea of having Barrett perform his clunky finisher on the massive Henry. Barrett clutching his lower back afterward should have scared the hell out of WWE. They already had a visa issue scare with Barrett, and having him take such an unnecessary risk just wasn't worth it. Barrett has been the key to the success of The Nexus. I get the idea of having him beat a mid-card performer who matters in the eyes of most fans, but I'd rather see him work with someone who is more likely to help him shine in the ring.

Guest Hosts: Okay, so this really doesn't have anything to do with Monday's Raw, but I still feel the need to vent about the fact that WWE has announced two more guest hosts for October. I didn't even recognize the kid's name, and the idea of Toby Keith appearing on Raw does nothing for me. Is it a coincidence that the recent shows without guest hosts have been significantly better than the shows that had guest hosts? Why can't they just use the concept when they have someone who matters? Guest hosts like these don't generate increased interest and the small amount of publicity they get for throwaway guest hosts just isn't worth watering down the show.

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Powell Editorials • Latest Five Articles
Powell's WWE Raw Hitlist: 900 episodes, The Nexus vs. John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Edge, and Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Kane, and Bret Hart, Jericho says he'll leave if he doesn't win the WWE Championship
WWE Raw Hitlist: The Miz vs. John Cena, Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. John Morrison, Edge vs. R-Truth, Chris Jericho vs. Great Khali, Michael Cole's heel commentary, Sheamus on the throne
WWE Raw Hitlist: The Nexus Strikes Back (sort of), Wade Barrett vs. Chris Jericho, John Cena vs. Darren Young, Edge vs. Heath Slater, Randy Orton vs. Justin Gabriel, Daniel Bryan vs. Michael Tarver
WWE SummerSlam Hitlist: John Cena overcomes the odds...again, Daniel Bryan returns, Sheamus vs. Randy Orton, Undertaker is old, Kane vs. Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston
Powell's WWE SummerSlam preview and predictions: Who is the seventh member of Team WWE? Will Randy Orton beat Sheamus to win the WWE Championship? Will Undertaker show up?
TNA Impact Hitlist: Fortune attack on EV2.0, Rob Van Dam vs. Abyss for the TNA Title, Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money for the TNA Tag Titles highlight The Whole F'N Show special

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