My internet connection is as bad as this show was good.
-Live from San Antonio, Texas
-Your hosts are Cole and King
-Recap of the final segment on last week’s show. That actually felt like a big Raw moment watching it live, so WWE didn’t even need to fudge the video package. Gotta love Bret beating Khali to the ring too.
-No Nickelback this week. Cena’s music just hits and he comes out alone. Cena mentions Nexus, and they get booed heavily. Good sign. Solid promo to start by Cena as he runs down everything that’s happened in the feud and talks about what’s at stake in the Summerslam match. Needless comedy is inserted as well because WWE writers can’t help themselves. Jericho out to a babyface pop. The look he gives the crowd is priceless as he’s not happy at all about being on “John Cena’s team.” He basically says it’s his team and firmly establishes he’s still a heel. Cena slaps the microphone away from Jericho, and the look on his face is once again priceless. Give this man a raise to stay in WWE beyond September. Cena’s impassioned response on why Jericho should face Nexus is tremendous. Jericho comes back one more time by talking about destroying Nexus and then Cena. General manager alert. The Summerslam 7-on-7 main event will now be an elimination match. Nexus will take on seven Raw superstars in a preview. Jericho and Cena will also be in a tag team match. D-X is hinted as the general managers based on what Cole said.
-This was a tremendous opening segment that I think sold a few Pay-Per-Views. You had Cena establishing himself as a leader.
-Randy Orton vs. Jay Uso
Sheamus is sitting ringside for the match, but hedoesn’t join Cole and King on commentary. I bet that would be more entertaining than the match. Isn’t it a little soon for Uso to be in singles matches and jobbing to top stars. Shouldn’t we at least wait until they’re mid-carders ready to be elevated? Orton wins a short match after hitting an RKO on Uso. Least the number one contender is winning leading to the match.
-Winner (s)/Rating: Randy Orton/1/2*
-Jimmy Uso comes from behind on Orton. We know where this is headed. No, we don’t Sheamus runs in and accidentally kicks Jimmy Uso in the head. Orton hits an RKO on Sheamus. Miz comes out with a referee. Once again Sheamus is unconscious. Orton hits an RKO on Miz. Guess he’s tired of these cheap title victories. No bell so Miz retains the briefcase.
-Another good segment to lead toward the Pay-Per-View.
-Edge is chatting with Ted Dibiase, and he doesn’t want Khali on the team. Edge is even considering taking Khali out. Dibiase is wrestling Morrison later on. Khali’s translator overheard everything. The plot thickens.
-Miz and Sheamus are arguing in the ring as Raw comes back from break. Sheamus and Miz are the team to take on Jericho and Cena. That should be entertaining.
-Summerslam recall is Honky Tonk Man losing the Intercontinental championship to The Ultimate Warrior. What a great moment.
-Khali is unhappy with Edge and challenges him to a match. If Edge wins, Khali is off the team. LET’S GO EDGE!
-Jerry Lawler is going to be a part of the seven man team taking place later on in the evening. Way to show depth there WWE.
-Edge vs. The Great Khali
Nexus walks out quickly. Edge takes the high road and Khali is left alone. Bell is never rung.
-Winner (s)/Rating: No-contest?/N/R
-Khali is allowed to walk away and remain on the Summerslam team. WHAT? COME ON.
-Team Raw (Mark Henry, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, Goldust, Mark Henry, and Evan Bourne vs. The Nexus (Wade Barrett, Darren Young, Michael Tarver, Heath Slater, Skip Sheffield, David Otunga, and Justin Gabriel)
I’m not even going to try and keep track of the eliminations. One of the highlights is Lawler’s punches. Another is his dropkick. His flurry on Gabriel leads to a time-out by Nexus and a commercial break. We come back and find out Lawler was eliminated. That makes me quite sad for some reason. Crowd is surprisingly into this despite the Raw team being cannon fodder. Good for them. The Raw team slowly dwindles as Nexus is booked really strong. Henry manages to get some offense in on every Nexus team member but even succumbs to Skip Sheffield’s spear. Evan Bourne and Tyson Kidd are the only ones left. Tyson Kidd is quickly dumped by Darren Young. Barrett hits his finisher on Bourne. 1-2-3. WOW! Props to WWE for showing some real balls.
-Winner (s)/Rating: The Nexus/*
-Maybe the match itself wasn’t great, but the booking got was fantastic. Nexus got to look strong once again. Not a single one of them did the J-O-B in this match, and I believe everyone got to eliminate someone or at least hit their finisher. Gabriel hit the 450 splash on Bourne after the match. Barrett cuts a promo and gets some darn good heat going. He talks about the friction between the Raw team members. Skip Sheffield keeps that theme going. Tarver wants Cena alone against the seven Nexus members. If only Nexus had better theme music.
-Miz and Sheamus have a moment.
-Brie Bella (w/Nikki Bella) vs. Alicia Fox
Lawler is back on commentary and has a headache. Knowing I was about to call a Brie Bella match would give me a headache too. Bellas tries to switch, but Jillian Hall is at ringside to prevent these kind of shenanigans from taking place. Fox wins quickly after an axe kick.
-Winner (s)/Time: Alicia Fox/1/4*
-Jillian has a gift for Alicia, her singing. Alicia pretty much turns babyface by axe-kicking her. Our first bad segment of the night. Least Alicia hits a nice axe kick.
-Come back with R-Truth rapping. He asks the crowd, “What’s up?” This show and the buyrate for Summerslam is the answer.
-Ted Dibiase (w/Maryse) vs. John Morrison
Dibiase controls with his perfectly acceptable but ultimately non-descript offense. Morrison picks up the pace with a number of kicks. He goes for starship pain. Maryse provides a distraction. Dibiase goes for the cover and puts his feet on the ropes. R-truth pushes them off. Morrison charges, but Dibiase drop toeholds him into R-Truth and gets the three count.
-Winner (s)/Rating: Ted Dibiase/*
-Just another excuse to tease more tension between the Raw team members. Now it seems even the guys who are friends (Morrison and R-Truth) aren’t getting along. John Cena is watching the monitor and looks concerned. Be interesting to see how this all pays off in future weeks or at the Pay-Per-View. This already looks to be the best main event since Wrestlemania as far as build-up and hype.
-Same video package that aired before the show. Did we really need to see this again? I loved how earlier in the show, they said Bret Hart was training in Calgary for the match. Sex with his new wife is considered training? You know what. I’ll buy that.
-Randy Orton interview. Josh Mathews asks a question so dumb. I’m surprised he doesn’t get hit with an RKO for his troubles.
-John Cena and Chris Jericho vs. Sheamus (WWE Champion) and The Miz (United States Champion)
Bet you all forgot Miz was still the U.S. champion. Neither team can even decide who’s going to start the match. Well, this is going to be fun. Miz and Cena actually start. Cena makes short work of him. Kind like their “feud” last year. Bet you all forgot that too. Sheamus in and he fares no better. Jericho tags in. Series of forearms in the corner. Sheamus comes back with stomps. Referee pushes Sheamus back. Crowd loudly cheers for Jericho. High leg kick and a dropkick. Choke on the apron. Kick to the midsection and a punch by Sheamus. Jericho pulls the rope. Sheamus misses a charge. Miz is knocked down. Miz and Sheamus resume their arguing outside the ring. Commercial break. Cena and Jericho still in control of Miz as they come back. Jericho tries to apply the Walls of Jericho. He dropkicks Sheamus off the apron. Miz nails Jericho with a boot to the face. Heat segment on Jericho. Yup, he’s a babyface here. Hot tag is prevented by Sheamus in a nice spot. Sheamus and Miz continue beating Jericho down. Miz misses a blind charge. Hot tag made at last. Wow. Great moment as Jericho hesitates before tagging. Jericho turns on his partner and hits a codebreaker on Cena. Miz pins Cena. Eek.
-Winner (s)/Rating: Sheamus and The Miz/**1/2
-Jericho applies the Walls of Jericho on Cena. Khali comes in to talk sense to everyone. Edge spears him. Morrison and R-Truth are out. The arguing continues as all seven members of Team WWE are not getting along. Nice story being told throughout the show.
Final Thoughts: An extremely well-booked show that told a consistent story throughout the whole show. The Nexus are a strong unit who are ready to do anything for victory while the seven WWE guys absolutely cannot get along. Maybe the wrestling wasn’t great and maybe there were a couple useless segments, but overall this was a strong show that made me interested in Summerslam. Considering Summerslam is the second biggest show of the year for WWE, I’d say this singular focus will help in the long run with the buyrate.
