Raw Reaction: Recapping and Grading Post-No Way out Episode

Raw went live tonight, amidst the fallout of No Way Out last night. Following an important pay-per-view that saw John Laurinaitis get fired, Raw had a lot of anticipation coming into the episode.

How did the follow-up to No Way Out fare? How were the matches and segments that we saw live tonight in terms of in-ring excitement and advancement of storyline? Let's find out.

Opening Segment and CM Punk/Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan/Kane

Opening the show with Mick Foley as the guest GM for the night? That's fine with me!

Basically he announced the first match of the night and John Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis came out and announced the main event, as well as himself having his farewell announcement later. 

Grade: B (for the surprise factor of Mick Foley only)

Getting to the match, we had the champions (Punk and Sheamus) take on the two men who competed for Punk's WWE title last night.

The match had some nice spots throughout. There were some typical performances out of everybody, as Sheamus and Kane used brawling, while Bryan and Punk were more technical.

A little more interference by AJ tonight than last night. It was actually kind of funny to see her in a Kane mask. 

Kane left, leaving little doubt who would win. Punk hit a GTS and Sheamus hit a Brogue Kick on Bryan and that was all she wrote.

Grade: B+

Laurinaitis/Otunga/Big Show Segment and Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger

The segment with John Laurinaitis, David Otunga and Big Show was short, simple and to the point. That's how it should be. It did its job and didn't take up too much time.

Meanwhile, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler were bickering backstage, leading to a match between the former partners. The winner receives Vickie Guerrero's "services." (side note: I would have thrown the match, haha).

Grade for both segments: B-

The overall match between Swagger and Ziggler was pretty solid. Ziggler sold his hurt knee pretty well throughout the match and Swagger actually looked strong in losing.

In the end, Ziggler won, kissed Vickie Guerrero and may (speculation) be on his way for a push.

Grade: B

Raw 1000 Plug, Paul Heyman

There was a classic Raw moment when Stone Cold attacked Mr. McMahon in the hospital. Laughs and great memories score high on my grading scale.

Grade: A

Paul Heyman came out next to respond to Triple H's challenge last night at No Way Out. Heyman said that the lawsuits won't be dropped and that Lesnar would not face Trips, sparking the entrance of Triple H.

The whole segment was a bit long, but it was pretty crucial. It ended with Triple H nailing Heyman with a punch and sending a message. The punch salvaged the segment.

Grade: B

Santino Marella vs. Alberto Del Rio

Thank God this match wasn't Marella versus Ricardo Rodriguez or else I would have stopped watching Raw for good.

It was a quick match. I guess the United States title doesn't have any prestige anymore.

Del Rio won with an arm breaker and Ricardo jumped Santino after the match. 

Grade: D

Cyndi Lauper, Wendi Richter, Heath Slater and Roddy Piper

Hahahaha! Michael Cole said it best when he said, "I apologize for what you are watching."

The crowd clearly didn't want to see this and I don't blame them. Nobody knows who these women are unless they have a full-time job (which most WWE fans don't because they're children).

This was the only time I was glad to see Heath Slater come out. He actually genuinely made me laugh a bit. And then "Rowdy" Roddy Piper came out and made everything alright.

"Hot Rod" made the segment watchable, even though I would have rather seen wrestling. Oh, and Michael Cole was actually making me laugh with his commentary, helping redeem the segment.

Grade: C-

Michael Cole: "Ladies and gentleman, I apologize as this was the worst segment in the history of this show."

Primo and Epico vs. the Primetime Players

In a match that resulted from last night's betrayal, Primo and Epico met Darren Young and Titus O'Neil with AW in the latters' corner.

It was a pretty decent match with the potential for a long-term feud. The count out made sense, but I would have liked to see a more definitive result. Either way, it's good to see the tag team division start to get some momentum in terms of feuds and spotlight on shows.

It was a just a filler match for the main event, so the grade can't be too high.

Grade: C+

John Cena vs. Big Show, David Otunga and John Laurinaitis

We started off with John Laurinaitis giving his farewell speech. I won't miss Laurinaitis' voice when he's gone, that's for sure.

For anybody who hadn't been paying attention, this main event was the main event of basically every house show for the past couple weeks, so the outcome was pretty predictable. That was until Big Show walked out on them.

So, the main event was Big Johnny and Otunga versus Cena. The WWE must hate having a good main event these days, as Raw and pay-per-views have not been getting great matches to close the show.

It was pretty legit that Laurinaitis faked the injuries and Otunga left him later. Cena hit the AA thrice, tapped him with an STF and that was the match. Bad wrestling match for a bad follow-up show.

Grade: C-

 

Conclusion

The show on a whole was pretty bad. I had high expectations following a great night at No Way Out.

There was very minimal wrestling.

Cyndi Lauper was on the show.

Yes, we had Mick Foley, but for only a couple minutes. Some good stuff came out of tonight, but the consensus is that the show was very subpar.

Grade: C-