WWE Monday Night Raw: The Aftermath Results and Thoughts

Plain and simple: WWE Monday Night Raw was an improvement over last week's edition.

The matches were slightly better and the pacing of the show seemed smooth. Viewers also saw a new GM take the stand with Vickie Guerrero. However, WWE had its moments where I questioned what was booked. As with any show, there is good and bad. WWE was mixed with both but improved from a bad show last week.

Let's begin with interim General Manager Vickie Guerrero. Guerrero would be an ideal candidate because of her heel status. She really gets every arena with every person chanting boos at her. In that WWE roster, she is one, if not, the top heel. Last night, I felt her performance was just fine and made a good main event. Her stunt on the Diva's royal battle was also pretty decent and her not winning was a good decision.

Overall, having Guerrero as a heel GM would work just fine, though there are a few names that could benefit more.

That would be bringing in a WWE legend.

The opening match was a great way to start Raw. Last week, WWE did the same thing, but Raw fell flat the rest of the way. This week was not the case, as Raw did decent throughout the program after a great opener.  

Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk vs. Kane

Match Rating: 3.5/5

The Brodus Clay and Big Show match was extremely slow. Two large men in the ring gives away that this will be slow. I do not care for this potential feud. Clay reminds me of a modern day Rikishi and his dance group brings back the days of Too Cool back in the 1990s.

Brodus Clay vs. Big Show

Match Rating: 2/5 

Jack Swagger is struggling. He just lost Guerrero in his life and missed an opportunity with Santino for the United States title. This match was much better than Clay and Show. There was no need to take the belt off of a pretty popular wrestler in Santino.  

Jack Swagger vs. Santino for the U.S Title

Match Rating: 2.5/5

John Cena hyped up on Twitter before Raw that he had a historic announcement. Chris Jericho came out to the ring before he could say it. Finally Cena told the whole world his announcement. He is going to insert himself in the Money in the Bank match.

So, that was it? Cena hypes up his announcement and it is for himself. Moving along.

Poor Heath Slater. He is a WWE jobber. That was case and point against the returning Sid Vicious. 

Heath Slater vs. Sid Vicious

Match Rating: 2.5/5

The next match reminded me of watching WCW back in 1999-2000 when Vince Russo was the head booker. In order to obtain victory, one wrestler must grab a contract from a pole. I would have liked to seen a pure, clean finish rather than two wrestlers playing tug of war for a contract. I gave this match a slightly higher score because of the good in ring work by both.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler 

Match Rating: 3/5

The Divas division seems to be a filler for the WWE. This segment could have been used for a longer main event but rather than do that, WWE decides to book a five minute battle royal with the Divas. When comparing TNA's Knockouts division to the Divas of WWE, TNA is by far more explosive and provides what women's wrestling should be. 

Divas Battle Royal

Royal Rating: 1.5/5

John Cena and Chris Jericho had a good main event. We were about to see Jericho make Cena tap out—something viewers have not witness in a while. That was until the Big Show attacked Cena to close the show. The ending was not what viewers may have wanted to see. I would have positioned this for Jericho to win clean, have Cena lay in the ring, then the Big Show coming out for the offense with Jericho letting him do so. 

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho

Match Rating: 3/5

Overall WWE Monday Night Raw Rating: 2.5/5 (last week scored a 2/5 rating)

This edition of Raw was an improvement and had more wrestling, but in my view, it did not qualify as a good show. It was an improvement from last week, but did not struck me as a good show while covering it.

It feels like WWE is trying to make this feud between the Big Show and Cena work, with its roster on the thin line.

Jericho's return adds more star power to Raw, but the roster is still in fragile shape. WWE needs to find a new star to create, as it did so well back in the late 1990s. Although ratings have improved with the NBA Finals concluding, the quality show just has not been there as of late.