The Good, the Great and the Awesome from Raw 11/4/13
The road to the 27th annual Survivor Series event is underway and after Monday night's WWE Raw, we now know the main event of that show.
Big Show, rehired after dangling a monstrous lawsuit over the heads of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, negotiated a WWE Championship match against Randy Orton, known as The Viper, for the November 24 pay-per-view but immediately paid for it.
Speaking of Randy Orton, he would be in action against an opponent chosen by WWE Universe, via the much-hyped WWE app. Who would be selected to face The Viper, and would they be able to score a major upset over the WWE champion?
The issues between CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and the Wyatt Family escalated Monday night. Fans have been wondering why Bray Wyatt and his followers brutally assaulted both Punk and Bryan on last week's show. Would they get their answers on this week's show?
All of these questions were addressed on the wrestling-heavy, November 4 episode of Monday Night Raw.
The Good
1 of 3
Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio
Kingston and Del Rio have had so many matches over the last year and their chemistry is so strong that it is easy to become somewhat spoiled by their typically strong outings.
That is why when they have a disappointing match, as they did Monday night, it stands out.
The two decorated WWE Superstars still had a very good match, but the bout felt somewhat disjointed. There were several spots that failed to click and the obvious Del Rio win made it somewhat anticlimactic.
It was an off night for two immensely talented, in-ring talents but one that was still light years ahead of that which some others on the card are capable.
It was a good, if not disappointing, match.
Randy Orton's pre-match promo
Yes, it was an old-school wrestling promo, but Randy showed good emotion during it.
One of the more prevalent complaints about The Viper over the last three years was the slow, methodical manner in which he cut promos, but on Monday night, he displayed more emotion and arrogance than he has since turning heel.
Hopefully it is a sign of things to come as he regains his footing as one of WWE's top villains.
Tyson Kidd returns
The graduate of the Hart Dungeon returned to WWE programming on Monday, teaming with real-life wife Natalya to defeat Fandango and Summer Rae in mixed tag team action.
Kidd looked fast and crisp and really managed to win over the crowd late in the match.
Long one of the more overlooked and under-appreciated talents on the roster, it is nice to see him back on television with the opportunity to add to the above-average, in-ring content Raw and SmackDown have presented fans with this year.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Curtis Axel
Everything Ziggler does at this point is, at the very least, good.
His win over Axel is no exception.
Whether it leads to anything meaningful for either competitor bears watching, but given their status in the abyss that is the WWE midcard, it is highly unlikely.
The Great
2 of 3
CM Punk vs. Luke Harper
This match was an excellent way to build upon on the events of last week's show, which saw the Wyatt Family attack CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
Being the confrontational, explosive personality that Punk is, it made perfect sense that he would waste little time in getting his hands on one, if not all, of his attackers.
Harper, a talented worker on the independent circuit who was known as Brodie Lee prior to signing with WWE, was given the opportunity to shine on his own and he made the most of it. The traditional big man, little man match worked well and kept the fans entertained, even if the outcome was never really in doubt.
The post-match activities, which nearly saw Punk suffer a 3-on-1 attack for the second consecutive week only to be saved by a chair-swinging Daniel Bryan, added to the angle exponentially.
Add to it the fact that Punk and Bryan have not gone out of their way to truly acknowledge one another, creating intrigue and making the angle fresh and exciting for fans who were worn out by Bryan's disappointing main event run.
Big E. Langston vs. Randy Orton
The WWE Universe took to their electronic devices and voted for Big E. Langston to face WWE Champion Randy Orton in one of the night's main events.
Langston, as he has done many times since turning babyface and returning to relevance, worked hard to justify his latest push. He never looked out of place sharing the ring with the WWE champion and exhibited solid chemistry with the third-generation star.
The former WWE NXT champion may not have come out with a victory, but he did push Orton to his limit. Like Damien Sandow on last week's show, Langston got more out of hanging in with the WWE champion in a losing effort than he would have had he won the match before he was ready for the attention and spotlight that comes with that sort of victory.
"Chiquita baby!"
Am I the only one with a major wrestling crush on Renee Young?
It's a totally rhetoric question but feel free to chime in below anyway.
The Awesome
3 of 3
John Cena, Goldust and Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Monday night was one of the best performances in John Cena's long, illustrious and controversial career.
Since returning from his triceps tear, he has made an effort to expand his move set, and Monday night, he showed off some of his new offensive weapons, all the while serving as the centerpiece of one of the year's best six-man tag matches.
And that is saying a lot.
In his four matches since returning from injury, the World Heavyweight Champion has outperformed nearly everyone else on Raw and SmackDown, despite a left arm that cannot possibly be 100 percent. Hard work and dedication to a craft will fuel a man to do crazy things.
Love him or hate him, Cena would not risk his well-being this soon after surgery if he was not absolutely passionate about his craft. It was an outstanding performance by one of the sport's elite workers (yeah, I said it).
Damien Sandow continued to standout during the match. Since being given a renewed push, he has been absolutely phenomenal between the ropes, beginning with a SmackDown match against Alberto Del Rio a few weeks back and running through Monday's match.
Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger are on a crash course toward a tag team title match, and if their tag team contests thus far are any indication, fans are in for a treat when they finally do meet with the titles on the line.
Big Show gets his job back...and immediately regrets it
Everything was going perfectly fine for Big Show as Raw reached its climax. He had successfully blackmailed Triple H and Stephanie McMahon into giving him his job back and awarding him a WWE title match against Randy Orton at Survivor Series.
Then he toyed with Triple H and humiliated him in front of a worldwide audience, and as a result, he paid for it dearly.
The Shield and Randy Orton made their way to the ring and began a 4-on-1 beatdown of the giant. When it appeared as though Big Show would get his hands on Orton and thwart Triple H's plans, Kane's music hit, and the suit- and tie-clad Superstar made his way to the ringside, momentarily providing a distraction of which The Shield and Orton would take advantage.
Using steel chairs, they beat Big Show unconscious, then dragged him outside the ring and powerbombed him through the announcers' table.
The Authority, Shield and Orton stood tall to close out the show.
The beatdowns that have closed out Monday Night Raw over the last three months have become redundant and boring, but this week's was among the best in recent history.
It was brutal and violent, and it shows how sadistic the heels can be. Big Show is an even more sympathetic character as a result.
The new look Kane debuted was interesting, and it should be interesting to see exactly in which direction he heads in the coming weeks and months.
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