The John Report: WWE Raw Deal for October 11—John Cena Vs. The Miz

Live from Seattle, Washington, this is the Raw Deal. I'm guessing there are no Oklahoma City Thunder jerseys in the crowd, huh? Too soon?

The show starts with Cena, in purple gear, talking to the fans about how he would never give up. He's got the Nexus arm band on as well as his purple shit.

He is speaking about how if he didn't listen to Wade Barrett, he'd be out of WWE. How he can't just go to Smackdown, he'd be out of WWE altogether. It's all he knows. He has nothing else.

(What about movies that nobody watches? Oh right, WWE gets him into those. I guess he's right.)

He should have ended it by talking about how he texts Vince McMahon every day to tell him he loves him. It was so adorable!

(Hey, don't blame me if you throw up. I had to listen to this too!)

The Miz comes out with Alex Riley and his briefcase to interrupt. Miz talks about how he is going to captain Team Raw against Team Smackdown and right the wrong of last year, when Big Show turned on Team Raw to give Smackdown the win.

(Holy shit, we're allowed to remember a storyline that happened a year ago? That is crazy. Sound the alarms. We can remember history)

Barrett comes out and tells Cena that his job is to be in his corner for the match against Orton at Bragging Rights. He needs him focused. The GM buzzes in to say they've booked matches to determine Team Raw. For team captain, it's Cena vs. Miz.

After the announcement, Miz says he'll win that match and then maybe cash in on Barrett at Bragging Rights. Nothing he can do about it. Barrett goes after him. Then Cena saves Barrett.

Good opener. Cena was in his SUPER SERIOUS VOICE early on, but then lightens up when Miz comes out. It worked well. All of them did a nice job of putting over the angle.

R-Truth d. Ted Dibiase (*)

Dibiase and Maryse don't even get an entrance. Eve is out with R-Truth to dance. (Yep, that's it. I guess there's nothing else for her to do.) Truth wins in about three minutes while Goldust and Aksana (who looks way better in a dress than she does in ring gear) are petting the Million Dollar Belt at the top of the ramp. (I guess we're supposed to think that belt is worth something?) The work was fine.

A year ago Ted Dibiase was rumored to get the big push. Now? His stock has fallen so far, I don't ever expect him to win anymore.

Truth is on Team Raw now.

They plug Smackdown. The Undertaker "returns" after not being on SD last week. After his BFF Paul Bearer turned on him at Hell in a Cell, defriended him on Facebook, and unfollowed him on Twitter, now Undertaker's an emotional wreck. OMG!

Speaking of Twitter, check me out on there at Twitter.com/johnreport. I have a lot of fun. Lots of sarcastic comments, plus you'll get links as soon as I post a column or podcasts. I try to reply to every message I receive, so if you ever want to ask me something, that's a good way to do it.

How good would it be if Vince McMahon had a Twitter account? Oh, the things I would say.

John Morrison d. Tyson Kidd (*1/2)

Weird commentary. They have Cole say that DH Smith is supposed to be in the match but is nowhere to be found. They haven't officially split yet. I was figuring post-match he'd show up to attack Kidd. Didn't happen. No Nattie at ringside here. That's disappointing.

Morrison and Kidd worked hard and had awesome chemistry. The match only gets three minutes, with Morrison winning. He hits a Rock Bottom into a Moonsault, basically. Not an easy move to do, but Kidd pulls it off with him. (I believe Paul Burchill used to do that move.)

Last year, these two had two 15-minute matches. One was on Smackdown, one was on Superstars. Look them up. Really good stuff. Big fan of those guys, especially my fellow Canuck Tyson.

Morrison is on Team Raw.

Backstage, Otunga, Wendy Slater and Gabriel are talking to McGillicutty (change that name!) and Harris. They're not in Nexus, but Otunga's wondering what's up. Barrett shows up, telling Otunga that if he wants answers to come to him. He tells Otunga to wrestle Orton, but Otunga says maybe Gabriel should since he's got that devastating 450. They all agree.

I guess they're building up Otunga to be a guy that talks tough, but is really a snitch who backs down from a fight. It seems like they're building up a power struggle with him and Barrett down the road.

Santino d. Zack Ryder (1/2*)

This is short. Santino wins with the Cobra Chop. The crowd popped huge for it. That was great.

I love how the Raw GM wants to put together the "best team possible," and then puts on a match with jobbers like Santino and Ryder while two main-event caliber performers like Cena and Miz face off. I swear this GM is running the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Clippers and Buffalo Bills on the side. (UKers, insert team name of a football team that perpetually sucks. Then you can get the joke too!)

Santino is on Team Raw.

Post match, Tamina jumped into Santino's arms and he acted scared of her because she's a little too intimidating for him. It's similar to what they did with Santino and Beth. Are we allowed to remember that?

Randy Orton d. Justin Gabriel (**1/2)

A solid match. They have Otunga and Slater get ejected from ringside as they go to break. I liked that because it makes Gabriel look stronger to hang in there on his own. They give Gabriel a decent amount of offense, just like when he faced Cena. The match goes 11 minutes, with Orton doing a good job of selling while also staying strong.

(I think Orton's in-ring work has gotten better in recent months. He's getting used to that babyface style a little more.)

The finish is a little messed up. Gabriel goes up with the 450, Orton rolls away and doesn't get out in time. Gabriel ends up hitting him on the side. I assume that Gabriel expected Orton to roll under the bottom rope to get out of the way, but that didn't happen. It looks painful. Orton seems okay, though. He sells it for a bit, then gets up and finishes him with the RKO. I assume that was the planned finish. At least Orton isn't physically hurt by it. Cue the STUPID~! jokes.

They show the trailer for "Knucklehead," which is Big Show's movie. It doesn't look that bad. Could be worth a look on cable TV in three years. That's something, right?

Plug time. I wrote about TNA's Bound for Glory live on Sunday night. I thought it was a good show for the most part, Mickie James-Canton is back on a wrestling show and it ended with a huge heel turn at the end. Will it be good for TNA long term? Time will tell.

Sheamus d. Daniel Bryan (**1/2)

Bryan gets a huge pop coming out because Washington is his home state. Cole rips on him like usual. At one point Cole says that Team WWE lost at Summerslam because of Daniel Bryan (even though they won) and no one corrects him? Odd. I guess Vince doesn't want to have "The Voice of WWE" sound like a dumbass. (Too late.)

I love the work here. Bryan shows a lot of heart and gets some good offense in. The crowd chants "Daniel Bryan" at various points throughout the match. Cole is pissed! (Ha-ha.) I like Cole's announcing against Bryan. That's when he's at his best. I wish this match had got more than five minutes because their chemistry is really good. It could be a future feud to elevate Bryan up the card.

A lot of people ask me if I think Sheamus deserves his spot. I say yes, absolutely. He's athletic enough for somebody his size, and his offense is as believable as anybody on the roster. Sheamus wins with the Brogue Kick and really puts over how close Bryan comes to beating him. I assume Bryan's off Team Raw because he's got a US title match in the PPV, although I dunno if that's the case. He should be in the match otherwise.

Sheamus is on Team Raw.

Backstage, Truth talks to his buddy Cena. Basically the gist is, he knows John's in a tough spot, but a lot of the locker room is against him now. He asks if he would take out one of them if Barrett asked. Cena doesn't say yes, but his expression suggests so. Truth says he understands because otherwise he'd have to leave WWE. There is another option, though, Truth says: "Just quit." Word life.

They have a "Tribute to the Troops" video. Even Hogan is in it. Way to put over TNA. Just like last week's "Make A Wish" video, this is WWE's way of saying "Vote for Linda McMahon" since the election is coming up. Next week, they'll tell you that WWE saves more lives than Superman. I'm kidding, relax. I think WWE does great charity work, and I love "Tribute to the Troops."

CM Punk d. Evan Bourne (*)

Punk got traded to Raw. More on that shortly. He wins clean in about two minutes. Punk is on Team Raw. Post-match, he goes after Bourne's shoulder. He beats him up by tossing him into the barricades and into the ring post, ending it with the Anaconda Vise submission.

The reason for this? Bourne's going for shoulder surgery. He'll be out for several months. Not sure how long exactly yet, but this is the last of him for 2010, I'd guess.

I thought it was a great way to bring Punk to Raw. He was being wasted on Smackdown. This was a much needed move, and hopefully he can fill the void left by Jericho because to me, he's WWE's best all-around performer now. They booked him incredibly strong here. If they want to put him in a title feud against Orton, it would have a lot of freshness to it. Obviously Barrett's in the spot now, but down the road it's something to consider.

In the ring, my fellow Canucker Natalya is cutting a promo about Laycool. I was happy with this because she rarely gets to talk. She says Laycool's going to throw a temper tantrum when she walks out with the belt at Bragging Rights.

Cover your ears, here comes Laycool. Cole loves them.

Anyway, they suggest that Natalya has to shave her beard every day like her dad Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and we even get a pic of it. Natalya laughs at it. Layla says they're the best there is, was and ever will be. (There's a joke there. I'll leave it.)

They walk out, then get up the ramp and the Raw girls are there. Oh no, not the Bellas! They retreat, Natalya puts Layla in the Sharpshooter (first time ever in high heels, I imagine), but Michelle drags her out. I was cool with this. It's nice to see them give Natalya a chance to talk and add some heat to the feud. Works for me.

By the way, next week's Raw is in Calgary. I'm excited for that. I assume Bret Hart will be there, and I hope they put Natalya over strong. I'd expect some kind of Tyson/DH confrontation too. Will be interesting to see what happens there. Of course, the crowd will be great too. Love the shows from Canada! I'm going to promise my Bret Hart column will be posted that Monday morning/afternoon too. Finally.

The Miz d. John Cena (**1/4)

This match is held under "No DQ" rules. If that's the case, why doesn't Riley just go in the ring all the time with a weapon in his hand? Instead, he stands outside and interferes once in a while. (I know, I'm stupid for asking smart questions. Sorry.)

Every time Cena gets the advantage, Riley interferes. The match is okay, but it could have been even more. They go out on the floor a bit, too, teasing a table spot. Cena takes some nice bumps into the ribs. (This isn't the only match on the night where they were bumping into the barricades. Way to use them. They have padding, but they still look like they could legitimately hurt.)

Cena puts Miz in the STF; Riley interferes, so Cena puts him in the STF and then goes back to Miz, who got out of it. Suddenly Harris and McGillicutty run in to attack Cena. Miz covers after McGillicutty's neckbreaker and Harris' senton splash for the win.

Basically, it took four guys to beat John Cena. It didn't bury Miz, though. He held his own for the most part. It certainly could have been worse in terms of the booking.

Post-match, Miz and Riley leave, so Cena goes after Mike and Husky. Barrett comes in to get him off of them. The GM announces a match for next week: Cena and Orton vs. McGillicutty and Harris. Barrett says if Cena loses, then he has to induct McGillicutty and Harris into Nexus.

The ending is really good, with Barrett taunting Cena about how he has to do what he tells him. Barrett says that he knows Cena wants to fight him, but he can't do it. He keeps taunting Cena.

I have to say, Cena does a great job in terms of facial expressions and body language here. He's not good at selling injuries, but he's good at selling this angle. With Cena up the ramp, Barrett says that until next week "you can't see him." (Oh no, that is so mean! OMG! I guess house shows don't count. But you already knew that.)

In all seriousness, this was a strong end to Raw.

Three Stars of the Show

1. CM Punk: That's how you re-introduce arguably the best overall performer on the roster. Thank you. Push him!

2. Wade Barrett: No match, but the promos and facial expressions were really strong.

3. Evan Bourne: Just because he's out for a while. Dude can sell a beating. I'll never understand why they didn't continue his push. Oh right, because he's not tall. STUPID~!

Worst Moment of the Week

Cole saying that Team WWE lost at Summerslam. It was a big match. He called it. And nobody on this show corrected him. That was weird.

7.5 out of 10

Last week: 5

Good wrestling this week! Thank you, WWE. No matches went too long, and they were all well-worked and told a good story. You don't have to have three-star matches all the time. In this case, they had a bunch of two-star matches, but all had good finishes and made the winners look good for the most part.

To sum up the theme of the show, we found out that Team Raw is officially The Miz, Sheamus, CM Punk, John Morrison, R-Truth, Santino and a seventh man who is still a question mark at the moment. According to Dave Meltzer, the rumored final member for Team Raw is—Mark Henry! He wasn't on the show tonight for personal reasons. I guess he ran out of Kool-Aid!

I have to put over again how good the Barrett/Cena ending was. They really did a good job with facial expressions, with their physical actions and the timing they showed. The show ended 15 minutes past the top of the hour, probably because they went long, but that's okay: It worked. If they keep running this angle, they are going to turn Barrett into a massive heel, even moreso than he already is. They can either have Cena go full-blown heel or run this angle for months before finally having the blowoff match at an event like WrestleMania.

Random question: Last PPV where John Cena was healthy and not wrestling? It's happening at Bragging Rights.

I miss Chris Jericho. How about you?

Every so often I want to put in some random clips. For this week, let's go with the classic Heidenreich/Snitsky promo where they delivered great lines such as "I like your poetry" and "I like what you do to babies." Ah, the glory days.

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