WWE Raw Review: April 25, 2011

Hey there, bleachers! I’m back with my weekly Raw review! Sorry it’s a day late, but dealing with the reaction of the draft is no easy task! Now you’ve had a chance to digest the changes, I am here to give you a review of the night.

We were shoved straight into Battle Royal action! A 20-man Battle Royal to determine who gets the first draft pick! I thought the lights in the crowd were a nice touch—they were sectioned off into blue and red, to represent both brands.

So, the Battle Royal. Raw worked together at the start to get Kane out and Team SmackDown did the same to The Great Khali. I think he should be called the Average Khali because he never, ever wins—he even got eliminated by Beth Phoenix in the 2010 Royal Rumble!

The only way to get through the rest of the eliminations, is to exclude unnecessary punctuation from the next paragraph—take a big breath, here we go.

Kozlov was next to go with Ezekiel gone, thanks to Mark Henry—Evan Bourne saved Sheamus while Slater and Masters became history, DiBiase closely followed as Mark Henry and Brodus Clay eliminated themselves, Tatsu was thrown out by the Big Show with Sheamus trying to avoid elimination, eventually succumbing to a kick from McIntyre and Mason Ryan manhandled Rhodes, resulting in the elimination of the Un-dashing One.

We were then down to the final four. Evan Bourne and Mason Ryan from Raw, against The Big Show and Kofi Kingston from SmackDown. When Kofi and Bourne wrestled together it felt like I was watching something special—they entertained the crowd with some cheeky spots before Evan Bourne was eliminated by The Big Show.

Two on one was then too much, even for Mason Ryan to overcome and SmackDown won the first draft pick.

Draft Pick 1: John Cena was drafted to SmackDown

I have to say I didn’t see it coming and thought it was a good way to shake up the WWE Universe and the IWC, but then I thought about the future of SmackDown and began to wish there was some way the draft pick could be reversed...

Todd Grisham interviewed Cena backstage, and I thought Cena was desperately trying to emulate the electricity the Rock provides in the same situation—but he was failing miserably. He never seems serious enough to me—I get the fact that he really enjoys being a Superstar, but you don’t have to conduct yourself like a child walking around DisneyWorld, every time you do a promo.

R-Truth was introduced to the arena and came out to do his usual catchphrase but replace “What’s Up!” with “Shut Up!” It was brilliant. R-Truth did the best promo of his life on Monday Night. He reacted to the crowd perfectly to get himself over as a heel—he even swore at one point telling the fans; “y’all p****n’ me the hell off!”

He blamed the crowd for his loss against Morrison and interacted with the fans just like an old-fashioned heel would—“sit down four eyes!” (I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t get in trouble for that. Something to do with bullying people with glasses.)

The climax of this excellent promo resulted in Morrison attacking Truth from behind. I think this would be a great feud to continue after Extreme Rules. I never liked Truth, but I like him after Monday night.

I don’t normally take outside promos into consideration but we saw the reveal of Kharma. We saw the face behind the maniacal laugh.

Michael Cole interrupted another Divas match—it’s not even funny, I feel sorry for them. Eve won over Layla. Layla battered her partner Michelle, which was pretty cool, but she is rubbish at crying on command.

Draft Pick 2: Rey Mysterio was drafted to Raw

J.R was shown warming up backstage for his match with Cole, and King responded with; “Oh no, he’s winded”—even just seeing J.R changes King’s mood. It was pretty funny. We had a glimpse of the old King.

Todd interviewed Cody, and it was a standard promo by him—excellent as usual.

Kofi Kingston then faced Sheamus for one draft pick and managed to overcome him after two Trouble in Paradise’s. It was a fairly good match.

Draft Pick 3: Randy Orton was drafted to SmackDown

Very good for SmackDown. They now have their replacement for Edge. Not good for Raw, as they had lost two main stars by this point.

Booker T joined the commentary table so Jerry Lawler could be in J.R’s corner for his match. You can guess what happened next. If you can’t, it was the same as what always happens. J.R battered Cole, was attacked by Swagger, saved by Lawler, but Cole and Swagger eventually get the better of both of them.

This time, however, King got a chance to whip Michael Cole like a government mule. The RAW GM chimed in and made the match at Extreme Rules a Country Whippin’ match. Great...

Miz was interviewed and said if he was drafted to SmackDown, Raw would be cancelled within a month.

Dolph Ziggler then faced Orton for two draft picks. It was a good match again, with Dolph dropkicking a bearded Orton into the crowd. However, one swift RKO out of nowhere once again gave Orton the victory.

CM Punk interrupted the draft pick to cut a boring promo about Extreme Rules. Oh by the way, Orton should keep his beard—it looks awesome.

Draft Pick 4: Mark Henry was drafted to SmackDown

Draft Pick 5: Sin Cara was drafted to SmackDown

Rey Mysterio versus Wade Barrett was up next for two draft picks. It wasn’t a bad match but what annoys me is the predictability of Rey Mysterio getting another underdog victory. It’s annoying enough when he wins, but there is a chance of him losing. The fact that Raw needed draft picks though, made the result a formality.

Draft Pick 6: Big Show was drafted to Raw

Draft Pick 7: Alberto Del Rio was drafted to Raw

Theodore Long came out and announced a six-man tag match as the main event—and for the privilege of the final draft pick.

Oh, and he said “Christan” again—as if you expected anything less.

So The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk took on Christian, Mark Henry and John Cena. Mark Henry turned heel by levelling Cena in the middle of his Superman act. I loved the fact that Cena was brought down a peg or two—Miz finished him off with the Skull-crushing Finale.

Raw won the final draft pick.

Draft Pick 8: John Cena was drafted to Raw

I think I’m the only person who was happy at this re-drafting of John Cena. I know they shouldn’t have been able to do it, but it balanced the rosters quite nicely.

I believe this draft, and the supplemental draft that followed, will benefit the shows greatly—I was a bit dubious before the actual event, but now it is over, I see how beneficial the draft can be.

Please leave your views on R-Truth’s heel turn and the draft in the comments section below. I always do my best to reply to all comments.

Thanks for reading

If you have a spare minute, please read my slightly overlooked articles regarding the draft.

Do we really need the draft? Click Here

Why I’m glad Cody wasn’t drafted. Click Here

Thank you once again to all those who read and comment on my articles.