WWE: Results from Monday Night Raw (May 30th, 2011)

Hey, Bleachers. Here's my recap of tonight's episode of Monday Night Raw, complete with my own personal commentary from what took place.

R-Truth Confronts John Cena, Main Event Arranged

The episode started with R-Truth giving a heated rant to fans in the stadium lobby, which led to him destroying memorabilia stands. I can't tell you how well of a job he was doing on the mic, as the first several minutes of Raw were interrupted by technical difficulties.

However, I will go on record as saying that R-Truth is the most passionate person on the mic, right now. (Note: I said passionate, not talented.) This rant led to the ring, where Truth berated fans wearing Cena t-shirts and repeatedly used his moniker for children who support Cena, "Little Jimmy." After some words between the two, the Raw GM made a match between the two, saying that no 'Little Jimmies' were allowed at ringside.

Let me just say that I think R-Truth is a good in-ring performer, but his mic skills could use work. Most heels get over with fans in the ring, not on the mic. I appreciate Truth's effort, but I worry that his mic skills, as much of an effort as he may be making, will hold him back from getting established with the crowd as a heel.

Dolph Ziggler def. Kofi Kingston in Non-Title Match

The first match of the night featured Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston in a non-title match. This was hinted at last week, when we saw Dolph watching footage of Kofi's match backstage with Vicki Guerrero. I was disappointed at how Cole and Lawler did commentary early on in the match. They talked more about Vicki than they did the actual match, which I thought was a discredit to two of WWE's best young talents.

The match itself wasn't bad, but seemed rather forced throughout. Much of the action involved countering each other, which was commented to be because of Dolph's extensive study to Kofi's style. You'd think that he'd already have a good feel, given the great feud these two had on Smackdown last year, right?

This feud over the Intercontinental Title was something brought up at the announce table, which I was surprised by. This new feud is essentially a repainting of the old feud, and making light of that might not do well for their momentum later on...but I'll take it.

After a countering of S.O.S. into a Zig Zag, Dolph picked up the win...surprisingly, without any Vicki interference or bad tactics. I hope this is a sign of Dolph getting more clean wins, in weeks to come.

Alberto Del Rio Confronted Big Show

It seems that the rumors of ADR feuding with Big Show are right, as this segment was preceded by a nice video package detailing Del Rio's accident with Show, last week. Not much happened here, and Del Rio carried the mic work.

However, seeds were definitely sown for a feud to be started with these two, soon. A shame, Del Rio deserves better than working with him...but perhaps this will help Del Rio get over with the crowd more, by working with a beloved face like Show.

Divas Match: Eve/Kelly Kelly vs. Bella Twins

To be honest, this match wasn't anything special. It was only given a couple minutes, and there wasn't anything notable taking place to really get into details. I thought that Kharma may have showed up after the match, but it seems they're wanting to involve her later on in the show.

I wonder how they're going to make her next appearance seem relevant, given that she only showed up when the Divas were around. Then again, with this being her last showing for several months, I doubt they're really worried about that.

Michael Cole Confronted Alex Riley

This saw Michael Cole addressing the confrontation between Alex Riley and The Miz from last week, which saw Riley transition into a face by beating the bloody hell out of his mentor after a tongue-lashing from The Miz.

What strikes me as odd is that Cole cited the Raw GM as having signed Riley onto the Raw roster once again. Sure, a Miz/Riley feud would be nice, but if we're putting him on Raw before he ever had a Smackdown match, we're defeating the purpose of him being moved in the draft. Smackdown could've gotten Zack Ryder, and left A-Ry to just be on Raw with Miz for this feud to take place.

Riley comes out to his own theme music, which I personally liked. He also got a decent response from the crowd. Once in the ring, Cole berated Riley, saying that he'd hurt Miz emotionally, and that Alex should be ashamed of himself. Cole asks Riley to justify what he did.

Riley says that he's never felt better. Cole starts getting pushy, and Riley comes back with his own set of retorts. Riley wasn't doing too bad on the mic, but I can't help but feel that they let Cole do most of the talking so Riley could get over from Cole's heat. Cole even called Riley a 'bastard', which provoked Riley into tossing Cole around for a moment before being blindsided by The Miz.

This led to some back and forth before Riley chased a fleeing Miz down the ramp only to drag him back into the arena, where he proceeded to throw The Miz around the set until Miz finally left through a side entrance. Nice reaction from the crowd, I think that Riley is in for a nice push. My only question: Is Miz going to suffer from feuding with his former lackey, instead of some other top talent?

CM Punk (w/Mason Ryan) def. Rey Mysterio

This match started with CM Punk, accompanied by Mason Ryan, facing off against Rey Mysterio in what was yet another re-hashed feud from last year. Punk did a lot of submission maneuvers early on, and dominated the start of the match with assistance from Mason Ryan at ringside.

A few near-falls, but things didn't pick up until Rey started getting a little offense with his typical myriad of stunts. Rey showed off some unique maneuvers, but Punk quickly regained control and leveled Mysterio with a kick to the head for the win.

I keep hearing thoughts of Punk moving on to feud with John Cena. This win could be the start of his push for that feud, which I imagine might start after Capitol Punishment. However, the idea that Mason Ryan is leaving Nexus might be unfounded, as he's been on the same page as the New Nexus for two straight weeks, now.

All in all, the match wasn't anything special. Mostly slow-paced with a lot of submission work on Punk's part. For the time it lasted, I didn't find it to be a very satisfactory match.

Kharma Addresses Last Week's Breakdown

Kharma came out to talk about her incident last week on Raw, where she broke down crying in front of the Divas in the ring. Of course, we all know that she's going to be making her last appearance for several months, due to the recent discovery that she's pregnant.

She was quite eloquent on the mic, saying that she had two dreams as a child: being a WWE Superstar and a mother. It seems the WWE decided to just go the direct route and have Kharma tell it like it is. This was a big move to get Kharma over with the crowd by using her real-life circumstances, with Kharma assuring the crowd she'd be back following the pregnancy.

And, the WWE wasted no time to try and establish her as a future face, by having the Bella Twins come out to antagonize the menacing mother-to-be with jokes about Kharma's looks and weight. After making the Bellas flinch, Kharma declared having a new dream: beating the Bellas when she comes back after a year.

I think this was the right way to go, with Kharma. People may not be as interested when she returns in a year, but at least when the announcers discuss her absence, it won't be because of some silly storyline they concocted tonight to phase her off of television.

Evan Bourne def. Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger came out to little crowd reaction, which really emphasized how far he's fallen since his MITB victory. Evan Bourne came out to little reaction as well, but I'd expect that from a guy who's typically wasted as a jobber for other rising stars with little to do.

Both of these guys are talented young stars who could (and deserve) to go far with the WWE, but are victims of being used inappropriately. After some decent (but relatively unimpressive) back and forth, Evan Bourne countered Swagger with a roll-up to steal the win.

It appears that Swagger and Bourne are going to be starting a feud, since this is the second week they've gone at it and the score is now tied. I'm concerned this is another example of the Creative Team dropping the ball with their talent...but if it gets these guys some air time, it's better than nothing.

R-Truth def. John Cena via Count-Out

This match started off with Cena taking quick control, leading Truth to immediately exit the ring. Upon re-entering, Truth took command of the match for a moment before Truth was once again tossed outside of the ring by Cena.

The fans interacted with Truth by the barricades, mocking him about the John Cena T-shirts in the crowd. The crowd was really hyped, continuing the "Let's Go Cena" and "Cena Sucks" chants that are common for his matches, post his feud with the Miz.

Cena once again took charge for a moment, before Truth exited the ring and proceeded to frustrate Cena by refusing to stay inside the ropes. When Cena finally exited the ring, R-Truth struck and reentered the ring, beating John Cena via a count-out. After the match, R-Truth harassed a father and son whom he'd insulted earlier for being Cena fans by throwing water into the father's face.

I know this was a heel tactic, but I think this is as clean of a victory that we're going to see someone get against John Cena for a very long time. The match was slow, but it showed a methodical side to R-Truth.