WWE Raw, 5/30/11: Technical Difficulties, Kharma Speaks and R-Truth Conquers

WWE Raw kicked off with some major technical difficulties. 

First we couldn’t hear R-Truth as he trashed the merchandise stand and some John Cena cups. 

Then, when the audio was restored, it was horribly out of sync.  Vince McMahon must have been freaking out at this point. 

In the arena, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole told us that R-Truth caused it all.  Come on, the audience at home isn’t that dumb. 

About 90 percent of the segment had either no audio or audio that was out of sync. 

Things were back to normal just in time for McMahon to chime in.  He made R-Truth vs. John Cena the main event. 

With the technical difficulties, this was really hard to follow.

R-Truth, though, is progressing nicely as a heel.  CM Punk has some competition on Raw.

The first match of the night was Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler. 

We got a bit of amateur wrestling to start off until Dolph took control with some clubs to the back. 

Before the break, Kofi was pushed off the top rope and landed hard on the floor.  ...

... We’re back as the heel is still in control.  Dolph missed a corner splash but was able to counter the SOS.  Kofi also managed to miss the Trouble in Paradise.

We saw a nice series of reversals and turnovers as Dolph’s sleeper hold was reversed; Kofi missed a top-rope cross-body, and Dolph countered another SOS. 

Ziggler finally picked up the win at just under 11 minutes in with the Zig Zag. 

This was a phenomenal match.  Great back-and-forth action throughout the whole contest. 

The ending was better than recent Raw matches. 

Both wrestlers are great talents and were given the chance to shine—and, boy, did they shine.  I can’t wait for them to battle for the U.S. title. 

Match rating: four-and-a-half out of five stars.

Next in the ring was time Alberto Del Rio. 

He talked of the Big Show and said that the broken leg Show suffered last week was an accident.  He also blamed Show for his own misfortune—not Ricardo Rodriguez for running him over. 

This was your typical heel promo.  Nothing special about it.  Del Rio promos are starting to get a bit boring.  WWE should focus on utilizing his in-ring talent.

Next up was Divas action, as the Bellas took on Eve and Kelly Kelly. 

The heels were in control of Eve the entire match until her hot tag to Kelly.  A stink-face and a K2 lthen gave the faces the win at almost three minutes in. 

This was an OK match.  Certainly better then recent Diva matches.  The Bellas and Kelly are definitely improving.  Eve didn’t really get a chance to show us anything here. 

You've got to give the Divas credit, they’re making the most out of the little time WWE gives them. 

Match rating: two out of five stars.

I thought we were done with Cole taking up air time, but there he was in the ring calling out Alex Riley. 

He said that Riley turning on Miz was the biggest act of backstabbing in WWE history. 

What about Andre the Giant turning on Hulk Hogan?  Or Shawn Michaels super-kicking Marty Jannetty through a window? 

The segment ended when Miz came out to save Cole, but Riley got the upper hand. 

Miz has taken a dive since losing the WWE title. 

Riley, on the other hand, is gaining momentum and popularity. 

If Miz has to take a backseat while Riley is given a push, I’m OK with that.  These two should have a great match when they square off.

Up next, it was CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio. 

The match was pretty even before Punk took control before the break when Mason Ryan pushed Rey into the ring post. 

Back from the break, Punk was still in the driver’s seat.  Rey’s quickness soon turned the tables, as he executed a suicide dive and a seated senton from the top rope. 

Rey managed to reverse a GTS into a hurricanrana into the ropes, but instead of going for the 619, he took out Ryan. 

Punk took advantage and kicked Rey in the head for the win in just over nine minutes. 

Two good matches on Raw?  This doesn’t happen very often.  I wouldn’t mind seeing them go at it again at Capitol Punishment.  Ryan’s involvement took half a star away from it, though. 

Match rating: four out of five stars.

After a commercial break, Kharma was in the ring ready to speak. 

She said she had two dreams.  The first was to be a WWE Superstar, which she accomplished.  The other was to be a mother.  She’ll be gone for a year because of her pregnancy. 

Out came the Bellas to make fun of Kharma’s weight. 

It’s LayCool vs. Mickie James all over again. 

Kharma said she hoped the Bellas would still be around when she got back. 

I’m kind of surprised that WWE had her tell the truth.  Even though it was already out there, WWE rarely tells the audience the truth when a Superstar leaves for personal reasons. 

Congratulations to Kharma, though.  Can’t wait for her to come back. 

As for the Bellas, I’m surprised they lasted this long.  I can’t see them still with WWE by the time Kharma comes back.

Next, it was rematch time, as Jack Swagger took on Evan Bourne. 

Swagger was in control until Bourne rolled him up for the win in just over three minutes. 

I was highly disappointed in this match.  It was short and boring.  Their talent was wasted here.

Their match last week was so much better.  I really hope they get the chance to shine soon on Raw, or even at Capitol Punishment. 

Match rating: One out of five stars.

Main-event time. 

The match we’ve all been waiting for: R-Truth vs. John Cena. 

Cena was more or less in control, as he was the only one executing moves.  Truth would roll to the outside occassionally and play to the crowd. 

The ending saw Cena follow him outside—only to get sucker-punched and counted out at four minutes.

Truth celebrated the win by throwing a kid’s soda in the kid's dad’s face. 

This was a waste of a main event. 

Good in terms of continuing the storyline, but a complete waste of a match. 

Truth throwing the soda in the guy's face gets me wondering. 

Was it a plant, or was it a real fan? 

If the guy was planted there by WWE, then he was one hell of an actor.  I’d imagine that if he was a fan, WWE notified him before the event and gave him backstage passes or something.

Then again, I would like to think this was real.  It would bring some realism back that pro wrestling has been missing for years.

Overall, a good show.  Much better than last week's. 

We got some good matches, and we got some OK ones. 

The in-ring segments all progressed their respective storylines nicely, though some were a bit boring to watch. 

Despite the major technical difficulties in the beginning, I give Raw three-and-a-half out of five stars this week.  A good show, but not the WWE's best.  Of course, its best days are way behind it.