WWE Monday Night Raw Analysis: The Good, the Bad and the Neutral

It's the night after "Night of Champions" and we have two new world champions. John Cena is the new WWE champion for the 10th time, while Mark Henry won his first World Heavyweight Championship, after 15 years in the business, when he defeated Randy Orton.

With "Hell in a Cell" literally less than two weeks away, how did Monday Night Raw look in leading up to it? Here is the good, the bad, and the neutral of the latest edition of Monday Night Raw.

The Bad

Sheamus, Justin Gabriel and Air Boom Defeat Wade Barrett, Christian, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty

This was just a fun way to get all eight of these guys involved in the show.

But if you're going to do that, at least make a good match out of it. Hell, give them more than five minutes to make a decent match out of it.

Otunga and McGillicutty still bore the hell out of me. I had no idea until this match that Justin Gabriel is a face now. Wade Barrett was just there for the sake of being there.

The only real storyline advancement that we got out of this match was the Sheamus/Christian bit, with Sheamus re-establishing his dominance in the ring, while Christian continued playing the cowardly heel.

I'm assuming that these two will face off at "Hell in a Cell" or on SmackDown in a No. 1 contender's match to face Mark Henry for the title. Obviously, Sheamus would come out the victor in that match.

Is it bad that I would actually look forward to a Mark Henry/Sheamus title match?

Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres Defeat Beth Phoenix and Natalya

I know there needs to be at least one Diva's match on each episode of Raw and SmackDown. I know there's a quota to be filled.

You have four Diva's in this match who can all wrestle. And you have them wrestle in a two-minute dud? Why? To further reinforce the stereotype that women can't wrestle? To make you care even less about women's wrestling?

If the WWE ever wants people to look at their product with excitement, they need to make the entire product entertaining. Not just the main event, but the tag team AND the women's division.

Alberto Del Rio Defeats John Morrison

Oh boy, this was pretty funny.

The WWE needed to re-establish Del Rio as a threat after he lost the title to Cena in his first title defense since winning the title.

Sadly, Morrison was the one being fed to Del Rio.

It's sad to think that Morrison was in the main event contending for the WWE title back in May at "Extreme Rules." Since his return in July from surgery, he has been nothing but a blip on the radar.

Hell, just a few weeks ago he was wrestling R-Truth on "Superstars."

To Quote the Miz: "Really? Really? Reallly?"

I'm assuming this has to do with Morrison and his comments about the release of his girlfriend, Melina.

Still, it's no reason to be jobbing out one of your top upper- to mid-card superstars in a little over a minute.

Zack Ryder Defeats Dolph Ziggler

The one positive about this match is that Ryder got the win over the United States' champion. That's not enough to make this neutral.

The match wasn't any good. This match will serve no purpose in enhancing future storylines; Ziggler/Swagger are still engulfed in a feud.

It was a good moment to give Ryder a win over an established superstar. It made the crowd happy for the night. But that's all the win will mean.

Swagger still looks weak. Ziggler doesn't look as weak, but doesn't look exactly strong. It's like a feud between who can lose the most matches and still look the most cocky.

The Neutral

Sin Cara Angle

Judging by the reaction of the crowd, I may be the only one that's neutral on this angle.

Since Cara debuted months ago, I have never really cared for either of the two that have played the masked superstar.

For whatever reason, I'm interested to see where the angle goes with the two Sin Cara's. Despite a botched head-scissors, these two could have a hell of a match at what ever PPV they wrestle on.

The Good

Mark Henry Demolishing JR and Jerry Lawler

One of my favorite constants over the past several months has been the booking of Mark Henry.

It's a well-known fact that Henry has been recently contemplating retirement. Hence, his recent mega-push for the world title.

In the buildup of Henry before winning the title from Orton at "Night of Champions," he seemingly destroyed everyone in his path. Whether it was the Big Show, Kane or Sheamus, they were all demolished at the hands of Henry.

This segment was no different in once again demonstrating how unstoppable Henry is. 

John Cena and CM Punk Defeat R-Truth and The Miz / Firing of Miz and Truth

We've seen matches like these dozens of times before. Regardless, the match was still entertaining and the crowd was into it from start to finish.

The main point of this match that's worth talking about is what transpired after the main event tag-team match.

HHH proceeded to walk out onto the entrance ramp and congratulated Punk and Cena on a hard earned victory. After doing so, he fired Truth and the Miz.

With Hunter walking to the backstage area, Truth and the Miz proceeded to run backstage and attack Hunter from behind.

With the entire WWE locker in the back, Hunter ordered them to throw Truth and the Miz out of the building.

I like the way this angle is heading—we're not really sure where exactly it's heading. At times, we think it's going to be John Laurinitis behind the whole conspiracy. Now the attention has shifted to Truth/Miz.

People will still find a way to complain about the angle, but the angle is as appealing as it can possibly get.

I'm interested to see what Hunter has to say about Truth and the Miz on next week's Raw. It better be good, because "Hell in a Cell" is on the horizon. 

Conclusion:

The angle advancement for the "conspiracy" angle made major strides tonight. Mark Henry continues to be well-built as an unstoppable force.

Everything else on the show was either underwhelming or just pure garbage.

With "Hell in a Cell" less than two weeks away, it's clear that the WWE is banking on this conspiracy angle. Everything else is an afterthought. Expect a lot of thrown together matches for "Hell in a Cell."

This was an average show, at best.

Final Show Rating: 4.0/10