WWE Raw: A New General Manager and 7 Other Things We Learned Last Night

Last night on Monday Night Raw, the whole walkout problem was solved. The solution led to quite the interesting show.

At the same time, the show was a bit lackluster.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed last night’s Raw quite a bit due to the new developments in all of the insanity. I just think they could have gone about it a little better, or at least saved the “big” announcement until the end of the show.

I suppose if they did, though, we wouldn’t have learned as much as we did. Most of these events would have ended up going down next week.

So while I’m disappointed that we learned Triple H’s fate so early, I understand why they did it.

Here’s the eight things we learned from last night’s show.

Triple H Out, John Laurinaitis in

When Raw started, there was nobody around. The announcer’s booth was empty and there was no one backstage.

Triple H made his way to the ring and put down the protesters outside saying they were letting down the fans. That brought out John Cena, Sheamus, and CM Punk. They all said they were staying on Monday Night Raw.

So the Game made the first match of the night: John Cena vs. Sheamus with Triple H as the referee and CM Punk as the sole commentator and timekeeper.

Then to everyone’s surprise, Vince McMahon’s music hit. The match was cancelled because he had a message for Triple H.

He just spoke with the board of directors and they are worried about the state of Monday Night Raw. They are worried about ratings, money, cancellations, and even the state of Wrestlemania 28.

Triple H had been ordered to step down as the head of Raw, though apparently he’s still chief operating officer of WWE. McMahon revealed that the board was looking for a new, unbiased general manager, and that it would not be a McMahon.

That brought out John Laurinaitis. He is not the permanent general manager, just the interim one until a permanent one can be found. Triple H was not too happy with the decision, and neither was McMahon.

I got to say I saw this coming from a mile away. Once it was revealed that someone did not want Triple H to be in charge, I knew Laurinaitis would get the job at some point during the story line.

I like it, though. There has not been a heel general manager in a while so I am interested to see what will happen in the coming weeks.

John Morrison Continues to Get Buried

For weeks John Morrison has been losing. The last time I can remember him winning a match was the blow-off match in his feud with R-Truth months ago.

Last night Morrison was the first to speak out on Laurinaitis’ new position.

As the roster was coming in after ending the protest, Morrison walked right up to Laurinaitis. He said that while Triple H was running things into the ground, Laurinaitis as the general manager just plain sucked.

The new GM ordered him to the ring for a match.

Christian then walked up to Laurinaitis alongside the rest of Vickie’s stable and congratulated him on gaining control. Christian was then drafted as Morrison’s opponent.

Back in the arena, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and Michael Cole made their way back to the announce booth and the match began.

Morrison lost of course.

Well, he not only lost, he was completed destroyed. Post-match, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, and Cody Rhodes all hit their finishers on the “King of Parkour”. Morrison has not only lost again, he was once again beaten down post-match.

It looks like John Morrison will not be resigning his contract once it expires, which is apparently soon.

Can you blame him?

I hope he ends up in TNA or ROH where a style like his can really thrive.

The Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes Program Is in Full Swing

A couple of weeks ago, Randy Orton beat down Cody Rhodes. He did it to show that he is still crazy and can beat Mark Henry.

Usually a beating like this goes unnoticed afterwards. The one doing the beating beats down the random superstar, and then heads back into his current feud.

Something happened here, though.

Orton hit Rhodes with the ring bell and totally botched it. It sliced the Intercontinental Champion open the hard way. Blood was everywhere and the editors had their work cut out for them after the taping.

For Rhodes, that botch was a blessing. He is already the best Intercontinental Champion we have seen in a while, but he needed that one big feud to solidify it.

Because of that botch from Orton, that feud was found. Rhodes demanded action to be taken against Orton, but Triple H refused to do anything.

Now that Triple H is gone, and John Laurinaitis is in, Rhodes took the opportunity last night to take matters into his own hands.

Orton was in a match with Henry when Rhodes came down and cost the Viper the match. Afterwards, Orton got two World’s Strongest Slams from the World Heavyweight Champion.

Rhodes took advantage of that and hit Crossroads. One paper bag over Orton’s head later, and this feud has officially started.

I am a huge fan of Cody Rhodes and am very glad to see him in a high profile feud like this. It is rare to see Super Orton down, out, and embarrassed. I just hope Rhodes can do it again without eventually getting buried by the Viper.

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena: WWE Title at Vengeance

One of John Laurinaitis’ first big acts as general manager was making the WWE Championship match at Vengeance. He chose John Cena as Alberto Del Rio’s opponent on the grounds that Cena deserved a rematch.

And with that, the WWE Title picture remains stale. For the past four or five months, we have seen the same three wrestlers compete for the belt.

At Money in the Bank, it was John Cena vs. CM Punk. A month later at SummerSlam we got the rematch, and saw Del Rio cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

John Cena won the title at Night of Champions by defeating Del Rio, and at Hell in a Cell Del Rio regained the title against Cena and Punk. Now we get to see Del Rio vs. Cena again.

Raw’s main event scene is pathetic. They need to push more stars into the main event picture so we do not have to see the same three men compete for the title over and over again.

WWE should take a page out of TNA's book and not grant automatic rematches. A Superstar just lost his/her title? They do not necessarily deserve a rematch. If they want the belt back, they should have to earn it.

By doing that, WWE could start to insert more stars into the main event. Obviously the former champion would win the match, but the seeds would be planted for the opponent to get a shot somewhere down the road.

Mr. Future Endeavor Has Claimed His First Victim

Right after John Laurinaitis announced the Raw main event for Vengeance, he called “Good ‘Ol J.R.” Jim Ross into the ring.

He called him an ingrate redneck that walked out on Triple H after the Game gave him his job back. He then fired Jim Ross.

Why is it that every time they are in Oklahoma they find a new way to embarrass Ross? It is sad that they treat someone who has been incredibly loyal to the company like garbage.

My question is this, though: why was Jim Ross really fired?

Laurinaitis’ reasoning was because he walked out on Triple H. By that logic, everyone but the top faces in WWE should be fired.

There’s something else behind the firing of Ross and I have got a feeling we’ll find out in the coming weeks.

Awesome Truth Have Returned

John Laurinaitis scheduled CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio for the main event of last night’s show. Mid-match, he stopped it and announced that the match was now a tag-team match. It would be Punk and Del Rio vs. the newly re-hired Miz and R-Truth.

This was no doubt the best part of the show.

The match ended when Del Rio walked out on Punk and Awesome Truth got themselves disqualified.

While the conspiracy storyline is turning into a bit of a bust, Awesome Truth were definitely the most interesting part of it. With them back, it adds fuel to the fire of John Laurinaitis being behind the whole thing.

Over the summer CM Punk was the most interesting and compelling Superstar in the WWE. He delivered great promos and had great matches. While he’s still doing that, the ship has sailed on Punk’s overall spotlight, at least for now.

I think the fall and winter months will belong to The Miz and R-Truth. By the end of the year, they will have the Tag Team Titles and a whole new life will be breathed into the division.

No matter what happens with them, they will be more interesting and compelling then the WWE Title picture.

CM Punk and Triple H vs. Awesome Truth at Vengeance

As Awesome Truth were beating down CM Punk, Triple H made the save. They totally cleaned house as the returning Superstars were beaten down.

While the Game was taken down a peg by the board of directors, he was standing tall by the end of the night.

As he and Punk were celebrating their triumph over the heels, we went backstage to Laurinaitis and David Otunga. Laurinaitis announced that the newly formed team of the King of Kings and Mr. Cult of Personality would be taking on Awesome Truth at Vengeance.

Despite being at each other’s throats a few months ago, you knew that Punk and Triple H would end up as allies.

The match at Vengeance will be a great one and will probably be better then John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio.

There’s no way this feud will end here, though. This will continue over to Survivor Series and possibly all the way to the Royal Rumble.

The mic work alone between these four men gets me excited about what will happen next between them.

Raw Is Still an “Unsafe” Working Environment

The big walkout last week was because the Superstars, Divas, and referees all felt that Raw turned into an unsafe working environment and that they all feared for their safety.

At the beginning of last night’s show there was a protest featuring the whole roster, minus John Cena, Sheamus, and CM Punk. When John Laurinaitis was announced as the interim general manager the roster ended the protest and came back to work.

When the show was all said and done, though, the very same reason as to why the roster walked out is still present. Raw could still be considered an unsafe working environment. Here’s what happened if you missed it:

John Morrison was beaten down by Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, and Cody Rhodes.

Triple H threatened to not only break Laurinaitis’ fingers, but also his teeth.

Randy Orton was beaten down by Mark Henry and Cody Rhodes.

CM Punk was beaten down by Miz and R-Truth.

Miz and R-Truth were beaten down after Triple H made the save.

To the fans, that’s a typical night on Monday Night Raw. To the Superstars, that’s an unsafe working environment.

At least it was last week.

I guess they do not mind anymore since Triple H is not in charge.