WWE Minutiae: Raw SuperShow 11/28/11 Analysis, Thoughts and Grade

WWE Raw SuperShow came from Charleston, S.C. As always, hit up Kaleb Kelchner's blog for the rundown.

Tonight's show was promising an epic affair with Roddy Piper doing a "Piper's Pit" with John Cena, a championship main event and some hype for the live SmackDown tomorrow night. Let's get to it.

The Good

Opening Segment. Piper hasn't lost his touch. Hearing his voice is like a release of endorphins. Cena got a 50/50 split on the heat and pop factor for his intro. Cena was in solid form tonight. They are definitely laying the groundwork for something with him. Interesting use of his history. The segment came off much better than the "This Is Your Life" segment a few weeks ago. Solid start to the show that did what it needed to do. Hopefully they do something with the groundwork they are laying.

Morrison/Miz + Promo. I'm actually surprised Morrison got as much offense as he did. With that said, some bits of storytelling in the match helped. Miz's "Skull Crushing Finale" gets more sadistic looking by the week. It's appropriate that Morrison's "send off" came from his former Tag Team partner. Miz does the vacant look really well. The promo afterwards was great. I really dig his serious, more "lethal" side.

Ziggler/Orton + Barrett commentary. Barrett sounds good on the stick. Good match overall, though Orton felt like he was going through the motions in some spots. Small spots of storytelling helped the match some. Ziggler rolling out before Orton hit the RKO and then nailing the Zig Zag was nicely done and displayed some intelligence for the show-boater. 

Daniel Bryan interview. As much as I loath Michael Cole's existence, he did a good job in recapping Friday night's events. Bryan had terrific intensity on the microphone. Henry displayed his usual intensity. Good sell for the main event tomorrow. 

SmackDown hype. They did a good job selling the live broadcast tomorrow tonight. Between Foley and the Bryan & Henry segment, it was a good sell for the show.

Punk/Del Rio. The backstage segments before the match were good and created a subtle show long plot hook. Good match that switched gears as appropriate. You know, it's nice when the announcers actually call a match instead of talking about other things like Twitter. Del Rio looked strong in the match.

There were shades of the WWE babyface "Super" booking in the match but nothing overt. Punk sold the arm like a champ throughout the match. The ending sequence the nicely done as a tribute to Eddie. Match of the night.

The Meh
 

Swagger/Ryder. Swagger had the jobber entrance for the match. Standard fair for Ryder's booking, but important for his "quest for a title match" angle. Few nice reverses helped matters. Not great, but appropriate.

Ziggler/Ryder feud. They need to get moving on the feud before it loses steam. It's tough to stay focused with Ziggler's apparent insertion back to the main event scene. They still have time, but if they are going to put the United States Championship on Ryder, they must do it soon.

The Bad

Fox & Kelly/Bella Twins. What was the point of that? The WWE could learn some lessons from SHIMMER.

No Brodus. Debut him or put him back on Superstars. As I said last week, whatever heat he had is lost. Missed opportunity to use him on Morrison.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

• Not even Hot Rod could draw a cheer form the WWE Universe for John Cena. It's time to turn him.
• "The energy of the WWE Universe isn't important to me?" "You suck Cena!"
• *Slap* "Do you feel the energy?" Bless Piper.
• I wonder if The Miz is getting a facemask now?
• "It's the greatest game ever played!" Skyrim? Dragon Age? Baldur's Gate? I like WWE '12, but give me a break.
• Ziggler's drop kick is poetic.
• "How damn good am I!'
• For the record, Daniel Bryan has good ability on the stick.

• I still want a personal ring announcer. I wonder if Del Rio rents out Ricardo by the hour?
• "It's Clobberin' Time!"

Overall Grade B+

Strong overall show. I think we can say that Raw is out of its funk. Two very good matches and Cena getting some character development will always go well with me. The Daniel Bryan segment was surprisingly strong and Ziggler continues to impress. The fact he actually took pride in taking the WWE champion to the limit shows some good "genre savviness" one doesn't expect from a heel.

The Divas took a step back after last week and Brodus continued to be M.I.A. were the only real drawbacks tonight. Good stuff from the Red brand tonight. Let's see if SmackDown can continue the trend.