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The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal 11/24/14

Posted By: John Canton on Nov 25, 2014

The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal 11/24/14


TJR/Melo

For coverage of Survivor Series you can read my full recap with analysis right here. In addition to that, I also wrote about the things WWE did right at Survivor Series for WhatCulture, so be sure to check that out too. There was a lot of excitement heading into Raw thanks in large part to the WWE debut of Sting one night earlier. Thanks to Melo Man for the banner above. I don't really use the word phony very often, but I've seen it spelled as phony or phoney so don't swear at me if you think it's wrong. Let's get to it.

---

Live from Indianapolis, Indiana this is the Raw Deal for episode #1122. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport.

The opening video package was the Titantron video for Sting. They showed clips of his appearance at Survivor Series with fans reacting to him in a major way. They didn't show his involvement in the main event.

Analysis: That video probably had people thinking Sting would be on this show.

The former duo in power, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, made their entrance for a show opening promo. They plugged their appearance on the cover of Muscle & Fitness magazine.

Stephanie ranted about how the fans don't know about respect. She said that Team Authority would have won too, if not for one man. She said this one man changed the entire face of WWE history forever and that man is Sting. Big applause for that. "Because of Sting, The Authority is out of power." More cheers. She added that the only person that can re-instate The Authority is John Cena. Stephanie said they're winners, they're leaders and they still have corporate responsibilities. She added that they don't have influence over the lives of the superstars, but they still have each other. Hunter whispered in her ear and then she cried when she said that he hopes they enjoy Thanksgiving with their families.

Hunter took over asking the fans if they love this and the fans chanted "yes" for it. "You want to see my wife cry?" Loud "yes" chants. Hunter called the fans bullies and Steph said that was right. He said that we should be careful what we wish for because he knows that nobody can handle that power. Hunter did the same kind of promo he always does wondering who is going to make decisions now. He wondered if it would be Cena, Ziggler or Sting. Hunter added that he didn't know why Sting wanted to be there and that maybe he wanted to stand in the ring with Hunter to make his career relevant. He told Sting that his first night in a WWE ring is his last night in a WWE ring because he thinks this will be the demise of the WWE. Hunter said he gives "this place two or three weeks at best." Come on Hunter. If we can survive your boring promos then we can survive anything.

Hunter said that the things they did for all of us are what it takes to make WWE thrive. He started yelling about how the decisions they made were needed to make this place the juggernaut that it is. He said without The Authority there is no Cena, no Ziggler, no Ryback and without the Authority there is no "you." He wondered what Mondays will be like without Raw. Hunter urged the fans on to cheer because they are going to leave now.

Hunter: "Mark my words, you will beg for us to come back."

Analysis: I really won't miss their promos. It's pretty ridiculous to act like WWE is this "juggernaut" right now when you see the quality of the shows they have been putting on, but it's not like they are going to admit that they are in a down period. This is the same man that booked matches with The Bunny, the little man that dresses like a bull and whatever crap they think of for Hornswoggle. Most of the things they said made sense with the story, but the part about how "there is no you" was definitely a stretch. They meant it in the sense that the WWE Universe is there because of them. Heels lie.

When Hunter finished his speech, the music of former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan started up and the crowd erupted in "yes" chants. He was wearing a green shirt with jeans. Bryan went right up to Hunter's face and did "yes" chants. Then he did them in Stephanie's face. The crowd joined in. With Hunter on the apron, Bryan did more "yes" chants. After they left the ring, Bryan walked up to them in the aisle and did more "yes" celebrations in their faces.

Bryan went into the ring to celebrate while Hunter and Stephanie left as the show went to break.

Analysis: That was a nice surprise. Bryan wasn't advertised for the show, so it was great to see him because it's been a few months we saw him. He's still not able to wrestle, but just seeing him out there was a good sign.

(Commercial)

Daniel Bryan In Charge Of Raw

Bryan was still leading the crowd in "yes" chants. Bryan said it felt good to be in that ring. He said the ability to kick The Authority of the ring felt good. Bryan announced that he was in charge of running Raw. He decided to announce some things for Team Authority, so he brought them out on the stage.

Seth Rollins entered with Joey Noble & Joey Mercury. There was also Kane, Rusev with Lana, Mark Henry and Luke Harper.

Bryan addressed Rollins. He put Rollins in a 3 on 2 match with two superstars against John Cena and Dolph Ziggler. Bryan added that Ziggler singlehandedly beat The Authority, which wasn't true because Sting helped. I guess babyfaces lie too! Anyway, there was a funny bit where the microphone didn't work so Rollins wondered if Bryan did that and Bryan joked that he did. Good adlib. Rollins said he was still the future of the company as he held up the Money in the Bank briefcase, which is pretty useless since the WWE Champion is sitting at home.

Bryan said that the fans will vote for Seth's partners on the WWE App. Team A is Mark Henry & Luke Harper, Team B is Mark Henry & Kane. Team C is Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble. Everybody laughed because they are former wrestlers who are booked as jokes. Bryan announced that voting starts right now.

Analysis: I actually don't mind that. It's a good way to get babyface revenge on the heels. I wouldn't put that match as the main event of the show, but with Cena's involvement you knew that was going to happen.

Kane was the next target as his Corporate Kane character. Bryan assigned Kane to the role of Concessions Kane for the rest of the night, so he had to sell food at a concession stand. He wasn't happy.

The US Champion Rusev and Lana were Bryan's next priority. He gave them two options: The first option was to compete in a company wide battle royal for the US Title. The second option was for Rusev and Lana to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to everybody. Rusev and Lana were furious about it while the fans chanted "USA" at them as they left.

The Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper was up next. Bryan put him in a match for the IC Title against Dean Ambrose. Harper left without reacting much.

Mark Henry was the last man of the team. He said a guy went up to him to ask Bryan if he could avenge a loss to Henry at WrestleMania two years ago. It was WrestleMania 29 in 2013. That was last year. Two years ago was 2012. Math isn't hard. Bryan said the man was "The Ryback" because that's what Bryan calls him. Bryan said "that's what I do" towards the end of the promo. He told Mark that match is up now.

Analysis: It was good to see Bryan again, but the show went about 30 minutes with just promos. It's a lot of talking to start the night. Bryan has really come a long way as a promo guy. Four years ago he would have looked really uncomfortable out there. From a story perspective, it makes sense to punish the five members of Team Authority.

Ryback came charging from the back. Ryback tossed Henry's head into the steel ring post and slammed Henry's head into the barricade at ringside. Officials broke it up so they could start the match.

(Commercial)

Ryback vs. Mark Henry

Henry was groggy at the start of the match. He got in one shot, but Ryback gave him a spinebuster. Ryback hit his Meat Hook Clothesline and pinned Henry. The match lasted one minute.

Winner by pinfall: Ryback

Analysis: At this point Henry is nothing more than a loser. He hasn't beaten a big name opponent in such a long time. Their WrestleMania 29 match sucked, so it's good that this was kept short.

Hunter and Stephanie were outside the building where Vince McMahon was waiting for them by a limo. Stephanie said they were sorry. Vince said he was angry and he told Steph to not say that word ("sorry") again. He told them they disappointed him and they failed him. Vince told them he doesn't like that feeling. He told them that somehow, someway they are going to fix this. Vince got mad about the "sorry" word again and said he's never been sorry for anything he's ever said or done. He said the only thing he's sorry about is having to spend Thanksgiving with them. That was a good line at least. They left in the limo. Goodbye to The Authority.

Analysis: I liked the ranting by Vince. However, Vince should feel sorry about that Katie Vick storyline because that shit was terrible. There are other things of course, but that one stands out.

(Commercial)

They did the in-ring intros for the IC Title match with both guys facing off because it's a title match. Ambrose has a hometown of Cincinnati while Harper has no hometown. I guess he's never visited Parts Unknown or The Outer Reaches of Your Mind. Any time I can throw in a Damien Demento reference I have to do it.

Intercontinental Title: Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose

It's nice to see the IC Title on the line on Raw again. They're both wrestling in shirts and jeans, so they have that in common. Ambrose was in control early as he nailed Harper with a back elbow off the turnbuckle. Ambrose hit a dive over the top to take out Harper for the vintage floor to commercial break.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Harper had control with a headlock while the crowd was occupied by something in the crowd. It sounded like they were chanting "let him stay" because somebody must have been thrown out. Harper pounded on him, then did a move where he slammed Ambrose down by doing a leg whip. Harper tossed Ambrose outside the ring and then nailed him with a forearm shot. Harper whipped Ambrose into the barricade. Ambrose crushed Harper with a clothesline. Back in the ring, Ambrose got a rollup followed by a cross body block with two counts for each of those moves. Ambrose hit a dropkick after tying Harper in the ropes. Legdrop to the back of the head by Ambrose for two. Harper came back with a sidewalk slam for two. Ambrose got a backslide for two. With Harper standing, Ambrose jumped off the top with his elbow standing up, so it's an elbow drop on a standing opponent. Harper hit a superkick for two. Ambrose did his bounce off the ropes clothesline for two. Harper grabbed the IC Title and looked like he was going to leave, but Ambrose took him out with a dive. Ambrose was going for Dirty Deeds, Harper shoved Ambrose into the ref and the ref rang the bell for the disqualification finish. The match went 15 minutes.

Winner by DQ: Dean Ambrose

Analysis: *** It was a good match between two guys that I like. It was a physical match with some unique moves from two wrestlers that are really talented in-ring performers. They turned up the intensity towards the end of it and the crowd was into it. It felt obvious that they weren't going to have a clean finish. That ending was weak although I get why they did it. They don't want to have Ambrose lose to Harper and they wanted Harper to keep the title, so they needed a cheap finish. It could have been a better finish, that's for sure.

Post match, Harper hit Ambrose with a boot to the face. Ambrose hit a forearm shot to the face and then he brought a chair into the ring. Ambrose hit Dirty Deeds to get revenge. Fans chanted "We Want Tables" so Ambrose brought out a ladder. Then he brought out a table. The fans were really excited about this.

Bray Wyatt appeared out of nowhere to attack Ambrose. He hit him with the Sister Abigail neckbreaker on the floor. Wyatt tossed Ambrose over the announce table. He tossed chairs on top of Ambrose, which is what Ambrose did to Wyatt at Survivor Series. With Ambrose buried under those chairs, Wyatt stood on the announce table with his arms stretched out and his music played to end the segment.

Analysis: That was a great attack by Wyatt. He nailed Ambrose with his finisher and then he buried Ambrose under those chairs. It was perfect revenge for what happened one night earlier. It also did a nice job of building up their TLC match at the TLC PPV on December 14.

(Commercial)

Big E's promos for "A New Day" aired. The same one that aired last week.

Santino Marella and Larry The Cable Guy appeared on the stage because they are starring in the movie Jingle All The Way 2. Larry appeared on the stage in a mask and without a shirt on. I wish he would put a shirt on. Larry made references to Uncle Elmer and King Kong Bundy. He took off his mask. Larry: "I gave up a colonoscopy to come here too." Larry said there's a lot of eye candy up there, so the ladies need to be careful so they don't get diabetes. The crowd barely reacted. Larry said that he's fan of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He said if he wrestled he would be Stone Cold Creamery because they have good ice cream. Awful.

Goldust and Stardust appeared on the stage. They freaked out Larry, who said "I just pooped my pants." Santino and Larry left as Goldust & Stardust entered for a match.

Analysis: Larry's comedy was brutal. The fans barely reacted except when he mentioned Stone Cold. No reaction to Santino either. It was brutal.

(Commercial)

The Miz entered with both tag team titles while Mizdow had replica titles. There was a pre-tape promo shown before the match. This match also got the in-ring intros. No city announced for any wrestler. Lilian called him "Damien Sandow" even though it should be Mizdow. Cole ripped her for it.

Tag Team Titles: The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. Goldust & Stardust

Stardust began with Miz. Goldust went in there, did an atomic drop to Miz and then Mizdow ran into the ring, then sold an atomic drop even though nobody gave him the move. That was hilarious. Miz was worked over in the corner. Mizdow was doing a mix of selling moves while also reaching for a tag. Stardust knocked Mizdow off the apron before a tag could be made. Miz was dumped over the top to the floor, so time for a commercial break.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Miz hit heads with Stardust and then tagged in Mizdow. The crowd cheered. Mizdow did the backbreaker/neckbreaker combo. The WWE doctor was checking on Miz outside the ring because Miz was grabbing his face. Mizdow was getting worked on in the corner. Mizdow hit a chop block on Stardust and then applied the Figure Four Leglock on Stardust. They battled out on their feet. The Miz did a blind tag without Stardust seeing it. Stardust hit a kick off the top rope on Mizdow, but Miz attacked him from behind and hit the Skull Crushing Finale to pin Stardust. The match went 11 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: The Miz & Damien Mizdow

Post match, Miz celebrated with the two titles and Sandow with the replica titles. When Miz held them up the crowd booed. When Mizdow held them up the crowd cheered.

Analysis: ** That's a different way to do a hot tag ending. If they did it like a traditional tag match then Mizdow tagging in Miz would be like a babyface team, but they don't want Miz working like a face. Instead, they made it look like Miz was just taking advantage of an opportunity by having Mizdow take the beating before Miz came in to get the glory of the win.

There was a plug for the WWE 2K15 video game. Then they mentioned the handicap tag match main event.

(Commercial)

Plug time: This Tuesday at 10pmET it's TJR Radio episode #53 with our guest Brian Shields. My co-hosts are The Ace and Justin Seagull. Our guest is Brian Shields (@ItsBrianShields), who is the author of the recently WWE book 30 Years of WrestleMania. We'll talk about his book, we'll talk some WrestleMania history, who he enjoyed talking to for the book and we'll also discuss the current scene in WWE as well. If you can't listen live that TJR Radio link will work after it's over.

Kane was back in the concessions area. Some girl manager went up to him saying that she heard he likes to burn things, but he won't be doing that. She told Kane not to spill any chips because if he does it will be coming out of his paycheck. He looked angry.

Analysis: Not much to it. I was waiting for a joke in it, but it didn't happen.

Rusev was in the ring with Lana. She complained about how it's not fair. Rusev said he's not going to be brainwashed by you dumb Americans. He said they were leaving. Daniel Bryan told them that if they don't do the Pledge of Allegiance then they can have the battle royal with the rest of the roster. Bryan sent out WWE Hall of Famer Sergeant Slaughter to help him.

Slaughter received a warm welcome from the fans. He's a lot skinnier than he used to be. He's also a long time WWE employee after retiring. An American flag was lowered above the ring. Fans chanted "USA" for it. He told them to place their hands over their hearts, repeat after him, loud and clear and that's an order. Slaughter started it off: "I pledge allegiance" and Lana said it quietly followed by "to the flag" part. The fans chanted along with Slaughter as he recited it. Rusev grabbed the microphone to prevent Lana from saying it. He sent her out of the ring.

Rusev started ranting in a foreign language as Slaughter backed away into a corner. He took off his hat and Jack Swagger's music started up. Swagger ran down to the ring. Rusev kicked Swagger, but Swagger came back with a belly to belly suplex. Swagger applied the Patriot Lock. Rusev managed to roll out to the floor to escape. Swagger's music played to end the segment.

Analysis: The whole point was to either say the Pledge of Allegiance or do a battle royal. Rusev didn't do either. Lana almost did it, but barely got started. That's a problem with WWE. They make stipulations, then completely ignore them and assume fans are too stupid to ever complain. I'm not sure if Swagger is going to be Rusev's next PPV opponent at TLC because they've already had a bunch of matches this year.

The announcers plugged the potential main event again.

(Commercial)

There was another Concession Kane segment. Santino and Larry the Cable Guy showed up. Kane squirted some mustard on Santino. Larry laughed about it. Kane made an angry face.

Fandango made his entrance. He's got Rosa Mendes as his dancer now. She starts dancing in the ring, he starts on the ramp and then runs into the ring. They do a little dance in the ring, but he doesn't do as much as he used to. Also, they got rid of his other song that people actually liked and reacted to.

Fandango (w/Rosa Mendes) vs. Justin Gabriel

This is a rematch from the Kickoff Show at Survivor Series. Fandango wrestles in black dress pants and a black shirt. He hit some aggressive moves early including a hard clothesline as Cole tried to mention he was more aggressive. JBL wondered about an upset by Justin Gabriel in this debut of Fandango. He said debut? Really. Fandango made a comeback with a suplex into a slam. The crowd was actually chanting "CM Punk" because they were so bored. He followed that up with a top rope leg drop for the win after two minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Fandango

Analysis: Getting rid of the Fandango music was a mistake. It was a short squash to try to re-establish Fandango with this new look. The top rope leg drop isn't even a new finisher for him. He's used it before. If Fandango keeps getting no reaction for his matches like he did for two nights in a row then this gimmick won't last too long.

Big Show was shown walking in a suit and he was making angry faces as we neared the top of hour three.

(Commercial)

This week on Smackdown it's Dean Ambrose vs. Kane.

Big Show entered in a suit to do his heel explanation promo. He talked about how he had his issues with The Authority. He mentioned that if he knew what would have happened he wouldn't have done what he did. Show mentioned for the past 20 years he's performed for us and maybe we owe him a mulligan. Show asked us to forget that it ever happened. "What do you say?" JBL said he forgives him. That was pretty funny.

Show kept ranting about how it's his life, not yours. He hears the whispers about "Big Show is a traitor" and he's not a traitor. He told us he deserved respect. He hears the guys in the locker room whispering that he's a traitor. Show suggested any of the cowards in the back to come say it to his face rather than whisper behind his back. Erick Rowan made his entrance.

Rowan slowly walked down to the ring. He was on Team Cena with Show on Sunday. Show called him the "upside down Sheamus" and was shocked he had something to say. Show mocked him for being like a big child. Rowan took off his sheep mask. Rowan: "I don't like bullies." Rowan hit Show with some punches to the ribs and some kicks. Rowan hit a spin kick to Show's head. Show left the ring as the fans chanted "Erick Rowan" in support of the big man.

Analysis: The speech by Show was pretty boring and I think this crowd is getting tired of promos. I can't say I blame them. It was a way to introduce a new feud. It's better than seeing Show feud with Cena again. They want to see what they have in Rowan, so there's nothing wrong with that. It will be interesting to see what kind of character development there will be for Rowan. Matching him up with a veteran like Big Show will be good for him.

In the locker room, Seth Rollins was in the locker room on his phone. Noble and Mercury went up to Rollins. Seth told them that they don't measure up to his other potential partners. Dolph Ziggler showed up. He said he told his 1.4 million Twitter followers to vote for Noble and Mercury. He didn't mention that his Twitter name is @HeelZiggler even though he's a face now.

Analysis: I like how J&J are confident while Rollins has to tell them they're just not that good. Noble is 38 years old and Mercury is 35 years old. They're retired wrestlers, but not old.

(Commercial)

Brie Bella was in the ring with her sister Nikki Bella, the new Divas Champion. AJ Lee entered the arena with a promo and she said "Lez-be honest" instead of "let's be honest." A few people reacted. She told Brie that she was an even bigger skank than her sister. I guess that counts as trash talk.

Brie Bella (w/Nikki Bella) vs. AJ Lee

There were "CM Punk" chants right away. The action spilled outside the ring. AJ took a shot at Nikki, so Brie was able to knock her down outside the ring with a hard clothesline. Back in the ring, Brie stuck her knee onto the throat of AJ. Brie applied an arm bar. AJ came back with a rollup for two and then she hit a Thesz Press. AJ hit a clothesline, a kick and then a Shining Wizard for two. The crowd is dead for this. Nikki yanked AJ's arm on the top rope. Brie hooked her arm and did a rollup for the win. At least it was more of a rollup than the ROLLUP OF DEATH. It went about four minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Brie Bella

Analysis: * They tried hard, but the crowd didn't seem to care too much. I was hoping for more of a clean finish although they're trying to put over the Bellas as united heels again.

Post match, Brie and Nikki to confirm Brie's heel turn even though fans seemed to be cheering Brie a bit. AJ complained about it. She said two of them don't come close to being half the women she is. AJ told them that talent is not sexually transmitted. She blew them a kiss.

Analysis: Those lines weren't that good. She lost to these women two nights in a row and she's talking trash.

They plugged the main event with the WWE App vote again.

(Commercial)

Santino and Larry the Cable Guy joined the announce team. The Bunny walked over to them. They started to dance like a bunch of idiots.

Adam Rose & The Bunny vs. Tyson Kidd & Natalya

This is an "interspecies" tag team match that they did on Main Event last week. The Bunny started for Kidd and the Bunny did a Ric Flair strut. Bunny hit a dropkick off the middle rope. He did a celebration towards Larry, so Kidd did a spinning kick to the head. Natalya tagged in. She had concern for the Bunny, so Kidd tagged back in. Bunny hit a flapjack and Rose tagged in with a spinebuster. Kidd tossed Rose into the ropes, then Bunny grabbed Rose's foot while he (or it) wasn't looking. Kidd capitalized with the dreaded ROLLUP OF DEATH for the win after three minutes. Cole said on commentary that it was a "hare-y situation" as the others made fun of him for the bad joke.

Winners by pinfall: Tyson Kidd & Natalya

Post match, Rose was upset about the loss. No attack this time. Cole kept on making bad jokes.

Analysis: * Even though Kidd and Natalya are my favorite couple in WWE, this Rose/Bunny angle is one of the worst storylines in the company and it's still going. There's no crowd reaction for this stuff. Just move on, please.

Ryback was walking backstage. Renee Young congratulated him on his win. He said he was hungry and looking for a concession stand.

(Commercial)

There was another promo for "A New Day" group. This time Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were together. They said they would conquer all obstacles standing in their way. They said that together they are strong and they can create a new day. It noted that their debut (or return to the action) will be next Monday on Raw.

Ryback walked up to Kane at the concession stand and told him "the big guy is hungry." He asked for two cans of tuna finish, a protein shake and a big back of beef jerky. Ryback sprayed Kane with mustard. Kane left. Ryback grabbed a bag of peanuts: "Hey Kane, you forgot your nuts...stupid!"

Analysis: At least the nuts line was stupid. Also I think this is the second time in a few months where Kane was attacked by ketchup and mustard since it happened when Dean Ambrose attacked with a hot dog cart.

John Cena and Dolph Ziggler were interviewed by Renee Young. Cena said he was knocked out at Survivor Series and when he woke up he saw Ziggler was alone for Team Cena. Ziggler said he mentioned many times that he was there to fight. He thanked Sting for saving the day. Cena did his "face to face with man that runs the place" line while saying he was teaming with the Show Off.

Analysis: It would have been a good idea to do an in-ring promo with these guys just so they can get a good fan reaction. Then again, it was a promo heavy show.

There was one more reminder of the vote for Seth's partners in the main event match.

(Commercial)

This week on Smackdown it's Miz TV with Big Show as the guest.

Dolph Ziggler made his entrance for the main event followed by man that runs the place with all the merchandise that he throws in our face, John Cena.

Daniel Bryan entered as Jerry Lawler said this was one of the greatest shows he can remember on Raw. I really doubt viewers watching this show would agree. That's why Lawler has been in that chair for over twenty years and is way past his prime. When you say things like that, you have a job forever.

Bryan brought out one of their opponents, Seth Rollins. The poll results are in: Noble/Mercury 93%, Harper/Henry 4% and Kane/Henry 3%. It actually said "J&J Security" on the vote. Some people think I invented that. I did not. Scott Armstrong tweeted it out months ago and I used it only as a joke.

Noble and Mercury entered the arena in their suits. They are former wrestlers, but since they haven't been wrestling full time for a few years they are not going to be treated like a big deal. That's why they put short guys as Rollins' security. Same reason why shorter people are managers instead of guys that are tall.

John Cena & Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins, Jamie Noble & Joey Mercury

Noble started with Cena. JBL pointed out earlier that Noble had a line about how they were The Shield 2.0. That's funny. Mercury tagged in, then did the drop down routine with Noble where they ran the ropes and Mercury kept dropping down. Noble eventually collided with Mercury, so the show went to break there as they tried to regroup.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Noble missed a corner attack on Cena. That led to Cena making a tag to Ziggler. He was on fire as he hit a corner splash followed by a neckbreaker on Noble. Leaping DDT by Ziggler for two as Mercury made the save. Rollins hit a clothesline as the ref was distracted. For what it's worth, Ziggler was training in OVW at the same time as Mercury. The heels distracted the ref and Mercury tossed Ziggler into the barricade. Noble hit a body slam as well as a leg drop for two. JBL was commenting that they were training with a Navy SEAL team, which is ridiculous, but I don't mind a heel announcer saying it. Ziggler missed a corner splash after Noble moved. Ziggler hit a dropkick to create some space.

Cena received the hot tag after Ziggler escaped Mercury. Cena hit his shoulder tackles, spinning slam and Five Knuckle Shuffle. Rollins ran in for a save. Ziggler hit a superkick and Zig Zag on Noble while Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on Mercury at the same time. Both guys made covers for the win although Cena was the legal man. The match went 11 minutes.

Winners: John Cena & Dolph Ziggler

Analysis: ** It was a very basic tag match that followed the tag team formula where the heels isolated one of the faces (Ziggler), then the other team member (Cena) got the hot tag and that was it. It fit the theme of the show where it was a bad night for members of Team Authority. Having the non full time guys getting pinned was the right move.

Post match, Daniel Bryan showed up to toss Rollins back into the ring. Ziggler nailed Rollins with a superkick leading to Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment. Bryan went into the ring to lead a "YES" chant.

Analysis: That was a good moment because Rollins avoided the beating at the end of the match, so they were able to get their shots in after the match.

All of a sudden, the notification sound filled the arena. The same sound that was made when the Anonymous Raw GM was in charge of the show. The camera showed the podium that was there. Lawler reacted like this podium just showed up even though it was beside him for several minutes. This is the WWE world where they only acknowledge things on camera.

Cole said that he received an email from the Anonymous Raw General Manager. The laptop was on the podium. Cole did his "And I quote" line like he used to do. He read the email saying that this party is officially over. Next Monday is Cyber Monday where order & discipline returns to Monday night Raw. The notification sound kept going off as everybody just stood there and the show went off the air.

Analysis: All the fun got sucked out of the arena at that moment. They should have had Bryan say that he was still in charge and ended the show with the "yes" chants as a happy way to end the night because that was really a flat ending.

The Anonymous Raw GM angle actually could have really helped some wrestler become a bigger star because that gimmick generated a lot of heat. However, WWE had no idea who they should pick for the role so they went the joke route by saying it was Hornswoggle. The gimmick was awful and the only real beneficiary of it was Michael Cole, who got way too much time (and matches) as a heel performer.

I assume "Cyber Monday" is a fan vote type of show and that Anonymous Raw GM is only for one week like Daniel Bryan was.

This show really needed a better ending. That was not it. Horrible ending.

 

Three Stars of the Show

1. Daniel Bryan - I missed him, so he goes here.

2. Dean Ambrose

3. Luke Harper

 

The Scoreboard

3.5 out of 10

Last week: 5.5

2014 Average: 5.88

2014 High: 9 (April 7 & June 30)

2014 Low: 3 (September 1)

Last 5 Weeks: 4.5, 5.5, 7, 5, 6.5

 

Final Thoughts

It gets a 3.5 out of 10. I don't remember that September 1 show, but that was the only 3/10 this year. That means this one is tied for the second worst of the year.

Larry The Cable Guy had a line about pooping his pants. That's a good phrase to use to explain what WWE's creative did to this show. They tossed out some crap and hoped it would work. It didn't.

The in-ring action was below average. A three hour show should have two or three above average matches. Only the Ambrose/Wyatt match was above average. Several matches were jokes. Some matches were so boring that the crowd had no reaction at all.

On a positive note, the build for Ambrose/Wyatt was well done while Ambrose's match with Harper was pretty good.

It was great seeing Daniel Bryan again. There was no update on his health or when he might be able to wrestle again, but he was as popular as ever. I just wish the show was better for him.

If you expected Sting at Raw...then I'm afraid I've got some bad news. Sorry. Had to. There are likely a lot of fans upset that he wasn't there. At least WWE can say they didn't advertise him.

This show was bad and the presence of the Anonymous Raw GM means that I'm not excited about next week either.

-----

That's all for this week.

This Tuesday at 10pmET it's TJR Radio episode #53 with our guest Brian Shields. My co-hosts are The Ace and Justin Seagull. Our guest is Brian Shields (@ItsBrianShields), who is the author of the recently WWE book 30 Years of WrestleMania. We'll talk about his book, we'll talk some WrestleMania history, who he enjoyed talking to for the book and we'll also discuss the current scene in WWE as well. If you can't listen live that TJR Radio link will work after it's over.

Check out my feature column archive that's exclusive to WhatCulture.

To my American readers, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm not American, but I will watch a lot of football on Thursday because that's what I do.

Thanks for reading.

John Canton - mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter @johnreport

Personal Facebook and TJRWrestling.com on Facebook


Tags: #thejohnreport #wwe #raw

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