Raw Liverpool Results/Spoilers

[Snitsky's back acne]

Brodus Clay is on the international tour by the way, or at least he was as of Sunday.

[Up Chuck]

Didn't know where else to stick this, so it's going in here. On a whim I went to the Raw house show in Nottingham last night. It was my first live WWE show in 7 years, featuring literally none of the people who were on the last one (Raw taping in Manchester in 2004). How much has changed was perhaps best illustrated by the ridiculous amount of CM Punk merch people were decked out in. I swear to god, 50% of the adult males in the place were wearing the "Best In The World" shirt, and a shitload more went and bought it at the merch stall right below my seat. In fact, one entire family (mum, dad and kid) walked past me all wearing that shirt. They also have these elbow-length fingerless glove things that are like Punk's wrist-tape with the X on the hand, which tons of kids were wearing. It was madness. Punk's a merchandise machine. Considering the last time I'd seen HIM live was the TWC show at the Coventry Skydome in 2005, it was kind of a culture shock.

 

Anyway, the show:

 

- Whoever said about Justin Roberts not warming the crowd up much (might have been in this thread, might not) wasn't kidding. The start of the show was just house lights down, ring lights up, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to WWE Raw!", a little bit of pyro, then Santino's music hit. The only time Roberts said anything other than that welcome or introducing people was to plug merch and to do the "don't try this at home" speech.

 

- Santino Marella pinned Drew Macintyre with the Cobra. Fun enough, Santino went for the Corba early on, then Drew spent the whole match working the right arm. Nothing special but nothing offensive. The Cobra is the new Worm. Ridiculous move, ridiculously over.

 

- Alex Riley and Primo beat David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty when Riley pinned McGillicutty after a TKO. This was weird. I missed a few months of WWE this year but weren't Otunga and McGillicutty the tag champs recently? They're getting pretty crushed now. Riley couldn't look more create-a-wrestler-model if he tried, but he's decent enough. Primo hit his stuff pretty smoothly. Otunga and McGillicutty were fine as foils, which is what you need on a house show. It's pretty hard to tell that McGillicutty is Mr Perfect's son (come on, if someone told you he was on the show but didn't tell you which one he was, you'd guess Ziggler all day long).

 

- Mason Ryan pinned Curt Hawkins with the Full Nelson Slam (with Masterlock theatrics). Much like Ryan's match on Raw, this was basically an extended squash. Finish was a bit out of nowhere. Ryan could do with longer matches so he can structure stuff properly. Semi-squashes just kill the crowd a bit, he needs to be given proper squashes or proper matches. That physique is insane to look at in the flesh though. Looks like he was constructed from boulders and had skin painted over them.

 

- US Championship: Dolph Ziggler pinned John Morrison with a Superkick to retain. Best match of the night. Nice to see them acknowledge Morrison's win on Raw by giving him a title shot (seeing as that's the angle they're doing with Ryder's petition). Probably the most notable thing here was the Morrison kicked out of the Zig Zag, which I guess means the Superkick is Dolph's official new finisher. He got a TON of heat when he went for it the first time by doing HBK's stomps in the corner. Post-match, Ziggler came back in to deck Morrison with the belt, but Morrison ducked, caught him with a kick and hit Starship Pain.

 

- The Bella Twins came out to do some competition where they pick someone to go backstage after the show. I assumed this was going to be as close as we'd get to an interval, so I went out to call the missus. When I came back in, they picked a little kid as the winner... then had an interval. I lose. At least I brought a book.

 

- In the interval, tons of people were buying the signed Cena photos (Roberts plugged them after the Bellas left). And loads of those people were wearing Punk's shirt. It pretty much killed the myth that Punk's fans are separate from everyone else - he's a legitimate mainstream star in WWE now.

 

- Divas Championship: Beth Phoenix pinned Eve Torres with the Glam Slam to retain. Missed most of this because I went to get a drink towards the end of the really short interval. Afterwards, Beth hooked Eve up for another Glam Slam, but Kelly Kelly's music hit, and she ran down, gave Beth a Thesz Press & punches off the top rope, then hit the rocker dropper.

 

- Justin Roberts announced a 6-man tag, and Miz & Truth came out (and did the rap. House shows > tapings). Truth was talking and got the "WHAT?" treatment, which he sells better than anyone ("STOP WHATTIN' ME!"). Miz got involved, and went back and forth with the crowd with "Really?"/'WHAT?" for about a minute. They called for silence while they said their catchphrase, so of course the crowd went nuts booing them every time they put the mics near their mouths. In the end they just said it anyway.

 

While all this was going on, I was racking my brains trying to think who else would be in the match. I remembered the card on the arena website had said Miz vs Punk, so I assumed the face team would be Punk, Kofi and Ryder, but I couldn't think of a heel at a loose end other than Brodus Clay, who after his non-appearance on Raw I wasn't even sure was there. So imagine my surprise when Miz says the following:

 

"And if you didn't like that, you're gonna hate this, 'cos we brought... SEVEN FOOT BACKUUUUUP!"

 

And it's only Kevin bloody Nash, isn't it?

 

Seriously. I was at uni yesterday afternoon, umming and ahhing over whether to even come to this show, and now I'm seeing Kevin Nash wrestle. I have won.

 

So the face team comes out, and it's Ryder, Kofi and Cena, who gets pretty much a 50/50 reaction. Which is way more fun than any reaction anyone else gets, really. Plenty of noise from the crowd in this one, including "Let's go Cena"/"Cena sucks" and "Let's go Ryder"/"Woo Woo Woo". But the biggest point of interest will be Nash's performance - and d'you know what, he fucking pulled his weight in this one. He was in the ring at least as much as Miz and Truth (and about ten times as much as Cena), and was moving about a fair bit too. He even took a big bump off a shoulderblock from Cena and took a dive from Ryder on the outside. Cena pinned Miz (I think) with the AA. Very fun match.

 

- Main event, WWE Championship: CM Punk beat Alberto Del Rio by DQ when Ricardo hit Punk with a chair. Punk got a huge reaction, definitely the biggest of the night. They had a pretty good match, but kind of burned out the crowd with near-falls. Ricardo got thrown out by the ref partway through. They did a ref bump after which Punk hit the GTS and had Alberto pinned. Ricardo ran back down and attacked Punk, who just got up and no-sold the shots, then threatened to punch Ricardo, but instead turned him round, pulled his trousers down to reveal his Superman pants, then booted him out of the ring before they went to the finish.

 

Post-match, Miz, Truth and Ziggler ran in to attack Punk (honestly, what is it about house shows with no TV cameras that gets these guys so irrationally angry at each other?), but Kofi, Ryder, Cena and Eve made the save. The heels all bailed except Ziggler, who was left in the ring with all the faces surrounding him. Punk and Cena did their poses to polarised crowd reactions while Dolph acted like he was about to be executed, then Cena hit the AA, Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise and Ryder hit the Roughrider. Punk picked Dolph up for the GTS, but airplane-span him for about a minute, then stopped, then did it the other way before finally hitting it. Eve then went to do a standing moonsault, but Cena told her to do it off the top, so she did. Cena, Ryder, Kofi and Eve posed on the corners while Punk sat crossed-legged in the ring looking like the coolest motherfucker in the world. Then all the other faces bailed and let Punk celebrate with the crowd. He high-fived everyone in the front row (EVERYONE) and stayed out on his own playing to the crowd til well after Cult of Personality had finished playing.

 

And that ending was the biggest part to me. No ambiguity, no sharing the spotlight with Cena, it was ALL about Punk. All about that guy who nobody really gave a chance when he signed. Now he's the man. THE man. THE top babyface. THE guy whose merch everyone buys. In looking at Cena as this generation's Rock, we've been clawing for him to have an Austin for ages. People said it was Batista, people said it was Orton. Punk, for my money, is closer to it than those guys ever were. That Best In The World shirt is the closest thing we've had to the Austin 3:16 shirt. He may be stuck in a bit of a rut storyline-wise (or as much as one can be when one is in a title match at a big-4 PPV at Madison Square Garden), but he's over. Way over. And if they play it right, they've got a hell of a guy to make a title match feel important when it's up against Cena vs Rock in April.

[FLips]

It's mental how many CM Punk "Best in the World" shirts were at Newcastle like. In my section, and as far as I could see, they outnumbered John Cena tops. Even kids wearing John Cena tops had CM Punk caps on.

[King Pitcos]

They were a fiver more expensive than all the other shirts as well, weren't they?

[Johnny_Lawrence]

"Hide ya kids! Hide ya wife!"

 

Cena @ Miz on RAW

 

Ref:

[FLips]

They were a fiver more expensive than all the other shirts as well, weren't they?

 

I don't know, I didn't go anywhere near the merch.

[Up Chuck]

There were two versions of the Punk shirt - one with the black collar that was

[Vamp]

It is cool to boo Cena, just like it is/was cool to shout WHAT! Cena still sells the most merch doesn't he? Surely this means his position is justified.

It might be justified if he expanded his moveset or increased his workrate, or at the very least turned heel, but until then he is shit. People only buy his merchandise ironically.

 

Don't be silly.

[PowerButchi]

Now he's the man. THE man. THE top babyface. THE guy whose merch everyone buys.

 

Calm down. He's never #1.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Merchandise sales are well down from last year. He's selling shirts, but its to a lesser audience. Bret Hart sold a shit load of shirts and DVDs last year as well, but he was a massive fucking flop. The stock people put into shirt sales is insane. You sell shirts if your over. There's a difference between being over to the fanbase you currently have and being a difference maker. The hardcore fanbase buys the shirts. The fans who will watch the product no matter how dull it gets. Unless your bringing in new people to buy your shit, your not the man.

[Doog]

I definately noticed a change last night from when I last went in April. The amount of Punk shirts, and the reaction to him was fantastic to see, and the way the show closed with the focus solely on him. Really had a fresher feel to the show last night, Cena was almost an afterthought at the show.

 

At one point I saw a little kid in a Cena shirt get given the Punk one by his dad, he took his Cena one off and put the Punk one on.

 

I think they're finally getting towards the point where Cena turning might actually work, we've always said it won't happen with all the merch he sells when there isnt anyone else, well CM Punk is now that someone else I think.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I think they're finally getting towards the point where Cena turning might actually work, we've always said it won't happen with all the merch he sells when there isnt anyone else, well CM Punk is now that someone else I think.

They are drawing 2.9 ratings, buyrates are down, Cena is the only person on the fulltime roster advertisers and sponsers give a toss about and his match with the Rock is probably going to set box office records. If they turn Cena during this period where business is slowing going in the shit, they might as well just jack it in. John Cena carries this company on so many different levels, its untrue. He's their only full time draw. Triple H, The Rock and the Undertaker spike business interest when they return, but Cena all year round is the number one man. Turning him would be proof they've lost the plot. Now more than ever it would be stupid to turn him. There is no Batista, no Undertaker, no Shawn Michaels or even Rey Mysterio these days. Who would their be to go against Cena if they turned him? When Hogan turned, Hogan was finished. WCW didn't even need him anymore. This is completely different.

[Doog]

I think they're finally getting towards the point where Cena turning might actually work, we've always said it won't happen with all the merch he sells when there isnt anyone else, well CM Punk is now that someone else I think.

They are drawing 2.9 ratings, buyrates are down, Cena is the only person on the fulltime roster advertisers and sponsers give a toss about and his match with the Rock is probably going to set box office records. If they turn Cena during this period where business is slowing going in the shit, they might as well just jack it in. John Cena carries this company on so many different levels, its untrue. He's their only full time draw. Triple H, The Rock and the Undertaker spike business interest when they return, but Cena all year round is the number one man. Turning him would be proof they've lost the plot. Now more than ever it would be stupid to turn him. There is no Batista, no Undertaker, no Shawn Michaels or even Rey Mysterio these days. Who would their be to go against Cena if they turned him? When Hogan turned, Hogan was finished. WCW didn't even need him anymore. This is completely different.

 

He can still be the number 1 man as a heel surely?! I don't get the mindset of turning Cena means he's not going to be the main guy, it's a lesser level, but The Miz has been a heel forever now, and he still does all the talk shows, all the appearances etc, and people go to see him. At the height of his push around WrestleMania he was on everything, he was over as well. His merchandise was quite big back in April as well. Like I say, it's not exactly the same level, but it shows heels can still be main guys.

 

I don't think we've got any fresh feuds yet as he went heel, so it'd probably be wise to wait until after WrestleMania, and if Punk is still selling and being as over as he currently is, at least they have a massive babyface to oppose him. I don't see how it'd be bad for business, I just dont get that, I can't see kids refusing to watch if Cena turns heel, like I said i've noticed a lot more Punk shirts, and the kids were going mental for Punk last night, they have a new hero. If they did go down the Cena heel route, they could really go hard on Punk's straight edge lifestyle as well, be a massive role model for the kiddies.

 

If anything, more adults would tune back in if Cena turned, I dont hate Cena, never have, but I think a fair few people have been turned off by his holier than thou act, the vocal males, if he turned they would tune back in, hell they'd probably buy Cena merchandise as well as he'd seem ''cool''.

 

I know the argument has been done to death, but I think it's becoming relevent again now, Cena is heading into a feud with the probably the 3rd biggest babyface wrestling has ever had (behind Hogan and Austin) in The Rock, CM Punk is selling more merch than him, CM Punk is over like mad with the majority of crowds, you just have to listen to the pop at every show when his music first hits. I honestly think the time is coming where it'd work if Cena turned. Take a chance.

[Wrasslin]

I think they're finally getting towards the point where Cena turning might actually work, we've always said it won't happen with all the merch he sells when there isnt anyone else, well CM Punk is now that someone else I think.

They are drawing 2.9 ratings, buyrates are down, Cena is the only person on the fulltime roster advertisers and sponsers give a toss about and his match with the Rock is probably going to set box office records. If they turn Cena during this period where business is slowing going in the shit, they might as well just jack it in. John Cena carries this company on so many different levels, its untrue. He's their only full time draw. Triple H, The Rock and the Undertaker spike business interest when they return, but Cena all year round is the number one man. Turning him would be proof they've lost the plot. Now more than ever it would be stupid to turn him. There is no Batista, no Undertaker, no Shawn Michaels or even Rey Mysterio these days. Who would their be to go against Cena if they turned him? When Hogan turned, Hogan was finished. WCW didn't even need him anymore. This is completely different.

 

 

I'm not saying they should turn Cena, but these low buyrates and rating have been in steady decline WITH Cena as the top guy in the company. Is there not perhaps an argument that maybe he should't have been the top guy in the company for so long? That somebody else could have obtained better buy rates / ratings in his position.

 

Cena can't turn heel but he needs to not be the focal point of the show every week. Clearly it isn't working is it?

 

Of course it's all redundant because WWE has stalled the push on so many guys, so many times in apparent fear that they might make Cena weaker, that it's now impossible to put anyone above him wihtout the feeling they're just keeping the belt warm for Cena.

[The Miz]

It is cool to boo Cena, just like it is/was cool to shout WHAT! Cena still sells the most merch doesn't he? Surely this means his position is justified.

It might be justified if he expanded his moveset or increased his workrate, or at the very least turned heel, but until then he is shit. People only buy his merchandise ironically.

 

So most people buy Cena's merchandise ironically? He has been the biggest seller of merchandise in pro wrestling for many years thanks to people who don't like him buying it to be ironic?