September 17, 2012|By Adam Testa
- Randy Orton defeated Tensai in a pretty good match that saw Orton get worked over for most of the match before hitting his signature offense and catching Tensai with an out-of-the-corner RKO. Orton was able to look strong, as he toppled a big opponent like Tensai the night after going head-to-head with Ziggler. The story they were telling clicked and the result was a fun little basic match.
- Damien Sandow and Zack Ryder had a surprisingly good - and lengthy - match in the semi-main event slot. When Ryder interrupted a Sandow promo, I expected a squash match, but these two worked a high-quality and engaging match. Both men could have big things in their futures if they play their cards right.
- The Miz debuted his new talk show, Miz TV, but it didn't get off to a great start. After cutting a good promo calling out Booker T, which the sheepish crowd called boring, he was introduced to Ryback, who destroyed his set. The Miz being Ryback's first real opponent is interesting to say the least.
- The Jared from Subway skit was completely awful, but I'll be darned if I didn't get a good chuckle when Ryback came out. So bad you couldn't help but just laugh.
- WWE did a great job providing updates on the health of Jerry "The King" Lawler, who will do an interview on next week's show.
Match Rundown
Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara d. Primo and Epico
Eve d. Beth Phoenix
Brodus Clay d. Heath Slater
Dolph Ziggler d. Santino Marella
Wade Barrett d. Justin Gabriel
Kane and Daniel Bryan d. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston
Randy Orton d. Tensai
Damien Sandow d. Zack Ryder
John Cena and Sheamus d. CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio
My Take
I really enjoyed this week's episode of Raw and thought it was quality from top to bottom. A lot of matches surpassed expectations and everything just seemed to click. The commentary trio of Michael Cole, JBL and Jim Ross did an outstanding job. I only wish they would all be around longer, but that's not the hand fate has dealt, as JBL has a mountain to climb - literally. WWE deserves a lot of credit for putting together a great show. After last week's situation, this was a good show for the audience. I had no issues with tonight's Raw.
Ring Posts’ Adam Testa has teamed up with My 1-2-3 Cents and All American Pro Wrestling to bring you From the Rafters Radio, a weekly pro wrestling talk radio show airing from 8-10 EST every Thursday on Monster Radio 1150 AM in Southern Illinois and streaming worldwide on wggh.net.
