October 15, 2012|By Adam Testa
- It was interesting to watch Brodus Clay face Alberto Del Rio, as Clay was originally called up to the main WWE roster as Del Rio's muscle. The match was really quick and Clay had very limited offense. It really seems that once Clay's undefeated streak ended, he's quickly become nothing but a plus-size jobber. This did help Del Rio look strong heading into his newly announced Hell in a Cell match with Randy Orton.
- Layla finally received her rematch against Eve for the Divas Championship, and the match was something unique for modern-day WWE. They were given a decent amount of time, and the crowd actually responded to the action with a "This is awesome" chant. Layla lost when the referee didn't see her foot on the ropes during a pin, which is becoming an overplayed finish, but it leaves things open for a rematch.
- I was glad to see Dolph Ziggler flee from the handicap match he was forced into with David Otunga and Ryback. Otunga is still technically a step up the ladder from Ryback's recent opponents, and he didn't need to take someone like Ziggler out quite yet. It would have been quite sad seeing Ziggler pinned by Ryback, so this outcome makes sense and keeps the right people looking strong (and cowardly).
- Antonio Cesaro had a glorified squash match against Justin Gabriel. While matches like this certainly make the United States Champion look dominant, I imagine how great of contests Cesaro could have with guys like Gabriel and Tyson Kidd in an environment where they were given 20 minutes and told to be competitive.
- What was the point of Kane beating up backstage interviewer Matt Striker? Is he on his way out of the company and this is their way of getting rid of him? Is he trying to make a comeback? Was this just a waste of time?
Match Rundown
Big Show d. Daniel Bryan
Alberto Del Rio
Ryback d. David Otunga and Dolph Ziggler
Antonio Cesaro d. Justin Gabriel
Kane d. Matt Striker
Sheamus d. Wade Barrett by disqualification
Eve d. Layla
Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow d. Primo and Epico
Kofi Kingston d. The Miz
My Take
Outside of the Kane and Matt Striker "match," there was nothing inherently bad with tonight's Raw. It had a good flow to it, and while the early part had several squashes or extended squashes, the show worked in the end. I would have probably enjoyed it if I wasn't so tired due to outside circumstances, but I don't feel it's fair to blame WWE for that. Overall, it was a solid show with some real highlights, such as Barrett vs. Sheamus. Hopefully WWE can maintain some momentum building to Hell in a Cell.
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.
