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GOALS AND ACCOMPLISMENTS – LOOKING AT RAW 12/12/11

RAW – 12/12/11
What the goals should be on this week’s Raw?
• It’s the go home week for TLC and WWE needs to deliver some solid hype for the ppv. This is not a dead in the water show
•The Slammy Awards. The Slammy Awards concept for me shouts out time for WWE Creative to have some fun and we know what happens when WWE Creative has fun (See November 29th, Live Smackdown). WWE needs to resist too many cute Slammys and comedy, it isn’t their strong suit. I can already see from the ‘Tell me you didn’t just say that’ award opening up the show that was reported on the main site that WWE will likely fail in this area. I’ll try not to rant too much about it   
•The next step in this John Cena storyline. Where is this going? Is it just something for John to pass the time with?
•The Divas. I will mention it every time I remember, but I am repeating myself alot with this one. The company needs to get out of the machine mentality and do something interesting with the ladies
•Kevin Nash-Triple H, Zack Ryder-Dolph Ziggler, Punk-Miz-Del Rio. Smackdown is doing an adequate to solid job building their three matches for this show; Raw has to do the same especially with Nash and Hunter. Also Miz and Del Rio need some major heat going into the match with Punk and not Miz and Truth style heat going into Survivor Series. WWE needs to remember what their product is and not what they think it is
Show Breakdown

1. I like the Slammy’s video to open the show, it definitely gives the show a different and special vibe. Big ups for once again coming back with the ‘Hello, Good Morning’ song, which is also great

2. I will try to resist my temptation to bury the usage of Hornswoggle until I see what he has to say. Alright, I didn’t mind Hornswoggle talking, maybe it was a smart idea to give him a voice, let’s just not overexpose him

3. Michael Cole promo time and Raw is starting exactly the way it shouldn’t be starting. It’s all about The Bubble laughing backstage and not about producing a compelling television show

4. WWE wants to know why attendance is down. People don’t go to arenas to be entertained by announcers having ‘rap offs’. This hopefully will at least lead to Cody attacking Booker, which would be some promotion for TLC

5. Fat Tub of Goo sounds like a Vince McMahon phrase, right out of his 66 year old body, 8 year old creative mind.

6. The fans clearly don’t want to see JR do a Spinarooni Book or should I say Vince

7. Unadvertised Mick Foley appearance, yup WWE sure wants you to know he means nothing

8. ‘You stole my pop Ted’ – funny

9. Pretty sure this award should go to just Mark Henry since he performed the suplex off the top rope

10. Nice way for Show to turn his Slammy  promo into a promo for winning the World Title

11. Should WWE really be giving away matches like Barrett-Show for free without advertising it? What else is new?

12. Another star promo from Barrett and hype for TLC. Back to back promos and both hyping up TLC! What a novel concept!

13. Nothing match to keep both guys protected, which is fine. I do feel sorry for this crowd though, as you pay for action, not WWE Creative

14. WWE is really trying to combine Old School Raw and the Slammy Raw into one night. Road Dogg Jesse James, I question how much of this audience knows who he is. Perhaps WWE should promote guys like him back on WWE television for the first time in several years, along with other Legends like Ted Dibiase, Jim Ross and Mick Foley

15. This video package on Pipe bombs is really just an ode to WWE Creative. Perhaps do these types of packages to hype your pay per view and not stroke your own egos

16. Alright I’m going to pop for the John Laurinaitis video package. 1. They are using you got the touch, which screams Transformers cartoon movie to me! 2. Finally they are telling the 95% of the audience who had no idea who he was, who he is and what his background is! It took them a long time to get here, but they finally did so they deserve a slow clap

17. Another fine promo for CM Punk

18. Lita...yeah they really couldn’t promote any of these appearances beforehand? I’m repeating myself again. Lita does look off the charts

19. I guess WWE had to be ‘Creative’ and instead of just having a Diva of the year, had to break out “Divalicious moment of the year”. There’s such thing as too cute

20. I’m not sure why Natalya is holding Beth back. This pinup strong gimmick doesn’t really work when the Barbie always gets the best of her. They had Lita out there as well so they could have used her to assist Kelly, but I guess that’s too much thinking for this cog in the machine segment. I know someone else on this site uses this phrase alot, but it was fine for what it was, but it could have been so much more

21. Did Michael Cole just say Jim Ross forgot all his lines? Yup, this company is so lost; it really is something to see sometimes.

22. I always like these WWE 12 Plugs, it’s good synergy

23. There’s been no in ring action for this crowd. The Bubble is so arrogant that they think people come to arenas for their scripted promos and not to see the sporting aspect of it. I don’t really have an issue with it myself as I’ve always loved the talking, but for the people in attendance it has to suck

24. What’s the difference between HolySh*T and OMG award? This award should really go to Punk for the WWE Title win, but I assume Triple H gets it to setup an angle with Kevin Nash

25. You know I don’t really have a problem with WWE telling us what’s trending, but then I heard that at the TNA pay per view last night that nobody watches, that certain things were trending and if that’s the case, it clearly means nothing and WWE should stop letting us know what’s trending

26. Well I guess we know where they are going with Undertaker for Wrestlemania

27. I’m not Triple H’s biggest fan, but if he knows one thing, it’s how to cut a damn good go home promo and the reminders of ‘this Sunday’ over and over again is what WWE needs more of. It was short and to the point. One small nitpick, I think I would have had Nash come out and have officials get between them

28. Minor detail, but should Eve and Alicia Fox be being used as random model escorts?

29. I’m liking this face off between Rhodes and Ziggler, the two real breakout stars for WWE in 2011

30. WWE finally giving the fans in attendance some extended action with this Ryder-Ziggler-Rhodes-Bryan match

31. I figured he’d take the loss, since he’s the only one not wrestling Sunday, but WWE really needs to start protecting Daniel ‘Money in the Bank’ Bryan

32. Good heat for Ziggler taking out Ryder post match and more promotion for TLC

33. Ah Christian, always great to see him. The most underrated performer in WWE

34. I also wonder why Christian isn’t nominated for Superstar of the year

35. No this game changing moment happened because of The Rock, not because of the team there John

36. Solid promo from Cena to hype Wrestlemania. I’ve liked some of the promos we’ve seen tonight hyping up pay per views

37. Alot of people will say Alberto Del Rio hasn’t flourished as a main event player and alot of that is on WWE Creative, but I don’t think he is too blame as much as WWE might want to blame him. 1. WWE calling him boring isn’t helping him and 2. Play to the man’s strengths, give him a stable. Where is his bodyguard? Where is his valet? Take advantage of your roster and surround him with people to make him look all that much bigger. When Triple H became a big star in 2000 they had surrounded him with the entire McMahon Family and Degeneration X. Stables help stars become Superstars

38. Michael Cole making a good point on commentary pointing out the history of Orton and Punk

39. Another great point by Michael Cole, rivalry of the year, Randy Orton-Christian and that actually should have been a Slammy Award

40. When Michael Cole told Jerry Lawler ‘You won a Slammy for kissing your own foot’ should Lawler not have responded ‘You kissed my foot this year’? I’m guessing Old Jerry has already forgotten about that

41. Miz like Del Rio needs a stable around him and with the amount of talent on the WWE roster that doesn’t get used, he should be able to get one as well

42. I wonder if WWE would ever beat John Cena like they beat Randy Orton and CM Punk. Perhaps people would like Cena more if they showed the audience that kind of vulnerability with him

43. After a couple weeks of complaining about it, Orton finally chases Barrett off and doesn’t just glare intensely

44. Another solid promo from Miz hyping TLC. Most of the promos this week have been TLC centric, which is a rarity!

45. Because of the way WWE has used Michael Cole and how destructive he has been, when you then use him to hype the WWE Network, it doesn’t work. Every time I hear him say ‘most interactive network’, I say to myself I want no part of this as a consumer

46. I must say WWE has used a phenomenal variety of music tonight

47. I like Snooki, I’m not sure why, but I do

48. What a promo Mark Henry is. Lots of good promo guys in WWE right now

49. Rey Mysterio unadvertised. I guess WWE couldn’t have done a video package or mentioned ‘Special Appearances by Rey Mysterio, Mick Foley, Ted Dibiase and Lita amongst others’.

50. Why do I get the sneaky feeling that John Cena is winning this award since his match is next?

51. Anyone else catch the subtle way Rey said Alberto Del Rio’s name? That’s old school, staying with the storylines

52. I like Laurinaitis accepting for Punk, good heat. BTW has there been a Brodus Clay mention tonight?

53. Hopefully they don’t do too much damage to Mark Henry in the battle against Super Man

54. Nice gesture by WWE to bring that family to the show when their Mom/Wife is in the middle of a war zone

55. I said I had no interest in Kane’s return, but I smiled at seeing him back in the mask

What this week’s Raw accomplished?
The Good
•Great promos hyping TLC from Triple H, Big Show, Wade Barrett, and Miz
•Great to get cameo appearances from some personalities we don’t get to see all the time such as Ted Dibiase, Lita, Road Dogg, Rey, Goldust and my personal favorite, Snooki!
•John Cena promo. Cena basically stayed away from the comedy and was able to do another promo hyping Wrestlemania
•CM Punk-John Laurinaitis – At some point Punk is going to have to get his hands on John, but tonight’s show was fantastic for building their story, because for one they finally told us who Laurinaitis is even if it was two months too late and two, Laurinaitis was great accepting Superstar of the year for Punk
•Christian. This man is just pure gold and deserves a mention even if his role was minor
•Kane’s return. I’ve been saying for weeks I had no interest in Kane’s return and when he came out with that mask on I wasn’t impressed, but when he took it off to reveal the original mask I was intrigued and am interested to see where it goes that being said should this have been the final segment on the go home show for TLC? I guess they didn’t really have a choice, but perhaps they should have moved this till next week
•John Cena doesn’t have an advertised match on the pay per view. I don’t have an issue with this. Some might say its WWE already assuming this pay per view is dead and buried and WWE probably see it that way as well, but I don’t. I see it as something we haven’t seen in a long time and I’m interested to see how the show goes
•Dolph Ziggler-Zack Ryder. No promos to hype this match, but a damn good heat building segment that the crowd got into with Ziggler nailing Ryder with the zigzag before he could accept his Slammy
•Miz beats Del Rio. Great heat segment to build up their match at TLC and this wasn’t like the pinfall Miz got on Cena before Survivor Series where Truth held Cena’s leg and Cena just brushed it off afterwards
•Thank God CM Punk won Superstar of the year. The only other person I would have accepted is Mark Henry. Even if John Cena won the voting on this, they needed to avoid giving it to him unless they want to create more backlash towards him
•Hornswoggle talks. I never thought I’d put this guy in The Good of Raw, but he talks alright and I didn’t mind his presence on the show
•Triple H hints at the Undertaker’s future. Just like Shawn Michaels at the 2009 Slammys, Triple H has let us know the future for the Undertaker

The Bad
•No shock that the divas segment is in here. Pinup strong backs off due to a slap from Kelly? At least have Lita get involved or have Kelly save Lita from a beat down or something better than what they did
•Eve and Alicia Fox as escorts. I mentioned earlier that the divas should not be used as escorts unless it’s someone we rarely see such as Rosa Mendes or Chyna…alright I didn’t need to go there
•The opening segment was terrible and Michael Cole has go away heat at this point
•No Full TLC Card Rundown. Unbelievable that on the go home show they don’t even give us a card run down. There was some nice hype for TLC tonight, but it all tends to run together and you need a standalone segment to promote the entire card
•Daniel Bryan is not being protected for a guy who has money in the bank. It’s plain and it’s simple
What the goals should be for next week show?
•I am the type of person who doesn’t want to take the gas off the pedal so I’d go right into Royal Rumble promotion, I know they won’t, but I don’t think this is a company who can afford to take any week’s off
•Kane. Follow up is everything
•The coded videos. The static leads me to believe it’s Chris Jericho and I hope they keep these up without giving away too much of a hint
F: revinsamuel@rogers.com