10-17-11 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the October 17, 2011 episode of Raw

The show starts with Johnny Ace coming to the ring and they recap last week’s dreadful angle of HHH being replaced. Ace then mentions that Rey Mysterio will be returning but will be returning to San Diego to see his doctor about rehab. Ace then rambles on that he won’t let down the board of directors or the fans and says that he made a mistake last week by “firing” JR and that he got a lot of negative feedback on twitter. He said that he listened to what the fans had to say and he welcomes JR back to Raw. JR comes out for commentary but Ace tells him to come in the ring for a public apology and hugs JR. He then says that he shouldn’t have fired him last week and then says that JR won’t be doing commentary. He then mentions that something happed during commercial last week after JR left. The show Michael Cole in the ring with Alberto & Ricardo ragging on him. Ace says JR and Michael Cole will settle their differences tonight. He then announces John Cena & Jim Ross vs. Alberto Del Rio & Michael Cole. JR & Cole have a stare down and Cole stands up on the announce table taunting JR. This was a weak segment.

Randy Orton, John Morrison & Sheamus vs. Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, Christian & World Champion Mark Henry. Cody, Henry & Christian win. Orton & Cody go at it on the floor and Orton chases him to the back. Morrison tries to tag Sheamus but Christian pulls Sheamus off the apron and they brawl into the crowd. Henry then pins Morrison for the 3 count. This was a solid match.

They show another Brodus Clay video package. This was good like the others.

Johnny Ace is his office on his cell phone asking if he looked good. The Bellas then come in and say they wanted to make sure he hasn’t forgotten how important they are to Raw. They haven’t meant anything! Ace then gets back on his phone and Ricardo Rodriguez & Alberto Del Rio come in and Del Rio complains about having to team with Michael Cole. Ace then says that the winner of tonight’s match will get to pick the stipulation for the Cena-Del Rio WWE Title match at Vengeance. This was a weak segment too. Del Rio’s promo was good, but the rest, not so much.

Eve Torres vs. Natalya. Eve gets the pin. After the match Beth goes after Eve but Kelly pulls Eve out. This was decent match. 

CM Punk vs. The Miz. Miz says that he knows Punk is sweating because they gave him a beat down at the cell PPV. He then asks him what hurts more, that he won’t be getting a WWE Title for a while or them being able to get Triple H out as COO. Truth then says that at Vengeance, that’s just what’s gonna get got. Triple H’s music plays and he comes out to even the odds. HHH chases Truth up the ramp and Johnny Ace comes out and has the match stopped and tells HHH he has to split because of immigration problems. What is this? Truth taunts Triple H on the way out and HHH punches him. Back from commercial and they show HHH and Ace during the break and Ace tells HHH that he has the wrong paper work. He then gets escorted out of the arena to sort out this crap. Ace & David Otunga watched as HHH left. I’m really sick of this storyline! The Punk-Miz match continues. Punk gets the pin. After the match Miz & Truth double team Punk and referees come out and they surrender and head for the back. Truth then goes back in the ring and lays out Punk and then Miz gives Punk the Skull Crushing Finale. The match was good but it was surrounded by all the idiotic booking.

Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler & Vickie Guerrero come out and Vickie comes out in a Mexican dress. She then gets on the mic and does her heal bit and says that Johnny Ace has agreed to have Dolph & Swagger challenge Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne for the Tag Titles at Vengeance. Dolph says that the fans wish they could leave Mexico and move on to the greatest country which he is champion of. He then tells the fans that they will never make it but they get to see them in action. Swagger then asks the fans to rise as he sings the American National Anthem. Swagger begins to sing and the fans boo him and he says that the fans made him lose his place. He was going to start over but Zack Ryder came out.

Zack Ryder vs. Jack Swagger. Ryder gets the quick pin. After the match they go to double team Ryder but Mason Ryan comes out and the heals are about to walk up the ramp but Mason Ryan tells Dolph that they have a match next.

Mason Ryan vs. U.S. Champion Dolph Ziggler. Dolph wins by DQ when Mason punches him in the corner. Mason then clotheslines Swagger out of the ring and slams Dolph.

Jim Ross is in the dressing room and John Cena comes in and Ross says that the last thing he wants is to be in a match and that he doesn’t want to mess things up for him. Cena then tells Ross that he is a Hall of Famer and the greatest announcer ever. He also says that Del Rio never beat Cena and he won’t tonight. JR then says he looks forward to beating the crap out of Michael Cole. Cole then takes the mic and rags on JR again and says that he might pin Cena and he that the fans have to cheer him because his wife is Mexican. He then heads to the back. This was typical Michael Cole here.

Josh Mathews takes Cole’s place on commentary. I wish to God he was the regular announcer. 

John Cena & Jim Ross vs. WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio & Michael Cole. Cena & Ross win when Ross makes Cole tap. After the match Alberto yanks Cena out of the ring but Cena gives him the AA. He then takes the mic and starts to count Alberto out and then he takes him down again. He then gets the steal steps and rams Del Rio in the kisser and he counts Alberto out. Cena then says that their match at Vengeance will be a Last Man Standing match and that Vengeance will be his. This was ok for what it was.

While this was no where near as bad as last week’s Raw I thought that on the whole this show was kinda weak. The HHH-Johnny Ace storyline is WAY beyond idiotic and painful. The rest of the show was felt like it was mostly filler. The 6 man that turned into a tag match and then a singles match with Henry getting the pin Morrison was good but it had the whole HHH-Johnny “No Charisma “ Ace surrounding it. On the whole this was a weak show and really didn’t do much for hyping the Vengeance PPV except for Cena at the end.