11-21-11 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the November 21, 2011 episode of Raw

The show starts with WWE Champion CM Punk coming to the ring. He mentions that when he was in school his teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said a pro wrestler. He says he didn’t say sports entertainer. He mentions that he’s made his way up the ranks in WWE and winning the Title at Madison Square Garden was a special moment for him because he did it on his own terms. He says that now that he is Champion the hot potato game with the Title is over and now the belt will remain on his shoulder. He then says that this is the new face of WWE and he holds up the Title. Then he mentions that he’s going to make the Title interesting and he wants to know where the WWE ice cream bars are. Tremendous! He also mentions that he wants to make Johnny Ace the former GM. Ace then comes put and says they both want what’s best for the fans and he congratulates him on winning the belt. Punk says that Vince is a greedy soulless bastard and Johnny Ace is a guy who smiles to his face but also undermines him. He says that the fans ARE fans and NOT a universe. He tells him that he is a stooge. Ace says that he is upper management and that he can be just as creative as Punk. He then mentions that Alberto Del Rio will get his Title rematch on Raw next week. Punk says they should have the match right now and Ace says he has other plans for Punk and tells him that he will face Dolph Ziggler tonight. Punk says that isn’t creative, but it’s stupid and says that Ace doesn’t listen to his “Universe”. He says that aren’t looking to see Punk vs. Dolph, they’re looking to see Dolph vs. Zack Ryder. Ace says that Ryder will face Del Rio tonight. He then says that Ryder couldn’t beat Ziggler and neither could Punk. Punk then walks up the ramp and says that he will beat Dolph tonight and beat Del Rio next week. He then gets in Ace’s face and says that some day someone will beat some sense into Johnny Ace. This was a mixed bag segment. Punk was great on the mic as usual and everything he said was true. Ace’s promo of course was down right boring.

Zack Ryder vs. Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio wins by submission. This was a short match.

They show Sheamus walking backstage.

Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger. Sheamus gets the pin. This was a solid match.

Kevin Nash is walking backstage and his beard looks blacker than usual. Also Cole called him Big Daddy Cool. He’s not so cool these days.

Kevin Nash comes out on the ramp and talks about how he watched Survivor Series and says that the Garden means a lot to him and he mentions how he beat Bob Backlund for the Title in 8 seconds. He then talks about his friendship with his fellow clique members. He says that he & HHH should have faced Rock & Cena but that didn’t happen because he broke Hunter’s neck. He says that he is the real survivor of the clique. This sucked. Nash does his usual “inside”/old days promo. Thankfully it was short.

Cody Rhodes is in the ring and talks about being vulnerable to predators like Randy Orton. He then mentions that he is now unmasked and unbeatable. He does the psycho evil laugh and then Santino Marella comes out.

Santino Marella vs. Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes. Cody gets the pin. This was a squash. After the match Cody gets in Booker T’s face and throws water at him and then walks off.

Josh Mathews interviews Dolph Ziggler & Vickie Guerrero. Josh says that Dolph was the only guy to have 2 matches and Dolph mentions that he won both. Josh says that Dolph was the first guy eliminated in the tag match and Vickie chimes in and says that he was on the winning team. Dolph then says that he doesn’t want to be a show off, but it is not about CM Punk and that he is the face of WWE. This was a good promo from Dolph. The guy is good and I think he should be booked better.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. U.S. Champion Dolph Ziggler. Punk gets the pin in a really great back and forth match. This was tremendous!

Big Show comes out on the ramp and talks about his match with Mark Henry and that he proved that he was stronger, tougher and better than the world’s strongest man. He mentions that also proved that giants can fly. He mentions that Henry took the easy way out last night. Then he mentions that Henry was carted out of the arena. He mentions that when Henry comes back he has something waiting for him. He holds up his fist and says that Henry should bring the World Title with him. This was a good promo.

They show Kelly & Alicia Fox playing WWE 12 and Natalya and Beth come in and they say that the vid game versions of the divas don’t cry like the real ones do. This was meaningless.

They show a Wade Barrett promo mentioning that he won at Survivor Series and that the next stop is the World Title.

WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Wade Barrett. Randy Orton’s music plays and he comes out and this distracts Barrett and he rolls out of the ring as Orton comes to ringside. Barrett had Kofi up for Wasteland and just held Kofi when Orton came out. Why do they have the guy stop what he’s doing when someone comes out? Also why do they play Orton’s music when he comes out? That’s idiotic. Back from commercial and the match continues with Randy Orton watching at ringside. Barrett gets the pin. This was a good match. After the match Barrett gets the mic and tells Orton that in case he missed it, “the winner of the match, Wade Barrett.” Orton hints getting in the ring but doesn’t and he walks up the ramp. Then he turns around and looks at Barrett.

John Cena is backstage on his way to the ring.

John Cena is in the ring with a mic and says that history was made last night and that finally the world knows who Zack Ryder is and that CM Punk is WWE Champion. He then mentions that the fans asked if Rock & Cena could co exist as a team and he said yes because they won. He then talks about the major pop Rock got and the fans’ reaction to him. Then he talks about Rock asking him to come back in the ring after the match. He says that last night was not his night when he Rock Bottomed. He then says that WrestleMania will be exactly what it needs to be. Before he can say more The Miz & R-Truth come out and Miz says that Rock & Cena have the 2 biggest egos. He rags on Cena for saying how historic it all was and that forgot to mention that they fans were chanting, “don’t tag Cena.” He then tells Cena that no one wanted to see him last night. Truth then tells Cena to forget about what about needs to be and to think about what’s gonna be and mentions that Rock will beat him. Cena says he will beat them down if they mess with him. Then he goes back to talking about Rock and WrestleMania and then mentions that no one cares about Miz or Truth. He mentions that they’re not threatening and he tells each guy what the other one really thinks of them. Cena then used Truth’s line about not to boo him but to boo themselves. Cena’s music plays and he walks out. Miz & Truth then bicker and Miz tells him that Cena is trying to stir it up between them. Miz then says that the fans are all watching to see him. Truth tells him that Miz is about to cross the line. Miz then shoves Truth and then Truth punches him to the mat. Miz then tells Truth that Cena is to blame and that they should go after him. They head up the ramp and Miz gives Truth the Skull Crushing Finale on the stage. Miz then stands over Truth and then he walks to the back. They show Truth lying unconscious on the stage and a medic asks if he can hear him and that ends the show.

I thought that overall this was better than recent episodes of Raw. The Punk-Dolph match was easily the best part of the show. The closing segment had its ups and downs. Cena cut his usual kind of promo, but I thought the end with Miz turning on Truth was better than what we’ve seen in the last couple months. The opening segment was a mixed bag. Punk’s promo was great and Johnny Ace’s was dull. I thought the Kofi-Barrett match was good, but I don’t know why they had Orton come out during the match WITH HIS MUSIC PLAYING! The Nash promo was also dumb, but thankfully it was short and that was all we saw of him tonight. On the whole I thought that this show was more watchable than previous ones. Certainly better than last week’s.