1-16-12 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the January 16, 2012 episode of Raw

They start with a Martin Luther King video package. Very classy.

The show starts with Mick Foley coming to the ring and he says that when he came back to WWE he didn’t mind coming back as a non wrestler and mentions that he lived his dream of being in WWE and he mentions that he headlined WrestleMania 16 in the building they’re in tonight. Then he mentions that he would like to have his kids see him in the ring one more time. Then he says that he is going to be in the Royal Rumble. Then Vickie Guerrero & Dolph Ziggler come out and Vickie introduces Dolph as the next World Champion. Then they head to the ring and Dolph says that Foley is just showing up and taking a spot in the Rumble. Then he says that if this is one of Mick’s skits it’s funny but if it isn’t then the kids’ reactions would be, “dad’s in the rumble and just got thrown over the top.” Then Mick says that anything can happen. He says that he isn’t just in the Rumble to be in it but to win it. Dolph says that is what he works all year long to do. Then he mentions that he beat Cena last week and Punk 2 weeks in a row. Then he says that when he wins the WWE Title he can’t think of a better let down than having to defend the Title against Mick Foley at WrestleMania. Dolph then tells him that it’s over and to go home. Then CM Punk’s music plays and he comes out. He says that it’s great to see Mick and Dolph says that they love each other. Punk says that he & Mick are a lot alike because they don’t try for the cookie cutter look and that they don’t hide behind a woman. He also says that he & Foley earned everything they got unlike Dolph who has a biased guest referee for his match and he rips on Johnny Ace. Then he says that after their match he will still be WWE Champion because he is the best wrestler in the world. Then he says that it would be cool if it was Mick Foley he faced at Mania. Vickie and Punk go back and forth for a short bit and then Johnny Ace comes out and says that he will be a fair referee. Then he tells Mick that he is taking his request to be in the Royal Rumble under consideration. Then he says that he has thought long and hard about it and the answer is no. Then Vickie does the evil witch laugh, and that was the end of the segment. That was it? This segment was the same typical opening segment that they do on every show. Punk & Dolph both cut good promos but I’m not interested in another Foley comeback? How many has he had over the years? Johnny Ace was boring as usual too. I didn’t get the segment ending with Vickie just laughing that Ace said no about Foley being in the Rumble. That was kind of a weird way to end the segment.

They show Primo & Epico beating Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne for the Tag Titles yesterday.

Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Primo & Epico for the Titles. Primo & Epico get the pin to retain the Title when Primo pins Bourne. This was a solid match. Both teams were already in the ring when they came back from commercial and there were no ring introductions. Huh?

David Otunga comes in and says that “you know who” is waiting outside and Ace tells him to let him in. Then he says tonight’s match will be a 6 man tag. Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler & David Otunga against Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and this guy. The camera shows that it will be Chris Jericho. He’s all smiles and then the lights go out and jacket lights up. This wasn’t that good. I’m beyond tired of Johnny Ace & David Otunga. They’re way boring. We’ll see what they do with Jericho later.

They show Zack Ryder with Eve Torres backstage taped up and Josh Mathews asks he is cleared compete. He says he doesn’t know. Then Eve says that he shouldn’t be in the ring. Zack says he is going to the ring and Eve says she is going with him. This was a decent promo.

U.S. Champion Zack Ryder vs. Jack Swagger for the Title. Swagger gets the pin to win the Title. This was ok. Swagger dominated the match and worked over Ryder’s ribs.

They show Zack Ryder backstage being tended to by an EMT. Then Johnny Ace comes in and says that he slipped up and he forgot to tell him that the doctors said that he’s not medically cleared. Then Eve flips out on Johnny Ace for letting him compete injured.

Perez Hilton comes to the ring to ring announce the next match (never saw this guy)

Kelly Kelly & Alicia Fox vs. The Bella Twins. Kelly & Alicia win when Kelly gets the pin. This was mercifully short. These girls are awful. After wards The Bellas shove Hilton down and then Kelly and Alicia get in the Bellas faces. The Bellas walk out and Kelly & Eve celebrate with Perez. This was terrible.

The show clips from the 1992 Royal Rumble that Ric Flair won to win the WWF Title. This was the best Rumble ever and was the first major show I saw. This was great stuff!

R-Truth comes to the ring but before he can speak Wade Barrett comes out and says that his name will announced as the winner of the royal Rumble. Then he says that R-Truth is a delusional lunatic. Truth asks what Wade is upset about. Then he rambles on about Disney Land. Then he his Disney slide show on the tron. Then Barrett asks what this has to do with anything. Truth says that he met Pinocchio and that he told that Barrett was gonna win the Rumble and his nose grew (ugh!) Then he says that he doesn’t believe that Barrett will win the Rumble. Then The Miz comes out and attacks Truth. They double team him and then Sheamus comes out to even the odds. Then Teddy Long comes out and says that he is taking charge of the show tonight and he announces a 4 way over the top rope challenge with all 4 guys in the ring.

Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett vs. R-Truth vs. The Miz in an Over the Top Challenge. * Miz, Truth & Sheamus eliminate Barrett * Truth eliminates Sheamus & Miz. Winner- R-Truth. This was a decent match. After wards Sheamus gives Miz a Brogue kick.

John Cena storm into Johnny Ace’s office and says that Ace screwed Ryder out of the U.S. Title. Then they talk about Kane and Cena says that he will take care of him. Then Johnny Ace says that Cena will face Kane at the Royal Rumble and that he will face Jack Swagger next. I liked that they had Cena show more intensity here.

John Cena vs. U.S. Champion Jack Swagger. The match never starts because Cena attacks Swagger before the bell could ring. Cena beats the crap out of him outside the ring. Then Kane’s music and pyro hit and he shows up on the tron and tells Cena that he is getting it. Then he says that when the meet at the rumble Cena will have embraced the hate. I thought this was better than the usual Cena stuff. He just beat the crap out of Swagger and Kane’s promo was nice and short.

They have some woman over the speakers announce Brodus Clay. Time for Brodus Clay to call his momma. He comes out doing the Flash Funk gimmick. This gimmick is crap. JTG will be the guy who gets squashed this week.

Brodus Clay vs. JTG. Brodus gets the pin. This was a squash.

They recap the Daniel Bryan-Big Show match from Smackdown and AJ getting flattened.

Daniel Bryan comes out on the stage and says that Big Show is a cruel freak. Then he says that AJ has been traumatized and will never be the same. Then he says that Big Show purposely bumped into AJ and faked being upset. He says that if Big Show shows up on Smackdown he will make him pay. Then he talks about his World Title match with Mark Henry on Smackdown and that he is dedicating the match to AJ. Then he mentions how on Smackdown AJ told him that she loves him and this week he will show AJ how much. I thought Bryan cut a good promo here. I think he’s been doing a good a job in the heal role.

World Champion Daniel Bryan, WWE Champion CM Punk & Chris Jericho vs. Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler & David Otunga. Jericho tags in and show boats again. Then he tags Daniel Bryan and walks out. Mark Henry goes after Daniel Bryan and they go to the back and then Mick Foley comes out and he tells the referee that Johnny Ace said that he is in the match.

CM Punk & Mick Foley vs. Henry, Dolph & Otunga. Punk & Foley win when Foley gives Otunga Mr. Socko.

Then Johnny Ace comes out and says that he never let Foley be in the match and that the decision is reversed and Henry, Dolph & Otunga win by DQ. Punk then rags on Ace again and says that they will lay their cards on the table. Then he says that when Ace wrestled he had the look but he sucked and that must have been for him since his brother was one half of the Road Warriors while he never made. He then says that Ace can’t stand that Punk’s achieved more in his career than Ace has in his entire life. Punk then says that Ace is jealous of the fact that Punk is the WWE Champion. Then he says that it doesn’t matter what Ace does to him at the rumble he will still be better than him. Then he says that if Ace screws him the fans will be talking about him because Punk will have kicked his pathetic ass. The fans chant CM Punk and Punk says that Ace is pathetic. Punk then walks up the ramp holding the title. Then Ace gets the mic and tells us who he is AGAIN and says that he won’t be intimidated by Punk. Then Foley tells Ace to admit that he intends to screw Punk and says that Ace is a kiss ass. Then Ace asks him who he thinks he is and then admits that he will screw Punk. Then he says that he is tired of being disrespected and pushed around. He says that he isn’t going to take it anymore and then he punches Foley. Ace walks out while Foley is still in the ring holding his head and that ends the show. This was good stuff. Punk a really amazing promo like he always does and Johnny Ace actually wasn’t too bad here either.

This week’s show was certainly better than last week’s! I wasn’t crazy about the opening segment but I thought the closing one was really well done. I also like Daniel Bryan’s promo. He’s been playing the tweener/heal role really well. I also liked Cena being more intense and he was only on for a short part of the show. Overall I thought this was a better show this week.