9-17-12 Raw results and thoughts

    Coverage and thoughts on the September 17, 2012 episode of Raw

The show starts with CM Punk’s music playing and Paul Heyman comes out. He says that last night he felt like all the fans because he got to witness history. That‘s because CM retained the WWE Title against John Cena. He says the ending of the match was controversial so in the interest of clarity he’s asked the referee for the match last night Chad Patton to come to the ring and defend his decision. Chad Patton comes to the ring. Heyman says that the ref is in the middle of this controversy. Then Heyman had a still shot shown of the finish and Heyman mentions that Cena’s shoulders were down also. Heyman says that the ref made the right decision. Heyman then says last night a fan posted a film on youtube that was taken down today and that Cena had something to do with that. Then they show the finish of the Cena-Punk match from last night. Heyman says the match was a draw and that means the champion keeps the title. That means for the 303 day the WWE Champion is CM Punk. Heyman says that Punk deserves the fans respect and they don’t give it to him. Then Cena comes out. Heyman goes to speak and Cena tells him to shut up. Cena says Chad Patton made the right call. Then the fans chant Cena sucks. Cena says that Chad is a respected ref and wouldn’t have any bias towards Cena. Cena then mentions that he and Chad had a talk about the match afterwards. Cena says that the match was like a WrestleMania match. Then Cena mentions that he told Chad that having the match end in a draw is like having the Super Bowl end in a tie. Cena then says that Punk has always been looking for respect. Then Cena mentions that retaining the title in a tie isn’t how Punk earned respect. Heyman says that Punk has. Cena says respect isn’t earned by hitting someone with the title. Respect is earned by beating anyone on any night so you can stand in the ring and say best in the world. Respect is being able to hold your head high after making the right call. Cena then says that he wants a rematch with Punk for the Title tonight. Heyman says Punk will happy to tell Cena to his face what he thinks of his challenge and Punk will when he shows up later. Then Heyman says that he is the voice of the voice of the voiceless. Cena says he was trying to be patient with him. Then out come Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo. Del Rio says Cena’s complaining about last night. Then Del Rio mentions the Brogue Kick being reinstated right before his title match. Del Rio says he wasn’t ready for his match and says that if anyone deserves a title rematch it’s him. The AJ skips to the ring. She says that both Cena & Del Rio deserve second chances. So tonight Punk & Del Rio will face Sheamus & Cena. (That was predictable). Then she says that the winner of this could determine who will get a title rematch. This went on a bit too long for me. Heyman & Cena were good on the mic here. Then when Del Rio & AJ came in it went a bit down hill.

They show a TOUT from Jerry Lawler. He says that he is doing better! Then Cole says that Cole is back home in Memphis. Then Cole says that they will show footage of Lawler being back home and there will also be an interview with Jerry Lawler next week.

JBL & Jim Ross come out for commentary.

Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs. Primo & Epico. Rey & Cara win when Cara pins Primo. This was a solid match. Afterwards The Primetime Players come out and attack Rey & Cara. Then they each get a mic. Titus says they were the number one contenders for the tag titles and it was taken from them. But now they’ll be doing the taking. Then Darren says they’re the takers and that no one will take anything from them again. Decent promos from Darren & Titus.

Layla is on commentary for the next match.

Beth Phoenix vs. Divas Champion Eve Torres. Eve gets the pin. This was short. Afterwards Eve & Layla have a stare down. Eve holds up the title and walks off.

Antonio Cesaro is on commentary for the match and Aksana is with him.

Brodus Clay, Naomi & the returning Cameron come to the ring and do their bit. I was hoping Cameron wouldn’t be back!

Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater. Brodus gets the pin. This was a squash. Cesaro got on the apron during the match.

The Miz is backstage. The debut of Miz TV is next. Another wrestler with a talk show? Really? I have a feeling this will not be awesome.

The Miz comes out for the Miz TV debut. He asks what do you give to the Intercontinental Champion who has everything. He mentions that last night he had the worst odds last night but managed to beat the odds. He says that because of that he gets his own talk show. Then he welcomes everyone to the most must see talk show in WWE history. Then he brings up Piper’s Pit, The Cutting Edge & The Highlight Reel. He says Piper, Jericho & Edge were never as controversial, charismatic or as awesome as he is. Then he says that he proved his greatness last night when he retained the IC Title against 3 guys. Then he brings out Booker T. Booker T comes to the ring. Miz asks Booker how it feels to be the first guest on Miz TV. Miz says it’s probably an honor and better than him being a 5 time WCW Champion. Better than his first WrestleMania match and almost better than Miz retaining his title blindfolded last night. Then he asks Booker why he’s against him. Miz asks why Booker put him against 3 guys. He also asks why he banned the Brogue Kick only to reinstate it. Miz says that Booker misses the spot light. He says that it eats at Booker that his time is over. The fans chant boring. Booker says that it’s time for Miz to get a new guest for his show. Someone who is used to beating multiple challengers at once. Out comes Ryback. Booker walks off. Ryback gets in the ring and destroys the Miz TV set. Miz runs up the ramp and Ryback does his feed me more bit. This was boring! I have no idea what the point of this was. It looks like they might have Ryback vs. Miz.

They re show the TOUT from Jerry Lawler.

Cole mentions again that Lawler is back in Memphis. JR & JBL wish him well too. Cole again mentions that there will be an interview with King next week. Thank God Lawler pulled through!

Punk & Heyman are backstage. Josh Mathews comes by and asks Punk if he’s looking forward to teaming with Del Rio. Punk says he isn’t. He mentions that he walked out of Night of Champions as WWE Champion. Then he asks what does he have to do to get respect. Decent Punk promo.

Santino Marella vs. Dolph Ziggler. Dolph gets the pin. This was ok. During the match Dolph took Santino’s “cobra” and got rid of it. Then later on Santino was going for it but noticed that Vickie was holding it. Dolph capitalized on the distraction and a Zig Zag. Then he hit a second one for the pin. Afterwards Vickie stuffs the “cobra” in Santino’s mouth.

Justin Gabriel vs. Wade Barrett. Barrett gets the pin. Barrett dominated most of the match.

R-Truth is backstage with a birthday hat. Then Kofi comes in and mentions they have a match. Then Jared from Subway comes in and says it’s Subway’s birthday. Truth tells Jared that “Little Jimmy” has some ideas for new Subways. Then Damien Sandow comes in. He recommends the Damien Sandow with Cornish game hen. Then Ryder comes in and mentions the “Woo Woo Woo You Know It Subway.” Then Ryback comes in and says feed me more. Jared gives him a Subway and then Ryback takes a second. This was idiotic!

Sheamus talks about how great it was to beat Del Rio with the Brogue Kick. Then he tells Cena that he should have also won last night. Cena says neither of them won (Sheamus did). Cena says that he needs to win so that he can make a statement for a rematch with Punk. Sheamus says they’ll win with their backs up against the wall and then celebrate their victory. This was weird. Cena’s part was decent but Sheamus talked like the cartoon Cena. I don’t know why they’re making Sheamus cut these kinds of promos.

Daniel Bryan is walking backstage saying he is the tag team champion. Then they show Kane doing the same.

They show Jerry Lawler arriving in Memphis along with the Dr. who saved his life.

Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Kane & Daniel Bryan for the Titles. Kane & Daniel win when Daniel makes Truth tap. This was a decent match. Kane & Daniel argued throughout the match of course. Afterwards Daniel holds up both titles screaming he is the tag champions. Then Kane snatches the belts and says he is the tag champions. Then the fans chant for them to have a hug out. UGH! Daniel wants to. Kane puts the titles over his shoulders. Then they hug. Then Daniel takes 1 of the belts and they each scream they’re the tag champions. Having these 2 guys bicker over who the tag champions are is dumb. This storyline is idiotic.

They show some kids from the B.A. STAR program in the crowd.

Randy Orton is backstage. He will face Tensai again next. Their Smackdown match was boring. I don’t see this one being any better.

Randy Orton vs. Tensai. Orton gets the pin. This was actually a bit better then their Smackdown match. It wasn’t as slow.

Punk & Heyman are backstage again. Then Del Rio & Otunga come in. He says that Del Rio expects Punk to follow his lead. Heyman says Punk follows no ones lead. Otunga points out that doesn’t mean anything because Punk looks like he sleeps in a cardboard box. Heyman says Del Rio should get a time machine and go back to Survivor Series when Punk beat Del Rio for the Title. Punk says he’s looking forward to teaming with Del Rio tonight. Del Rio says it would be an honor. This was hokey but at least they mentioned that Punk beat Del Rio for the Title.

Damien Sandow comes out. He says that summer vacation has ended. That means we now stand at the dawn of his favorite season, back to school. He feels obligated to prepare the fans for this season since no one else is. He tells JR that slobber knocker isn’t a word. He has a list of words. Temerity, ignoramus and miscreant. The fans chant what and he tells them to remain silent while he is speaking. He says he is trying to help these half wits. Then Zack Ryder comes out. He says he has a few words of his own. Shut, up and now. Then Ryder says that AJ made a match for Ryder and Sandow next. This was ok. Sandow was good as usual with his promo. Ryder’s promo was good and short.

Zack Ryder vs. Damien Sandow (The match started during the break). Sandow gets the pin. This was a solid match.

They show Jerry Lawler back in Memphis with the Dr. Then Michael Cole again mentions that there will be an interview with Lawler next week.

World Champion Sheamus & John Cena vs. WWE Champion CM Punk & Alberto Del Rio. Cena & Sheamus win when Cena pins Punk. This was a good match. Cena pinned Punk but Punk’s foot was on the rope. The referee missed it and Heyman & Punk protested. Punk & Heyman tell the ref that Punk’s foot was on the rope. The ref says he missed it. Then he walks out of the ring and up the ramp. Punk & Heyman follow him up the ramp to the back with Punk saying that his foot was on the rope. This ended the show.

I thought this week’s show was ok overall. The opening segment was a bit long. Cena & Punk were both good but the segment lost its momentum when Del Rio & AJ came out. AJ making the tag match was predictable too. The main event tag match was good however. I wasn’t really into the finish. I get why they booked it that way but I’m not a fan of the “guy has his foot on the rope and ref misses it” bit. The rest of the show had its up and downs. I’m tired of the Kane-Daniel Bryan storyline too. I’m not into having them argue which one of them is the tag team champions! The Kofi & Truth vs. Kane & Daniel was decent though. Thank God Jerry Lawler is well and back home in Memphis. I liked that they showed him arriving home and that there will be an interview with him next week. Rey & Cara vs. Primo & Epico and Ruder vs. Sandow were both solid matches. I liked Sandow’s vocabulary promo. He does a great job in the role. Ryder was good here too. The Cena-Sheamus segment backstage was weird. Sheamus talking like cartoon Cena is dumb. Cena was good here though. I also wasn’t really into the Punk & Heyman-Del Rio-Otunga backstage bit either but I liked that the mentioned that Punk beat Del Rio for the Title. This whole storyline with Punk wanting respect is solid. Punk does a great job but the fans chant his name so it kind of sounds odd to hear him saying he doesn’t get respect when the fans chant his name almost all the time. The Miz TV segment was meaningless. Miz was mediocre. Booker didn’t really say much and I have no idea why they had Ryback come in and destroy the set. I hope that’s all we see of Miz TV. Orton-Tensai was better than their match from Smackdown. Gabriel-Barrett was solid too. I like that the announcers mentioned that they used to be stable mates. The subway segment was idiotic. Santino-Dolph was ok but I don’t know why they have Dolph job clean to Orton on PPV and then have him face a comedy jobber the next night. Santino’s bit with the “cobra” is also idiotic. Beth-Eve was ok but short. Poor Beth. She deserves better. I also don’t get why they didn’t have Eve win the battle royal a few weeks ago if they were going to put the title on her anyway. Brodus-Slater was a squash. Punk’s promo earlier on when he asked Josh how does get respect was solid too. So on the whole I thought this week’s show was alright.