WWE Raw 7/23/12: The 1000th Episode

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus recently but I have returned and what better way to start back up than with a look at the most pimped Raw in a long, long time, the 1000th episode. To quote LL Cool J “Don’t call it a come back / I’ve been here for years”. Time to throw down!

1) Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, & Sheamus vs. Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, & Alberto Del Rio – 4
2) Brodus Clay vs. Jack Swagger – 0
3) Intercontinental Title: Christian vs. The Miz – 4
4) Heath Slater vs. Lita – No DQ, No Count Out Match – 1
5) WWE Title: John Cena vs. C.M. Punk – 2

Show started off with a new intro, new graphics, and a new stage with I must admit gives a nice fresh look to the show instead of the old tired graphics and set they’ve used for every show since the HD conversion over four years ago. Speaking of old and tired, hey look, it’s the DX reunion and of course they did the same old schtick with Shawn, Trips, and even bringing back Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, and X-Pac. Wasn’t a big fan of it when Shawn and Trips did it six years ago, and not a fan of it now.

I really liked the teams in the six man tag and having Rey and Sin Cara on the same team is a nice idea. I’d like to see them team up on a regular basis as it might give Sin Cara a nice rub. This was Rey’s second match back and he’s still wrestling in the shirt. I guess that’s his new look or not sure if he was wearing the shirt to possibly hide the fact he put on a bit of a gut while off. Story on the heel team was between Jericho and Ziggler who had an altercation the week previous. The match itself didn’t seem to me like it was really getting any steam behind it and probably could have benefited from a few more minutes to help boost up the score. Finishing sequence with Jericho and Sheamus was pretty good and having Ziggler cost Jericho is a nice way to help further the program. One can hope this is the start of a Ziggler face turn but probably not.

Next match went all of maybe 30 seconds and ended with a big Brodus splash. Damn it must suck to be Jack Swagger these days. I should note that by this point it was nearly 45 minutes into the show and we’ve had basically one and a half matches scattered throughout lots of filler.

Top of the hour now and the next 30 minutes was spent with the Daniel Bryan/A.J. wedding and then the follow up with A.J. being named Raw General Manager, which I might add was barely spoken of again during the show, and then Rock coming down after the whole mess and announcing he’s getting a random title match at Royal Rumble and then Rock Bottoming Daniel Bryan.

Finally another match and it’s for the IC Title. I like Miz’s new hair cut as the faux-hawk just looked ridiculous on a grown man. Plus, I can take him somewhat seriously as really, how can you think someone walking around sporting a faux-hawk is tough? I mean, really? Christian was good here and I like how he kept selling the knee on defense after a wild dive over the ringpost. One little tendency of Christian’s I haven’t liked since his comeback is that he stops and stars clapping randomly to try to get the crowd into it. I feel it takes away a bit from the actual competiton. Nice to see Miz win the title clean and here’s hoping he can have a nice good run with it. Match of the night honors here.

Last two bouts were all story as Heath Slater, or Wendy as my wife likes to call him, gets killed by most of the legends. Match only gets a point for the sick Clothesline from Hell he took from JBL. Lita’s moonsault was nearly perfect. Main event time, and it’s John Cena cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. I liked where this was going with the even exchanges during the first five minutes and these two having the beginning of a nice, well worked match. However, the ref bump and the DQ finish completely ruined this. The one saving grace was the big Punk turn with him giving Rock a sick GTS. Overall, not exactly what I expected from the 1000th Raw as I was hoping for less angles and more wrestling.