RKO > Randy Orton?

TWB superfan and Twitter devotee John Ammentorp made this observation during SummerSlam that I thought to be very interesting:

I kinda feel like Randy Orton isn't really that over... but the RKO is.

The only reason anyone likes Orton?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

It's an interesting thought, but if you do look more deeply into it? Yeah, I think he might have a case. I don't want to use Smackdown as an example because they pipe in crowd noise so that guys who don't get as organic a reaction as they'd like come off as more over than they are. So let's look at PPV reactions. Thankfully enough, I saw the last two PPVs.

Both Money in the Bank and SummerSlam heard Christian getting audible chants. Chicago's reaction last month was monstrous, at least before the end of the match and the beatdown that followed. Los Angeles' reaction Sunday felt a bit more mixed, but even after Edge totally hit the dump button on his best friend, there were still really loud "LET'S GO CHRISTIAN" chants. Granted, both Chicago and Los Angeles had smark crowds going for them, ESPECIALLY Chicago, but that first city, yeah, something really weird happened that, if you think that "smark" crowds are as mindless sheep as their "casual/kid-laden" counterparts, shouldn't have happened.

Despite getting almost no positive reaction for a lion's share of the match, Orton started getting cheered like crazy when he was beating the crap out of Christian post-match, which culminated in two RKOs on top of the announce table. Those attempts at his finisher got the biggest spikes in crowd reaction of them all. It was more or less the same story in LA. Orton got a better reaction, but it didn't consolidate until he hit the RKO on Christian on the steps.

What gives? Does the RKO have special hypnotic powers that make people cheer for it? Does it suddenly make Orton more likable? Or is it that the move itself is over, and that people wait for it from Orton like crowds in that episode of The Simpsons waited for Bart to say "I didn't do it" and wanted nothing else from him but that payoff? That is an interesting question.

Adding more fuel to the fire, what's the chant that Orton usually gets? It's not "Let's go Orton!" or "Randy! Randy!" but "R-K-O! R-K-O!" It's the move that draws the aggregate crowd reaction most associated with Orton, and I feel like this has been the case since he was in front of a live crowd on a regular basis. Contrast that with Cena, who gets crowds to engage in straw referendums on every show, and you get a tale of two top guys, it seems. Even when Cena draws the "CENA SUCKS!" chants, he's the one drawing the heat, not his finisher.

Granted, two shows in front of skewed crowds and distant memories of Orton on the live show do not really make for a compelling sample size. This is a tricky question to answer, because maybe it's not the most honest question to ask in the first place. At the same time though, it does seem compelling when your supposed top guy is getting dwarfed reactions to someone who has effectively been castrated in terms of heroic value in the booking, at least in terms of reasons why we should root for him. Let's face it, whether you agree or disagree with the way they've booked Christian in the last few months, it's indisputable that his tactics are ones that most wrestling fans would disapprove of. Yet, nearly everyone in Chicago and enough fans in Los Angeles cheered him. Does Christian really inspire that much rebellion against his portrayal? And if that is the case, then what does that say of the fiber of the fans who'd turn on him at a moment's notice because he gets hit with a RKO?

Again, it's a very tricky yet a very interesting question to ask. I'm not sure it can be answered, but there's been enough circumstantial evidence to support speculation at the very least. It would be pretty wild if one of WWE's biggest heroes (along with Cena, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio) turned only to be popular because he has the shiniest toy (or in this case finisher) in the box. I don't know what that does for him going forward, but at the same time, maybe it's good that he's got something that strong to hang his hat on.

CM Punk Gets People to React... That's a Good Thing

Punk gets some boos, but no one sits on their hands
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I keep hearing about CM Punk getting "mixed" reactions like it's a bad thing. On one hand, I can maybe understand it. The calibration factor for Punk's reactions did not set a reasonable baseline. His two biggest appearances after the Las Vegas double taping were in Boston and Chicago. One is a town known for its smarky cheering habits and the other is Punk's home town. No doubt Punk wasn't going to get anything less than a hero's welcome in either location.

So, when he started getting mixed reactions in Indianapolis and San Jose, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Those are two cities that are places where John Cena still gets a good fan favorite reaction. Honestly, they've done nothing to lessen the reactions among the people who would cheer Cena either. So it's natural that there would be some wavering in the cheers that Punk was getting. The key though is that he's getting reactions. People boo him if they're not cheering him (although judging from the reactions he got at least this past week, I'd say even in San Jose, more cheered than booed). If you're in charge, don't you want your guy to at least elicit some kind of reaction?

If WWE is looking for a traditional reaction here, they're going about it the wrong way. Neither Cena nor Punk are playing up a classic bad guy. The closest thing to a true heel in this scenario is the specter of Vince McMahon, who is represented by John Laurinitis, but even he's just peripheral at this point. They've cultivated a split crowd, and that's what they've gotten.

So the fact that the crowd reactions have been there is the thing to look at here. This is very much a successful storyline from the standpoint that people are reacting. The crowd split makes it unique. I hope that WWE doesn't try to consolidate the crowd like they did with Cena and The Rock after WrestleMania. It's a great dynamic, and it can lend itself to having two top good guys that can carry two top feuds. It can only be a good thing.

So the crowd reactions being mixed isn't bad. The fact that Punk gets people reacting should be the main story here.

The Queen Has Arrived: The Night Sara del Rey Became a Heroine among Heroes

Sara del Rey kicking Mike Quackenbush at Chikara's The Germans last year: Moments like this helped pave the way
for her crowning moment at Chikarasaurus Rex this past Sunday.

When Sara del Rey rolled up Claudio Castagnoli at the end of Chikarasaurus Rex weekend Sunday, the roar from the hundreds of fans who'd packed into the iconic indie wrestling mecca nearly tore the roof off the building. Compare that to the reaction she had gotten fewer than 24 hours prior, sound boos from a crowd that had some overlap, and you'd be surprised that it was the same wrestler. What happened between those two events that made the Queen of Wrestling the queen of the hearts and minds of Chikara faithful?

The easy answer would be to say that she went up against Claudio, the leader of the most hated group in the promotion, perhaps in its history. Wrestling against him in a Chikara ring would make anyone a favorite in the eyes of the crowd. However, I'm not sure that was wholly the case. There were some story elements going on here that really enhanced the atmosphere and really made del Rey's ascension that much more special.

First, del Rey has a legitimate case for the respect she feels she hasn't been shown by Claudio and the rest of the males in the BDK. This runs a lot deeper than "David vs. Goliath" or "Billie Jean King vs. Gerald Bobby Riggs" if you wanted to play battle of the sexes. If being a woman in a man's world was enough to make someone a babyface, then Sara and Daizee Haze would have gotten raucous cheers their first match as members of the BDK, a tag affair against the Osirian Portal. The cold truth is that del Rey has been a dominant force, holding her own against the men for the most part, imposing her will on a gender that is supposed to be superior to hers in every way when it comes to all things physical. Audiences, especially indie ones and especially indie ones that are as keen to storytelling as Chikara crowds are, pick up on this. It's not like Sara is a damsel in distress. She's the exact opposite, and that's why she commands respect. So when big, bad Claudio treats her like she's Kelly Kelly in a sea of Randy Ortons, then that's a major party foul. If there wasn't so much equity built up in Sara del Rey before this angle began, then there'd be no way that she'd command that kind of fan support for her to prove her "superiors" wrong.

And while I don't think that the whole "woman in a man's world" metric is the only or even the biggest reason, it certainly plays a part. Again, Kelly Kelly is the Divas Champion in WWE, and she's for the most part feeble. No one would buy her if she were to switch divisions and wrestle the men. Sadly, this is the archetype for the mainstream female wrestler, no matter how many Beth Phoenixes or Kharmas have come along. Even then, the trope is that a woman has to be of a certain build to compete, and often, that build is unflattering.

Only recently, and by recently I mean in the last 10 years if that, has the Joshi ethic of women of all shapes and sizes being asskickers caught on here in the American underground. It's obvious why del Rey would attract such a female fanbase, because hey, identification with a strong character is not solely a male trait. However, she's also getting props from male fans. This is not an accident. Again, Chikara attracts a much smarter, much more socially progressive crowd. That isn't to say that we've been itching to root for a woman, but if the right one comes along and kicks ass, you had better believe that she's going to get a massive amount of support.

Sara del Rey is the right woman.

The way that main event theater played out, it was no surprise that del Rey got the loudest reactions all weekend in that singular match. She was a true feel-good story without really pandering to the lowest common denominator. Yeah, Claudio overpowered her at times, but she more than held her own. It didn't matter if it wasn't "realistic" (as if 100% realism is even in the top 5 of things when it comes to a great story in pro wrestling); the crowd collectively bought it as if it were Mike Quackenbush the night before or Tommy Dreamer, Chris Hero or UltraMantis Black at events past. It was clear she was the underdog though, but at the same time, when she hit those three koppo kicks in succession, it worked. That's a testament to all parties involved.

I think that's what made the finish work as well as it did. Sure, the whole "pick up your beaten opponent at 2 only to get flash-pinned" is a tried-and-true story mechanism that works in all situations. It would only make sense that a chauvinistic man would do that to a defeated woman to prove a point. However, the fact that Claudio was doing it to del Rey? I don't know about the rest of the crowd, but in the moment, I felt insulted. It was because del Rey had proven herself worthy, not like some fluky über-underdog who gets the flash pin at the right time because of cockiness alone. There was a feeling that del Rey used guile and technique to counter Claudio's hubris, hubris that was unwarranted from get-go one because del Rey had earned the respect she demanded, at least with the crowd.

So that brings us back to the beginning of the post. del Rey rolled up Claudio for the win, and the place exploded. You now know the reason why the reaction was so magnified, and when I say that this was a true coronation of the new Queen of Chikara, it's not trite or cliched. It's real.

Whether del Rey goes on to win the Campeonato del Mundo from here is irrelevant. I think she'd be a terrific choice to win (and I've said so on two separate occasions now), but the real story here is that she's made it, at least in Chikara, she has. No other woman has really made this much of an impact in an indie fed that wasn't already dedicated to female wrestling excepting maybe Rachel Summerlyn and Portia Perez down in ACW, where men and women also wrestle each other on the reg. And she didn't do it by flaunting her tits or anything that would have made her rise cheap.

She earned it, every last bit of it. That's why this is so impressive, and that's another reason why Chikara is so much better than most other wrestling promotions out there.

Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein - Please visit his site to view the plentiful amounts of pictures he's taken for DGUSA, ROH and other indie feds: Get Lost Photography

My Only Beef with Chicago on Sunday: "You Can't Wrestle" Is Terrible

Pictured: Two guys who can wrestle
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I took my hat off for the Allstate Center crowd on Sunday for Money in the Bank. They were loud, enthusiastic and maybe most importantly, unique in whom they rooted for. They were almost perfect. Almost being the operative word here. Nothing in this life can be completely and consistently epic, but the qualm I had with the crowd in Chicago Sunday was a major one. It had to do with one of the chants they had during the main event.

They chanted "You can't wrestle!" at John Cena.

For one, it's not even original. The fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom chanted the same thing at Cena in 2006 at One Night Stand, which is hilarious given that the other guy in the match was Rob Van Dam. Secondly, it's patently not true. I know I beat a dead horse with this, and I know even better that people disagree with me on this vehemently, but Cena is a good worker, who before he got too comfortable with WWE booking patterns, was a great worker. I mean, would that main event have been widely praised as one of the best matches in WWE history (not of the year, but history) if Punk had to carry dead weight? I don't think so. Punk carried Randy Orton at WrestleMania and it was a good match. Cena and Punk here were equals, which is why this was an all-timer.

Thirdly, I have the same problem with this as the Impact Zone/indie-snob crowds chanting "This is wrestling!" It's a pompous, self-putting-over opinion. The crowd took it upon itself to appoint itself as the sole arbiter of quality, like they were making a commentary on the show, rather than reacting and interacting with the wrestlers. It's annoying.

Granted, it was the only thing wrong with the crowd all night, but it's something that gets my goat. Smart crowds are great, but there's such a thing as being too smart. When that happens, it detracts from the show, not adds to it.

Guest Blog: We Want CM Punk

The conquering hero
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Guest blog time, as Vince Morales, a TWB superfan and blogger in his own right (a link to his site can be found at the end in his signature), sent me an unsolicited report for last night's PPV. It's basically a study on the crowd, which I can pretty much guarantee Vince is an expert on, given he was there.

---

Last night the WWE took over Allstate Arena and delivered one of the greatest shows in company history. The booking was spot on, the matches were excellent and the wrestlers all brought their A-game. It was the perfect show and a lot of the credit for it is being given to the crowd. The crowd, they say, took things to another level with the atmosphere they created. I was a part of this crowd and I would agree with this wholeheartedly. I lost my voice at this show and that has never happened to me before. It was a great crowd, but I have to disagree when people refer to it as a heel crowd.

A heel crowd would imply that the crowd wanted only for the heels to win and the babyfaces to lose and for them to spill their blood all over the arena while they lost. While this may be true in the case of John Cena on the whole I would argue that it was less about babyfaces spilling their blood and more about new blood. The crowd was hungry for some new blood in the main event scene and tonight's event set the perfect scene for that to happen.

Think about it. The Money in the Bank matches determine the next #1 contender and normally, the next champion. The fans booed Rey Mysterio's climb to the top because they've seen it before. Rey Mysterio was in a World title match at Wrestlemania 22 in that very building. The fans didn't hate Rey, they just didn't want him to win. If Kane would have been given a tease climb in the Smackdown match it would have been met with the same reaction. We been there, we done that. The fans cheering Alberto Del Rio for winning wasn't because they loved Del Rio so much, it was because he was the right person to win the match and they knew it. The guy is ready to be a star and the crowd treated him like one. The "heel crowd" comments really start to show up when people talk about the two World title matches. Cena was the biggest heel on the show and Orton was up there too. The reasons why should seem obvious. To paraphrase Punk, Randy Orton (8 titles) and John Cena (10 titles) are the New York Yankees. They were both in main events of that Chicago Wrestlemania and they have been in the main events of nearly ever pay-per-view since. They've beaten everyone and lost to no one. The crowd was ready for something different and they were tired of rooting for the favorite. People haven't forgotten about Christian's two minute World title run or the fact that he's never really beaten Randy Orton and that makes him an underdog. The rules may have been against Randy Orton, but the odds certainly weren't. Christian was an underdog, the underdog plays. And Punk? Well...

Chicago is famously home to the Austin-Hart double turn match at Wrestlemania 13 and there are very few crowds in the United States who would have handled that transition as seamlessly as Chicago did on that night. Last night a similar thing happened. While the last few weeks of CM Punk promos have won over a large portion of the fanbase and built towards this, last night was it's culmination. On Punk's last night in the company he got his last chance to overcome the dynasty of the WWE that is John Cena in front of his hometown and take a big piece out of the system that has held him down for years, but the system (Vince McMahon) wasn't going to let him go easy. Punk wasn't just the underdog, he was the ultimate underdog. How could you not cheer for him? The second he walked through that curtain there was no turning back and Punk had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Last night was Punk's night to tell his story and it unfolded beautifully. To call a crowd heel for cheering for it simply doesn't pay attention to the facts.

So, no, last night's crowd wasn't a heel crowd. Last night was a crowd full of people who love wrestling and care about wrestling. They want it to be like it was last night, not like it has been. A lot of them (wrongly) blame John Cena for that. They want the Attitude era back, but that doesn't mean they want string bikinis and Mark Henry sleeping with transvestites. They want the attitude of the Attitude era back. They want Randy Orton to act like he acted after the match all the time, they want people to get Pillmanized, they want main events that matter and they want CM Punk.

Oh boy, do they ever want CM Punk.

When he's not obsessing about CHIKARA and the Second City Saints, Vince Morales writes the best Brewers blog in the world Miller Park Drunk.

BEST. PPV. EVER: WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Review

Peace out, Vince
Photo Credit: WWE.com

So, what happens when you order a WWE PPV, and you're basically satisfied with every match? What happens when the opening match gives you your favorite wrestler banking a shot at becoming the top guy on his brand? What happens when giants get their wigs split, seven men jostle for position on top of several ladders, grabbing for a briefcase? What happens when they have the balls to strap a guy who may or may not be leaving the company? What happens when you order a WWE event, and you're left thinking it's their best PPV event ever, better than In Your House: Canadian Stampede, better than WrestleMania X-7?

You get Money in the Bank 2011.

First thing's first, both nominal matches kicked major ass. Let's start with the Smackdown match. I mean, first up, how about the ladder power bomb? Sin Cara showed major cajones taking that move, because man, it looked fucking brutal. I also loved the Road Warrior tribute with Sheamus and Kane doing the Doomsday Device on Daniel Bryan. Bryan took a beating during this match, but I had a feeling that once it was he, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett on the ladder at the end that he might have a chance. Then, he knocked RED BELLY off the ladder, and boom. He grabbed it, and my house erupted. I hadn't been as excited to see a match result since... well, uh, I don't know, when Bryan beat The Miz for the United State Championship at Night of Champions last year? Maybe I do have a problem.

Then there was the RAW match, which some are saying may be the best MitB match ever. I'd be very hard-pressed to disagree with them. Each contestant lining up to create one massive Mexican standoff with all the ladders was a brilliant way to start. From there, it was spot after spot after spot. It bordered on overload at one point, when Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston jumped from the top to the floor, and then Evan Bourne moments later saw the crowd milling about, was like, "Pfft, nbd" and shooting star pressed as an effective form of riot control. Calling all 5'8" beanpoles who can do flips? You've got jobs in your local police departments. There was a spot in the match where I got legitimately concerned for Miz's health, as when Alberto del Rio knocked him and Bourne off the ladder, Miz was assisted out, limping and hobbling. Keep that in mind.

The spots just kept coming and coming. Kofi bouncing around like a pinball. 619s all around. del Rio trying to be a high-flyer and whiffing. Then, maybe the most magnificent sight I've ever seen in a MitB ladder match ever. The seven remaining men in the match all started to climb ladders. At its apogee, you had all of the men alternately reaching for the briefcase and trying to push the others down. It was a clusterfuck, but it was a breathtaking clusterfuck. One by one, the wrestlers fell like dominoes until no one was left. When the heel crowd roared for Miz's limp-race down to the ring, it sealed the deal for me. This match didn't have to finish to be the best Money match ever. But it did, and Alberto del Rio claimed the briefcase after claiming Mysterio's mask...

...baaaaaht, chu already knew that.

There were two other non-title, non-ladder matches on the card. The Divas match, to me, was inoffensive, which made it the best a match between Kelly Kelly and Brie Bella could be. At least right now. Remember, when Trish Stratus started out, she was kinda terrible too. However, Mark Henry and Big Show? That was a tremendous big man vs. giant brawl. Wigs were split, and we were pleased. I think Henry getting air and dropkicking the steps was my favorite part of the match, just because it was so unexpected. You know, if they had gotten this right with the World's Strongest Man in 1996 instead of just 2011, we'd be talking an all-time great here, but hey, we're getting it now, and I'm happy for the lug. The finishing flurry at the end was a nice touch, like Henry couldn't believe one World's Strongest Slam couldn't finish Show off. So he did it again. And again. And then a couple of Death from Above splashes. He looks just as good decimating a giant as he does tossing around the Christians and Trent Barettas of the world. That's the sign of a good wrestler.

The two World Championship matches had me the most worried about this event, but both delivered in ways that were different but still satisfying. The World Heavyweight Championship match was more a character study than it was a wrestling match. It was basically Christian, right from start, trying to goad Randy Orton into losing his temper. It pretty much redeemed a month of lackluster build in one match, because it was so masterfully crafted. To his credit, Orton did what he had to do and then some. And how about the Viper going all ROH-midcarder with his offensive outburst? I kinda dug it, especially the Canadian backbreaker into the neckbreaker. But the finish, my God, it just showed how much of a master Christian is at match psychology and how well Orton plays (is?) the guy who flies off the handle. The post-match beatdown worked almost too well. I expected Bryan to come down and effectively kill me of wrestling fan euphoria. But then again, he's way too noble to cash in that way.

In a related note, if Friday comes and Bryan announces he's cashing it at WrestleMania, then I will lose my shit.

But all of the above described? That was just the appetizer. A tasty appetizer, but the thing that we all looked forward to most was Punk and Cena. And in a rare moment, one that was a throwback to the old days, when the main event almost always felt like a big deal after the match, not just before it, this match delivered in ways that I can't even describe. There were so many elements at play here. The crowd was so instrumental in creating the atmosphere, and they were hot almost the entire match. Hell, I'll give the kids and skirts credit here too. The ones that audibly chanted "Let's go Cena!"? Yeah, you get a million points from me. Totally provided a light contrast to the vast majority of people there screaming for Cena's blood every time Punk went in for the kill.

And before the elephant overshadows everyone else in the room, yes, I saw more than a few botches in the match. But as I've said before, if it's handled right, it's alright. Here, they handled it better than correctly. And in a way, it was a perfect contrast. You had Punk, who in front of his hometown wrestled with such passion, emotion, a classic babyface. Then there was Cena, whose ring savvy allowed him to be cold, almost emotionless (at least until the end), going about his duty with a business-like attitude that in a way exemplified the "dynastic Yankee" label Punk put on him in Boston. It almost felt ironic in a sense.

Then, despite what the fans chanted, there was the wrestling, brought by both men. I mean really, how could you say Cena couldn't wrestle when he dropped Punk (and himself) on the canvas with that faux-superplex to the outside, RIGHT in front of Punk's mom and his two best friends in Colt Cabana and Ace Steel. Christ, that was such a subtle dick heel move. I loved it. I also loved the segue from the STF into the Anaconda Vice. That submission exchange was probably the best spot of pure chain wrestling that you'll find in the States all year with the exception of what Johnnies Saint and Kidd will provide in a couple of weeks.

Then the finish. Vince McMahon's paranoia, Cena clocking Johnny Ace, the attempt at the Chicago Screwjob, Go to Sleep, New Champion. New Champion. They followed through on CM Punk potentially leaving WWE with the title. And then what was better, McMahon got on the headset and called for del Rio to come out. And there he came, look of steely determination on his face, like he was going to cross armbreaker his way into the heart of his boss, but BOOM. Holy shit, Punk kicked him in the back of the head like it was no big deal. If I were Alberto del Rio? I'd have thrown up my arms when I regained consciousness, said "I ain't even mad" and just applauded because that was maybe the most perfectly executed flash kick I've ever seen. And then the picture, that I have posted above. Punk blowing a kiss goodbye to McMahon and heading through the crowd. Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

It was the perfect end to a perfect pay-per-view. The WWE gets ragged on a lot, but even the coldest, blackest, darkest heart had to have been warmed tonight by what they put on. Their PPV has always been a strong point, but until tonight, they hadn't come close to perfect since maybe the second One Night Stand. This event stands in rarefied air right now. I would be hard pressed to come up with an argument against it being one of the best, if not the best WWE PPV of all-time.

And it's all because they took a chance and let CM Punk escape with the title. Well-played, gentlemen. Well-played.

Double Tape RAWs and You

A big reason why last night's RAW worked
Photo Credit: WWE.com

I wasn't looking forward to RAW this week. I really wasn't. Usually, when they tape two episodes, the crowd dies for the second one (if it was even alive for the first two hours of taping anyway), the wrestlers look tired and the show is chock full of filler that makes it drag. So imagine my surprise when it was 11:05 PM, EDT last night and I sat in amazement of the full telecast. It wasn't just that the episode was good, but it was maybe the best one all year.

I have to give a lot of credit to that Las Vegas crowd. While Sin City is known for a lot of things, hot wrestling crowds aren't one of them. Furthermore, asking them to sit through another two hours of taping after experiencing the epic CM Punk rant live? I can see why a crowd might be burnt out after that, but to their credit, they reacted to things and kept the background noise going. The most telling thing was their reactions to Zack Ryder's theme music coming on. He got an audible, organic pop when his music cued up. For a guy who gets no TV time, that's a pretty amazing reaction for a nearly-spent crowd.

I think a lot of credit has to go to John Cena and Vince McMahon as well. Cena came out after the Punk promo to open up the second episode of RAW and delivered a forcefully genuine plea to Vince about letting a guy speak his mind. It was a total HLR Cena move, and as a guy who's more a fan of lawful good Marine Cena than I am of snarky wannabe Cena, I appreciated it. The closing segment was just as good. Say what you want about them potentially rehashing the Survivor Series angle from last year where Cena might get fired, but I thought that the execution of the segment, from beginning to end, was tremendous. Vince was at his Mr. McMahon best, and Cena did some of the best promo work he's done since that back and forth with Batista last year leading up to WrestleMania.

That begs the question why these double tape RAWs can't always be like this. Maybe there's a hot story needed. Maybe the crowd has to be right. For that last point, it severely limits the choice of crowd to the Pacific Time Zone, seeing as you wouldn't be getting out of the arena on the East Coast until 2 AM at the earliest. Vegas proved to be a great crowd for this. We know Sacramento would be an awesome crowd as well. What other crowds would do the trick? Maybe Seattle/Vancouver? Portland? Not many California crowds fit the bill. Or hey, maybe they could do Honolulu, especially if the next jumping off point for the RAW roster is Australia. Either way, if they could find the right formula, it might make double tape RAWs in the future more feasible and then make them a bit more common to give guys a night off here or there.

Regardless, last night's show worked. It might be the exception, but it's a welcome one.

Instant Feedback: WE WANT RYDER

In the grand tradition of fucking with a guy in his hometown, there were three hours on RAW, and Zack Ryder appeared on none of them. None. This pissed off a certain contingent of my fellow Internet fans, but it doesn't bother me. Why? He probably got a much better exposition on Superstars. Yep, Superstars, you know, that show that moved to online-exclusivity, the one that usually has the great wrestling? Yeah, I don't care where I see him, as long as I get to see him. Novel concept, I know.

Don't tell that to the crowd, as they popped off SEVERAL "WE WANT RYDER" chants. The crowd was hot all night, popping for Ryder, continuing the momentum for Alex Riley, creating dueling chants not only for John Cena but for Christian as well (CHRISTIAN IS RIGHT PEOPLE! FUCK THE POWER! FUCK TEDDY LONG!). For as weird and mediocre as RAW was tonight, it didn't seem as bad because the crowd was so damn hot.

But yeah, RAW was hit or miss tonight. Everything Steve Austin did, ESPECIALLY his interactions with CM Punk, was really good, I thought. Christian and Randy Orton had another strong segment against each other. The wrestling, for the most part, especially the main event, was great. Cena and Punk have such amazing chemistry together that it's not even funny. Christian and Rey Mysterio had potential, but they went castigo excesivo on it, which would have been great if they didn't do the exact same finish in the first match of the evening between Alberto del Rio and Kane.

But that boner wasn't the only one of the evening. For one, what the hell was the GM's role in the Christian/Orton segment all about? I mean really, do we need to insert concussions into the storyline here? It made no sense, even without considering the aforementioned concussion. Then we had Divas-a-go-go just for them to do the unsexiest kickline in the history of kicklines?

Still, there was a lot of good on RAW tonight. And hey, CM Punk got a cleanish win over John Cena. SO yeah, there's that. I think a lot of what made RAW palatable tonight though was the crowd. Hopefully, next week's crowd is game because it's yet ANOTHER three hour RAW.

Remember you can contact TH and ask him questions about wrestling, life or anything else. Please refer to this post for contact information. He always takes questions!