Raw Pros and Cons

   On April 18th on Monday Night Raw R-Truth kicked things off by surprising me with time on the microphone that actually lasted longer than twenty seconds. However, a much more planned conversation between John Morrisson and R-Truth would have built up more excitement and understanding to the reason why Morrisson interrupted Truth's celebration. The majority of the conversation consisted of them both jumping in at the same time to say something, this confused me of who was in control of the discussion and what was being said. I feel like WWE planned for an eventual implosion of the friendship of these two superstars, which would spark a match of true athleticism. I am assuming it never came around, so they wanted a conflict before the upcoming WWE Draft possibly prevented it from happening.
   I strongly disagree with how R-Truth was taken out of the WWE Championship match at Extreme Rules. I was interested in seeing R-Truth be involved for the title at a Pay-Per-View event, but felt he did not deserve the opportunity. Nobody that didn't have a match at WrestleMania 27 deserves to get a title shot at the next Pay-Per-View. It was short, but I enjoyed seeing R-Truth deep in the title hunt among the big dogs. I don't believe I have ever seen a WWE superstar smoke a cigarette on LIVE television until last night on Raw. I wonder if R-Truth actually smokes cigarettes on a daily basis, and why they would have this unique storyline for this personal feud.
   I would prefer to see John Morrisson become the villain character since he was the one who convinced his former best friend R-Truth to prove he is better than Morrisson by putting the WWE title match slot on the line in a match. R-Truth and John Morrisson have been best friends for over a year, I don't blame R-Truth for his actions after the match knowing the Morrisson only showed his face to try to take away Truth's title opportunity. Also may I remind you all that Morrisson was full of unpleasant comments directed at Truth the entire unprepared conversation.

   World Wrestling Entertainment often likes having long, detailed conversations involving the superstars in the ring to point out the rivalries and their thoughts. This past Monday Night Raw I was absolutely pleased to see a tag team match get started by Sin Cara and John Cena both charging to the ring one after another signalling they want a fight. Like I said before matches with superstars teaming up with complete different styles creates excitement and electricity throughout the arena. It was set, John Cena and Sin Cara vs WWE Champion The Miz and Alex Riley. I didn't expect to see Sin Cara compete among popular superstars for another couple weeks, that would build the hype for when Cara made his climb to the top. Once again another tremendous showing of athleticism by Sin Cara as he picked up the pinfall for his team for him and Cena. The WWE expects perfection in these impossible looking moves, I have not seen a failed stunt by Sin Cara yet.

   I am beginning to believe the WWE is taking a few things too far: The anonymous Raw General Manager and Michael Cole's dialogue. Having a certain GM to know and call the shots adds a touch of excitement to the show, I think the annoying e-mails have gone way too far. Also Michael Cole has a good voice for commentary and as an antagonist character, but he often screams the exact same line a good six or seven times and it gets on my nerves. It's not like the audience at home or in the seats didn't hear you the first five times, move on to another unpleasant line and do your job. And I found absolutely no humor in the skit which consisted Michael Cole being honored by the (fake) Queen of England, as Raw was airing from London, England. It's getting people talking, but when Michael Cole shoved J.R.'s face in Cole's disguisting foot I thought of all the times the WWE has used J.R. as a victim to WWE superstars. Jim Ross should get more respect than he does when he is at ringside.

   I was impressed with the intensity of the crowd during the main event contest between Randy Orton and CM Punk. The WWE universe continues to enjoy watching this rivalry expand it's wings to great lengths. The match was far from short and sweet, this created a chant from the audience similar to how they chant with John Cena... "GTS! RKO! GTS! RKO!". These are the two finisher moves of each superstar. Both superstars are amazing at the characters they play every week so they did not want to give a dominant victory for either one of them, however I feel that takes the excitement out of the entire match. Orton pulled a roll-up pinfall to pick up the win.
   Something tells me that the WWE wanted two 4-man destructive alliance of villains. One for Raw and one for Smackdown. When they announced this to Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater I guarantee they wanted to stay on The Nexus instead of starting from scratch on The Corre. Since that wasn't able to happen, I bet they were promised Championship success while playing their roles on Friday Night Smackdown.

*My ears are always open to your comments.
Images from: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2011-04-18/results, http://wwe.mylaunchpad.com.my/superstars/raw/johncena/videos2, and http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rolling-your-eyes-whenever-Michael-Cole-says-And-I-Quote/157266410988886
Written by: Tyler McMurter