Alberto Del Rio Chooses World Heavyweight Champion Edge at WrestleMania

Great opening segment, and it gives theSmackDown stars good hype for their show and their storyline on Friday nights. It was painfully obvious who he would choose, but it gave Del Rio more exposure on RAW if he is booked to more there in the upcoming Draft.

It does confuse me a little as to why Alberto is choosing his opponent now. Wouldn't it make more sense to choose following theElimination Chamber pay-per-view like past Royal Rumble winners seeing there is a possibility of a new champion following the event?


WWE Tag Team Champions Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov defeated Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris (WWE Tag Team Championship Match)

Mediocre match, but certainly not bad. Harris and McGillicutty are still a little green in the ring so I believe it was a logical choice to keep the titles off of New Nexus for now.

Randy Orton's punt to Harris following the match wasn't bad, but it wasn't well done. Harris was kneeling in that 'punt' position for at least three minutes, so you would think he would of moved by then. I would rather see McGuillicutty punted, but the reason this was done was to have the three remaining members of New Nexus face Corre at WrestleMania.


United States Champion Daniel Bryan defeated Tyson Kidd (United States Championship Match)

Was this even a championship match? According to the website, it was, but having no entrances for either wrestler made it confusing and the match less meaningful.

The match would have meant more if they had been in a direct feud over the last few weeks, but WWE failed in doing that. The match had a lot more potential than it did and ended up being a total squash. This Bella/Kim nonsense was the focus of the match, which disappoints me.


World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated WWE Champion The Miz with Alex Riley (Non-title)

Far less memorable than there match last week. These two have tremendous chemistry, but it was totally wasted on Cena's interference.

The match was fine while it lasted, but its matches like these that make Champion vs. Champion matches mean less. I would of preferred for Miz to get the clean victory, but we know that's never going to happen, right?


Lay-Cool defeated Divas Champion Eve and Natalya

I don't have much to say about this match, merely because it wasn't important and the fact I don't really remember much about it. Unless Kong will take it from her, putting the belt on Eve was a mistake.

She was randomly inserted in this feud, so why not give the title to Beth? The only reason I don't fast forward past Divas matches is due to the reason that I am highly anticipating the debut of Kong, and that should happen immediately.


Mark Henry and The Great Khali vs. The Usos in a Dance-Off

As The Miz would say, really? I'd rather see a match and dominate the Usos since dance-offs do not interest me and made this segment more pointless than it should have been.

Personally, I enjoy Mark Henry and The Great Khali in a tag team. I've been pushing towards this for months and finally gives them both something to do rather than random matches and segments every week.


2-21-2011 Vignettes

I can speak for most of the IWC when I say these promos have highly interested everyone and have created a lot of buzz. There is much speculation going around that it is either Undertaker, Sting, Kong, or HHH, but according to the arena website for RAW that evening, it is the return of the Undertaker.

The promo was movie quality and gives us viewers something to look forward to as we progress on the Road to WrestleMania. I have never been so excited to see one of these promos come so quickly.


Jerry Lawler defeated King Sheamus, John Cena, John Morrison, R-Truth, Randy Orton, and CM Punk in a Seven Man RAWRumble to become #1 Contender for the WWE Championship

Great match. Although I had a strong feeling Lawler would win following what he said to Ted Dibiase earlier in the evening, the contest did have some suspense at times.

It escalated the feud between Orton and Punk, and gave Sheamus more meaning being the last one eliminated. It was a logical choice to give Lawler the win as his feud with Miz was never officially finished. With lackluster matches all night long, this match wins Match of the Night.


Final Review

A disappointing show to say the least, but it was not terrible. It gave good backlash on Royal Rumble, and hype for the upcoming Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in three weeks.

However, no real reason was given for this whole Orton-Punk feud, so I'm looking forward to that. Match-wise, this show was very mediocre. Sometimes, more matches doesn't always mean more, and short matches (especially Bryan-Kidd) serve no purpose.

Opening Segment

Decent promo. Having Vickie as acting General Manager again brings back old memories from the past four years... and not good ones. She gets huge heat, but having her in charge bothers me.

We saw a different, humorous side of Orton on SmackDown which I liked. But doesn't it kill his dark viper character that he plays? His interaction with Ziggler was also well done.


Lay-Cool defeated Katilyn and Kelly Kelly

Why in the world did the faces attack the heels before the match? They're in no feud currently, so I don't know what purpose it served. It was a different pace, but I think it could have been better and made more sense if reversed.

The match itself served no purpose, other than warming up Lay-Cool for this immediate title match Sunday. Neither Divas Champion Natayla nor Beth Phoenix appeared, so why should we care for the title match at Royal Rumble?

For Kayilyn's SmackDown debut, this was disappointing. She got better, but she won NXT, and thus should be given a little more respect.


Drew McIntyre defeated JTG

This match did nothing for me, and was actually served pointless seeing Kelly Kelly played no role at all.Giving JTG more air time doesn't interest me, and though the match wasn't terrible, it was very logical.

I'm not sure if the point of McIntyre walking away was supposed to leave me confused, but now I'm questioning my interest in this love angle.


Royal Rumble Exhibition

I'm not going to bash on this concept, but it didn't persuade me to buy the Royal Rumble pay-per-view by any means. Alberto Del Rio threw out two local athletes, that does not give me any interest at all.

Kane's return was the main highlight here, and he was welcomed as face, but that's probably just because he's a true hardcore fan favorite (myself included). The involvement of Kingston and Mysterio was random seeing they aren't feuding, but I'll talk about that more next.


Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio defeated Alberto Del Rio and Kane

Solid tag team match. No high spots, but all of these competitors work well together with great chemistry. As I said previously, the only miss to this match was that they were randomly paired in an effort to build hype for Sunday, whereas both Kofi and Kane weren't even advertised till last night.

The contest got great time, and displayed a small dose of how there are no teams in the Royal Rumble Match. An awesome finish makes me want to see me more of these competitors Sunday.


Big Show defeated Heath Slater with The Corre

There's not much to say on the match, it only lasted a minute. I realize Big Show is a dominant Superstar, but squashing members of The Corre individually makes them look weak as singles competitors.

However, this squash match kept the feud going, and that's what more important at the moment. The brawl afterwards didn't accomplish anything, and if it were meant to hype the Rumble, none of the Corre members were even thrown over the top rope!


World Heavyweight Champion Edge and Randy Orton def. Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion The Miz

With some competition from the previous tag team match earlier, this wins Match of the Night. The action between both matches, but this bout in particular included rivalries from both the champions and challengers for this Sunday's Royal Rumble matches.

It disappoints me this match wasn't more hyped over the return of the teaming of Rated-RKO, which is the main reason why I watched SmackDown last night. Nonetheless, the finish was electrifying and gave good hype to the title matches Sunday.

The post-segment with the banning of the "Spear" finisher was awkward, and didn't give me another reason to watch the World Title match. I hope this leads to a surprise win for Ziggler Sunday, as he was made to look weak both on RAW and SmackDown.


Final Review

Overall, this was a lackluster show which featured very little hype to theRoyal Rumble. Nearly all the matches featured very little meaning besides the main event, and the two hours went by quickly.

The Friday Night show has been tremendously the last few weeks and it kills me to witness a weak show like this one. As the Road to WrestleManiabegins on Sunday, let's hope more surprises await the WWE Universe.

Tyler Reks defeated Trent Barreta

Awesome opening contest. These two can really work, and I hope Barreta's time on SmackDown isn't over as he was just getting used to the audience and has a ton of potential.

After a solid matchup, Tyler Reks picked up a logical victory but satisfies me if they will put him in the Intercontinental Title hunt with more television time. As for Barreta, I wish to see his feud with McIntyre continue and possibly feud with someone like Swagger or Rhodes.


Zack Ryder and Primo defeated Yoshi Tatsu and David Hart Smith

First, let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed the promo that Ryder and Primo cut before the contest, I mean when was the last time they actually held a microphone and spoke? These two have great chemistry and they hit it right on the button when they said they were overlooked.

The match itself was an improvement over last week since this match did not include Darren Young, even though I do enjoy his charisma and he's improving. The finish was once again nicely done, and I'm very glad to see Primo and Ryder go over again and make them a legit threat to the WWE Tag Team Championships.

On a side note, was anyone else surprised that Scott Stanford actually called the finish by its correct name, the Backstabber?


R-Truth defeated Tyson Kidd

The match itself was decent but didn't do anything for me. No one cares about Truth anymore, so why does WWE continue to make him win just to satisfy the babyface crowd?

I still can not comprehend as to why Tyson Kidd continues to job to the RAWroster when he acquires natural talent that can be contending for the United States Championship. The match itself didn't bother me until the finish, R-Truth's new finisher, "What's Up?"

First, the name of the finisher is overused and not original in any way. Secondly, how many times can WWE use different variations of the Paydirt before it becomes old? Is it really that awesome of a move that they need to use it with everyone? 


Final Review

A decent show. A big improvement over last week and nothing really bothered my until the last few minutes.

The main event was unprecedented, so it's better than the usual "Yoshi Tatsu vs. Primo" main events. I'm thrilled to see that Superstars is finally being used as a stepping stone for rising talent (Zack Ryder and Primo) and hopefully won't be misused in holding talent back in the form of Tyler Reks and Trent Barreta.

Opening Segments / World Heavyweight Champion Edge Wins Over-The-Top-Rope Challenge

These first few segments were a little chaotic and meshed into one big one. That's not a huge problem, but personally I don't think having Edge win a four-man battle royal will do anything to hype the Royal Rumble Match for Sunday.

Edge's mic work isn't as good as a face, but he still got in some words with former rival, the RAW Anonymous General Manager. However, the confrontation between Nexus and Corre was very well done. It set up a preview of what we might see this Sunday or even possibly WrestleMania, and I have been anticipating it these last few weeks.


Alberto Del Rio and King Sheamus defeated Mark Henry and John Morrison

The match itself was solid, and featured a mix of different styles in backlash from last week. I'm really liking this time Del Rio is getting on RAW as it really introduces him to live television and adapts him to the RAW audience. Don't be surprised to see him move over in the Draft.

The finish was well done and I'm very surprised with how well Del Rio made tap out to such a smooth finisher as Henry took it perfectly without a botch. I'm glad King Sheamus finally has a win under his belt and getting some momentum going into the Royal Rumble.


Michael Tarver

I know he was shown only briefly, but this really excites me. Tarver was a favorite of mine in the original Nexus with his excellent mic skills, and now since has been kicked out after suffering a groin injury in October.

He made two appearance last night and acknowledged, meaning he's finally being taken seriously for his return. It leaves up numerous possibilities whether he joins Nexus or Corre.


Divas Champion Natayla defeated Melina (Divas Championship Match)

I didn't see the entirety of this match, so don't make any accusations, but from what I saw it was a decent match. This feud had a lot more potential than it did, but it still would of made a great pay-per-view match.

The finish was very unique, so it was good finish. But Lay-Cool vs. Natayla again at the Royal Rumble? I hope this just means we will be seeing the debut of Kong.


World Heavyweight Champion Edge def. WWE Champion The Miz with Alex Riley by Disqualification

By far this is the Match of the Night. These two have very good chemistry and it was given great time. Dolph Ziggler's addition on commentary also helped hype the World title bout for the Rumble as well.

I'm glad we got a cheap finish, seeing that The Miz shouldn't look weak being pinned and Edge just lost an upset on Friday. This saves this match for another time down the road.

This post-match brawl between Edge, Miz, Riley, Orton, and Ziggler was very well done and was something I thought would of happened last week. I'm really looking forward to a Rated-RKO reunion for the first time in years onSmackDown this Friday.


Maryse, Ted Dibiase, and Alicia Fox defeated The Bella Twins and United States Champion Daniel Bryan

What a waste. Was this really just used to set up the brake-up of Bryan and The Bellas? Well, look on the bright side: Ted Dibiase actually won!

The segment following was terribly campy, but I did get a chuckle out of Kim's "The Guest Hosts are gone" and the Twins' "When was the last time you were on TV?" lines. Hopefully this is the end of Bryan's horrible angle with the Bella Twins and he can focus more on being US Champion.


Micheal McGuillicutty and Husky Harris with New Nexus defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov (Non-Title)

There was a bit confusion as to whether this was a title match, it wasn't. Cole is just a vintage idiot.

Anyways, this match was very mediocre. Surprisingly, Santino carried the whole thing while the match was very slow-paced.

Husky got the win with a watered-down version of the Knox Out. I hope they don't win the tag titles just yet as Santino and Kozlov have only held the titles for nearly a month.


CM Punk vs. Wade Barrett Ended in a Double Disqualification (John Cena as Special Guest Referee)

This match really got me excited when it was first announced. I mean seriously, how many heel vs. heel matches do we see these days?

With Cena as the referee, I knew something was bound to happen. The match in my mind never actually took place, which is a huge let down. Punk kicked Barrett out of Nexus, revenge should taken in some form.

The ending scene of the mass chaos did nothing for me, as it displays the weakness in this new found 40-Man Royal Rumble Match. There is not one thing to pay attention to, and having the under-card compete doesn't make the match seem any more meaningful.


Final Review

Building hype for the Royal Rumble was the goal of this episode, but it wasn't all there. Having a massive brawl shows why adding ten extra jobbers will reveal the entire concept as a mistake.

This show, unlike last week, was light on in-ring action. Unfortunately, this is the worst RAW of this year, only because nothing progressed and was merely a pointless episode. Nonetheless, I will be viewing the Royal Rumble this Sunday for the many surprises it could bring us.

Opening Segment

Great promo. My interest in this new group "The Corre" was in question last week, but seeing this promo take place has gotten me behind them.

I think having no leader will really create more unity than with the Nexus, and having fewer members will create less chaos and create more controversy that SmackDownneeds. This segment really made their goal and reason clear, which is something I wanted to hear last week.

In my opinion, Ezekiel Jackson did decent on the mic and I say that because I take interest him. I see a bright future for Corre on SmackDown.


Alberto Del Rio defeated R-Truth / Teddy Long Gets Attacked

As for the match, it was boring to watch. We've seen these two wrestle each other numerous times before in the last three weeks, and R-Truth's involvement only hurt the contest even more with a sloppy finish.

This match was clearly not the focus, as Long's attack was the focal point through the majority of the bout. This is a Nexus rewind from June, and it was predictable seeing that Long would not let them continue their attacks.

It is assumed that the attack was performed by the Corre, but more than likely it was Dolph Ziggler. Whatever the case, I don't want a RAW repeat. On a side note, why the hell was Michael Tarver in the room?


Beth Phoenix defeated Layla with Michelle McCool

Another good match, but there was once again no story-line. Not many people care for the Divas division as it is, so it would have made this match more meaningful if at least a promo was down to set it up and continue the rivalry.

I'm glad that Phoenix picked up the victory as it logically sets up the debut of Kong. But I'm also worried that with a real rivalry looming right now between these three women, Kong's debut will not be as impactful as it should be.


Rey Mysterio defeated "Dashing" Cody Rhodes

A mediocre match, only because it wasn't given enough time. It had the potential to be something special as it has done twice before, but Rhodes jobs again.

So, with Rhodes breaking his nose, does this mean we have seen the end of "Dashing"? Doesn't matter to me as long as Rhodes gets in line for an Intercontinental Championship match, then I'm satisfied.


Jack Swagger defeated Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston in an Amateur Wrestling Challenge (Non-title)

This was an exact repeat with what happened with MVP and Tommy Dreamer: boring as hell. I participate in mixed martial arts and understand the concept of this match, but I still found myself counting the seconds until it was over. 

This match received no hype and no interest among the fans. Kingston and Swagger have put on good matches in the past, but I would like to see Kingston move on to better feuds that aren't stale, an example being Tyler Reks or Cody Rhodes.

For those who don't know, Jim Ross was involved in a segment backstage with Swagger being taped in Oklahoma. I was devastated to learn that the segment wouldn't air on television, since seeing J.R. was my only reason being excited for SmackDown.


Drew McIntyre defeated Trent Baretta

The match itself was the worst of the three matches these two have competed in, merely because it was over so quickly. However, the match wasn't the main focus here which is acceptable.

Surprisingly, I'm starting to like this feud, and it gives a very talented Trent Baretta a lot of exposure on television. The love angle is now at its climax, so I hope it leads to a big turnout with Kelly Kelly possibly turning heel.


WWE Champion The Miz and World Heavyweight Champion Edge Promo

Awesome segment, no pun intended. Nowadays, Champion vs. Champion matches mean merely nothing, but this promo helped build to a match with great potential on RAW.

The Miz and Edge have great promo and in-ring chemistry, so I look forward to their upcoming confrontation on Monday.

My only minor issue with this was that Miz was not hyped to be on Smackdown, because if it was, it could really help the ratings and build exposure for Smackdown.


Justin Gabriel with Corre defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge (Non-title)

No matches stood out tonight besides this bout, this making it Match of the Night.

I liked the suspense leading up to the match how any member Corre could have been selected as the opponent.

Edge can put on a quality match with almost every man he steps in the ring with, and this was no different.

Gabriel's style meshed very well with Edge, and I'm glad Gabriel was able to stand on his own with very limited interference from Corre.

The finish was very well done and unexpected, and displays Justin Gabriel's potential when he becomes a singles star.

The beat down following the contest was dull, after seeing it no fewer than 50 times on RAW.


Final Review

Not as strong of a show as the past few weeks, but it did deliver a very strong main event. The main focal point of this broadcast was to establish the arrival of The Corre, and that was successfully done.

However, aside from Ziggler standing tall over Edge at the end of the show, hype for the Royal Rumble next Sunday was not focused on.

With only three matches announced for the pay-per-view, I'm afraid we will see matches announced at the last minute, which doesn't build good hype.

On a brighter note, I'm interested to see The Corre on Smackdown, as it brings some excitement and suspense that wasn't there before.

Hopefully, it doesn't burn out like the Nexus did, but it will definitely add more star power toSmackdown on the Road to Wrestlemania.