Monday Night Raw Review - August 8, 2011

Nice opener from Triple H. I predicted that he would eventually appoint himself as the special guest referee for the WWE Championship match on Sunday, but that doesn't take away from the star power itself. I'm also glad he didn't attempt to bury anyone this time around as well.

Decent match from John Cena and Jack Swagger. Although it was predictable, it was a good showing from the All-American American. Swagger has zero direction on Monday nights and his future looks grim, unless he can be featured in a meaningful program soon.

Awesome night for The Miz all around. I'm glad they didn't deliver his match with Mysterio as that is pay-per-view worthy, and his attack on the Ultimate Underdog made him come off as a legitimate heel. His match with Kingston was well-paced, and giving him clean wins will do a lot for him in the long run as a top star.

Solid match featuring CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio, even though it was a contest that could have been saved for a later date. Nice combination finish with the roundhouse kick followed by the GTS. Del Rio has certainly lost direction, and hopefully can snag a spot somewhere on this Sunday's SummerSlam card.

A more than average Divas match from Beth Phoenix and Eve, as I believe these two are the only ones left on the Raw roster that can actually wrestle. The finish was well done, but having Kelly Kelly get a shot in at the last minute wasted Beth's momentum and felt unnecessary. However, it leads me to believe the Glamazon walks away with the gold this Sunday.


Pretty disappointing match with Dolph Ziggler and Alex Riley. Hopefully the disqualification victory continues the feud, saves the potential match for a later date, and gets Riley a future title shot. Vickie's brake-up with Dolph was completely overshadowed due to the quick match, but I'd expect it to slowly build up to an ultimate climax instead.

Although it was a great match from John Morrison and R-Truth that succeeded in telling a story, I was confused as to why this wasn't saved for SummerSlam instead. Given Truth's clean victory, I'm lead to imply that Morrison is in the doghouse, with creative really dropping the ball on his return.

Amazing, controversial contract signing to end Raw, something different than most contract signing thats occur in WWE. It catered to the insider fans while also driving the point clear across the casual fans. Mentioning the legit releases of Chris Masters, Harry Smith, and Vladimir Kozlov really made Punk look like a hero here, and Cena's mic work was also some of the best I've ever seen from him while excluding the PG comedy we usually get from him. I was afraid at first the Rock video would drive the focus onto that rivalry instead, but it made for a very funny addition.

Overall, a solid go-home show edition of Raw, that built around the upcoming SummerSlam matches but also featured great, lengthy in-ring all night long. I am bit concerned over that fact that there are only four matches confirmed for the pay-per-view, but the given matches made for exciting television. Hopefully the ending segment brings in pay-per-view, with fans looking to discover what unfolds next in the on-going, controversial saga with CM Punk, John Cena, and Triple H.