Monday Night Raw Review - September 6, 2010

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Randy Orton Interrupted The Nexus

I was a big fan of The Nexus back in 2010, but it struck me like an RKO out of nowhere in this segment how deplorable most of them were on the microphone, specifically everyone except for Wade Barrett and maybe Michael Tarver. Thankfully, Randy Orton cut them short with their interruption, but the damage had already been done. Good grief. Anyway, several matches were set up for the rest of the night by the Anonymous Raw General Manager here as well.

John Morrision def. Chris Jericho

Jericho had previously said that if he failed to win the WWE Championship at Night of Champions, he would leave the company. However, his spot in that bout was put in jeopardy here because if he lost, he would be removed from the pay-per-view main event. Sure enough, he came up short, which gave Morrison a big victory after an enjoyable and well-wrestled matchup. Jericho really sold the loss afterward by sitting in disbelief for a few minutes, but I believe he regained his spot in the Six-Pack Challenge the very next week.

Divas Champion Melina def. Alicia Fox (Non-title)

There was a hilarious moment during Fox's pre-match promo when she said she deserved to be the "undefined" Divas Champion, instead of undisputed. The whole thing was a train wreck. The match that followed wasn't much better, but at least they didn't embarrass themselves with the time they were allotted. Melina built momentum heading into her title unification match at Night of Champions, so it served a purpose.

John Cena def. Justin Gabriel

With The Nexus banned from ringside, we were finally treated to a straightforward singles match featuring one of the Nexus guys without any interference. Cena and Gabriel weren't given a ton of time, but it was certainly fun while it lasted and Gabriel held his own against the former multi-time world champion. The commentators played up Gabriel's potential big time during this contest, but he sadly didn't accomplish much in WWE post-Nexus.

Daniel Bryan Crashed United States Champion The Miz's WWE Magazine Cover Reveal

Miz was firing on all cylinders in 2010, but he lacked that extra character development needed to make it as a main event player. Well, we got that here as he explained his path to the top and treated his WWE Magazine cover reveal as a big deal. By this point, the WWE Magazine was far from as important as it once was (it actually isn't even in production anymore), but it must have been a cool accomplishment for him. The verbal exchange he had with Bryan was excellent, playing off their history as "allies" in NXT and as rivals upon Bryan's return to the company. Bryan officially laid down the challenge here for a shot at Miz's United States Championship at Night of Champions, which Miz accepted. On a side note, in another funny botch, Miz picked his Money in the Bank briefcase up off the ground after Bryan forced him to flee the ring and nothing was inside. Where was the contract, dammit!

Edge def. The Great Khali in a No Disqualification Over-the-Top-Rope Challenge

Similar to Jericho, as punishment for walking out on the main event of Raw the week prior, Edge had to win this match or he would be removed from the Six-Pack Challenge at Night of Champions. Their first match was a complete waste of time as Edge mocked Khali, drew him out of the ring and then ran back in to make the ten count. Their second match was even worse because mere seconds in, Khali walked over the top rope on his own and the referee didn't call it. Michael Cole pointed out the error, as he should have, so this was a disaster.

Randy Orton def. Wade Barrett

Although the match itself was solid, Cena, Edge and Sheamus were incredibly distracting on commentary and added very little to the matchup. Despite Barrett and Orton working well together and making the most of the time they had, the crowd largely sat on their hands for this, but on the bright side, Barrett proved he could hang with an top-tier talent such as Orton in a one-on-one situation. The returning Darren Young cost Barrett the win, which the crowd barely reacted to, and whatever attention Young gained from resurfacing here was quickly erased when Orton laid him out with an RKO afterward. Orton was red-hot as a babyface around this time, though, so the audience was happy to see him stand tall to close the show.

Overall Show

With Orton's win in the main event, him vs. Cena was advertised for the following week's episode, along with the return of the Raw Roulette gimmick. That was when Monday Night Football came back, explaining the heavy hype for the show. As for this episode, most of it was fairly forgettable with the exception of the Miz/Bryan segment and Morrison vs. Jericho. Cena vs. Gabriel and Orton vs. Barrett could have been better with more time, but they were decent while they lasted.