Monday Night Raw SuperShow Review - July 9, 2012

AJ proposes to WWE Champion CM Punk.

Odd opening segment to kick off the show. As much as I enjoy this on-going saga featuring AJ, WWE Champion CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, the whole "marriage" thing felt a bit unrealistic. Of course, this is wrestling after all, but it was simply strange to say the least. Sure, everyone played their roles well here, but this segment didn't do much for this viewer.

Meaningless match with World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus defeating Jack Swagger. Sheamus has already been established as a dominant force, so there was no purpose to this match, adding to the fact we've seen it numerous times before. The fact it lasted nearly two minutes didn't help either. Alberto Del Rio's promo on the Titantron that followed was fine, so at least it hyped their World title match for this Sunday.

Throwaway tag team match with Tensai and Dolph Ziggler defeating Intercontinental Champion Christian and Tyson Kidd. My issues with this match was that none of the Superstars received entrances, it was joined in progress, and it ended within a minute. What does that say about the competitors involved in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Ladder Match? Obviously, it makes feel like it's unimportant, although Tensai's domination did help rebuild some of the heat he's lost in recent months. Nonetheless, the destruction of Kidd has my fingers crossed that he won't be removed from the MITB match following the attack.

Typical squash match between Brodus Clay and Drew McIntyre. It's a shame to see Clay go from headlining shows in his mini-feud with Big Show back to squashing irrelevant Superstars. They've taken one step forward and two steps back with his character, so I'm hoping they find him something to do in the very near future.

Solid tag team match with John Cena and Kane defeating Big Show and Chris Jericho via disqualification. Although the action was good, the logic behind it wasn't. Why would Cena tag with the same man who decimated him for three months earlier this year? The bout received great time, but the two commercial breaks took away from it and hindered the action. Since when can you get disqualified for pulling your partner out of the ring? I'm glad Jericho mentioned his past history with Show in Jeri-Show from 2009, it wasn't made as a big of a deal as it should've been. I question the move having Cena be the last man standing at the end of the segment, since it's pretty predictable that he'll be winning on Sunday anyways.

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WWE Champion CM Punk and AJ celebrate in victory.

Fine match between Sin Cara and Heath Slater. We've seen it a hundred times before, so it was obviously nothing new. I love the idea of inserting Sin Cara into the Money in the Bank Ladder Match since his style matches nicely with the environment of the match-up. Bob Backlund's return was a fun surprise, as was seeing him lock the Crossface Chicken Wing on Slater.

Horrendous segment with Jerry Lawler defeating Michael Cole. I can easily assure you that the poll was rigged, as it was in favor of "No" on WWE.com minutes prior to it being aired on Raw. What did this match accomplish exactly? The finish with the Anonymous General Manager switching the result of the contest was an exact repeat of what occurred at WrestleMania 27. Even worse, Hornswoggle was revealed as the Anonymous Raw GM. Yes, Hornswoggle. After two years of building up the eventual pay-off, this was the result. I respect the WWE in the sense they finally tied up the loose end, but seriously?

Brief match with WWE Champion CM Punk and AJ defeating Daniel Bryan and Eve. If wasn't for that atrocious angle that occurred prior to the main event, but this contest featuring four of the best workers in the company today could have been given more time. It was quickly forgotten by the end of the night since the segment that followed focused even more on AJ, with it being decided that she's not marrying either man. It added a sense of intrigue going into the WWE Championship Match at Money in the Bank, but where is the focus on the WWE title?

Overall, a terrible show that did very little to get me excited for Money in the Bank this Sunday, given the amount of hype (or lack thereof) it received throughout the night. The action on this show was too short to mean anything, while most of the promos were uninspiring. While the some of the segments were not only meaningless, they had absolutely no place being on a go-home show for a pay-per-view in only six days.

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