Monday Night Raw SuperShow Review - October 10, 2011

Mr. McMahon informs Triple H of his replacement.

Sketchy promo to say the least from Triple H to open the show. I enjoyed the words of CM Punk of all the men that came out for sure, but HHH criticizing the Superstars apart of the walk-out is just what he is known for. The idea of this whole walk-out had greater potential, but making it realistic was key here.

Having Vince McMahon return in a anti-climatic manner during a match between John Cena and Sheamus completely went against what Triple H said moments earlier about wrestling being the focus of the show. McMahon was useless here, and the move of John Laurinaitis as interim Raw General Manager couldn't be more logical. Given WWE is losing ratings in recent weeks, you would think that they would appoint a more popular official to attract more viewers.

Logically, it made sense for Christian and John Morrison to compete in their street clothes with them coming back from the walkout minutes earlier. However, Christian defeated Morrison in under a minute, and I am more confident than ever at this point that the Shaman of Sexy is leaving the company. Christian's stable of conspiracy victims looks very intriguing on paper, and has great potential to be something of main event caliber if done right.

With World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry taking on Randy Orton for the third time last night, their match did nothing for this viewer despite the star power it included. I saw the Cody Rhodes interference coming, but it was very well-done. Rhodes has finally added that extra layer to his character that he needs to progress, and I believe his upcoming rivalry with Orton could solidify the Intercontinental Champion as a true main event player.

Absolute train wreck of a match with Kelly Kelly and Eve defeating the SmackDown team of Tamina and Rosa Mendes. Even Eve, the best worker in this contest by far, had a few sloppy spots. It's painfully obvious Creative has no idea where they're going with the Divas division until Kharma returns next spring.

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IC Champion Cody Rhodes bags Randy Orton.

Hearing the announcement that John Cena will be once again contending for the WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio at Vengeance next Sunday could not be anymore stale. We saw the same exact match back at Night of Champions last month, and I'm predicting the same exact result with Cena capturing the title again, further deeming the belt worthless. John Laurinaitis firing Jim Ross is another typical move in attempting to humiliate Ross in his hometown of Oklahoma.  I surely hope this is only temporary and we see Ross calling the action as the best in the world at what he does in no time.

Decent six-man tag team match with Air Boom and Mason Ryan defeating the team of United States Champion Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and David Otunga. As I've said in the past, Mason Ryan is better in small doses, and that theory was fully executed here. He doesn't need a championship to help him get over though, as I'd much rather see Ryder contending for the belt than the green Ryan. Bourne appeared to take a hard shot at the hands of Swagger, so it's baffling why they didn't show a replay of what could have caused the apparent injury.

Horrendous way to end the program with the CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio main event match being interrupted and changed to a tag team bout against the returning Awesome Truth. Del Rio abandoning Punk was fully expected, and the disqualification finish seemed weak given that it was now a handicap match. Triple H and CM Punk dominating Awesome Truth to close the show gave viewers no incentive to tune into next week or much less care about the damaged Awesome Truth team and their match at Vengeance.

Overall, a very poor edition of Monday Night Raw that is surely one of the worst of the year. Sure, it was controversial in many ways, but it's predictability made many cringe given how this story-line has taken a turn for the worst. Despite the ratings change in recent weeks, Creative must learn not to book on the spot as they did last night. Otherwise, the value of the overall program will decrease to the point where no one will even bother to care. On top of all that, the action wasn't even close to being solid as a whole. It's disappointing to state that next week is the go-home show for Vengeance, which is no where near exciting as it should and feels as another stepping stone on the road to the Rock's eventual return.

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