Monday Night Raw SuperShow Review - October 17, 2011

Michael Cole begs John Cena for mercy.

Decent promo from John Laurinaitis to open up the show. He looks to be showing more of a personality following some hilarious moments, but at the same time hyped the unusual main event for Raw very nicely with the inclusion of the returning Jim Ross.

Fun six-man tag team match that succeeded in continue to build the respective rivalries involved as well as provide good hype for SmackDown. The match result become extremely predictable once Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus and Christian fled the scene, but the finish was an impressive nonetheless.

Better than expected Divas match between Natalya and Eve despite a short time frame. It's no secret these two can work quite well, so it was a nice change to see some quality women's wrestling for once. It's logical for Eve to pick up the victory given she's challenging for the Divas Championship this Sunday, but what has she done recently that makes her deserving of a title shot?

Solid match between The Miz and CM Punk. Triple H's involvement wasn't really needed half-way during the bout, but it didn't screw up the bout's momentum  With CM Punk's victory, it just goes to show that Awesome Truth has lost all possible heat since returning last week. If Punk can overcome the odds by himself, then why would he need to tag with Triple H against the devious duo this Sunday? Awesome Truth's chances look slim, and the team of HHH-Punk doesn't excite me at the least.

---

Awesome Truth brutally attack CM Punk.

Too quick of a match between Zack Ryder and Jack Swagger to mean anything. As much as I like Ryder's recent winnings, giving him insignificant victories over credible heels will do nothing in the end for either man. These two are capable of a better match, so hopefully we get that anticipated rematch down the line.

Passable match from United States Dolph Ziggler and Mason Ryan. Seeing how extremely green Mason Ryan is in the ring, Ziggler was able to carry him to an okay, yet forgettable match. The disqualification finish was weak in the sense that Ziggler and Swagger have received zero momentum going into their WWE Tag Team Championship match this Sunday, but at least it prevents Ryan from receiving a U.S. Title match in the near future. Additionally, a no-show from their eventual opponents Air Boom did no favors in furthering this feud.

Shockingly, the main event tag team match between John Cena and Jim Ross against WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio and Michael Cole was better than expected, especially since two commentators were involved. Essentially, the WWE Championship match was given away for ten minutes with Cena and Del Rio doing all the wrestling here, but the addition of Jim Ross was a nice touch realizing we may never see him on WWE programming again. Cena's post-match beat down on Del Rio was completely unnecessary, burying Del Rio once again. Their rivalry has been overshadowed since it began, so I have no hopes or anticipation for their Last Man Standing match at the upcoming Vengeance event.

Overall, an average edition of Raw with a decent amount of wrestling, but felt like a rushed go-home show for Vengeance with matches being confirmed last minute. Cramming yet another pay-per-view in the matter of three weeks will obviously hurt the buy rate, but it's obviously apparent they are primarily building towards Survivor Series next month rather than focus on the stepping stone that is Vengeance.

---