RAW and SmackDown Reviews - May 14, 2011

Monday Night Raw

With only a week left until Over the Limit, this week's RAW did an acceptable job of building towards the upcoming pay-per-view. The wrestling was a little light, but it was successful in including everyone in the broadcast with some sort of purpose. 

Khamra's interactions with the Divas have begun to grow stale, but it still excites me to see the women's division be basically dominated by one of the best women's wrestlers in the industry today. I disliked the jobbing of MasonRyan to the WWE Tag Team Champions Kane and Big Show, and hopefully the tension within the Nexus does not come to a breaking point since Ryan is still very green in the ring and won't be able stand on his own. Dolph Ziggler has just become just another fish in the sea, which is unfortunate given his potential, but worthless wins won't help him improve and climb the ladder to a World Championship. 

Alex Riley had a nice showing against the WWE Champion John Cena, but it was easily predicted he would be buried once again. Another predictable match was the main event, where we saw The Miz once again earn contedership against John Cena at Over the Limit. However, the action should not be taken for granted and certainly won match of the night. Overall, this RAW earns an average rating.


Friday Night SmackDown

The opening segment with Randy Orton and Christian nicely. I am certainly enjoying the pushes that Sheamus and Mark Henry are receiving as the top heels on the show. The Daniel Bryan vs. Sin Cara match is the type of action I was highly anticipating when both men were drafted to Friday Nights. It's unusual sight for WWE to book two faces against each other, so I throughly enjoyed the suspense that was provided during the duration of their contest.

Seeing Layla with a microphone and hearing her promo made me automatically assume something was bound to happen. Michael Cole's interruption makes me wonder if the Divas are planning to plot against Cole following his match with Jerry Lawler at Over the Limit, but Kharma's interference once again proved she is a force to be reckoned with.

Kane vs. Wade Barrett had to be the worst match of the night, which disappoints me seeing how they have the potential to put on a good one. It's become predictable to see any match the Corre is involved with end in disqualification, and it takes away from the group's credibility. Their attacks have also grown stale, but I did enjoy Ezekiel Jackson's brief dominance he displayed prior to the beat-down.

The Khali Kiss Cam is pointless but harmless, and doesn't annoy me to watch since it is not a weekly thing. I am becoming more and more intrigued with the program between Khali and the debuting Jinder Mahal, as it seems to be leading to a supposable heel turn by Khali. I am also content the Punjabi Playboy is finally involved in an angle that doesn't make others look weak.

The match between Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase was disappointing since it was treated as a throwaway victory, but it does surprise me they booked these two to fight seeing they are both heels. The main event tag team match was solid and received excellent time, with awesome showings from all four men. The finish was very well done and built towards the World Title match next Sunday.

Overall, this was an enjoyable edition of SmackDown. It built hype for the upcoming Over the Limit, had decent action match-wise, and didn't bore me as usual with giving me the feeling that watching it this week wasn't a chore.