Posted in: Mr. Tito
RAW is TITO: Full Review and Appreciation of Punk/Bryan/Ryder vs. Ziggler/Del Rio/Miz
By Mr. Tito
Dec 19, 2011 - 11:40:23 PM

CONTACT MR. TITO - Email: [email protected] - Twitter: @titowrestling - Join LoPForums.com: Feedback Thread

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Some of you have already noticed my new digs, MRTITO.com, which is now the 100% exclusive provider of all things Mr. Tito. Granted, we're still here at LordsofPain.net, as this is just a subsidiary of the GREAT website. It was an idea that was hatched, as I wanted to write freely as I did with Blog is Tito while at the same time allowing LoP.net to operate "as is".

Thus, this concept was hatched... Thus, after you check out the great news/results reporting, check out a few LoP's columnists... Click that magical MRTITO.com (which is 100% your choice to do) and you'll get to enjoy extended content offerings that LordsofPain.net has historically provided.

NOW, for Monday Night RAW... Am I watching the WWE right now? Is this the SAME WWE that fired Daniel Bryan for choking someone with a necktie and the SAME WWE that slowed down CM Punk's momentum after the Money in the Bank Pay Per View? And I'm sure many of his fans will argue this, though I'm indifferent... Is this the same WWE that kept Zack Ryder off of WWE programming?

I LOVED how the WWE embraced their 3 singles champions, two of which were crowned champion last night. CM Punk started the show and then used this starpower to introduce Zack Ryder as the new U.S. Champion and Daniel Bryan as the new World Heavyweight Champion. Punk was putting them over, too, as I noticed that Punk had a little added enthusiasm in his step all night long. He's probably happy for his friends and also happy that the WWE is giving them the opportunity.

Better yet, they were opposed by the Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and Dolph Ziggler, 3 individuals whom I've been fantasy booking into a HEEL (or #HEEL) stable for a long time (adding a 4th member to call them the new "Four Horsemen"). The future of the WWE is RIGHT HERE, folks... 6 very talented individuals who are relatively young to carry the WWE into the 2010's quite well. The question is how PATIENT will the WWE Creative staff be with all 6 wrestlers, let alone Punk/Bryan as its World Champions?

And the 6 man match was a ton of fun, too. You could just see the 6 of them enjoying themselves in the ring and they each knew that the ball was in their court. Great way for the WWE to not only put over this new possible face stable over strong, but to also put Daniel Bryan over strong by having him make Alberto Del Rio tap out. This was a good building block to make Bryan look strong as World Champion after the WEAK title victory of cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase.

We are heading into the best time of year to be a wrestling fan... the Royal Rumble to Wrestlemania road has always been the best time to watch as, let's face it, the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania remain to be the "elite" Pay Per Views with SummerSlam and Survivor Series fading. If this new influx of talent at the top positions is how the WWE is going to start this grand period of time, I'm all for it. Bring on Royal Rumble, bring on Wrestlemania 28.

What is more fascinating is that the WWE is keeping John Cena OUT of the way. I'm loving it because it's allowing some new stars to flourish, but it's also giving seriousness to Kane's long hair, masked return. It's a perfect side feud for John Cena, as he'll have nothing of importance to do for the Royal Rumble because his sights are set on the Rock at Wrestlemania 28.

From a Punk/Bryan/Ryder/Ziggler/Del Rio/Miz standpoint, GREAT STUFF on RAW tonight and I applaud the McMahons and the WWE Creative Team for giving those 6 the chance to shine. I hope that the ratings reflect this change, although Pittsburgh vs. San Francisco on Monday Night Football is surely to dominate the ratings (even with power outages).

BRAVO, WWE!

As for the REST OF RAW...

What did you do to arms, Wade Barrett? Come on with those tattoos... Just because you're competing with Randy Orton in the ring, doesn't mean you have to compete with him on ugly arm tattoos. WWE is continuing this feud on, as the singles match ended in DQ (raking of the eyes, really?), and then Wade Barrett dropped Randy Orton through the table.

I'm sorry, but I'm losing Randy Orton lately... I just can't get into him as a face and he seems to be too controlling of the move calls throughout his matches. Something is just not right with him, although he's a supremely talented performer. Wade seemed to always be following Randy's lead and falling into his movesets as opposed to a more even "give and take" between each guy sharing the calls.

Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox was just more of the same from the Divas Division: Short matches that feel like an absolute waste of time. Sure, the ladies look great... But what the WWE is passing as serious wrestling competition is becoming comedic.

Jinder Mahal vs. Sheamus was OK... I think that the WWE has gone to the well on the Arabic characters, and Jinder is no different. Decent physical match, although I don't believe fans know Jinder that well as a wrestler, yet. Good clean finish for Sheamus.

I was SHOCKED to see Epico/Primo vs. Usos... There were two teams with similar looking tights, wrestling each other? Holy cow, uniform tag team wrestling~! And I like it... Give me more, more, more!

I would be FOR adding Cody Rhodes to the #HEEL stable of Ziggler/Del Rio/Miz... But instead, he made short work of Santino tonight. Cody SHOULD make an absolute fuss about how Punk/Bryan/Ryder are bragging up their singles titles, yet they are short one singles title... You know, Cody's Intercontinental Title.

Good segment with the Big Show... Say what you will, but his acting was pretty damn good and he made his eyes tear up not only in sadness for not having the World Title, but also in anger.

DAMN GOOD RAW, with only a few "clunker" segments... A is my show grade, while I'll predict a 3.1 rating...

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