RAW Retort - Cena's out, but who is in?

Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow

Cody Rhodes

I was impressed with how well Cody and Sandow worked the ring at SummerSlam, and even more impressed with how they stepped up in the ring on RAW. I like that Cody won both matches, as it will piss off Sandow that much more. It’s time for them to step back and taunt each other a bit. Their matches were solid, but it’s time for them to work the storyline now.

I love that they have seemed a bit pushed aside, but they were allowed 17:39 between the two matches. To me, that shows the WWE cares about this feud, and are really giving it some serious attention.

The Shield’s Handicap matches

Even though they didn’t say The Shield was going to be McMahon’s muscle, as soon as the first Handicap match was announced, it was obvious. I thought Ziggler handled himself quite well in the ring with The Shield, even though he was seriously outnumbered. I’m really wondering where they’re going with Ziggler from here. Is this the end of him with Kaitlyn? And what about his work with Big E and AJ? This first match left me with more questions than answers.

Then there’s the way Big Show worked the ring with The Shield. Big Show looked great and had wonderful control over the three until the end. I liked how powerful Big Show looked in the ring, but The Shield hitting their big finisher on Big Show showed just how strong they are and how well they work together.

That The Shield worked 10:38 in these two matches is solid and will look good for them moving forward as McMahon’s muscle. But like their first match, I was left with questions. The biggest being, why didn’t Henry come to Big Show’s rescue?

Tag Team matches

While Slater is a stronger wrestler than most give him credit for, the tag match was all about the Usos. Rikishi’s sons are taking off and continue to prove themselves in the ring each week, even though the match was only 5:24. Because of the Usos, The Shield, The Real Americans, and Prime Time Players, the Tag Division is taking off again. I’m not thrilled about Los Matadores, as it’s a lame stereotype and a sad place to see Primo and Epico land after being repackaged.

The most impressive tag moment of the night was how The Prime Time Players have stepped from being mostly heel to being mostly face, without even trying. Darren Young came out of the closet and the fans want to get behind him. It was a lovely thing to see the fans get behind Young, that Young went out and really worked the ring hard, and that he was booked to get the pinfall.

I think things might be looking up for The Prime Time Players, and I’m proud of Young for stepping up and being so open and honest with the fans. That was the best 4:48 that we’ve seen from The Prime Time Players, possibly ever, and neither of them were injured by Swagger!

Heyman & Punk

Both Heyman and Punk work the mic so beautifully, and I think that’s why their feud is working so well. Let me step back and say that while I have no love lost for Brock, I thought he and Punk gave us a seriously sick 25:16 at SummerSlam, and it was so much better than I could have even hoped for. Because of that, I’m no longer fervently against Brock possibly facing Taker at WrestleMania.

Punk stepped up to make their feud more real, and they did great with it. It’s that same personal thing that makes Punk’s feud with Heyman so much more than it would be if they weren’t such close friends in real life. It’s the reason that HBK and Trip feuded better than so many others, and why there’s so much passion in the promos with Punk and Heyman.

I was really wondering if Punk’s personal attack on the booing fan was scripted or not. I’m still not sure if Punk was supposed to pick out at a booing fan, or if he just ran with it and Heyman picked up where Punk left off. Honestly, those two are so great that it could have been Punk’s whim and Heyman picked up on it seamlessly.

There’s so many places that Punk and Heyman can take this feud, and that Heyman isn’t afraid to take bumps will continue to make it that much better. I am worried about Axel, and have worried about him since he was announced as a Heyman Guy, but I really thought he stepped it up when they worked the ring together.

It might not have been a real match, but that 6:29 was some solid and serious work. The way they ended it, the looks between Heyman and Punk left the doors open for so much more, and I cannot wait!