Nexus and Cena opening: I thought it was a strong segment. Nexus did a great job of gloating and holding their new found power over Cena's head. Cena's reactions were slightly over the top but they worked. Barret truly shined all night long. I generally find him to be hit or miss(usually miss)but he put in a great performance on this night.
Cena & Tarver vs Bourne & Henry: I loved the way Cena played it. Doing the classic, no sell on the tag attempts. Going out and signing autographs was also pretty creative. The match was decent, about what you'd expect, though I'm not a fan of Tarver's work in any level.
The real news came after the match. Cena practically destroyed Tarver. The reaction to this has been two fold, some feel that Tarver was buried, while others think that the WWE shouldn't have used the word fired, as it relates to Cena. As far as Tarver goes, he'll never be over, his mic skills and in ring skills are mediocre if that. I also don't buy into the concept of burying. Just because a character is destroyed on one night doesn't me he can't recover. When you burying someone it's a continual process. If one time butt whippings meant a guy was buried, then they were burying Cena when the Nexus first attacked him.
Secondly people are suggesting that the GM should have threaten to suspend Cena without pay. I actually agree with WWE creative on this one. To have to threatened Cena with the threat of being suspended doesn't have same ring or finality to it as being fired does. It's a tool they can use to hang over Cena's head through the entire storyline.
Daniel Bryan vs Shemaus:I'm a big Bryan fan but this isn't going to hurt him, technically he won the match, he wasn't squashed. This Could actually be the start of a good feud between the two but I doubt they will go that way. Certainly it got over Sheamus' mean streak, which is something he'd lost in this feud with Orton.
Edge's apology to the GM: I'm not sure what they are doing with Edge these days. He came back as a face, then turned heel and then face. In this segment, I thought perhaps for the first time his efforts as a face actually provided fruit. His insults were good(unlike the previous night) The Miz interrupted and the two preceded to work gold on the mic. It actually reminded me of the best of the attitude era where guys talked trash to each other during segments and it was actually entertaining.
Lay Cool vs Bella Twins: Laycool is definitively a guilty pleasure for me they aren't perfect but they are entertaining. They are the only Diva act that the creative team actually seems to put any energy into.
Million Dollar Couple/Goldust segment: It really was Goldust at his sick perverted best. I'm not sure how it will play in the PG era, but I liked it. I'm hoping that they will actually do something with Ted and Maryse. People have said they lack chemistry, I think it's more of a case of bad writing. We'll see. I've always been a Ted guy in terms of Legacy, but so far Cody has outshined him.
Battle Royale: Eh, It was a Battle Royale, they kind of are what they are. I liked how they used Sheamus, much of the night was spent trying to get his heat back, they succeeded. The psychology of the match was good, with Cena torn about having to help Barret win.
Overall: I liked the show it's the best Raw I've seen in some time. I'm cautiously optimistic about where the Cena/Nexus storyline. I actually was thinking about Raw during the day leading up to it, which is something that hasn't happened in a while.
Grade:A
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