Smark Out Moment

That was one hell of a Raw!

The show started off with a great match between Rey Mysterio and the Miz to determine the new WWE champion. Rey Mysterio came out on top.

Alberto Del Rio attempted to cash in his Money in the Bank contract but reneged on it after seeing that Rey wasn't down and out enough.

This was followed by a good match between Dolph Ziggler and Evan Bourne (to which Dolph said he dared anyone to follow that and be as good as him).

The divas match (Kelly Kelly & Eve vs. Maryse & Melina) was about as good as you would assume it would be, and it had the same generic end that all tag team matches have in WWE now (which is annoying) but at the very least, they had a decent moment in it where Maryse copied Kelly's stinkface (wow that sounds awkward) and then Kelly copied Maryse's hair-flip taunt.

Triple H had a great segment with Michael Cole and R-Truth which was genuinely funny, pointing out how nuts the R-Truth character is and bringing Jim Ross back to commentary. To keep the storyline going, HHH then reintroduced John Morrison who exacted some vengeance on R-Truth. I'm glad to see that they haven't forgotten about that (and that Morrison is healed and back to wrestling).

Michael Cole's impersonation of HHH was funny and it was great to see Zack Ryder come out and get a win as well as be over with the crowd (who was hot all night, which is another good thing for the show). The fact that they kept it quick meant it accomplished all it needed to do without dragging on like previous matches they've had with Cole, or the Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon match. Another fun segment.

The final match was fantastic with Rey Mysterio vs John Cena. THAT is the Rey Mysterio and the John Cena that I want to see. I give both of them flack for not being particularly entertaining to me, but they wrestled a great match that was different from the same old shit that I and many others criticize them for doing. That's the key right there. If I'm tired of something and I don't like it, and someone keeps doing it, then of course I'm not going to love it, but that match was different and great so I've got to rain praise upon it. In fact, I'm going to add it to my possible contenders for Match of the Year (though I still think Orton vs Christian at Over the Limit will end up winning when push comes to shove). A lot of people disagree with me when I say that Money in the Bank wasn't a good ppv. This episode of Raw was a superior show than that ppv in my mind. I particularly liked Rey putting Cena in the STF. John Cena wins the title in the end. I expected Rey to retain, Del Rio to cash in, then beat Rey in a rematch next week on Raw after Miz interfered (setting up Rey vs Miz at SummerSlam) and then for Cena to win a #1 contender's match to face Del Rio at SummerSlam, but all that was thrown out the window once John Cena won the title and once CM Punk made his return at the end of the show. Title versus title at SummerSlam maybe? Either way, I'm excited about what potential they have.