This was an absolutely dreadful Raw. Whoever is writing this garbage should be future endeavored. However, the NXT attack at least will keep me interested for the time being. Hopefully they will not screw this angle up.

I wonder if Jericho's outside projects, i.e., Fozzy and now the hosting gig for the game show on ABC are responsible for his recent booking.

Kevin, I would agree with you that RAW was absolutely terrible before the NXT invasion. I Tweeted that the Swoggle/Kahli tag team match was the worst thing I have ever seen in professional wrestling. And the other matches barely kept my interest. But as a self-described Hulk Cena hater, I was so happy to see that guy get beaten down. It was so great that I watched it twice. I'm sure Cena is a nice person in real life, but I am just sick of him winning all the time. The NXT angle at least brings some surprise to the equation. I felt the same way when Sheamus won the title, although that joy was probably due to my hatred of Cena.

The logic here is obvious. Just like me the NXT rookies could not believe how bad the previous three hours had been. Unlike me they were unable to dvr and fast forward the entire thing. Therefore they destroyed the show. Seems fair enough to me.
I thought the final 10 minutes was really well done and certainly unexpected. It lifted my depression at seeing Jericho humiliated again. They must have something in mind for him - maybe the mastermind of the NXT invasion? That would be outstanding.
Also may be likely now that the rookies are responsible for the Undertaker's vegetative state, cue a Kane one by one destruction.

The ending to RAW was fantastic! I haven't been that shocked by something on WWE programming in a loooooong time. Let's all just for a moment enjoy how entertaining that was, and not just assume they're going to drop the ball on this. Sure, they're rookies, so individually, people might not buy some of them as a legitimate threat, but who can argue that all of them ganging up on everyone like that made them look like a hurricane just completley tore up the WWE, two of it's top stars, and various employees and the set to boot? Awesome. Simply brilliant. Refreshing too - something new and totally unexpected!

I for one am REALLY intrigued as to how this will play out on the other shows. Is Wade Barrett the ring-leader, or someone else? There are a bunch of theories going around (and that's what the WWE wants with this - BUZZ!!!) - Cole? Jericho? JR? Shane? Maybe it's McMahon, trying to make RAW a living hell for Brett Hart? Maybe the NXT rookies are just trying to make their mark? Whatever the outcome, for now, it's an intriguing mystery and it for sure makes me want to tune in all week long!

"Speaking of Cole, while fellow announcers Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker were both brutalized, he somehow managed to slither away unscathed. Interesting."--I wondered if anyone else noticed that..

I agree that Raw was awful for 2 and a half hours, but that final segment was a home run! Of course they can still botch this angle big, but you have to give credit to the company for seriously looking to shake things up.

In terms of the plot holes, I like it, it's a little Russo-esque in it's shoot style...never usually a good thing...but this worked. Perhaps the rookies realise their biggest hope of dislodging the old guard at the top of the ladder is to join forces and force the issue! Whatever the reason, I'm excited to see how it plays out, and it's been a long while since I've felt that after an episode of Raw.

I cant help to think this was something Vince can use to say Bret Hart is incapable of managing the show and to get rid of him somehow! But like you said what ever the angle, It was the worst of the worst Vince is really lost it this time.

i know who got the undertaker in a vegitive state it was the nxt rookies from season one

Hey Kevin,

I had to write and offer my two-cents about RAW. What a disgrace! I, too, had high hopes for the voting, but I was really disappointed with the results. Can I also add that no matter how "bad" the WWE is trying to make Edge, I'm still not buying Orton as a good guy. Personally, I don't think he's getting as big a pop as he has in the past.

My biggest disappointment was the end of the show. What was that? That really made no sense to me. So, we're supposed to believe that the entire FORMER Nxt cast comes in and trashes the show? Really? For what purpose? These guys are gone now, right? Except for Barrett. So what was the point? And you're right, where were the veterans? If you buy into the idea that they don't care about Cena, maybe I'll give you that. Buy why would they allow these guys to trash the show? Why not put these guys into their place? I must also disagree with you about it being well done. It wasn't. Nobody in the audience there or at home was buying any of it. It was corny. It was lame. It was made no sense.

Just me,
Holden

Man! That is all you can write about the NXT invasion. That was so shocking that I couldn't close my mouth. I know no one thinks much about Tarver, but with that mask, he looked so evil and had so much potential "heel heat". When the cameras focus on him as the first NXT member to come out with Barrett, you knew something was up. For some reason he has a look about him that screams heel but I guess he just hasn’t put it together yet. Maybe he can be some ones body guard with that creepy looking mask. That mask can give nightmares.

I don't mind Danielson spitting on Cena. I know Cena is the face of the WWE and I know he is one of the most accomplished in WWE history, but I just can't stand him. So Danielson spitting on him was pretty entertaining.

There is so much potential with this story line. This group can go around and terrorize the WWE, whether they are rookies or not, 8 of them compensate for them being rookies. No matter how inexperience they are, when you have 8 on one side, it will be hard to beat them.

This will ultimately lead to in-fighting within the group and that will leads to more story lines. That may be where Danielson and Cole restart their feud. I like a mean, nasty Danielson. Maybe he is tired of being the smallest guy out there who is always picked on, disrespected, and losses. Maybe he will have a nasty case of Napoleon complex and pick on bigger guys and make them tap. The idea of Danielson putting bigger stars in his submissions and stretching their limps is quite interesting to me and something I would love to watch. The rebirth of the American dragon, maybe the American killer dragon.

I don't think the Bryan/Miz thing has entirely gone away, after all, Bryan did say he was against almost everything the WWE stood for, including who was on top, so it makes sense for him to be angry with Cena.

hey i do remember rey wrestled john years ago when cena first matches. yes i would have been a good one

Just about everything up to it was disappointing, but that finish was excellent, and it built off some of the best NXT moments - the ad-libs. More evidence that, while having a couple of writers to develop storylines isn't bad, the current product is over-written. I believe Jericho's done some work with the Groundlings - Vince's money might be better spent hiring a couple of them to workshop the boys on mike skills...

As for the angle going forward, I love the potential. I like that the heel turns could all be justified over "anger" that the WWE made them do silly contests and such. And sure, most "invasions" and stables have tried to show legitimacy based on quality. This one is based on sheer *quantity*. Done right, it could be quite original and effective. Most of these guys are officially green, so there's no expectation or need that they suddenly win matches. But a mob of 8 upstarts with Wade and Bryan as the credible alpha dogs, just swarming over folks, could remain a threat nonetheless.

Finally, "You're not better than me!" is the perfect heel catchphrase for Daniel Bryan. It's very Owen Hart (in the best way), and would sell many a T-shirt.

Sorry but that had to be one of the worse wrestling shows ever on TV. The ending was a fitting ending to a horrible show. Vince and company should close up shop and just stop. Are you telling me that NO one in the back wouldn't come out? Also Cena has been beaten worse before and didn't need to be carted off and the thumbs up bit about made me blow chunks in my mouth. It's sad a great show has run it's course, but it's time to pull Raw off the air and just leave Smackdown on.

Kevin,

I am wondering if this is a way to get heat on Daniel Bryan as a tweener, similar to what they were trying to do with Orton. Maybe he will replace Orton in the 4 way dance? Other than that, I agree with your assesmment of the NXT angle, other then the initial shock value , I don't see this doing much for anyone other than Bryan and Barrett. Barrett already has the option to pick a title to wrestle for....but it doesn't hurt to have the heat as well. I expect the other NXT wrestlers will be beaten soundly by the vets over the next few weeks, then sent to developmental.

Speaking of Cole, while fellow announcers Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker were both brutalized, he somehow managed to slither away unscathed. Interesting.
You know Kev. I am sitting here watching this thinking that very same thing!!! Where the hell is Cole????

I wonder what viewers voted for ending RAW with eight people that they've barely seen take out two of the top draws in wrestling today for the last 20 minutes of the program?

I disagree with your "logic flaws" in the angle.

Firstly, there were 8 guys out there. You can imagine most of the heels aren't going to care to save Cena or Punk just on character traits alone, the only guys who might have the personality to come and make the save would have been heavily outnumbered. Cena was getting wrecked, but no one else in the back was, why risk their necks when they probably just get beaten down?

Wade aligning himself with the NXT rookies is extremely obvious. He just gained 7 people on his side to help do his bidding and help him win the WWE title. By himself, who knows how much Wade could have done to Cena. With a whole group of 8, they were obviously able to control the ring and completely destroy Cena. It isn't terribly hard to figure out.

Also, if you have watched NXT, you will know that these guys have all been booked mostly on a close level to the pros. Heath Slater of all people picked up several wins on pros. I always questioned why the wasted time putting someone who didn't seem to have much of a future like Heath Slater over Chris Jericho. Or Darren Young defeating Luke Gallows, but now it seems pretty obvious as well.

Hope this answers your questions, there are no logic flaws (at least you aren't like some others whining about "character changes" when it is especially obvious why none of these guys would care about pleasing crowds at this point), and I have faith in the future booking based on the booking of NXT.

I also noticed that Cole was absent. Could he be the mouthpiece for the NXT faction?

umm, didn't Cole have a table dumped on him? I'd hardly consider that getting away unscathed.

did anyone else notice the look of shock on Bourne's face when he realized Kane would be fighting Sheamus? I think the WWE was planning for Bourne to get out there, but he seemed legit p***ed off when he didn't get the shot.

RAW made me sleepy last night. The only thing that got a reaction out of me was watching Kozlov get down. I didn't know he was BLACK! Just kidding.

The NXT angle was okay, and a bit weird. Seeing the faces team up with the heels in the group... awkward. Also, watching them tear up the set made me wonder what the Hell they were really after.

On the bright side, I'm glad some of my favorites from NXT, like Skip Sheffield and Heath Slater who got eliminated, are still getting used despite their eliminations.

So, I guess they couldn't convince Liam Neeson and Jessica Biel to join the "A-Team" shenanigans?? Wonder why...

You hit the nail on that atrocity: all those skits were just dreadful. How did that cool dude from District 9 end up participating in that mess?

The NXT invasion angle was probably the most well done angle of that sort ever. Poor Justin Roberts- choked out with his own pink tie...hopefully they can capitalize on this- make them responsible for Undertaker (please), as I love it when angles cross one another.

If Cole becomes the mouthpiece for the group (enjoyed the unifying NXT yellow armbands they all sported, by the way), then perhaps the whole Cole/Bryan storyline was a "work"?

I've been watching wrestling for many years. Lost track of it in 2003. Came back to it in 2006.

From that time and on, last night's finish to Raw was downright the coolest thing i've seen on Monday Night Raw. (and to think it happened on the worst episode of Monday Night Raw in recent memory)

The best part about it was its unpredictability. No warning, no hints, perfectly executed. The sight of 8 NXT rookies surrounding Cena was downright menacing, armbands and everything. Great individual performances from Barrett, who looked like a legitimate leader. Danielson was great. And so was Michael Tarver, looking frightening with a mask on. Best facial expression was the seriousness of Justin Gabriel, especially after watching him cheese it up for weeks on NXT.

For goodness sake, i hope WWE creative doesnt drop the ball on the follow-up to this white-hot angle.

I think that some of these rookies (with help from other rookies possibly), can score some wins over midcarders to give them legitimate heat. (Barrett, Danielson, Gabriel, Slater) They can wrestle against folks who are over but does not seem invincible. (Kofi, RTruth, Morrison, Christian).

Question for you Kev. Do you think that this was WWE's plan all along? Or because of the numerous injuries to top stars, and the disappointing mic skills and overall crowd reception of many of the rookies, that WWE creative decided this was the best course of action?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I'd bet anything that this was not WWE's plan all along for the NXT guys, but that's OK. Plans can always change.

wwe was the worst show I ve ever seen
as little kids watched in horror at the ring, and at home. The look on everyones face was pure disgust and amazed how 8 men at one time could do
a beating on 1 man. This is not wrestling its disgusting, its not entertainment either. You will not be on at m y home anymoreso my son could see this. People should smear wwe
all over the internet and boycott the show
as I and many others will do. John\
cena or no one deserved this. It amazes
me what grown men will do for a buck\

SHAME ON YOU MCMANN

There could've been two champion vs. champion matches (Layla v Eve, Cena v Swagger) but the fans decided against them. This shows how bad Swagger has been booked, and perhaps his title no longer shines as bright as it once did.

The whole A-Team thing and being-in/breaking-out of character was really annoying. It's like a slap to the face to every fan. How can the WWE treat wrestling like such a joke one minute, and then intensely real the next?

Does anyone know who the bald man in a suit was (during the final segment)?

I completely agree with your thoughts on Daniel Bryan being included in the attack. I also noticed Michael Cole not being out there. Him being behind the attack could be a good way to get Daniel Bryan a baby face turn from the group.

Jericho is the leader of the N gang...book it

Kevin Eck's takes on last night's "Raw" were right on. I agree that the show was failing until the Cena match and the NXT rookies' takeover. The A-Team segments were pointless. The best indication of how badly the night was going was the crowd's non-response to the conclusion of the Hart Dynasty match. Nobody is empressed when Hornswoggle is pinned. It would have been more logical if some of Cena's allies came from the back to stop the rookies. They stopped for no reason. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.

I too noticed that Cole got away, but Cole leading some faction of mostly not ready for the big time rookies isn't all that appealing. Still, the show was an abomination, even bad episodes of WCW Thunder were embarrassed. It's pretty bad when Kozlov dancing is by far the highlight of the night. It was almost as though the show was intentionally made as bad as possible to make the last angle even more shocking. Almost.

As I watched the angle play out, even without going into all of the obvious plot and logic holes, the word that kept coming to mind was desperation. It reeked of the last days of WCW when major star X was turned heel trying to recreate the buzz of the NWO. Even if it ends up that they're the ones that "took out" the Undertaker, it's still shortsighted booking. If this angle goes anywhere major once the initial shock has worn off, I'd be shocked.

This show was totally horrible! I watched until Edge and Orton, and then I gave up and went to bed.... There wasnt any good or interesting matches, except Kane & Sheamus, which to me is at least a new pairing. I particuarly hated Big Show squashing Jericho. Jericho was fantastic for the past 2 years, and deserves better, and nobody buys Big Show as a quality main-eventer anyway. And I'm glad that I didnt watch the main event, because I would have been annoyed buy some green rookies trying to be a faction. It cant work, because only 2 of them are ready for a push: just Barrett and Danielson. Both should be sent to Smackdown right away to develop. I will say this, that Barrett already has both charisma and presence... If he can work at all then he could be a star in a few years. Lastly, why is Orton wrestling at all with a bad shoulder? I'm no doctor, but isnt he risking serious injury?

Could Michael Cole be the next Eric Bishoff - and be the new mouthpiece for the NXT kids?

Want to put a bet down that the reason Michael Cole escaped is because he will be on the NXT side? Would not surprise me.

WWE should go to nxt tonight and beat the crap out thoese nxt rookies.Every wwe supertar on both raw and smackdown should beat the hell out of thoese nxt pices of crap, and show nxt why NOBODY MESSES WITH WWE.

I thought the NXT invasion spot was magnificent. I've never seen anyone tear apart the ring like that, and the shot of Daniel Bryan choking out the ring announcer with his own necktie was priceless. The NXT Season 1 rookies are rookies no more.

Kev, do you think they will also take credit for taking out the Undertaker?

RAW has been brutal to watch for months and the beginning looked like another poor evening. Hart not looking at the camera was distracting and his charisma was .... well, he has no charisma. Everything to me was very predictable and only the biggest mark in the world would believe that their votes had anything to do with the matches. But the end was high entertainment, Barrett coming out appeared to be his challenge to Cena and then the NXT guys attack. It may have been the most surprised I've been by WWE in years. My only exception was that I hated that Cena gave the "thumbs up" sign as he was being wheeled out. I knew it was coming and I cringed when it did. I think that that diluted the effect of the whole process.

Hey Kev...
Wanted to ask you how realistic you thought the results were?? And I have to agree that this was probably one of the worst RAW broadcasts ever.

kevin i love your blog, but you are such a mark....you realize the voting was a work right? the fans had no say in that voting process, just a way for wwe to get hits on their website.

RESPONSE FROM KE: You know for a fact that the voting was a work? Please share with us how you know that.

The nxt rookies attacking was great it reminded me of the attitude era so i think that the nxt rookies are the ones that attacked the undertaker i think it will go TV-14 again in 2011 and will have a mix of PG and TV-14 in 2010 but i hope i really really hope that they don't screw this up.

What's happening Kevin? I think Vince and his crew dropped the ball Monday night. While the viewer voting was,for the mst part, probably legitimate Vince made it clear to me that these were all the stipulations and matches that HE wanted to see. I didn't care for the NXT deal at the end. It should have been Mysterio and Cena. The voting on THAT match may have been tampered with to get that angle in. And how can that angle REALLY be considered? Seven of the eight NXT rookies were "eliminated". How did they show up, in their wrestling gear, and do what they did and the fans be expected to "suspend their dis-belief"? Over all I thought the show was insulting.

rey and cena did wrestle before long time ago when cena had token the character of being a rapper back when he was part time rapper and wrestler. they wrestled ones and john cena won a amazing battle a may say. funny to

Kev, how could you forget the Divas battleroyal?

The Kozlov dancing stole the show. I didn't think he was actually going to do it, and once he did, I found myself laughing more than I had w/ a WWE skit in a long time. Sadly though, all the laughter was diminished every time the A-Team stuff rolled. Debiase looked really stupid going along with it, and I don't see how this helps to put him over more as a heel.

I feel really cheated by all the NXT stuff. It was very TNA-ish with no wrestlers or security coming from the back to "help". Why have a "contest" then employ all 8 of them? What does this give us to look forward to in the season 2 of NXT?

And finally, are you going to the A-Team movie and then give us a review so we don't have to go watch it ourselves?

RESPONSE FROM KE: No, I will not be going to see "The A-Team."

Was I the only one expecting to see an apperance by The Rock? They were in Miami, Cole kept going on about what a historic and electrifing night it was going to be.(I know, I should know better than listen to that idiot).The guy in the 3rd row with The Rock poster wasn't helping either.
What ever happen to him saying he wanted to come back to host RAW, and saying he was going to come back to do "something" with WWE again?

I only caught the last seconds of Raw last night but it definitely had the feeling of unpredictability. Seeing the destruction of the ring and and the people surrounding it was different. It had the feel of when The Four Horseman ambushed Dusty Rhodes in the parking lot and tied him to a truck and broke his wrist. I enjoyed it and it was about time that Raw went a different route. I thoought it, also, might have been the beginning of a good feud..CM Punk vs John Cena.

Two possibilities, one is mine, one a friend suggested.

First, I suspect that it will turn out that Cole is "leading" the NXT rookies and his feud with them was a work. If this is an nWo redux, he fits the Bischoff role, and I won't complain about something different from him.

Second, it seems likely that it will turn out that the NXT rookies were united by Vince to get retribution against Bret. He foreshadowed some kind of difficulty the week before, then a large faction unexpectedly wreaks havoc on the show. Seems reasonable to me.

It seems pretty clear that Cole is involved somehow, which is fine because it could open the door for JR to return. But there are some serious holes that need to be filled to make this a successful angle.
- Cole-Bryan
- All eight are now cooperating heels
- Where were not only other superstars, but former pros? (Christian, R-Truth, Matt Hardy)

The angle definitely was intriguing, as I found myself in awe for the first time in a long time. But I must say, I was really looking forward to seeing Cena vs Punk.

Kevin,

Do you think this NXT Invasion storyline will carry over to Smackdown? If so, do you think it will be revealed that NXT took out Undertaker? Do all the veteran heel wrestlers temporarily become babyfaces during this storyline, seeing as how they took out the SES along with Cena?

One of the worst wrestling shows I've ever seen and I've watched wrestling for 25 years. The last ten minutes were surreal and felt like the old nwo with the invasion and beatdown. Guess Barrett is the Hogan of the group and Cole will be The Bischoff of the group. Evan Bourne better stay away from production trucks. I am sure HHH will come back and be the WWE's savior and bury the rooks.

My friend works for a promotion in Houston and after shows they go through the routine of tearing down the ring and packing up the area. What if this was a challenge fot the rookies to pack up in an interesting and compelling way, lol. They should have saved that for next season's rookies.

OMG!!! I am beyond heartbroken about what happen to John Cena !!! I just can't believe WWE would do that or allow that !! I love John Cena ! " YOU CAN'T SEE ME ! " The NXT ROOKIES SUCK !!!!! All of them can kiss naads !!!! Ce-nation baby !!!!

Great finish to the show - especially if Cole was in on it and NXT put out Undertaker.

The only drawback for me was watching the SES get a beatdown. It made Punk look somewhat sympathetic, although fans will more than likely forget he was in the middle of fray.

I watched this with my kids. They know wrestling only in the PG era. I grew up watching Mid-Atlantic. Seeing the looks on their faces at this scrum reminded me of tuning into wrestling for the first time. They were shocked, excited and completely entertained by it. In fact, they are still talking about it.

Good on the WWE.

The only thing missing was a blade job on Cena.

The old school knows you can't have a wrestler carted away from that scene without blood and bruises.

Please, can we pull the brain-dead Guest Host thing off of life support? The A-Team segment was so horrible that I thought I was watching a children's program. I turned off RAW and never came back.

However, I did enjoy watching the highlites of the final segment during tonight's NXT. I did not see that angle coming, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Maybe WWE has its own A-Team writing the NXT assault angle, while its B-Team (otherwise known as the short-bus writers) penning the guest host crap.

1st off what is wrong with some of u ppl? especially da person talking about boycotting wrestling and da one talking about cenation? wrestling is a work. they play out storylines so it should be known that unexpected things happen from time 2 time. and its a show of fighting. so why be upset when the almighty cena gets beat down? it happens and isnt real so get over it ppl

wwe was the worst show I ve ever seen
as little kids watched in horror at the ring, and at home. The look on everyones face was pure disgust and amazed how 8 men at one time could do
a beating on 1 man. This is not wrestling its disgusting, its not entertainment either. You will not be on at m y home anymoreso my son could see this. People should smear wwe
all over the internet and boycott the show
as I and many others will do. John\
cena or no one deserved this. It amazes
me what grown men will do for a buck\

SHAME ON YOU MCMANN

Posted by: SUE | June 8, 2010 7:45 PM

ITS REAL TO HER DAMMIT !! (ofcourse , until she was being sarcastic anyway )

4 big names who maybe "leading" NXT :

1- Michael Cole - The obvious choice , since hes wasnt attacked and all the verbal exchange before that may have been a swerve

2 - Vince mcmahon - to screw with bret hart as he indicated last week

3- Chris jericho - after being on the losing end many times over the past week and humiliated by big show (i m hoping for this one)

4- bret hart - least possible , since that would mean a heel bret , though awesome , but he is doing just fine as a babyface general manager. I think there maybe ways to get there , but no seeds have been planted yet.

Your thoughts kevin ?? or you think they could be acting alone, though a mouthpiece would serve them greatly

RESPONSE FROM KE: My first thoughts were that Cole and/or Jericho were involved.

Not only didn't any wrestlers make the save but there were two general managers there and no one said a thing.

That said, if Cole ends up being the NXT leader, it would make for an interesting dynamic on commentary with Lawler.

WWE owes me a new remote...The 30 sec. skip button is worn out...
Instead of promoting the movie as a "summer blockbuster" they made it look like it belongs in the "Straight to DVD" bin..
If done properly, the NXT angle could carry them thru the summer as the Top Stars heal, but I get the feelin 3 weeks from now it'll be dead.

You watch 40 security guards prevent HHH from touching Randy Orton during their feud last year but no one attempting to save the destruction of innocent and "not in ring shape" ring announcers and etc.

Could have made this NXT thing look a lot stronger(and from a logical standpoint somewhat believable) if an attempted save was made every minute or so and 5 wrestlers were beaten badly.

There's something interesting about Ryder to me in that Miz/Ziggler kind of way. Give him a chance.

So, I'm thinking that the head honchos thought that Rey would get the viewer vote and it would make a huge impact when arguable the two biggest babyfaces got their butts handed to them by the NXT guys. Did anyone else think that?

That being said, I think it actually worked out better with Punk being out there. When he came back in the ring to "help" Cena, it came across as much more important and real. I thought that was the best part of the whole segment. Anyway, not sure if anyone else pointed that out.

"wwe was the worst show I ve ever seen
as little kids watched in horror at the ring, and at home. The look on everyones face was pure disgust and amazed how 8 men at one time could do
a beating on 1 man. This is not wrestling its disgusting, its not entertainment either. You will not be on at m y home anymoreso my son could see this. People should smear wwe
all over the internet and boycott the show
as I and many others will do. John\
cena or no one deserved this. It amazes
me what grown men will do for a buck\

SHAME ON YOU MCMANN"
_______________________________

Who's this guy?

I wonder if the head honchos thought that Rey would win the viewer's choice vote (and in fact put him against two of the most hated heels to assure that). That way the NXT beatdown would have a HUGE impact. Could be wrong, but it crossed my mind .

That being said, I thought it actually worked far better with Punk being involved. With a "heel" like Punk trying to come back in and save Cena, it came across as much more real and important, in my opinion. I thought that was actually the best part of the segment. Anyway, not sure if anyone agress, but I was just curious if anyone noticed.

At least we got 10 minutes of interesting stuff this week. Sometimes we don't even get that!

I was hoping that daniel bryan found michael cole hiding, then apply his submission move at the middle of the ring, that would be awesome!!!

Awful, awful show. Only two matches worthy of note in a three hour show? Jericho/Show and Punk/Cena - one of which is a squash and the other of which is thrown out? Come on WWE, that's a joke.

Fan's choice? Another joke. The WWE had all week to prepare for this after announcing it. I doubt many fans would have chosen the competitors, matchs and stipulations they were offered to pick from on the night.

Hopefully Jericho's losing streak is leading to an eventual face turn and a re-emergence of the less serious, more fun character he used to portray. RAW's woefully short of high profile heros right now, Cena aside.

In comparison to the rest of the show, the ending was out of this world. It's a shame a lot of viewers will have switched off before they got to that point. The NXT Rookies all come out together to send a statement of intent. It was expertly done, left the fans questioning their motives and agenda, and just how far the WWE's willing to take the angle.

My bet is, not far. Bryan Danielson's "shoot" of a couple of weeks ago and referral to his real name appears to have been forgotten; his feud with the Miz appears to have been forgotten; the rivalries between the rookies appear to have been forgotten; the fact that some of them were actually supposed to be fan favourites appears to have been forgotten. It wouldn't surprise me if in a couple of weeks this angle was forgotten either. I hope there's some masterful grandoise plan underlying it all, but one look at the rest of the show gives me serious doubts.

I want to see the WWE capitalising on the buzz this has generated. I hope they can.

Oh, and a message to SUE: You thought that the NXT invasion was "too much"? Well, thank God you weren't around for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC58TAVprS4

I loved the NXT invasion.
It was totally unexpected, exciting, realistic and very creative.
It looked like they worked pretty stiff, too, which added credence to the storyline.

I love the idea of the trench coat wearing Barrett being the leader of this army, taking on the establishment that has seen them treated like circus acts at times.

I will miss the Bryan/Cole angle but hopefully it's a worthy sacrifice.

BTW I thought Skip Sheffield was easily the most impressive and intense NXT guy out there, whilst Heath Slater really struggled.

A few other thoughts on the show -

* What are the names of the Uso brothers? The voting list said 'John and Jey', whereas the commentators called them 'Jimmy and Jey'.
Pretty poor given they're trying to establish them and get the audience to engage with them.

* The missing crown thing was incredibly lame, hokey and way too long.
Surely they can come up with more creative ways to tie in whatever the guest hosts are there to plug.

* The blown spot in the divas battle royal was pretty bad, made worse by the obvious audibles being called between the three girls (Eve, Michelle McCool and Layla).

* It was great to see John Morrison back but that joy didn't last long given he was pinned clean.
Why waste his return like this?

* I know the WWE target kids these days but surely i'm not the only one sick of the constant 'can't smile enough' promos from the faces.
Cena's promo was an example, whilst the gimmicks of R-Truth and Kofi Kingston are walking examples of faces who take the 'Rocky Maivia' approach.
We need a little edge with the face promos, not sugary sweet unbelievable dialogue.

* I was glad Matt 'Eugene' Hardy kept his shirt on this week, but disappointed to see McIntyre pinned clean in two minutes.

boycott the wwe vince dont nd you.they showed cole get out of dodge dam coward go to tna

Watching it as I Type four segments that I loved

1) Matt Hardy Vs Drew... it furthered their feud and allowed Hardy to get some heat back.

2) IRS wearing Kings crown and Dibasie calling him uncle Irwin.. which fits well with the back story

3) Gene calling Josh a clown and Josh piping up with "hey I am right here". Of Course Gene was not replaced by Josh, and while Josh is the current backstage interviewer, there were a few in the role before Josh took it over ... including Cole and funaki. But it was just classic.

4) The final scenes were just wow. I know there are a lot of inconsistencies, but it still had me going wow, watching Justin Roberts undergo such a brutal attack and while Cena gave the thumbs up he gave it so weakly you believed he had suffered a beatdown. I also liked how one trainer stayed with him as he was being wheeled out while the other went to check on the other.

I am wondering with the destruction if Raw is getting a new set next week?

The closing segment of this week's Raw had to be the best I've seen in such a long time, maybe even the last few years. It's such a shame that an amazing segment like this closed a show that was, for the most part, pretty awful. I was excited by the Viewer's Choice concept, but it really didn't live up to expectations at all. The whole thing was pretty much a shambles. That is, of course, until Wade Barrett and the rest of the NXT First Season Rookies made their presence felt.

It was shocking to say the least. Having them take out ring-side onlookers like Matt Striker, Jerry Lawler, and even ring announcer Justin Roberts made the whole thing that much more shocking. I do agree that it was a bit illogical to have Barrett team up with the guys he just beat in the competition to help destroy the company he now works for, but that was a minor flaw, considering how good the rest of the segment was. I loved all of it. The Rookies taking out the companies top star in Cena was the icing on the cake. Justin Gabriel looked particularly intense when he was on the top rope, gazing down at a fallen Cena, before delivering his devastating 450 splash. I really hope WWE follows up with this with something just as good. Loved it.

One other thing, you said Michael Cole seemed to get away unscathed, but I'm pretty sure I saw Barrett double-leg him and take him down at ringside with the help of Daniel Bryan. The camera was only on them for a second or two, but I'm pretty sure that was Cole getting attacked.

Oh yeah, and it seems pretty clear now that it will be revealed that it was these NXT Rookies who laid out the Undertaker and left him in a vegetative state. Pretty logical conclusion if you ask me.

The Awesome Eight have clearly formed a close bond, inspired by Wade Barrett's prophetic 'Wind of Change' speech: they are now out to deliver, collectively, on this promise. Expect more confusion and more rough-housing to follow, as these guys continue to wreak havoc and make their mark in the WWE. It was overdue; RAW and Smackdown had become a little too family orientated of late; but, now, we have the promise of a new order: a new generation heels, led by the awesome Wade Barrett, is challenging the established order. Mom's throughout the land had better start sending their kids to bed early on wrestling nights from now on, because the heels are back in town, and it might just get a little ugly for a while!

To Phillip Reynolds: my first impression was that the bald guy in the suit was Howard Finkel...but I don't know that he travels with them routinely.

Wow, that was one crummy Raw. Most of the voter choices were pretty lame. Kozlov dancing was the highlight of the show... until the ending segment.

Lots of people complain that Raw is always predictable. Well, who predicted that? Logical flaws aside, that was one unforgettable segment.

observations:

I noticed that Cole slithered away unscathed once the sh*t hit the fan. There are many ways this could go. He could be the Eric Bischoff to the rookie's nWo. However, that wouldn't explain why a ringside commentator would have that power, so I think they should (kayfabe) reveal that Cole is one of the WWE's authority figures and perhaps was even the one who suggested the NXT show in the first place. He could have been the one who cherry picked each rookie from the FCW and brought them to the WWE and secretly gave them all contracts. An interesting scenario, though I think it's more likely that Vince will ultimately be revealed to be behind it all, as a way to screw with Bret.

Bryan shouting to Cena "YOU ARE NOT BETTER THAN ME" cemented it for me. Some could argue that it doesn't fit his face persona, but in the past he's done a very convincing heel and the frustration of working in the industry for 10 years yet be called a "rookie" by the WWE finally made him snap.

As for the logical flaws, there are ways to get around them. Perhaps most of the faces (Mysterio, R-Truth, Morrison, Christian, Kofi) had left the arena while the Cena-Punk fight was happening.

So I think the rookies grew tired of Matt Stryker and the Pros telling them to "make an impact" that they just snapped

Mark my words: NXT faction will be feuding with each other in 2 weeks, at least two of the guys will be gone from WWE programming a month from now, and the group will be disbanded by SummerSlam.

Finally, WWE will be able to get competitive with TNA!

Would have been better if Rookies were in street clothes and NOT in wrestling gear. Make it look like they were not in the locker room,or backstage changing. Good angle and can't wait to see where it goes!!

Overall I believe Mondays Raw had so much hype leading up and dissapointed. Jack Swagger heavyweight champ not involved intercontinental champ Kofi Kingston not involved. They had opportunity to have champ vs champ match with Swagger and Cena face of Smackdown and Raw than have them get beat down by the NXT rookies. The whole Miz match was waste of time why not R-Truth vs Miz or qualifying matches for U.S Championship for fatal four way same for Intercontinental Championship. Chris Jericho vs Big Show have been more entertaining maybe a regular match. Dance off was perfect and the girls battle royal was okay even champ vs champ match would have been good with Michelle Mccool getting involved. Kane vs Sheamus could have been one of the best matches of the night but wasn't and the edge vs orton match was useless. The nxt plot was good don't understand why wade Barrett would allign himself with the rookies he beat out but good story overall raw was awful could have been great but it reminded me of a smackdown episode useless and pointless matches with no excitement tuesdays Nxt was better than raw

Notwithstanding Koslov's amusing rug-cutting, I thought I'd had my "Tell Me He Didn't" moment for the evening when, prior to the Jericho match, Mr. King had asked, "How do you spell C?"

Boy, was I wrong!!

What a compelling ending, especially after the silly comedy with Gene Mean and Polka Dot Dusty (midnight) riding to the rescue of....Mr. King's crown.

The NXT boys did a much better job of ransacking the ring area than poor old Bret was able to do a few months back.

Where do things go from here? I'm much more curious about this than I am about the Undertaker's plight.

Little Predictions:

The NXT "rookies" are responsible for the Undertaker ambush.

Barrett replaces Orton (remember he has a title shot) at the Fatal Four Way pay per view and wins the WWE title. He's as credible a Champion as Sheamus for sure.

That would really make this angle a hot one.

What are your thoughts Kev??

Hey Kev

I was at the show in Miami and during a commercial break I saw the ring crew prepare the flash pots PYRO for Kane's intro BEFORE the "voting" took place for someone to face Shamus.. Ergo, Viewers Choice was not legit but in fact a work

It amazes me that when help did arrive they only paid attention to Cena even though there was a little kid screaming in background "its the King. it's the King". And how fast they got Cena rolled over on to the stretcher and how fast Cena gave the thumbs up to say he was ok. That ruined the entire attack focusing on Cena then "Superman" appeared ok so quick. If they had done a after the show segment on WWE.com or on NXT or Smackdown showing Cena doing that it would have made everything seem more believable. But also they should have showed the others being attended to by the EMTs to show just how much carnage was done

I watched WWE Monday night Raw, and I thought I wss going great, until John Cena got brutily attacked by the former NXT Rookies. I must admit I can't stand CMP and his crew, but neith John or Cmp and his crew deserved to get beat up like that, nor did the announcers, and thwe security, that was just going way too far. John Cena can't helpthat he is the best and now unstoppable. I hope he will be able to participate in the fatal four way. Randy orton didn't deserve to be attacked my edge either. I would like to know where the rest of the WWE from Monday night Raw were when everyone was getting brutially attacked!!!

I don't think that the voting was a work. But the WWF did have guys slated against Cena who could make a big impact.

Having Punk out there was awesome because he tried to save Cena. Reminded me of the nWo angle when WCW heels and faces would sometimes band together. But Punk's save attempt made it seem credible.

If Rey won the vote, he could have been "tossed like a lawn dart." So you had that.

And the third guy ... well, he wasn't going to win.

But please, do not like Michael Cole be revealed as the ring leader. Maybe the NXT guys will continue to spare Cole, leading many to believe that he is in on it. Bret Hart will have no choice but to fire Cole (think he's the ring leader) and bring back JR.

Then, when JR is in place, he can be revealed as the true leader of the faction.

Ummmmm this NXT angle is killer, if continued.

I dont see how you don't like it Kev. 1st off, look at the sheer volume of comment on this and other blogs. The "WWE Universe" (gross) is buzzing.

As for how you feel about these young wrestlers, they can all wrestle beside maybe Otunga and Darren Young, who are more power guys who dont' have enough moves yet for their game.

You have to ignore how NXT was booked before.

It was obviously booked in a build to this. It was purposely silly and stupid, which has now p***ed off the rookies, most of which, aren't "rookies" at all.

This has a lot of potential.

I would love it if it turned out Batista was behind the invasion. It would make sense.

Maybe no one came out to help Cena because he is the champ and all the wrestlers are sick of him having the belt. Storyline wise anyway.

I think all three prime suspects are part of the NXT invasion (McMahon, Jericho and Cole). Also, this is a great angle to keep Cena a face but make him much more cutting edge- I think he should snap and go vigilante, similar to when Sting painted himself like the crow and started carrying a bat. Also, there were easily enough faces to come help Cena- Big Show and Kane alone could have put up a good fight plus there was Christian, Mysterio, Morrison, Hardy, R Truth, Hart Dynasty, Borne. . . they need to come up with an angle where they were locked out or diverted somewhere.

Notice how you have so many comments on just 10 minutes of a show. That just shows how much fans want change from the ordinary. Now if only they can put on a FULL show, we'd be a very happy bunch.

"I was at the show in Miami and during a commercial break I saw the ring crew prepare the flash pots PYRO for Kane's intro BEFORE the "voting" took place for someone to face Shamus.. Ergo, Viewers Choice was not legit but in fact a work"

Not so. You really think that they are going to set up Kane's pyro in 15 seconds while he makes his entrance? They were just putting it up just in case.

Any chance good ol' JR could be involved???

u know what i noticed was that there were like half a dozen cameramen at ringside and not one of them were attacked, hmmmmm interesting. I think Cole and the cameraman union are behind this

A couple more points on the NXT invasion...

Did anyone else notice there was quite a decent "N.. X.. T.." chant going on during the early stages of the Cena beatdown? that is, before the kids and women in the arena started screaming and crying...

Secondly, Michael Tarver is still a lame duck. Notice him stepping in to take a shot at Cena while Bryan was yelling at Cena and setting up his kick to the head.. forcing Bryan to pull back then do it all over again.

Keep up the great blogs Kevin, as I'll continue to read them and keep up. Personally, I probably won't watch it anymore, and a lot of my friends are giving up on it also. This was the worst I've seen it. I've over time gone from watching 4 days a week to Monday and Friday, then dropping Friday and now it's not even watching and/or taping. Considering they can't show blood, but can show the ending they did - I'm grateful I wasn't there with young children. It was utterly appalling. I never did get pulled into NXT - so that totally turned me off. Nothing about WWE anymore wants me to tune in on it. That plus my favorite wrestlers are no longer appearing, i.e. HHH, Undertaker (I'm sure they'll be back sometime in the future) and Shawn Michaels. Jeff Hardy is out of WWE and I can't bring myself to watch TNA or whatever he's on now. So it's goodbye WWE for now but I won't give up my morning blog reading. Thanks Kevin.

I don't think the fan voting in favor of Zack Ryder is a reflection of murmurring support so much as it is the fans voting the way the "fans" should be voting, i.e. support babyfaces, boo heels.

The fans were allowed to pick partners for R-Truth and The Miz, so they gave R-Truth the best partner that they could and they gave Miz the partner who they perceived would be the least help to him.

Ironically enough, the fans voted for CM Punk to defend the ECW championship against The Miz himself a few years ago at Cyber Sunday for the same reason: they wanted Punk to retain, so they gave him the challenger who poses the least threat.

The irony is that it gave The Miz an angle, where he and John Morrison challenged CM Punk for the title at the following event and during the build-up for that match, they won the WWE Tag Team championships from feuding partners Matt Hardy & MVP. Since the bookers didn't want to go from one set of feuding champions to another, they had Morrison & Miz get along, and that push has brought Miz where he is today.

If anyone has ever wondered what exact JR means by "running with the ball," that's the perfect example. I'm sure the bookers had no plans for that makeshift tag team, but the guys got themselves noticed.

I'm not sure who put the Undertaker in a vegetative state but this episode sure put me in one until the NXT invasion revived me.

BTW --Rey Mysterio and Cena have wrestled before, if you want to see it the match is on you tube.

Hear me out- what if Cena is behind the NXT Rooks? He started the Ruthless Aggression stuff, and he could be the Hogan of this new version of the NWO....Yeah he took the beatdown, but it was a swerve!!

Hi Kevin
I have been a fan of your blog for a while now, and i like your writing about Wrestling
I was just wondering,
Drew and Sheamus got into WWE almost in the same time, and they had almost the exact sudden big push. The thing is, I dont see why you dont like Sheamus and you support Drew, to be honest they are both good on mic and in ring, and to be more honest, everytime i see Sheamus vs Cena, i wish Sheamus wins because he is original and you dont know what to expect ..

My question is, why do you go for Drew and not for Sheamus?

RESPONSE FROM KE: I just see more potential in McIntyre than Sheamus.

Did anyone notice Evan Bourne doing something really weird on Raw? It happened just after Kane was "chosen" over Mark Henry and Evan. As Kane walked off the set Mark was looking at Evan who was out of shot and then he appeared fleetingly from behind some scenery gyrating his arms and with his shirt half off. Anyone see it? anyone know what the hell he was doing????????

THIS MAY FLIP YOU GUYS OUT ABIT. BUT I BELIEVE THE MOUTH FOR THE NXT ROOKIES WILL END UP BEING THE ROCK. HE SAID IN AN INTERVIEW A FEW MONTHS AGO... THAT HE WOULD POSSIBLY DO A 4-6 CONTRACT WITH VINCE... TO SHAKE THINGS UP AND BRING BACK THE ATTITUDE ERA.... WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK OF THAT?