MARKED OUT! …checked out… RAW: 04/08/13

MARK OUT: To temporarily forget that wrestling is fake because something cool happened. Urban Dictionary

JOHN CENA / MARK HENRY / BOOKER T segment: MARKED OUT!

Although I am not a huge fan of John Cena’s character (and his new shirt looks like something a 6 year old designed), I was anxious for this segment because I knew “something” would come of it. Enter Henry (to draw Ryback out was my initial reaction, and would come later) and Booker T to set up a “if you beat Cena, you get a title shot” match. Loved Henry’s presence, and loved the thought of “what will happen” from this set up. Good start to a post-Mania Raw.

BIG E LANGSTON def. DANIEL BRYAN: MARKED OUT!

Daniel Bryan is one of the best in-ring workers the WWE has. That said, Langston, although very green on the big stage, is talented as well. Good match and while there aren’t a lot of people saying this, I love the “Big Ending” finisher. At least he’s doing something different and not recycling a powerbomb or Dominator…(ahem…Bobby Lashly or every other big guy out there).

WADE BARRETT def. *Intercontinental Champion* THE MIZ: MARKED OUT!

Wow…if you would have told me that a re-match from the WrestleMania pre-show (that sucked!) would be one of the best matches on the program Monday, I would have told you to go suck yourself. This was awesome. Aside from a little botch from Miz (which happens, everyone makes mistakes people), this match ruled. Made me feel like the IC Title actually mattered…just 25 hours after it didn’t matter AT ALL. Nice job WWE. Barrett wins his belt back.

*World Heavyweight Champion* ALBERTO DEL RIO def. JACK SWAGGER / ZEB COULTER: MARKED OUT!

All I could think about was a Ziggler cash in at the end of this match…so I was marking out (on @WrestleRumors twitter handle) about the possibilities of said cash in. My enjoyment of this match had NOTHING to do with Swagger or Del Rio and everything to do with “Will Ziggler cash in?!?!?!” Enter Ziggs…

DOLPH ZIGGLER def. *World Heavyweight Champion* ALBERTO DEL RIO after MITB cash in: MARKED OUT!

LOST MY MIND…along with every fan in the IZOD Center. Which, let me just say, was amazing. This New Jersey crowd was HOT. They made the show SO much more worth watching. I’ll be in Greenville, SC for Raw next week, and they won’t even be able to skim the surface of what the NJ fans did tonight. Moving on…

What a great moment. Ziggler comes out as Del Rio’s leg is being attended to, and proceeds to get the victory with the Zig Zag. The winner and NEWWWWWWWWW World Heavyweight Champion, and rightly so, Dolph “Show off” Ziggler. Sweet, sweet mark out.

THE UNDERTAKER segment: MARKED OUT!

My favorite wrestler of all time is on Raw, yeah, I’ll mark out. Fresh off of the Ziggler emotion, out comes the Deadman…who immediately gets cut off by the Shield. Out comes Team Hell No and we have a build to what could possibly be a 6-man tag at Extreme Rules. AWESOME. What could possibly be next?!

SANTINO MORELLA / R-TRUTH / ZACK RYDER def. 3MB: …checked out…

This was next. Morella with the cobra for the win. Yay (all in monotone to reflect sarcasm). I guess the crowd needed to rest for a moment, because they were about to get INSANE.

RANDY ORTON vs SHEAMUS draw: MARKED OUT!

Seriously…this match wasn’t even the focus on the program. The NY/NJ crowd was LOSING THEIR MINDS chanting everything from “RVD” to “MICHAEL COLE”. They even did “the wave” for a solid 5 minutes. Amazing. Just amazing. What a crowd for live TV. Show then brings the match to a draw when he comes down and man handles Orton (to a huge pop and “thank you Show” chant). Weird…but awesome!

FANDANGO def. KOFI KINGSTON via DQ: MARKED OUT!

I mean…Fandango won via DQ because Y2J came out and destroyed him…but the fans win here as well. They hummed Fandango’s music throughout the entire match…and it didn’t stop…and probably hasn’t stopped. I bet Fandango’s music is the #1 downloaded song on iTunes today. Remarkable.

PAUL HEYMAN promo: MARKED OUT!

Heyman talks about Lesnar wanting to fight “tonight” (the crowd pops huge) only to then say but he doesn’t fight for free (great tease there). Then he says CM Punk will address his loss to the Undertaker (crowd pops again)…but says he’ll do it NEXT week in Greenville (awesome for me since I’ll be there, but a tease to the NJ fans yet again). Heyman is heel gold. What a legend.

TONS OF FUNK / FUNKADACTYLS def. TEAM RHODES SCHOLARS / BELLA TWINS: MARKED OUT!

The fans continue to hum Fandango’s music and chant for “Randy Savage” and “ECW”. I marked out for the fans more, but the match was decent as well. Terrible finish, like all Tons of Fun(k) matches, but oh well. The fans save the mark out.

JOHN CENA def. MARK HENRY via count-out: MARKED OUT!

The fans are chanting “Same ol’ sh*t” during this one, and rightly so. Cena win via count-out…enter Ryback after Henry begins to destroy Cena post-match. Ryback picks Cena up and shakes his hand…starts a “feed me more” chant…then CLOTHESLINES CENA! A “Shell Shock” finisher later (which I still hate) and Ryback is holding the WWE Title saying HE wants to be the man. A very good ending to the best Raw I’ve seen in the last 10 years.

RAW 04/08/13 OVERALL: MARKED OUT!

Again…the BEST RAW I’VE SEEN IN 10 YEARS. ‘Mania was decent, not great/not awful, but the pay off to the so-so PPV was HUGE with a Raw like this. Left and right, the talent, fans, and energy continued to surprise everyone watching, and it definitely made the 3 hour program FLY by. I had no idea where the time had gone by 11 o’clock.

In one night, the WWE successfully made the Intercontinental Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, and the WWE Championship all relevant again. They’re now prizes worth fighting for again, instead of “redemption” in petty feuds. Back on the right track? You bet.

I hope programming stays this fun. That’s what it was to be a wrestling fan tonight, fun. It should remain this way. The next 4 months will lead into SummerSlam with HUGE numbers if the WWE can keep this trend of “fun” programming up. Bravo to the wrestlers, fans in NJ, and the WWE Creative team for putting on such an awesome show this week. Let’s hope I get to experience something just as great next week in Greenville at the Bi-Lo Center.

Follow Doug McDonald on Twitter and tune in to RSM WEEKLY this Thursday night LIVE at 7pm EST on www.ringsidemanners.com. 

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