MARKED OUT! …checked out… RAW: 04/29/13

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

RICARDO RODRIGUEZ def. ZEB COLTER and BIG E LANGSTON: MARKED OUT!

This was a crazy opening match, but I was engaged by it. I truly felt like the crowd was behind it as well. The winner’s team gets to pick the match stipulation between Del Rio, Swagger, and Ziggler at Extreme Rules, and without THAT being a factor in this match, it probably would have been absolutely useless. However, it was entertaining, and I wasn’t mad at it. NEXT.

JOHN CENA “World Wish Day” Presentation: Pretty awesome story. MARK OUT! For those kids…

Cena introduces 3 kids from the Make a Wish Foundation and gives the WWE Universe a chance to cheer them. Honorable and awesome. Applause all around for this.

RANDY ORTON def. CODY RHODES: MARKED OUT!

This was a very good match. Cody Rhodes performed very well, and of course, Orton wins with the RKO out of no where. Definitely a PPV quality bout, and I was happy to see Rhodes able to showcase his singles wrestling ability in that kind of light. Well done.

NAOMI def. BRIE BELLA: …checked out…

I saw the outcome of this one coming from a mile away. Now…even though I checked out of this one, I do have to say that Naomi is one of the most entertaining female wrestlers the WWE has landed in a LONG time. Kudos to her, but the match fell short. The Bellas worked their “magic,” and lost because of it.

THE SHIELD promo: MARKED OUT!

The pace, delivery, and intensity was there. These guys just keep getting better and better. There was no mention of Ambrose’s loss on Smackdown, just the beat down that they put on the Undertaker afterwards. They remain strong and will compete in a 6-man tag later on in the show. Believe in these guys, they’re all future champions.

I don’t really need to mention that 3MB came out to interrupt them. They are merely there to serve as punching bags week after week.

*World Heavyweight Champion* DOLPH ZIGGLER def. *United States Champion* KOFI KINGSTON: MARKED OUT!

We’ve seen this pairing OVER and OVER again…but they always put on such a good match. I am probably in the minority that isn’t tired of seeing them compete. Great match.

JACK SWAGGER def. ZACK RYDER: …checked out…

Ugh. Slow. Not a great showing from either. It served it’s purpose, to fill time, and that was it. Period. NEXT!

MARK HENRY def. TONS OF FUNK and SHEAMUS in Tug-O-War: …checked out…

Seriously checked out here. You knew Sheamus would appear at SOME point to get in Mark Henry’s grill, but to be the THIRD guy to lose in a scripted Tug-O-War contest…just ugh. The only thing that made sense about it was that it DID continue to build Sheamus/Henry for Extreme Rules.

ALBERTO DEL RIO def. ANTONIO CESARO: …checked out…

Would you consider Cesaro buried yet? I know he’s just a victim of Creative’s uncertain writing game, but can we get some consistently? Pushed, not pushed, pushed, BURIED. He has a US title match Wednesday night though…even though he loses all the time. Makes sense don’t it?

THE GREAT KHALI def. FANDANGO in a dance off: …checked out…

Fandango’s leg drop at the end of this horrendous segment was the only enjoyable thing about it. Waste. Next please.

THE SHIELD def. *Tag Team Champions* TEAM HELL NO / *WWE Champion* JOHN CENA: MARKED OUT!

GREAT tag match. The Shield shined, and Daniel Bryan proved why he’s one of the most over talents in the WWE right now. Excellent work inside the ring, from everyone involved, aside from the injured Cena. The ending was pretty forgettable and useless. Didn’t really build ANYTHING. Still, overall, the actual wrestling was great.

RAW 04/29/13 OVERALL: MARKED OUT! For the matches, …checked out… for EVERYTHING else.

We had GREAT matches on this Raw. Pay-Per-View quality stuff, but the segments fell REALLY flat for me. Just terrible. I will never be a fan of the “Dance Off” segments. If the WWE can continue to book matches like these on Raws, I’ll be more happy. It helps forget how bad the cheesy filler segment was 15 minutes before hand.

We have 2 more Raws until Extreme Rules. Let’s hope the card’s storylines can get some more build beforehand, because I don’t know about you, but I’m not REALLY excited about this event just yet.

Follow Doug McDonald on Twitter

This Day in Wrestling History: The Rock Wins Gold

Update: Undertaker May Not Be at Extreme Rules