MARKED OUT! …checked out… RAW 05-13-13

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

FANDANGO vs. CHRIS JERICHO in a Dance Off: …checked out…

I was only interested in this segment because they were finally announcing a match between these 2 and we got some physicality between them. However, the segment was 18 minutes long…WAY too much talking and “dance teasing.” Could have been a lot more impactful as a 10 minute segment with the physical interaction starting almost instantly.

RYBACK def. ZACK RYDER: …checked out…

Really? Ryback gets a squash match and yells “Ryback rules!” about 25 times the entire show. Ugh. This match nearly made it to the 2 minute mark. Ryback looks strong going into his match with Cena Sunday…which he’ll lose and appear weak after. Waste.

PRIME TIME PLAYERS def. TONS OF FUNK: …checked out…

Random tag match with a decent “screw over” finish. But who is really buying into these teams?

*United States Champion* KOFI KINGSTON def. DAMIEN SANDOW: MARKED OUT!

I enjoyed this match a good bit. Great work from both of these guys. It wasn’t the spark the show needed at the time, but it was a sign that things could get better from here.

MARK HENRY calls out SHEAMUS: …checked out…

Mark Henry has been consistently great…but this segment fell flat for me. There was an underlining feeling of “we’re rushing to add matches to our PPV Sunday,” and everything else just seemed to be lazy and unthought-out. Henry was great…but they could have accomplished a better build without the video recaps and with more physicality.

RANDY ORTON def. ANTONIO CESARO: No Comment.

These two have great matches. I didn’t mark out, but I didn’t check out. I guess I just got mad as a regular viewer. Cesaro cuts a promo about how he puts the “W (Wrestling)” in WWE, and that no one is good enough to beat him, then loses CLEAN. They didn’t say ANYTHING about this…and more frustratingly, had no interaction between Randy Orton and his Extreme Rules opponent, The Big Show. Why? This was just a rematch from earlier in the week and did NOTHING for the Show/Orton build. Just…meh.

THE MIZ def. HEATH SLATER: …checked out…

Notice that no one really responded when The Miz returned? This match was just as random as the PTP/TOF tag match. Seemingly out of no where, and if Miz is supposed to have a match with Cody Rhodes Sunday…WHY WOULDN’T THEY HAVE HAD MIZ WRESTLE OR AT LEAST INTERACT WITH RHODES ON RAW? The logic just doesn’t seem to be there during Creative’s planning of this show. NEXT.

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

This was the shot in the arm RAW needed, and it kept me awake for the last hour at least. Daniel Bryan showed why he is one of the best wrestlers in the game today with his performance during this one. My only beef with this one was…The Shield actually lost it via DQ…BUT NO ONE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY LOST! It was still a great match between some great talent.

JACK SWAGGER def. BIG E LANGSTON via Count-Out: MARKED OUT!

Big E dominated most of this one…but lost via count out. I like Langston…just waiting to see when they try to put him against Mark Henry…cause I just see it coming somewhere down the road.

AJ LEE def. NATALYA: …checked out…

Wasn’t a lot of camera time ON the actual match…as they were focused more on Kaitlyn, the Bellas, and Kaitlyn’s “secret admirer.” The only part about this one worth noting was AJ’s “Black Widow” submission hold at the end of this.

TRIPLE H calls out BROCK LESNAR: MARKED OUT!…sorta…

I wanted to love this encounter…and I sorta MARKED OUT Because it was Lesnar and HHH, but overall…flat again. They got into a cage and fought a little…but what did this accomplish? I hope this program finally gets its explanation point to it at Extreme Rules…cause it’s just not doing it for me anymore. It needs to end.

RAW 05/13/13 OVERALL: …checked out…

Wow. Just wow. It was a boring show overall. I could go a lot more negative with it, but I don’t need to. Just know that I wasn’t extremely entertained by anything but the 6-man tag match in the middle of the show, and I’m not really looking forward to spending money to cover Extreme Rules. Hopefully the matches will change my mind once the PPV starts, but as of right now, it’s just another thing I’ll be watching with little enthusiasm. Yaaay.

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