MARK OUT: To temporarily forget that wrestling is fake because something cool happened. Urban Dictionary
JOHN CENA / CM PUNK SEGMENT: MARKED OUT!
Last night’s RAW kicked off with the 2013 Royal Rumble winner John Cena coming to the ring. I figured this would happen, so I wasn’t really into this segment until Punk’s music hit. Mark out moment? Check. Punk and Cena exchange words and set up a HUGE main event match for NEXT Monday’s RAW, where they’ll fight each other for the right to face WWE Champion The Rock at WrestleMania XIX.
I’m ready to see how this plays out. I’ve been hoping for a Triple Threat match for the Title at WM29 since they’ve been pushing Cena/Rock. Hopefully this is stage 1 of getting that Triple Threat to happen.
JERICHO / SHEAMUS / RYBACK BACKSTAGE: MARKED OUT!
What started out as a hint towards a Sheamus/Ryback tiff, (something that was making me NOT CARE about WWE TV faster than a Fandango vignette), the segment changed directions and got my attention again by the involvement of Chris Jericho. Jericho calms the 2 “supermen” down, and sets up a match between the 3 of them and the Shield later in the show. I was stoked once I heard “The Shield, in a match, tonight.” Mark out moment? Check.
MARK HENRY def. SIN CARA: MARKED OUT! (then sat in worry)
Mark Henry looked so impressive in this match. I LOVE his “Bent on Destruction” heel character. He’s just a beast. I even loved a squash match like this. You knew he was going to punish Cara. However, I did start to worry after the appearance of the Great Khali, because I don’t want Creative to waste Henry’s momentum on The WASTE Khali. He hit a pretty good verbal jab on Khali though while mocking him. “That’s all you good for anyway…dancing” – Henry
MIZ def. ANTONIO CESARO: …checked out…
I was surprised at the reactions the Miz was getting last night. They actually gave him decent pops all throughout the match, especially when he hit his TERRIBLE version of the Figure 4 Leg Lock. I see how talented Cesaro is every time he wrestles…but NO ONE is behind is character, which just leads to an instant check out. I could not have cared less about who won this match. I will say that I checked out of this one even HARDER when Miz hit his “Figure Botch Leg Lock.” Really? REALLY? He needs to stop…like nowish…
JACK SWAGGER / ZEB COULTER VIGNETTE: MARKED OUT!
Loved the grittiness of this video promo. Very “old school” feel to it…like an old Sgt. Slaughter promo. LOVED it. I want more. I can’t get behind Swagger’s voice because of the lisp…so BRILLIANT move putting Mantel with him. Makes me actually WANT to see more Swagger.
RANDY ORTON / KANE / DANIEL BRYAN: …checked out…
Kane talking about hating snakes was awkward. This segment got me thinking that they may be splitting up Team Hell No for a match at WM29…but this segment was also very awkward. Orton vs Kane is the only good thing that came out of it. NEXT.
VICKIE GUERRERO / PAUL HEYMAN BACKSTAGE: MARKED OUT!
Heyman’s reactions are always priceless. I’ll always be interested in whatever angle he’s a part of. This was to set up an in-ring segment later in the show. Got me interested, so, segment FTW.
*World Heavyweight Champion* ALBERTO DEL RIO def. DOLPH ZIGGLER: MARKED OUT!
This was a great match. Both performers brought their A game (which I was worried about after Del Rio botched his “Bucket” spot the night before). I HATED the commercial break RIGHT in the middle of action like this. Del Rio’s reverse suplex off the top was a sick spot.
After the match, Big E Langston took out Del Rio. I loved Langston’s aggression and his finishing move. I’m convinced he’s the offspring of Taz, Ahmed Johnson, Ron Simmons, and Bobby Lashley. You heard it here first…Langton is the 4-way love child of former superstars. This led to a possible MITB briefcase cash in, which Ricardo Rodriguez RUINED, but I marked out at the thought of Ziggler winning that title. I expect Ziggs to tease a cash in more than once more before ACTUALLY cashing it in at WM29.
WADE BARRETT PROMO: …checked out…
Waste Barrett. The IC title means NOTHING right now. What was the point of this? Ugh. NEXT.
TENSAI / BRODUS CLAY / NAOMI def. PRIMO / EPICO / ROSA: …checked out…
Brodus WASTE and Princess Albert’s tag team is the ultimate check out machine. Had no interest in this one AT all. NEXT!
JACK SWAGGER def. DANIEL BRYAN: MARKED OUT!
This was a great match. LOVE Mantel being a manager for Swaggs. They had a great in-ring promo before the match as well. Bryan nailed a great missile drop kick off the top that looked as if it had taken Swagg’s head off. Patriot Act (lock now?) wins the match. Push, push, PUSHING Swaggs right now. Seems odd to me…but I can’t complain. I’m diggin’ it.
HEYMAN / GUERRERO / MADDOX / McMAHON SEGMENT: MARKED OUT!
Guerrero announced that Brad Maddox is now her new assistant. They’re FINALLY going to put him on TV each week, which is a plus. The guy’s charisma is great. I love that they’re using “The Office” joke of “assistant TO THE acting supervisor”. Heyman finds out that next week on RAW, he’ll be fighting Vince McMahon by McMahon himself appearing via satellite. Is this going to be the set up for HHH/Lesner? Should be a good show next week. They’re obviously stacking it for ratings since the “People’s Champion”…the WWE Champion…won’t be on the show. Ugh.
THE SHIELD def. JERICHO / RYBACK / SHEAMUS: MARKED OUT!
Great spots throughout this entire match from just about everyone involved. Jericho put the Shield over like he does EVERYONE now a days. Rollins hits the knee off the top on Jericho for the win. Great ending to this match. Mark out complete.
DAMIEN SANDOW def. KOFI KINGSTON via DQ: MARKED OUT!
I marked out when I heard Sandow’s music. Love this guy. Anytime Sandow touches the mic it’s GOLD. Love his character. He’s such a great ass of a heel. You’re WELCOME! The match ended after R-Truth came out and attacked Sandow.
R-Truth’s involvement could lead into a Truth/Kingston vs Team Rhodes Scholars match. I hope this is the case, as I’ve said multiple times lately that I feel like Creative’s choice to split up TRS was one of the BIGGEST MISTAKES they’ve made in a while. Rhodes and Sandow NEED to be together. I hope this feud will bring them back together for another long run.
RANDY ORTON def. KANE: MARKED OUT!
Rematch from WrestleMania 28 on free TV? I’ll take it. Not as smooth as WM last year (especially with the commercial break) but still entertaining. RKO leads to the victory via Bryan distraction. Byran’s involvement makes me think that a Bryan/Kane match at WM29 is all but booked now. I just have NO idea who they pass the Tag Titles to when they split. The Shield is the only RELEVANT team that they could put the straps on. If they pick Tensai/Clay…they should just dump the belts into the toilet instead.
ROCK WWE CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION: …checked out… then MARKED OUT…sorta…
I didn’t get excited about the Rock being on TV last night. I was only excited about seeing what the new belt would look like. We’ve had a leaked image of what the belt “could” look like for weeks, and I wanted to see if it in fact would be that design. The Rock unveiled the strap, and it IS the design. It’s a little big and looks like a giant championship ring, but I don’t mind it. Could be worse. My mark out moment came when Cena hit the stage and Punk hit Cena with the old Spinner belt. I hope this sets up a Triple Threat at Mania.
RAW 2/18/13 OVERALL: MARKED OUT!
I was excited for this show. Post PPV shows, especially when we’re on the Road to WrestleMania, should be exciting and entertaining. I felt like the show was a 3 out of 5 on the entertaining scale. It definitely wasn’t as good as last week, but some mark out moments did exist, and there were more of them than check out moments for me. On to next week where the Champ WON’T be there, but Lesnar will be. Punk vs Cena will take place as well. Kinda stoked for that.
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