WWE Monday Night Raw Recap 11/30/09: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Image Credit: TWD Media
Of course, Thanksgiving for me always means that I catch some virus from an extended family member… so take my opinions with a grain of “I’m in a coughy bad mood” salt.
The Good
Opening – Chris Jericho and Big Show Promo interrupted by DX: Jerishow did a serviceable job with their talking up of themselves. Of course, DX should mention that they didn’t bother with the tag titles, because the majority of their DX years have been spent with one of them holding a heavyweight title, and oh yeah, Shawn was retired for a lot of the true DX years. I didn’t love the way that Hunter disparaged the titles, because let’s face it, the only thing giving the Tag straps any momentum as of late, has been Jerishow.
Sheamus Promo followed by Santino: Sheamus is competent on the mic, although his accent makes it a little difficult to understand what he is saying. Santino was illogically in his face, but he was funny.
Sheamus vs. Santino: Squash, as expected, but if they don’t have him beat anyone worthwhile, they need to build him up with this stuff. 2 out of 5 stars
Verne Troyer and The Miz w/ Mark Henry: The Miz stole the show here, as his lines were great with Verne. Don’t know what Henry has done the past couple of months to deserve the push he got tonight…but whatever.
Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton: You knew they wouldn’t give a straight match away for free with no promotion. So, here was the story. Before Randy came out, Legacy beat the crap out of Kofi. Kofi courageously wanted to go on with the match, Orton came out quicker than he ever has, and beat Kofi, until hitting him with an RKO, and getting the pin. Then he DDT’d him while Kofi’s legs were on the top rope. Looks like someone’s been watching “Desmond Wolfe” on TNA.  2.5 out of 5 stars
John Cena Promo interrupted by Carlito: Dug this. Cena wanted to do the title match tonight. Instead of Sheamus coming out, Carlito did. I was like, huh? But Carlito did a sort of “shoot” about how Sheamus was going to do to Cena what all the boys in the back wanted to do because they all can’t stand him. Of course Cena gave him an attitude adjustment. Then Sheamus came out to tease that there would be a match, before retreating to the back.
Chris Jericho vs. Triple H: Wow, saved the wrestling portion of the night. So good. The stipulation here was that the loser would have to face the other’s team in a handicap match the next week. The thing about a Jericho match is, even with someone with a pretty limited move list like Triple H, you’re going to see counters you’ve never seen before. After both men got laid out by each other’s partners, Triple H recovered to get a roll up pin on Jericho. I’m so looking forward to that handicap match next week, because I know Jericho will make it great. 4 out of 5 stars
The Bad
Melina and Gail Kim vs. Maryse and Jillian: Maryse pinned Melina with a DDT, after a mediocre match. Problem with that anyone? 1 out of 5 stars
Verne Troyer Promo with MVP and Mark Henry: Looks like yet another personality makeover for Mark Henry. He ended up dancing and then crushing Jillian. Look for a hand to be born in about nine months.
Mark Henry vs. The Miz: Henry gave the world’s strongest slam to the Miz and pinned him cleanly. Why, I don’t know. It seemed in the last two weeks, they were building the Miz up. Why would they do this? Is it because he Tweeted that he was pulled over by cops over the weekend? 2 out of 5 stars
The Ugly
Mark Henry and MVP Promo on the stage… Rapping: Youtube this horror if you didn’t see it. It was the worst segment I’ve seen in a long time. Henry raps about as well as I do. And that is not well.
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Raw failed on every level for me and you’ll be getting my 2 cents tomorrow…
Verne almost ties with ZZ Top for me.
DX-Jerishow segment seemed forced to me. It was as if Shawn and Hunter were pissed at the world. The segment came off as awkward and since when does Jericho botch a promo?
Mark Henry = FAILZ
Maryse is still hot so I’ll let it slide.
Kofi’s build up is still win.
Cena = Sucks. I hate everything about him now from the stupid orange shirt that makes him look like a child to his lame promos.
Michael Cole seemed more annoying than usual tonight.
And all of this pales in comparison to the Patriots losing to the Saints.
*bangs head against a wall*
You know, I just realized I forgot to mention that there was no Hornswoggle or “Little People’s Court” on the show. I guess that’s a good thing, but you have to ask the question: How bad could it have been that they decided to scrap it?
That’s the only thing that I tuned in for. I started watching a little late and caught the end of the divas match/screaming contest, followed by Troyer backstage with Jerishow, Sheamus/Miz match with a pretty sweet table spot, and the Troyer/Miz/Henry promo put me over the edge and I had to turn it off.
I’m not a fan of Mike Myers or the Goldfinger series, so Troyer hosting was always going to be bad from my point if view.
This article was WAY more enjoyable than the episode, or at least the crap that I saw anyway.
Mark Henry should NEVER rap again. MVP was pretty good on the mic though.
Loved the main event, Miz was awesome, opener was good, show sucked.
I should never rap again either… Miz was awesome, but not his match.
I like Sheamus. He’s no Jerico/Punk on the mic, but he’s new, so he has time to improve. I love the “unstoppable badass” angle too, or perhaps I’m just happy to see someone who shares my pigment deficiency.
Do you guys think people’s hate for Cena will make them love Sheamus, or has he been pushed too soon for people to get behind him?
I’m honestly feeling the Cena heel flip. If anything, a tweener switch. Cena is coming off desperate to retain his title. A little bit like a psycho…
I thought I read somewhere that Sheamus’ skin wasn’t a natural thing and he actually works hard to keep it that white. I guess it’s something different that not many (if any) other wrestlers out there have. Seeing him up close on RAW he didn’t look THAT white though IMO.
My skin gets very Sheamus like in the winter. Is his accent really that strong, does anyone know… or will pull a Kofi in a couple of months?
I don’t think many people can pull off a strong Irish accent like that, so I would think that it’s legitimate.
I’m glad to see more international wrestlers in WWE. There’s now Irish, Scottish, British, Canadian, Indian, American, Mexican, and Spanish (Kane technically) superstars. I think it’s about time we see another Australian wrestler, but hopefully one without the hyper-Australian stereotype gimmick
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Ha! No, I don’t think he’s going to pull a Kofi. He speaks Gaelic, played rugby, and was Bono’s bodyguard. You don’t get more Irish then that.
If Miz really was used that way, I’ll be very disappointed. I have to take your word for it though, Saints vs. Patriots was more interesting to me than Verne Troyer…or however you spell his name.
Hey.. I googled his name, so if I spelt it wrong, blame Google!
so it was good that yesterday was my bday and i missed raw???? and saints over patriots=WIN
Happy Birthday! Raw was very “missable”, because you really didn’t miss anything.
Mike, the Monday Night Raw recap is one of the crown jewels of TWD. It’s just awesome, time and time again.
Surely, you jest.
I’m not as high on MVP, though I didn’t really know him on Smackdown. I was actually thinking that the only way Henry’s rapping COULD make even the remotest of sense was if MVP attacked him from behind.
I’m pretty Irish myself, but I don’t like his Theme song.