Top 4 of FCW 4/8/12

FCW comes back and it could not have been a moment too soon. Two weeks without it, and having missed the part where Rollins won the championship from Kruger, yeah, I’m miffed! But it was back!

4. Regal and JR on commentary

I’ve often complained about Chris Russo on commentary, so when he leaves the booth so that during the 15 minute championship (which took 20 minutes on this particular night) JR can take over, I’m positively ecstatic. JR is not my favorite commentator, though he’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and when given an option of so many others, I would choose him before most. Working in tandem with Regal just made this a winning pair. The downside to the commentating here, JR kept pronouncing it “Cesar” and not “Cesaro” until Regal oh-so-subtly corrected him.

3. Seth Rollins Promo

First, since the last two weeks were missing, this was an excellent chance for those who do not read up on spoilers on a regular basis to learn that Seth Rollins is the new champion! The audience also learned he has a high ankle sprain. The championship is starting to seem like a curse. Gain the title, and an injury. This promo, though, seems to prove Rollins is here to stay.

2. Antonio Cesaro vs. Richie Steamboat

I haven’t really been impressed with Cesaro despite improvements every week. The improvements were slow and it does not help when a million people are talking to you about how incredible someone is. Hype often can ruin someone for you. Tonight Cesaro refreshed my feelings on him and turned me into a believer! Steamboat paled in comparison, which is sad because I keep wanting Steamboat to succeed. However this was Cesaro’s time to shine and everything that he lacked before went up a few notches. Did not keep him from still not quite getting that title. This time.

1. Kenneth Cameron vs. Byron Saxton

I admit my biased towards Ascension willingly. After Scott Stanford, Derrick Bateman, and Tyler Reks, Ascension might be the next great thing for me. (I have weird taste) This match was cut short and I should be pouting about it because it never really was a full match, but Conor O’Brian returns and when the lights go out Cameron and O’Brian pull Saxton out and the match is no contest. Is Saxton going to become a part of Ascension? PLEASE?!

Raw’s Streak of Losing Interest

By now everyone knows that Raw had the largest drop off from the first to second hour in ratings in over four years. That’s huge. And it happened for a good reason. Raw was too carried away with its own momentum and storylines. After last week’s episode I had to wonder if the storyline was good, or bad. I ultimately went with good because I was not sure where it was going.

This week I still, even over twenty-four hours later, can not seem to conclude that what they did with it on Monday night was actually good. None of it really surprised me, besides JR’s firing.

But it’s Raw. There had to be some good to it, right?

And here’s the list I compiled of the good things, in order of appearance.

- CM Punk

I think most of CM Punk‘s lines speak for themselves:
“Shame-O”
“You want me to do commentary?” “I want you to do commentary.” “Can I wear your blazer?” “You can even wear my blazer.” “I’m in!”
“Don’t screw it up they say, how nice of the fans. Don’t screw it up.”
“I’m like Bob Uecker.”
“Who’s gonna win?”

Now we knew it could not last long. Punk alone on commentary is entertaining, but he needs someone to play up to. Of course everyone who follows me on twitter knows my dream team would be reuniting CM Punk and Scott Stanford. However, this really is just going to focus on what was good about Raw.

- Teaming up the four heels of Swagger, Rhodes, Christian, and Ziggler.

These four work well off of one another. If I could have my way, Vickie would be taking Cody Rhodes and Christian under her wing as well just so I can see more of all of them together. It also showed something very important: bullying still exists at ringside. The exact thing some of the wrestlers were protesting happened in the very first match back. The men behaved but it still was striking a point that was actually subtle.

- Cody Rhodes bagging Randy Orton.

Cody Rhodes interrupted the match between Mark Henry and Randy Orton, mostly because there was no way Henry was getting a third win over Randy Orton, cleanly. At least not at this point. When Cody Rhodes had one of his lackeys run and grab a bag I honestly had turned to my boyfriend and said, “There’s no way Rhodes bags him.” And was giddy when I was wrong. I’m a huge mark for Randy Orton and I was still cheering for Cody Rhodes and his Guccis! Cody decided to have a maniacal moment as he lost control of his laughter and the moment was exquisite.

- Rosa Mendes

She may not be the best wrestler of the diva division, but screw it, she’s the best looking. Also when Kelly Kelly had her in the corner and seemed to be trying to put her butt in Rosa’s face Rosa said no to that and pushed her away.

- The return of The Miz and R-Truth

Oh, we all knew they were coming back sooner or later. It was not even that shocking. However I love watching R-Truth and The Miz telling the audience, “You suck,” as they enter. R-Truth enunciates better as a rapper as a heel and with The Miz accompanying him the crowd can not help but boo. Especially as Michael Cole nearly jumps for joy as he sees his favorite tag team together again.

Now for what I might consider the bad part of Raw. Am I reading too much into the Morrison angle, or is this something the WWE is doing to toy with the fans because they know there is a lot of internet speculation? They’ve done it before. But Triple H did “re-sign” John Morrison. In turn John Morrison was one of the superstars to walk out on Triple H. Will Laurinaitis take that as a reason to fire Morrison? Rumors are that his contract are nearly up and they have lost interest in him. Since he returned he no longer seems to be the same Morrison that made ladies’ hearts throb.

I used to love John Morrison. The bedazzled pants, the fur jackets, the wavy salon style hair. Now he’s become Job Morrison and it’s a bit heartbreaking, if I could bring myself to be that invested. Internet rumors do not help my level of interest, but it will be interesting to see where it goes.

What was your favorite moment of Raw? What was your least?

Cole: “Way to go JR, I actually had some respect for ya.” JR: “Well that’s unnecessary.”