WWE Monday Night Raw 11/14/2011 - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

As mentioned above, there was a lot going on during last night's Raw. Not only was it part of the promotion's continuing "SuperShow" initiative, but it was the last episode before Survivor Series (traditionally one of WWE's main pay-per-views), a mercilessly three hours long and even featured The Rock. So, naturally, the promotion decided to start off strong with...a feud between two commentators?

That's right, if you tuned in at 8 p.m. expecting an episode of NCIS but decided, "I'll give this crazy wrestling thing a shot," you were treated to two non-wrestlers (one of which had discussions of his digestive track-based ailments as his only real exposure in recent weeks) taking part in a series of inane challenges, including a dance competition that both men will have to explain to their grandchildren one day. To be fair, pointing to the stack of money they're both making should be explanation enough for anyone.

Last week I talked about liking the direction WWE was taking CM Punk's character, with the wrestler getting back to his quasi-meta-pipe-bomb-droppings. This week things went off the rails a little bit, however. Once again, Punk mirrored my complaints as a viewer and fan by grousing about how lousy the show is, particularly the opening commentator's feud, but this time it wasn't working for me.

CM Punk coming out in a clearly planned promo and talking about how bad Raw is doesn't make me get on his side - it just irritates me that Vince McMahon, the writers and presumably everyone else backstage knows what they're doing is garbage but still do it anyway. It's like farting in an elevator and thinking that claiming it makes it not stink.

I love Cholo Hunico. I wish WWE would do criminal characters for every race: turn Sheamus into a Real IRA member, Kofi Kingston into a Yardie, Randy Orton into a biker, Zack Ryder into an Ecstasy-peddling date-rapist and Mason Ryan into whatever passes for a criminal in Wales. A sheep-f*cker, probably. But even my sincere love for a stereotype about a decade past its sell-by date wasn't enough to get me onboard with the logic of Hunico's tag team match.

First off, after establishing Hunico as part of a new Hispanic stable on SmackDown including Epico and Primo, why would anyone think it's a good idea to shove him in a tag team match with Gringo Supremo Cody Rhodes? Sure, they're both in the Survivor Series match come Sunday, but that contest is about nothing and this bout did little to change that.

Meanwhile, WWE has also given Cody Rhodes the third (!!!) version of the same mediocre theme song, while also jettisoning his brilliantly insane Dr. Doom-inspired clear facemask, i.e., the best gimmick in wrestling. Who's asleep at the wheel here?

Is everyone OK if I just rave about Dolph Ziggler every week? Ok, good, because it's looking like that's the direction we're headed in. I've long said that Ziggler doesn't really need Vickie Guerrero as his mouthpiece, but tonight sealed it, as Ziggler burst out onto the entrance ramp and immediately commanded the audience's attention. Best of all: his quick rundown of his attributes ending with "I am so damn good at this," seemingly a knowing acknowledgement of the fact that he is indeed pretty capable with the microphone.

Of course, being that he's a talented, versatile young guy with a lot of promise, WWE felt the need to feed him to a big, overly-muscled green guy they are inexplicably pushing as a face, Mason Ryan. Ryan didn't get a pinfall on Ziggler, but he may as well have, winning by disqualification after beating the bejeezus out of his opponent for a few minutes. It's beyond me why WWE would think it's more important to push the monster face in a stakes-less Survivor Series match as opposed to protecting their United States Champion. It's not shocking of course, but it's still hell of irritating.