WWE Monday Night Raw 9/3/2012

WWE Monday Night Raw 9/3/2012

I'm off today and nothing is going on, so I decided to cover Raw. No pictures though unfortunately as this is live.

They showed a video of Punk attacking Lawler backstage before the show began.

Punk came out and basically told Sheamus that this is his town and he shouldn't bother trying to suck up to them. Sheamus and Punk then talked to each other on the mic with AJ coming out and making a Sheamus vs CM Punk match for tonight.

Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler
Looked like a pretty decent match, but I feel like I've seen this a million times before already. Then again, I can say the same thing with SD's main event scene particularly with Del Rio vs Sheamus. Dolph hit a really cool jumping DDT and took a superplex off the top during this. Orton actually did a sensible rocker-dropper counter into a hanging DDT off the ropes. Dolph then got the win after countering an Orton roll-up, into one of his one while holding the tights.

The Miz came out and joined the commentary booth with Cole.

Anger Management
Daniel Bryan's collage was different from the one posted on WWE.com. This one had yes and no written all over it. Kane had a blank anger collage and then he asked if they wanted to see how he felt inside. He threw the collage in the garbage can and then did his entrance with the can shooting flames. Awesome!

Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs Tensai and Cody Rhodes
Cara got almost no response coming out. Cara got a pin over Tensai 3 weeks ago which helped build this match. They started this then immediately cut to the break. They had a short but good match here. Sin Cara won this for his team with the swanton.

Anger Management
They decided to do the circle of trust. They asked DB and Kane to demonstrate. The teacher asked DB to fall backwards and have Kane catch him. When he said that Kane will catch him, Kane said, "I will?". DB fell back and Kane actually caught him. The teacher then asked for both of them to catch Harold. They didn't. Then we got this:
"Did you know that I wasn't going to catch him?" - DB
"Did you know that I wasn't going to catch him?" - Kane
"You know Kane, I think I'm starting to understand you." - DB
"Okay, I think Harold needs medical attention." - Doctor Shelby

Champion vs Champion (not title vs title) - Sheamus vs CM Punk
Gotta love it when a champion vs champion match doesn't even headline a show. Only in WWE. Cole said that this is the first time that Sheamus fought CM Punk. Punk came out in his usual clothing and then got on the mic. He said that the crowd understands that Punk is nothing less than a main event wrestler and that Punk doesn't just get paraded out at the 8 o'clock hour and called out. Punk then said because it's Labor Day and the crowd was probably taking a day off of work, he would too. He then walked out. Bait and Switch. This was a clever way though to keep Punk a heel but not tick off the crowd too much.

AJ told Punk that he couldn't leave and he said it was a personal day then took off. Matt Striker tried to interview AJ and she said, "Who are you?".

Alberto came down to ringside for commentary and then Jack Swagger followed.

Sheamus vs Jack Swagger
They mentioned Swagger's 9-month long losing streak. Swagger had on a neat looking chrome blue singlet. Swagger actually got a little offense in here before being taken out quickly with Sheamus' brand new texas cloverleaf submission hold in 2:30. Del Rio attacked right after and got hit with a White Noise and then Ricardo shoved ADR out while eating a Brogue Kick. Some people are thinking Ricardo might have actually gotten hurt off the kick.

Eve Torres vs Kaitlyn
Layla was on commentary for this. There are so many guest commentators lately. Miz and Layla argued the whole time then Kaitlyn botched a leapfrog. It basically ended up like a flying knee into the the gut. She looked injured and Eve won with a neckbreaker right after. Kaitlyn stayed down here looking like she was in pain. Eve and Layla shook hands after the match while Kaitlyn was talking to the ref.

Jack Swagger was shown leaving backstage. He said he was taking "extended time off" and said that he was "better than this".  AJ tried to get him not to leave and be like Jericho but he said, "sorry".

Anger Management
They said that this was the end of Anger Management. DB said he was happy to give Kane a rematch after beating him. Kane said he would accept and promised not to enviscerate him. Kane and DB argued and told Harold to shut up. Kane had DB ready for the chokeslam and Dr. Shelby freaked out and left. The anger management teacher get's angry...

By the way, what's with WWE using big akward words lately? Whether it's enviscerate or Raquel Diaz's exfoliating ugliness tour, I'm having to use the dictionary for WWE shows. That's a first.

They did a twitter pole with choices of having DB and Kane compete with each other, become a tag team or hug it out. I hope they vote for hugging it out.

Matt Striker tried to ask ADR about Ricardo's condition but Otunga stopped him. The training room that they came out of looked like a bathroom with the positioning of the signs and the walls.

They then mentioned the Rock catching a burglar on the set of "Fast and the Furious 6" and chasing him off.

Jinder Mahal vs Ryback
Ryback made quick work of Jinder here which is surprising since they seem to want to do something with Jinder. Hopefully it's the end of that feud. Ryback at one point here had Jinder with his back on the mat and picked him up like that into a powerbomb. Ryback hit his finisher for the win.

Striker talked to AJ backstage and she said to tell ADR and Cena that their match is now a falls count anywhere match.

Hug it out - Kane vs Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan came out and got an insane reaction. He was over more than Punk and he's over more than Cena at this point. Kane came out at 55% of the people on twitter voted for Kane and DB to hug it out. The ref called and pointed for them to come to the middle and hug it out. Absolutely hilarious. Kane and DB stared each other down like they were going to lock up then Kane backed off. Oh my God, they are working a hugging spot. AMAZING. Can I give workrate stars for this? DB chest bumped Kane and the crowd booed loudly. Kane then chest bumped DB. DB put his arms around Kane and they cut to a mom in the crowd clapping. DB yelled at Kane for not hugging him and the crowd chants "hug him back". Kane then protested that DB didn't hug him back this time. This is the best match on the show. Cole said that they have to hug at the same time. They finally hugged to a loud pop and DB and Kane shaked hands. They then started slapping each other on the shoulder and progressively hit harder. The crowd booed this and did it again when Daniel Bryan pushed Kane and then they started to trade pushes and shots. They traded some moves and Kane hit a chokeslam then put the chair on DB's head.  The ref's tried to stop this as Kane jumped to the top and DB hit Kane with a chair. The hugging spot is absolutely must see. DB is the best worker in the world as he even makes a hug an interesting spot.

United States Championship - Antonio Cesaro vs Santino Marella
Cesaro did his usual 5-language gimmick this time in an inset. Santino took off the Cobra to save himself from Aksana. Santino got the cobra back gut got pearl-harbored and gotch-style neutralized in the process for the Cesaro win.

Heath Slater vs Zack Ryder
Slater hit an awesome rebound neckbreaker here but then followed with super weak elbows. He danced too which is becoming a routine of his. Cole brought up Slater beating Doink a few weeks ago and then Ryder got the win with a Rough Ryder.

Vickie came out immediately after and got in a chair in the middle of the ring. She showed footage AJ slapping and attacking her last week. Vickie talked to the chair pretending it was AJ and telling it to leave. AJ then came out. AJ said that WWE management made her apologize and said she can't put her hand on others again. Vickie wanted a more meaningful apology and slapped AJ, but told her she can't touch her. AJ had a fit about it in ring.

Falls Count Anywhere - John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio
Cena got a pretty weak reaction here. He came out in Red Ferrari that had an ALBERTO license plate. No Ricardo here since he got injured earlier. We get back from commercial and the match has already started. We got the dueling "Let's Go Cena" and "Cena Sucks" chants. Cena and ADR then took to the floor for a little with ADR taking a clothesline into the guard rails. Cena set up the steps at the announce table and ended up taking a backdrop through it from ADR. ADR then got on the mic and said he would break Cena's arm. He went for the armbar but Cena reversed it into an STFU. ADR hit Cena with the mic to get out. ADR then hit Cena with a suplex on the ramp. Cena then grabbed a speaker and missed in his attempt to hit ADR with it. They went backstage and went through the interview area. CM Punk then returned and took out Cena completely. ADR then covered Cena for the win. Punk then did a Go2Sleep to Cena. A car then drove past with Paul Heyman being inside it.

Overall thoughts: I went in expecting to hate this but I liked this show. Mostly because of the epic hug it out segment and the main.  The 3 hours were a little excessive but they did a good job in filling them. I'd recommend it, but it's way too long, so if you DVR'd it check it out. If not, go on youtube.