WWE Raw January 3 2011 Recap and Thoughts

This week’s WWE Raw was undeniably the most anticipated Raw of the year so far. Ok so it was the first show of the year, but still – there was lots of drama going into this one so let’s get right down to it.

-Right off the bat, John Cena’s injury was explained and for some reason they actually admitted that it was during a fight with Wade Barrett in Pennsylvania (as well as by Nexus) which certainly raised my eyebrow. Why wouldn’t they just put the whole blame on CM Punk and the new Nexus to give them some much needed new heat is bewildering. I guess there’s going to be a Barrett vs Punk struggle for the CEO of Nexus position.

-The most anticipated match of the night – Morrison vs Miz for the title – is the match that starts out the night and that kind of gives a feeling that we’re going to be cheated somehow. To everyone’s surprise, it ends up being one of the best Miz matches that we’ve ever seen. Morrison took some pain in this one…starship pain to be more accurate…going through a table from outside the ring with his finishing move. Miz won straight up and established himself as a legit heavyweight champion. Apparently it was the first time a title match started out the flagship show: new year, new ideas I guess.

-Miz is interviewed following his match by Scott Stanford. With Punk fighting again, Lawler injured after Miz’s attack, the commentating lineup looks awfully thin.

-We find out that there will be a 3 way steel cage to determine the number 1 contender going into Royal Rumble. Interesting to see who the third person will be besides Shameus and Orton.

-The only reason I can fanthom Alicia Fox dying her hair red is to live up to her last name.

-WWE Tough Enough is back!!! Wonder if it will have any cross-over/synch with WWE NXT?

-The Usos beat Santino and Kozlov and Santino’s new girl friend is torn on who to support. This has been building for quite some time and it’s not hard to envision her having a big part in settling which of these two tag teams will end up as champs in the near future.

-Punk and Barrett do indeed ‘battle’ it out for being the leader of Nexus. The GM buts in and says that the third member of the triple threat cage match to be the number 1 contender will be either CM Punk or Barrett. CM Punk lets Barrett take the match but if he loses, he must no longer be part of Nexus. If he wins, CM Punk says Barrett is the leader and that he will be his follower.

-Wade Barrett accepts this ridiculous offer (basically at best 33% chance to remain in The Nexus, a group that he created and led for the last half year). The WWE is starting the make Wade Barrett look pretty stupid. His re-inclusion of Cena on 2 ridiculous conditions was pretty daft as well (letting Cena beat Otunga up, and a match against Barrett which is what Cena was craving all along).

-By the way, this whole Punk vs Barrett feud had to be thought of last second due to Cena’s injury, so I won’t blame them too much.

-The whole CM Punk vs Barrett dynamic is actually pretty interesting…too bad heel vs heel just doesn’t work in the WWE and the beef between the two has to be cut short.

-Del Rio is on Raw for some reason and announced that he will win Royal Rumble and headline WrestleMania. I see him in the top 5, but can’t see him winning it for the simple fact that he and Mysterio will have some kind of match at Wrestlemania this year. R-Truth has become Raw’s biggest jobber, and that’s nothing but the truth.

-Has anyone in WWE history besides R-Truth had their entrance music become more popular than themselves?

-A free WWE title match and a three way cage match – Vince McMahon is in a giving mood.

-Cole: “Breaking news from the GM’s office that Cena MAY return next week”. Um ok.

-So Randy Orton expectedly wins the match and will go on to face The Miz at Royal Rumble.

-What will happen from here: The Miz will lose to Randy Orton at Royal Rumble after Morrison interferes in the match. This will set up a lengthy feud between the two former tag team partners heading into Wrestlemania. Cena will win Royal Rumble and face Randy Orton in the main event. Wade Barrett will probably turn face somehow and either battle CM Punk or Shameus.

That’s it for this week’s coverage of WWE Raw for January 3 2011. It’s a pretty good start to the year for the flagship show, and hopefully Smackdown will follow with an exciting show as well in a couple day’s time.