Taped from San Antonio, TX this is the Raw Deal…

They taped this one after last week's show. It's a rare taped edition of Raw because some of the crew is in Australia, so they did a double taping. I avoided spoilers, so I'm watching this without knowing what was happening beforehand. It's better for my writing. Let's get to it.

After the typical video package, we start with Edge in the ring for a promo. He said he didn't respect Cena, doesn't trust Jericho, doesn't have any faith in Khali and doesn't know Morrison or Truth. No mention of Bret Hart. He talks about how he wants to do things his way, which means going after the head of the snake that is Nexus: Wade Barrett. And he doesn't want help. Cue R-Truth. Edge wonders what he's doing there and Truth says he's there to point out that they're against Nexus for themselves and also for the WWE Universe. I love how they keep saying that The Nexus is going to take over the company. How exactly? Anyway, the GM interrupted and Cole read OFF THE PAPER instead of the computer screen to say that we'd get Edge vs. Barrett next without anybody at ringside.

Edge vs. Wade Barrett ended in a WTF? (*1/2)
They worked a 7 minute match with Edge mostly working in the babyface role. The crowd even started up the "Spear" chant at one point although he was never able to hit it. They had Barrett get some offense in, but it's mostly just clotheslines or power spots. I still don't know what to think of Barrett as a worker. For a big guy he's okay. He has a long way to go, though. Edge hit the DDT and set up for the spear. Barrett bailed to the floor. He climbed the ring steps and signaled with his hands for The Nexus to come out. Edge ran away through the crowd. I'm not surprised that they were unwilling to give away a finish. They're protecting Nexus and Edge is a top guy, so losing here wasn't an option. It was a decent match, at least.

Following the break, Edge was wondering where Cena was. John says that he was backstage like Edge wanted them to be. Edge was pissed, so he quit the team. Jericho showed up to tell Cena that he needed to quit the team. Cena didn't like that. Jericho replied by saying let's have a match, me vs. you and the loser leaves team WWE. Cena tried to plead with him saying that's not what they should be doing, but agreed to the match anyway. This was a nice way to set up a good match for later.

They mentioned Bret Hart's at home in Calgary preparing for Summerslam. That was a nice way to throw us into our Summerslam flashback, which was Bret Hart going over Mr. Perfect for the IC title at Summerslam 1991. It was a really good **** match that is on the Bret DVD. Check it out if you haven't seen it. Great stuff.

Backstage, John Morrison talked to Khali about sticking together. One of the most awkward backstage convos ever. They had no chemistry. Once Morrison left, Tarver & Otunga showed up to say they would welcome Khali into Nexus. That's why they didn't beat him up. Doesn't Nexus like to run in to attack people? They'd have to slow down significantly if Khali was in the group. That would be quite the visual.

Alicia, Jillian & Tamina d. Gail Kim, Eve & Natalya (*)
Even though Alicia gave the Axe Kick to Jillian last week they are partners this week. Why? Because Jillian's the stupidest character in the history of the company. This was a better than normal 3 minute divas match because Natalya & Gail got to work while Eve watched. See how athletic Gail was? See how crisp Natalya was with her offense? That double underhook bridging suplex was awesome. Push these women! Yes, both are Canadians and I'm biased, but they're also the most talented girls on the roster. Anyway, things broke down, Tamina distracted Natalya and Alicia won with her kick for the win.

Post match, Alicia bragged about how she was so dominant. Nobody could beat her. She is the greatest wedding planner/wrestler in the history of the company. I agree with that. Are we allowed to remember that angle? Melina ended up returning to a huge pop. She took care of Alicia, yelled at the top of her lungs about being back and then finished her off with her leg lariat move. Good angle to set up the return. I guess this means Natalya and Gail get pushed aside again, though. Stop screwing over the Canadians!

Next up was Sheamus vs. Goldust. Much to my surprise they acknowledged their feud in ECW last year. Is it due to TNA having an ECW themed PPV this week? Possibly.

Sheamus d. Goldust (SQUASH)
Two minutes and it was over. Sheamus hit his big kick and then the Razor's Edge, which Cole tells us is named the High Cross. Post match, he talked about how dominant he was…fella. I like Sheamus.

It's plug time for the FIRST EVER The John Report podcast show recorded this past Wednesday. You can click on the player to listen to it there or you can save it to your computer. We'll have it on iTunes in a day or two. I answered 50 questions and the show is 75 minutes, so give it a listen. The next edition will be recorded Tuesday and posted Wednesday, so be sure to check it out every week.

John Cena d. Chris Jericho (**1/2)
These two have good chemistry. Jericho's one of the better opponents for Cena simply because he knows what he's doing. He knows how to make Cena look good, he never wants to be cheered by the fans and he's able to keep the action going at a brisk pace. Simply put, Jericho "gets it" in terms of having good matches. He knows all the little tricks. The pace seemed to be slow for much of the 12 minute bout although they turned it up for the finish. I love how the announcers mentioned how Team Nexus doesn't have any injuries going into the match while WWE's guys fight eachother. Of course Nexus has no injuries. They barely ever wrestle. Only Barrett's had a singles match because they don't trust any of the others. I know, stop using my brain. Anyway, Jericho went for the Walls, Cena got out, turned it into the STF and Jericho tapped out quickly as his way of showing that he had no interest in being on team WWE. I have a feeling that this "loser is off Summerslam team" stipulation is going to last about as long as the "Chris Jericho is off Raw forever" storyline that ran roughshod in 2009.

After the match, Cena told Jericho we just saw a great match and that Chris was the best in the world at what he did as a way to butter him up. He wanted Jericho to stay on the team. Jericho just walked off. He's off the team.

On NBC this Saturday it's the WrestleMania special featuring the Undertaker vs. Michaels match. It was a strong PPV.

I was asked to give a shoutout to a couple of hardcore Raw Deal readers that love reading this every week. They asked me nicely, so here goes: Hey Fame & Luigi! That's what they told me to say, so there you go fellas. Nice nicknames. Thanks for reading!

It was Canadagasm time! Edge was in the locker room, Jericho showed up and they talked about how much respect they had for eachother by quitting team WWE. They shook hands and hugged. I marked out. All of Canada marked out, really. That's what a Canadagasm is people. The email buzz sounded, Jericho sold it with disgust and I laughed at that. Jericho was fantastic this week.

We found out via the anonymous GM that next week it would be Jericho & Edge (Edgicho or Jerichedge?) vs. Cena & Bret Hart with The Nexus as the lumberjacks for the match.

Backstage, Orton cut a promo threatening Sheamus. I like the hype for the match because both guys look very strong heading into it. He invited Sheamus to come to ringside for his match and told him he didn't have to worry about Miz cashing in MITB tonight. Nice interview by RKO.

The "highly anticipated" trailer of Legendary starring John Cena aired. It's in theatres in September, which means you're going to see this trailer a lot over the next month or two. It looks decent. Not as bad as most of the WWE films.

The Great Khali d. Ted Dibiase (DUD)
Bad match. It's Khali, though, so to be expected. At least it was kept to three minutes. Maryse looked good, but last week was better. The Nexus' Barrett & Sheffield came out and distracted Dibiase enough to allow Khali to win. He won with the GIANT HEAD SQUEEZE! I kinda like that move. The idea is that maybe Khali is with Nexus. It will end up being somebody else, I'm sure. I wouldn't mind if it was Khali if only for the run-ins.

They had a video package of Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg talking about "The Other Guys" with the Bellas. I assume this is in LA. It was pretty funny. Ferrell's great while Wahlberg's solid in his role too. It was fine. Better than most WWE comedy. It would have been nice to see if Santino could hang with Ferrell in a comedy segment.

Before the main event, Miz talked about how Orton cost him the WWE title last week with the RKO. He said Orton might beat Sheamus for the belt, but then Miz' moment will come next. I like the Miz tease for Summerslam. He's not booked for a match on the PPV, so he'll likely be involved in the title match in some way.

Randy Orton d. The Miz (**3/4)
I enjoyed this. I think it's a future PPV main event. Whether it's in 2010 or 2011 you know it's going to happen at some point. They had good chemistry for the 13 minutes they were given. I don't think many people believed Miz was ever going to win the match, but Orton did a good job of making him look credible too. My thing with Miz is I really like him as a performer especially in terms of his promos. However, they don't put him in long matches enough. This was a chance for him to shine and I think he did a great job doing that. The finish saw Orton hit the RKO out of nowhere. It actually was out of nowhere this time, which is great. I hate when they say it when it's really not. It lends to the unpredictability of the move when they end a match so suddenly. Very solid TV main event.

There wasn't much post match. After Orton's RKO, Sheamus ran down, threatened to run in, but then cowered like the heel that he is. The show ended with Orton staring him down confidently.

Three Stars of the Show
1. Chris Jericho
2. Randy Orton
3. Edge

Worst Moment of the Week
No Mark Henry! I did not have the urge to drink Kool-Aid this week. It is disappointing that Evan Bourne wasn't on either. So much for that push of his, huh?

7 out of 10
Last week: 5.5

It was better than last week because there was actually time given to the performers in the ring. It felt like Smackdown in that way. I liked the Cena/Jericho match quite a bit while Edge/Barrett was okay just because it showed us a bit of what Barrett can do in the ring. I also thought Orton/Miz was a really strong TV match that was given a significant amount of TV time and put Orton over strong. I liked that match just a bit more than Cena/Jericho.

The big story of the show was the tension between Team WWE for Summerslam. They're egomaniacs that can't get along. They made that point last week and really drove it home tonight.

Heading into next week, the question is will it be 7 on 5 at Summerslam now or will Edge & Jericho be back on the team? I imagine they're back on the team next week. It'd be stupid to keep top wrestlers off of a PPV. Hi TNA! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

------------

Keep checking out thejohnreport.net for exclusive articles that are only posted on my blog. We've got recaps of Raw (this one obviously), Smackdown, NXT and Superstars every week now while featuring other columns covering the wrestling business.

Thanks for reading.

John Canton - john@thejohnreport.net
Visit the blog: thejohnreport.net
Add me on Facebook at Facebook.com/thejohnreportnet
and Twitter at Twitter.com/johnreport

Visit My Archives to view ten years of The John Report columns.