Monday Night RAW was another solid episode of WWE in-ring action. But that’s not what made this episode memorable…at all.
It was those two ‘shoot’ style promos. One was super effective, while one was a wheel spinning effort that got one person over, while the other looked like a fool.
First, let’s look at the wheel spinner.
It was not unexpected to see John Cena come out after Roman Reigns’ match with Jason Jordan. In fact, it was almost too expected. The spontaneity of that savage promo Cena unleashed on Roman two weeks ago has been replaced by the ‘here we go again’ feeling. Once again we saw John Cena spit verbal fire at The Big Dog, and Roman kind of look like an idiot. Let’s face it, Roman either isn’t good on his feet like Cena, or he’s not being allowed to hit back at Big Match John. Either way, Roman looks really bad, and Cena looks like a star. In fact these promos have made me like Cena more…and isn’t that the opposite of what they’re trying to do here? Isn’t this all about building up Roman Reigns? Or they doing exactly what they did with The Rock — having the vet (Cena) go over, but the younger guy (Roman) wins in a revenge match? Sorry, there’s no way Roman can match wits with Big Match John like Cena did with The Rock.
Either way, the result of this match is irrelevant. Both guys are at the top of the game, and will remain there regardless of who wins. That big promo should’ve been saved till the week of the PPV, and people would’ve been buzzing.
Then, there was the second, way more effective shoot.
The first, and most awesome of the two promos was by delivered by The Miz. No lie, I used to loathe The Miz as I thought, especially when he debuted, that he might be one of the most untalented in-ring performers I’d ever seen. Since those early days, he’s morphed into one of the most charismatic mic men in the WWE, if not all of WWE. His in-ring work has improved leaps, and bounds, and overall he’s become one of the best in WWE.
When he came to the ring last night, and announced he and is his real-life wife Maryse were having a baby it was a real feel good moment.
Then Enzo Amore came out. (Which seems like a very heel-ish thing to do).
And The Miz unleashed holy hell on him.
What The Miz did in this promo was jaw-dropping. Mostly because we didn’t see it coming.
He addressed all of the real-life things that have happened to Enzo all of which has made him wildly unpopular in the lockerroom. He compares Enzo to himself, but explains how he made himself into what he is today — a star. Miz was absolutely on fire, and it’s one of the best things he’s ever done on the microphone in WWE.
However, instead of stopping there, and just burying Enzo, Miz does the right thing. He then puts over Enzo as someone with incredible charisma, and and incredible potential…but he’s wasting it on being a clown. Miz goes on in this promo to also put over Neville in a major way, as well as the cruiserweight division. In one promo, he did more for the Cruiserweight division, Neville, and 205Live, than anyone has since the Cruiserweight Classic ended. It was a smart promo, because it spoke the truth, and it got the job done.
However, much like Roman Reigns, Enzo’s retort lacked any sort of teeth. It was a very much ‘I know what you are but what am I?’ response. He took pot shots at Maryse, he made jokes, and spewed out a bunch of retorts that were DOA. However, he showed more fire, and more passion than Roman did for sure. He reinforced his desire to beat Neville. He reinforced his underdog character. And, he showed he’s not afraid to fight anyone. And that’s something.
