WWE Monday Night RAW Wrestlers of the Week 11.2.09
By Neil Borenstein
Each week here at 1wrestling.com, I will select three of the top wrestlers from the Monday Night RAW brand and present them to you in inverse order as the show’s Wrestlers of the Week. In choosing the brand’s top three superstars, performances from that week’s RAW and any relevant preceding programming will be taken into consideration. This is a RAW exclusive. However, Smackdown and ECW brand wrestlers will be eligible if they appear with any significance on that week’s RAW broadcast.
RAW Wrestlers of the Week for November 2, 2009
3. Sheamus – for continuing his destructive path on RAW by obliterating Jamie Noble:
After spending some time in the minor leagues of the WWE, ECW, the time came last week for Sheamus to get the big call up and make his RAW debut. Wanting to build this young superstar into something special, it was a no-brainer that the first man he faced would get squashed. And unfortunately for Jamie Noble, it happened to be him.
More unfortunate for Noble was the fact that he was also Sheamus’ second RAW opponent this past Monday. In a rematch of last week, Sheamus and Noble squared off with the results only different in the fact that Sheamus left Noble more worse for wear than he did the previous time.
In a backstage segment with Josh Matthews prior to the match this week, Sheamus noted that much like guest host Ozzy Osbourne’s career has been over for a long time, Noble’s will be as well by the time he is done with him. Sheamus may have made good on that promise.
After Sheamus completely dominated Noble for approximately two and a half minutes and seemed reluctant to end his relentless beating, the referee called for a stoppage. Sheamus wasn’t finished, however, and continued his onslaught. He placed Noble on the top turnbuckle and booted him all the way to the floor on the outside. With Noble already in immense pain from that move and all the punishment he suffered during the match, Sheamus decided it still wasn’t enough. He lifted the former-Cruiserweight Champion off the ringside mat and powerbombed him right back onto it, which led to Noble being stretchered out.
Concern for Noble was shown throughout the night by the announce crew and Michael Cole even noted later in the broadcast that Noble had neck and back injuries. We will be updated on his condition next week on RAW. As for Sheamus, this destruction might have come against a man that the WWE has long viewed as little more than a jobber since his return a few years back. But Sheamus is getting some good build here as a dominant threat to the RAW roster, which should pay dividends when he is actually placed in a legitimate feud.
2. The Miz – for making good on his rematch with Evan Bourne after getting tossed into a U.S. Championship bout:
The Miz has never been one to shy away from stealing the spotlight and airing his grievances. The man who proclaims himself to be awesome always has to be the center of attention. His problems simply supersede those of everybody else. So it should come as no surprise that when the opening of RAW was meant to be a moment for guest hosts Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, all The Miz saw was an opportunity to make demands for his own benefit.
The Miz interrupted the Osbournes at the top of Monday’s broadcast and demanded that the two erase his count out loss against Evan Bourne last week from the record books. Ozzy didn’t know who the bloody hell he was and Sharon found pleasure in simply mocking his “really?” catch phrase. After Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes and The Big Show came down to further ruin the opening segment, D-Generation X headed to the ring and helped Ozzy and Sharon book the evening’s matches. One of those matches was a United States Championship match in which Miz would defend against the man that beat him last week – Evan Bourne. Not quite what Mr. Awesome was looking for.
Miz did make the most of this bout, though, and was able to gain some redemption against his high-flying foe. It didn’t come easy for Miz, who came up against a lot of counters and innovative moves from Bourne. But after dodging an Air Bourne, Miz was able to capitalize with a Skull Crushing Finale finisher that put Bourne away for the 1-2-3.
The win over Bourne didn’t exactly strike the loss from last week off the records. But with the U.S. Title on the line this time around, Miz was able to come out victorious. That result is almost just as good.
1. Chris Jericho and The Big Show – for making John Cena and D-Generation X pay in a main event triple threat match:
Amidst all the hoopla that began the RAW broadcast was The Big Show registering his complaint for what occurred to him last week. Last week, of course, was when the entire RAW brand chose to take revenge against Show for turning his back on his team at the Bragging Rights Pay-Per-View. He wanted an apology from RAW’s superstars, to which Ozzy personally said he was sorry. That wasn’t what Show was looking for, however, and threatened to deliver a fist to those that didn’t adhere to his demands. That is what prompted D-Generation X to come down to the ring. And after delivering some cheap plugging for books and helping to announce the night’s events for Miz and Legacy, Big Show ended up being placed in a triple threat match against Chris Jericho and John Cena.
This initially might not have been what Show was looking for. But the ability to work together with his tag team partner against the WWE Champion turned into a blessing in disguise. Not only could Jericho and Show punish a man they’ve both had issues with in the past, but they could also use this match as preparation for their World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match against The Undertaker at the Survivor Series. Even better was the fact that DX was ringside to witness the action and provide some hilarious commentary at the announce table.
Considering Cena is the champ, he naturally got some offense in despite being outnumbered. But it did catch up to him in the end. Cena had Jericho up for what appeared to be a match ending Attitude Adjustment. But Show managed to deck Cena from the apron with a KO right fist that dropped the champ to the mat. Jericho fell right on top of him and ended up scoring the pinfall victory. Though the win technically counts as an individual one for Jericho and should boost his ego for the Survivor Series title match, it will be viewed more as a tag team accomplishment for the Undisputed Tag Team Champions, JeriShow.
After getting the win, JeriShow continued to work over Cena. They simultaneously locked in a Walls of Jericho and Colossal Clutch. This prompted Triple H and Shawn Michaels to leave the announce table. Instead of making the save, Michaels instantly got rocked with a right hand from Show and Triple H got dropped with a Codebreaker soon thereafter. With all the members of the Survivor Series WWE Championship Triple Threat Match laid out in the middle of the ring, Jericho and Show stood tall as a pretty dominant duo.
Where the two go from there is unknown, however. Even though they looked cohesive as RAW was heading off the air, there was some dissention in the main event match. They weren’t always on the same page and did fight with each other a bit during the bout. I’m sure this dissention will grow between Jericho and Show over the next few weeks, and that could very well cause a problem once they enter another triple threat match – this time against The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Title.
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Neil Borenstein
br7qbsteelers@yahoo.com
