Parts Unknown #14: Raw

This week's Raw was a King of the Ring tournament. There hasn't been one in awhile, so I was looking forward to it. I'm not going to comment on every single match since there is a lot to cover, but suffice to say, the wrestling was solid on all fronts. Well, most fronts.

PROS

~ The Daniel Bryan/Alberto Del Rio match. It was given time and it came to a conclusion via a clean finish. You can't ask for much more than that.

~ Internet smarks are bellyaching over the fact that Cena made yet another appearance last night, but I'll defend Vince's decision to keep his cash cow on Raw. Why? Because it's a cash cow we're talking about here! It makes sense. There were so many idiots that vowed never to watch WWE programming again thanks to Cena's keyfabe release, that if the leader of the Cenation had stayed out of action for a few months, there could have been a ratings dip. It would have been difficult to get those viewers back, especially the younger ones that don't know any better.

~ I predicted that John Morrison would win the tournament and...he didn't. However, he did make it to the finals. Truth be told, I have no problem with Sheamus taking the crown. The royal lineage of Ireland has been fulfilled!

~ The double countout that ended the Ezekiel Jackson/Drew McIntyre match. Both guys came out of it looking strong.

~ What can I say about the bizarro main event? The ending of this match will wind up in the cons section, but I liked how unpredictable the match itself was. Who would have guessed that Jerry "The King" Lawler would be receiving a title shot by the end of the night?

~ Yoshi Tatsu picks up a victory? Yes, I know that it was a tag team match, but still. Tatsu is a cool dude, in my opinion.

~ CM Punk delivered so many golden lines on commentary, that I couldn't possibly pick a favorite. I will say this, though; he makes Diva matches watchable.

~ DiBiase telling Maryse to shut up.

CONS

~ The ending of the TLC match between Jerry "The King" Lawler and The Miz. It made Mizanin look weak. He needed Alex Riley and Michael Cole to keep Lawler from climbing the ladder. That's just bad booking.

~ Santino's fucking serenade. Usually, I find these skits to be humorous, but for lack of a better word, that was dumb.

~ The John Morrison/Alberto Del Rio match was way, way too short.

I listed several pros, but in reality, this episode was underwhelming. I was expecting something a little more epic. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. Raw held my attention for three hours. TNA can't do that. WCW couldn't do that. Hell, most basketball games can't do that, and I'm a big sports fan. Congratulations to King Sheamus!