Scott Bowden presents Kentucky Fried Rasslin

Gang leader

Any hint of realism from the NXT angle was lost the second tonight’s RAW started with one of those professionally produced video packages neatly recapping last week’s attack on WWE champion John Cena and CM Punk. In other words, the company treated it like just another wrestling angle, killing its effectiveness. Worse, the NXT guys simply walked out as if they were scheduled, when another crude interruption of the scheduled broadcast would have been far more effective. Announcers Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole did leave the ringside area, but the fact that security nor any WWE authority figure attempted to stop the rookies from crowing about their accomplishment for several minutes was glaring. If John Cena’s so angry, where the hell was he during this segment? Cole’s disappearance in the chaos last week was not addressed, so the reveal of his possible involvement in the revolution was delayed.

The rookies’ overall lack of charisma was noticeable, especially in light of the apparent firing of Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan), who was not only the best in-ring worker but also one of the better promo guys in the group. Danielson was reportedly fired for choking announcer Justin Roberts with a necktie during the initial ambush, which some compared to the slaying of Nancy Benoit at the hands of her husband. The notion seemed so ridiculous that speculation was rampant this week that this was one of those examples of the boys and most of the office being worked, but the way it was handled tonight seems to indicate that Bryan is indeed gone. Barrett buried him, saying Bryan felt remorseful for the attack, which is ridiculous when he was one of the most aggressive guys in the group and helped lead the onslaught. (Of course, if Cole is revealed to be the gang-green leader, then it’s possible he’ll be blamed for getting rid of Bryan, who will return for revenge; if I had to guess, I’d say that scenario seems unlikely.) Other than Barrett, most of the guys sounded like they were reading from a script, which hurts the angle. Bret Hart finally came out and fired them all, including Barrett, but not before stumbling over his lines and once again muttering “WWF,” a company no-no. I like the idea of Bret in the role, but he seems like he’s struggling to remember his lines instead just relaxing and being himself.

John Cena delivered a interview that I felt was all wrong for the angle–it was the same promo we’ve seen from him 100 times, when the situation called for something unique and more from the heart. Repeating the line “Quite frankly” (which Cena did at least three times in his promo) comes off as anything but frank, and I didn’t understand the line about the Champ “sort of admiring them.” The lone bright spot was the stand-off when the NXT rookies interrupted and the RAW locker room emptied, first with mid-carders (Santino, Miz, Mark Henry), before the heavy hitters (Randy Orton, Edge, Sheamus) came in as well to fend off the attack and defend their turf. The NXT guys ran for the hills, which was too early for that, in my opinion, especially when the last shot before fading to commercial was the outnumbered Santino standing tall in the parking lot as the rookies took off with their heads tucked between their legs. Huh? These guys were made to look foolish repeatedly in their introduction to the “WWE Universe,” so we needed at least a few weeks of them looking pretty bad ass. (Incidentally, quite possibly the only thing more irritating than the incessant buzzing of the vuvuzelas in the World Cup in South Africa is the term “WWE Universe” repeated several times in a WWE broadcast.)

They needed something big to close the show with to salvage the angle, but failed with one of those staged parking lot attacks on Hart, which was mind-boggling considering that Bret only months before revealed how easy it was to fake a situation like that. I just don’t get it. Last week, WWE executed a cutting-edge angle that almost made you feel uncomfortable watching it unfold with its realism; tonight, it was business as usual without a hint of the danger of a week ago. What a wasted opportunity.