Raw Redux (September 3rd, 2012): AJ Needs a Date With Dr. Shelby While Eve Defeats the #1 Contender
I know, I know. It’s been awhile. In fact, it’s been since the 1000th episode of Raw. Real life really sucks and for all you younger readers, don’t be in such a hurry to grow up. Anyway, this Redux is “live” so sit back, fasten your seatbelts, and get prepared for what is sure to be another exciting episode of the flagship show! I promise I will do my best not to not switch over to Breaking Bad, which I started right before Raw. Dear Lord Jesse Pinkman is all kinds of perfect.
Anywho, our first Diva sighting of the night comes in the form of the spunky, fun-loving AJ. I’m going to be completely honest and say I have no idea what is going on but she sure does look adorable in a power suit. She thankfully interrupts a pretty painful speaking segment between CM Punk (who got really freaking hot in my abscene) and Sheamus (who’s Irish accent suddenly makes my ears bleed because I’m totes into Norwegian accents now). She makes two main events for tonight. The first one has John Cena and Alberto Del Rio facing off against one another in a Contender versus Contender match. The second match is Champion versus Champion which obviously means Punk will face Sheamus. AJ is adorable. I love her.
Skip to 0:30.
And speaking of adorable, here comes the Queen, Vickie Guerrero in a super cute outfit. I like how she is using the final day of summer to wear an all white outfit. We all know it’s not appropriate to wear white after Labor Day.
That awkward moment when you realize said outfit is actually beige…
Anyway, Queen Vickie announces that she has some personal issues she with AJ that she will address later on tonight. In the meantime, she announces my future ex-husband, Prince Dawlf to the ring. He is going to take on Randy Orton. I’m just going to sit here and stare.
Well, I don’t praise to many Randy Orton matches but that one was brilliant. Of course, his opponent was undoubtly the best in the WWE right now, but the fact remains that match was awesome. I love Prince Dawlf and I love Queen Vickie. I can’t wait to see what Queen Vickie has to say later on tonight.
After some incredibly amazing “Anger Management” skits featuring two Diva Dirt favorites, Kane and Daniel Bryan, the first of AJ’s two main events are going to take place. Sheamus and Punk are going to have their match! Shockingly enough, the WWE Champ doesn’t come to the ring dressed to wrestle. He comes to the ring dressed as he was earlier and he declares that since it’s Labor Day, he is taking it off. Fair enough. AJ stops him backstage as he is about to get into a waiting care and tries to tell him he can’t leave. He tells her simply to check his contract, he has personal days. AJ is left in a mess and Matt Striker enters. Having forgotten he was the host of NXT, AJ demands to know who he is and why he is asking her questions. Striker looks shocked (and really, really tan) that she would ask such a thing. AJ finally just tells Striker that he needs to inform Sheamus that she will find him an opponent.
Then AJ stalks off.
She’s really good in this role. Of course, I would have loved to see her as Daniel Bryan’s wifey but this has ended up good for both of them. AJ as a business woman and DB doing the anger management classes… I’ll take it. Hope there’s more of this tonight.
Lets stayed tuned.
We get a match tonight! Awesome. Number one contender Kaitlyn is going to take on Eve Torres. Layla joins Michael Cole and The Miz on commentary.
You know, this match was rough in areas, but I kind of liked it. I think Layla and Miz flipping out on each other on commentary kind of took away from the in-ring action, but no matter. It was nice to be reminded that Layla has a personality, and honestly I think Layla came off as a tweener more than a face. I love Eve being so phony, it’s pretty brilliant. And bless Kaitlyn, she has come a long way. I’ve loved that girl since NXT and I can’t wait to see her in an actual pay-per-view match at Night of Champions.
Backstage, Jack Swagger is walking to the door.
AJ runs up behind him and wants to know what’s going on. Swagger simply states that he has had enough of all of this. He’s leaving, basically. AJ doesn’t understand. She doesn’t understand how Brock, Jericho, and Punk can leave. Now she doesn’t know why Swagger is leaving. Swagger doesn’t have much to say. He walks off leaving AJ alone. She looks disturbed.
You just have to feel like the mental breakdown is coming. It’s probably going to be beautiful.
Skip to 0:45.
AJ’s mood probably isn’t going to get any better because there’s Matt Striker knocking on her door. She’s shed her business jacket and she does not look happy. She orders Matt Striker to inform John Cena and Alberto Del Rio that their match is now a Falls Count Anywhere match. She also looks like she getting even more mental as the night progresses.
Oh my God… DD favorites Kane and DB have to hug it out now. I can’t.
The Divas keep on coming as Aksana accompanies her main squeeze, United States Champion, Antonio Cesaro, out to the ring for his match against Santino Marella. They have a little segment where she gets him to say “success” in several different languages.
Skip to 0:25.
I find these two really cute, to be honest. And I really love Aksana’s stop. Would totally pair of with ripped skinny jeans and a black tank top because lets be fair, I don’t have the same type of figure that Aksana does!
As promised, Vickie makes her way to the ring following the conclusion of the Zack Ryder/Heath Slater match.
No words.
Vickie has always been amazing at what she does. AJ has always been amazing at what she does. When you put them together they simply make magic. AJ is a broken woman now and Vickie was the perfect person to bring her to that point. I LOVED this segment more than any other part of Raw, and I think AJ is the one who needs to see Dr. Shelby right now. I’m not sure if this is going to lead to a full-fledge feud between the two but if AJ stays general manager, I fully expect her to get back at Vickie by using Prince Dawlf. Not sure how this is going to go but I’m really looking forward to it.
If this is the end of the “Summer of AJ” I’m going to be pretty disappointed. She has come into her own as the top Diva on the roster. I’ve said it once, I’ve said a million times. AJ is everything and no one else could have done this role justice. Vickie, Eve, Kaitlyn, Layla, and Aksana were all great tonight. It seems like these girls have roles, storylines, and a purpose. Layla bringing her personality back was so great to see. Kaitlyn has always had a character that has made her stand out from the pack. Then there’s Eve. I love her as a heel. It makes me sad to think of all the time the WWE wasted trying to get her over as a face.
I’d also like to say congratulations to Eve for winning Stars Earn Stripes!
Raw was pretty good tonight. I enjoyed all the Diva bits. It was fresh. It was different. It was much needed. Good, solid show. Happy I got a chance to tune in for a change. I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to watch Raw again, but I hope you guys enjoyed having me back where I belong.
Until next time… whenever that might be…
Cryssi out!
: AJ Needs a Date With Dr. Shelby While Eve Defeats the #1 Contender){kind=link}
trishstratusfan4ever
September 4, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Lots of diva segments…love it
DivaSmark
September 4, 2012 at 4:59 pm
A lot of Divas stuff, but it pains me to think whether making Kaitlyn a #1 contender was an ‘oops moment’ by creative. From what it looks, its like they’re trying a make good by throwing Eve into the title match and putting the belt on her since she won Stars Earn Stripes.
perceval
September 4, 2012 at 6:43 pm
I’d rather Layla hold it, and break Maryse’s record, so when Sara wins the belt (at Survivor Series?) it’ll be a big deal. Any speculation about the future of the Championship needs to consider the Sara Del Rey factor. I think the belt is being kept warm for her.
I guess we’ll find out, soon, whether Sara is coming in as a face or heel. If Eve wins the belt, Sara will come in as the babyface.
Fox-hunter
September 4, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Sara del Ray fan are we?
TheLadySamantha
September 4, 2012 at 7:24 pm
And who’s to say Sara will win the belt at all… or even have a career worth remembering?
perceval
September 4, 2012 at 9:50 pm
There’s a reason that it’s been indie women they’ve been signing, lately. They’re being brought in to revive a dead Division.
kreece
September 4, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Sigh, dude she probably won’t even get to debut. Unless a diva decides to go because I don’t think another diva right now is what is needed
Future-Knockout/Diva
September 5, 2012 at 10:03 am
I would love if sara won the belt in her debut match
Poison Ivory
September 4, 2012 at 5:03 pm
LMAO did they really parody Clint Eastwood talking to an empty chair? That was so awesome.
mykel1990
September 4, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I loved the Anger Management segments, they’re hilarious. The Eve/Kaitlyn match I wasn’t over the moon about, but it was okay, Layla stole the show in that segment for me and my God did Vickie and AJ steal the show! I concur, fabulous night for the divas, and I’m super excited to hear Layla’s beautiful voice in my ears, she’s easily the most charismatic diva in WWE right now (Vickie is Queen not a diva lol)
Choko
September 4, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Good night for the divas. Hope it’s a triple threat at NOC, with Layla coming out as the winner and then Layla and Eve fued for another month without Kaitlyn with Eve winning the title.
Layla should’ve said to Miz “I’M A CHAMPION TOO!!!”
T@KESH1
September 4, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Eve blew two spots:
-1. completely no sold a knee to the body
-2. on the injury spot, she did not remotely position herself (change level) to the point where it could be displayed as the clipping-the-leapfrog spot it was supposed to be. It looked like an Edge-style spear as counter until Eve stopped moving, showing the viewers the contrary.
Kaitlyn:
- put more (or how about SOME!) speed on the tech wrestling spots (switch & hip toss reversal)
overall:
This is what happens when a “contender” is not booked to do new, offensive moves (much less establish a finisher) to actually build their contendership status, much less not be booked as crazy weak overall as she has. All it does is provide a stage of opportunity to only highlight areas of improvement for the 2+ year rookie. As far as putting Eve essentially over clean against a title contender, I’d say this was ‘cannibalized push victim #2’ for Eve (Ryder being the 1st) But this was hardly a push anyway for Kaitlyn, as its proving to be “program participation” (if u will) as just seems as though a 3rd was needed. If not, as I’ve said before, WWE is setting up the least (booked) effectual champion in some time.
Like Mike
September 4, 2012 at 5:17 pm
I had a couple problems with this, the commentary totally distracted from the match. I completely forgot there was a match happening. Miz and Layla’s banter was also kind of ironic. I just hate how they always pretend like things never happened, like Miz claimed Layla could never get him.. yet they dated back on ECW. Then it made me laugh when Layla was called the “friend” to all the guys and Eve the goddess. I remember awhile back when Maryse called Eve the “friend” just kind of ironic
Bad match, slow going and I hardly remember it because the commentary was so distracting.
kleinberg97
September 4, 2012 at 5:20 pm
just read somewhere that the battle royal ending where kaitlyn won was indeed botched… so it looks like its gonna be a triple threat or at least i hope!!
shameronstar
September 4, 2012 at 5:40 pm
I guess that means Kaitlyn wasn’t really suppose to get a push after all. At least wwe did the smart thing for once and added her into the title mix make the story more interesting, but I think Kaitlyn maybe pushed out of the storyline once Night of Champions passes and the feud will be just Layla vs Eve!
Raekon
September 4, 2012 at 8:25 pm
The botch was that Eve didn’t go over the top rope the first time, thats why they cut it out everything they do a flashback. -.-
It has nothing to do with Kaitlyn winning cause she were supposed to win in the first place.
WWFoverWWE
September 4, 2012 at 8:45 pm
It’s already been confirmed that kaitlyn was never supposed to win the battle royal. The report says the botch was Eve was supposed to win, but messed up when she accidently got eliminated.
lucky1now
September 4, 2012 at 9:34 pm
With a botch like that I’m glad eve did so well on stars earn stripes cause who knows what they would have done with her after that mistake
At least it did bring kaitlyn to attention
madslam2009
September 4, 2012 at 10:32 pm
It was also “confirmed” that WWE had been super impressed with Kaitlyn’s ring work immediatly after her win in the battle royal. I do not believe this.
WWFoverWWE
September 4, 2012 at 10:36 pm
Well it makes sense if you look at Layla’s face reaction after kaitlyn won the battle royal. She was shocked in a way that the outcome wasn’t supposed to be that.
FrankNFurter
September 5, 2012 at 12:40 am
@MADSLAM2009 Those reports said WWE officials were impressed with Kaitlyn’s performance in the 6 Diva Tag Match at Money In the Bank, not the battle royal.
flash1086
September 5, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Kaitlyn was suppose to win. Layla was suppose to act suprise thats why the cameraman was pointing at her. Never in wrestling HISTORY did I ever saw someone landing on the apron after doing a backflip over the top-rope. That would just be stupid and dangerous. Ask any professional wrestler if they ever tried that. Its physicallly impossible. Those reports were probably assuming. Not facts.
Raekon
September 6, 2012 at 5:58 am
Thank you Flash1086! :)
At least one person that didn’t fall for the assumptions.
kreece
September 4, 2012 at 5:40 pm
They’re definitely throwing eve into the tile picture and having her feud with Layla. They might of been high on kaitlyn but her win was a botch from what I’ve read everywhere. So I’ll expect Layla to retain or eve earn a 3rd entry into the match at NOC. I hope this rolls over to the next ppv though :)
kreece
September 4, 2012 at 5:41 pm
oh and I’m howling a that photo of AJ it looks like shes going crazy because her hair is in her eyes!
B1G_FaN
September 4, 2012 at 6:59 pm
AJ vs. Vickie storyline is really good and could lead to the introduction of a new Diva. AJ could say something like “I can’t fight you Vickie, but I know someone who can…………..meet your opponent for tonight!”
With Vickie’s laugh as she walked away from AJ and back up the aisle, that would have been a golden opportunity to have brought back Kharma and hit Kharma’s music and have AJ introduce Kharma as Vickie’s opponent for the night. Too bad Kharma isn’t in WWE right now.
wwesvrrocks101
September 4, 2012 at 8:27 pm
thats exactly what i was thinking. it also lead me to thinking that her release was just a work
Jcott3
September 5, 2012 at 12:47 am
There’s always Sara Del Rey.
WweLitafan4ever
September 4, 2012 at 7:25 pm
So either a triple threat at NOC or Eve vs Layla at Hell in a cell
I also miss Lita :p
charleshp
September 4, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Meltzer confirmed that Kaitlyn was never supposed to win the battle royale. Eve was supposed to land on the apron, not fall outside to the floor. They’re scrambling trying to figure something out.
T@KESH1
September 4, 2012 at 8:28 pm
Eve = Ford/General Motors
(too big to fail)
Choko
September 4, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Meltzer has time and time again been proved wrong. He is just another dirtsheet.
It’s not like everything he says is right. lol
T@KESH1
September 5, 2012 at 3:12 am
when there are no observed, prevailing factors, I’ll let someone who has has been right without them in the past, tip the scale.
madslam2009
September 4, 2012 at 8:30 pm
I feared that Eve and her new attitude would overshadow Kaitlyn, and so far I am unfortunately correct :(. I am not a fan of them having Kaitlyn loose, and I am beginning to wonder why they made her number one contender at all.
AJ is beast when it comes to acting. She is just such a natural.
redsandman99
September 4, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Reports are claiming now that the finish to the battle roayl was indeed botched so now seemingly they’re scrambling to include Eve into the Layla/Kaitlyn mix.
madslam2009
September 4, 2012 at 10:08 pm
I doubt that. How does Kaitlyn eliminate Eve with a Cactus Clothesline (after failing the first time) and have that be a botch?
redsandman99
September 4, 2012 at 10:32 pm
I have no idea. Unless Eve was supposed to hold on to the ropes and pull herself back up and slipped? Really don’t believe it though quite honestly. I think they just want Eve in the mix so they can either split off and go Layla vs Eve or Kaitlyn vs Eve after NOC
WWFoverWWE
September 4, 2012 at 10:33 pm
@Madslam2009 Eve was supposed to land on the apron after the clothline, then she was supposed to eliminate kaitlyn. That didn’t though as Eve fell to the floor instead.
madslam2009
September 4, 2012 at 11:01 pm
If WWE really wanted Eve to be the number one, then I highly doubt they would have promoted Kaitlyn vs Layla @NOC. WWE does whatever WWE wants to do, and it is weird how all of a sudden when Kaitlyn gets a rivalry with Eve and actual matches on TV (not to mention the same websites reporting about Kaitlyn’s work has been praised), that she also becomes number one contendor. I do not trust dirt sheets, and while Eve has been being booked as the center of this championship feud, I firmly believe Kaitlyn should of won the battle royal. The news about the botch just comes way too late and oppurtunistic (theday after Eve is being better booked).
WWFoverWWE
September 5, 2012 at 12:11 am
Actually kaitlyn has been featured well because wwe didn’t want to look like it was a mistake, so they’ve been slowly trying to put Eve into the mix because that was the original plan. Before wwe was just trying to cover it up.
Notice how most of Kaitlyn’s segments have been with Eve since she won the battle royal.
Raekon
September 5, 2012 at 3:37 am
They had segments before the battle royal aswell because their rivalry started with the assistant position in the first place.
As long as not a real official made a statement, I wouldn’t put too much into rumours.
Most of all when they come THAT late and because if it were indeed a botch they wouldn’t had needed to do all the segments and the matches, they could had switched it right of the bat already.
redsandman99
September 4, 2012 at 8:38 pm
I thought it was a good night from the divas. The match was just fine for me. Rough in a couple of spots maybe but I don’t think it was the disaster that some made it out to be in the Raw Response. Layla vs Miz on commentary was distracting but I loved that Layla got a voice and got to show a more feisty personality than what she’s gotten to since her return. Eve is playing her phony nice persona perfectly and Layla not buying it brings a good dynamic between them. I do think Eve will use this win to get herself a spot in the NOC match or if not, then use it to get herself a match at Hell in Cell.
As for the AJ/Vickie segment, I thought both women did great. It keeps both women from doing the same old thing and hopefully it’ll be used to either debut a new diva to fight AJ for Vickie or they use one of the other divas that have gone unused to do it.
Raekon
September 4, 2012 at 8:41 pm
- The commentary destroyed the whole match
- They let Kaitlyn beat Natalya at first to gain momentum and a few days later they call her a rookie and let her play the weak injured girl that Eve can hit her finisher on
- Eve was a hit or miss again forgetting to sell spots
Seriously, everytime one things the writers managed to finally create a good storyling and book good matches they turn around at 180 degrees and ruin the whole thing again.
If they wanted to let Eve to win they could had done it a other way instead of destroying the whole momentum Kaitlyn gained till now by calling her rookie and letting her get THAT “injured” all of sudden only so Eve can walk allover her.
At least the match had a few good and unique spots like when Kaitlyn walked over Eves back before she run the ropes to come back with the crossbody and the counters at the corner in which Kaitlyn went through Eves legs to hit her from behind but got countered with the drop toe hold by Eve.
The “catfight” in between destroyed the build up the match had gained by the few moves before and took too much time away.
Time they could had used to do something good to get the crown going instead.
art
September 4, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Eve actually hurt kaitlyn in the match…she made a joke about it on twitter….
Raekon
September 5, 2012 at 3:39 am
could had been a work though.
And I meant “thinks the writers” not things. x_X
WWFoverWWE
September 4, 2012 at 8:51 pm
At this point, it looks like Eve will be the next divas champion. Something is telling me that the match will become a triple threat where Eve pins Kaitlyn to take the title, setting up a Layla/Eve fued.
lucky1now
September 4, 2012 at 9:29 pm
i loved the time the divas had on raw layla showed personality vs miz eve and kaitlyn had an ok match it helped the story vickie had her share of time aj had a great moment
after this raw it has me thinking how is eve gonna be mixed into the divas title line
and this fued between vivkie and aj will it end with a match and vivkie somehow taking the spot? my friend and i discussed eve being ajs assistant and somehow taking over i cant wait to see what happens
JamieKym
September 4, 2012 at 10:03 pm
funny thing is miz was saying how better he was than layla but Layla actually won what competition she was on and Miz was the runner-up.
OvSeven
September 4, 2012 at 11:29 pm
am i the only one who thinks layla’s voice is annoying ?
art
September 4, 2012 at 11:33 pm
The match was terrible slow really awkward in some bits & eve hitting kaitlyn in the ovaries as kaitlyn said just looked awful & painful for kaitlyn…..
eve having a decent match is very rare now a days…she botched on layla & now on kaitlyn…she needs to get it together…
art
September 4, 2012 at 11:39 pm
layla & miz were priceless its good to hear laylas voice & see her personality…
GailKim95
September 4, 2012 at 11:56 pm
Seeing Miz and Layla together makes me think of how far they both have come since ECW where Miz managed Layla as part of Extreme Expose
Queen Bee
September 5, 2012 at 1:58 am
Vickie’s starting to annoy me now. Put a bag over that ugly face and fire her ass, AJ
art
September 5, 2012 at 2:24 am
WTF….
jen07201
September 5, 2012 at 2:37 am
This is what Kaitlyn wrote on Twitter: Speaking of hugs… I could really use one after @EveMarieTorres got me right in the ovaries. #ThatsGonnaLeaveAMark
T@KESH1
September 5, 2012 at 3:47 am
how does one miss either of those huge legs in the most important spot of the match?!
T@KESH1
September 5, 2012 at 4:03 am
speaking of which, she also tweeted that smackdown is in one of the “quad cities” and she’s the mayor! :)
(quads = quadriceps (thighs)
BAD KHARMA
September 5, 2012 at 4:13 am
I didn´t understood that tweet xD
VarsityBaseDude
September 5, 2012 at 3:33 am
I normal don’t like Eve, but she’s growing on me. In fact, she’s the best Diva there currently other than AJ. Eve’s theme makes her better!
BAD KHARMA
September 5, 2012 at 3:46 am
Actually, when I first saw the match I thought it was horrible, but then I watched a second time and it looked like a complete different match, it looked so much better then I thought!
I guess I was to distrated with the commentary…