Thanks to Joe Stock for the following:

Just wanted to send along a quick report from the latest Monday Night Raw, from Phoenix, AZ.

While there were a number of seats on the hard-camera side and the third deck on that side was covered, overall it was a good size crowd. Nice and hot for most of the action.

To get the crowd hyped, they started things off with the video from the end of the last Wrestlemania. Throughout the night they showed a number of Wrestlemania hype videos for Rock vs. Cena, to the point we got sick of it by the fifth or sixth one.

First match for Superstars was Beth Phoenix vs. one of the Bellas. The Bellas got a decent pop for being the first ones to appear and because they are from Scottsdale. Of course, that meant job-city and a win by Beth Phoenix via the Glam Slam in a very short bout.

The second match was Kofi Kingston vs. Michael McGillicutty. This was a surprisingly good bout and I think one of the best on the show. It went back and forth, making both men look good. It even had a good false finish before Kofi won with the Trouble in Paradise.

From there, they brought out Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole (heavy heat) and then we went into the show.

It was obvious that the show went to commercial in the middle of three matches. The action instantly would slow down and we got stalling holds. It certainly hurt the overall quality of the show. We also got an intermission after Zack Ryder went through the stage. It took forever and a day for them to actually get him strapped in and pull him out of that hole. John Cena’s facial expressions at the end of the ambulance segment for mostly laughter from the crowd.

After the show went off the air, Punk played dead for a short period, then Laurinaitis got on the microphone and announced that Dolph Ziggler was going to face CM Punk… right now. We got a solid little five minute match between the two, ending with the GTS and a Punk victory.

Punk celebrated for a few moments and suddenly Kane’s music hits. The Big Red Machine comes down the aisle, only for John Cena to ambush him in the aisle. They struggle in the ring for seconds as Punk exits, then Kane hit the chokeslam. He exits the ring and makes as if he’s leaving, only to return to Tombstone Cena. Cena escaped and nailed the Attitude Adjustment. Kane rolled away and Cena’s music hit. Cena posed as everyone headed for the exits. Justin Roberts thanked us for coming and promised they would return to Phoenix soon.

The biggest pops of the night went to CM Punk, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and yes, even Brodus Clay. That gimmick is getting over.

On the heel side, the biggest heat went to Michael Cole, John Laurinaitis, and Vickie Guerrero.

Overall it was a fun show and certainly worth seeing live.

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