We open Monday Night Raw with WWE Champion CM Punk taking on World Champion Daniel Bryan. Chris Jericho comes to the ring before Daniel Bryan. He tells Punk he is a great performer but that he is not the best in the world. Jericho puts himself over as one of the dying breed(Hunter/Undertaker reference). Jericho says Punk just wants to be him. Punk says he’s fought for everything and earned it. He says Jericho wasn’t the first to call himself the best in the world and brings up Bret Hart. Jericho puts himself over for all of his accomplishments. The crowd chants for Punk. Punk asks if Jericho is trying to prove to himself that he is the best in the world. He accuses Jericho of being jealous. He says Jericho was never the man and has a napoleon complex. Punk talks about how he was around working his ass off while Jericho was off doing other things like dancing with stars. Jericho says Punk was ripping him off every single night and he is only back to defeat Punk at WrestleMania to prove that he is truly the best in the world. Punk says all he had to do was challenge him, and not just attack him. He says they don’t need any pyros or fancy entrances but all they need is the two of them in the ring. Punk tells Jericho it won’t be the end of the world when he defeats him at WrestleMania, just the end of his world.
^Can’t ask for a better way to start the show than with an intense exchange of words between champion and challenger for WrestleMania’s main event. Jericho is correct when he talks about the dying breed and you can see the age in his face when he says it too. No disrespect to Jericho for being 41, because the guy can still go, but 2012 should really be the last year in wrestling for himself, the dead man, and Triple H. Punk proved once again how he is one of the elite on the microphone out of the current guys on the roster.
Daniel Bryan comes out for his match with John Laurinaitis and David Otunga following. Bryan attacks Punk to start the match. Teddy Long and Santino are at ringside for the match as well. We have a solid back and forth match with another double pin attempt after a suplex. Punk goes for a flying elbow and connects but kayfabe hurts himself so he can’t go for a cover. He calls for the GTS but Otunga jumps on the ring apron to distract him. Bryan goes for a labell lock but Punk rolls out. Otunga goes to get involved again and Santino hits the cobra on Otunga. JL pulls Santino down and they all argue. Bryan goes to leave but Sheamus comes down and rolls Bryan back into the ring. Punk hits the GTS and goes for the pin but JL stops the match. Teddy Long gets in the ring and shoves JL on his ass. They get heated and go to brawl but Santino and Otunga try to break it up. Punk goes up the ramp and holds up the title but gets attacked by Jericho. Jericho slams Punk on the stage. Punk sells it well. Jericho locks on the Walls of Jericho while Punk yells.
^This is chaotic. You have four matches booked for WrestleMania that you’re trying to promote and now they’re dragging this GM angle into the show. I understand the purpose behind it but it should absolutely not overshadow the buildup for either WrestleMania title match.
Josh Matthews updates us that Punk is in the trainer’s room but that he is more angry than hurt. Cole plugs Triple H/Undertaker at WM inside HIAC. They highlight last year’s match between Triple H and Taker with commentary from the WWE roster. John Cena vs the Miz is advertised for tonight.
Nikki Bella takes on Kelly Kelly in our next match. Nikki dominates the match from the start. Kelly lands the standing headscissors. Kelly kicks Brie off the apron and then counters the rollup that Nikki tries and gets the three count.
^I’m thankful that it lasted less than a few minutes. Not a terrible match, but not worth talking about beyond this. When’s Trish coming back? (this writer is hopeful)
John Cena is out for his match with the Miz. The Miz comes out and cuts a promo, putting himself over. He talks about how he’s worked harder than everyone else in WWE this past year. He says his name has yet to be called upon for WrestleMania. He continues complaining and calls himself awesome. Cena starts out working a decent match. He goes for the AA early but Miz counters with a neckbreaker and gets a two count. The momentum goes back and forth. Miz counters a suplex and hits a DDT for another two count. Miz hits his flying clothesline in the corner. The Miz goes up top but misses Cena and Cena hits his moveset of doom(vintage called by Cole). Cena hits the five knuckle shuffle and hits the AA and then locks in the STF. Miz taps out and Cena wins. The Rock is shown on the big screen looking at Cena as he celebrates. He mocks Cena with his hand doing the you can’t see me hand wave.
^Give that much ten more minutes and exchange a couple more finishers and that would have been a better match than the WrestleMania main event last year. At least it was a clean finish. Poor Miz though. The guy doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the work that he’s put in.
We now have a tag team championship triple threat match. Truth and Kofi taking on Primo and Epico taking on Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. Vicky introduces Ziggler and Swagger. Primo and Epico are out last with Rosa Mendez. Primo and Ziggler work together to dominate Truth. Truth fights out. Kofi comes in and takes down swagger and Epico. Ziggler comes in and hits the zig zag on Kofi and Swagger only gets a two count. Swagger locks on the ankle lock on Primo and Kofi hits trouble in paradise. Epico comes in and hits the backstabber on Swagger and pushes Kofi out of the ring. Primo gets the pinfall on Swagger to win.
^Solid all around tag team action that showed why Primo and Epico make a great team and deserve to hold the titles. Too bad for Dolph, Kofi and Truth as they should be doing other things, and Swagger should be in a legit US Title feud.
Kane comes down after the match and unleashes destruction on all the participants. So now we have the return of 1997 Kane where he comes out and kicks ass until somebody challenges him to a Mania match. Orton perhaps? Maybe Ryder?
Backstage segment with Laurinaitis and Otunga talking about the academy awards. Teddy Long comes in and JL yells at him to get out. Long tells Laurinaitis that there is a rumor that he won’t be running Raw next week and JL tells Long that there’s a rumor that he’s been fired as GM. Teddy calls JL a horses ass.
^Again, I’m glad to see a decent rivalry building on WWE TV but I just wish it was between actual wrestlers. It’s going to be a long road to Mania.
Eve comes to the ring to cut a promo. Tell me I didn’t just say that. The crowd chants Ho-ski. Eve tells everyone to keep on judging her because she’s a woman living in a man’s world. She says there isn’t a man in this world that wouldn’t love to be used by a woman like her. She says men crumble at her feet. Why is she still talking? She blows kisses to the crowd and leaves the ring.
^Can’t get those three minutes back of my life, can I?
Kelly stops Eve backstage and says Eve is like a totally different person now. Eve just laughs and walks away. Alicia is next to Kelly and stares as Eve walks away.
^Diva drama. Wasn’t the match bad enough earlier?
We get a video promo for Bending the Rules, a new WWE Films movie with starring Edge. Looks like a decent comedy. Hope it doesn’t flop like The Chaperone.
Next up we have Big Show and Sheamus taking on Cody Rhodes and Mark Henry. Cody informs Show before the match that Floyd Mayweather has a fight on May 5th. They show a video package of Mayweather beating Big Show at WM 24. Show takes down Henry quickly and goes after Rhodes. Rhodes runs up the Ramp. Sheamus tags himself in and hits a brogue kick on Mark Henry for the fast win.
^That match had potential. It got ruined. Maybe Henry is still hurt and that’s why they ended it quickly. Show and Cody should have a good match at Mania once it’s booked.
It’s time for the verbal exchange between the Rock and John Cena to close out Monday Night Raw. The Rock points out his goosebumps on his arm and says it’s because this feels so damn good. More chants for him. The Rock says he isn’t here every single week. He says he was here for years and years every week(seven, to be exact, with some disappearances to Hollywood). He says he wouldn’t exist without WWE. He says he meant it when he said he was never going away, but that somebody in the back and has taken that too literally. The crowd chants fruity pebbles and the Rock loves it. He says he is in the ring for no other reason than for his love of WWE(and for putting himself in the national spotlight). He says he used to think John Cena was a phony. He says Cena isn’t a phony and says he is the guy with all the passion. Rock says he would rather slap Cena’s face with kung pao chicken than talk to him. He says Cena isn’t a bad guy, but he is a kung pow bitch. The Rock brings up that Cena said he is going to wrestle for all the people in the back who love pro wrestling and being pro wrestlers. The Rock says nobody fights for him, and that he needs to fight for himself. He talks about the stars of the past and how nobody had to fight for them. Rock says he fights for the people. He says the people are tired of having Cena(the kung pow bitch) shoved down their throat every single night. He talks about Cena endorsing fruity pebbles because of the Rock. He talks about lady parts and gets the crowd chanting. He goes on about Cena’s missing balls. Cena’s music hits.
Cena says this was too much fun and he wasn’t going to miss this. He says only the Rock could refer to him as kung pow chicken. Cena points out how the fans are in the palm of his hand. He says the Rock is only half right about him running him down when he isn’t here, because he also does it when he is here. He says he was a fan of the Rock until he met Dwayne Johnson. He calls him a self centered egotistical see through SOB that wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if WWE closed it’s doors tomorrow. He says he doesn’t need notes for his promo on his wrist. Cena says he is sizing up Dwayne Johnson, a man afraid at WrestleMania when Cena beats the hell out of him. Cena walks out and tells Rock to carry on and continue trending. The crowd chants Rocky. Rock says it’s just like Cena to come out and run his mouth and run off before he can slap his lips off his face. He says Dwayne Johnson and The Rock are all the same person. He says the difference between Rock and Cena is that the Rock is tough. He says the only thing that matters is that on the biggest of all time is that he’s going to kick Cena’s ass all over WrestleMania if you smell…you know the rest.
^The Rock is full of it and despite his entertainment value, Cena is right. He works the crowd and has them wrapped around his finger. It’s tiring. How many great matches did the Rock work in the last seven years? One. How many has Cena worked? I like this side of Cena and he makes all kinds of good points. I love the fuel being added to the fire for their Mania match, but they’re going to have to work their asses off to produce at the big event with what else is already booked on the card.
A solid show to add to the hype for WrestleMania. I’m a little disappointed with no Triple H or Undertaker, but I guess it was a trade off for the Rock. Next week we have HBK so I doubt Dwayne will be showing up. I’ll be back with Smackdown for the weekend. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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