Yeah OK,
I get it. Watching Raw live is pretty tough. I used to stay up for
Raw quite a bit during the Summer, but up until last night I had
never watched a live Raw past episode 1000. I've watched 3 hour
episodes of Raw before of course, but they were special episodes such
as Raw Roulette and other gimmicky kind of episodes.
This
week felt different. It wasn't a special Raw, it was just a normal
one. For weeks I heard how hard it was to sit through all those ad
breaks and filler segments and I thought, 'could it really be that
bad'? And well, it is. It's pretty bad.
This
week's Raw wasn't bad, but it really dragged. There's way too many
ads and the pacing seems to have slowed down quite a bit (even
compared to last week's episode).
I was
pretty pessimistic when Raw announced they were going 3 hours, and
finally getting to watch it live kind of clarifies that state of
mind.
CM Punk
& Jerry Lawler
Who knew
such and insulting and demeaning promo would make me feel so fuzzy
inside. The Jerry Lawler fan-base has gotten smaller and smaller over
the past few years and what CM Punk said to the King was what many
fans (including myself) have been itching to say for a very long
time. Of course I more than likely wouldn't say any of those things
if I ever met Lawler but you know what I mean.
What
made this promo so good, and also what makes Punk such a good
character is that everything he says can be backed up. There's a
truth to what he says most of the time, and it is that kind of heel
persona that makes him such a joy to watch.
Jerry
Lawler had no come back. The whole segment was practically a roast on
him and what he's become. Yeah, I'm getting fuzzy all over again just thinking about it.
Layla
vs. Natalya
In terms
of short Divas matches, this was actually pretty good. You've really
got to wonder why Kaithlyn is the number 1 contender for the Divas
championship when you have women like Natalya, Eve Torres and Beth
Phoenix on the roster.
You've
also got to wonder why creative purposely makes the Divas division
look so unimportant by having people like Vickie come out and devalue
the whole division in more ways than one.
Yes, she
was just trying to get some more heat but even still, why do it at
the expense of a Divas match between two good Divas?
Her
announcement didn't even serve that much purpose either. She
complained about a stipulation that didn't affect her or Ziggler in
the end, and then got attacked by AJ. Was all that really worth
interrupting a match for?
Daniel
Bryan & Kane Take Anger Management Classes
This was
always going to be pretty good, wasn't it? Daniel Bryan has been on a
roll as of late, and after his anger management examination a few
weeks ago I think there was no doubt he was going to be good in this
segment as well.
His
delivery was great as usual and his interactions with Harold and the
little kid made for some pretty funny moments, but it was when Kane
arrived that things really got entertaining. Having him bring up all of those
incidents in the past really showed just how fucking nuts his career
in the WWE has been. The way he said all those things in such a calm
manner was also a great touch, and really made for a great segment.
Promo of
the year, you say? I don't see why not.
Daniel
Bryan vs. R-Truth
It'll be
interesting to see where they actually go with this anger management
thing. He's going in such an angry path that you have to wonder what
will eventually make him happy. The only thing I can think of is a
WWE title win, and I don't see that happening for a very long time.
Anyway,
it was another fine performance from Daniel Bryan character wise. The
way he played down the 'Yes' chants only to completely snap again was
brilliant. It's great that he's getting so much attention every week.
Triple
H's Not So Retirement Speech
Triple H
haters really must have hated Raw last night. Between the many video
packages and 'will he, won't he' talk from the commentators it must
have been pretty hard to sit through.
Was it
all a bit too much? I don't think so. As I said on Twitter last
night, it served it's purpose. All the hype followed by the eventual
promo by Triple H left many people convinced that he has indeed
retired. So in that sense, it was a job well done.
Although
many people want Triple H out, now is not the right time for him to
do so. He still has a little bit to give in the squared circle, and
when he does retire one day, he deserves a biger send off than what we saw last night.
In
saying that though, I hope this retirement angle doesn't lead to a
Lesnar/HHH rematch. Mostly because it would probably lead to Triple H
winning, and as much as I love the guy, he just doesn't need the win.
I hope for many things to come out of this storyline, but
unfortunately that rematch seems to be what they're going for.
The
whole build-up and promo was very well done, but I don't think it's
worth it if it's just going to lead to a match that no one really
wants to see.
Sheamus
& Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio & Dolph Ziggler
So,
Ziggler gets some real credibility by beating Chris Jericho aaand
it's gone. Now, I'm not one to constantly go on about wrestlers
losing momentum by losing matches because let's face it, you can't go
with a DQ finish all the time. But in saying that, why have Ziggler
take the pin fall here? I know no one else in the ring should have
been pinned but jeez, can't you try and build some momentum for the
Money in the Bank holder?
Maybe
I'm complaining about it too much. After all, it is just a loss to
the World champion (which happened after getting hit from behind and
receiving the Brogue Kick). In saying that though, it's a loss on top
of another set of losses Ziggler has had since winning that Money in
the Bank briefcase. Right now he just doesn't look like a threat to
Sheamus' World title.
CM Punk
vs. Jerry Lawler
It was a
match that probably went a few minutes longer than it should have,
but in the end, it came off well. I didn't mind Jerry Lawler getting
in that much offence though. For a match like this to work, you need
the underdog to get a glimmer of hope, only to get beaten quite
easily in the end. In saying that though, CM Punk getting busted open
came didn't help his dominant side (seriously, of all the times for
someone to accidentally bleed).
Out of
all that though, it was the post-match beatdown that came off more
effective than anything else. I've been a firm supporter of the slow
and eventual heel turn of CM Punk, and this further proves that I was
right to do so. In the almost demented mind of Punk, this is almost
beating some respect into the 62 year old man. Like I said at the
start of the review, everything he says he seems to believe in, and
that makes for his actions as well. Everything he did came across as
if he thought what he was doing was totally justiciable.
Overall,
I thought this was a pretty good episode of Raw. It dragged for a lot
of the show (that's not exactly new though), but the positives out
weighed the negatives in the end.
Stray
Observations:
- “Don't touch me, Harold”.
- “Years ago I had a girlfriend named Kate, but eh, let's just say that didn't turn out so well.”
- Wow, David Otunga got to act with Holly Berry? Nice.
- Triple H should have just challenged CM Punk to a WWE title match instead of questioning his future. Just think of the reaction that would spark from all of his haters.
- So let me get this straight, the US champion Antonio Cesaro is in a storyline that involves Aksana flirting with Santino's hand? Yeah, makes sense.
- “Get the cage up! Get the cage up!” Huh, why hasn't anyone else said that before? It definitely beats trying to rip the door off.
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