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LOOKING AT A 'INJURIES AND GRUDGES' EDITION OF MONDAY NIGHT RAW

By Mike Johnson on 2012-02-07 15:18:20
Last night's Monday Night Raw was a mostly positive affair.  The theme of the show was, as it should have been, tightening up the storylines and directions as they lead to Wrestlemania 28.  In the past, WWE has often overlooked their February PPV, even after the addition of the Elimination Chamber as the focus of the show.  Last night, I thought the company did a good job of balancing the promotion between the Chamber PPV and the show of shows.

The opening promo from Triple H was absolutely brilliant and should be studied by everyone on that roster.  HHH was "on" when it came to building up The Undertaker as this mythical force and all the respect he had for Taker, then turned it around, using the sight of the decimated, exhausted Taker at the end of their Wrestlemania match as proof that they shouldn't ever have a rematch.  HHH was pitch perfect as the guy who knew how far he had to go, even in losing, last year and doesn't want to go past that line, because he would be putting Taker out of his misery once and for it.  It was the perfect mix of sadness and self-ego.  By the time he had finished the promo, putting himself and Taker over as well as the classic aspect of the last match, I went from having little interest in the rematch to looking forward to the match.   HHH is obviously a prime target for criticism at times, but this was a segment that pointed out how far away above he is over the majority of the roster when it comes to promos.

Then, The Undertaker video played.  While it makes no sense that Undertaker is looking for "vengeance" unless the idea is that HHH disrespected him by claiming he had ended Taker's career, the video was absolutely perfectly produced and edited.  It was actually so good that it would have added a ton of anticipation to the rematch if it was the first angle they ran to build the rematch.  They perfectly got the idea of this angry Undertaker coming back for what he desires - to make HHH immortal once again as a victim, once again.  Great job on the editing and production.  With two segments over two weeks, they have already teased that the match will be one for the ages...and it hasn't been officially announced yet.

The weakest part of the segment was due to WWE logic, which changes by the week, and sometimes hour.  Last week, WWE said he could come back and run Raw anytime he wants.  He was going to fire John Laurinaitis, which he admitted last night, but now the WWE Board has to vote on it.  It may seem like a little point, but the changes just erode interest in the storylines.  Create your story points and stick to them - and when you need to change them, have a good storyline reason for the twist, as opposed to retconning it out of existence.

The Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show match was very similar in substance to what we've seen in recent weeks, but as a backdrop for the development of Bryan as this megalomanic, self-absorbed heel that's trying to show himself to be the "good guy", it was perfect.  Bryan jumping all over Big Show after Show stopped himself from running over AJ in the corner was great, as he could use it as his out to walk out and retain the belt while "doing the right thing by AJ."  Bryan's promos, easily the weakest link in his chain since coming to WWE, are growing by the week, while Show has done a good job of selling for him and making Bryan look credible when there is a huge size disparity.  WWE is building to the eventual scene where Bryan has to somehow weasel his way out of the Elimination Chamber with the belt, which should be a major turning point for the character going into Wrestlemania.

John Cena is going to the Daytona 500, but what he really should be doing is enrolling in acting classes.  I can appreciate how hard Cena works, and I think he's underrated as an in-ring performer for the most part, but his High School Drama club level of acting kill most of the vignettes he is involved in.  The Carl Edwards segment was so over the top, you can't help but roll your eyes at Cena's delivery.  The Daytona appearance is good publicity for Cena and WWE going into Wrestlemania.

Speaking of Cena, the video feature on him last night was awesome.  WWE has hit nothing but home runs with the deep looks into Cena and Dwayne Johnson as they head to their Wrestlemania showdown.  They painted Cena as this great representative for the company as well as someone who truly cares for his fans.  I thought some of the verbiage, such as Cena saying he "understands some of the audience are complacent" towards him felt forced, the overall message of Cena as this guy who would live and die for the WWE fandom came across well.  WWE is doing all they can to make sure Cena isn't booed at Wrestlemania and well, it's not going to work, but they are doing a good job trying to reach their goal.

David Otunga comes out to extoll the virtues of John Laurinaitus and then asks everyone to "pray with him" before dropping down and doing the Tebow.  I'm not even a football fan and even I know that joke is months-old.  They announce HHH has ordered Otunga to wrestle tonight.  I thought HHH wasn't in charge?   Otunga faces Sheamus and it's pretty much a match designed to showcase Sheamus since he's in something of a holding pattern until the next PPV.  The match itself was fine.

Chris Jericho finally broke his silence and it was a good promo with Jericho mocking the fans for falling for him and pointing out all the things that the current roster have "stolen from him."  Jericho seems to be a mix of his original Y2J character and the suit wearing angry version we last saw in the company.  Some of his points (Miz, Punk) were good, while others felt forced, but since his character is an egomaniac, it's fine.  When CM Punk hit the scene, I had this anticipation of, "Here we go, it's on" but instead they just teased it with Punk not saying a word and turning his back on Jericho.  This would have worked fine on it's own, but a week after Jericho attacked Punk, it felt like a step backwards. 

Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton & Great Khali felt forced in so many ways.  For one, they spent the entire Royal Rumble having Rhodes throw out the largest number of competitors in the match as well as every "legend" in the bout, yet last night, they had him losing clean to Khali, which is a mind-bogglingly stupid decision when you gauge the potential of each for the company over the next few years.  Not to mention, why is Orton suddenly having an issue getting along with Khali?  While the RKO on the big man looked impressive, Orton's issues with him really came out of nowhere and felt forced.  

The eight Diva tag was brutal at times, just for the physicality involved.  We had Beth breaking Eve's nose with a clothesline.  We had one Bella get rudely slammed down with a Samoan Drop by Tamina.  We had another Bella get rudely yanked off the apron.  Tamina nearly squashed her Bella with the Superfly Splash.  These girls were just killing each other.   I really like the idea of Beth as this brutal Diva who thinks there's no one who's competition for her getting excited over the prospect of Tamina as a challenger.  One has to guess that Phoenix vs. Kharma might be Wrestlemania bound and the best way to build that is to present both as monsters in the ring who are going to collide when they finally face off.  

John Laurinaitis announcing that he's bringing in Shawn Michaels next week (you can't have Wrestlemania without HBK) as well as Triple H's reaction were great.  Ace's dig at HHH being a coward for not wanting to fight Taker was good as well.  Who would have thought Ace would have ended up one of the top heels in WWE...ever?

The announcement of an Ambulance Match?  I am sure it will be fine as a gimmick match to let them brawl but every time I hear that match name, I have flashbacks to the worst era in WCW history.

The Six Pack challenge had its good and bad points.  Obviously, Truth getting hurt threw their plans out the window.  The scene of Truth missing Miz was brutal and the company made the right call pulling him out of the match.  The teases between Punk and Jericho were all awesome.  You don't want to give too much away because then why would fans want to pay to see it at Wrestlemania?  I loved the way that every time they were finally about to go at it, they were pulled apart by circumstance.  Jericho finally attacking Punk and throwing him over the table and stealing the win over Ziggler was perfect to build the heat.  It was obviously a terrible night for the Miz between the Truth injury and the phantom bump he took off of the Jericho clothesline that wasn't there.  He must be flying to U.A.E. hiding under his seat on the plane.  Ziggler and Kingston were fine but it wasn't there match to shine.  It was all about Punk and Jericho's teases and they did a solid job.

As Jericho and Punk glared at each other, I had this feeling of, "the war is on...." and I thought it was an effective final scene to close the show, but what is with all this screaming?

Oh, it's a final scene with Kane terrorizing Eve!  It felt tacked on and actually took down the entire show.  The entire Kane vs. Cena storyline feels really overexposed and beyond silly at this point, so adding this to the end of a show that pretty much based in athletics and grudges felt like we had changed the channel from one show to another.   WWE had actually done the character a favor by not having Kane and Cena all over the show this week because the audience needed a breather from all the Emperor Palpatine speeches.  The scene wasn't needed at all and in my mind, it cheapened the Punk vs. Jericho feud, which SHOULD be a major focus since you know, it's over the WWE title.

For the most part though, it was a mostly thumbs up show.

Mike Johnson can be reached at Mike@PWInsider.com.  He suggests the new autobiography by Destroyer Dick Beyer for your reading pleasure.

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