I actually thought Raw was pretty fantastic this week. Lots of entertaining segments and good matches. It wasn't perfect but when is it? Hopefully, since we've sorta washed away the whole Big Johnny era, the show will trend up. Im no mark, Im not anti-Ace, but the story was a dead end angle that was absorbing the whole show. It was nice to see the focus on Punk, Bryan, Jericho, and Cena.
Lets kick off the blog were WWE did, with a strong triple threat match. That match was a PPV Main Event quality match and really set the tone for the show. With all the criticism on WWE for not putting Punk in the Main Event, I understand their strategy. If you kick off the show with a Cena promo, people (myself included) tune out. You kick it off with a quality match, it gives critics like myself hope and sets a good tone for the 2 hours. Rather than go on and on about Punk and Bryan's ability though, lets focus on something less obvious...the staying power of Kane.
So, Sunday night, I watched a Raw from 1998. Guess who was in the WWE title picture on that show, on the show last night, just under 14 years later. BY GAWD ITS KANE! Yup, 14 years ago Kane and Undertaker were feuding with Austin for the WWF title, and last night on Monday Night Raw, there Kane was in the main WWE title storyline. I do a lot of dissing on the Kane character, but there is no denying that it has taken talent, charisma, and at times patients on the part of Glen Jacobs to stay at the top of his game for over a decade. He must be one of the most underrated, safest, smartest workers of all time to stay healthy and good for this long.
I have hope for Brodus Clay (I dont do transitions anymore, fuck'em). The match was handled well, and Show won without burrying Brodus which I feared. The question is, were do they go from here? With Show in the MITB I hope they dont just forget about this.
So its time for my weekly dissection of this AJ buisness. They had some entertaining stuff last night. The segment with Kane was nice. It seems for once, I know were I personally want it to go. I would personally like for all of them to just get fed up with her. Just be like, "Yeah youre smokin hot, but this isnt worth it." Just have AJ lose it and be a psycho for awhile. Its the only logical end point anymore, nobody would put up with this mess.
Lets all just pause and applaud Santino shall we? A couple of times, the character has seemed dead in the water, but the guy is so charismatic that he just keeps bringing him back. This latest run, dating back to December or January has been the modt remarkable. Im constantly saying, okay this is the night Santino gets the axe, and they keep putting him over. As they should. If you ask me, Santino is what wrestling is all about. He's fun to watch in and out if the ring. He's the perfect underdog. What do you have bad to say about him? The only legitimate criticism Ive heard is his finisher is silly, and I can even defend that. At the end of the day, its a punch right in the damn nose. A punch in the face should be a damn finisher! It hurts, a lot! They shouldn't be thrown around all willy nilly. Play on Santino, I'll defend you to the end.
Sid looked like fucking George W Bush. I popped, dont get me wrong, but not as hard as Vader. I think every week, with these old timers performances, the "Give Vader all the belts" party's argument is getting stronger. He's gotten the biggest pop and gave the best performance. Vote Vader In 2012!
Speaking of Vader (Hey, a transition!), lastly lets tackle the meat of Raw: the coming together of the Money In The Bank match for Raw. The Cena promo actually made me giggle. We all know that Jericho and Cena can create magic on the mic and on the mat, and they showed flashes of why. Other than his haircut, I liked Jericho's return. I like Show's new attitude, he's turned a predictable, silly angle into a positive. What I really want to dig into though, is the pros and cons of this Money In The Bank setup.
First, the positives. Jericho, Kane, Cena, and Big Show are all vets capable of putting together a PPV quality match, which is the most important thing I suppose. If these indeed are the only four, its unpredictable, I could see a reason for all of them to win it. For once, a Cena win would actually be compelling. How would the great white hope Cena handle holding the case? Seems like it would be out of character for him to cash it in when somebody is down.
The negatives....I can already tell Kane is an after thought. He's gonna be inbetween the two storylines. Of course, apparently he'll bounce back and continue to wrestle forever. Only four people certainly changes the giant ladder match element. The biggest thing that bothers me is career wise, none of these guys need this. Look what the MITB did for Daniel Bryan. Look how far he's come in just one year, all because of that one win. Hopefully atleast Smackdown will be setup differently, or nobody will get that rub.
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