Tonight, C.M. Punk returns to his hometown of Chicago for the first time since becoming WWE Champion. As 2011 comes to a close, what will the Straight-Edge Sensation have in store for the WWE Universe? Also, the demented Kane continues his war with John Cena. All this and plenty more tonight on Raw. Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
I have a feeling we would have gotten "We Want Punk" chants if we didn't start off with him.
Hahahaha. This is simultaneously the best and worst idea they could have had to start the show.
At least they kept it quick. Laurinaitis is best in smallish doses (if we have to have him at all).
Of course, Pepsi ads in the arena. If I was with them, I'd be looking to put him on their cans and bottles. (He's got their old logo tattooed on his upper arm, and on the indie scene he used a move called the Pepsi Plunge).
Oh, Laurinaitis; you card, you.
Who wants to bet who's going to win that match?
It makes sense to build up to next week's Raw, with the whole 1/2/12 videos and all.
It's Goldust, not "Gold Dust", sign holder.
Can this guy talk or can this guy talk?
We'll never hear the end of it if Laurinaitis beats Punk.
Punk knows how to work the crowd into his promos. I wish more people would do that.
It can't be any worse than JR vs. Michael Cole.
I wonder who those kids are.
At least that means these things are about over.
Booker T. vs. Cody Rhodes should be a bigger deal than this. Why should we have paid to see these two face off if they're just going to give it away for free in a few weeks with hardly any advanced promotion?
Let's set the stage well for 2012 here.
I like the stats from the announcers.
Booker's still got it. Maybe not as much as he used to, but he's no Kevin Nash.
They just acknowledged the videos with the Twitter plug. Wow. Why haven't the announcers commented? This is confusing...
I respect the heck out of Booker T, but they're right to have Cody as the guy with a decisive advantage. It's like if Mike Tyson got back in the ring against a reasonably accomplished boxer: there's no substitute for youth and not having decades of wear and tear on your body.
That being said, Booker has a lot of experience over the comparatively fresh Intercontinental Champion.
I get a weird feeling that Booker's going to get some kind of out-of-nowhere surprise win.
Rhodes seems to have good knowledge of the fundamentals of wrestling. You don't see those submissions every day. At 26, he's got quite the bright future ahead of him.
I almost thought Booker had him there.
Ditto for Rhodes. Good back-and-forth between the veteran and up-and-comer. Almost a teacher/student dynamic here.
I'm very thankful that the announcers are putting over the match and wrestlers instead of jabbering about Twitter or each other.
Welp, so much for that. Booker's definitely not a spring chicken anymore, but since Rhodes got a lot of offense in he should be fine with the loss.
Not a bad list of opponents by any stretch.
This idea's been done before, but I suppose all of them have. Big Show can beat everyone it seems like.
Well, I guess there are worse people for Ryder to team with. Eve's one of the top Divas of the division.
And here I was thinking they had completely forgot that Kidd teamed with Natalya.
I don't know if I want to know who the Santa was.
Tyson Kidd getting TV time. Cool. One of the most unappreciated hard workers on the roster.
Good little match. Was it a five-star technical classic? Not at all. But it was good for a little time filler to move things along.
It didn't take Kane long to go from the biggest thing in the company to appearing half-way through the show.
Top face in the company, ladies and gentlemen.
I get the feeling Kane's going to run over Miz on the way to Cena.
Cena vs. Miz works for me. Miz should look like a credible contender for the WWE Title.
Well, at least they're not sitting on their hands.
Smart move by Miz. They should be booing HIM, not focused on Cena.
Brilliant move. If that was improvised, Miz deserves a pat on the back.
Crazy R-Truth is the best R-Truth. I have no clue what he's talking about sometimes, but I love it.
Otunga's pretty good as a character. He certainly stands out.
Oh. Well, at least there was more of a reason behind this segment than "Show kills someone".
I was wondering where Bryan was. The sooner we move on from Henry vs. Show, the better.
Who does Kane tell these things to? Does he text Laurinaitis?
Speaking of things I wish would end, these WWE Network ads are getting pretty repetitive. At least they could be more mockable like the WWE movie ads.
I love the bowtie through the neck brace and Alberto's golden wheelchair.
I hope Del Rio's not gone long (if he can help it). Very talented guy, and of course we wouldn't get to hear Ricardo announce him.
Glad the gauntlet match is getting a good deal of time.
It's very impressive that so many people talk about what's going on Raw, but it's becoming quite intrusive.
C.M. Punk vs. Jack Swagger. Nice.
Two very talented individuals.
I'd have liked for Swagger to have lasted longer, but Punk's got 3-4 matches to do tonight and we've still got to get to Kane and Cena.
I'd love to see Punk and Ziggler for the title, but it's a little soon for it I think.
Dolph's got something. One of the hardest working guys in the company. He's not waiting for an opportunity; he's taking one.
Ring psychology. I like it.
Ziggler's got to be on his way to a major title in 2012. He'd be perfect to win Money In The Bank (if he doesn't get elevated to the point of not needing it before then).
These guys are beating the crap out of each other.
We ALMOST had Ziggler vs. Punk next week.
Haha, what a douchebag.
OH $*#&@*# IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!!! I thought for sure we were getting Punk vs. Henry.
Work hard, get title match. Good message to send.
Perfect excuse for Barrett to get a dirty win. Good by me.
I think one reason people liked masked Kane was that he didn't talk.
SERIOUSLY? Kane's first words in months, when he comes back for something big, and Cena interrupts?
That was pretty cool.
I was hoping for something different from Kane on the mic, sound-wise. He's great as a demented monster either way.
That actually makes sense as a reason for them to feud.
This would be a lot better without the crowd chanting. This should be about Kane more so than Cena.
Now that's a way to end a show and advance a story. This has a good deal of potential.
That's all for Raw this week. I'll be back for NXT on Wednesday. A news post will be up later tonight. Thanks for reading!
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