We're only 6 nights away from the Royal Rumble. 30 men will collide with the winner going to WrestleMania to face either the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Speaking of the WWE Champion, C.M. Punk will be defending his title against the Show Off Dolph Ziggler that night with John Laurinaitis as the special referee. But before we get there, Chris Jericho comes to Raw with the Highlight Reel! Read on for my thoughts on the show as it happens.
I don't think I'd care if Punk started every episode of Raw with a promo.
Good start. Punk's a great talker.
Didn't see him coming out.
Punk's like a face version of the "cool heel" at times, taking cute little potshots to please the smart fans.
Yeah, I don't think that's happening.
Ooh. Intrigue. Laurinaitis gets more evil by the week.
Starting the show off with Cena and Punk in a tag match? That should be headlining the show (unless they have something planned with the Highlight Reel).
Good promo by Ziggler. Hard to believe we wrote this guy off as a comedy character a couple years back.
Four former WWE/World Champions, three of which are big parts of Sunday's PPV, aren't the main event tonight? Stupid and short-sighted. Was WCW this bad at rushing through important matches?
On Sunday, WWE wants us to pay to see Dolph Ziggler challenge for the WWE Title. Ideally he'd look like he has a chance to win it. To start this match off, he's being dominated by Cena. And they wonder why it's hard to get new stars over.
Heh. Of course Laurinaitis is on his phone.
Dumb line by Lawler. He HAS won a number of times in the last month.
Ziggler's doing his damnedest to stand out here.
Cena's shirt should say "Sooner of Later, Everyone Jobs". Swagger wins the US Title, then WWE reinforces that he's still below John Cena.
Good opener as far as building Ziggler/Punk goes.
Ideally, Ziggler will get involved in that match somehow to put the focus on his WWE Title quest. He's the last guy they should want to be the third wheel in the scenario.
Probably because that'd be stupid, Cole.
Nice smattering of boos for Jericho. He's doing his job well.
Why has Jericho been one of the most talked about things in wrestling lately? They didn't give everything away with his return in Week 1.
Part of me will laugh my face off if he doesn't say anything here.
Apparently his gimmick is that he's master of cheap "pops" and milking the crowd.
Wow, THAT countdown's a blast to the past.
People are talking about what Jericho will do at the Rumble. It's not at the same level, obviously, but that worked well for a certain PPV in Chicago this past July.
THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE, AND THEY SPELL DISASTER FOR YOU.
Big Show even being mentioned in a video package annoys me at this point.
Wait, Punk and Bryan are in the video package. Are they eligible to compete in the Rumble to challenge for the other title? That'd be weird.
Remember when the sight of Mick Foley in a Cactus Jack shirt meant that someone was going to get taken to hardcore hell? He's starting to reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne: formerly one of the most edgy acts in their respective genres, and now viewed as a punchline after years of softening. Or Mike Tyson for that matter.
Nice amount of Ryder signs.
I hope this is leading to something other than Kane destroying Ryder. I don't think that would advance things much (if at all).
As monster Kane beats up fan favorite Zack Ryder, possibly drunken yahoos cheer and wave to cameras. Nice. And this is the audience the IWC wants the company to market to?
I thought that was Big Show in the crowd for a second. It's like he's always going to be on TV at some point, taunting me.
I always wondered what was in the WWE logo thing.
I do like the "dueling" pro-Ryder chants.
Backing away from the monster never works.
I feel like I'm watching a WWE movie. Not that I've ever seen one...
Good package for Sunday's cage match.
I think they got over what they were looking to do here. I think that hate's being embraced. Eve's acting thankfully didn't weigh this down too much, and the commentators were wisely kept from talking over everything.
More uncomfortable than Dr. Heiney or Katie Vick?
Good commentary by Barrett.
Not a bad match to hopefully set up Sheamus being a big player in the Rumble. Jinder's still kind of basic in the ring. I think he could end up being someone, but that's a fair amount of time off.
Strong promo by Miz. He's able to use a limited amount of TV time and still make it an impact.
That was really weird with R-Truth, and of course I hate when someone is portrayed as someone the fans don't want to see (as opposed to wanting to see them defeated or wanting to boo them).
It makes sense to start the Rumble somewhat strong. I don't think fans would be too into an opening period of Tyler Reks vs. Yoshi Tatsu.
This is one of the silliest things I've ever seen. Fans are either confused or in awe. It's definitely one-of-akind.
Ha, Funkettes.
Last time, it was called "Ah, funk it".
Surely Regal knew their names from FCW?
Brodus vs. Regal better do something tangible for Brodus' career (helping him perform in the ring, that kind of thing). I'm tired of the '90s crew getting the spotlight.
There's probably a reason he hasn't wrestled in a decade.
I actually find it kind of off-putting when someone calls me something like "hon"...
Taker and HBK had crazy levels of chemistry.
Hahaha. I like that ridiculous Little Jimmy shirt.
I really hope that that line was just a set-up for Cole to mention that 2 people had won from #1. That's seriously demotion-worthy if he didn't know that no one had done that before.
The right guy won here. Fans will like that Miz has the odds against him and has a low chance of headlining Mania again.
Yeah, you generally don't come back from a broken back. I get selling the injury and all, but that's more than a little extreme.
Hahahahaha. What the heck is he wearing?
That Clobbering Time sign is badass.
Hmm... I wonder what that's leading to next week. Half of me expects him to become the permanent GM of Raw.
That was kind of a let-down, but I'm guessing it's because they didn't want Laurinaitis to wrestle.
Not really looking forward to Foley in the Rumble, but hopefully he's used in a way that elevates someone else.
Very surprised that they had him take the GTS tonight. I figured that would have happened Sunday.
And there's your hopeful set-up for Ziggler having a good showing in the WWE Title match.
That's all for Raw this week. I'll be back for NXT on Wednesday, and a news post will be up later. Thanks for reading!
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