Raw Reax - 8/6/12

Read on for my segment-by-segment thoughts on Raw.

Punk/AJ was pretty good. Punk can work a mic better than a LOT of people, getting people who loved him last month to hate him.


Cena was good, too. Glad he's not cutting long opening promos, though. That got old.

All in all, solid opening segment to set up the rest of the show.

Punk vs. Rey was, predictably, awesome.

NICE Wade Barrett package. I hope he gets pushed as a force to be reckoned with in the title picture upon his return.

Good segment with AJ, Del Rio, and Ricardo. AJ's holding her own with the main eventers.

I like that Del Rio and Ricardo had to scramble to get ready. Nice touch.

Good "story" match with Del Rio and Christian. Christian's protected due to the distraction and cheating, and it gets Del Rio further over as a villain.

Not a bad segment with Sheamus. It just doesn't seem face-like for him to steal a car. Del Rio should press charges.

Nice match with Show and Orton. It wasn't Flair-Steamboat and it didn't need to be. They told a good story.

And Ryback's story continues. I wonder how far they can go with him.

Looks like they're finally rebuilding the tag team division. Good three-team feud going on- it's like rock-paper-scissors with each team having edges and weaknesses.

I liked Sandow's promo, but don't I always?

Damned good angle with Sandow and Clay. I'm glad they didn't rush right to a match between them.

Good segment with Bryan and AJ to continue their angle. They've got to be careful in booking Bryan vs. Kane. Bryan needs to look like a legit contender or he'll lose momentum.

So-so Divas match. They could have done a better job building it. It's not like they didn't have time for a backstage segment to set it up.

MONEY segment with Heyman, Brock, and DX. They did everything they should have done to build intrigue that didn't involve taking HBK out (but that could still happen!).

Sheamus/Del Rio is getting kind of weird.

I liked the continuation of Jericho/Ziggler, though they took some kind of silly means to get to it.

So much for rebuilding Miz. That would have been a good time for Bryan to run interference. Miz losing again wasn't good for him.

I'm not really feeling this Del Rio/Sheamus stuff. It's perhaps a segment or two too long.

I thought Jericho ended the Highlight Reel?

Solid main event. Bryan put up a good fight.

Pretty good ending promo by Punk. I don't like Show standing tall, but it made sense to make him less of a third wheel.

 I'll be back for Superstars and Impact on Friday. A news post is up next.