The Raw Review 8/27/2012

WWE Monday Night Raw 8/27/2012
The Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI

Jerry Lawler calls out CM Punk

This segment did a lot to help build the story of "The bitter champion" that we've been witnessing over the last month. Much like Bret Hart in 1997, Punk feels he has been disrespected, and he will stop at nothing to FORCE his peers to acknowledge his greatness.

Punk talking to Jerry Lawler like he was nothing but a jobber showed how big of a chip he has on his shoulder. Good stuff that had reason behind it.

Ryback vs Jack Swagger

Typical squash. Ryback needs to slow down a bit in the ring. At one point he almost dropped Swagger right on top of his head. I know I wouldn't want to be in the ring with the big pink-eyed klutz.

Finish: A Fisherman's Buster finishes off 'The All American American'.

Winner: Ryback

Non-title match: Layla© vs Natalya

I dig Layla. She has improved a ton in the ring, and pulled out some really cool moves in this match. My only complaint about the match was having to look at Vicky Guerrero standing on the ring steps the entire time.  That is a sure fire way to kill a boner.

Finish: Layla kicks Natalya in the back of the head to get the win.

Winner: Layla

Vicky Guerrero demands to replace AJ Lee as the Raw GM

My ears were bleeding by the time AJ skipped her crazy ass down to the ring. And it felt good to see her slap the shit out of Guerrero.  That being said, shouldn't AJ be fired for attacking a talent under contract to Raw?

Anger Management with Daniel Bryan: Part 1

I giggled my way through this entire segment. Daniel Bryan is great in this role, but I also hope he will one day dial back the comedy and become a serious competitor again. Until then, I'm enjoying his character.

Jerry Lawler makes his decision

I think we all knew last week, and even more so from the top of the show, That we were going to get a match between the two tonight, Also it's kind of obvious what will go down later tonight, and it will involve a certain invisible broccoli colored grappler.

John Cena vs The Miz

It was really weird seeing Cena come out to the ring, not only for an undercard match, but one that had zero hype.

The match itself was good, and that's all I have to say about it.

Finish: Attitude Adjustment on The Miz to earn Cena the victory.

Winner: John Cena

Anger Management with Daniel Bryan...and Kane: Part 2

I knew in the first skit when the therapist mentioned that they were waiting on one more person, that it would be Kane. Predictable, but I'll wait and see how this plays out tonight before I judge it as a whole.

Heath Slater vs Santino

At this point I poured myself a stiff drink. What the fuck is going on with Santino's Cobra puppet and Aksana? I actually feel bad for Heath Slater for being forced to be apart of this shit. It's bad enough that these shows are 3 fucking hours, but when I also have to sit through insufferable crap like that, I am forced to booze it up.

Hello my name is Jeremy, and WWE turned me into an alcoholic.

Finish: The Cobra sees Aksana walking out onto the stage and becomes transfixed. Slater tries to take advantage, but The Cobra manages to strike anyway.

Winner: Santino

Brodus Clay & Sin Cara vs Damien Sandow & Cody Rhodes

I've usually like it when WWE takes two feuds and puts them together for one night only. And being that I enjoy both of these programs you would think that I would love this, right? Not the case. This match was rushed and did nothing to further either storyline. Cant win 'em all.

Finish: Cody takes a headbutt and a big splash. FATALITY!!

Winners: Brodus Clay & Sin Cara

Anger Management with Daniel Bryan and Kane: Part 3

This was the best thing I have ever seen...EVER!!!

Kane going through his entire history the way he did had me literally laughing out loud. Awesome stuff. WWE I almost forgive you for the Cobra bullshit from earlier...almost.

Daniel Bryan vs R-Truth

As a match this was nothing to remember. But as a continuation of the Anger Management storyline, it was awesome. Bryan coming out and acting as if he had some kind of breakthrough was great. By the time he finally snapped and went into the "No No No" routine, I was grinning from ear to ear. Bryan's act is so over with the crowd that I can't help but feel proud of the guy. Nobody ever thought that WWE would give him a real shot, but they were wrong. He has become an invaluable member of the roster, and is truly the future of the company in many ways.

Finish: Bryan was too busy verbally dueling with the fans to notice that he was being counted out.

Winner: R-Truth

Triple H's major announcement

I had a hard time paying attention to this, and soaking it all in. I know that this wont be the last time we see Hunter on TV, and I know that Summerslam wasn't the last time we were going to see him compete. I hate retirement storylines for that very reason. So why should I care?

Plus he never actually said that he was retiring. I give it until Survivor Series before we see 'The Game' back in the ring, probably against Brock Lesnar.

Dolph Ziggler & Alberto Del Rio vs Sheamus & Randy Orton

I loved how Ziggler taunted Chris Jericho before the match. I still say they're setting up a return storyline for when Fozzy's tour ends. Sure, It would have been better if Dolph had taken out Y2J and put him on the shelf, but either way the story is building.

The match was pretty much what you would expect. Hard hitting, and plenty of bumps from Ziggler.

Finish: Ricardo tosses in the MITB briefcase to Ziggler. Orton is able to stop him from using it, which leads to a huge Brogue Kick to the face of The Show Off.

Winners: Sheamus & Randy Orton

Zack Ryder vs David Otunga

Kane joins the commentary booth.

Zack did a great job in this match, and he would have to with a shitty opponent like David Otunga.

Finish: Zack Ryder uses the Rough Ryder on Otunga to pick up the win. I bet that's not the only time that's happened to Otunga.

Winner: Zack Ryder

Post Match: Kane enters the ring and grabs Ryder by the throat. He then decides against choke slamming him, and instead takes out Otunga.

At least Ryder didn't get buried yet again. That's progress, right?

AJ names John Cena as Punk's opponent for the PPV

Well Duh!!! Didn't see that one coming.

Non-Title Cage Match: CM Punk© vs Jerry Lawler

The Raw Active voting decided that tonight's main event will be inside of a Steel Cage.

I think that this will be Lawler's first Cage Match in WWE. So that's cool, but The King will most likely die tonight.

This was a pretty damn good match for what it was. Punk was a total prick, and Lawler played the sympathetic babyface perfectly. And there was a bit of blood!!

Finish: Punk made Lawler tap out to The Anaconda Vice to score the win.

Winner: CM Punk

Post Match: Punk chains the door shut and continues beating on Lawler until John Cena runs in for the save and has the cage raised. Punk takes off as Cena tends to Jerry Lawler to end the show.

The Raw Review 8/20/2012

I'm doing things a little differently for this weeks review. Instead of going over the entire show, I counted down what I thought were the top five segments. I might just continue to use this format, so let me know what you think. After all I write it for you guys.

5. Brodus Clay vs Damien Sandow

I am really getting into Damien Sandow's character. The guy is a not only a pretty good wrestler, but he is a unique personality in a sea of cookie cutter grapplers.

On the flip side is Brodus Clay. I loved Clay when he first debuted The Funkasaurus character. However, WWE just never did anything with him. Before his feud with Sandow began, I had pretty much written the guy off.

The match was short, but succeeded in furthering the storyline. Sandow pulls the tights to pick up a cheap win. Clay then attacks after the match and gets a little revenge by hitting the big splash on Sandow.

I say continue this for a few more weeks, and blow it off at Night of Champions.

4. Brock the Conqueror

After losing to Cena at Extreme Rules, Brock Lesnar was made to look like an afterthought. WWE portrayed him as a mere stepping stone to help Cena save face after losing to The Rock at Wrestlemania. And so I guess they felt they had to have Triple H do the same for Lesnar, which is good. Brock has his heat back, but this on and off setup they have with Lesnar is ridiculous. It's hard to get behind someone who might not be there for months on end.

This entire segment was to show the world that Brock Lesnar laid waste to 'The King of Kings', and in doing so he redeemed himself in the eyes of the world. It's too bad that later in the show Lesnar Touted that he is leaving the WWE. I assume that maybe he will go away until Survivor Series, where he will have a rematch with Triple H.

And we all know how that one will end...

3. Shawn Michaels pours his heart out

No one knows better than Shawn Michaels what it's like to have your career end at the hands of another wrestler. It's happened to him twice, one time for real, the other through a storyline.

While we all know that Triple H isn't going to retire yet, it's a safe bet that his time in the ring in winding down. The match at Wrestlemania 28 against The Undertaker, really was ''The End of an Era''. While both men hadn't wrestled full time since 2009, the Hell in a Cell match was a way of telling the world that their individual runs were coming to an end.

I believe that Shawn's words tonight were not only aimed at Hunter, but also The Undertaker and anyone who has ever stepped into the ring.

2. Dolph Ziggler vs Chris Jericho

Earlier in the night, AJ set up this match, with the rules being that if Ziggler lost then he loses the Money in the Bank contract. But if Jericho loses, he is done with WWE.

This wasn't nearly as good as their match at Summerslam. In fact, it was pretty sloppy at times. I never thought that I would say that about a match involving either guy. But it was still better than most of the stuff on this episode.

The ending was never really in doubt. It's no secret that Jericho is embarking on a tour with his band Fozzy, and would be taking another hiatus from wrestling. So he puts over Ziggler on the way out. The way it's supposed to be done.

I had two problems with this. One, they are already in the middle of a retirement storyline with Triple H. So the way they went about this was overkill. And secondly, After the match while Ziggler was showing off like only he can do, Y2J grabs the MITB briefcase and nails Dolph with it. Afterwards he lays him out with The Codebreaker, and walks up the ramp for possibly the last time.

If I had booked this segment, There would have been no retirement stipulation. I would have just had Ziggler DESTROY Jericho after the match. That way Jericho could leave, and he would have a built in storyline for his return. Makes sense, huh? Maybe that's the problem.

1. CM Punk picks his opponent for Night of Champions

We all know by now that Punk choose John Cena to be the number 1 contender for his WWE Title. But that's not why I put this in the number one spot. It got the top spot because of the excellent back and forth between the two men, and because it furthered Punk's heel turn.

Punk has gone from proclaiming himself to be 'The Best in the World', to demanding that everyone else tells HIM how great he is. It reminds me how he used his straightedge lifestyle in the past. When he was a face, it was a way to show that he was a role model. But once he turned heel, he used as a way to show the world how he is better than them because of it. That's what I love about Punk. He's really never changed. He has ALWAYS been CM Punk.

Cena made some good points, but started to lose me when he said that "Punk has been Champion for 274 days, but all anyone remembers is Punk blowing Vince a kiss and leaving town". That's a crock of shit. I don't know about anyone else, but I remember him for being the guy who has gone out to the ring for the last nine months and stolen the show night in and night out. And not only that, he has done more to return some form of prestige to the WWE Title than anyone in the last decade. Prestige that was lost in large part during Cena's time with the belt.

After Cena leaves, Punk takes out his frustration by kicking Jerry Lawler in the back of the head to end the show.

So Punk continues his turn, and in doing so we have something to look forward to in the weeks to come. I'm certainly intrigued.

The Raw Review 8/13/2012

WWE Monday Night RAW 8/13/2012
The American Airlines Arena Dallas, TX


Non-Title Match: CM Punk© vs The Big Show

We start right out of the gate with a non-title match between Punk and Big Show, and it barely got underway before it was over.

Finish: Daniel Bryan comes out acting like the crazy bastard he is. He then gets in the ring and applies The No Lock on Punk causing a DQ. The Big Show then joins in on the attack until John Cena runs down and makes the save.

Winner: CM Punk

Post Match: AJ skips down to the ring and makes a huge tag team main event pitting John Cena and CM Punk against The Big Show and Daniel Bryan.

Ryback vs JTG

I guess bitching and moaning works, as JTG gets a match on Raw. They even mention his negative remarks about the company on Twitter. I'm guessing the talent meeting went well, or they're waiting until after Linda McMahon's campaign to fire him and anyone else who has voiced their opinions as of late.

But even getting squashed by Ryback is progress. Right?

Finish: Ryback got fed.

Winner: Ryback

HBK backstage with Roddy Piper

Piper acts like a fool as Shawn Michaels  receives a phone call. Apparently Triple H is having travel issues and might not make it to the show.

Are they finally going to go ahead with having Lesnar destroy HBK? This will get heat back on the Lesnar/Triple H feud, and more importantly give Lesnar back his credibility as a monster. I mean lets face it, WWE has done nothing but devalue Brock since he returned earlier this year. So it is in their best interest to build the guy back up before the Pay Per View. And hopefully they wont job him out to Hunter this Sunday, even though I think we all know that's exactly what will happen.

Heath Slater vs R-Truth

Short and pointless match. And that's all I have to say about it.

Finish: Clothesline to Slater, followed by a Flatliner and Truth covers for the win.

Winner: R-Truth

Post Match: The Primetime Players come out and beat down Truth.

Without AW, this team will go nowhere. They were given a mouthpiece for a reason. Neither guy is good on the mic, and I don't see them getting over now that AW has been fired by WWE. I predict Trouble in Little Jimmy's Paradise will retain the Titles on Sunday.

Sin Cara vs Tensai

Sin Cara was pretty impressive in this match. Maybe that's because it was so damn short that he didn't have the opportunity to botch any moves.

Tensai continues his losing streak, and here we all thought that when he was losing to Tyson Kidd, it was because Kidd was getting a push. And now it's pretty obvious that it was just the beginning of a losing streak storyline for Tensai, which is pretty bogus.

Finish: Sin Cara hits a Tornado DDT to pick up the win.

Winner: Sin Cara

Post Match: Tensai beats up his follower yet again. Are we supposed to be caring about this? If so, you fail WWE.

The Piper's Pit with Chris Jericho

The fans got to vote on Piper's guest tonight in what was clearly a setup. I mean nobody was going to vote for The Miz, and so that left both Chris Jericho and Dolph Ziggler, who are feuding. So it makes sense to have Jericho come out, and then get interrupted by Ziggler or vice versa. And that is exactly what happened.

Jericho wins the vote, and after Piper rambled on and on, Dolph Ziggler crashes the party. They go back and forth until out comes The Miz to further show that this was all laid out in advance. The Miz says that he's taking over The Pit before excusing both Jericho and Piper. Instead Jericho pops Miz in the mouth and cleans house of both him and Ziggler.

Besides how blatantly they proved the voting to be a farce, I liked this. It helped to move along the Jericho/Ziggler storyline, and I am more excited to see that match then I am Hunter vs Lesnar. But WWE only has themselves to blame for that.

Dolph Ziggler vs Chris Jericho vs The Miz 

When we come back from break, we find out that AJ has made an impromptu Triple Threat match between the three.

This one was pretty good, and it went a long way to show how much Raw has improved in recent months. In the past we were only given one big match a week. Tonight we opened with CM Punk vs The Big Show, and now we are given a Triple Threat between three talented stars. Plus we still have the big tag team main event to come. It's obvious that the focus is now on better in-ring action, and I have no complaints about that.

Finish: Jericho hooks Miz in The Walls of Jericho, but Vicky distracts the referee. Ziggler comes in an nails The Zig Zag on Y2J to pick up the  big win going into Summerslam.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Layla & Kaitlyn vs Beth Phoenix & Eve

This was actually pretty competitive for a Diva's match, and Kaitlyn was impressive.

Finish: Eve gets knocked off of the ring apron, followed be a quick roll up on Phoenix by Kaitlyn to get the win for her team.

Winners: Layla & Kaitlyn

CM Punk & John Cena vs The Big Show & Daniel Bryan

Punk's slow build to becoming a heel continues. Neither team worked really well together in this match, but surprisingly it was the team of Bryan and Big Show that was the most dysfunctional.

Finish: Punk mockingly began going through Cena's short list of moves. But when he went for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, Cena tagged himself in. Punk then decided to take his Title and walk away from the match. Cena was still able to pick up the win for his team.

Winners: CM Punk & John Cena

Post Match: Big Show goes to take out Cena, but Punk makes the save and nails Show in the head with The WWE Title. Punk then offers his hand to Cena who refuses, proving he is a giant piece of shit. Punk then walks off as Cena stares at Punk with a combination of shock and disgust.

Backstage: Josh Mathews catches up with CM Punk who says on Sunday he will teach John Cena and everyone else a lesson in respect.

Damien Sandow vs Christian

Sandow continues to impress me. The guy is good at what he does, and I honestly look forward to seeing him progress.

Finish: Brodus Clay comes out to distract Sandow but it doesn't work, and he is able to get the win over Captain Charisma

Winner: Damien Sandow

Brock Lesnar finds Shawn Michaels backstage. HBK hightails it.

If that's all that goes down between the two, I'll be pissed. It's starting to sound like I'm a HBK hater, huh? I assure you that is not the case. I just firmly believe this feud badly needs to pick up some heat. And what is the point of having Shawn on TV if he isn't going to take a beating from Brock?

The Brock Lesnar/Triple H contract signing

This will go down as the most underwhelming Contract signing in WWE history. They could have done so many things better here. First Lesnar calls out Shawn Michaels who just kind of stands around looking like he could piss himself at any second. Then Triple H's music hits, they both sign the contracts, and Lesnar leaves. THAT'S IT!!! What was the purpose in even doing an in-ring signing? I guess they felt they had to since they've done such a piss poor job of building this into a must see feud.

Afterward  Triple H and Shawn talk about the match backstage. Shawn then reiterates that he will be in Hunter's corner at Summerslam before walking off into the sunset. #Wasted Opportunity

And just when I say that...

IT FINALLY HAPPENS!!

Big Show is being interviewed in the back when screeching tires and a car horn loudly echo through the hallway. When the camera gets to the parking lot Paul Heyman has Shawn Michaels' car blocked. Shawn yells at Heyman to move his car, when out of nowhere Brock Lesnar strikes! He pulls Shawn out of his car, bumping the cameraman in the process and causing the picture to go out. We then hear a scuffle as the show goes to a break.

When we come back the roster is surveying the scene, but Shawn Michaels is gone. And so are Lesnar and Heyman. They show Shawn's car, and the windshield is destroyed. This reminded me of when Shawn was attacked by The Corporation in 1998. During that beating Shawn's face was driven through the windshield, and there was blood everywhere. I guess this was the PG answer to that segment.

Flashback to 1998:

Triple H shows up and demands answers.

Cut back into the arena as Brock carries HBK's beaten body to the ring. He tosses him in like a dead deer. Michaels gets to his feet only to be F-5'd by Lesnar. Brock then locks on the Kimura.

Triple H then comes down. Heyman warns Hunter that if he takes one more step, Brock will break HBK's arm. He stops, but Lesnar 'breaks' his arm anyway. Triple H chases Lesnar off as the EMT's rush to Shawn's aid. The show goes off the air with Lesnar looking at his handiwork approvingly.

This was good stuff. We will have to wait and see if it helps bring in PPV buys, but I think they could drag this out another month if they wanted. I wouldn't have said that last week, so the heat is there. Lets see where they go this Sunday. If Triple H beats him clean, this all would have been for nothing.