Monday, December 26, 2011

12/26/11 RAW

Ratings:
Booker T vs. Cody Rhodes: **1/2

Zack Ryder & Eve Torres vs. Tyson Kidd & Natalya: *1/4

John Cena vs. The Miz: N/A

Big Show vs. David Otunga: N/A

CM Punk vs. Jack Swagger: *1/4

Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk: **
___________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Two major goofs for Laurinaitis right at the start. First, he attempted to impersonate Punk. Second, he messed his lines up. Executive Vice President of Monday Night RAW? Must be a new title. Punk gets a HUGE pop in his hometown...no surprise. Yes, yes, I would love to see Punk wrestle three times. I'd like to see Punk wrestle Daniel Bryan for three hours as well.

I'm real intrigued to see what becomes of this cryptic black and white video with the boy and the girl. Many people still say it's Punk and Jericho for a feud. Obviously, I'm not so sure. The thing is...who is it for?

Very good match between Cody and Booker. Slow to start, but then a lot of near falls and counters. Booker's still got it!

Punk's three opponents: Swagger, Ziggler, and Henry. Not bad.

ROFL. "A giant with one arm is still better than a smug lawyer with no testicles." Love it. Thank you, Big Show.

Mixed tag match is next. Tyson and Natalya had been apart on camera for quite some time, glad to see them back together for the last RAW of 2011. July 23, 2012, will be the 1000th episode of RAW...damn, has it really been that many already?! Vintage double Broski boot! Nice crowd reaction for this one.

Time for Cena to call Kane out. Wait, impromptu match between Cena and Miz instead. Crowd showing their divided reactions to Cena. Well, Miz gets on the mic and that's that. R-Truth's back as a face, going right after Miz. Guess that will be a feud for 2012. I loved Truth's mic work. Entertaining stuff man.

Big Show goes against Otunga...and Show's got one arm tied behind his back. Well, that match wasn't really a match. Mark Henry came out so the ref stopped things. Daniel Bryan continues to be a thorn in Henry's side, which if anything, hopefully keeps guys like Henry and Bryan in main event status for 2012.

Apparently Del Rio tore his groin, and he's in a custom wheelchair. Not sure if it's a work or what not, but I guess we'll see over time.

The gauntlet ends the wrestling portion of the show. Fairly short match between Punk and Swagger, as predicted. Ziggler is next for Punk. This one went longer, and seemingly, Ziggler's getting more and more screen time to show his stuff. I love the push Ziggler's getting. I can't wait to see the title match next week. Generally, the first RAW of the year produces epic matches (see 2011 opening RAW) and hopefully, Punk and Ziggler will get at least four stars and a lot of time. Will Ziggler get the belt? You know, I wouldn't rule it out. Management hasn't been liking the low ratings while Punk is champ. Just think what happens if Punk goes to Smackdown and feuds with Daniel Bryan. The IWC would go ballistic.

Kane ends the show. Hey, no vibrating thing to make him talk! Oops, here comes Cena! Vintage flames keep Cena on the stage! Storyline revolving around hate. Who better to basically write and give a powerful sermon than Kane? Kane's promo work is excellent, isn't it?

I'm guessing all these promos Cena's been involved in have set the stage for the slowest, most methodical planned heel turn WWE's likely ever pulled on camera. Weaving multiple storylines into a heel turn for 2012? Will it happen? "Cena Sucks" shirts have sold out like mad.

A thought came to my mind...what if the all those black and white videos with the boy and girl turn out to be Cena's heel turn? A lovely cliffhanger for 2012.

No comments: