Tuesday, March 20, 2012

3/19/12 RAW

Ratings:
Kane vs. Big Show: 1/2*

David Otunga vs. Santino Marella: 3/4*

Daniel Bryan vs. Zack Ryder: *

John Cena vs. Mark Henry: *1/2

Sheamus vs. The Miz: *1/4

Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth: *1/2
__________________

Reviews/Thoughts:
Rock's live in Philly, cool!

Punk starts the show. No theatrics, he's serious tonight. He's letting the monster out at Mania. He refuses to let the past dictate his future. Extremely passionate promo, and I love it. Nice to know Punk's dad overcame his demons. Jericho's an obstacle to Punk, and Punk will run right through him. Jericho apologizes via satellite about Punk's dad. OH SNAP. Jericho talks about Punk's sister. Seriously great stuff. Listen to that crowd react. OH! Punk swore on TV (but it was likely delayed by a couple seconds so the censors could actually get it). Punk basically said Jericho's a bunch of bullshit and probably gave him the ol' FU as well. Loved this segment. Loved it.

Two big guys wrestling again. Kane and Big Show. Oh how lovely. What would the show be without a Cody Rhodes appearance? Video of Big Show's follies at Mania. HA, even clips from when Show actually had hair. Cody's wearing boxing gloves and shadow boxing. Guess he wants to be like Mayweather. Cody got up on the apron, and of course Cole doesn't mind that. Distraction allows Kane to deliver a chokeslam of sorts for the win. Cody with a post-match attack. Vintage handcuffs! Didn't think the cuffs were big enough to put it on Show, but they were. Cody tees off on Show with a ton of punches. Show tells Cody to run as some guy gets bolt cutters to free Show. I wish they coulda done a spot where Show tears the cuffs apart.

Vintage excess body oiled Otunga! Santino is his opponent tonight. Santino's posing! That was a nice spot. Short match here. Santino stomps on Johnny's phone, but that cost Santino the win. Vintage Long slap! Never seen Teddy run so fast. Cole wonders how Johnny can tell him how good a job he's doing now. Um, it's called telling it to someone in person, dimwit.

Vignette promoting Lord Tensai. It's likely the former A-Train (Prince Albert) returning to WWE. He's had a great career in Japan, winning multiple titles there. Quite a feel-good story, in my book. When A-Train was in WWE, he seemed destined to be a midcard lifer. I think Lord Tensai has possibilities for main event status. He's rumored to start out as Laurinaitis' bodyguard, which means Johnny's team is winning at Mania. BTW, I love those tattoos. The music, while generic, is still catchy and appealing to me.

Rock taped promo at the Rocky statue! Philly's the city of asskickers! Damn right. His little pebbles were coming out at 12. Aw. Hogan, Warrior, and Austin references! Oh, Rock mentions Pat's cheesesteaks! Guess we now know which place Rock prefers for cheesesteaks. Honestly, I'd try all the great joints there. It's a frickin' iconic sandwich! Rock with the "bang bang" (Cactus Jack), "wooooo" (Flair), and "ohhhhh yeahhh dig it!" (Savage). So now we know Rock's got a quest to become the greatest of all time. Excellent promo, as usual.

Daniel Bryan faces Zack Ryder! AJ's looking awesome again. Ryder was campaigning to be on Team Long earlier, and he'll likely get on. Cole actually references when Punk, DB, and Ryder all stood in the ring as champs. A great moment when they all came through the crowd, and I still remember Cole going all berserk that they were doing that. Ryder got brief offense in before DB countered the Rough Ryder with the LeBell Lock. Ryder instantly taps.

Oh good grief. TMZ headline with Cena getting "rear-ended." Yeah, it was a legit accident, and Cena's fine. But cue all the immature jokes on that one.

25th annual SummerSlam at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this August. WWE hitting a lot of nice milestones on their big PPVs. Wish I could go to that. I've been to RAWs, Smackdowns, and live events, but never a PPV.

Cena faces Henry tonight. Crowd vocal here, either with or against Cena. Henry tossing Cena all over the place, so I guess Cena really is OK. Mark dominating virtually the whole match before Cena did his usual comeback. I don't care who you are, it's impressive to pick up Henry for any power move, and Cena's AA put Mark away tonight. Fairly standard match, but gotta love that crowd reaction. It's a huge reason why Cena's a main eventer.

OH, HERE COMES ROCK. Rock Bottom to Henry! Poor Mark. At least he's still got a Mania match. Good short confrontation to send a message.

Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, and Eve Torres were on Extra. Maria Menounos will participate in a Mania tag match with Kelly against Beth and Eve. Good for national exposure. Like I previously mentioned in other posts, Maria actually has in-ring training, so it shouldn't be a horrible match. I'm thinking Maria gets the hot tag. I'd rather have KK take the beatdown when the heels are in control. Ha, Beth says she's a woman, so don't touch her. She's no woman...she's a glamazon!

Miz promo. King Kong Bundy reference, going from facing Hogan at WM 2 to teaming with two midgets at WM 3. Miz doesn't want to be the biggest dropoff in WM history.

Oh great, Miz is facing Sheamus. Nice knowing ya, Miz. The usual formulaic match, and a Brogue Kick ends it. Johnny will still likely pick Miz for one of his final slots anyway.

Josh Mathews is on the ramp to interview Orton, much like when wrestlers were interviewed on some platform on WWF Superstars back in the day. Love having the crowd in the back holding the signs. Decent promo from Randy tonight. Confident.

Tag match next. Four guys that will be a part of the Team Johnny vs. Team Long WM match. Aksana with Kofi and Truth, and she wants to go after Vickie. That's right, Swagger and Ziggler will join team Johnny. Truth gets the hot tag here. Ziggler with the Rocker Dropper for three because Vickie pushed Truth's foot off the ropes behind the ref's back. Aksana gets in Vickie's face and pushes her down. Aksana finally does something right and takes down Vickie! Vintage catfight! All four guys have to pull the two ladies apart. Good for a crowd reaction.

WWE.com exclusive of a house show at Madison Square Garden the previous night. HHH did Taker's signature throat slash, Tombstone, and pin. Nice way to send a message.

"End of an Era" faceoff ends the show. HBK starts off. Gong! Here comes Taker with his hood. HHH's music hits, and The Game enters. HHH and Taker have been in 19 of the 24 HIAC matches, an incredible stat. Big line from HHH: "If it means giving you the end which you so richly deserve, then I am -- and I will." Long story short: HHH puts Taker over one more time, allowing Taker to retire 20-0 at WM.

Ha, good way to end the show. Nice smirk from HBK probably pissed HHH off even more.

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