Pre-taped promos, a Hell of a risk, and the Cobra strikes
by , 03-05-2012 at 10:58 PM (2790 Views)
Hey people, me again with another blog on Raw (and for that one guy last week who decided to read blogs about Raw before actually seeing the show, *SPOILER ALERT*).
I think I'm safe from disagreements when I say that we saw a lot of The Rock and John Cena, but not too much was actually said. On top of that we got a pretty decent match from the Championship match competitors (although it was a bad move letting Jericho and Punk face one another before their match, let alone have Jericho pin Punk), and a new United States Champion in the Milan Miracle and his Cobra, Santino. And if enough didn't happen already (it really didn't), Shawn Michaels has been included in the WrestleMania Hell in a Cell match as a Special Referee in a decision I think was awful.
I'll start with tonight's most time-consuming topic. The Rock and John Cena once again had themselves a promo-off rather than any real confrontation, and it proved that neither man really has that much to say about their once in a lifetime match.
The jist of it is that The Rock was waiting for a worthy opponent before he came back (only to belittle him for a year and seem like he doesn't care), and John Cena has no choice but to win this match in order to cement his legacy (obvious, I know). It seems compelling on paper, but neither man is really bringing their best to the table. Cena's trying, but it isn't enough (when you get booed in your home town as the face of the company you know you're never going to be cheered anywhere, especially in Miami against The Rock). The Rock has shown he still has the talent to cut a great entertaining promo and I love it as much as the next guy, but it's time these two started getting more personal. At least Rocky actually did something serious in the end segment - telling Cena that come WrestleMania he is going to make him his bitch, but then he left (to quote Shame Helms, "Whatsupwiththat!?!")
I mean, there were other things but all anybody really got from tonight's Raw is that behind all of the fun and games in Rock's promos he wants to put a huge dent in Cena's legacy, and Cena somehow managed to go from angry and serious to the fan who was upset that Rocky left all those years ago. He looked like he was tearing up at times. My point is that something needs to happen soon if this match is actually going to get personal enough to headline a WrestleMania which looks set to have three or four main event calibur matches on the card.
I'll admit, my reaction may come across worse than it really was, and I suppose I can forgive the mediocre closing segment to Raw if I look at the opening segment. I'm sure if you're still reading this you know what happened already, so I won't bore you with details. I think it's a huge mistake bringing Shawn Michaels in to referee the Hell in a Cell match, and I'll explain why.
The match is supposed to mark the end of an era, so why put an x-factor like an impartial referee into the mix? For me it takes away from the occasion, makes it more about the underlying rivalry between Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and puts the most impressive streak in sports entertainment into a secondary role. Surely this isn't how Undertaker wants to go out?
On top of that it's already a Hell in a Cell match. Why do they feel like they need to add anything else to a WrestleMania Hell in a Cell match between its two most accomplished competitors? It seems more like they're trying to take away from the match to favour Cena versus Rock rather than adding to what was an exciting match a week ago. Also, why exactly have we not seen Undertaker for the past two weeks? Isn't he supposed to be a part of this storyline? I'm also a firm believer that having a special referee at WrestleMania ruins any top-billed match. Having Mike Tyson as an enforcer for Stone Cold versus Michaels proved pointless (in terms of the match quality - if anything, the fast count took away from the finish), and since then they only seem to use them in gimmick matches in the mid/lower card. It's a good system, stick to it.
In other news, Jericho pinned Punk in a tag team match which saw no real push for the Sheamus/Bryan match (still), but a good match between four good superstars. Only issues with this for me were that the World Heavyweight Championship has no push as of yet, and Jericho and Punk should really not be facing one another until WrestleMania other than in promos if they want to keep anticipation high. Other than that it was a solid match.
Also, a mark out moment for me came when Santino actually won the United States Championship! I don't know what it is about Santino but he makes me laugh, and I'm backing this push he's gotten over the past year. I know he's likely to lose the title on SmackDown but if you can't enjoy the ridiculous moments in professional wrestling, are you really a fan?
So that's all from me this week (sorry it's a long one). As ever, thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter (@ComingToCinemas).






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