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11:20 - Wow, that was a GREAT ending to Raw. I wasn't sold on doing Triple H/Undertaker again, just because I wasn't sure they could top last year's polarizing story (I thought it was an exhilarating match). But I have to admit, that segment made me a believer.
There's something subtle that Triple H does that I can't quite put my finger on, but it's great. It's his reaction, when he's a face, when a threatening face makes an entrance. It's almost as if he's saying, "who the hell are you to move in on my territory?" The first time I noticed it was John Cena's surprise return at the Royal Rumble. The second time was tonight, when the Undertaker made his return. He just manages to show a certain amount of contempt and hostility towards the person. It's probably authentic.
And truth be told, this is an interesting story. For the past several years, Superstars have been fighting for the honor of fighting Undertaker at WrestleMania. Yet this year, Undertaker is the aggressor. He's the one trying to get somebody to agree to fight him. That's a unique situation. And Triple H's condescending pat on the back, as Undertaker stared longingly at the WresteMania sign, built the intrigue significantly. Well done, gentlemen. Great Raw all around.
11:06 - I'll give this to Johnny Ace....he sure gets a reaction from the audience.
10:55 - I have to admit, I'm really enjoying where this John Cena thing is going. From a character perspective, anyway. I'm of the opinion that any segment that has included Kane has gone on too long, but the actual character development is interesting. For one, as they bring Cena closer and closer to the edge, the fans are rallying behind him more. So if they decide NOT to turn him heel, they may at least bring some of the audience back to his side. We'll see.
10:50 - So it looks like they're building up Phoenix for a WrestleMania feud with Kharma, which is smart. However, I do wish their roles were reversed. I wish Kharma was being built up as the unstoppable heel who was dominating the Divas division. For once, Beth Phoenix would be portrayed as the underdog. It's still going to be a lot of fun, though.
10:30 - Fantastic! Kofi wins! And I love those Riddler trunks!
10:23 - Does Kofi Kingston EVER beat Miz? He has the worst record ever against him.
10:15 - Incredible match and -- get this -- pretty stellar commentary as well. Bravo. And hey, best of all, it looks like we are going to get Jericho/Punk at Mania. That makes me happy.
10:09 - I cannot believe that Cole noticed that Punk switched to his good arm for the bulldog. What has gotten into him?
10:08 - The thing that bothers me about this great match is that I fully expect CM Punk to win clean. I didn't really have a problem with it last year, when Edge was beating Miz, but this seems different.
9:59 - Let's sit back and enjoy this match.
9:47 - The Funkettes (or whatever they're calling themselves) are committing my PPV pet peeve (as noted last week): Debuting new attire the show immediately after the PPV, instead of at the PPV.
9:45 - If they just announce Mike Tyson I'm going to be a bit disappointed. Why not just hold off and announce it tonight, instead of WWE.com hours early? Hope this is a "new" announcement.
9:35 - I'm not a huge Orton fan, but I have to admit he has incredible chemistry with Dolph Ziggler. I daresay better chemistry than Ziggler has with Punk.
9:31 - This skybox interview with Barrett in the midst of the match is an interesting concept, but I'm not sure I like it. I mean, we don't need to do a split screen showing the commentators, so why do we need to do a picture-in-picture to hear Barrett comment on Orton?
9:29 - Also, I was writing an e-mail during the Sheamus promo, so can anybody clarify: Did Sheamus confirm that he's fighting the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania?
The only thing I didn't like is that they made a big deal about Orton not appearing on Raw for six weeks. Really? Six weeks?
2 comments:
1. Sheamus didn't specify, said he could challenge either and left it at that.
2. Ziggler and Punk have GOOD matches, but considering how great I think both can be, they're actually somewhat disappointing to me. Tend to agree Ziggler has better chemistry with Orton.
3. GREAT match with Bryan and Punk. Normally I hate DQ endings in matches like that, but not at all here. Bryan looked the best he's looked in a very, very long time, neither guy really won the match, it sets up Jericho/Punk, and it leaves it open to a future Punk/Bryan program.
I agree on commentary although I still wish JR would call it...but I say that about every match. The commentary was actually strong for this match. And I think Punk is at his best when he sells a limb injury...he's perhaps the best in the company at really selling it, switching arms, making it look like he's really hurt, which IMMEDIATELY gives me the perception his opponent can beat him. Take, say, Cena (this isn't intended to rip on Cena). Put ADR against Cena and I never bought ADR could beat Cena for a second (short of the cheating, screwy ending...not legit, is my point). Put him against Punk and going into the match I kind of feel the same way, but when Punk starts selling the arm injury, it totally changed my viewpoint because suddenly I can suspend my disbelief and say "Hey, that arm is hurt, Del Rio could definitely make him tap!". So many guys, even the really good wrestlers, aren't very good at that, but Punk is.
Thanks for the clarification on Sheamus.
And I agree with everything you said. One of the biggest differences between Cole and JR is passion. JR gets so passionate about the product. I remember one time where he was in the background of the camera angle while calling the match, and you could see him staring down the monitor and screaming as he called the match. You don't see that passion from anybody else. The only time Cole is passionate is when he's tearing somebody apart. And that's disturbing.
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