Blogging Raw: March 11, 2013

Here we go:

00:02  Great tribute to Paul Bearer.  One of the most well-liked individuals in WWE history (They say you couldn't find someone who would take bad about Moody in a business where everyone gets talked bad about).

00:06  The Undertaker tribute keeps it going.  Classy WWE here.

00:07  And we get the easy heel heat from CM Punk.  It always works well.

00:10  I said it last week, I'll say it again: CM Punk is the one guy in the company who could get a massive benefit from beating the streak.  It probably won't happen, but would be interesting.

00:14  Smart move.  Getting Kane involved in the Paul Bearer stuff and setting up a Punk/Kane match...should be good.

00:15  I know I probably won't actually get to see much of this, but I want to see some good singles action from Rollins tonight.  The Shield can work.

00:19  Well, that's about right.  Two minutes of wrestling before a gang assault.  I know, I know, they're building to a Mania match.  I get it.

00:20  Come on, Shield...John Cena can hit the AA on Show with no problem; you have an issue just getting him up for a triple powerbomb?  Ah well, they hit it anyway.

00:23  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!

00:23  Bryan VS Ziggler?  Oh, I say it again...Yes!  Yes!  Yes!

00:30  I wish these two would get more time than they're actually going to get.  The one nice thing about the post-Wrestlemania stuff is that we'll finally (Hopefully) get back to building some of these higher mid-level guys into main eventers.

00:37  Daniel Bryan is awesome.

00:38  Is there any doubt that Ziggler is the WWE workhorse right now?  I really hope they give him an extended championship run as they did with Bryan.

00:41  It sucks for it to come at the expense of Daniel Bryan, but that was a great win by Ziggler.  They need to re-establish him as a threat.  And please, please let him cash in at Wrestlemania.  Just saying.

00:50  Yep, Clay and Tensai...we're skipping this one.

00:51  The gimmick may be silly, but I still want to see Fahn-Dahn----Goooo...wrestle.

00:55  The only way you can get The Rock on this week..a movie preview for which WWE has no vested interest.

1:00  Nice job, Rhodes Scholars.  Made me chuckle.

1:05  I guess if you're going to utilize the New Age Outlaws, why not have Lesnar kick the crap out of them?

1:09  Well, it's a good thing Lesnar's okay with Heyman as his mouthpiece, because he's the only one who can get Lesnar over verbally.

1:15  Remember when Kofi wasn't used as a jobber?  Yeah, me either.

1:18  Michael Cole, if you felt the force of that kick, you have a serious medical issue that you should probably get checked out.

1:20  Ah, the Bellas...oh, that's right, no one cares.

1:27  Oh, come on...Ryback  VS Heath Slater?  Moving on.

1:38  Cesaro is solid.  Del Rio has a simple style, but he's also solid.  This should be a good match.

1:43  Like I said, solid match so far.  Looks like it'll be a short one, but good nonetheless.

1:45  The right outcome.  Doesn't necessarily make the US Championship look amazing, but you can't have your WHC lose a match like that.

1:46  Kane is selling it well, though I'm sure it's not hard to "sell it" in what has to be a very emotional moment right now.

1:52  Really, though?  We're going to fill our time with more replays?  Well, again, I guess this is the only way to get Rock on TV this week.

2:02  This could be a sneaky good match.  You've got two established competitors against two continue-to-be up-and-comers.  All four seem to be able to work pretty well.

2:10  Strong match, strong finish.  Can't complain about this one.

2:16  I do appreciate that they've given Paul Bearer  much respect tonight.

2:18  Y2J...one of the greats.  He's so good, he can disappear for months, reappear and not miss a beat.  Oh yeah, and he can talk too.

2:19  Welcome to Raw...Is...Jericho!

2:20  Doesn't really matter what happened to the Jeritron 6000, all that matters is how well Y2J can take it in stride and turn it into a joke.

2:24  Come on...Jericho is hilarious!

2:25  Won't happen, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Jericho make it 10.

2:26  Well, with Brad Maddox out here, you may be right, Michael Cole...worst segment ever?  Perhaps.

2:36  Predictable finish, but that's alright.  Still a good match.

2:44  No desire to see Swagger/Cara.  Sorry.

2:59  So either they're going past 3:05 or we're getting a very quick main event.  Annoying either way.

3:09  I'm sorry, I love a Punk match, but it's ridiculous to me that Raw has to go 3 hours at all, let alone we're now going to "overtime."  Come on WWE, stop putting a bunch of filler crap in the way and start getting done on time.  Better yet, go back to two hours.  This is where you show how bad of a move 3 hours can truly be.

3:12  Chokeslam to DDT counter.  Nicely done.

3:13  Punk's roundhouse kick is just awesome.  It looks like a knockout every time.

3:14  Beaten by the gong.

3:15  Yep, that's the way to use this death and put it into the storyline.  Well done on that one, WWE.  You could still could have done that in two hours, though.

Blogging Raw: March 4, 2013

If I'm going to watch (Most) of these three hours, I may as well blog it, too right?  Alright, let's do this:

00:01: No real surprise here.  Undertaker and Wrestlemania are a necessary duo until Taker retires.

00:04: I like that they're going all out with the "old school" vibe tonight.  It's a gimmick WWE has used before, but it's still fun.

00:07: Yeah, Punk probably should be main-eventing Mania this year.  But, given that there's going to be three or four main-event caliber matches, I can accept that not being the case.

00:09: Punk as the challenger to Taker's streak...the one guy who I could actually see them putting over Taker, based off of what a massive push that would be to establishing him as "the best in the world."

00:12: I'll take Punk over an Orton/Taker rematch, thank you very much.

00:13: Yes, Show, you actually did have a right hand when you faced Taker the first time.

00:14: Okay, I'm already bored with this whole thing.  We know it's Punk/Taker.  I don't need some gimmick poll or match or whatever they're going to use to "decide" this thing.  Let's move on.

00:15: Thanks Vickie.  Can we move on now?

00:21: Cesaro is a potentially big star.  Dude can definitely wrestle, and I like the gimmick.

00:23: This strikes me as one of those "How the heck do you book it?" type of matches?  Both of these men need to look strong if they're going to be believable title holders/contenders.

00:30: Oh, King, every main event is "one of the biggest main events in Raw history" to you.

00:31: So Cesaro can hit The Neutralizer on a massive guy like Khali, but Ryback can take him?  Okay.

00:32: So are they building to a Henry/Ryback Mania match?  That will be one of those matches that probably looks good on paper backstage or in Vince's head.  It won't look good in the ring.

00:33: Time to fast-forward.  I have no desire to watch Ryder get crushed.

00:41: I won't lie...I would enjoy a Zigger/Miz feud for a major title.  I'm a fan of both men.

00:52: Well, they're certainly giving Ziggler the Daniel Bryan treatment...just make him keep losing until he cashes in, I guess?

00:58: Enjoy it while you can.  Rock's not walking out of Mania with that title.

01:02: Sometimes The Rock cuts a killer promo.  Sometimes I think he just talks to hear himself talk.  Guess which one this promo is?

01:04: Yes, I'm sure The Rock circled a date 34 days before Mania on his calendar a long tme ago...

01:09: Cena's got the better of this promo so far.

01:12: Cena does look pretty tiny over the shoulder of Rock.

01:12: I'll admit, I chuckled at the "I'm gonna eat his children" voice.

01:16: Cena won this battle, I think.  Should be a good build, though.

01:23: I have no desire to watch an old man wrestle.  Moving on.

01:32: The only reason to stop fast-forwarding right now: Daniel Bryan.

01:33: Somehow Titus O'Neil is getting over with his dog bark or "Hoo-rah" or whatever the heck he's doing.

01:43: Moving on past the ridiculous amount of non-talent in the ring right now...

01:52: Fan-dahn-go.  Obviously.

02:01: And here comes the COO to bring it back to something of interest.

02:08: The Game has still got the ability to be the larger-than-life guy and make it believable.  Nice.

02:16: The Shield cuts an awesome promo.  And they can wrestle.  The future of the company is standing right there.

02:17: I'm sorry, but I just don't have the desire to sit through Barrett/Del Rio.

02:28: These Swagger/Colter videos are excellent.  You know, for the purpose of advancing the storyline.

02:40: Time for Punk to go to Mania.

02:59: Punk makes this match enjoyable.  Orton makes it watchable, too.

03:03: Predictable but good finish (And I don't just mean in terms of who won...get rid of Show, then Sheamus, and then Orton.  That's the right way to do it).

03:05: Undertaker borrowed the Super Shredder costume.

Post-Show: I'm definitely excited for Taker/Punk.  I fully expect Taker to win, but, as I mentioned, Punk is the first guy since I've been watching that I look at and think that he could actually defeat the streak with a very real purpose behind it.

See you next week!

Why Cena/Punk Was So Important

So last night's Raw...Cena VS Punk, winner goes on to face The Rock at Wrestlemania.  Okay, cool match, but nothing that great, right?  Everyone knew the end result, right?  It's been in the cards for months that, like it or not, Rock and Cena were going to have a Wrestlemania rematch, this was just the final way to push CM Punk out of the picture.  So what we were going to be left with was a good match, but nothing all that meaningful...right?

Oh, so very wrong.  Last night's main event was spectacular.  It was one of those rare occasions where everything comes together perfectly and you get a pay-per-view caliber match on free television.  In this case, it's one that's already been described as a match that could have main-evented Wrestlemania...and, again, it was given away on free television.  But the thing about this match-of-the-year/instant classic/whatever other superlative you'd like to use is that it does a lot more than just wow the crowd; it does a whole lot for both wrestlers involved.

Let's start with CM Punk.  The last two years have seen his stock rise in massive ways.  Anyone watching on June 27, 2011 still remembers the power of Punk's words.  When he took a seat on the stage and vented that night, it was something...incredible.  It was a very real, very raw glimpse behind the curtain of WWE.  For the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC), it was something to cheer for.  For the spoiler-free crowd, it was a true shock to the system.  And, from that moment, CM Punk established himself as one of the most important figures in WWE today.  His importance would only grow from there.  He became "the voice of the voiceless," and, as a face, gained massive popularity.  He was WWE Champion, and the people loved it.  And then came Raw 1000.

Raw 1000 saw the return of some major (And not-so-major) past WWE stars (My personal favorite: Lita).  But the important thing to come out of these returning stars was, of course, The Rock.  His announcement that he would be challenging for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble was a big deal, and pretty much sealed the thought that he would head to Wrestlemania and defend a title for the first time in nearly a decade.  But he also set up something else: After Big Show caused a Cena win via DQ (Thus keeping the title in Punk's hands), Rock came out to make the save...and then Punk hit one of the biggest heel turns in a long time.  When Punk hit the GTS on Rock, he immediately established himself as the company's top heel.

Punk is one of the most important wrestling figures in a very, very long time.  The fact that he held the title for 434 consecutive days in an era where the title changes hands at least every three months is simply incredible.  But, honestly, what he did last night may be even more impressive than that, at least to the IWC.  Because what he did last night was take John Cena to a whole new level.  CM Punk proved just how good he is by getting a superlative-laden match that will obviously be discussed as potential match-of-the-year out of a man who is still viewed by many as a guy that can't wrestle all that well.  CM Punk showed last night that he is capable of some truly incredible things and deserves to be at the top of the card for as long as he wants to be.

And then there's John Cena.  Everyone knows about Cena.  You either love him or you hate him, there seems to be no middle ground with him.  And yeah, most of his fans are women and children, a fact that he has recognized, accepted and even embraced.  But he proved last night that he can, in fact, work, and he can work at a high level.  He put on an incredible match, and that's important, because he's going to need to do it again at Wrestlemania.  Let's be honest, there's pretty much zero chance that Cena does not beat Rock to win the title at Mania.  The "passing of the torch" moment has to come this year, and that torch is going to be white-hot.  The Rock is ridiculously popular, both in and out of WWE.  The person to beat him is taking on a huge role, and Cena is the only person in WWE who can do that right now.  He has to take that torch and run with it.  And he showed last night that that might not be a terrible thing to have happen.

Yes, last night we saw a match with major implications for the future.  And if that's the kind of stuff we're going to see, then the future is going to be bright.