This recap and analysis of WWE’s Monday Night Raw are the personal opinions of the writer. The author of this article is a former promoter, writer, and referee in the wrestling industry. You won’t find analysis as accurate as this anywhere else on the internet.
WWE Monday Night Raw Results 2/27/12
CM Punk comes out to start the show. He is supposed to face Daniel Bryan. Chris Jericho’s music hits instead. Jericho comes out looking very determined and walks down the aisle quickly. He says that CM Punk is a great performer, one of his favorites, but isn’t as good as he is. Jericho says that he never had to call himself the best in the world. He says that the people did that for him. He says he is a dieing breed of guys who made a name for themselves before coming to the WWE. He says these people didn’t care about politics, took what was theirs, and stole the show each night. Jericho says that Punk is this way now, but that is only because Punk is a Chris Jericho wannabe.
Punk cuts him off and says that everyone is sick of listening. Punk says that everyone knows how good Jericho is, but he has a problem with Jericho saying that he’s stolen anything from them. Punk says that Jericho didn’t invent saying he was the best. He brings up “the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be” Bret Hart. He asks Jericho if he invented that saying when he was two years old. He also asks if Jericho invented Canada. Jericho goes on to put himself over and talk about his feuds and matches from the past. He says he is the best in the world at everything he does. Punk says that Jericho was never “the man” in the industry like he is right now. That seemed to anger Jericho a little bit.
This is starting to get intense. Punk says he’s on top swimming with sharks while Jericho is dancing with stars. This promo is great. Jericho says that while he was away on game shows all he thought about was Punk ripping him off. Punk says that he doesn’t need Chris Brown, that Jericho doesn’t need Mickey Rourke, that neither of them need fancy pyro, and that Jericho doesn’t need his “fancy lite brite jacket.” All they need is a ring to have the greatest “wrestling” match in Wrestlemania history. Daniel Bryan’s music hits. He comes to the ring with AJ, John Laurinaitis, and David Otunga. Wow what a great promo. This is what we’ve all been waiting for all along. Excellent mic skills by both guys. Punk and Jericho are both the complete package. I love them both, but neither is the best in the world. That honor goes to……….yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!!! World Heavyweight Champion!!!!!! Trending on Twitter is Chris Jericho.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan w/ AJ– Daniel Bryan jumps Punk from behind. Punk takes over with punches and throws Bryan to the outside. The match hasn’t started yet. Commercial. When we come back the match has finally started. Daniel Bryan is kicking Punk in the corner. Punk comes back with chops. High elbow by Punk out of the corner, followed by a cross body off the top by Bryan. They cut away to the commentary table full of Laurinaitis, Otunga, Teddy Long, and Santino Marella. I’m pretty angry that all these idiots are distracting away from Punk and Bryan. They finally show the ring again as Bryan is dropping knees across Punk’s face. They continue to cut away so much that I’m having a hard time following any sort of match psychology. Are you kidding me WWE??????? Punk throws Bryan to the outside. Punk wants to attempt a dive to the outside but AJ gets in front of Bryan. Punk walks to the outside but he’s thrown into the ring steps by Bryan. Another commercial break. This match has been ruined. Awful cutaway shots and too many commercials. I’m pissed. Seriously, what are they thinking? Why would they do this? Not one single person in their viewing audience cares about the stupid Laurinaitis vs. Long storyline while the two best wrestlers in the world are in the ring. Keep the focus on wrestling. What is this? TNA Impact Wrestling? Where the focus is not on wrestling.
Finally back from commercial. They show a Daniel Bryan superplex that happened during the break. Punk is in an abdominal stretch. They cut away again. When they cut back both guys are on the mat. I don’t know what happened. I’m not sure which body parts have been targeted or affected either. I’m not sure of the psychology of the match. Do they realize how much of it they kill by not showing all the action? Bryan misses a kick and is slammed. Punk off the top rope with the Macho Man Flying Elbow. Punk can’t make the cover because he’s selling his abdomen. Not sure why. They didn’t show the psychology. Otunga jumps up on the apron, but is knocked off by Punk. Bryan goes for the Labelle Lock but misses. Otunga gets back up on the apron but he’s hit with a Cobra by Santino Marella. Laurinaitis jumps up and pulls Santino down. Long and Laurinaitis argue. Daniel Bryan tries to leave but Sheamus comes down the ramp and throws him back into the ring. CM Punk hits Go To Sleep. Laurinaitis runs into the ring and throws the match out. Teddy Long comes in the ring and pushes Laurinaitis down. CM Punk walks up the ramp but is attacked from behind by Jericho. Jericho slams him on the steel ramp. He applies the Walls of Jericho then poses with the WWE Championship. Teddy Long is trending on Twitter.
What just happened? The potential best Raw match of all time was just ruined by a cluster full of guys. They just used the recent Punk vs. Bryan success and tried to spin 3 different storylines out of it. That’s not cool. That match needs no other promotion other than what it is. It needs to be it’s own entity. Way to really drop the ball WWE.
Josh Matthews is in the back. He gives a pointless update from outside Punk’s locker room. He says he’s not injured, but he’s angry. I hope he’s angry at the way he was booked tonight.
Undertaker/Triple H hype video. It’s a recap of last year’s match. It’s very long and a huge waste of time. Other than the opening promo Raw has been a huge waste of potential tonight. Triple H and “Taker” are trending on Twitter.
Kelly Kelly vs. Nikki Bella- That’s the best way to come back from the ruined opener right? That sounds like something that they would do. So apparently Kelly is running her mouth to Eve Torres on Twitter. And we are supposed to care. Nikki is slammed. She comes back with mounted punches. Kelly trips her in the corner. Flying scissors by Kelly. Running bulldog. She dropkicks Brie off the apron. Nikki rolls her up but Kelly counters with a bridging pin for the win. So it looks like they are going to start pushing Kelly Kelly again. Wonderful! That means plenty of hair weaves, botched spots, bad acting, and two minute matches. This Raw is not good. I’m about to watch the Daytona 500. Just joking. Nothing on this earth could make me resort to watching Nascar.
John Cena vs. The Miz- So last year’s Wrestlemania main event is tonight and I don’t recall them even hyping it. The Miz has a microphone. He says he’s worked too hard to be treated like this. I agree. He says nobody has worked harder than him over the last year. He says he’s the guy that the WWE calls on for all media appearances. Yet his name has yet to be called upon for Wrestlemania. He says he’s going to prove that he is Wrestlemania by beating the guy that he beat in the main event last year. So when The Miz loses he is buried forever. Tie up to start. Cena takes control. Multiple leap frogs followed by a Cena hip toss. Miz is Irish whipped into the corner then suplexed. High knee to the face by Cena and a back elbow to the face. He attempts the Attitude Adjustment but its countered into a reverse DDT. Miz chokes Cena against the ropes but Cena takes over with a toss. Hard clothesline by Cena. Miz counters another suplex with his DDT from the knees. Miz slows down the pace to be more methodical. That’s old school Miz. He uses the running clothesline through the ropes. Miz misses off the top, is hit with multiple shoulder tackles, reverse suplex, and the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. Attitude Adjustment from Cena. STF and Miz taps out. Cena wins. The Miz dies. He is now buried in too big of a hole to ever have a future with the company.
As Cena celebrates we see The Rock jumping up and down in the back. He looks at the camera and does the “You can’t see me” pose. Cena smiles. Then they waste time showing Cena exit the ring and walk up the ramp. Why didn’t they cut to commercial after The Rock was on the big screen?
Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match: Epico and Primo w/ Rosa Mendes (c) vs. R-Truth and Kofi Kingston vs. United States Champion Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler w/ Vickie Guerrero- Battle of the races? Just saying. This is like the Nation of Domination vs. Los Boricuas vs. DOA. Yes I made a pre Attitude Era reference. I know that nobody was watching wrestling then. Three guys will be in the ring at all times. Kofi and Epico and Ziggler start the match. They bounce off the ropes before Kofi hits a dropkick. He sends Ziggler flying with a monkey flip. Another monkey flip on Epico. Tag to R-Truth. He does the split and spinning drop kick. Swagger comes in and hits a clothesline. Then they all knock each other out of the ring for the commercial spot.
Back from break Swagger is choking Truth on the ropes. Primo comes in to help. He and Swagger start to push each other. It doesn’t result in anything. Drop kick by Ziggler but Primo takes his cover. They argue. Neck breaker by R-Truth. Both heels are tagged in but Truth can’t make the hot tag. Epico and Swagger begin to punch each other as Kingston gets tagged. Kofi comes in with drop kicks. Flying cross body off the top rope on Swagger. Kofi slams Epico on top of Swagger. Double Boom Drop by Kofi. Rosa Mendes, and Primo and Epico are all trending on Twitter. Ziggler gets involved to give Swagger control. Swagger uses an Ankle Lock on Epico, Kofi hits Trouble In Paradise on Swagger, Primo hits a Back Stabber on Swagger, and Epico gets the win. Epico and Primo are still tag champions.
Pyro explodes and Kane is standing at the top of the ramp. Kane comes down the ramp and takes out everyone in the ring with chokeslams. Old school Kane. For many many many many years I’ve been saying that Kane needed to start coming out in random matches and take out everyone in the ring like he used to do. But it’s been way too many years for me to actually get behind it now. I guess it was kinda cool. I hope they continue it, but I doubt they will. Even if they do it’s hard for me to believe that Kane is an unstoppable force after Cena buried him at the Elimination Chamber PPV. When he did this stuff in 1997 he was believable because he was brand new and undefeated. Nice try to pull off a cool idea WWE, but it’s not going to work that way. You already ruined the masked Kane with the Cena storyline….sorry.
John Laurinaitis and David Otunga are in the back. They are talking about how bad the movie “The Artist” is. Teddy Long comes into his office and they yell at him to get out. Laurinaitis tells him that he has been fired as Smackdown GM. Teddy Long calls him “a horse’s ass.” Nothing Teddy Long says is funny. But this is funny….the crowd chants “horse’s ass.” Does anyone care about the Teddy Long being fired storyline? Not me.
Zack Ryder and Eve Torres Recap video. Waaaaayyyyy too many recap videos tonight. They show the clip of Eve and her awful acting with that over dramatic non-creepy/creepy laugh. The special effects were pretty funny though. They pushed into Eve’s face and did the record stop sound when she said “I was just using Zack Ryder.” Pretty funny. It was made to look much more dramatic than it actually was.
Eve Torres comes to the ring. Jerry Lawler says its a walk of shame for her to come out there. The crowd chants hoeski. She says that there isn’t a man in the world who wouldn’t want to be used by her. She puts herself over and talks about how men can’t resist her. Men should blame themselves for their weaknesses. She blows a kiss and walks away. Very weak promo. No charisma whatsoever. Michael Cole asks Jerry Lawler if he could resist Eve. He awkwardly says no.
Eve Torres is walking in the back. Kelly Kelly comes up to her and asks why she ignores her now. Eve does that same over dramatic non-creepy/creepy laugh. Alicia Fox walks up beside her and they both glare at Eve as she walks away. eoanffvrafefafovnraerg how do I even respond to that? Which is more terrible? Eve Torres’ charisma, this year’s Daytona 500, or the trailer to Edge’s new movie? Why did #hoeski not trend on Twitter tonight? Did everyone turn Raw off by now? Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox are trending on Twitter.
Michale Cole and Jerry Lawler talk about the Raw GM Rumors. This one is easy to see. Spoiler alert. Teddy Long will run Raw and John Laurinaitis will run Smackdown next week to progress their storyline. Sorry. Who really cares? There is a big WWE Board of Directors Announcement on WWE.com tomorrow. What I just said will be exactly what it is.
Sheamus and Big Show vs. Mark Henry and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes- I thought Smackdown has been incredibly weak the last few weeks. But as weak as it has been it’s still good enough to main event Raw tonight. Cody Rhodes grabs the mic to show another “Cody Rhodes Presents: Another Embarrassing Big Show Wrestlemania Moment.” If you missed it on Smackdown, Cody started this new video thing showing Big Show losing at Wrestlemania. It’s all leading up to Rhodes vs. Big Show at this year’s Wrestlemania. For some reason WWE doesn’t want to book Big Show vs. Shaq, nor Chody Rhodes vs. Goldust. So they will ruin those two marquee matches with a terrible Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes match. On Smackdown he showed Akebono embarrassing Big Show at Wrestlemania 21. Tonight he shows Floyd Mayweather beating Big Show at Wrestlemania. I like this idea a lot. It’s funny.
Big Show and Rhodes start the match. Rhodes cowers and runs to the outside after tagging Henry. Big Show punches away at Henry and hits a weak spear. I politely asked The Big Show to not add that to his arsenal because it’s not good. Rhodes runs up the ramp. Big Show yells at him. Sheamus tags himself in and hits a Brogue Kick on Mark Henry for the win. Another 2 minute match. Awful. Just awful. Big Show is trending on Twitter.
A promo runs showing that Shawn Michaels will be on Raw next week.
The Rock comes to the ring. Huge pop from the crowd. He poses for like 10 minutes. Something like that. Very hot crowd. He shows the goose bumps on his arm. The crowd chants “Boots to asses.” Rock says that he’s not here every week. He was born and created in the WWE. He says if it weren’t for the WWE he would never exist. He said when he came back and said he would never leave, he meant it. He says that didn’t mean that he could make it every single week. So what he’s saying is that he didn’t really mean it? The crowd chants “Fruity Pebbles.” Rock says he loves that chant. He says Cena is a phony. He says the guy that went to prep schools became the “Doctor of Thuganomics.” He makes fun of Cena being from the hood. Rock says he doesn’t want to talk to Cena. He said he saw him in catering and didn’t talk to him. He would rather slap his face with a piece of Kung-Poa Chicken. He say’s Cena isn’t a phony but he is a “Kung-Pao Bitch.” The crowd chants “Kung-Pao Bitch.” I didn’t find that too funny. Fruity Pebbles was funny, but not Kung-Pao.
The Rock says that when he was a baby face and was booed by the crowd that Stone Cold didn’t fight for him. He says nobody fought for Triple H, Macho Man, or Roddy Piper. He says Cena doesn’t need to fight for the wrestlers in the back like he claimed he was last week. Rock says that he fights for the people. #Bootstoasses and #KungPow (spelled wrong) are both trending on Twitter. #Bootstoasses is the #1 Trend in the world. The Rock goes on to talk about how everything he says becomes huge. He said Fruity Pebbles to Cena and he ended up on a Fruity Pebbles box. By this point everyone seems to notice how The Rock is reading notes off his wrist. I don’t even know how to comment on that one either. The Rock makes the crowd chant things in unison. He says that Cena changed his jean shorts to camouflage shorts. Then he says Cena has missing balls. The crowd chants missing balls. This is getting repetitive to me. Finally John Cena’s music hits.
He comes out to say everything The Rock says is genius. He makes fun of the Kung Pao thing. He asks what The Rock calls his penis nowadays. Cena says he loved The Rock until he met Dwayne Johnson. He says Dwayne is a self centered, see through, son of a bitch, that wouldn’t care if the company closed its doors tomorrow. CENA SAYS HE DON’T NEED THE NOTES FOR HIS PROMO ON HIS WRIST. LINE OF THE NIGHT. He says he will beat the hell out of The Rock at Wrestlemania. He tells The Rock to continue trending and leaves. The Rock is legitimately pacing back and forth. He’s angry. He rambles angrily. I’ve never really seen him like that before. He responds with catch phrases. He will kick Cena’s candy ass at Wrestlemania….If you smell what The Rock is cookin. End of show at record setting 11:28 pm. Raw went waaaayyy over tonight.
Here are my thoughts. I don’t think that Cena’s promo was planned. I think The Rock was rambling so Vince sent Cena out there to get a chance to stir The Rock up and take up for himself. It’s good live television. The Rock was really surprised when Cena’s music hit. The lighting department wasn’t prepared. They brought the lights up late. The WWE production is so amazing that they have all those minor details worked out far in advance. The reaction from The Rock and the production error really makes me believe that Cena’s promo was impromptu. And Cena was great. He completely owned The Rock. The Rock came out and did exactly what Cena said he would last week. He delivered punch lines, made Cena jokes, and rambled on and on. Cena’s promo was quick, accurate, and struck a nerve with The Rock. He even pulled out the notes on the wrist thing. The Rock seemed embarrassed. I love The Rock and all he’s done. I think he’s the greatest ever on the mic. But in this situation in a shoot interview he’s a little out of place. The Rock is entertaining. He delivers entertaining lines. He doesn’t deliver impromptu heat without premeditation.
Excellent start and finish tonight. The rest was garbage.
Follow Mark Brown on Twitter @FantasyGodmb.
I’m a huge Rock fan all the way, but I have to admit – something didn’t go down to well tonight, especially towards the second half of the segment. Cena’s promo – although well done (kudos to him for that) seemed to hit a nerve, Rock genuinely looked pissed, you could see him getting close to Cena as soon as Cena mentioned the ‘wrist’ thingy. I think it was sort of sign for Cena to pack up and leave. Rock stumbling after his lines after Cena left also seemed a little out. If Cena’s gonna start bluring the line between reality and script, then The Rock better pick up his game as well. Catch-phrases are cool, but fans of WWE today are looking for a little real-heat and Cena seems to be delivering on that aspect.
The Rock was angry and off his game. I’m not sure this is the best way to go about this feud. It’s cool to see and great for live television, but at the same time, I end up feeling bad for these guys. I kinda felt bad for The Rock tonight. You certainly can’t blame him for going off to be a huge celebrity and make millions of dollars. He’s decided to come back and stay involved permanently. And for that he gets embarrassed in the ring tonight. The Rock was so angry at Cena’s promo that he did stumble in the 2nd half. He couldn’t spit out what he was saying because he his blood was boiling. Rock didn’t even respond to the wrist thing. How could he? Your right that The Rock needs to catch up. Or they need to change the angle all together and have Cena stop. The Rock has better mic skills and is more entertaining. But Cena is the better shooter.
I give Raw a B- tonight. Didnt quite live up to the expectations I gave it beforehand. I think CM Punk got the better of Jericho verbally, whie Y2J owned him physically. They seem pretty even so far on the road to WM, which is how it should be. Great stuff. Punk’s “swimming with sharks while Jericho is dancing with stars” line was beautiful. I cannot wait for more of this feud. Seemed to me that Jericho attacking Punk after his match was cowardly, however. I guess thats just trying further Jericho being the heel.
Having all the morons by the announce table really pissed me off during the Punk/Bryan match. They are the two BEST wrestlers in the company, and they gave more camera time to Teddy Long’s pimp suit than the actual match. stupid booking. really really disappointed me. I actually do think the Long/Ace GM storyline is somewhat intriguing, but I dont give a rat’s behind about it when Punk and Bryan are out there. As a side note, I think Punk is the best in the world; Bryan is a close second. 🙂
rest of the show until Rock came out was blah, nothing really worth talking about except the complete burial of Miz. Someone said on twitter that Kane and Miz should have a “Cena buried me” match at WM. I legit LMAO.
ok ok onto Rocky vs Cena…You nailed it when you said that Rock did exactly what Cena said he would do..nothing but stereotypical catchphrases and playing to the crowd….for 20 minutes. Yawn. Thank goodness Cena came out and saved it. Btw, I did not pick up on the lighting botch..I will have to rewatch it to check on that. Cena pointing out Rock’s cheat notes on his wrist was completely awesome. So was the frequency of the word “bitch.” PG? But I loved it nonetheless. That definitely ticked Rocky off. And to make things even worse for him, all he could do afterwards was utter some more catchphrases. Cena owned him, and he couldnt do anything about it.
Seeing Rock live at Survivor Series at Madision Square Garden was the best wrestling moment of my live. period. Rocky is awesome, no doubt. But Cena is completely 100% legit correct in everything he says about him. Rocky is a self-absorbed, egotistical jerk that essentially is burying the up-and-coming wrestlers of the WWE by showing up 3 times a year and is still main eventing Wrestlemania. I get all he has done in the past, and he is awesome on the mic. But I got Cena’s back on this one. As funny as Rock is with his catchphrases and twitter wars, he really has nothing relevant to say. When he gets called out on the spot, he gets all mad and justs says some more bull crap. Cena > Rock.
ok ok ok …sorry about my “mark” moment there. Just my honest opinions on the situation. Again, thanks for this weekly write-up and the chance to share thoughts, opinions, etc. I really like reading this and sharing my views. Onto next week!!
I’ll start off by agreeing with you on the Punk and Jericho thing. Read my above comment on Rock/Cena. It’s the same thing with Punk/Jericho. Punk and Cena are shooting. Rock and Jericho come from a different and more nostalgic era where everything isn’t so much of a shoot. Both Rock and Jericho were playing towards the storylines while Punk and Cena made it personal. Although Jericho wasn’t really angry like Rock was. Jericho can step up his game easily though because he’s brilliant on the mic. They need to build Jericho more because right now it’s not completely believable to me. Jericho missed a lot of time. Then when he came back he didn’t wrestle. When he finally did, he lost the Rumble. Then he lost in the Chamber. So I really need to see a push out of him. Cowardly attacks won’t help.
The commentary thing during that match ruined the entire show for me. As you can tell, my mood never really recovered the whole night. I personally can not rank Punk ahead of Bryan. Nobody over Bryan! World Heavyweight Champion!
The triple tag match was decent tonight. The Miz thing also angered me. Not sure where they can go with him. I guess he needs to get with Eve and face Ryder and Kelly Kelly at Mania.
I pretty much agree with everything you said on Rock/Cena. Like I said above I do kinda feel bad for The Rock. I don’t think he’s making it as personal as Cena is. But then again his egotistical actions do kinda seem like he’s looking down on Cena. I’m sure that angers Cena to the point where he wants to put The Rock down. Plus I’m sure Vince McMahon is encouraging Cena.
I forgot about the triple threat tag match. That match really was a good one, I remember R-Truth had a really nice spot in it. Quite surprised the tag champs retained. I have no problem with it as long as they keep appearing regularly on live tv and keep winning. Your comment to the above poster about the Rock is 100% right on. Everything I think you already said, which is awesome. I really think Cena should beat the Rock at WM, but I find it hard to believe WWE would have the hometown crowd leaving disappointed if he loses. I have no idea, but my gut says Rock wins, which sucks.
I like Epico and Primo but the tag titles are worthless right now. I think Ziggler and Swagger need to have them for credibility. What I really really really want is the Kings of Wrestling to come in and take them on their first night. For those who don’t know the Kings of Wrestling its Claudio and Chris Hero from Ring of Honor. WWE owns them both now. I forget what Claudio’s new name will be, but Hero’s new name is Kassius Ohno. I can’t wait for their debut.
I see The Rock winning. The hometown crowd thing is exactly why. It would be nice if Rock put Cena over like Hogan did for him….but he won’t.
I agree on Jericho not being a credible threat to Punk right now- last night was a huge disappointment for me. The problem isn’t their skill level- both men gave technically sound and good promos. But there’s no real compelling story driving this. Half the time Punk looked like a social worker interviewing someone for assistance- he had that empathetic look on his face, like he felt sorry for Jericho. Jericho absolutely should have won either the rumble or the Elimination chamber. As it is, for the next month all we have to look forward to is cowardly attacks and Punk basically saying “I understand how you feel, but I currently have the title”. And the way Jericho has been booked, you know that he isn’t walking out of Mania with the title. Ugh. I’m so sad.
I was surprised (pleasantly in many ways) to see the tag team champs retain- if they make them a regular thing then maybe some life could be breathed into the tag division. All 3 of those teams could be solid, certainly.
I thought there was poor flow tonight in terms of commercial breaks. Two matches (Punk/Bryan and the tag match) had multiple breaks, and I think at one point they came back from break to go to the Triple H/Undertaker video only to go right to another break.
I didn’t catch that with the lights for Cena. I’m still learning stuff like that…as of now I tend to mark at everything hahaha. I’ll have to rewatch. I wasn’t blown away by the Rock’s promo (although when he said ‘slap you with a piece of kung pao chicken, I laughed out loud. That was pretty funny).
I wish the Sheamus/Big Show/Cody/Mark Henry match would have been longer. Rhodes is one of my favs, both in the ring and on the mic, and I feel like Sheamus has received the absolute worst push you could give a Royal Rumble winner.
There is still plenty of time to make Jericho credible. But it’s not going to be easy. I honestly don’t think they will pull it off correctly. I agree that there is no way Punk will drop the title at Mania.
At this point I would have rather seen Epico and Primo drop the titles and be rebuilt on the undercard. The only way that their winning is believable to me is if Rosa is getting involved in the finishes. I don’t believe their clean wins. Once Hero and Castagnoli come in the tag division is immediately legit. They need to dominate. I’m talking Goldberg undefeated streak in the tag division. That would be fresh. They could even put makeshift main event tag teams together to face them.
Agreed on the commercial breaks. The Undertaker/Triple H video was so long that it required it’s own segment.
I want to emphasize that the light thing was not major. I work in television production so I noticed it. It might not even be noticeable to someone not in the industry. Plus the camera shot they were sitting on while Cena’s music hit wasn’t the way they typically do things. I still think Cena’s promo was impromptu and not planned.
I actually had no desire to see a full length tag match with those 4 guys. I like Rhodes too, but I can’t get behind him as much as the other heels. I tend to like Miz and Ziggler much better. I don’t think this feud with Big Show will be good for Rhodes. No way he goes over in it. Your absolutely right about Sheamus. The thing is that I don’t want him to be champion. I really like Sheamus. He was on a major win streak to build his Rumble win, but after that he hasn’t been given much spotlight. I think he deserves to be a champion because of the way he’s been pushed over the last few months. But I don’t want Daniel Bryan to drop the title. I want Bryan to have a very long title reign. On the bright side I do see Bryan going to Raw and feuding with CM Punk by Summerslam. I can see those two main eventing Summerslam and eventually having an iron man match.
Rock completely owned Cena tonight. Period. Who really cares about saying something relevant. All of the matches are predetermined, the WWE is about entertainment and that’s exactly what the Rock was. He had the whole crowd chanting that Cana lost his balls. Do I need to say more. And how is the Rock a self-absorbed, egotistical jerk because he got a job that pays more. Its not The Rocks fault that when he comes back to WWE he steals the show. The fans want to see The Rock more then these so called up and comers. And who really gives a crap about some up and comers when The Rock is on. Cena is just pissed that every movie he has made sucked. If Cena could become a full time actor then he would. The simple fact is he can’t, because like his movies, he sucks.
I can’t agree with you there. Your the first person I’ve seen on this article, Twitter, or Facebook that thinks The Rock got the upper hand on Cena. Yes The Rock had the crowd chanting because people do want to see The Rock. He is nostalgic. But on a trash talking level, Cena owned him, and threw him off of his game. He was pacing back and forth, couldn’t think of a comeback, and was tripping over his words. His comeback to Cena’s promo was “if you smell what The Rock is cookin.” And Cena’s promo really ruined his big finish. I don’t think that Cena would run away and only make movies if he could. I don’t agree with that statement. Thanks for reading.
all I have say to you is your name….TROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
I’m a huge fan of Rock’s promos n I absolutely feel dat he’s “THE BEST” entertainer of all time(followed closely by Austin)…..bt I hav followed Cena’s career from d start n I really respect how he came up from nowhere 2 own d last decade of d WWE……..n I’ve been waitin’ for a loooooooooooooooooooooooong tym 2 c 2 of my fave guyz go head-on at each other,not giving a rat’s ass ’bout feuds n storylines.I really can’t think a better way 2 rekindle Cena’s image other than make him take a page out of Punk’s book n give d fans a slice of reality rather than deliver scripted promos.What wud b interesting 2 c z Rock’s response,cuz Cena already made fun of his real-life failures last week,so dere isn’t much left for Rocky 2 say other than sum known catchphrases………..so at d moment I gotta say “I CAN SMELL THE ROCK’S ASS BURNING WITH RAGE”.**CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK**
That’s a pretty good comment. I completely agree with all of it. The Rock needs to take some time and think about a response to what happened tonight.
Dont know if people remember, Cena was in the position that the Rock is currently in (left with nothing to really respond with) back in the summer of 2005. During the buildup to his SummerSlam match with Jericho. Long story short, Jericho schooled Cena on the mic for most of August leading up to the match in Washington. Cena’s only response to anything that Jericho promos was that “Jericho is Cheap.” People realized that he couldnt come up with any new material to say to Y2J and slowley started to boo Cena. That combined with the fact that he stopped the “rapping” that made him popular in the first place made people start to hate Cena.
Cena went from someone that a common person could identify with to a corporate puppet. Something that the fans were trained to hate during the attitude era. That being said, The Rock better come back with something good within the next few weeks or the fans may slowley turn on him as well. Then again, maybe thats what the WWE wants to happen…….
After tonite’s verbal bout, my feelings have been confirmed. The Rock has been hit in the head to many times & cannot talk right anymore. He’s just plain to old up against a man like Cena. The Rock should just go home, stay there, & make a movie now & then. If he does actually ever go up against Cena he’s gonna get his sorry old butt beat. To bad too, as a 62 y.o. wrestling fan, I once liked the old guy. Now he’s just a can’t talk right, funny acting old man w/the same old shtick. Good nite Rocky!
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that The Rock can’t talk anymore. Remember the first few times that he came back and did the whole fruity pebbles speech? That was great. He was just as entertaining as ever. I do appreciate how The Rock is still coming back and bringing major ratings. I saw people on my facebook and twitter that were watching the end of Raw that never watch wrestling. They just wanted to see what all this Rock vs. Cena hype was about. And thanks has to be given to The Rock. Wrestlemania will draw huge numbers because of him. I said before that The Rock is more entertaining and has better mic skills. Cena is a better trash talker and shooter. To be honest The Rock probably still has more wrestling ability than Cena does too. Thanks for the comment. Read and comment again next week!
rock win with john cena
I believe The Rock will beat John Cena at Wrestlemania. I think the fans will be too angry if Cena wins. You would expect The Rock to lose like Hulk Hogan did with him, but I’m not sure that will happen.
rock is a loooooooooser
Mark
Good analysis as always
Completely agree on Cena, and I am a Rock fan. Do you think It is a foregone conclusion that Cena would beat Rock as per storyline, and also I am aware Michaels is on Raw and will probably cement his ‘referee’ status’ at Mania
Do you know when Karma is penciled to come in on raw, I know she is to face Beth Phoenix
And when is Shaq penciled in as well
I disagree on Jericho I thought, he had the better hand on Punk but either way those 2 in my eyes stole Raw
Rock maybe forced to come back with something, I am not a Cena fan but can’t help but admire him for how he brought it to the Rock, Rock must be seething with anger
Truth hurts
Thanks for the comments. I think Rock will beat Cena. I don’t see them letting the people go home angry, especially in The Rock’s home town.
Michaels will be the special referee for Undertaker vs. Triple H. They could make that official next week. I see Michaels coming back multiple times before Wrestlemania so they could hold off on it. I think they should just make if official now so that the marks get excited about it.
I read that Kharma was a one time surprise thing at the Royal Rumble. She apparently isn’t completely recovered from having her baby. That’s why she didn’t stay in the Rumble long and didn’t really bump. I still think she will come back soon and face Beth Phoenix at Mania. That needs to happen. But instead of pushing Kharma right away, I think they need to let Beth go over on her. That way the dominant Beth storyline is more believeable then ever. Then Kharma can attribute her loss to not being 100%
Shaq keeps claiming that he will be at Mania, but WWE isn’t booking him. So it’s not going to be Big Show vs. Shaq. That doesn’t mean Shaq won’t be in Rhodes corner or come to the ring after Big Show at the event. I think Shaq being in Rhodes corner is most likely. But I’m not sure if Shaq will want to be a heel.
I’m not really a big Cena or Rock fan which is why I could impartially say that Cena had the upper hand.
Comment again next week!
wwe is johncena&therock wresliamnia best rascal
the rock is goin down!! cena is going to win! <333
Dear Internet Wrestling Columnists,
Please stop using the word “buried,” you sound ridiculous.
What do you suggest then? Should I use a word that isn’t correct wrestling terminology? Should I stop saying gimmick? Should I start kayfabing my columns? Why would anyone want to read a kayfabed column? They can just watch Raw to get the same impression. There would be no point in reading a straight recap article unless they missed the show. And those who are true wrestling fans do not miss the actual show. So I’ll continue to do the things that make this article a success each week. Please come back and read again. Thanks.
I am pretty sure the WWE writers wanted The Rock to write those notes on his wrist just so Cena can point them out. I like where this is going. The question in all our minds…Is The Rock not coming back again on Raw or the next time we see him, will it be at WM 28? In my opinion The Rock should officially retire after WM whether win or loose because he is a huge rising star in Hollywood at the moment with Journey 2, G I Joe and upcoming pain and gain, snitch, hercules. He could get lots more offers and I doubt he could keep coming back to the WWE.In my opinion Punk Jericho and Triple H Undertaker would be the greatest matches at WM because their fued build up is perfect! To sum up The Rock was not being Rocky on Raw but rather Dwayne, you could easily figure this out by the way he talked. Rocky could whoop Cena on the mic or in the ring anytime! So cena beat Dwayne on Raw on the mic. I want to see Rocky…the jabroni beating lalalalalalalalalalao, pie eating….THE ROCK!
I forgot to mention of all the promos rocky delivered never in his life he had to write notes on his wrist to remember, so it was actually scripted and the rock does not need writers to write his line.
By the way is Brock Lesnar joining Cena at Daytona?
I really don’t think WWE wanted Rock to write those notes. I think he did it himself. He was outraged when Cena said that. The Rock has at least two more Raw appearances before Wrestlemania scheduled. I believe he will be there on both shows before Mania. He is also scheduled for the night after Mania. Rock wants to keep coming back periodically. He doesn’t want to go away for many years again like he’s done in the past. That’s the whole point of his comeback. So I do not think he should retire. He’s still young and could have plenty of nostalgic matches in the future. There is plenty that could be done with him. Austin still wants to have one more match. Rock vs. Austin the final time would be money.
I think Punk vs Jericho will be the best match at Wrestlemania. I really think that Bryan vs. Sheamus could be, but I don’t see them booking that the right way. I think that match will end up being shorter than it should be and it may even be a slight squash. I’m sure Bryan will get offense, but I don’t think it will be as competitive as it should be. Based on Bryans matches in ROH vs Nigel we know that he is great against bigger European style workers. That’s why this match has such great potential.
I’m not sure what your Daytona question was. Isn’t the Daytona already over?
Great column as always Mark…I’ve been pretty busy lately and havent had a chance to comment in a while but it’s nice to be back. I must say this episode of raw has generated some very good feedback. Here’s my two cents:
I REALLY enjoy the CM punk / Bryan matches, but when is the Sheamus / Bryan feud really going to take off? They better start building it soon because Sheamus is being severely underused right now. WWE needs to shift major focus onto this match and quick. Have bryan sneak attack sheamus after a match or in the back…beat him to a bloody pulp, shave his head, steal his necklace…SOMETHING!! I remember the old days when the feuds were absolutely epic with the heels usually committing some type of atrocity and putting some real weight on the rivalry. Remember when jake the snake attacked macho man with a cobra, slapped elizabeth a few weeks later, and in the promo afterward, begged macho man to bring elizabeth next time so he can “touch” her again? THATS how you build a feud, baby! i’m glad jericho attacked punk from behind…i think in the upcoming weeks he needs to take it further. invite him to the highlight reel and throw him headfirst into the TV. haha you’re probably thinking i’m a glutton for violence, but trust me. i’ve been watching wrestling for almost 3 decades and this is how you build a wrestlemania feud.
which leads me to rock / cena. there’s no question that the rock is arguably the most entertaining wrestler of all time, and his career as an actor has really taken off. major kudos to him…he’s becoming one of the biggest celebrities in the world. i personally love 90% of his movies (the rundown is a CLASSIC), and i can watch his glory days on you tube all day. that stuff never gets old, dude. on the mic, he set the standard that is often imitated but will never be duplicated. here’s the thing though…. when it comes to verbally decapitating the opposition….FINALLY! THE ROCK….HAS….MET HIS MATCH!! folks…John Cena has had the upper hand in this rivalry since it started. yes, rocky has the fans, but cena has won every face off…not with catch phrases and posturing…but with class, razor sharp wit, and the courage to bring the hammer down when need be. the notes-on-the-wrist comment was an ATOMIC BOMB. i dont care what happens at wrestle mania. in my eyes, john cena won the war right then and there. the rock was unrecognizable after that…pacing, ranting, desperately trying to maintain his composure. really? REALLY? was that the trail blazing, lalalalalalaaaoooo eyebrow raising brama freakin bull the ROCK?? Or was that the out-classed, wrist-reading, kung-palalallalao corny catch-phrase spewing, just plain out-of-his-league Dwayne Johnson?? You tell me, guys….you tell me.
See y’all next week. Mark–Holla at ya boy. I LOVE THIS $#!T!
The Sheamus thing is so weird because he was built up incredibly heading into the Rumble. He was on a huge undefeated streak. He’s been winning all his matches on tv, but something still doesn’t seem right. I’m just hoping the match quality is as good as Bryan vs. Nigel during his ROH days. Bryan is great against larger European wrestlers. They are spending all of their time to build the Cena vs. Rock feud. That one is as current and as entertaining as the old ones you described. I’m assuming that they figure that the wrestling will carry both title matches and that they don’t need to build them as much. Plus they can’t really build them up to be Rock and Cena.
I wouldn’t even say that “finally” The Rock has met his match. The Rock is amazing on the mic. But when it came to feuds The Rock never had to shoot. All his stuff against Austin, Undertaker, or Foley was all kayfabe. He has never had to do a legit shoot interview before. Because during his days they didn’t do things that way. Because of social media these storylines are becoming real. And today’s wrestlers have to be able to incorporate real life into their angles. Guys like Punk, Cena, and Jericho all have to talk about real life content that the people actually know about through social media. I may expand more on this in my Raw article this Monday. But that is why The Rock is having a tough time. He’s never had to do that before. All he’s had to do is be entertaining and throw in catch phrases. And he was great at that. Still is.
I agree that Cena already won the war. He’s going to look great when he puts The Rock over. I’ll expand more on that too in the upcoming weeks. Come back and comment again!
it was all planned people. you seem to forget that these wwe superstars can act as well. and even if the rock had notes in his hands i dont think that the production team would have shown it as much as they did as they are really serious abt these type of things. and it doesnt really matter if cena got one up at the rock because the rock has been owning cena for the last year, wwe needed cena to get the upperhand at least once. i hope we get to see hollywood rock again from this. he was the best heel i have seen for the last 13 years.
Read my above comment right above what you wrote. None of that was planned. The Rock had the upper hand while Cena stayed quiet. The Rock could talk all year. Cena had to focus on other feuds all year. When it came time Cena took control.
I know The Rock owned Cena throughout, I am so sick and tired of people saying Cena won the verbal battle, he keeps saying the same stuff about The Rock everytime(how he is not on Raw). The Rock gets the show exciting, brings up the ratings(something Cena never have been able to achieve in the past years) and yet some people criticize The Rock. Why should The Rock come back full-time? He has already achieved everything any wrestlers could ask for…All fame and glory. Who cares if he isn’t on every Raw? His fans still love him and they will never turn their backs on him. As long as this happens no one has the right to blame The Rock. The Rock’s passion at the moment is to shine in Hollywood and I support him one hundred percent, that’s how people are…Things change, people change.
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BLUDDY ROCK YOU
BLUDDY ROCK YOU LOSS AT WRESTLMANIA YOU COWRD YOU CANT SEE JOHN CENA
Mark,
I like your article… I have always been a John Cena Fan. I was a Rock fan as well back in the Attitude era… I must say when Rock came back I was very excited until he started dissing Cena…. I respect what the Rock does I agree completly with Cena. Rock is commercial and I dont buy into him “always being there, but not there.” I’m Team Cena at Wrestlemania Cena owned the Rock and I was happy to see Cena finally uping Rock in a promo.