This week’s RAW started with an announcement that the main event will be a six pack challenge. I thought it was a strange move to put all of the Chamber's opponents in the ring at the same time a mere two weeks before the PPV.
The show opened with Triple H coming out and explaining his actions last week. He explained that Undertaker is the shell of his former self and doesn’t wish to remember seeing him in the state he was at the end of last year’s WrestleMania match. He then declined the match challenge and went to walk to the back. Before he could leave the ring the lights went out and a video played on the tron which showed Undertaker sitting in a room looking at monitors of his match last year. The video was very well produced and the echoing words from Undertaker which stated “This is not over” was given an even more impact when the camera came back to Triple H in the ring staring in to air. Triple H with two looks in two weeks has managed to show fantastic believable emotion in such a basic fashion. He managed to show disregard last week and this week he did the same but showed a hint of fear. Awesome stuff!]I stated before that this isn’t a match I was dying to see but at the end of the day you know they will produce something that will draw you in. They will create moments of disbelief and they will ultimately tell the story in the ring. I’m interested to see what role HBK will play next week as it appears both Undertaker and Shawn will be at the arena.
The first match of the night was Daniel Bryan against Big Show. Bryan continues to do well in his heel character and I hope they stick with him as the winner of the Chamber match. Daniel Bryan has the potential to be the next Kurt Angle. The heel which is a coward who tells you he is the role model and that he does no wrong. However, when pushed in to a corner he always finds a way to win. The one difference between Bryan and Kurt is the fact that they legitimately booked Kurt as a winner. When cornered he won clean over some pretty big opponents. The one that always comes to mind was making HBK tap at WrestleMania 21. Kurt always managed to find a way, much like Triple H. If this element is added to Bryan’s character then we could be in for a real treat and a future star.
After news that John Cena may be using the Invincible song as his entrance music in Miami, it was quickly noted that when the WrestleMania promos came on air during RAW, they were using a different song. One that to be honest sounded awful!
Then we had Carl Edwards ‘recapped’ from the previous week showing up to invite John Cena to the Daytona 500. Now correct me if I’m wrong here but I never saw this on last week’s RAW and the smoke coming off them tyres looked like they were added in afterwards like CGI!? I may be totally off the mark but it seemed fake and odd to me.
David Otunga came out and decided to ask everyone to don the Bruce Forsyth pose (British people might be the only people to get this, Google him and the pose!)
He was then forced in to a match with Sheamus. I was quite surprised as he got in some good offense before finally being squashed.
Jericho then came out and said that the world as we know it ends now. My first response was “What, just like at the rumble?” But he then went on to explain everything that I hoped he would. He blamed everyone for stealing his gimmicks. He called all the fans and even explained his recent trolling of the fans. CM Punk interrupted and looked like he was going to respond before dropping the mic and just walking out. This segment was pure gold.
Next was a tag team match where The Great Khali picked up the victory. It wasn’t exactly fantastic but it made sense to give the victory to the big man and make him look like a favourite to the general fan for the Chamber. It’s a shame they then shattered this illusion when Orton RKO’ed Khali afterwards to make him look as beatable as anyone else.
We had Rock showing up on the Tonight Show talking about WrestleMania and we also got Beth saying there was nobody else left for her to beat. A good segment which obviously leaves the door open for Kharma to return.
Laurinaitis was hilarious with Triple H in the backstage segment when mentioning HBK and saying “You know? The Showstopper…” Before Triple H butted in with “I know who he is MORON!” They also included a mention that a decision would be made on WWE.com regarding his status with the company. I liked this touch as it was another use of social media and gave the impression it was something to do with business rather than another story for the live show. Laurinaitis is turning in to a class act on Monday Nights. I can’t but help giggle through his segments as he gives as much charisma as a piece of cardboard. He does everything he is designed to do and pulls everything off so badly that it works in a weird sort of way.
We all know now that Laurinaitis is still in his position and it will be interesting to see how Triple H responds this week, if at all.
Justin Roberts then choked on a peanut whilst announcing the main event. I had to laugh when Cole made the comment of “I didn’t know that Chimel was back!”
R Truth entered the ring with his XXXL T Shirt again and didn’t last too long as he jumped out of the ring and bounced the back of his head off the floor and had to be taken to the back.
Kingston is still wearing his “Riddler” trunks and that Rey ‘Robin’ Mysterio and Kofi ‘Riddler’ Kingston in a Gotham City Streetfight match at Mania is one step closer!
I loved how Jericho was muttering to himself with disgust when Punk made his entrance. Miz also went on to botch a double close line with Jericho which won’t have won him any favours but possibly a spot on Botchamania!
Ziggler took the GTS from Punk like a gunshot to the face. I have no idea how this man manages to sell these moves with such skill!
As Jericho and Punk were staring at each other to close the show we could hear some screaming. At first I thought this was some fans at the front that got a little too excited but eventually the camera changed to backstage where we got Eve screaming as Kane terrorised her to close the show.
This whole show seemed to be something we usually see the night after the Elimination Chamber. Rivalries and WrestleMania matches were being pencilled in very quickly. We had Punk and Jericho interact. They also had a nice stare down during the main event which was well stopped by Miz and Ziggler. We had Undertaker and Triple H seemingly lock in their match for Mania , HBK looks like he may get involved and we had Beth mention that nobody could beat her, setting her up for Kharma.
Sure we still have the World Heavyweight Championship to think about and possibly Shaq, but WWE seem to be getting the ball rolling quickly here. The show managed to follow on well from last week’s cliff-hanger by giving us another piece of the pie but stopping us from jumping to dessert. WWE are in a comfortable stride with their story telling at the minute and week by week they are gradually building up to what looks to be a very solid WrestleMania card.
What did you think of RAW? Do you like the looks of WrestleMania and could WWE do anymore to grab your interest?
Let me know on beansontoastuk@msn.com or on Twitter at @BeansOnToastUK.
May I also give a small shout out to my fellow countrymen at the Total Wrestling Show (www.totalwrestlingshow.com) who do a UK based radio show/podcast which is live every Sunday from 6pm. They have a great fan base and interactive chat room where you can talk online with me every Sunday if you want to talk some wrestling! Check it out!
