WWE Monday Night Raw Supershow
Cleveland, Ohio
March 12, 2012
Reported by: David Stephens of Wrestleview.com
David’s Thoughts
Cena’s rap was pretty short tonight, but I think it got the point across. I wasn’t expecting it so early in the show, and it seemed to catch the crowd a bit off guard. It was a nice nostalgic take on the old character of Cena. I watched a handful of Cena raps before the show tonight, and this one was certainly in the same vein. Cena received a couple of decent pops, in particular for the bag of peanuts. By the way, I’m a bit surprised that the let him say “Cleveland Steamer”, but I suppose the young fans won’t get the reference anyway. Either that, or the innocence of thousands of children has been lost as they feverishly Google the term to find out what it means. Poor kids.
Dolph Ziggler looked really good in his match against Sheamus tonight. It was nice to see him get in decent offense against the #1 Contender for the World Title. Dolph looked like he got destroyed by that Brogue Kick.
The skybox segments always seem so hooky. It draws away from the action in the ring, and the crowd is completely unaware of what is happening. The lack of reaction just makes it all the more awkward. You have to wonder if it’s one of those things that looks good on paper, but in practice is just not, well, practical. I’d be hard pressed to believe that AJ refuting that Bryan was rude, and Bryan confirming his love for AJ, actually added anything to the Sheamus/Bryan storyline. While I feel that Punk/Jericho is getting overshadowed by Rock/Cena & The Undertaker/HHH – Bryan/Sheamus is just downright forgettable.
I’m certainly a fan of the Team Laurinaitis v. Team Long match at ‘mania. It’s a great way to get a lot of guys involved on the show. Think of it like Money in the Bank from years past; it’s a way for guys to get experience (and a nice paycheck) for appearing on the card, without being exposed past their abilities.
Santino deserves to be complimented once again for his work this week. Sure, he got demolished – but he is one of the only guys on the roster who can get that devastated and still have the sympathy and support of the crowd. His ability to still come out on top in those situations just furthers his case as an invaluable member of the roster.
Eve Torres is such a slutty bitch – and I mean that in the nicest way possible. No really, it’s a compliment. Her character work has been so fantastic over the past couple of months that I actually care about a storyline involving a diva. I honestly can’t tell you the last time that I cared about a Divas match. I’m sure Eve is a swell person in real life, but as far as portraying a slutty bitch on TV – she’s nailed it. Oh hey, just like the entire room has done to Kelly Kelly.
It’s a joke, relax.
James Roday came off better than most would have anticipated during his backstage segment with The Miz & Laurinaitis. He has a unique delivery style that might not play well to the arena, but does come off well on TV.
Somebody must have called his momma, because Brodus Clay was back on RAW! His match lasted all of about 30 seconds, but it was gratifying to see Jinder Mahal laid out. Plus we got a dance party. I call that a win.
Not much to say about the Michaels/Taker segment. It was an old school verbal exchange that inevitably played out like a pissing contest. I thought the crotch shot by HHH was unnecessary and bizarre given the storyline thus far. So I’m to believe that after Michaels supposedly went behind HHH’s back, that HHH can feel that confident that he has Michaels in his back pocket?
“Haha I’m Alicia Fox and I’m on Extra and all I’m going to say to promote WrestleMania is that I’m having trouble picking out a dress, like omg.” FIRE HER.
Let’s give some big props to James Roday for his ring announcing duties. His crotch chop was pretty awesome. It was very Attitude Era-esque in delivery. Or as Michael would say, “attitudal”. Roday’s success on RAW was no doubt thanks to the fact that he’s an unabashed fan of the product. You could tell that just walking up the stairs to the ring gave him chills. It makes a huge difference in terms of enthusiasm and delivery. I’m glad that after having the flu and not being able to guest host last time that his dream was finally realized.
I’m not sure exactly what the plan is for The Miz at WrestleMania. I’ve heard some rumblings that he could be involved in some fashion during the Cena/Rock match. While I understand he is bitter, and certainly The Rock became involved during his match last year, I’m really hoping that he doesn’t interfere during the match. I want it to be an epic. I want a pure epic of a match.
Jericho going after Punk’s father was a brutal swerve in the storyline. It was also one that was needed. Let’s face it; with Rock/Cena & Taker/HHH the WWE Championship is being heavily overshadowed. I do believe that they will have the best actual wrestling match of the night, but storyline wise it needed this extra kick in the butt. CM Drunk is storyline gold. I’m not sure how much they are going to flush it out given the time that is left, but I’m eagerly anticipating Punk’s retort.
Orton pretty much destroyed Jack Swagger. For all of the compliments I threw towards Ziggler for coming out well against a clearly dominating opponent, the same does not apply for Swagger. Ouch.
Well, there are a lot of different takes that I could go with for the “Rock” Concert which closed out the show. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the hilarity of Rock pointing out that he didn’t have his lines on his wrist this week. True Rock, the lines weren’t on your wrist… but they were on the sheets of paper on the music stand. Oh – and the freakin’ Titantron! Rock basically had Mickey Mouse bouncing a ball to give him the lyrics at the end of the show… and he STILL messed them up. That being said, he had a lot of great lines and verses throughout the night. Overall I truly believe that the segment was a resounding success. It was a cool moment to have RAW go off the air as Brian May’s guitar solo from “We Will Rock You” blasted through the arena. ‘Twas magical.
David Stephens
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The Teacher’s Lounge (Saturday)
“The Teacher’s Lounge” is a weekly podcast archived every Saturday on the Wrestleview Radio Network featuring hosts David Stephens and “Mr. V” Anthony Valvo. The show reviews all of the news from the week, tosses out Gold Stars and Detentions, PPV previews and special guests. Past Interviews include: Colt Cabana, Hernandez, Sara Del Rey, CZW Owner DJ Hyde, Shane Douglas & more!
