WWE Raw Review 2/20/12

Note: This is the first Raw after the Elimination Chamber PPV. This is the last few weeks before WrestleMania 28. So these next few weeks, we should be seeing a huge push to WrestleMania 28 as a whole. So more hype for The Rock and Cena. Less hype for Punk and Jericho. And a shit load of idiotic things that might make me pissed. So with all that said, here's WWE Raw and the final stops to WrestleMania 28 in Miami.


Opening Segment: Recap of John Cena/Zack Ryder/Eve drama from last week. Eve talks to The Bella Twins and comes up with a plan to set up Cena. She asks the Bellas to help her but Cena over hears the plan. Cena is in the ring and Eve comes out after him. She tells Cena it was a joke and she was not serious. Cena falls for it and Eve tries to kiss him but he fights it and refs were called in to get her out the ring. She's crying throughout.
(There were some memorable lines like Skank Juice, Hoeski, and ASSets. Also Cena is showing some signs of the old Cena. He also compares Eve and The Rock and says they should hook up because they're both scandalous bitches. This was the best way to start Raw but Cena had the moment of his life later on.)

Match#1: Sheamus vs. Mark Henry
Winner: Sheamus
(This was a good way to start the matches for Raw. This was a good match but slow. Mark Henry looks like he is healed from his ankle injury. Also Sheamus is pretty much going to rip and tear through people until WM28. Sheamus is looking to to win the WHC but we will see. This is a good sign that one match for WrestleMania is not going to suck.)

Match#2: R-Truth and Kofi Kingston vs. The Colons (Non-Title)
winners: R-Truth and Kofi Kingston
(This was a weak match because The Colons were jobbing to R-Truth and Kofi. This was not going to be a good match. There is really nothing else to say about this match because this was a filler match.)

Match#3: David Otunga with Johnny Ace vs. Ezekiel Jackson with Teddy Long
Winner:  David Otunga
(This was another filler match but there might be some serious issues with Johnny Ace and Teddy Long. They both want to be GM of both Raw and Smackdown. Is this a sign of the end of the brand extension? Also with the events of last night at the PPV, this is going to be a good race to see who is going to be top dog of WWE. Also this might bring ratings to both shows. We will see.)

Match#4: Daniel Bryan vs. Santino Marella (Non-Title)
Winner:  Daniel Bryan
(This match sucked. It was short and sweet. Saving energy for the main event. Also both were still hurting from last night at the PPV. I hate short matches.)

Match#5: Kelly Kelly and Aksana vs. The Bella Twins
Winners: The Bellas
(This was another short match. Not much action because of the shortness of it. Bellas win and then get ready for the main event. WTF! I like to see a Divas match to go at least five to seven minutes with commercials.)

Main Event: 10 Man Battle Royal to face CM Punk at WrestleMania 28
Winner and #1 Contender: Chris Jericho with an assist from Cody Rhodes
(This was a good way to end Raw. Y2J got help from Cody Rhodes. I guess there is not Cody vs. Goldust match but then again we might see something with Cody Rhodes and The Big Show. Also Y2J is going to be a great opponent for CM Punk. This is another match that I hope won't suck at WrestleMania 28. We will see.)

Matches Announced For WM28:

Undertaker vs. Triple H (Hell In A Cell Retirement Match)
(This is a dream for me because this is going to be the last of the good matches for WrestleManias. Triple H was going to be a coward but since HBK did not do the job at WM26 then Triple H might take Taker out at WrestleMania 28. Hell In A Cell at WrestleMania is going to be a great match. This is not something for the PG Era. This is for the Attitude Era and us old school WWE fans that want to see this match.)

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (WHC Title Match)
(This match is basically a good way to get the belt off Daniel Bryan. Also Sheamus could make this a great run even after WrestleMania 28. Daniel Bryan is a good heel right now. He's not letting nothing change him back. His whole stick is making me hate him. As for Sheamus, he's ready to get out of mid card hell and in the main event. Thank you God!)

HOF 2012: Ron Simmons
(I marked out for this because I think he should have been in a long time ago. I loved this man back in the old WCW. I loved him with JBL as the APA. He was a great wrestler. This is going to be a great Hall of Fame Class of 2012 with him, Edge, and the Four Horsemen.)


Final Thoughts: I know I left out a lot of the in ring stuff and the backstage stuff. I will talk about it in here right now. Basically, Johnny Ace wants to take over Smackdown. Something I did not bring up was the formation of this group by Johnny Ace. You had Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, Christian, and David Otunga in the ring during the PPV. So there is going to be a fight for the whole WWE with Teddy Long and Johnny Ace. This might be a good thing. Something that might make things interesting. Y2J basically said he would win the main event and face Punk for the WWE title. I loved his in ring promotion because he is a great heel. I loved the fact he fucked with us the fans, just to get to his title shot. Triple H and Taker was a great segment because Taker basically wants to retire and he wants Triple H to end the streak. This was a great segment because I am ready for the end of Taker and the streak. Finally, John Cena is going back to the old Cena because his promo before the main event. He basically thinks The Rock is a sell out and goes on a rant about him being a professional wrestler and how he's still in the WWE while the Rock is a movie star. I loved this because it seems like Cena is doing something other than embrace the hate.

My final thoughts of this Raw is that most of the matches sucked but the in ring promos basically stole the show. Triple H and Taker blew my mind because we all knew this match was going to happened. The Rock and Cena is starting to look like The Rock and Hogan but with more intense feeling because of the general hatred between Cena and The Rock. I feel like there should have been an even mix of good matches and good promos but most of the guys were hurting from last night. Also, why is there going to be a fight between Raw and Smackdown via the GM position. Well I guess we will see what goes on because tomorrrow is a special Smackdown because it is live. So hopefully some of these questions will be answered on Smackdown.












Gene The Grappler