We start out with CM Punk, which is always a good thing in my opinion. Cole tries to defend John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) saying that he's going to screw Punk at Royal Rumble. Punk starts talking about how Johnny Ace is a complete failure, going through the same insults that he's been using. He goes on to talk big talk, calling out John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) to the ring and telling him to be a man and tell Punk he's going to screw him face to face. Any minute now, I expect Triple H to come out, but instead out comes John Cena! I'll admit that I was surprised when his music started, though he seems a lot more grim than usual, walking slowly to the ring and not smiling at all. He demands that Zack Ryder get a rematch for the US title and that Cena gets a match with Kane, then demands that John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) resign as Interim General Manager of Raw. Finally Johnny Ace comes out, saying his full title. He stands by what he said last week, and seems to have grown some balls since last week. He announces a Zack Ryder vs. Kane Falls Count Anywhere match, where Cena can't get involved or Ryder will never get a rematch. He also puts Cena and Punk in a tag team match with.... Swagger and Ziggler. Dolph calls out Punk, claiming he'll beat Punk, while Swagger calls Cena out for attacking him brutally last week.
I love the mid-match taunting by Ziggler, he's doing a great job of bringing out his showoff personality. Now if only Jack Swagger had some personality. He's just a sort of generic arrogant American stereotype. Essentially the classic Jerk Jock, but they don't play it up enough. Ziggler gets the pin after John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) gets involved, while Cena had Swagger locked into the STFU outside the ring. Punk then challenges Johnny Ace to a match, which I am very interested in. Surprisingly, he accepts. Jerry Lawler then claims that Jericho is going to speak tonight, but I'm not holding my breath.
I love that the 5-Hour Energy slam of the week is Jericho entering the ring, doing nothing, and then leaving. Now we have Jericho coming out for the Highlight Reel. He starts out by trying to shush the crowd, and it becomes obvious pretty quickly that he's just going to troll the crowd again... as he gets really excited and goes to the back, coming back out with a t-shirt gun. And then, after taunting the crowd a little, he grabs a camera. I love Michael Cole's reaction there “Look! We're on tv!” They show a highlight reel of his WWF/E career, and he looks vaguely sinister when it ends. And then he keeps shushing the crowd, looking serious for the first time since he came back. And Jericho finally speaks! He says a single sentence, and the crowd goes insane. I love it.
I also like the promo about the Royal Rumble numbers. We have a brief segment with Zack Ryder and Eve (who still have no chemistry), and briefly Mick Foley and John Cena. Though Ryder shoots down Cena, rejecting his help (understandably). We get to see Kane in a match for the first time since he returned. Ryder starts off on the offensive, but Kane takes control pretty quickly. During the commercial break, Eve apparently came out to the ring, which seems like a terrible idea. Ryder is great at selling his injuries and the brutality that Kane is unleashing on him. While Ryder gets a few good hits in, Kane is clearly in control for the entire match. This storyline could get him over with the mainstream, showing that he won't give up. People love an underdog. Kane chokeslams Ryder, then starts menacing Ryder. Cena comes out and Kane leaves through the crowd, allowing Eve to get back to Zack's side as they take him away on a stretcher.
We get a good promo showing Daniel Bryan's heel turn. When they come back to Raw, they're still following Ryder as they take him away on the stretcher and put him in an ambulance, and Eve blames Cena for Zack's injuries. We go back to commercial with Cena showing off the silliest angry face I've ever seen.
Now Jinder Mahal is set to have a match with Sheamus, and I'm not excited for this match. I like Sheamus, but he hasn't been doing anything interesting, and Mahal is just sort of boring. The fact that Wade Barrett comes out to do commentary helps, as I enjoy listening to him talk. Sheamus pins Mahal, then taunts Barrett. Backstage, Josh Matthews talks to the Miz, who looks kind of twitchy. R-Truth continues to be fantastic, and John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) adds an interesting stipulation to their match – whoever loses will be the #1 entrant for the Royal Rumble.
When we come back from the break, William Regal has joined Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole on commentary. He's great, I love how he refers to Brodus Clay as “400 pounds of septic tripe.” And now, the Funkasaurus comes out! Somebody call my momma! I think the crowd might be getting alittle tired of it, but I'm not. Even if he failed at taking off his pants. The tights he's wearing tonight are so shiny, they're almost blinding. Heath Slater actually gets an attack in, which is more than anyone else has done, but still gets crushed by the Aww, Funk It! I still love it, but he's going to need a feud soon, and William Regal would be perfect.
Now we get Miz vs. R-Truth, with the loser entering the Royal Rumble at the number one spot. They work well together, and put on a good match. They have a good back and forth and both sell the moves well, along with some very good counters. R-Truth picks up the win, meaning the Miz will be the first in the ring for the Royal Rumble. After the match they say that Ryder broke his back, so we might not be seeing him for a while. However, we then get to see John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) in what looks like a bathrobe.
CM Punk comes out to the ring first, then John Laurinitis (Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Raw) takes his time to come out. Otunga reads the fax, which comes from the Board of Directors. It's a lot of legalese, and is pretty amusing. Johnny, who is not in good enough shape to wear that shirt with the sleeves torn off, claims that now he will call the match fairly. He then calls off the match, siccing Otunga on Punk. I like Otunga's new gimmick as Johnny Ace's attack dog, whether legally or actually attacking people. Punk hits Laurinitis with the GTS, but then Ziggler jumps Punk to close out the show.
Another good show, with no parts being particularly bad. After all, they didn't have a Divas match. Ryder might have a good storylien coming up, Cena and Kane is interesting, and it's always nice to see someone beat up their boss.
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