WWE Raw Report

Date: 07/02/12 from Laredo, TX.

The Big News: A.J. is trouble.

Show Analysis:

John Cena came out to start the show. He thanked Big Show and Chris Jericho for giving him a taste of MITB when everyone will be his enemy. Cena said he will be prepared for anything and that he will win the contract and cash it in for the title. Daniel Bryan came out and said he will beat Punk to win the title. He added that if Cena wins MITB, he will be the first to cash in MITB and lose.

CM Punk was next out and said everyone disagrees with Bryan. Chris Jericho came out next. He said Bryan needs new catchphrases and then repeated a bunch of his old catchphrases. Jericho said that since he invented MITB, he will win it. He invited anyone to tell him otherwise. Kane came out and said otherwise. Big Show was last out. At that point, Bryan jumped Cena from behind and a brawl broke out. Big Show was the last one left standing.

Santino, Christian, R. Truth and Kofi Kingston beat David Otunga, Cody Rhodes and the Prime Time Players. The Prime Time Players just left again in the middle of the match, which is quite the gimmick. Then Rhodes just left. Four on one wasn’t enough for the faces so Brodus Clay came out to help and David Otunga was pinned by Santino after the cobra. The faces then beat up Otunga some more five on one after the match. Then a bunch of children came in the ring to dance.

Alberto Del Rio wanted a one on one title match against Sheamus. Teddy Long said the board of directors granted him that at MITB but that Long was putting Del Rio in a match on Raw next against a surprise opponent. That match between Alberto Del Rio and Sin Cara never got started. Del Rio jumped Cara before the bell and applied the armbar on the floor.

Backstage, Daniel Bryan stole a rose that was lying around and gave it to A.J. He apologized and sucked up to her. A.J. saw through this and said Bryan never cared about her. “I can’t wait to win my match tonight and run into the arms of the man the WWE Universe sees as my soul mate,” she said. What shitty writing. A.J. bit the head of the rose off.

Paul Heyman via satellite said Brock Lesnar has made his decision about wrestling HHH and will deliver it to HHH’s face at the 1000^th episode of Raw. That’s the smart move. Heyman claimed HHH wants to face Lesnar because Lesnar will end his career and HHH can move on to other things. Heyman said it wouldn’t be a match but a mercy killing.

Sheamus and A.J. beat Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero. Sheamus just destroyed poor Ziggler again. Ziggler made the tag and then got hit with the Brogue kick. That left A.J. to pin Vickie with what was called a shining wizard. Backstage, A.J. ran into Punk talking on the phone with who he claimed was his sister. He said he hadn’t seen her match with made her upset. A.J.’s character is becoming quite grating.

Heath Slater beat Doink the Clown. Slater said he wasn’t a clown, which brought out Doink to very little reaction. Slater won with a neck breaker. Diamond Dallas Page then came out and gave Slater the diamond cutter.

Big Show beat Kane in a no DQ match. They brawled outside and then back into the ring. Kane grabbed a chair but Show speared him. Show then hit the choke slam for the win. I’m glad they just elected to put Show over.

Eve Torres greeted Teddy Long backstage. Long presented her with a nametag like she used to make him wear. Eve then ran into A.J. Eve suggested A.J. go sit in a corner and cry like a little girl. A.J. asked Eve who she will brown nose now that Laurinaitis is gone. A.J. said Eve will do anything for attention. A.J. said she will show Eve how to get attention.

Tyson Kidd beat Tensai in an upset. They gave it just a few seconds. Tensai briefly attacked Kidd but ran into a turnbuckle and Kidd rolled up Tensai for the pin. This got very little reaction. They’ve simply devalued match results too much. Tensai beat up Sakamoto after the match again and he beat up Kidd backstage later.

Daniel Bryan mocked Chris Jericho’s jacket backstage. Jericho took a shot back at Bryan’s beard. Bryan kept saying yes and Jericho responded by repeatedly yelling again. Elsewhere, CM Punk suggested John Cena follow his lead. Cena smirked and said he’d just listen to Punk before leaving.

CM Punk and John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho had no finish. The heels worked over Cena for quite a while. Cena tagged Punk and Punk hit Bryan with a springboard clothesline, leg lariat, swinging neck breaker and high knee. Bryan avoided the bulldog but Punk hit a powerslam and applied the anaconda vise. Jericho made the save. Cena attacked Jericho and they conveniently brawled to the back.

Bryan hit a huracanrana but Punk rolled through for two. Punk missed a high kick and Bryan hit two head kicks for a two count. Bryan went to the top but Punk caught him and hit a superplex for two. That brought out A.J. to skip around the ring again. This time, Bryan and Punk just focused on fighting each other. A.J. was upset she couldn’t get attention so she got a table and teased jumping off the top rope through it. Bryan and Punk tried to stop her. She kissed Punk then shoved Punk off the top rope. Punk fell into Bryan and they both went through the table to close the show. This match was a lot of fun until the usual A.J. bullshit.

Final Thoughts:

I liked this show a lot better than most recent Raws. There was plenty of worthwhile, entertaining stuff even with some of the usual bad stuff mixed in.