Monday Night Raw Warm Up for June 4th, 2012

The WWE Championship match at No Way Out will now have 100% more Kane involved. After weeks of being pulled into Daniel Bryan’s feud with C.M. Punk, Kane has been officially inserted making it a Triple Threat match.

Two weeks ago, Monday Night Raw was loaded with John Cena in perhaps the most Cena-heavy episode of the show in show time: two promos, two matches, and appearances in other segments. In sharp contrast, last week had no Cena at all. His return tonight after being knocked out by his once again nemesis The Big Show should be interesting and hopefully proves keeping him off the show a success. The Big Show got a lot of air time last week between Raw and Smackdown though Friday night’s show doesn’t seem to get much notice when Monday rolls around. It’s not like good things aren’t happening on Smackdown, but to watch Raw you’d have no idea any if it was going on. Raw still wins out but Smackdown is steadily improving. It could be WWE is just waiting for the right time to push it and that could be as a live Tuesday show.

THE JASON: There was something incredibly refreshing from last week’s show. Something that changed the balance and allowed other people to get screen time… and it was that John Cena wasn’t there. It really made a difference. I know Cena’s deal is that he’s the guy “who is there every single week” but the change was apparent and WWE need to consider keeping him off TV sometimes.

PTB: I couldn’t agree more. A similar thing happened back in December and Cena was not used in any way, shape, or form at the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view (http://www.mylatestdistraction.com/?p=11391). Giving other guys some screen time is a good thing and the strategy of taking Cena out of the mix for a week should pay dividends based on past history.

THE JASON: It made me think that when we were kids, guys like Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper virtually NEVER wrestled and made sporadic appearances on TV. In doing so, other stars got a spotlight and when Hogan or Piper did show up it was something special. I understand that the TV model is different now, but they may want to apply this thinking just to keep Cena and their own program fresh. This led to Big Show being the primary focus of last week’s Raw.

PTB: The Big Show’s promo to lead off the show was excellent and it makes his turn worth it for me. The angle that “he’s not an entertainer, he’s a giant” really works here.

THE JASON: Big Show brought the AWESOME with that promo. I never thought I’d say this, but Big Show has been underutilized. The promo work he’s done for the past two weeks has been phenomenal. Some of that praise should be directed towards the writing staff as they are giving him great material to work with, but his performance has been off-the-charts. I loved how he pointed out Brodus dancing and Cena acting like a complete idiot on the same night he got fired. The best heels always believe that they’ve been wronged and that from their perspective they are the good guys.

PTB: Big Show has been great on Raw, but I did catch a couple of rougher segments on Smackdown recently. A lot of the recap at the top of the show felt unnecessary. Five minutes seemed like an eternity.

THE JASON: I’d like to take a moment to thank my DVR for making me unable to respond to that to. I hit fast forward until Big Show made his entrance. I think that they just want to make sure that Show’s motivation is unmistakeable and set the wheels in motion for the rest of the evening. The fans last week were actually chanting for CENA. After 6 years the guy who actually got the crowd to chant for Cena is THE BIG SHOW. Would you have believed this 2 months ago?

PTB: I’m not ready to say Cena’s completely back in favor just yet, but a return to a feud with the Big Show certainly seems to be helping.

THE JASON: So, what do you think the possibility is now for that rumored Shaq/Big Show match at Wrestlemania for next year?

PTB: Shaq certainly isn’t a “toothpick, noodle armed NBA player” like Big Show mentioned last week, but this just amounts to another WrestleMania loss for the Show, and I don’t want to see that. It’s another high profile match for the guy that will get its share of media attention, but I’m not into it.

PTB: Santino Marella got squashed by Alberto Del Rio last week, and it’s clear the only place this is heading is to a feud with Ricardo Rodriguez. What’s the point? Especially with Del Rio facing Sheamus for the World Championship at No Way Out.

THE JASON: Alberto should be the US champ right now. It would be a great way to elevate the belt. There’s no point in Santino having the belt if he’s just going to lose. And why wasn’t C.M. Punk/Daniel Bryan for the belt last Monday? Bryan should be the champ. I hate non-title matches. Speaking of the Punk/Bryan match, while I have no desire to see Kane inserted into their feud, WWE is making his addition somewhat interesting.

PTB: Punk and Bryan put on a great match and it’s clear they can do that night in and night out. Bringing in AJ gives the feud some depth outside the ring, but Kane’s involvement is another matter entirely. Kane’s coming off of two feuds that did nothing for me by the time they were finished with Cena and Orton. I think my main issue is that I don’t want to see the triple threat match that was booked for No Way Out last Friday on Smackdown. The show also featured a title match for Kane which should add to your ire over last Monday’s non-title match.

THE JASON: My anger tends to stem from champions losing in non-title matches. It just devalues the belt. I don’t think boxing or MMA have non-title matches, and if they do it’s a rarity. I agree with the issue you take with Kane’s involvement in this fued. They set up a rematch succinctly at Over the Limit. I’d much rather see Punk and Bryan have a submission match. Or a Cage Match. Or a Texas Death Match. Or a Last Man Standing Match. Or an AJ on a Pole Match (TM Vince Russo). I’d take any combination of those two guys in a one on one scenario instead of adding Kane. Regardless, I can’t fault WWE for trying to make Kane interesting by inserting him into a feud with these two and they’ve actually developed his involvement far better than most conflicts. I have no doubt that if anyone can carry Kane to a watchable match, it’s Punk and Bryan.

PTB: We’ve seen Kane turn in some good performances over the years, particularly on pay-per-view, but the upside of Punk vs. Bryan exceeds anything a triple threat could bring. I’d love to be proven wrong though.

THE JASON: AJ was wearing a Punk shirt to solidify her support, in-ring or otherwise. While I like that Punk is being cautious of AJ’s affections, to an extent it is slightly unrealistic. This is the dude who has been with nearly all of the divas! He’s been with Maria, Mickie James, Daffney, Lita, Beth Phoenix… and there may be others I forgot. And Punk probably has forgotten too! The guy doesn’t do drugs – just anything moving. I’m pretty sure if AJ came over with a 6 pack of Diet Pepsi and not much else, Punk wouldn’t care how crazy she was.

PTB: You’re better versed in Punk’s activities off the air than I am, but the off-air story from last week appears to be Chris Jericho. I was convinced Jericho was in a Brazilian prison after hearing the vague points presented about the situation on Raw.

THE JASON: I hear it came close to that. I find the whole matter sort of suspect though. Jericho had only come back for a limited time mainly to do the Punk angle and Wrestlemania and then planned to leave again do tour with Fozzy. I just find it odd that they’d suspend him for just being ignorant of Brazilian law (he kicked the flag). Bradshaw did far worse in Germany a few years ago and he didn’t suffer these sort of repercussions. I have to wonder if this was an opening just to phase him out.

PTB: It’s hard to think they’re phasing him out after putting a lot of attention on him taking out Randy Orton two weeks ago. Harder to believe was that Alex Riley was the #1 trending topic on Twitter last Monday.

THE JASON: Alex Riley is still employed? I can’t believe that this guy seconded someone at a Wrestlemania main event last year. Who was that guy again?

PTB: That guy had me thinking we were seeing something special happen with the Intercontinental Championship last week. Christian, Cody Rhodes, The Miz, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler? Is Orton now in this mix if Jericho is out? A group of guys like that and you could really book some great stuff around a title with a lot of history. Still there was no chance of Miz winning here. Yet they gave him some mic time, and then he gets RKO’ed. What’s going on with this guy?

THE JASON: Miz lost to Christian, cut a promo about nothing memorable and then Orton RKO’s him to death. Maybe Orton is finally getting his vengeance for Miz cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase on him in 2010. I’m not sure what the point of that was, other than to lay some groundwork for Ziggler/Orton at the PPV now that Jericho is out. I’m fine with Ziggler getting the nod. It’s certainly better than shoe-horning Orton back into the Sheamus/Del Rio feud.

PTB: Ziggler got a real chance to shine last Friday against Sheamus, and I’m fully expecting Ziggler to officially split with Vickie and Swagger tonight given the outcome. The two turned in a solid match, and it seems they’re willing to give a lot more time to matches on Smackdown. A three hour Raw might help with that on Mondays but that’s a lot of time to fill every week.

THE JASON: The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a wrestler having recent-memory amnesia like Harry Osbourne is Spider-Man 3 (I said 2 last time, my mistake.) Originally, I thought you could do it with Christian, but you could do it with the Miz as well. Well, anything would be better than what the Miz currently has going on. For instance, Christian is a plucky, happy go lucky babyface. They could do something where he doesn’t remember being such a bad guy. When they want to turn him – which they eventually will, have him have to team with Punk. Whoever their opponents are say something to Christian about “Wow, you’re going to trust the guy that took you out? Hmm, maybe we don’t have so much to worry about…” Christian could act confused. The next week, someone could show him a tape of the beating and he’d still not remember. It could progress as he starts to have flashes and that “Old Christian” comes back until he does a full turn. With Miz he could get beaten really badly, go off to film “The Marine 3” and when he comes back, he still thinks he’s World Champ and tries to pal around with Alex Riley again who continually rebuffs him. It certainly has the virtue of never having been done in that exact manner. I know this idea is wacky, and you couldn’t do it more than once – but with today’s concussion conscious viewing audience I think that it could work.

PTB: I always wanted to see someone get annihilated and come back wearing a mask not knowing anything of his previous life as a wrestler. Eventually his identity would be revealed and he’d see what had happened to him on the Titantron and go completely mental. I also thought that would be my gimmick.

THE JASON: With 3 hours to fill, they need to broaden they are going to need to think outside the box occasionally. It’s certainly better than Orton/Ziggler in an insta-feud. Speaking of whom, Orton needs to find something new to do when standing on the turnbuckles. His “look at me holding this imaginary globe” pose is so silly and really doesn’t fit with his current character.

PTB: I don’t think I’ll ever be sold on what Orton’s up to.

THE JASON: Speaking of other things I dislike – I hate every bit of original programming that USA produces. Suits, Psych, Necessary Roughness, White Collar, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice, Royal Pains. Blah. Blah. BLECH. I think they have their own mad-libs like method of programming. Take two people. One is the straight man, one is the loose cannon. Stick them in a setting and BAM! Instant show. Now let’s do a commercial in SLOW-MO! To tie this back into wrestling though, I know this guy Sean from a band called All Grown Up and he was an extra on Royal Pains when Big Show guest starred. Sean is a legit 7 feet tall (talking to him is incredibly difficult without the aid of something to stand on) and apparently they needed some other ridiculously tall guys on the show. Big Show told Sean he should try getting into wrestling. Sean told him he really doesn’t like pain and politely declined the advice.

PTB: I don’t watch any of those shows, but I don’t harbor disdain for them either. They are heavily advertised during Raw and this is another instance where your DVR should help.

THE JASON: I get annoyed with their appearance even in fast forward. They are taking away valuable ad time from Chester Cheetah.

PTB: Before we move off of Ziggler’s future we should mention the Tag Team title match for the new “Varsity Club” from last week. It was a high energy match, but I’m still not buying these guys as anything but a bunch of singles wrestlers thrown together. Ziggler’s walk out and scene with Vickie after Orton’s attack on Miz provided some Monday Night evidence that he and Swagger may not be together going forward.

THE JASON: It’s a shame. We won’t be able to call them the New Varsity Club any longer. The match with Truth/Kofi was good and the guys work well together. If the result is Ziggler moving back up the card, I’m fine with the dissolution of the team. If they wind up in the same spots but just separated then I give it a thumbs down. They really would be great as Tag Champs. They have the same manager, so it makes more sense than Truth and Kofi’s “random guys in a team.”

PTB: I wouldn’t mind seeing the tag titles change hands every week for a while if it meant the division was being built up with new real teams. Titus O’Neil and Darren Young have matching ring attire, a catch phrase despite limited mic time, and now a name as the Prime Time Players. This is the model.

THE JASON: I think we’re still a few teams away from a legit division. I hear that Alex Shelley may be coming in. WWE needs to pursue acquiring Chris Sabin and debut the Motor City Machine Guns in WWE. Bring them in and reunite Antonio Cesaro with Kassius Ohno (aka Chris Hero) who is still in FCW and then we’ll be talking a division. In fact, that would be awesome.

PTB: Last week’s Raw was a much better show than its predecessor and I have to say the WWE ’13 video game bit was really well done for John Laurinaitis and his cronies. In fact, Punk’s emergence had me thinking for a moment that he might ruin it with how being in the ring with Johnny seems to erode his mic skills.

THE JASON: It’s a good thing I like Living Colour, because I think we heard “Cult of Personality” about 5 times while Punk was out there. The only thing I really remember from the segment is Punk dropping a “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reference. Kudos to that man.

PTB: Two weeks without Paul Heyman has been a little disappointing, but we did get the announcement of the ECW Unreleased Volume 1 DVD in stores tomorrow.

THE JASON: Heyman’s voice-over on the commerical was unmistakable. Lesnar was seen ringside at the UFC show last weekend, so I have to wonder if he’s pushing the fact that he “quit” WWE or if he is already angling to un-retire from MMA. I just hope Heyman sticks around whether Brock stays involved or not.

PTB: David Otunga has been getting some matches with top names lately facing Cena and Sheamus in the last two weeks. It might be nice to see him develop into someone interesting but his whole presentation is a mess.

THE JASON: David Otunga’s pre-match posing routine is so out-of-control that even Chris Master’s would say “Dude, I think that’s enough!” I suppose I wouldn’t be as bothered by it if that was Otunga’s gimmick, but once again he’s supposed to be legal counsel, not a bodybuilder. He just happens to be a lawyer who is a wrestler. Oh yeah, and his entrance music is absolutely awful. Even by wrestling standards, that song is charting off of the suck-o-meter.

PTB: During the main event, they still were not willing to give Brodus Clay a loss but thankfully they were willing to give him some backstage mic time.

THE JASON: I was fine with that. Hey Brodus is actually doing something meaningful and not just squashing jobbers and dancing with kids. Big Show cut a killer promo on him and then beat him down.

PTB: And then the tag champs got destroyed by Big Show as well. Of course TBS ate another tag team (the makeshift pairing of Santino and Zack Ryder) on Smackdown as well last week.

THE JASON: Usually I’d say that is no way to treat your tag champs, but this wasn’t random and they did establish earlier in the show that TBS did have a gripe with all of these guys. This all made Big Show look dangerous, something I’m not sure he’s ever really been able to harness. I know that Big Show has turned face and heel about 43 times in his career, but there’s a twist this time. It seems fresh and compelling. I have to wonder if he’ll continue his rampage tonight when Rawvirtually rolls into his backyard in Greenville, South Carolina.

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Keep up with all of our weekly Monday Night Raw Warm Ups:
May 28th, 2012 edition / July 2nd, 2012 edition (coming soon)