Monday Night Raw Warm Up for January 14th, 2013

Last Monday’s Raw saw the “Road to WrestleMania” begin with the latest return of The Rock, and we’ve challenged ourselves to get back on track with our weekly Warm-Ups. We apologize for being away for so long, but with a blockbuster show last week and Monday Night Raw’s 20th Anniversary Special planned for this evening (today also happens to be MLD’s 4th Anniversary) we had no alternative but to dive back in.

THE JASON: I think we need to start with last week’s closing segment that went for 30 minutes and while it didn’t feature any wrestling, it had an incredible atmosphere and some very interesting promo work by both CM Punk and The Rock.

PTB: It may have been the best segment of WWE television we’ve seen in the time the Warm Up has been away. Much like Punk’s original “pipe bomb” promo, it certainly left me wanting to talk about it along with all the things we’ve missed in our absence. I know we can’t get something like this every Monday, but I wish we’d seen more nights like this in the 421 days that C.M. Punk has been champion.

THE JASON: I love the fact that he’s held the title for such a long amount of time. In truth, it should have been even longer since Punk never should have lost it after Money in the Bank 2011.

PTB: I’ve thought about that same thing as we watched this title reign go on. There was no good reason to move the title around from Punk to Alberto Del Rio and back to Punk, but the fact that he’s been champion longer than anyone in the past 25 years really appeals to me. It’s great.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYylIYM0VYE]

THE JASON: His promo was really something else. I’m not sure if it was quite Pipe Bomb 2: Electric Boogaloo, but it was a fascinating study in crowd response. I thought Punk was masterful and he seemed to hit every note he intended to, even if the response wasn’t the usual “You Suck” chants that WWE would hope for. It was very meta with Punk continually baiting the crowd into responding and then chiding them for doing so. Punk bringing up the fact that he leveraged the crowd response from the night in Las Vegas to create his anti-hero persona, milk the crowd approval to break into the upper echelon and consequently drop them when his goals were attained is pretty high concept stuff. It might be revisionist history to a degree, but it’s high concept stuff nonetheless. What was great about the complexity of the promo, is that Punk pointed out that the audience wants to be easily spoon-fed their story-lines and unless Punk was explicit in calling them stupid, they weren’t sure how to react. Despite Punk having been a heel for the past 6 months, this was the first time his raison d’être was clarified outside of “deserving respect.”

PTB: This is the heel Punk needs to be. His appeal has never been two-dimensional and he’s completely wasted as a generic bad guy given what he’s capable of. Attacking the crowd’s propensity for being led to a response is perfect for a feud with the Rock with all of his chanting and #trending. I just hope Punk remains unfazed by Rocky’s typical antics and this one ratchets up even more on the way to the Royal Rumble.

THE JASON: I’m not sure how they keep it this hot for the next few weeks, but I can’t wait to see what they do tonight. I only hope that Paul E. gets a turn on the mic as well, as we saw a bit of on last week’s Smackdown.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-fJPT4C_6k]

PTB: This needs to happen. One of the best aspects of Heyman’s return to WWE has been the opportunities to pair him with the top names. Seeing him go toe-to-toe with Triple H and Vince McMahon has been a highlight and I just feel like we’ve never really gotten that before.

THE JASON: Absolutely. I think they realize what they have with Heyman, and they don’t overdeliver with his time so when he does get on the mic now, it appears to have additional weight to it. Speaking of weight, how much more jacked is the Rock now than when he was a full-time wrestler? Rock was great during the Punk segment, making his entrance at the midway point. Their delivery styles are so different from one another. Punk is very natural, while Rock is over-the-top, yet both are so far beyond the majority of the roster. It isn’t the same type of performance that we get from Cena, Sheamus or The Miz. They both are firmly ensconced in their characters. Even though they both did their ‘thing’, the dynamic was far better than Rock and Cena last year. It seemed like Cena was talking over Rock and trying to trip him up at times. Last week the guys stayed on target and both played their roles well, Punk as the turncoat and Rock as the returning hero and man of the people. Rock made his jokes, but Punk turned it back on the crowd and Rock as well. It escalated to the point where Rock had no choice but to get physical. The most important thing was the match at the Rumble was the focus and man, the title seems really important.

PTB: I completely agree. I really liked seeing the Rock buy into what a credible threat Punk is and not just belittle him. I’m an unabashed Punk fan, so seeing Rock calling him Cookiepuss and all the other juvenile business go out the window with that Rock Bottom was perfect. Now the only thing that could ruin it is the looming threat of Rock winning the WWE title and John Cena winning the Rumble setting up a WrestleMania rematch for the title.

THE JASON: We’ll tackle that a bit more later, but I have a feeling that’s where it is going. Opening the show was a great match between Cena and Ziggler. I was disappointed to see Ziggler back to losing, but it is hard to complain about the 20 minute match.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtFGMbDcGaY]

PTB: This feud is working for me. Both guys are turning in solid work and the AJ angle helps. At the very least it gives some payoff to the miserable weeks of Cena versus Vickie and the scandal.

THE JASON: That was interminable. Vickie needs to take a sabbatical. I never had an issue with her as the GM of Smackdown, but whatever they are doing with her on Raw is overkill. The whole GM concept is hackneyed. There has to be another way to set up matches. On the other end the show was a well-done TLC match with Ryback and Punk. Punk was still champ at the end thanks to interference from the Shield. Even though they aren’t aligned with Punk, The Shield continue to look strong. Ambrose really has charisma. Rollins as well. The chaos and the characters give me a sense of the attitude era. I’m not sure if it is because these guys are that good, or because they’re just given an opportunity so that people are exposed to it.

PTB: This is another current storyline that has tremendous potential. Over the break there were a few weeks where the Shield didn’t appear on the show and when they do they tend not eat up more air time than they need to. Although I was a bit shocked to see the TLC PPV main event move from Ryback v. Punk to Ryback/Kane/Daniel Bryan versus the Shield by the time they went to air. On one hand, that’s a lot of confidence in the newcomers, but on the other it felt like WWE was just going through motions in Punk’s absence with five NXT guys and Kane in the big match.

THE JASON: I don’t think Daniel Bryan has removed any kind of link to NXT, as has Ryback. Punk was injured at the time, so I think it was for the best. No need to have your top guy falling through tables with a bad wheel, especially when their is a looming program with the Rock to be had. The Shield guys, as well as Kane, Bryan and Ryback more than held up their end of the deal and put together a crazy match at the TLC PPV.

Even so, I had mentioned the Shield’s introduction to Homer and he’s not ready to invest yet. He pointed out the unfortunate repeated pattern that WWE has performed this year of bringing guys up just to see them become jobbers a few months later. Why invest in someone if they are only going to wind up being cannon fodder once people do start to gain an interest in them. Does anyone remember Tensai being a Lord a few months ago… and beating Cena and Punk? That dude can’t even get on the show anymore.

PTB: No argument there, though the newer guys I enjoy most are still getting air time like Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro. I can’t say I expect the same for Ambrose, Rollins, and Reigns at this point.

THE JASON: Well, do you recall how hot I was on Brodus Clay at this time last year? Nuff said.

I’m still deeply disturbed by Cody Rhodes’s moustache. The ironic hipster moustache thing has got to go. It is not clever. It is creepy. It makes me feel dirty. Cody’s stash is more disturbing than Zack Ryder being buried all last year. If Cody really wants to go all the way with this he should grow out the mullet too. The only way I want to see this end is in a Rhodes Scholars vs Sin Cara/Rey match: masks vs. facial hair. You know who has to lose.

PTB: That would be a great stipulation match. It’s sad that the mustache is more over than Cody. It’s totally creepy and part of me can’t fault them for running with anything that works.

THE JASON: It certainly made him easy prey for The Rock on Smackdown, and earned Cody line of the week when he said “I’m an adult! I can grow a moustache if I want to!” I don’t know why, but the line had me laughing out loud. The comic timing was impressive. Speaking of things I’m impressed by, howabout Antonio Cesaro’s feats of strength? I’m equally impressed by the commentary team’s inability to remember that Cesaro just faced Khali on Main Event last week and finished him with the Neutralizer then too.

PTB: I have a growing sense that WWE doesn’t want people to watch every show at this point. They’ve always been very skilled at putting together video packages that make the product look stellar, and this is now showcased with the narrated recap at the top of Raw in recent weeks (a change I really endorse by the way, I really like it). It now takes eight hours of programming a week to generate the source material for those video packages and I can’t imagine watching every minute of it. I still FF through Raw segments if I don’t care for who’s on the screen.

THE JASON: I’m not sold on the narrated recap. It makes me feel like I’m watching an episode of Dallas or Trapper John or some other show my parents would watch when I was a kid. I’m also not sure what to make out of Big Show’s super-squash of Kofi. Show has been great as champ the past few months, and I’m not thrilled to see the outcome of Smackdown. But what was the point of destroying Kofi like that? It seemed like there was renewed interest in pushing Kingston after he and Miz had that great match on Main Event where he won the IC title. Now he’s right back to where he was a few months ago.

PTB: I don’t get it either. It could be that they want to build a David and Goliath feud between Kofi and Big Show or it could be that they’ve lost all confidence in Kingston. Regardless, a very positive consequence is Wade Barrett as IC champ. I’m still a fan of this guy and would love to see him keep moving in the direction he’s headed.

THE JASON: I like the David and Goliath feud idea if they want to actually do something with Kofi now that Show is no longer champ. Sheamus and Orton both were being occupied with 3MB. I guess that’s as good a use for the two of them right now. They both need to take a sabbatical because it is getting tedious to watch them.

PTB: Those are two of the sections I fast forwarded through last week. That’s programming that has no pay off for me. None. 3MB is fun but fleeting and I’ll get no satisfaction from seeing them lose to Orton and Sheamus or even beating them.

THE JASON: I think I would enjoy their victory celebration if they were able to be either guy – especially Orton. While it might not be saying much, Eve is the best thing they have in the women’s division right now. Kaitlyn is awful and her hair annoys me. Your head is not a Chinese restaurant, you cannot choose one from column and and one from column B. There’s not much happening there right now. I really wish they’d let Sara Del Ray have a run on the roster instead of being a trainer in their developmental system.

PTB: I like Eve as Diva Champion but it feels like there’s no one for her to face off against. Kaitlyn is getting a lot of air time, but it’s time for a new challenger.

THE JASON: Kane and Bryan’s arguing is getting a bit goofy, they really need to have it go somewhere. We’ve got the big return of Dr. Shelby tonight, which won’t be the only re-appearance with it being the 20th anniversary show. Any thoughts on some visitors? It seems like we’ve run the gauntlet this past year on old faces showing up with the Retro Raw, Slammy Awards and 1000th Raw special. Who do they have left to trot out? I’ll say Nash, Godfather, maybe Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels since we’ll be in Texas.

PTB: Those are all distinct possibilities. I’m expecting Steve Austin. He’s been notably absent from those big shows you mentioned. Although if he does show up, I fear the Rock/Cena WWE title match becomes even more likely and Austin/Punk might be the direction they go for WrestleMania.

THE JASON: I can’t see them doing Austin/Punk on a show that will have The Rock. I feel like it could get lost in the shuffle – and Austin-Punk is a bonafide main event.

PTB: Don’t all WrestleManias have three “main events” at this point?

THE JASON: Since we’re looking down the road to to Mania, any early calls on what the card will look like? I’m thinking we get Rock vs. Cena 2, HHH vs. Brock 2, Undertaker vs. Punk, Sheamus vs. Orton in the BLACK HOLE OF BORING DUDES match, Ziggler vs. Del Rio, Hell No vs. The Shield, Ryback vs. Big Show, some type of multi-man match with Miz, Kofi, Cesaro, Cody, Sandow and a returning Christian, and possibly Sin Cara vs. Rey if they are both healthy enough to go. It will be interesting to see how close or far we are come April 7th.

PTB: Those are some interesting prospects that aren’t too far fetched. Brock v. Undertaker is a definite possibility as well, though I don’t like Punk vs UT myself. I don’t want to see that streak broken and I’m holding out hope Punk holds the title a while longer though there’s really no one left that he’d realistically catch at this point. I’d think Miz vs Ziggler is more likely, and there’s definitely going to be a match a big list of names get thrown into just to get them on the card.

THE JASON: Even though I’d like Punk to hold it through Wrestlemania, I can’t see it happening. I’ll still with these picks for now. But if you’re picking Miz vs. Ziggler for Mania, that’s got to be one match that Ziggler HAS to win!

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Keep up with all of our weekly Monday Night Raw Warm Ups:
October 8th, 2012 edition / January 21st, 2013 edition