Live from Washington, DC this is the Raw Deal for episode #1088. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport.
If you’re looking for a full edition of the Raw Deal, I apologize. It’s not happening this week. It’s Tuesday afternoon at about 3:00pmET and I didn’t even watch all of Raw this week. That wasn’t on purpose. I spent my Monday night visiting with some friends and only caught parts of the show. Normally I would watch late at night, but I really needed sleep. Today I’m flying south to Tampa (I live near Toronto) and I get there this evening, so I’ve been busy getting ready. On Friday, a friend and I will travel to New Orleans for four days of WrestleMania festivities.
I was able to catch some of the clips on Youtube and also from things I saw towards the end of the show, so I figure I’d contribute something with five thoughts on what happened on Raw.
Five (or more) Thoughts on Raw
– That segment with Lesnar finally getting the advantage on Undertaker was fully expected. As I always write in this space, if you get the upper hand on TV, you’re usually going to lose on PPV. That’s not always the case especially about something later on in the show, but when it comes to the Undertaker match it was expected. I really liked Undertaker’s line about death, taxes and The Steak. Well done by the man that talks while wearing MMA gloves.
– Daniel Bryan getting the upper hand on Raw is not a good sign simply because of the “upper hand on TV” theory mentioned above. However, I think the story called for Bryan to get revenge since he was injured two weeks ago and not on the show last week. He should still beat Triple H at WrestleMania and then win the WWE Title in the three way with Randy Orton and Batista. There’s a possibility that it could become a four way with Triple H also in the match, but I think Bryan going over HHH decisively would be the right move.
– I thought the video about Triple H beating people over the years was great. I’m sure his haters were fuming as they saw the highlights of guys like Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. I particularly liked seeing Angle in the video because WWE really doesn’t give him much attention since he’s been a TNA guy for the last eight years. Perhaps that means he’s coming back in the future, but that’s not a sure thing either.
– John Cena was excellent in the segments he was a part of. The Wyatt Family mask trick was perfect. One of the best “fooled ya” type of moments WWE has done in a long time. His promo was pretty good too. I’ve never been a Cena hater, but those that do often rip on his promos. This week he was able to deliver a fired up version, which was the right call. I’ve gone back and forth on how that Cena/Wyatt match will go. There are good reasons for either guy to win. Right now I’m picking Bray Wyatt although there’s still time to change my mind.
– The WrestleMania battle royal and diva invitational matches are both very underwhelming to me. They tried to make us care about the battle royal, but I just don’t. AJ Lee getting pinned by Naomi is a bit of a surprise because I assume AJ is losing on Sunday. She should. Right now I’m leaning towards Brie Bella, but could see it being Nikki or Natalya as well. Since Natalya lost to Summer Rae, it makes her more of a contender because then they could do a feud with Natalya defending against Summer.
Also, I read the news today that AJ Lee is engaged to CM Punk. She wore the ring during the match or at least a ring. I’m not sure why you would want to wear a ring in a match when something could happen to it, but I’ve seen others like Gail Kim do the same. Congrats to the happy couple. Punk never seemed liked the marrying type although if he’s happy that’s all that really matters.
In Closing
Later this week I’ll post the WrestleMania preview, so hopefully that will help those of you that are upset that I didn’t write this week. Next week since I’ll be at WrestleMania (section 117) and Raw (don’t have tickets yet) it will probably be the following weekend when I get reviews of them posted. I won’t have much time Wednesday to Friday due to my writing job with WhatCulture.com (go check out the archive!), so that’s why I think next weekend is more likely.
In the meantime, follow along with me on Twitter @johnreport because I’ll probably post pics as well as interesting things from WrestleMania week and if you’re on Facebook you can add me there too. I’ll have my iPhone to take pics and vids while the laptop is coming along for the trip, so I may end up writing some diaries if I have the time.
Once again I apologize for this shortened version of my Raw Deal column. Usually it’s a 5,000 word column – this one is about 1,000 words. It’s the first time in about five years I didn’t do a full Raw Deal. Please don’t hate me. I promise I’ll have some good stories from WrestleMania week and perhaps I’ll be able to get in the background of a scene on Total Divas. It’s important to have goals, my friends.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your WrestleMania week!
John Canton – mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport
Personal Facebook and TJRWrestling.com on Facebook
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