#liveinconcert: The most important thing for the WWE right now is to play up the Cena-Rock feud, because they really have to and must deliver a good buildup and match, given they announced the match a year ahead of schedule. They figure they have the perfect way to accomplish that with a Rock Concert and Cena Rap. Ya know cause they’re near the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and all. I just hope Cena comes out to his old Thuganomics music because that would be perfect. He does just that and is all decked out like he used to back in the day. Treasure this moment IWC, because this is the closest to a Cena heel turn we’ll get. I didn’t follow wrestling back when Cena first debuted with the rapping gimmick, but I’m sure this is nostalgic for those of you that did. It appears that they’re holding the Rock concert later so Lawler and Cole can talk about it non stop, even during matches.
#beachtowel: That’s the only way I can think to describe that thing that is hanging out of the back of Dolph’s tights. Pair it with that odd chain/feather leather jacket and you’ve got quite the fashion statement. It sure won’t help hm against The Pale One. He starts out strong against Dolph, but the Show Off turns it around in a most unusual way by scurrying under the ring, coming out behind Sheamus to deliver a blindside hit and a toss into the announce table. The action continues as Cole tosses it up to Josh whose with Bryan and AJ in a skybox. D-Bry cuts him in an appropriately heel fashion. Back in the ring, both men trade moves before Sheamus hits the Brogue Kick from out of nowhere for the win. A match that went on long for a RAW match but was still decent.
#therecanbeonlyone: So WWE has finally made it official how the GM battle will be decided. It will be Team Long vs Team Laurinaitis in Miami to decide who will be the GM of both shows. Santino is apparently the captain of Teddy’s team and Cole is absolutely flabbergasted, which is always funny. He’s supposed to team with Aksana in a mixed tag match, but after Otunga comes out, Ace makes it a handicap match with Henry as Otunga’s partner. Of course with Ace sitting at commentary, Cole gets to brown nose him in person. If you thought this match would play out normally, how wrong you were. Teddy comes down to get in Laurinaitis’ face and push him yet again. Oh and Henry and Otunga won the match anyone actually cares.
#nonextinct: So the Funkasaurus makes him triumphant return with his signature dancing. I was hoping he would add something new to that, but at least his squashing his opponent in under a minute hasn’t changed.
#outoffocus: Having a confrontation between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker is normally a good thing, but not in this case. That match is Taker vs HHH not Taker vs HBK. This segment along with Michaels being the special guest referee unfairly takes the focus off of the match, which should be the main focus. With the tense confrontation between Michaels and HHH last week, it almost seems like there’s a secondary feud of HHH vs HBK going on here. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is no entrance that is more awe-inspiring then The Undertaker’s. That gong sounds and you know it’s about to get serious. That’s exactly what happens as both men take shots at each other and Taker rightly points out that HBK is letting his ego get in the way and it might cloud his judgment when he’s the referee. Michaels does nothing to dispel that notion, saying he could possibly be the guy to end The Streak, which would be ironic as HBK stated. At least they insert H back into this by having him come out on the stage and stare down Taker.
#hometownzero: RAW is in Cleveland which is Miz’s hometown, so you figured he’d get some sort of spotlight. He does in a way with a match he must win to be part of Team Laurinaitis, only problem is his opponent is The Second City Saint. James Roday from Psych is the guest star tonight, handles the ring announcing for this match and does a surprisingly well. Miz gets a big hometown pop. Perhaps because of that, Miz goes straight at Punk and keeps the pressure up. He slips out of a GTS attempt and goes for the SCF, but Punk counters into the Anaconda Vice for the tap out win. Miz is figuratively swept aside thus after as Jericho appears on the Tron and proceeds to take this feud to a whole new level. He says the reason Punk is straightedge is because he dad is an alcoholic and that after he beats him at Mania he’ll hit the bottom and start to drink. With this feud being shunted away in favor of Taker-H and the GMs, this is exactly what was needed to keep it from losing more relevance. This is classic heel Jericho and making feuds personal is what he does best.
#runningin: So Orton faces Swagger and the result is really irrelevant because Kane will make some sort of run-in either after the match is over or during it to cause the DQ. After Swagger takes out Orton’s knee, he smartly continues to focus on that showing great ring psychology. I do wonder when we’ll get to hear the motivation behind this feud. I mean Kane did attack Orton first, so the onus is really on him to explain, if he wants to at all.
#rockout: After playing to the crowd a bit, he shows off the goosebumps on his arm to the camera. No sign of any promo notes. Some more catchphrase creating from The Great One and he gets straight to the music. It’s 100% owning of Cena, some rehashing of previous insults, but it’s still pretty damn funny. Especially when Rock starts mocking the few grown men who are Cena fans. The camera shows one of them with a Rise Above Hate shirt on who ducks behind a sign. Pure hilarity. Rock doesn’t forget the ladies and has a song for a special lady who turns out to be Cena’s mom. I wasn’t too sure about how this would turn out, but Rock did a great job and was hilarious. Not to leave it at a high note, they have Rocky start to sing Queen’s We Will Rock You but fumble over the lines, which oddly contain all his catchphrases, as he reads them off the Tron. So they don’t want to make Rock look too good in comparison to Cena?
