#herewegoagain: Of course the lead-in recap is dedicated to the Cena-Johnny-Show storyline, as if there was nothing of value going on with RAW. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I keep holding out hope that they’ll do something different. The recap takes like 5 minutes and couldn’t that time have been better used? More Dancing with Brodus? More ‘Yes!’? Even more of a Cena do-gooder promo would have been preferable. At least Show is out for the opening promo instead of Cena, but it’s more of the same from last week and how he’ll beat Cena at No Way Out blah blah blah.
#giantgarage: The only thing that’s been missed more in Del Rio’s absence then him coming out in expensive cars is Ricardo doing his Del Rioooooooooo introduction. Alberto faces Santino, which I suppose gives him something to do until he faces Sheamus but couldn’t they have given Santino some sort of storyline where he actually defends the US Title? At least the match is over quickly with Del Rio getting the victory via submission. Ricardo getting in Santino’s face as he’s laying on the mat to announce Del Rio as victor was a nice touch.
#pennydefense: Didn’t Ziggler and Swagger just get a tag title shot at Over The Limit? They lost so why do they get one again? You’d think they’d have to beat another tag team to get the shot, but at least the title themselves are being defended again. It was actually a pretty solid match with some fast-paced action and the champs retaining. If Kofi and Truth can have a long reign with credible title defenses, then that will go a long way to helping out the tag team division.
#scooterpower: If you knew nothing about WWE, Laurianitis in particular, and just listened to Cole’s recap of The Battle of The Johns, then you’d think Johnny overcame a mammoth challenge due to his will and strength. Cole could probably get a job in politics if he wanted, he’s great at putting a spin on things. The fact that he’s coming to the ring in his ‘scooter’ is just plain hilarious, because it’s typical WWE over-doing things to the nth degree. Besides coming out as a fashion statement, Johnny announces that Cena-Show will be in a Steel Cage, as if no one expected that with the way they’ve been promoting No Way Out. Laurinaitis is an over-the-top heel authority figure and that’s fine, but stretching it out by having him claim he’s the most popular ‘Superstar’ is way too much, because a) he’s not a wrestler and b) it does a disservice to the actual wrestlers in the proverbial locker room. Saying he should be on the cover of WWE ’13 only adds to that.
#actualpeoplepower: Thankfully Punk comes out to put an end to Johnny’s boasting with the usual round of insults, pointing out that Ace is not popular at all, has no balls, etc. Punk has a big reveal of his own saying the presumed actual cover of WWE ’13, which features the champ himself. Punk is also out to face Bryan in a non-title match, which is a questionable booking decision and pretty much means it won’t end clean or someone will run in to cause a DQ. The match actually goes on for a good amount of time and showcases each guys’ top notch wrestling ability. Bryan focuses on Punk’s arm throughout, showing good ring psychology to set him up for the Yes! Lock. The aforementioned distraction comes out in the form of AJ 
wearing a Punk shirt. Trying to be a good sport and tell the ref that Bryan exposed a turnbuckle only leads to Punk getting distracted and Bryan picking up the win with the assistance of said turnbuckle. Punk does get to stand tall after Kane runs in to attack Bryan with a chair and The Champ gets some chairshots of his own on the Big Red Monster. Still this match could’ve gone on for another 20 minutes or so and it wouldn’t diminish the quality at all.
#undecided: It’s time for another installment of Is Chrisitan a Face or Not? WWE’s latest gameshow where the audience tries to figure whether Captian Charisma is playing us or if it’s a genuine face turn. He faces Miz in a match that really is only to advance his storyline with Cody Rhodes who was on commentary. Christian does do an homage to Edge with his former partner’s signature Spear, but Miz does block it, only to fall victim to a Frogsplash to end it. Post match, Miz does complain about getting no respect after he won it for Team Johnny at Mania. Orton comes out and saunters to the ring just to RKO Miz in mid-sentence for a big pop.
#theotherchamp: So WWE Champ CM Punk lost to Daniel Bryan already so how will the other world champ Sheamus do? Well considering he faces The Law Offices of David Otunga’s Travel Mug it won;t be much a challenge. It isn’t as The Pale One finishes off Otunga in a matter of minutes. However the more interesting thing is the Smackdown plug before the match. Punk will defend the title against Kane this Friday. O rly? It’s not like Kane has done much to prove he’s worthy of a title shot, but this is WWE Creative we’re talking about.
#timeforfunk: Yes Brodus Clay is actually in the main event tonight against Big Show. The reason is while Show was confronting Santino earlier, Clay came up and basically told him to pick on someone his own size. I was very surprised by the segment as it showed that Clay can get serious, something we really haven’t seen from him. The match never actually happened as Show Speared Clay ringside and continued to assault him. Even the run in of Kofi and Truth couldn’t stop The Giant. After WMDing Clay into oblivion the show ended. The crowd had been chanting for Cena the whole time but surprisingly he didn’t show up. It was a good decision for him not to show up since it gave Big Show the spotlight and a chance to prove himself. Also, wondering how Cena will respond is a good hook to get people to watch next week.
