CM Punk and John Laurinaitis
CM Punk and John Laurinaitis had their best night on the mic since their rivalry began. Punk had a good enough promo in the opening segment, but his end of the show venting of frustration was easily his best promo since his original "shoot" promo that set him down the road he's currently on. He was believable and witty, yet lacked the snide remarks he's shown before and he showed that his enemy was truly getting to him. You really can't ask for more form a babyface promo.
Laurinaitis, by extension, has made most of his doubters eat crow over the past few weeks. I was one of the men calling for him to get the hell off of my TV on a weekly basis, but he's won me over with his dry humor and his end-of-show promo last night was exactly what was needed. Like Punk, he was believable but managed to display his frustrations in a very heelish manner and he drew a lot of heat from the crowd when he turned and struck Mick Foley (more on him later).
Unfortunately, the odd man out in this entire equation is Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler cut a great promo (there were several last night) in the opening segment, and he really seems to be coming into his own as a heel. He improves on an almost weekly basis, but his strides are overshadowed by the focus being on the babyface champion clashing with a heel authority figure. I still see great things in Ziggler's not-so-distant-future, but he could really benefit from being treated like a bigger deal than he has in this feud's build.
John Cena embraces the hate
This feud continues to excite me while frustrating me at the same time. John Cena coming undone and demolishing another wrestler in a very non-Cena-like fashion obviously shows his frustration levels, but the backing of Kane doing his best Sith Lord impression undercuts any believability in his actions. I keep trying to tell myself that this will lead to good things for Cena, but I continue to be underwhelmed by what I am presented with.
A lot of the above is personal misgivings about the current direction of masked Kane, but I am unsure how someone can manage to fully invest in this feud. The storyline seems to be Star Wars envisioned as a straight to DVD horror film set in a wrestling world, and all of that added together makes it difficult to take anything that comes from that formula seriously.
Chris Jericho
I've mentioned recently that Jericho needed to be a greater focus of WWE creative, and what we got last night fit the bill perfectly. Jericho did a great job of mixing things up with his entrance and the way he worked the live crowd up into a frenzy only to tag out and leave them wanting more was hysterically brilliant.
Out of all of the storylines in wrestling right now, watching Jericho and trying to determine what he'll do next is one of the most exciting for this viewer. If he continues to get the proper focus and comes up with creative ways of working a live crowd, then the eventual payoff will be great.
Funkasaurus
Brodus Clay continues to take a perfectly dreadful gimmick and turn it into something fun. I still hold to the fact that WWE could have made money on Clay as a monster heel, but it's hard not to be won over by Clay's complete and total dedication to the character he's been given.
The trick is going to be in getting a crowd to support Clay. He's certainly stirred up interest with his enthusiasm, but it's going to take time for such a different gimmick to catch on. I have faith that Clay's efforts will be rewarded, but I hope that WWE creative doesn't pull his plug before his character gets a real chance to catch fire.
Mick Foley
As someone that grew up watching Foley and some of his various characters, I have been disappointed to see what the past few years of his life have produced for his legacy. Last night was the first time like I really felt like we were seeing some of the aspects that made Foley a legend in WWE's history rather than the butt of some jokes or the producer of campy comedy.
Foley's will to get into the Royal Rumble and have a WrestleMania match intrigues me. If he truly has another match in him, I would love to see him give the type of rub to a young buck a la Dolph Ziggler. That would certainly be a much better use of one of WWE's remaining legends than some of the garbage we've sat through since his return from TNA.
Jack Swagger vs. Zack Ryder
I'm a fan of this development. Ryder really lost a lot of momentum when he captured the United States Championship because his entire gimmick is based around his underdog overcoming the odds storyline. Similarly, Jack Swagger has floundered in his jobber to the stars role and could really use a run with a belt to gain some legitimacy back.
I hope WWE goes forward with this and gives Ryder and Swagger some emphasis. This feud has the makings to get the fans back into Ryder, give Swagger the first heat he's had in a long time, and give the underutilized United States Championship some much needed prestige and legitimacy from two young guys fighting over it.
Overall Show
Last night's show was one of the best Raw episodes we've seen in some time. There was the usual throwaway Diva's match coupled with an unnecessary guest host and the traditional over-the-top rope silliness that comes with pre-Rumble hype, but WWE gave us enough meat to chew on that those moments were forgivable. This is the first Raw that feels like it's truly preparing us for WrestleMania hype, and I am more than ready for that to begin.