New WWE COO Triple H announced at the end of Raw Monday night that WWE title claimants CM Punk and John Cena would meet in a championship unification match at the SummerSlam pay-per-view on Aug. 14.
That was expected. What was less predictable going into Monday’s show was how the crowd was going to react to the two champs. I was expecting the people to be pro-Punk, but it didn’t sound that way to me.
Punk, who was practically begging the crowd to cheer for him, got a good – but not great – pop from the fans in Indianapolis when he came out to open the show, but Triple H got a louder reaction when he made his way to the ring later in the segment. At the end of the show, when Punk and Cena were taking turns playing to the crowd, both received mixed reactions, but it seemed to me that Cena received more cheers.
I’m not sure what exactly to make of that, and it was just one crowd, but when wwe.com ran a poll during the show asking who the rightful WWE champion is, Cena got 54 percent of the vote to Punk’s 46 percent – and that’s with Punk having just beaten Cena clean at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view a couple weeks ago.
Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but the crowd reaction and results of the poll suggest that Punk’s babyface turn hasn’t fully taken hold with the casual fans, who clearly outnumber the “smart” fans.
If WWE truly wants to get Punk over in a big way – and if they really want to make waves – it should have Cena and Triple H both turn heel and screw over Punk at SummerSlam. Do I think that will happen? Not really, but I can hope. Other thoughts on Monday’s show:
The verbal exchange between Punk and Triple H was compelling and both guys did a great job. Even though Triple H said later in the show that Punk playing the “you’re married to the boss’ daughter” card was nothing that he hasn’t been hearing for years, Punk did say things to Triple H that have never been said before on WWE television, such as how he buries talent and used to carry Shawn Michaels’ bags. …
While I still think that Punk returned to WWE too soon, his explanation did make sense, as he said that he couldn’t create change in WWE by sitting on his couch at home. To be the voice of the voiceless, he said he needs a microphone on WWE television. …
WWE executive John Laurinaitis making an appearance during the final segment with Triple H, Punk and Cena was a nice touch. Laurinaitis – who implored Triple H to strip Cena of his title – represents the old Vince McMahon regime, and by Triple H disregarding him, it further establishes that it’s a new day in WWE. It also plants the seed if Triple H and Cena do end up conspiring against Punk. …
The dueling music shtick with Punk and Cena was a little silly, but I thought it worked. … When confronting Laurinaitis, Cena got in an inside reference to Laurinaitis’ old gimmick as a member of the Dynamic Dudes tag team in WCW, saying that he used to carry around a skateboard. Cena also could have said that Laurinaitis used to carry around the flag of New Zealand. …
The crowd was really hot for the exciting team match that saw The Miz and R-Truth defeat Rey Mysterio and John Morrison. … The backstage interaction between Miz and R-Truth was entertaining. They played off each other very well. …
I thought for sure that Eve was going to win the battle royal that determined Divas champion Kelly Kelly’s opponent at SummerSlam, but I certainly wasn’t upset to see Beth Phoenix get the victory. After the match, Phoenix turned on KK, which was a good booking decision since WWE needs a strong heel Diva in Kharma’s absence. …
I think Melina lasted about two seconds in the battle royal, and Gail Kim was eliminated a couple seconds after that. It’s obvious that Melina is in the doghouse and is being buried, but it’s a real shame that WWE hasn’t done anything with Kim since she came over from TNA. …
Alberto Del Rio, who needs to get on a roll again to re-establish himself as a threat to the WWE title, got a solid win over Evan Bourne. … Dolph Ziggler and Alex Riley had a decent verbal exchange. Vickie Guerrero hasn’t had as big of a role lately as she’s had in the past, but she’s still a heat magnet. …
Zack Ryder was over with the crowd, but the fact that he – and not tag team partner Santino Marella – did the job in their match against WWE tag team champions David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty tells you all you need to know about how hard WWE is going to push Ryder. …
Marella wearing the Cobra sock puppet was pretty funny. … I’m still not sold on McGillicutty and Otunga as champs, but they did show more fire than usual this week.