WWE RAW Coverage: Jericho Has Spoken; Too Much Funk

Well, Chris Jericho finally spoke on RAW. It was one sentence. It wasn’t enough.

Proclaiming that the Royal Rumble would signify the end of the world, it’s essentially just more innuendo and nonsense. Jericho needs to make a huge splash this weekend or else his return was wasted time on RAW.

All the silence needs some kind of payoff.

Like many of the storylines in the promotion right now, Jericho’s return thus far could have been so much better. Zack Ryder’s current feud with Kane has exposed his weak microphone skills and inability to entertain out of the ring. Even with his “broken back” angle, Ryder is far from as over as he could be. It almost like he’s been sabotaged. After such a fantastic reintroduction to the WWE Universe, his character is seemingly running out of options.

Cena’s problems with the “Big Red Monster” have deflated the promotion’s franchise player and make Kane seem even less stagnant than he was before his kayfabe injury at the hands of Mark Henry months ago. Dolph Ziggler’s dealings with CM Punk have produced some solid matchups, but the promo hasn’t been there.

Right now, Punk and Laurinaitis’ angle is the most enjoyable in the company, but it appears to be more of a long-term program. Aside from the antics of Punk and R-Truth, there isn’t that one thing that makes RAW a must-watch. While the storylines are written with more precision than anything on TNA, the WWE has been teasing the audience way too much and not hooking them enough.

Much like Laurinaitis’ current work situation, WWE RAW is “under-review.”

Matches:

John Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler and United States Champion Jack Swagger: A good opening match with a nice pace that was ruined by another obvious distraction from RAW GM John Laurinaitis. With his back turned Punk was rolled up by Ziggler who also got a grab of Punk’s tights, enabling the three-count.

Kane vs. Zack Ryder in a Falls Count Anywhere Match: Ryder can sell. Kane threw the former United States Champion all over the outside of the ring for nearly 15 minutes. It was a convincing and enjoyable beating to watch early on. But it was predictable and dragged towards the end. Kane chokeslammed Ryder through a stage platform on the entrance ramp to turn this into a no-contest, but it wasn’t a flashy finish. Again, like the match itself, it just took far too long to develop.

Jinder Mahal vs. Sheamus: Wade Barrett quickly made himself present ringside for commentary and talked smack about Randy Orton. Mahal was solid in this match and took it to Sheamus through the early part of the match, hitting a knee lift and some other offense. Sheamus made his customary comeback however, hitting the Brogue Kick for the win.

Brodus Clay vs. Heath Slater: Another abomination of a match, but at least this time Clay performed a T-Bone suplex before he hit his jumping cross body on Slater for the win.

The Miz vs. R-Truth: These two have such good chemistry. It was a quick match that saw Truth and Miz use most of their high-impact offense. A nice amount of counters and near-falls made for a fun overall encounter. After his jumping complete shot finisher, Truth got the better of the Miz. As a result, Miz will be the number one entrant for the Royal Rumble.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. John Laurinaitis: The Interim RAW GM weaseled out of the match and had David Otunga replace him. After Otunga quickly tapped out to the Anaconda Vice, Punk gave Laurinaitis the GTS. The ring bell never rang. In the end, Ziggler got the last laugh and took out Punk from behind.