WWE Raw Coverage: More Funk, Less Jericho

Last week’s Raw featured a “Funkasaurus,” another ho-hum R-Truth segment and the freshest of cartoonish crapola available with John Cena, Kane, Zack Ryder and Eve.

Viewers could only wonder what was in store for this week and if last week proved anything, not a lot of thought or logic is processed into what gets fed to them.

Raw’s few saving graces have been Chris Jericho, who continues to brilliantly confuse and intrigue fans with his “silent” antics and CM Punk, who continues to ride that wave of momentum started back in July.

Matches:

Air Boom vs. Primo/Epico (WWE Tag Team Championship): In a rematch of their house show encounter where Primo/Epico shockingly won the titles, this match was an energy shot of athleticism. Bourne had Epico set up for the shooting star press but Primo took out Kofi on the outside and Epico knocked Bourne off the top rope and hit the backstabber to retain the belts.

Jack Swagger (W/Vickie) vs. Zack Ryder (W/Eve) (United States Championship): Ryder wasn’t 100 percent, due to injuries from Kane but refused to forfeit the title and put up a fight. However, three gut-wrench powerbombs later and Ryder was done. Swagger picks up the victory and also wins the Championship. Logical and effective.

Kelly Kelly/Alicia Fox Vs Bella Twins: Perez Hilton came out to handle Ring Announcer duties and put a stop to the Bella “switch” and allowed Kelly to take advantage for the win. Not important.

The Miz vs. Wade Barrett vs. R-Truth vs. Sheamus (Over-The-Top-Rope Challenge): In a match that provided good hype for the not-so-distant Royal Rumble match, it was R-Truth who eliminated both Miz and Sheamus to win it.

Jack Swagger vs. John Cena: No contest here as Cena went remorselessly ballistic on Swagger until Kane appeared via titantron and told Cena he’s finally ready to “embrace the hate.” Whatever.

Brodus Clay vs. JTG: Clay disturbingly shook what his mama gave him as he funked his way through the bout as JTG stood no chance against the massive 300-pound party animal. Typical squash.

Daniel Bryan/Chris Jericho/CM Punk vs. The Miz/Dolph Ziggler/David Otunga: Plenty went down in this six-man tag main event. Punk tagged in Jericho for the hot tag and Jericho then entered the ring, got the crowd pumped and quickly tagged Bryan and left the ring without a single move performed. Bryan and Henry brawled to the back soon after and Mick Foley ran down to the ring to declare himself as Punk’s partner and hit Otunga with the mandible claw for the defeat. John Laurinaitis entered the ring and said Foley wasn’t granted permission to compete and reversed the decision. Punk dropped another pipe bomb and ripped apart Laurinaitis in a money promo, not quite like last June but pretty damn close. Foley followed with the same before Laurinitis got angry and attacked Foley with the microphone and laid him out as Laurinaitis left with mega-heat.

Final Thoughts: Much better show than last week’s debacle. Things progressed smoothly on many levels as there’s definitely an eye being kept on the future, as there should be this time of year for WWE. Whatever was forgettable about the show (Divas/Perez Hilton) was strongly overshadowed by all the great things (Punk’s promo, Serious Cena, Ziggler, Tag Title match, Daniel Bryan) Even Mick Foley made himself a convincing case for a spot in the Rumble as that’s the best WWE has made him look in a few years. Kane really needs a manager as his promos just drag. Jericho’s act works for now as there’s definitely something bigger than what we’ve seen so far and he’s told great long-term stories in the past like his feud with Shawn Michaels in 2008. However, this “silent act” needs to wrap itself up soon if WWE plans to keep casual fans interested. Having Jericho not talk at first is unique, but with every week that passes, Jericho’s presence is somewhat lessened.