WWE Monday Night Raw 12/26/2011 - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

My general line on John Cena is that he's a great wrestler and a singular talent, but I just can't stand watching him cut a promo. I might need to revise that go-to sound bite after tonight, however, as I was fully onboard with Cena's mid-show chit-chat. Predictably, Cena came out in Chicago to a huge amount of boos and hisses, but he managed to get absolutely everyone on his side just in time for the Miz to run out and demand a match.

Yes, what Cena pulled was basically an old Mick Foley bit, shamelessly shouting out to the city that he happens to be in, but the way he did it was smooth, tactful and engaging enough that I didn't even really notice until he had the crowd eating out of his hand. You might not like hearing him talk about rising above hate (and honestly, who the balls does?), but Cena's still a super-talented guy both in the ring and on the microphone.

This year R-Truth went from being the wrestler most likely to make me change the channel to one of my absolute favorite parts of Raw, and arguably one of the best, most entertaining heels of recent years. All the stuff that never worked for me when R-Truth was a face (his crazy country dialect, his crazy bug eyes, his crazy dancing and his crazy clothes) all clicked into place as soon as he started acting like a mentally ill homeless person.

Tonight we saw R-Truth return and attack the Miz, presumably as part of a face turn. Initially I was worried about R-Truth turning back into the all-singing, all-dancing minstrel show he once was, but if WWE can keep him as manic, threatening, unpredictable and all-around crazy as he was tonight, I'll go ahead and start saving up for that inevitable "Little Jimmy" t-shirt.

Another match that initially had me more than a little worried was the contest between David Otunga and Big Show...with one hand tied behind his back. On the one hand (sorry), Big Show might beat Otunga, which would make Otunga look like even more of a joke. On the other hand (so very sorry), if Otunga were to actually win, it'd make Big Show look lousy that he couldn't figure out a way to beat a guy half his size who does nothing but sip coffee backstage and go home to Jennifer Hudson. It seemed lose/lose to me.

Fortunately, WWE saved the match with not one, but two separate run-ins. First up was Mark Henry, which was a smart move given that he never made it out for his part in Punk's main event Gauntlet Match. If the dirt sheets are right about Henry being slightly injured and needing some time to recover, this was a smart way to keep his character alive and buy an extra week without actually having him do much of anything.

Next up, Daniel Bryan ran out. While it was nice to see our new World Heavyweight Champion distracting a much larger opponent, it seems to muddy the waters of what looked like a budding storyline between Big Show and Bryan. Luckily, any lingering doubts I had about the segment disappeared when Big Show, with his hand freed, chokeslammed Otunga, which made the lawyer (brilliantly billed from Harvard) look lousy, but not TOO lousy.

WWE's heels are dropping like flies to injury lately: First Christian, then Mark Henry and now Alberto Del Rio, who is apparently suffering a groin injury. But while Bert was giving his "I'm injured...but I'll be back!" promo, the smile plastered on my face was due solely to Ricardo Rodriguez. Ricky is fast becoming one of my favorite WWE supporting players, due first to the absolutely ridiculous bump he took at TLC, and now because of the resulting neck brace/bow tie combo he's sporting. Sure, it's total gimmick infringement on ECW's Joel Gertner, but I'm absolutely OK with it.

Another high point of the segment for me: Del Rio revealing that not even he can stand the incessant yammering of the Bella Twins. Though if you ask me, they missed a prime opportunity to explain how Bert actually injured his groin.