WWE Monday Night Raw 2/27/2012 - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Across America, you could feel smart wrestling fans fighting with their emotions when the CM Punk/Daniel Bryan rematch they were dying to see was pushed back by none other than Chris Jericho. Jericho coming out to cut a promo on Punk is just about the only thing I can think of that wouldn’t get me irritated about this match being pushed into the next segment, and fortunately, Y2J didn’t disappoint.

Jericho’s heel promo was an interesting bit of work for a couple reasons. First, I find the whole feud between him and Punk rather reminiscent of Jericho’s 2003 feud with Shawn Michaels, when he was trying to prove that he was better than HBK. But now, Y2J is the veteran, with Punk playing the role of the next generation grappler, rising up to dethrone his elder. It’s a testament to Jericho’s unparalleled abilities as a heel that he’s been able to inhabit the veteran role while remaining the bad guy.

Additionally, Jericho’s promo, like much of the mic-work in WWE right now, harkens back to Punk circa late summer 2011, as he busts out what every smart mark knows to be true (travelled the world, made his name before coming to WWE, one of a dying breed, chip on his shoulder, etc.) and masterfully spins it into a wrestling angle. But again, what makes Jericho’s work really impressive is that while Punk took a similar angle as a heel and instantly became a fan favorite, Jericho has found a way to use the truth to further cement himself as a villain. On top of all that, as much as I love Punk, Jericho absolutely talked circles around the guy tonight, while still making sure that Punk was the one that looked good in the end. I’ll probably get called a “Jericho mark” in the comments, and that’s absolutely fine, because the guy is incredible, the perfect heel, and has been behind some of the smartest, well-told wrestling storylines of the past decade.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan II should have been a cause for celebration, but instead, WWE took a match that absolutely blew people away the week before and proceeded to just blow it. The first problem was the match’s placement in the show. While there’s a fair argument to be made for beginning Raw with a really strong, amazing, big match every once in a while, there’s pretty much no reason to schedule a contest between your two World Champions at 9:20 on a Monday night. If that’s the best spot this particular match could be afforded, maybe this arrow could have stayed in WWE’s quiver, huh?

In Punk vs. Bryan I, the two wrestlers used the early moments of the match to set the stage and deliver some solid wrestling storytelling, the likes of which are rarely seen on WWE pay-per-views, much less on free television. But on Raw this week, those early moments were excised from the proceedings, the better for wrestling fans to hear about the heavily-anticipated final season of In Plain Sight. What’s worse is that it was only the first commercial break during the match, and during the second one, Punk and Bryan actually suffered through a superplex spot for the benefit of the crowd in attendance and only the crowd in attendance.

But even when the match was actually onscreen, it was near impossible to follow on account of the racket coming from the commentary table. There were no less than four dopes with microphones talking during the match: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Laurinaitis and Theodore Long, with the silent Santino Marella and David Otunga flanking them for good measure. Their incessant babbling about the totally inane “One General Manager To Unite Them All” storyline very nearly killed the match for me, especially given the frequent cuts to the rogue’s gallery at ringside and away from the, you know, actual wrestling.

But what commentary bickering couldn’t accomplish, unnecessarily complicated finishes and booking certainly could. The finish to the match involved Santino, Otunga and Sheamus before both Laurinaitis and Long took to the ring, hijacking what should have been a main event match and turning into a D-Level storyline starring two non-wrestlers.

I recognize that WWE, for some reason, doesn’t want fans to ever forget that they pretend to have a women’s wrestling division, but if the best you can offer on your flagship show is Kelly Kelly vs. Bella No. 1, wouldn’t the promotion be better served by that fact conveniently slipping fans’ minds? Thankfully, the week’s obligatory Divas match was comically, ridiculously short, but the whole thing raises one big question:

What the hell happened to Kharma? Dirt sheets say that she isn’t really ready to wrestle yet after her pregnancy, and if that’s true, it was a mistake for WWE to bring her back at the Rumble. Sure, I, and everyone else watching, popped for it, but to bring her in for one night and then not follow up on it just serves to rub fans’ noses in how absolutely, laughably bad the Divas division is while also squandering her big shocking return for an extremely nebulous short-term gain.