WWE Monday Night Raw 2/6/2012 - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

I have no problem with WWE trying to stay current or even reference popular memes. Monday Night Raw is a weekly, live television show, so in theory it should be pretty easy. Why then, were we subjected to David Otunga Tebowing in the center of the ring this week? I understand that he's a heel and I wasn't supposed to like it, but instead of making me hate David Otunga, I just ended up feeling embarrassed for him. The guy went to Harvard for crying out loud.

I was also bugged by what came next: A proper beating from Sheamus. In past months, you've been subjected to me bitching and moaning about WWE not giving Sheamus anything to do but beat up glorified jobbers like Jack Swagger and Jinder Mahal - and that was BEFORE he became the winner of the 2012 Royal Rumble. The big Irishman is going to be main eventing WrestleMania this year (well, kind of, right after Rock/Cena, Taker/HHH and whichever Jersey Shore member they manage to book), so why can't WWE give him something better to do than beat up yet another glorified jobber minus the glorified part? I like Sheamus, and think that he can be a big star, but that doesn't just magically happen on it's own - you have to treat the guy like one.

Chris Jericho is my favorite wrestler. Honest, it's true! I'm loving what he's doing on Monday Night Raw, I'm thrilled to death to have him back on television every week and I legit can't wait for the incredible matches he'll have with CM Punk, especially since Jericho is professional and generous enough to put younger guys over when it's called for, and skilled enough to maintain his heat while doing so. That said, the "New Type Of Heel" I talked about last month? It's not exactly working.

Put simply: The crowd still loves Jericho too much. He complains about the Miz and Dolph Ziggler, but we don't even like those guys, so why would that bother us? Then he complains about R-Truth and Kofi, but even though we kind of like those guys, they aren't really a big deal these days, so again, who cares? Even his jibes at Punk don't really rankle as much as they do entertain, especially since (much as I love him, and through no fault of his own), Punk's storylines haven't really delivered on the promise of last summer. I know I'm supposed to hate that Jericho is calling me a wannabe, but the fact of the matter is that "wannabe" is just another name for "Jericoholic" and we're all pretty thrilled to be one again. I really wish WWE had kept Jericho's trolling going on a little longer, as he's going to have to do a lot of work to get the crowd well and truly against him at this point. Maybe Otunga has a spare travel coffee mug?

At the start of this week's tag team match, I couldn't get one baffling question out of my mind: When exactly did Randy Orton and Great Khali become such good bros? Did they bond over a mutual love of Bollywood and/or skull tattoos? Do they save seats together at catering? The mind boggles, but I was still delighted to see such a wonky tag team, inexplicable except by the wrestling logic that dictates that all faces are pals, and so are most heels, because why the hell not.

The match itself wasn't "good" persay, but it was still fun to watch. I'm a not-so-closeted Khali fan, because even though the guy is stiff, awkward and maybe-even-kind-of-dangerous in the ring, I totally believe that a behemoth his size could take out pretty much anyone with a chop to the head. There's a sizable place in wrestling for the monstrous. That said, while I liked how Orton got angry at Khali, it seemed an odd choice to have your colossal Indian guy get laid out less than two weeks before he enters the Elimination Chamber - his first major match since returning at the Royal Rumble. Yes, I recognize that Khali almost certainly won't win, but WWE should still want him looking like a threat going into the match, not a guy who can get easily taken out by a cutter from a man half his size.

Because absolutely no one demanded it, this week WWE subjected its increasingly masochistic fans to a 4-on-4 Divas Tag Team Match pitting four smiling broads against four sneering broads. Outside of Beth Phoenix and Natalya - maybe Tamina if they gave her that tranny gimmick I've been begging for - all of the Divas in this match would be better utilized as part of Brodus Clay's entourage. Honestly, I don't even know why WWE includes matches like this on Raw. I get the impulse to show some skin every week, and by that logic, eight women dressed like they're in Final Fantasy X-2 are better than two, but why not also throw in some, I don't know, actual wrestling? And most importantly: Where the balls is Kharma!?

Still, WWE should be commended for the remarkable amount of restraint they've been showing with Natalya lately, as she's been farting uncontrollably for weeks now, and they still haven't given her the Stinkface as a new finisher. Are you happy now, feminists?