I hope the writers are building a faction around Cole, with Miz, Riley, Swagger and Christopher. I'd even add Ziggler and Guerrero.

I'm sorry, but the RKO just isn't a vicious enough finisher to take out a hulking menace like Mason Ryan, who was dominating the match convincingly. I have no problem with Orton winning, but the way the match was booked makes all those "Super Cena" complaints look silly. Super Orton was a crock.

Was the Punk/Orton stipulation that if the guys won they could be at ringside, or if they lost that they couldn't? The difference being Skip Sheffield who may be ring-ready again and as a (former?) member of the Nexus, he could be a factor.

It was a great RAW. I don't know if it's just me but crowd didn't seem as lively as previous few weeks. A great show, though.
I don't think so highly of Orton's facial expressions in that stare-down. I think Orton overdid it. He needs to draw a line somewhere before he starts looking like an alien from Avatar. In this case he crossed that line by few miles.
Rock at the start was great. That was hilarious. Just when we all thought Rock can't better his previous promos against cena..wham... he comes up with another classic!!!! This is going to stay in the minds of "WWE Universe" for a long long time.

I really hope the fact that the Nexus is banned from ringside will be used to let CM Punk get a clean win over Randy Orton. More than that, I hope that after said win, the rest of the Nexus rush the ring and they each take turns booting Orton in the head. I know a lot of people say wrestling isn't supposed to make sense but how has this guy made a career of kicking people in the head and "injuring" them and not gotten the same treatment from his victims? Here's hoping he gets a punt from every Nexus member though maybe this was the WWE's way of putting the nexus to bed for good.

Brian Christopher doing his old entrance just looked silly. It worked when he was part of Too Cool if only because he was dressed silly as well but now he just looked like an old dude spazzing out.

It's nice that Daniel Bryan finally gets a feud, with a former world champion no less. Still you gotta wonder, Sheamus just won the U.S. title when less than a year ago he was world champ. Now he's not even in the title picture. That's gotta hurt.

The skull crushing finale onto the WWE sign was great as it sounded bad. I still say he needs a finisher that doesn't look so awkward though.

I thought the Rock segment went on a little too long. It was almost ten minutes, longer than most diva matches. I started to lose interest partway through, especially since the Cena part didn't add much beyond the no talent bit.

Funniest line of the night came from Ziggler, it was off mic, but when he, Lay Cool and Vickie were backing away from the ring he shouted at the guys in the ring....
"You're not even a girl Morrison."
Really made me laugh!

The Rock finally layed the smackdown on John Cena with that promo. That's up there with John Cena's first promo about the Rock. I kind of felt sorry for Cena when he came out pointing at Hustle, Loyalty, respect on his shirt after The Rock had buried him like that.

Anyway, I hate the WWE, I have for a long time because it sucks. The only reason I'm watching again is because The Rock is back and fueding with John Cena, and that's just epic. And the Miz, he's just not in that league.

This is the best WWE has been in a long long time, and a lot of the keys guys are involved again, and it's clicking and I'm actually buying Wrestlemania this year for the first time in.... maybe 10 years??

On the whole, I thought Raw was pretty strong this week. Agree that the "Kane"-like music playing behind Rock's more serious half of his promo was weird and totally unnecessary. I also completely agree about The Miz being the most compelling guy in the business right now. In and out of the ring, he has stolen the show week in and week out (which has become a habit), and has seemingly filled in the beatable but sadistic heel wonderfully.

A problem that has arisen though (for me, at least) has been Randy Orton. I love the RKO (I've loved the Diamond Cutter as a finisher for over 15 years since DDP). I liked Orton's sadistic tweener character for the most part. But he is straying big-time into cartoon land. Quite frankly, I don't think the RKO is a bad finisher at all and I think it's a big enough move to even take down a big man like Mason Ryan. But week after week, he literally makes these guys wait minutes and minutes sort of weirdly crouching while he hears voices and makes faces and contemplates and spits and stares down Punk and contemplates some more and hears some more voices. Meanwhile those guys are just waiting...and waiting...and waiting some more for him to kick them in the head. Add to that taking the "viper" character has gone a bit too far with him flopping all over the place and...he knows he's not an actual snake right? Finally add in a wrestling style that is incredibly boring and ineffective outside of the RKO for the most part...and you have trouble.

There's absolutely no doubting Orton is incredibly over...but he might want to grab the steering wheel before he veers too far off course. He may never be a "great" in-the-ring guy, but how many disappointing PPV main events, combined with typically boring TV matches are fans going to take before other guys grab their imagination? I don't know...maybe it's just me. Everyone kills Cena for much the same...but Orton seems to get a pass.

The RKO may not be vicious enough but it is still on another page compared to the FU aka Attitude adjustment.

Cody Rhodes is a way more compelling character than the Miz to me.

I'm waiting for the day when Cole goes up to read an email from the GM and finds that he has locked himself out of the 'Cole Mine.'

The Sheamus vs Bryan match was really good. It'd be nice to see them get more time in a PPV setting.

Kev,Happy 3:16!!!

The Miz the most compelling performer in the business?

Kev, I don't think you've been getting a lot of fresh air lately.

You write, "Part of what made Miz's show-closing attack on Cena so great that it seemed as if it was never going to end."

Yes, it did seem like it was never going to end and therein lies the problem. The segment just dragged on and on. I could swear I could hear the applause of crickets during Miz's attack on Cena. The crowd was not into it at all.

If The Miz is the most compelling performer in the business then he should the number one heel in the WWE. Yet compared to the heat Michael Cole and Jack Swagger received for their beatdown of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, the reaction to the Miz was tepid at best.

The Miz isn't a tenth the wrestler Swagger is. Come to think of it The Miz has less wrestling talent than Snooki.

Speaking as an attendee, it might have been obvious that it wasn't the Rock on television, but not from the cheap seats (especially since we didn't know what Cole had said about the Rock maybe being in attendance).

That, or maybe St. Louis people are just stupid.

I agree, another great episode of Raw. It's nice to see wrestling rebounding. However, I don't understand why is Michael Cole allowed to attack Jerry Lawler after he said he and the King cannot have contact until after WrestleMania? Also, I think the attack on JR was a little over the top, and that's saying something considering the subject matter.

RESPONSE FROM KE: The rule was only that Lawler couldn't touch Cole.

I think they have gone a little to ofar with the Miz trying to get him over as this major heel for his beat downs every week especially on Cena.

Shameful and Bryan had the best match I've seen in awhile on WWE TV. I hope they can duplicate it if they are a part of Mania.

Snooki? Really I just turn the channel.

Brian Christopher was effective but it would have been better if it were all done in the ring.

"You're not even a girl, Morrison." - Dolph Ziggler....Best line of the night!

Orton's RKO has taken out Big Show and Viscera before so how is him taking out Ryan hard to believe?

I do not understand the booking for Punk and Orton. Now without Nexus Orton will be expected to win easily. As a face I would expect him to be facing higher odds. Loved when the crowd battled over "Let's go Cena" and "Cena Sucks". The Miz beatdown seemed to go on forever because there was no commentary. Where was Josh Matthews with the typical face announcer disgust???

i don't and will never like the rock because he is not the people's champion unlike john cena.

It would appear that the WWE is trying to make the Miz look relevant going into Mania against John Cena. Is it working? No...once again you have the Miz beat up Cena after he has been beat down my ADR and his cronies. The week before, a sneak attack. Miz can't beat Cena face to face. You could tell that the live crowd did not buy it either with their silence during the beatdown. There was no heat.

I was at the live event on Monday. Outside the Scottrade Center, I noticed that one of the WWE production trucks still had Matt Hardy's face painted on the back. Um, awkward.

Totally agree with you Kevin. Another awesome night for the Miz.

I really want to believe that the Miz is going to win at Wrestlemania, but here are 2 reasons I think he will not.

1) Alberto Del Rio is going to win for sure, and you can't have both heels win their title matches at Wrestlemania.

2) Who would the Miz feud with in the 4 weeks following Wrestlemania? He just finished a feud with Orton and will have finished one with Cena, so who is left? Unless Undertake or HHH are back full time, I don't know what they would do? With Cena winning, I could easily see them promoting a Cena Vs. Punk, or Cena Vs. Ziggler main event at the next PPV.

KEV am I missing any scenarios?

When Miz was drafted to raw in 2008, have you ever imagined that he would main event Wrestlemania 27 and morrison is the one who stuck on some lame Jersey Shore segments?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Nope.

Snooki is the best wrestler from the Jersey Shore. Her Thesz press was more believable than Jwoww's fake punches.

I was hoping that Cole was going to bring out The Kat as Lawler's special guest, but that would be too much like TNA.

Is Vince Russo booking both shows? If not, he should learn something from wating VKM do the Jersey Shore thing better than TNA does.

DuBrow, I would argue that the RKO is a much more effective finisher than Cena's glorified fireman's carry. The truth is that most "finishing moves" are rather silly.

Yeah, as many problems as I've had with WWE in the last ten years or so...that was one of the best shows in awhile. The Miz is being given opportunity and he is taking full advantage of it and improving almost every week, and putting Punk and Orton together in a program really showcases how intense both can be.
The Lawler storyline also shows how to do a worked shoot program involving real life family issues right, as opposed to TNA's god-awful Angle/Jarrett crap.
Vince and crew even managed to make Snooki work, which I would have thought impossible. It seems like WWE creative might actually be benefitting from "competition" only so far as they must have fun picking out things Russo and TNA have failed at and then proving them that they can make them work like a well-oiled machine.

They should have brought out Stacy Carter for the Cole-Lawler segment......that would have been a REAL good shoot...........

So, is Jersey Shore a big deal in the states? I've never even heard of it. As a UK fan, it seriously adds nothing to the show for me....

Hands down, this was the best Raw in ages. From the open with the Rock, to Miz's seemingly endless beatdown of Cena, the only time I even considered changing the channel was when Vicki Guerrero was speaking, and even then I stuck around.

You're dead on about the background music and audio drops during the Rock's opening promo. Completely unnecessary. I'm also glad they went with a little kid, since A: judging by the crowds, the vast majority of Cena's fans are children, and B: it was reminiscent of his promos involving little people versions of his opponents in the past. It's got to be the higher-ups keeping him on satellite instead of in person, right?

Sheamus's win was expected, but still delivered in an interesting way. I'm a sucker for mid-air finishers, especially when they are performed as flawlessly as the Brogue Kick was.

I'm three weeks past fed up with Michael Cole. I know creative has to program with the least common denominator in mind, but I wish Cole could be more subtle. Everything he does screams 'heel' and it's overbearing. I'll be glad when WM is over. It's worth it to see J.R. again.

It's interesting that your mind jumped to Honky Tonk Man. I assumed it would be The Kat (Stacy Carter, not Ernest Miller). I figured since Christopher was in the indys, he wouldn't be brought out. I thought the balance between compelling and voyeuristic was a little too far to the latter, but, again, it was worth it to see J.R.

I keep hoping someone will point out that Randy Orton has now single-handedly taken out the group that owned John Cena for the better part of last year. I know the numbers are slightly different, but everyone involved is more experienced than they were almost a year ago.

I hate that Morrison's only contribution to this year's Wrestlemania is going to be in a mixed tag match. I'll be interested to see who gets their deserved push first, Morrison or Matt Morgan.

I never thought I'd say it, but I'm a Miz fan. Like you, I knew as soon as Cole said the Rock was in the building that he was anywhere else. I don't know if you saw it, but at one point the cameramen zoomed in on a girl as she realized it wasn't the Rock. Her face was worth the price of admission last night.

I thought Miz's prolonged beatdown of Cena was well done. His Rock Bottom in the ring looked a little off, but everything else was done really well and managed the ultra-rare effect of actually looking like a beat-down and not a choreographed fight.

It's the rare performance that can almost make you forget that it's all scripted. I'll take it for as long as I can get it.

I really enjoyed this Raw. I absolutely loved the promo with the kid and the closing with The Miz was spot on. It's been an extremely long time since someone forced their push the way Miz has.

Also, I thought Snooki did well. Aside from the nonsense Vickie crack, she hit her spots better than Eve does.

Also, I don't know about bringing him back, but seeing the Grandmaster do the full on entrance was hilarious. Especially since he was so blown up for the start of his promo.

I also hope JR's involvement leads to a return. Cole is showing he has a lot of range for other things and I could even tolerate him as the GM if it meant getting JR back.

DuBrow,

There's a difference. Hulk Hogan won hundreds of matches with a leg drop where his leg is even bent to minimize contact. For some a DDT is a finisher, but for Orton it's a setup. None of it makes sense if you think that hard about it. A finishing move is a low level of suspending disbelief.

Seeing one man overcome 6 like he is Bruce Lee is a bit much though. Especially when they stand and wait their turn and look like idiots for not being able to use their advantage. At least HHH uses a sledgehammer when he's SuperH. Cena's was even inconsistant. He got destroyed when Nexus debuted. Then for the next few months he could always win against all of them. It makes all the wrestlers who couldn't fight all of Nexus look like pansies too.

Anyway, Mason Ryan sold a move that HOFers have lost to. Not all that much of a stretch.

I know that is besides the point, but how long is "Orton taps bad side to raise upside" going to appear under recent articles?

Say what you will about Cena: nobody in the company, even the professional jobbers, take as much "abuse" as he does, as often as he does.

I thought the backstage segment with Morrison, Snooki, Guerrero and Ziggler was surprisingly well done. Morrison slipped in a "burn" after the Snookster delivered an insult to Guerrero, a funny moment from the usually unfunny Morrison. Also Snooki's block-slap on Guerrero looked pretty natural, then again she is a Jersey girl, she has probably delivered a lot of slaps. Also we know she can take a punch after season 1 of Jersey Shore..........too soon?

Its no surprise no one recognized Grandmaster Sexay, even guys like Bret Hart get receptions that seem like only half the audience knows him. It will be interesting how possibly more frequent Austin & Rock appearances could maybe bring some of that era's fans back, but I think the Cena Era has done too much damage.

Sheamus being booked to win The US Title, wasn't winning King of the Ring enough of a demotion for the guy? Also I hope this leads to bigger things for Bryan, and not just him fading into Ted Dibiase status.

@DuBrow, but the people's elbow or the 5-knuckle shuffle is. that's just a laugh. RKO better than alot of the finishers

Kev: Are you as confused as I am about what WWE creative is doing with Kelly Kelly? It seemed like she was getting a nice push by teaming with Edge on Smackdown. But now with Snooki taking her predicted spot at W27, it seems she'll be back to her old role - losing Diva matches and sitting at ringside watching Drew McIntyre. K2 is my favorite Diva and I was really hoping she was moving up to bigger things. I wonder if the WWE felt she didn't perform as well recently as they hoped...

I usually read the PPV recaps you do, but WWE is doing such a great job buiding for Wrestlemania, I'm going to have to pony over the dough and watch it live this year. The build up for the Lawler/Cole match has been incredible, and I can't believe it's one of the matches I'm most looking forward too, especially with Swagger and STSA both involved.

I don't know which announcer it was but one of them called Riley "Miz's former apprentice" so they're not really ignoring the stiuplation..

Snooki really wasn't that bad on RAW. I never seen Jersey Shore.. but she was good on RAW

That was great and surprising to see Grandmaster Sexay back!!! Poor guy though you could hear a pin drop haha nobody knew who he was.. but it was a fun moment when he was coming to the ring!

I assume Nexus is over now? Too bad too.. after that initiation show they could really have built it up as a monster group

It was really good to see JR back. :)
Miz is AWESOME.

I have to disagree...I think the angle with Snooki came totally out of the blue. It was evident that this was a contrived match to build up to another contrived match for WrestleMania. It was sprung on us all with no background much at all.

I just don't think this was a very good Raw all the way around. I often sat and watched thinking "this is the build-up to WrestleMania?" It seems all too slow moving to be building to the largest event in wrestling. I'm just not excited about it at all. UNdertaker-HHH has been seen over and over again and I don't care to see it again. The world title matches are just not appealing.

I think the Miz is totally awesome and is a far better performer than anyone else in the company. Of all the matches, I'm most jazzed about Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole. That angle has been well-done and has a lot of background. But I think it is telling that the best match going for the show is a retired wrestler and an announcer.

Now Kevin, we all know that when it comes to the physical appearance of Vickie and Snooki, they're BOTH hovering on the wrong side of swamp donkey. However Kudos to Snooki(and it pains me to say it) on not dragging the show down and when given the opportunity to speak, Thank God she was BRIEF and not annoying. Mania is shaping up to be some true must see TV.I am actually getting more and more interested in the entire card. Is it just me or was it just a little sad to see Bryan Christopher. Hell, crickets didn't even bother to chirp. Hope to see more JR. And I do believe, the Miz just may actually be...Awesome

Once again, the WWE has screwed up an opportunity to do something for the fans.Kelly Kelly should be Trish and Morrison's partner at Wrestlemanis and then we could have the first ever FU match. FU, of course, would stand for Fat and Ugly. It would pit Vicki against Snooki with the stipulation that the winner, and anyone she choses to help her, would get 15 minutes to do whatever she wants to to the loser. Snooki would, of course, win and she would be joined by all of the face divas. They would strip Vicki down to her bra and G-String (yes, Vicki would be wearing a G-String) and then shave her head bald! How great would that be. I would love to see Lawler do the same thing to Cole and then, maybe , both Cole and Vicki would be too embarrassed to show their faces again.

I loved during the cena match the chants from the audience could clearly be heard, women and kids were yelling"lets go cena" and the guys were countering with going "cena sux!!!!!"

Here's what I don't get. How, exactly, does Jerry Lawler being a terrible father (and then insulting the son he neglected) make him a face? What - are we supposed to cheer for him to punch his son in the face or something? Perhaps I'm biased in that I hate Jerry Lawler more every week, but I found this last angle detrimental to Lawler's status as the face. Moreover, while I like the angle overall, the level at which Michael Cole outperformend JR and Lawler was, to my mind, significant. Sorry, but I, unlike many longtime fans, do not hold JR or Lawler in any ridiculously undeserved high regard and do not in any way hold them sacred. Michael Cole is getting the job done now, people - get over it.

Man, that Brodus Clay is scary-looking.

Oh ... and I'm pretty sure I want to marry both The Rock and The Miz. Darn the anti-polygamy laws.

Isn't it ironic that the guys who made the Attitude Era are the ones saving Mcmahon's ass. Buy rates are decreasing, and WWE is becoming less mainstream......we've got HHH vs Undertaker, Austin Special Ref, Rock as Guest Host, and last night J.R. was back in town......what's next? Mankind or Cactus Jack?!?!?!

DuBrow-

"Super Orton" is a completely different situation than "Super Cena". Orton doesn't wear purple wristbands and he has no hair.

WWE is hitting on all cylinders right now in a way I haven't seen it in years. Everyone seems to be on top of their game in just about every aspect. Wrestlemania is shaping up to be a block buster. It is absolutely amazing how The Miz has risen to prominence. I don't think Michael Cole can simply go back to being just an announcer. I think he goes on to be the Raw General Manager, while sharing the announce duties. Or maybe they just bring back JR, which would be great. Even by just reading the e-mails he's basically been filling the function of the GM any way, may as well make it official. It's too bad Kelly Kelly is out of that match. It could have been a star making moment for her, considering that angle was basically being built around her. I bet Snooki wrestling was probably her idea. She probably saw what the other Jersey Shore Girls were doing on TNA and wanted to do it herself.

I'm really liking the build up for a lot of these matches. I'm becoming a huge Del Rio mark, and I think Miz surpassed Punk as the best heel in the business. The entire WM program has been booked very nicely. Even having UT and HHH rivalry without them even having any matches is done well.

Um...Dear TNA, this is how you book a wrestling PPV.

Agree with almost everyone. But is it just me, or does Brodius Clay look like the human personification of Bowser from Mario? Every time I see him out there I keep thinking Princess Peach is in trouble somewhere backstage.

If Morrison would improve his mic skills, he could be on the top of the WWE roster. But he has NO personality on the mic - NONE. The Miz - however - does, which is why the WWE is giving him a bigger push. I really don't get why people are finding that hard to understand.

Look, I'm not the biggest Miz fan, but he grew on me when I got to meet him face to face in Feb. What the guy lacks in the ring, he makes up for his believable promos, which, as of late, have been amazing.

I am not the biggest Orton fan either, but dude can pull off his finisher like nobody can. It just flows. But, I agree, that while the guy is very talented, he needs a new storyline or a character change - something.

I'm finding the Cole/Lawler promos really annoying. Just how many times do we need Cole to ask for the audience's attention. Attention whoring at its worst.

Leslie, there's something to arguing that Lawler doesn't deserve his legend status or the high regard he's given. I disagree, but there's a debate to be had. J.R., though? No debate. He was the voice of the Attitude era, and without him it wouldn't have been quite the same. His position of high regard is completely earned.

Now as for Vickie hitting her spots better than Eve, James C. that was extra unecessarily inaccurate. Oh Miss Eve, to get EVERYTHING picked apart about her, champ or when not champ. It must be nice to be Kelly or Maryse, two of some of the ahem, "greatest" in terms of wrestling, bey hey "they're hot, sexy and blonde." Which is really what I keep hearing when it comes to them.

Lmao at snooki hitting a good thesz press.

I agree, I loved RAW this week and I love what the Miz has become.

ONLY ONE PROBLEM - He's getting the upper hand EVERY week leading into a PPV. This is Booking 101 to make him look strong so he doesn't look TOO weak when we are subjected to yet another Cena victory.

And I'm not a Hard Core Cena hater. I just want to see the Miz catapulted to the same level and I want to see it at WM27.

Wait, you're now a convert to the use of Jersey Shore 'stars', Eck?

It was terrible when TNA started doing it, and you rightly lambasted them for it, and it's terrible now WWE are doing it.

Put me on the "way too long" side of the debate re: Miz's beatdown of Cena. The best part was that he couldn't get all of his skullcap off. And I'm also sick of Cole. I'd really like to see JR as the anonymous GM.

It really hurt to see Brian Christopher. I thought he was a waste then and I still think it now.

Having JR of all people confront Cole was very lame. Seeing JR get a beat down was worse.

I was kind of hoping JR would reveal himself as the RAW gm. Wishful thinking.

So now they have another jersey shore "star" jumping in the ring? What is next? Corey Feldman winning the WWE title?

Kevin,

Unfortunately, now in a couple of years, you will be marking out for Snooki even more than you do these days for Miz.

Face the facts.

BTW, I like Miz on the mike but have not taken to him as champion. I'd rather listen to him rather than watch him wrestle almost more so than anyone else.

Let him just get a talk show and be done with it.

Your hatred of Cena blinds you to the point of my initial post. I wasn't saying that "Super Cena" is great and "Super Orton" stinks. And I enjoy a good RKO as much as the next guy, especially when it's delivered to Wayne Brady. My point was that the RKO alone, in the absence of any other offense, wouldn't (or, perhaps, shouldn't) be enough to paralyze Mason Ryan. I didn't mind Orton taking a beating before overcoming the odds and eliminating David Otunga, mostly because Otunga is a travesty in the ring, and his eventual defeat seemed in line with his abilities. Ryan, however, is a beast, he savaged Orton for about five minutes, then he takes a single RKO - nothing more - and he's lying on the mat as if he just got hit by a Mack truck? I just didn't buy it. I would have preferred for Orton to get in some legit offense culminating in the RKO, but the finisher alone I found unconvincing. And I can't believe I just spent this many words arguing about the effects of an RKO in a scripted wrestling match.