Feb 28 2012
Road To WrestleMania 28 – Week 5
Finally, The Rock was back on WWE TV. And it was well worth the wait. However, I’m not sure it was the best segment on the show. He was very entertaining dogging out John Cena tonight, but when it comes to actually building a feud, I think I’ll take the Chris Jericho and CM Punk promo segment. There’s a tangible grudge there and I’m not quite sure we have one with Cena and Rock yet. It looked like we were building to one, but they kind of strayed on Monday.
Punk and Jericho’s feud is based off one thing, and it’s simply who is the better wrestler. They’re using Jericho’s heel tactic of being jealous over Punk’s success by saying that Punk is just a copycat. While I think this feud would actually work better if Jericho had the belt instead of Punk because he’d be able to actually make a true statement that he was the better wrestler if he had the belt, it’s still going to work. Their conflict comes across as easy to understand. Their work was really good on the mic, yet it still had a feeling that there was more to beef about. It was pretty much perfect.
It led into a CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan match that was pretty good, though not as good as their match on Smackdown last week. I’m conflicted in whether or not I should enjoy Punk and Bryan as the backdrop for what is essentially a feuding GM angle and this time, there’s no heat because no one cares about the brand split. I guess I should just be happy to get really good wrestling on TV these days, but the old school fan in me can’t stop thinking how detrimental it is to each title when the match opens Raw in such a ho-hum manner.
I still don’t really like Sheamus’ build to the World TItle match against Bryan. I’m not sure there’s been less heat on a Royal Rumble winner in history. It’s probably not all his fault because the title is being booked fourth from the top. But there’s something missing with this happy-go-lucky Sheamus character.
Big Show and Cody is an interesting feud and maybe they really aren’t doing Shaq vs. Big Show. It’s fine if they want to save it for SummerSlam, but if they have the chance to get Shaq on a PPV and just don’t want to do it because he leaked it out too soon, then that’s just idiotic. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that they have a different plan for Shaq. Hopefully Cody gets the chance to shine, but I’d find it hard to believe that they’d allow him to beat Show clean at Mania. One can hope.
As for the main event angle, I really enjoyed the Rock’s promo from an entertainment perspective. He has the crowd in the palm of his hand and he just comes across bigger than life. But part of that hurts him because he comes off so much bigger than Cena that I’m not sure how he can even cut the right passionate promo to make it seem as if Cena is on his level. Cena was good here again though. He was short and to the point and really made it all about the match. It wasn’t about how cool he was or wasn’t. It was simply about who was going to get their ass kicked. I liked that part. Rock seemed to lose a bit of his fire after Cena left. Some how, some way, one of them, or both will have to snap and really get this thing going. I think we’ve had enough of the stand-up comedy. We need more intensity.
What was missing was simply the follow-up to The Undertaker and Triple H, but that’s fine. They’ll be back next week to add a new wrinkle into the match as Shawn Michaels is back. All you needed to watch was the first 30 minutes of Raw and the last 30 minutes of Raw. Raw should be an entertaining marketing vehicle for WrestleMania, and that’s exactly what it was.
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I thought the business end of the Punk/Jericho bit was excellent. They went around and around in circles a bit getting there. Sort of felt like they were stretching it out a bit at first, but it cam good in the end.
Pity no Undertaker/Gamer this week, but I did like the little video package they put together. I’m sure next week with Michaels will be big.
Maybe it’s just not for me, but I thought the Rock stuff was disastrous. It was virtually the same pro he has done on every show since he came back. He rambled on about how innovative he is and then spouted 15 minutes worth of twitter references… That’s about as innovative as me opening up a beer on a Saturday night. I don’t know, it’s just not working for me.
On that note, I throw open the floor on this one. Should Cena/Rock definitely close out the show? Before you answer, consider two things. 1. John Cena is likely going to win. 2. It would mean following Undertaker and HHH in Hell in a Cell.
Duan, I was thinking the exact same thing. I don’t think that it can top Taker/HHH or even Punk/Jericho. But I wonder if it just has to?
As for Rock, he’s not saying much. But I think his role is simply to try and make wrestling cool again to casuals. When the crowd does sing-a-long with the Rock, he comes off as the biggest star ever.
And it makes Cena defend himself, which makes his promos sharper. I thought last night’s promo was the best of recent memory. He was strong last night.
My advice to WWE would be to go with what makes sense and not what they feel they “should” do. In recent years, when they have gone wrong, it’s been because they have tied themselves to an idea of what has to be done rather than trying to read the signs that are there. It’s going to be a booking headache to order the card anyway with so many high profile matches to fit in.
One thing I do like though is the fact that they have managed to make each of the big three matches important in it’s own way. It doesn’t come off as one is playing second fiddle to another because there is a different reason to care about each one. That’s not something they have been able to do very often.
Sadly, Sheamus/Bryan is really lagging behind at this point, and I’m not really sure what they can do to bring it to life over the next few weeks. It just seems destined for failure.
The biggest reason why I think Cena/Rock should close is simply because it’s in Miami. Part of the reason Hogan/Rock was so hot is because Toronto wanted to see Hogan and Jericho/HHH was cold. In this case, like you said, you have two main events that are hot, and a third that is starting to get that way. If Rock/Cena wasn’t hot, I think I’d agree with you. I think the heat will be amazing live and it will work. Now, if Cena wins this match … (I don’t think he should, but I understand the arguments for him winning.)
It’s kind of sad that I’d rather see Bryan/Orton at this point. Sheamus is a good wrestler, but that thing isn’t hot at all.
If the point of Rock/Cena is to wind up with Cena being a bigger star than ever than the Rock promo was genius IMO. After about a year of Cena whining that Rock scripts his promos the Rock casually and visually offered the Cena supporters PROOF he does as a result of notes on a wrist. Who cares if it is a work? Unlike most feuds, yes, Cena was brief and to the point and serious. Even though he is larger than life on the mic, Rock did Cena a nod and acted flustered after.
I’m not sure how you book Cena/Rock from that point but for Cena fanboys that needed some foothold to rest their convictions on it was giving masterfully tonight.
As for Punk/Jericho, Sheamus, Cody, HHH/Taker etc….I agree with almost everything said above.
I think you’re right. With tonight’s show as well, it seems that all this work with Cena is starting to slowly take. They have a few more weeks. He’s still getting booed to all hell in Miami though.