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GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR THE 5/7 RAW

RAW - 07/05/2012
What this show needs to accomplished?
•Over the Limit hype. WWE did a pretty solid job out of the blocks last week announcing two matches for the next pay per view and hopefully it continues this week
•Will WWE even address why Laurinaitis would want to face a man who just beat BROCK LESNAR? Hopefully that is addressed and it involves Cena still selling the beating he took from Lesnar
•Punk and Bryan. I’m pleasantly surprised WWE is going this route for the pay per view and I hope they give it a proper main event build. It would really impress me if they got the final segment on Raw this week or next. I’m hoping for an awesome promo battle as I have no doubt Bryan can hang with Punk in this area
•Chris Jericho. I see looking at the house show line ups from this past weekend that Chris Jericho was still working them so I assume he isn’t taking his leave just yet therefore the question begins, what’s next for Chris Jericho? I’m really hoping we get Jericho and Orton, but this mystery definitely intrigues me
•The reaction to Brock breaking Triple H’s arm. I would have assumed this might have been the return of Stephanie or Vince to address John Laurinaitis, but with Triple H showcased so heavily during the Mayweather fight and then responding to the criticism that he wasn’t selling his arm on wwe.com, I expect he’ll be on TV to address Brock and Laurinaitis
Show Breakdown

1. Pretty solid video package on the beat down Cena took last week from Laurinaitis. As per usual WWE production is top notch in this area.

2. Solid promo from Laurinaitis. I like the added touch of showing John’s photos from Japan as WWE needs to educate this audience as to just exactly who he is and his background. All that being said I still didn’t see Laurinaitis mention why he’d want to face Cena. I mean they are kind of addressing that Cena has an injury, but they aren’t heavily emphasizing that this is why the heel GM who this audience has never seen work would want a match with him. I hope they aren’t trying to play this off like Laurinaitis is Cena’s equal.

3. Fun promo from Punk and overall good confrontation that had good hype for the Cena-Laurinaitis match without involving Cena. Hopefully Punk gets to put this much focus on his own match. I also liked that Punk addressed that Laurinaitis wants to face Cena because he’s injured, perhaps Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler could do the same as the show goes on.

4. Pretty good impression from Show doing Laurinaitis.

5. Well now that we’ve heard that Dustin Runnels was fired, perhaps this explains why Cody is being treated like such a joke lately.

6. Cody needs to face Show again? Didn’t Michael Cole say on Smackdown that Show would get his rematches on the weekend live events? This is what happens when WWE does day of rewrites, they lose consistency with the storylines they’ve already told.

7. Jerry Lawler an absolute idiot as yes indeed Cody did dropkick Show before he stepped through the table. Always good when your babyface commentator gets the facts wrong.

8. Why are they now mentioning Big Show’s age? More stupid writing

9. I always wonder when they do these respect the boss storylines and emphasize it so much whether it has anything to do with Vince wanting to send a message, but that could be me just reading way too much into things

10. I love the fact that we will be seeing Sheamus/Orton-Jericho/Del Rio. Hopefully this lead to something for Jericho and Orton!

11. Notice that Dolph has dropped the pink this week. Anyone else remember the nonstop matches Dolph and Kofi were having last year or the year before? They definitely work well together.

12. I see that WWE hasn’t dropped the AW storyline yet so it looks like Rosa, Primo and Epico haven’t faltered into the abyss of nothingness just yet.

13. Random Mason Ryan appearance. I noticed on the house shows over the weekend, he was working as Dolph’s insurance policy. I think that’s a great move...for Dolph if it gets him away from Vickie and Jack. Although I don’t mind the idea of Vickie expanding her stable to include Mason Ryan as well.

14. Dolph Ziggler gets a win? Of course he does, everyone gets a win over a member of the tag champs! Maybe it wasn’t the best thing for the careers of Truth and Kingston that they got the tag titles, but Ziggler definitely needed a win!

15. Good to see Cena is still in a sling and selling the beat down from Brock Lesnar.

16. Cena channeling Hulk Hogan thanking all the fans for their concern.

17. Great touch Cena explaining that he is the reason why Laurinaitis hasn’t been fired or faced repercussions.

18. BTW still no mention of Brock destroying Triple H? I wonder what that’s all about.

19. Fine promo from Cena to promote his Over the Limit match

20. I noticed about four things bouncing as Layla and Kelly walked to the ring. Extreme Expose reunion? Were missing the ass!

21. Maxine on live television? Interesting...

22. Why is Layla still using that awful theme music as a babyface? “You’re not enough for me. Just another man in love with me”, get on top of the ball with that one WWE.

23. Nice touch showing Layla getting emotional after her title win during her interview.
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23. Sound the alarm! A 4th match has been announced for OTL and it could be a good one for the divas division in Beth vs Layla.

25. I’m pleasantly surprised at how well Beth is doing on commentary especially after how bad Alberto was last week on Smackdown.

26. Astounded that Maxine is working this instead of Natalya, but it all made sense when Maxine took the fall. No reason for Natalya to lose anymore than she already does.

27. The push of Santino always bothers me, because it should have been Zack Ryder and now they are promoting Santino’s YouTube show. What it showcases is that WWE wants to push the show and the guy that they manufactured as oppose to the guy that got himself over.

28. This is the second show in a row where WWE has been promoting the Sheamus character as the guy who loves to fight. Wasn’t it another Irish character in one Finlay who also loved to fight? What’s with WWE and Irish guys who love to fight? I guess Vince himself is an Irish lad who would say he loves to fight.

29. Chris Jericho pins Sheamus yet Del Rio is getting the next title shot? Three way? Why wouldn’t Del Rio get the pin? Odd booking, although Jericho was in need of a victory, but not sure it should have been at the expense of the World Champion.

30. Orton lays out Sheamus? Four Way? Interesting, but makes sense given the Orton character.

31. Finally they acknowledge Lesnar and Triple H

32. Why does Orton think he deserves a title shot?

33. I don’t like the announcement that it’s a four way at Over the Limit. The show is already lacking depth and Sheamus-Del Rio could have sustained on its own, while allowing for a potential terrific match between Jericho and Orton.

34. As the Miz comes out I remember that I’ve totally forgotten about him. Big pop for the punch out line from this guy.

35. I think the best thing that is happening for Miz’s career is Lawler saying this is Brodus toughest challenge to date.

36. Cole says “Miz goes splat”, I say “Miz goes bye bye”. Career on a downward spiral.

37. Watching the video recap of Hunter and Brock, I remember how great Laurinaitis was as the third wheel in that confrontation.

38. As they said Brock had sent his legal representation in his place, I was going to snap if it was some random person and not the man we got in one Paul Heyman!

39. Solid work from Paul. It’s an interesting story to tell noting that Brock has quit. I’m intrigued to see what Triple H has to say next week as well, although I’d prefer it not be on the go home show before a pay per view if it isn’t leading to anything on the pay per view.

40. Lord Tensai needs to wear gear that covers his growing stomach because that’s all I see when he’s in the ring.

41. Well I got to give WWE credit for at least not giving up on Lord Tensai who has now beaten CM Punk and John Cena. Bryan doesn’t come off as the most credible challenger for Punk in all of this.

42. Nice ending with Bryan putting the YesLock on Punk.

What this show accomplished?
The Good
•Over the Limit hype. Pretty solid hype for OTL. The show was very Laurinaitis focused and I thoroughly enjoyed that the show ended with Punk and Bryan. I’ll be interested to see how that quarter hour did
• Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. This is a partial positive. I got these two in the ring together, but for some reason WWE decided to make the World Title match at OTL a four way. The match they did to get there was fine and the angle afterwards with Sheamus taking the RKO was also good, but I’d prefer if these were both singles match
•Paul Heyman returns. I like this alot especially if it means less talking for Brock and Paul being able to appear as Brock’s symbol when Brock doesn’t appear
•John Cena promo. I liked the Cena promo with Cole and I also like that they held him off the show in the live arena. As I noted in my Smackdown recap last week, it’s always good to give characters a week off here and there. Cena in the sling is also good as he’s selling the injury and WWE finally seems to have realized that Cena needs to come off sympathetic to avoid getting ridiculously booed
•Lord Tensai. I still don’t like him, but I give WWE credit for giving him every opportunity possible
•John Laurinaitis shows photos of himself in action. I really liked this, because the crowd needs to be educated to Laurinaitis background especially if he’s wrestling
•Beth and Layla. The divas match was the standard don’t take our women seriously segment, but the match announcement is fine with me especially since it could be a good one!
•Triple H returns. WWE promotes something for next week! Always a plus for me
The Bad
•Santino YouTube promotion. I’m just irritated with him. He’s talented, he’s funny, but I’m angry with it, because it was him or Ryder and Ryder worked his ass off to get himself over and it’s Santino who continues to get the push, at least that’s how it appears to me
•Big Show and Cody. What a waste of a segment. I’m not sure I care for the Eve-Big Show stuff either and WWE mentioning his age was just stupid
•Miz loses again. I know Brodus needs bigger wins, but I would have at least had Miz job out on pay per view. I’m not sure where you go with Miz. The guy can’t play the tough heel and I don’t think he’d get over as a babyface. I still think his best role is having a stable around him and a hot chick, but WWE hasn’t tried that with him yet
•Bryan in a handicap match. I don’t like this for the next contender for the World Title. This would be alright if it was Laurinaitis, but Bryan should be taken seriously and not some cheerleader on the outside as his partner gets the job done
Overall Show
•Not that much happened on this show, but looking at what I had in the good column as oppose to the bad I’ll say it was probably a thumbs up effort from WWE!
What needs to happen on next week’s Raw?
•If Punk isn’t going to be on Smackdown then I’d like to see a promo showdown between Punk and Bryan playing up their history
•Triple H returns. It’s interesting that Triple H will return next week to address what happened to him. I assume this might turn into something more about Laurinaitis than Brock
•Over the Limit hype. Go Home week, hype, hype and more hype!
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