WWE Monday Night Raw 1/9/2012 - The Good, The Bad And The UglyChris Jericho is on a crazy tear, Kane is still doing the horror thing and what's a Funkasaurus? Check out what you missed on this week's WWE Monday Night Raw.
Whether it's because of the impending build-up toward WrestleMania, the company being willing to try new stuff as ratings take their inevitable football season dive, or just some type of rare alignment of the planets, Monday Night Raw has been pretty damn solid lately. This week, more awesome Jericho trolling, the much-anticipated arrival of Brodus Clay, three solid matches and mercifully, not a single Divas contest. In fact, pretty much the only thing I didn't like about the show was the Cena/Kane/Ryder/Eve angle...which unfortunately both started and ended the program.
To find out my thoughts on the above, the first batch of 2012 Hall of Fame inductees, and most importantly, who won the coveted Shitterson Match of the Night Award, keep reading as I run down the good, bad and downright ugly moments from this week's show. Then, make sure to tell everyone about the article on Twitter, share it on Facebook and come follow me onTwitter, where I babble about comic books, wrestling and devil music throughout the week. Oh, and for good measure, you also better call my mama.
Finally, if you haven't checked it out already, make sure to read my "Straight Shoot" column from last week: Straight Shoot: Chris Jericho Is A New Type of Heel, where I take a closer look at Jericho's return. And keep an eye out for this Thursday's column, as I look back at what might be the best match of 2011.
Looking for even more insight about last night's Raw? Check out Brandon Stroud's The Best and Worst of Raw over at our friends WithLeather.
To find out my thoughts on the above, the first batch of 2012 Hall of Fame inductees, and most importantly, who won the coveted Shitterson Match of the Night Award, keep reading as I run down the good, bad and downright ugly moments from this week's show. Then, make sure to tell everyone about the article on Twitter, share it on Facebook and come follow me onTwitter, where I babble about comic books, wrestling and devil music throughout the week. Oh, and for good measure, you also better call my mama.
Finally, if you haven't checked it out already, make sure to read my "Straight Shoot" column from last week: Straight Shoot: Chris Jericho Is A New Type of Heel, where I take a closer look at Jericho's return. And keep an eye out for this Thursday's column, as I look back at what might be the best match of 2011.
Looking for even more insight about last night's Raw? Check out Brandon Stroud's The Best and Worst of Raw over at our friends WithLeather.
Credit: WWE
Bad – Is Being Pro-Hate Good Motivation? |
In today's world of increasingly self-aware professional wrestling, it gets harder and harder to think of decent motivations for heels, especially ones capable of getting the fans to forget that the person they're booing is just a dude pulling a paycheck. So, in a way, it's refreshing that Kane doesn't want a title, fame or even revenge - he's just stridently pro-hate, and anti-rising-above-the-same. There's even a Ron Paul joke in there somewhere if you care to find it.
An engine of senseless destruction and rage can work just fine as an antagonist as seen in pretty much every horror movie ever. But in order for the menace to come off as convincing, the villain needs to be silent, or at the very least enigmatic in what his motivations are. If Kane just emerged and attacked John Cena and/or Zack Ryder each week with limited explanation that story could be hell of compelling - the guy's a monster and he doesn't really need any motivation beyond that. But by having Kane spew out nonsensical, rambling, confusing (though well-delivered) promos each week, WWE just muddies the waters of the feud while making Kane seem like a pyromaniac therapist, which is a concept better suited for a shitty Showtime drama than pro-wrestling.
An engine of senseless destruction and rage can work just fine as an antagonist as seen in pretty much every horror movie ever. But in order for the menace to come off as convincing, the villain needs to be silent, or at the very least enigmatic in what his motivations are. If Kane just emerged and attacked John Cena and/or Zack Ryder each week with limited explanation that story could be hell of compelling - the guy's a monster and he doesn't really need any motivation beyond that. But by having Kane spew out nonsensical, rambling, confusing (though well-delivered) promos each week, WWE just muddies the waters of the feud while making Kane seem like a pyromaniac therapist, which is a concept better suited for a shitty Showtime drama than pro-wrestling.
Credit: WWE
Bad – Ethnic Characters on Parade |
This week, WWE crammed all it's hyper-ethnic characters (OK, most all of them - the black guys all came out later) into a single wackadoo tag team match. Ostensibly the match pitting Sheamus & Santino Marella against Wade Barrett & Jinder Mahal was set to promote the Royal Rumble, but that only barely came across in commentary and not at all in the match itself. Sheamus could have at least tried to toss everyone over the top rope at the end, or maybe even have some kind of issue with his partner, Santino.
Even worse than the time-killing nature of the contest, however, was the fact that we had to watch it instead of an actual tag team match. WWE is currently building some type of angle with Air Boom and Primo& Epico, with the Usos tag team also waiting in the ring. As much as I loved seeing Daniel Bryan get a win over Kofi Kingston tonight (more on that later), I would have preferred to see the World Heavyweight Champion beat someone else while Kingston appeared in action with his fake weed smoking tag team partner, Evan Bourne.
Even worse than the time-killing nature of the contest, however, was the fact that we had to watch it instead of an actual tag team match. WWE is currently building some type of angle with Air Boom and Primo& Epico, with the Usos tag team also waiting in the ring. As much as I loved seeing Daniel Bryan get a win over Kofi Kingston tonight (more on that later), I would have preferred to see the World Heavyweight Champion beat someone else while Kingston appeared in action with his fake weed smoking tag team partner, Evan Bourne.
Credit: WWE
Good – Big Johnny |
Tonight, John Laurinaitis told a worried Miz, "I'm not Little Jimmy. I'm Big Johnny." and I'm not ashamed to say that I legit LOLed. Laurinaitis is evolving into a bizarre type of authority figure heel, simultaneously cagey and bumbling. Part of what makes it all work is his off-kilter promo delivery -I can't tell if they're wacky on purpose or just because he's actually kind of confused. Either way, it's great. So great in fact, that David Otunga's coffee-slurping presence irritates me less and less.
Credit: WWE
Good – New Hall of Famers |
While savvy Internet wrestling news readers have known for months about WWE's plans to induct Alberto Del Rio's uncle Mil Mascaras into the promotion's Hall of Fame, tonight marked the first time that WWE programming announced names for the Class of 2012. The first name announced on television was that of Edge, and while I personally think it might be a little too soon, especially given the fact that it's becoming a habit to induct people immediately upon retiring, only a complete maniac would argue with the merit of the actual decision. The other name was actually that of a stable, The Four Horsemen, which more than anything reminded me of how shocking it is that Arn Anderson hasn't already been inducted in the Hall of Fame.
Conspicuous by his absence, however, is a name that many fans, myself included, considered a shoe-in for this year's Hall of Fame class: the late, great "Macho Man" Randy Savage. For years, rumors have persisted about Vince McMahon's hatred of Savage, with many chalking the enmity up to a sexual relationship the wrestler had with a young Stephanie McMahon, but recent years had seen things relax enough that Savage appeared in WWE toy lines and even video games. Plus, Savage's death received a huge amount of mainstream coverage this year, and have you ever known McMahon to shy away from publicity or the opportunity to sell tickets?
Conspicuous by his absence, however, is a name that many fans, myself included, considered a shoe-in for this year's Hall of Fame class: the late, great "Macho Man" Randy Savage. For years, rumors have persisted about Vince McMahon's hatred of Savage, with many chalking the enmity up to a sexual relationship the wrestler had with a young Stephanie McMahon, but recent years had seen things relax enough that Savage appeared in WWE toy lines and even video games. Plus, Savage's death received a huge amount of mainstream coverage this year, and have you ever known McMahon to shy away from publicity or the opportunity to sell tickets?
Credit: WWE
Good – A Fighting Champion |
WWE has a frustrating tendency with new World Champions that typically involves booking them to get the snot kicked out of them week after week until ignobly losing the title at the end of their short run. While it couldn't be considered a win over a top-level star, I was still pleased to see Daniel Bryan go over clean this week in what was one of the best Kofi Kingston matches I've seen since his too-brief feud with Randy Orton.
Even better was the interaction that the World Heavyweight Champion had with the No. 1 contender Big Show following the match. Anyone who saw him back in his Ring of Honor days knows that Daniel Bryan can be a hell of a heel, so it's exciting to see his smarmy attitude start peeking around the corners of his underdog façade. But Big Show is also awesome as a villain, especially when he has much smaller men to toss around, and his aggressive posturing toward Bryan could be seen as hinting toward a full-on turn. Hell, WWE could turn both of them heel for all I care, just as long as they keep having matches that are as entertaining as their bout on last week's SmackDown.
Even better was the interaction that the World Heavyweight Champion had with the No. 1 contender Big Show following the match. Anyone who saw him back in his Ring of Honor days knows that Daniel Bryan can be a hell of a heel, so it's exciting to see his smarmy attitude start peeking around the corners of his underdog façade. But Big Show is also awesome as a villain, especially when he has much smaller men to toss around, and his aggressive posturing toward Bryan could be seen as hinting toward a full-on turn. Hell, WWE could turn both of them heel for all I care, just as long as they keep having matches that are as entertaining as their bout on last week's SmackDown.
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