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Knee-Jerk Reaction (RAW 03/05/12)
By: Derek X | Posted: 03/06/12


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First HBK. Then Rocky. Now back to HBK. It seems like someone is trying to boost ratings before Wrestlemania. And who could blame them? After all, it's only supposed to be the best time of year for us wrasslin' folk. I don't know if anyone else is really feeling the Wrestlemania bug this year, but so far I'm not. I've felt some tinges - like when the Hell in a Cell match was announced - but other than that, I'm just not into it. There's still one month to go until Wrestlemania XXVIII. Plenty of time for me to get excited. Let's see if that can start tonight.


WHAT I LIKED:
HBK Redux: I loved HBK's playful passive-aggressiveness during the first part of this segment, as well as Triple H's straight-man. I've said it before, I love the dynamic between Triple H and Shawn Michaels. DX was my absolute favorite tag-team/stable. It's what I base my screen name on. These two guys are still two of the best and they still know how to rattle each other's cages. I'm not a big fan of HBK being the Special Guest Referee in this match, mostly because there's almost no use for a referee in a Hell in a Cell match. There are no rules, no holds barred, nothing to referee except for the final fall. All that means is that this will basically be a triple threat match without actually being called a triple threat match. It kind of cheapens the match a bit, don't you think?

United States Championship: Never mind the question of how Santino Marella is the #1 contender for the US Title. I'm just glad to see the US Title being defended. Too bad it's just being caught up in the fray that is the dueling General Manager story. Holy shit is Santino over. I'm not even against him winning the US Championship. I don't care that this title win is just a fluke. It's not like that title means anything. As far as I'm concerned, it's still Zack Ryder's title anyway.

Punk/Sheamus vs Bryan/Jericho: I just said in the last Road to Wrestlemania series that the rivalry between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus seems lackluster because they haven't had much contact with each other over the past couple weeks. I won't be saying that again. This is exactly the type of match that I didn't think we'd see between now and Wrestlemania... a great one! Even I have to admit that I cringed a little bit during times in this match. When Sheamus hit his head on the floor and when Jericho went knee first into the turnbuckle, I was wondering if they were hurt. I can't blame WWE for trying to protect their main-event talent. But I'm glad they still allowed this match to happen. If I can just get one decent match each week, I'll be satisfied.

Kane vs R-Truth: Solid match, but it was never about the match itself. I saw Randy Orton coming from a mile away. What I don't see is the crux of this rivalry. "Welcome back, Randy," with a chokeslam. "It's good to be back," with an RKO. What is this? It just seems like a friendly greeting from a sadomasochistic couple.


WHAT I HATED:
Eve vs Alicia: Short match, thankfully. I was getting tired of hearing Kelly's voice. Kelly is probably the one diva who should always be seen and never ever heard. Nice to see Zack Ryder back, even though he's still 'hurt'. He should really learn how to fake being hurt. He walked worse using the cane than he did using the crutches.

Intrinsic John Cena: [Insert Eye-Roll Here]. That was unnecessary. WWE is trying to convince us that this match has some sort of future value. As if when (yes, when) John Cena wins this match, he will finally overcome some hurdle in his career that has been holding him back. Eleven time World Champion says what?

Big Show vs The Miz: I'm really getting tired of WWE burying The Miz. He's done nothing to deserve this. If this is all about when he accidentally missed R-Truth on RAW a couple weeks back, Truth is fine now. Bygones. Besides it was R-Truth who got suspended and ruined The Awesome Truth anyway. And it was not Miz's fault that Summerslam was a dud. There were three other people involved in that tag team match, namely John Cena and The Rock, who were supposed to be the big draw for the PPV, but I don't see them being blamed for anything. This is ridiculous.


PUSH:
Cena/Rock: If there was any question as to what WWE considers the actual main-event of Wrestlemania, I think three straight weeks of ending RAW with this rivalry makes it pretty clear. I liked the 'history lessons' from The Rock. Mostly the first one. But John Cena's not-so private thoughts was pushing it a little bit. How can you be so complimentary of The Rock and claim that he's accomplished everything and so on and so forth, but then you come out and ridicule the guy. Pick a side and stick to it. John Cena irritated the fuck out of me during this last segment because he wouldn't stop grinning and making stupid facial expressions. It's just so damn juvenile. It's like he doesn't take this seriously. Almost as if... it's all scripted. This is a superficial rivalry. I don't see why so many people are so into it. Maybe if I followed my own advice and picked a side in this Cena/Rock rivalry, I would enjoy their tete-a-tete's a lot more.


QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: "Ding. Ding. Ding. Time to get your ass kicked." - The Rock
Truth be told, there were a lot of funny quotes during this segment. I just picked this one because it was the most memorable.

So, did tonight's show get me excited for Wrestlemania? Not really.

It was a solid episode and I had more things in the LIKE category than HATE, which usually means I enjoyed it, but I'm still not feeling the Wrestlemania buzz. Maybe I'm just tempering my expectations following last year's disaster.
- Derek X
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