3-19-12 Raw results and thoughts

Coverage and thoughts on the March 19, 2012 episode of Raw

The show starts with CM Punk coming to the ring. They re show the Chris Jericho promo from last Monday. Then Punk says that Jericho isn’t in the building tonight and that shows the kind of person that Jericho is. He says that him not being there is a gift since Jericho pissed him off. Then Punk mentions that Jericho said that Punk’s dad is an alcoholic and that it wasn’t Jericho’s story to tell. He says that isn’t what Jericho said or how he said but that he said it to the whole world. Punk mentions that he sees fans of all ages who have probably been affected some way in their lives by booze. He then says that he doesn’t want a kid to think that because of that that they get be destined for greatness. He says that if there is a monster inside he will let it out. Then he says that he won’t let his past dictate his future and that no one should let the past cloud their dreams. Punk then mentions that Jericho left out the main part and that is that Punk’s dad overcame his problem. Punk says that he is proud of his dad and also proud to be straight edge. Then he says that he is proud of all the obstacles that his dad overcame. Punk then says that you can either jump over an obstacle or you can crawl under one like Jericho. Then he says that he will go through Jericho as his obstacle to show that he is the best in the world. Then Jericho shows up on the Tron and he says that he didn’t think it would be right if he showed up tonight. Then he apologizes for bringing up Punk’s dad’s problems. Then he mentions that Punk’s sister has a substance abuse history. Jericho mentions that there is a pattern in Punk’s family. His father is an alcoholic and his sister being a substance abuser and that Punk is going to wind up drinking. Then he says that the good news is that abuse and booze can be over come but the bad news is that when Punk loses the WWE Title at WrestleMania that is something that he will never over come. Then Punk says something that gets muted out and then tells Jericho that he will beat the s**t out of him at WrestleMania. This was a good opening segment. Both guys were really good as usual.     

 Before the Big Show-Kane match Cody Rhodes comes out and they show another Big Show’s WrestleMania moments video package. Cody is standing at ringside with boxing gloves.

Big Show vs. Kane. Kane gets the pin. This was short. Cody got involved and Kane slammed Show off the ropes for the pin. Afterwards Cody comes in and kicks Show and then he gets hand cuffs and he cuffs Show to the ropes. Then he gets the gloves on and punches the crap out of Show. Big Show gets all pissed and tells Cody to run. Then after Cody bails the referees un cuff Show with hedge clippers and Show is all pissed at Cody. Good stuff here.

U.S. Champion Santino Marella vs. David Otunga. Otunga gets the pin. This was crap. Afterwards Ace gets in Teddy’s face and Long slaps him. Then he and Santino run up the ramp. Awful segment.

They show the Rock outside Philadelphia by the Rocky statue. He says that this is the city of Brotherly love and the city of ass kickers. Then he talks about the Rocky statue saying that it is the symbol of fighting spirit. He They show a clip of him at 12 posing in front of the statue. Then he says that a year later he watched the first WrestleMania and saw Hulk Hogan become an icon. Then he says that he watched Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6 also become an icon. Then he mentions that Philadelphia was the first year he headlined WrestleMania (15) against Steve Austin. Then he mentions beating Hogan & Austin and now he is going to beat Cena. He says that is in 13 days but tonight he will come to the arena and get in the ring and send Cena a message in front of the world. He then says that he’s gonna get a cheese steak and shove it up Cena’s ass but it doesn’t end there. He says that the greats will thank Rock by saying bang bang and whooo. He throws in Macho Man’s “Oh Yeah” too. Then he says that he will lay the smack down and WrestleMania Rock’s dream of becoming the greatest of all time will come true. Then he says the, “Yo Adrian I did it” line and then says his if ya smell catch phrase. Great promo as usual from Rock.

Before the next match they show a video of Zack Ryder rallying the fans to try to get on team Teddy.

Zack Ryder vs. World Champion Daniel Bryan. Bryan wins by submission. This was a short match. Afterwards Bryan has AJ kiss him on the cheek.

They show pics of Cena’s car indecent from earlier today.

John Cena vs. Mark Henry. Cena gets the pin. Henry dominated most of the match and Cena made the baby face come back. Then The Rock’s music hits and he comes out and then runs to the ring and gives Mark Henry the Rock Bottom. Then he walks back up the ramp. This was good. Rock sent the message that he wants Cena at his best at WrestleMania. Then Cena points to the WrestleMania sign.

They replay the promo from 2 weeks ago with Shawn Michaels & Triple H when Shawn said that he will be the referee.

They show a clip of Kelly on this Extra show and she says that Beth Phoenix is her biggest competition. Beth & Eve showed up Beth says that Maria should be interviewing them. Then Beth challenges them to a tag match at WrestleMania. What ever.

The Miz is in the ring and says that in 1987 King Kong Bundy was in the Main Event as WrestleMania 2 (wrong Miz that was 1986) and then at WrestleMania 3 (that was 1987) Bundy was in a 6 man with 2 midgets against Hillbilly Jim. Then he mentions that at least Bundy had a match. He says that he won’t go from main eventing WrestleMania 27 to not being on WrestleMania 28. Then he says that he has issued an open challenge to show Ace that he should be on his team. Before he says his catch phrase Sheamus’ music hits and he comes out.

Sheamus vs. The Miz. Sheamus gets the pin. Sheamus dominated the whole match. Poor Miz. They show Johnny Ace & David Otunga watching on a monitor in Ace’s office.

Josh Mathews is on the stage and he introduces Randy Orton. Orton comes out and Josh asks him how he plans on beating Kane. Orton says that the question is how does the monster plan on beating him. He says that this match is happening because of their match back in July but this time Kane has no signs of humanity. Orton says that he doesn’t have an identity crises and knows exactly who he is. He says his name is Randy Orton. Then his music plays. This was thankfully a short promo.

They show a video package on some WWE talent promoting the “B.A. STAR” program.

Vickie Guerrero comes out and introduces Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger as the 2 newest members of team Johnny.

Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger. Dolph & Swagger win when Dolph pins Truth. Truth got his foot on the rope but Vickie pushed it off. Afterwards Aksana shoves Vickie down and goes to tell the referee that Truth’s foot was on the rope but Vickie got in the ring and they had a cat fight. The guys had to pull them apart.

They show a clip from last night’s Madison Square Garden live show and they show Triple H giving Dolph Ziggler the Tombstone and pinning him like Taker.

Shawn Michaels’ music hits and he comes out and poses on the stage, pyro and all. Then he heads to the ring and poses more. Then he gets the mic and mentions the Taker-HHH match and says that everyone is talking about him being the referee. He says he made a career out of stealing the show and that he’s been at WrestleMania year after year and this will be no different. Then he says that it is cool that he holds the end of an era in the palm of his hands. Then he says that the end of an era is code for the end of Taker’s streak. He says that Taker is in the same place that he was 2 years ago. Then Undertaker’s gong hits and his music plays and he comes out. Then he gets in the ring and tells Shawn that it would be in his best interest to shut up and listen. He says that this match has to remain pure so before he and his start making plans, before he can finish Triple H’s music plays and he comes out. He does his spit the water bit and then gets in the ring. Then he says that Taker needs to stop worrying about Shawn because it’s not about him. It’s always been about Taker and Hunter and that it’s their destiny to do this. He says that there have been 24 cell matches and that they were in 19 of them. He says that it’s no a coincidence that the cell became his proving ground. He says it’s where he thrives and excels. He says that everything he has been through have been for one moment. April 1 at WrestleMania. He says that the whole world will see the end of an era, Taker’s. He says that he knows exactly what it will take. Taker mentions that HHH’s mind, body, soul, career, wife & kids and even his life and asks if he is willing to put it all n the line. Hunter says that if it means giving Taker the end that he deserves then he is and he will. They intently stare at each other and then Taker mentions that he said that Shawn is better than Hunter and he says again that he is. Then Taker’s gong and theme hit and he walks out. Shawn & Hunter stare at each other in the ring and then Hunter looks up at the ramp to end the show. This was good and much shorter than I was expecting it to be. For me that’s good.

This was a decent show overall. Punk cut a great promo at the start and Jericho’s promo on the tron was good too. I have mixed feelings about them using Punk’s family in the story line however. The Taker-HHH-Michaels segment at the end was good too and thankfully short. The matches weren’t really much this week. I thought they did a good in continuing the WrestleMania build. The Rock’s promo standing by the Rocky statue was really good and him coming out after the Cena-Henry match to Rock Bottom Henry was a good spot too. They did a good job of Rock sending Cena the message that he wants him at his neat come Mania. The GM storyline is idiotic and the matches that involved the team members were ok but nothing memorable. Miz continues to be de pushed. Sheamus pounded the crap out of him the whole match. Ryder-Bryan was ok but too short. Ryder has also been de pushed. I don’t why. He was so over with the fans. So overall I thought this week’s Raw was ok and they did a decent job continuing the build to WrestleMania.