Instant Feedback: Jerry Lawler Still Has It

Wow, if you told me that RAW's main event would feature Miz and Jerry Lawler in a TLC main event with a run in from MICHAEL COLE of all people, and that it'd be a good match? I'd laugh in your face. But that's what happened on RAW tonight. Granted, it wasn't good in the way that the Sheamus/Morrison match was good, or the way that a Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels match in 1996 would be good. It was trashy, clusterfucky fun. It was done as well as an overbooked Russo-esque match could be, but at heart, it still was a clusterfuck. However, just like going to Burger King once in awhile won't kill you, this kind of match is nice to have every once in awhile. And hey, if this were booked in TNA, the match would have ended in a no-contest. Make no mistake about it though, Miz has to go over strong at the PPV.

I think what really sold this match though was the announcing of CM Punk. It's amazing, he's on the job for three weeks, four if you count his spot NXT duty this year, and the guy already laps every announcer they have three times. He combines the reckless disregard for tact that makes Cole great, the peppering in of random old-school facts and wrestling analysis that make Matt Striker great, doesn't have either one of their egregious flaws and he actually has a knack for getting the product over. When you heard him say he had respect for both Lawler and Miz tonight and say Miz was the future of the WWE, you could tell he meant it, and that's HUGE for the product at home. I hope Vince McMahon takes heed and hires more guys like Punk or makes his announcers emulate Punk. OF course, he'll probably just keep Punk (whose Colt Cabana shirt tonight elicited a legit mark out from me, by the way) in the booth, which will come at the expense of him ever being an active wrestler. Six in one hand, half-dozen in the other, but then again, I'd rather see him in the ring.

As for the rest of the show, I liked it. Yes, I had complaints. Yes, I hated that they used the "hey, wrestler gets distracted by the wrestler he's feuding with" finish in the Alberto del Rio/John Morrison match that they use ad nauseam it seems. I don't like that there's not enough emphasis on the mystery GM trying to enforce the stipulation of keeping John Cena at bay, although Cena made some really excellent points in his promo work tonight (more on all that later). However, this really was a strong show. All but one of the tourney matches had clean finishes that for the most part put the loser over, ESPECIALLY in the bookend matches. Daniel Bryan was super-protected, as protected as one can be by losing clean via tap out, and John Morrison, who again had a great match with Sheamus and acquitted himself well by bumping his ass off, looked valiant and like a warrior in his demise. Sheamus winning wouldn't have been my first choice, but he was a very good choice.

And as for the Cena angle? I have to say, I like where they're going with this even if I have some problems with it. Cena playing up the revenge factor like he was a maskless, mysteryless Midnight Rider is something I like a lot, and he's making a ton of sense in how he's evading the stipulation. Remember, the WWE doesn't want him gone. It's Barrett who does and really, everyone in WWE has a reason NOT to like him. I do think it's moving too fast, which has been the MO of this entire feud. I mean seriously, they're shoving in an entire year's worth of storyline material into a few months, and it just kills me here, Smalls. KILLS ME. I also would like to see more muscle from the GM, since he HAS to act in the interest of the stipulation. But you know what? Everything makes sense, and it's been entertaining as hell, so I can't kill them completely.

This marks three solid-to-awesome RAWs in a row for the WWE, coming at a time when they're ususally as stagnant as they'll ever be during the year. I'm very impressed. Hopefully, they keep this streak alive, because I've been really enjoying the hell out of my Monday nights for the last month.

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