Tonight was one of those RAWs where everything happened. It opened with Alberto del Rio confirming that what happened at Payback was indeed a double turn, and it closed with Brock Lesnar officially stripping CM Punk of his "Paul Heyman Guy" status. It included Christian's return, more McMahon family quibbles, Daniel Bryan being victim of an injury angle, Stephanie McMahon waxing hypocritical about AJ Lee acting degrading towards women, and a growing spectre of the Wyatt Family, a group that inches closer and closer to their debut. The show was loaded, and it was in motion, non-stop. I would say this was the episode of RAW Vince Russo had in mind when he first ideated Crash TV, but I don't know what goes on in his head, nor do I ever want to. It seems like a scary place up there.
But it takes a special segment to stand out on a show like tonight's, an all-timer. I didn't know if Mark Henry was really going to retire going into his interruption of John Cena's "rah rah never give up" speech set towards the eventual Money in the Bank winner. All I knew before he got into the ring was that he had on one of the raddest, even if just ironically, suit jackets. Then the tears started coming, and the old anecdotes of his kids rushed from his mouth to our ears. I got this sense of dread, that Henry was really about to hang 'em up. It felt like Edge's retirement segment, where I know I thought it was going to be one big ruse, but instead, it turned out to be him blindsiding everyone with his medical announcement.
Henry's was a punch of a different breed. Instead of walking away, he let Cena get close. John Cena, the man who had just not five minutes before told everyone that he wasn't going to be an easy cash-in victim because he was always on guard, let his guard down and got World's Strongest Slammed. It's so easy to be jaded and cynical about things being too predictable, and yeah, I guess from the perch of hindsight, it was easy to see that Cena was going to eat it. The fact that Henry even invited him to stay out, that he lingered too long. The tells were there.
But I was drawn in. Henry, for as gruff an exterior as he has, has sneaky range. It's not easy to cry on demand, but he did, oh Lordy, he did. To go from waterworks to splitter of wigs on a dime takes talent, real talent, like "How has this dude not been given his own WWE film" talent. It's easy to talk about how shitty the average WWE superstar is at acting. But with Henry, and especially with Lee, there are some gems on the roster when it comes to setting mood or making things happen with their entire demeanor cutting a promo. It's one thing to talk real good, but can you emote? Can you get into a character with nuance rather than just one who has good oratory skills? Henry made his segment. Lee saved hers, and that segment needed a good saving. Stephanie took lessons on condescension and no-selling from her husband really well. Or was it the other way around? Who knows.
I mentioned in the lead paragraph that this was the episode of Crash TV that Russo saw in his mind, or at least that I imagined he saw in his mind. What set it apart from RAWs in the Attitude Era was that there were great actors like Lee and Henry in addition to the great promos and swerve moments. There was also some decent wrestling, but you KNEW that one was a difference. But still, tonight's show had all the positive traits of the chaos and unpredictability that an Attitude RAW had. I hope they don't try to replicate it next week, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it for what it's worth tonight.
But it takes a special segment to stand out on a show like tonight's, an all-timer. I didn't know if Mark Henry was really going to retire going into his interruption of John Cena's "rah rah never give up" speech set towards the eventual Money in the Bank winner. All I knew before he got into the ring was that he had on one of the raddest, even if just ironically, suit jackets. Then the tears started coming, and the old anecdotes of his kids rushed from his mouth to our ears. I got this sense of dread, that Henry was really about to hang 'em up. It felt like Edge's retirement segment, where I know I thought it was going to be one big ruse, but instead, it turned out to be him blindsiding everyone with his medical announcement.
Henry's was a punch of a different breed. Instead of walking away, he let Cena get close. John Cena, the man who had just not five minutes before told everyone that he wasn't going to be an easy cash-in victim because he was always on guard, let his guard down and got World's Strongest Slammed. It's so easy to be jaded and cynical about things being too predictable, and yeah, I guess from the perch of hindsight, it was easy to see that Cena was going to eat it. The fact that Henry even invited him to stay out, that he lingered too long. The tells were there.
But I was drawn in. Henry, for as gruff an exterior as he has, has sneaky range. It's not easy to cry on demand, but he did, oh Lordy, he did. To go from waterworks to splitter of wigs on a dime takes talent, real talent, like "How has this dude not been given his own WWE film" talent. It's easy to talk about how shitty the average WWE superstar is at acting. But with Henry, and especially with Lee, there are some gems on the roster when it comes to setting mood or making things happen with their entire demeanor cutting a promo. It's one thing to talk real good, but can you emote? Can you get into a character with nuance rather than just one who has good oratory skills? Henry made his segment. Lee saved hers, and that segment needed a good saving. Stephanie took lessons on condescension and no-selling from her husband really well. Or was it the other way around? Who knows.
I mentioned in the lead paragraph that this was the episode of Crash TV that Russo saw in his mind, or at least that I imagined he saw in his mind. What set it apart from RAWs in the Attitude Era was that there were great actors like Lee and Henry in addition to the great promos and swerve moments. There was also some decent wrestling, but you KNEW that one was a difference. But still, tonight's show had all the positive traits of the chaos and unpredictability that an Attitude RAW had. I hope they don't try to replicate it next week, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it for what it's worth tonight.
