I wonder how many people thought Hugh Jackman would be as awesome as he was tonight? I didn't really have an opinion, but at the same time, guests like him have shone in the past. Jackman shone tonight, and boy did he. From the moment he went into the crowd and plucked the "Ryder > Wolverine" sign, he was awesome. The match between Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler that followed was really good too. While I get the sinking feeling this is a one off, I'd LOVE to see Ziggler and Ryder face off in an extended feud, although I get the feeling Ziggler, who was fucking awesome with his own promo against Jackman himself, is turning into a good guy.
As for the main event stuff, I thought that RAW was surprisingly better than the report from the PPV last night foreshadowed. Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of the opening segment when it happened, mainly because I'm tired of the "firing" angles. And the payoff to it, Miz and Truth getting fired? Yeah, you know they're going to be back next week. It's going to be lame and weak because that's what's always happened, but the visual was good. Plus, it didn't end with Trips Pedigreeing and firing Punk, so that's a plus. On another note, how awesome were Miz and Truth in their "best behavior" act? Seriously, these two are just a treasure. Fucking love their pairing.
As for Punk, it's been two weeks too late, but they're finally moving him on from being a total stubborn dumbass. He should have figured out that Trips wasn't behind any of this, but hey, the lazy writers wouldn't have been able to half-ass a build to a PPV clusterfuck then, would they? Luckily for them, Punk proves my "heat is elastic" theory every time he goes out there, mainly by being awesome, especially in the ring. It started when John Cena took his shirt off and Punk reacted like he was a tween girl at her first Justin Bieber concert. He has so much panache.
Oh, and how could I forget Mark Henry. Christ, that was a pitch-perfect segment. Henry was treading the line like Punk was before Money in the Bank, calling JR to the carpet for calling him lazy and injury prone. What followed was an interesting bit of synergy, as Jerry Lawler came into the ring to save JR. Lawler, if you might remember, was Henry's first real feud in the then-WWF. Henry took out some of that aged rage and delivered maybe two of the best World's Strongest Slams ever, especially one through the announce table. Henry is the best thing going right now in wrestling, period.
Yeah, the Divas were embarrassing again. The 8-man tag match was fun, but seemingly pointless. But other than that, man, it was a really good episode of RAW. It seems like the only thing WWE is consistent in is their inconsistency.
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