WWE Monday Night Raw: 11/26/2012

 

Most of last night's episode was blown over by the yawner daytime soap that is the AJ/Cena/Ziggler/Guerrero storyline.  But there was some wrestling in between...some very good wrestling....

So I know this is sort of Vickie's thing, but I also have conclusive evidence that John Cena has feelings for AJ Lee...

GOTCHA!

Seriously, this whole storyline has only served two real purposes for me.  One being that i finally got to see John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler (a pretty good match btw) and the other being that it's pretty much an excuse to see AJ in a variety of ass hugging outfits.  Don't get me wrong, I admire the visual, but I just can't care about the events surrounding it.   Still, there was no shortage of great action last night so I can't really complain.  I've been saying for months now that I think Daniel Bryan and Rey Mysterio would be incredible and while it did not fully live up to my expectations, it was their first match together and there was some great potential there.  The match of the night for me though, was the stiff clash between Antonio Cesaro and Sheamus.  Cesaro is coming along very nicely and I think his main event potential is limitless because he's turning everything they give him into gold.  Ziggler and Cena was great, but it was this match I wanted to watch again once the show was over.  Perhaps the whole stupid AJ/Cena flirtation storyline is hurting the Ziggler/Cena matches a bit for me as it causes me not to fully invest in the action or maybe it's because the fact that we're seeing another first time matchup thrown away on television instead of PPV that just left a bad taste in my mouth.  The whole feud has been hit or miss, but one thing that was a big hit for me was the Shield segment.  I'm still not completely sold on the name, but the simple fact that Dean Ambrose is finally on RAW is something I'm still finding surreal.  It's not that I never thought he'd make it there, it's just that I've never invested so much into any FCW/OVW/NXT level talent before they made their TV debut.  Big things are expected of Ambrose and I'm sure he can deliver, but the standout of the segment for me was Roman Reigns.  His presence was just as (and perhaps even more) commanding as Ambrose and Rollins even though the hype surrounding him is no where near the level of his stablemates.  That adds to his intrigue and though this segment was not a complete home run, it was the best of the night and the closing moments still leave it up for debate whether or not these are "Punk's guys" or if they really are just agents of order.  Either way, it's far and away the most compelling part of WWE television right now.