Finally, the new WWE Championship is revealed
Here are my thoughts of this week's Raw from Lafayette, LA:
*Photos courtesy of WWE.com
-Most of last night's episode was solid from where I sit, but the episode will now forever be remembered as the night The Rock revealed what will go down as the most hotly debated WWE Championship belt of all time.
-The show kicked off with CM Punk again playing the sore loser role and as John Cena put it, "coming out to air his grievances". The resulting spat leads Cena to pull a ballsy move and put his number one contender's spot on the line next week in a match against Punk. This has become yet another compelling chapter in the Cena vs Punk saga. A saga that has reached it's climax as it now involves the WWE Champion The Rock. The immense amount of history between all three men and the passionate level of desire that each has to be "the man" has now become represented through a 35-40lb bit of gold is something I feel Wrestlemania season has sorely lacked for years now.
You'll never hear me complain about anything involving Punk vs. Cena
-The past few manias have had bigger matches than those involving championship titles and call me old school, but I'm just happy the WWE title is in the spotlight again. People who don't appreciate The Rock vs. John Cena (and/or CM Punk) should appreciate at least that sentiment.
-Which brings me back to the new gold. Is the hateful response from many fans about whether or not the title is too big or the fact that there is no name plate? Or is it more about the man who had the dubious honor of revealing said title? Something tells me that if CM Punk were the man to unveil the new gold, then everyone would have hailed it the greatest thing they've ever seen. I mean for the most part, I knew Rocky was going to be the guy to bring the new title in and if you really want all eyes on the belt, you've got to debut it with some panache. Had Punk been the guy to do so, I wonder if the celebration would have felt as big? Or if the reaction would have been as polarizing and massive?
What did you think Rock was going to have under there? An Academy Award?
-Again what gives a title value isn't anything aesthetic anyhow. It's a symbol of the will and determination of the men and women who'd damn near die to become champion and to be the very best in the industry. It also represents that for a given point in time, in your home promotion, you were the most valuable performer. Whether or not every title holder is actually the most valuable act is another argument for another time, but that's really what being a champion means to most.
For my money, THIS is the best looking title in the biz anyhow
-It's a good thing that everyone feels so passionately about the events surrounding the belt though. Good or bad, they want all of us to be talking about it. Still, the belt was not the only thing worth noting about last night's episode. There was also some very good wrestling.
-The Shield faced a Chris Jericho led team that included Sheamus and Ryback in a match that goes down as yet another unbelievably good television match. They are everything the Nexus were not. They move like a hunting pack of wolves. And thus far, they've delivered in and out of the ring and it appears as if no one can stop them. It shows in their confidence as well. It's a confidence that leads them to take the fight to damn near anyone without a second of hesitation. As a result, their matches come off as more of a bar fight than an actual wrestling contest. And I mean that in the best way possible. I love every second these guys are on screen.
-Daniel Bryan and Jack Swagger counterbalanced the Shield's very intense & animalistic ring style by having a more technical, by-the-books matchup that was also very well done. Say what you want about Swagger, but the guy has been on a roll as far as his ring work goes and he's looking less and less like a challenger and more and more like a legitimate threat to Alberto Del Rio's title with each passing victory.
-Speaking of Del Rio, he and Dolph Ziggler again tore it up last night with an exciting companion piece to their outstanding match on main event last week. Ziggler seems bent on holding that MITB briefcase damn well until day 364 of the contract just to annoy the shit out of everybody. Again the tease was done here, but then Ricardo Rodriguez managed to sneak off with the briefcase and again causing a split reaction amongst fans here on the Internet. I for one, want things done after mania.
Ziggler looks to break Edge's record of the longest briefcase holder...
-Oh and let's not forget about the endlessly awesome Mark Henry. He obliterated Sin Cara in an exhibition match and then gave the world famous luchador another World's Strongest Slam just as an exclamation point. But perhaps what everybody is beginning love the most about Henry is his trash talk. He mocked The Great Khali's dancing persona both physically and verbally and for me, this was absolutely the most entertaining bit of business last night.
-All this and there were still matches between Randy Orton and Kane and another strong continuation of the angle between Antonio Cesaro & The Miz. Wade Barrett also plugged his new movie Dead Man Down starring Colin Farrell which surprisingly, looked pretty awesome.
-Overall the story of this week's episode was variety. Most of these three hour Raws have been very well executed this year and they are far better than the one's from 2012. Even without a huge mark out segment like the looming return of The Undertaker, it was still damn compelling television. And I'm actually a fan of a slow burn leading up to the "go home" show the week of mania. It's a tremendous way to build anticipation so that we don't blow our loads too early before the big show. As for the new WWE Championship, love it or hate it, it was a great & iconic ending. Punk now looks to add a delicious topping to The Rock/Cena pie and who knows come next week, maybe those of you unsatisfied with the Wrestlemania XXIX main event will change your mind & have a slice.
Episode Score: 8.0
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