My WWE Raw, February 28th 2012 Recap

CM Punk and Chris Jericho started things off. Jericho actually complimented Punk, calling him one of his favourite performers going today, but added that he still wasn't as good as him. Jericho also called himself a "dying breed of performers," which to be fair is true. In WWE today most of their talent come straight form their own developmental system, rather then the rare few like Y2J and Daniel Bryan who have actually travelled to various countries, honing their in-ring craft. And taking what they were given and being grateful for it. It was a good speech form Jericho, whose words were truly believable.    

CM Punk was also again accused by Chris of being a "Chris Jericho wannabe." Punk retorted by saying that he's his own person and that it's not like everything that Jericho says or does is completely original. Jericho answered back with "but I am not just telling you, I am proving to you with all the evidence that's standing right in front of you is the literal, undeserved, undoubtful, best in the World at everything I do."Quite a mouthful, eh?

CM Punk theorised that Jericho's mannerisms suggest that he actually has an inferiority complex, and asked who he was trying to prove to that he's the best in the world. Punk carried on to say that although they both came form the same shadows, he has surpassed Jericho, that he has now become "the man" that he never was. That while Jericho is writing books and participating on game shows, he's still "swimming with the sharks" in the WWE. This was a little reminiscent of Cena's rant towards The Rock last week.

Punk added that they didn't need the bright lights, the pyros, the big stage but simply a wrestling ring on April 1st at WrestleMania to put on what could be the greatest wrestling match in the pay-per-views history. And he simply ended the segment by saying that after he's victorious in the championship match "It won't be the end of theWorld, it'll just be the end of yours." It was an intriguing promo to start the show, and I quite enjoyed it myself. I'm just wondering how long they can keep carrying this 'Best in the World versus Best in the World' slogan before people start getting tired of it.

CM Punk versus Daniel Bryan ended in a no contest after John Laurinaitis' ruling due to Sheamus throwing future opponent Daniel Bryan back into the ring and straight into a GTS from Punk. The match up until the messy finish was a solid and entertaining bout, with crisp back and fourth action between the two. There were unfortunately too many interferences for my liking, which marred it a bit for me. First Laurinaitis distracted Punk on the apron before the bell, then Otunga and Santino Marella also jumped up on the apron to cause distractions. AJ also prevented Punk from performing a diving attack to Bryan on the outside. It was just all a bit much for a match with this talent which could have been even better.

Afterwards Laurinaitis and Punk argued until Teddy Long entered the ring and pushed the Raw Interim GM over. As they continued to argue Chris Jericho attacked Punk form behind and scoop slammed him onto the stage floor, and also applied the Walls of Jericho. CM Punk supposedly had to be helped to the trainers room after the attack.   

Kelly Kelly defeated Nikki Bella in a forgettable and mediocre Divas bout. Not much else to add, except why isn't the Divas Champion (and one of the few standout and capable female wrestlers in the company) Beth Phoenix not in regular action instead? 

Before he faced Cena, The Miz had to get a few grievances off his chest, including the fact that he is tired of the way he's been treated recently, which I totally agree with. Miz worked damn hard to improve his overall abilities in pro wrestling, which should prove an inspiration to the average wrestlers appearing on Superstars and NXT every week who moan about getting underutilised when they can't be asked to even work to improve themselves. Since his title reign he's been treated as a joke, rather then pushed still like he should've been. He carried on "In the past year, no one has worked harder then me!" Which is actually a pretty fair comment when you think about it.

He finished the speech by adding that he would prove his WrestleMania-worthy by defeating the man he beat at last years. It was a well performed promo and one that spoke a lot of truth, The Miz does deserve better treatment then he's received. All the while it was going on Cena just had a goofy grin on his face, treating Miz as a joke. Which only served to diminish the promo.

John Cena defeated The Miz in an average bout, which was actually better then I was expecting. Despite a strong enough start it went downhill a bit after Cena performed his signature finishing routine and forced Miz to tap to the STF. Just too predictable and boring. 

Epico and Primo (c) defeated the team of Kofi Kingston and R-Truth and the team of Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat tag team match to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles. It was an action packed and exciting match up, and definitely one of the best tag team title matches I've seen in WWE for a long while. All men gave a good effort in the well-constructed tag bout. Epico grabbed the win after throwing Kingston out of the ring and pinning Swagger.   

After the match Kane came out and took out all the participants, it was only R-Truth who put up a bit of a fight.  This is the Kane that I enjoy, the one who just wreaks havoc on everyone.

Teddy Long stormed into John Laurinatis's office and they began arguing once again, this time though it was revealed that there was a rumour that Laurinaitis wouldn't be in charge of Raw next week by Long. And Laurinatis revealed another rumour that Teddy wouldn't be in charge of the blue brand any longer. Long ended the argument by calling Laurinaitis a "horse's ass."

Eve tried to explain her actions (using Zack Ryder to get noticed in the company and then Cena) by saying how hard it is for a woman to live in a "man's world." She added that she couldn't help that men fall prey to her good looks, and that they should blame themselves for their weaknesses. In this promo she showed more character and gained more reaction from the crowd then she ever has before. This was a smart move turning her heel in this fashion. 

Before the following tag team match, Cody Rhodes once again presented a VT of another embarrassing WrestleMania moment for Big Show. This time from his contest with Floyd Mayweather at WrestleMania XXIV. 

Sheamus and Big Show defeated Mark Henry and Cody Rhodes in a short and simple match which only served to build up the Big Show and Rhodes feud and Royal Rumble winner Sheamus.

Finally The Rock entered the ring to a huge ovation. After a fair share of chanting The Rock admitted that he doesn't appear ever week, and also that without WWE and the fans "The Rock would never exist." He explained that when he said he was never leaving the company he didn't mean that he would literally be on every Raw and actually stick around. Erm, okay. He carried on to explain that what he meant was that the WWE would always be a part of him.

Rocky then said that he no longer sees Cena as a phoney, the guy who graduated from private school and became the 'Doctor of Thuganomics', but the real deal. He went on to say that he now sees him as a "kung pow bitch." Catchy line, and one that I'm sure achieved the desired reaction from the audience.

The Rock also claimed that last week when Cena said that he was fighting for everyone in the locker room in their upcoming match, it resided with 'The Great One'. He said that no one has fought for the biggest wrestlers such as Austin and Triple H, but the wrestlers themselves. He added that he instead was fighting for the people, the same people who are "so sick and tired of having a kung pow bitch shoved down their throats every single night." He went on to take credit for actually making Cena more interesting this year, saying that the only interesting thing he's done on his own is change his 1990's jean shorts to camo shorts.

This was when Mr. Cena joined Rocky. Cena explained that he was also once a fan of The Rock too, until he met Dwayne Johnson, who according to him is egotistical and self centred, he then left. The Rock told Cena that The Rock and Dwayne Johnson are one and the same person, and that at WrestleMania he will kick Cena's ass. 

It was a charismatic, confident and memorable promo, which is pretty much what you expect from 'The People's Champ'. Overall Raw ranged from average to very entertaining. With the highlights being the Tag Team Title match, Bryan versus CM Punk and The Rock's promo.