My WWE Raw, April 16th 2012 Recap

CM Punk (c) defeated Mark Henry in a no disqualification and no count out match to retain the WWE Championship. The bout itself was fair enough, Punk worked hard, but then he had to considering what he had to work with. The use of the steel chair was also welcomed as they needed to add some kind of variety to the match considering they've tussled for the last two weeks straight.  

Afterwards Chris Jericho appeared on the big screen (as he does) and congratulated the champ on retaining. He also went on to announce that at Extreme Rules they will compete in a Chicago Street Fight for the WWE Championship. Punk claimed he was relishing the chance to kick Jericho's "ass" in front of his family and friends in his hometown. Jericho then showed footage of Punk walking into a pub earlier in the day, the champion explained that he was just meeting a friend in there. Y2J went on to call Punk's straight edge lifestyle a "facade" as he claimed he was getting closer to alcoholism like his father. The segment between them was decent enough, just felt quite similar to past material though.

Santino Marella (c) defeated David Otunga to retain the United States Championship in a clumsy and forgettable title match. Why out of all the up and coming talent do we have to endure Otunga being pushed? 

Brock Lesnar gave a candid and entertaining interview where he spoke of his past accomplishments, including winning the UFC Heavyweight title (complete with images, surprisingly enough). He also added that unlike Cena he wasn't fake, he was a genuine "ass kicker" who didn't come back to the WWE for the fans or anyone else but himself.   

Before Zach Ryder versus Kane could even begin Kane took out Ryder, thereby making the already weakened Ryder character look even more pathetic after being duped by Eve and loosing consecutively over the last few weeks. Kane then grabbed a mic and bragged about taking out Randy Orton and his father Bob Orton on last weeks SmackDown.

Backstage Daniel Bryan interrupted AJ and Kofi Kingston as they were talking and announced that he was formally changing the name of the LeBell lock to the Yes lock, as he claims he's better then Gene LeBell ever was. The crowd in England were thoroughly behind Bryan with strong chants of "Yes!" to go along with his own. 

John Cena stated on the mic that after a year of "catchphrases" and "wanting to put on a good show" (talking about The Rock obviously) Lesnar has come back and "simply stands for destruction." He went on to claim that when he faces Lesnar he will prepared for a fight. John Laurinaitis then booked Cena in a Extreme Rules match for that night.    

Daniel Bryan defeated Kofi Kingston in a solid enough match up. Considering the talent involved I was maybe expecting a little more, but it was entertaining don't get me wrong and definitely match of the night. The crowd were also thoroughly behind Bryan throughout the contest, which made it even more entertaining. After the bout Bryan locked on the Yes Lock (which had won him the match) until Sheamus raced down and chased him off.

Brodus Clay won via disqualification versus Dolph Ziggler after Jack Swagger entered the ring, only to be taken out by 'The Funkasaurus'. Ziggler deserves better treatment than this, he should be in a high profile match heading into Extreme rules after his showings earlier in the year. 

Big Show and The Great Khali defeated Primo and Epico in a worthless match that did nothing at all for the talented tag team champions and promoted the out of shape and barely talented duo of Big Show and Khali. The only reason I can imagine for this burying was Vince still being annoyed over Primo rightfully saying that he and Epico deserved a higher spot in the company as the champions on Twitter.  

Lord Tensai defeated John Cena in an Extreme Rules match. The bout itself ranged from average to pretty enjoyable, with interferences from both David Otunga and Tensai's assistant, or whatever he is. Although there were obstacles in Cena's way, the face that Tensai was allowed to pin Cena like this is a good sign for his future.