My WWE Raw, April 9th 2012 Recap

John Laurinaitis started off the show by introducing the "new face of the WWE" Brock Lesnar. The reaction for Brock, who thanked Laurinaitis so is clearly a heel, was mixed. John Cena soon joined them both and slapped Lesnar in the face. Obviously this didn't go down so well and they began to brawl in the ring until a large group of the locker room and officials separated them. Lesnar even caused Cena to bleed from the mouth somehow, possibly a broken tooth which only added to the drama. Not a bad way to start the show.

Brodus Clay and Santino Marella defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger in a fair enough tag team match. Clay was finally forced to be more competitive and has also finally been put into a real feud which has already made him a bit more interesting again, which I've been begging for for months now. My only gripe with the bout was that Clay pinned Ziggler, I would've had him pin the man without a major future in the company, Swagger. This didn't do any favours for Dolph who was on a great roll earlier in the year.  

Backstage John Cena confronted an angered Laurinaitis, who wanted an explanation for slapping Lesnar, and warned him that he's not afraid to get his hands dirty and would happily face any opponent that night. The fact that the blood was still on Cena's face was a nice touch and added more belief to his statement.  

R-Truth defeated Cody Rhodes in a very short bout after Big Show once again distracted Cody. This isn't really doing anything at all for Rhodes, who I hope will be put into a new rivalry soon.

Lord Tensai defeated Yoshi Tatsu in a squash match. Tensai looked solid enough here, although he's still not getting a major reaction from the crowd. 

CM Punk defended his choice of choosing a straight edge lifestyle, stating it was never something he thought would make him "cool" or help get him over in the company, but a personal choice of life he wanted to live. He went on to accuse Chris Jericho of taking things "one step too far" after smashing a bottle of Jack Daniels over his head on last weeks Raw, he claimed the smell from the alcohol reminded him of his father.

Chris Jericho appeared on the big screen and claimed Punk was looking a little hungover, and stated that the fans were now witnessing Punk as a "looser." The WWE Champion said that he planned on using the dark place Jericho had put him in and warned Y2J that this rivalry between them was no longer about who the best in the world was, but about "kicking your ass!" It was another brilliant segment between the two, especially Punk's display on the mic which was damn near perfect with its aggression.        

Mark Henry won via disqualification versus CM Punk (c) with the WWE Championship on the line. The match was kept brief (which is always good with the dull Henry involved) as the irate Punk snapped and attacked Henry with a television monitor from the announce desk. Jericho then made his way out, distracting Punk and allowing Henry to then get his own back on the champ with some World Strongest Slams. Y2J Codebreakered Punk and once again poured alcohol all over him.

Alberto Del Rio defeated Zach Ryder in a decent enough effort from both men. Unfortunately this was also another nail in the coffin of the supposed 'Ryder Revolution' from last year. It's so disappointing to see WWE drop the ball so badly with the once over and seriously popular Ryder, a man who managed the near impossible and made the United States Championship relevant again.

The celebrity guests the Three Stooges performed a boring and forgettable skit where Curly morphed into Hulk Hogan. The fans reacted in the right way by either booing or just sitting in silence. When will Vince realise that wrestling fans don't tune into Raw to see celebrities shamelessly promote their products in boring segments? Fortunately Kane came out and chokeslammed Curly.

In a backstage interview Brock Lesnar spoke about how proud he was of everything he's accomplished, and was even allowed to mention winning the UFC Heavyweight title and (rightfully) claiming that Cena could "never hold my jockstrap in a million years," both of which provoked a good reaction. He also conformed that he is what we have been needing in WWE as of late, an "ass kicker" and a bad ass. 

John Cena defeated David Otunga in a mediocre match up, which was better then I was expecting from Otunga vs Cena to be honest. In between Otunga's powerful moves he stopped to flex his muscles for added heat.

Afterwards the 'War Machine' Lesnar low blowed and F5'd Cena. Laughing as he left the victor in a heap.  

Overall it was a decent enough Raw, although there unfortunately weren't any particularly outstanding matches. CM Punk and Jericho's segment was without a doubt the highlight for me, this feud could certainly last a little while yet.