"WWE RAW SuperShow" 4-2-12 Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Penguin]

John Cena comes to the American Airlines Arena tonight having lost to The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII. CM Punk will still be the WWE Champion, as he was able to defeated Chris Jericho. Punk's title could still be in jeopardy however, as Team Johnny won the 12-man tag team match, meaning John Laurinaitis is now in command of both Monday and Friday nights.

In other RAW-related action, The Undertaker went to 20-0 over Triple H, Kelly Kelly & Insider host Maria Menounos beat Divas Champion Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres and Primo & Epico retained the Tag Team Championship on the pre-show.

WWE RAW #985
Monday, April 2, 2012 @ 9 p.m. ET/8 CT on USA Network

ROCK WINS - WHAT'S NEXT FOR CENA?
The Rock electrified Miami at WrestleMania XXVIII, and perhaps delivered the greatest shock of all to John Cena. The Cenation leader has remained completely silent since losing to The People's Champion, leaving some to speculate whether he has lost far more than a "Once in a Lifetime" Match.

WHAT WILL COME OF TEDDY NOW?
With Team Johnny reigning supreme at WrestleMania, John Laurinaitis now holds the fate of Theodore Long in his hands. But, WWE.com wonders, what exactly will that mean for the future of the longtime General Manager of SmackDown?


Please remember that not everyone reads spoilers for taped programs and direct or side comments about WWE shows that have yet to air are not acceptable in this thread. Additionally, spoilers for shows that air after the show that is the subject of this thread do not belong here.

 

[Kindness King]

WOW, a "Let's go, ZIGG-LER!" chant. Dolph has gotten mega over....

 

[Jin Kazama]

I like that they didn't think everyone was stupid and admitted that Tensai was Albert. Sadly, he didn't look that much more improved than he was before. I've heard good things from his Japan stay, though, so hopefully once he moves out of "squash match" territory, he can show some of that.

 

[Kindness King]

Abraham Washington? A manager who's not Vicki?!


It's official, tonight's RAW is the best of 2012 so far, end of story.

I like that they didn't think everyone was stupid and admitted that Tensai was Albert. Sadly, he didn't look that much more improved than he was before. I've heard good things from his Japan stay, though, so hopefully once he moves out of "squash match" territory, he can show some of that.

He looked pretty good, I thought. Good to see Alex Riley on TV again, squash or not.






EDIT: BROCK LESNAR!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Arrow]

And as The Rock heads back to Hollywood, Brock Lesnar returns to provide John Cena with his latest feud (and probably WrestleMania 29's main event). Interested to see where this goes. God, I'm only now remembering how catchy that theme is.

 

[RedNinja84]

Definitely the best Raw in a long time. It felt like an old school Raw after WM where the whole story line changed. The Miami crowd was hot but strange with cheering heels and booing faces. Though Lesnar returning was cool but wonder how long he will stick around.

 

[Jin Kazama]

Brock Friggin' Lesnar!!!

Between bringing back him and Jericho, it's like they wanted to apologize to me personally for a year of people I don't like in the main event (Orton, Henry, Del Rio) by re-hiring every wrestler I used to love.

I want at least one Punk/Lesnar match. I don't care if it's a throwaway Raw match or something, I just need to see that thing.

 

[The Talon]

Brock Lesnar.



BROCK. LESNAR. Oh, my, God.


This was a fantastic way to kick off the post-WrestleMania season.

 

[mumbo]

Miami is the best crowd ever. SI! SI! SI! SI!

The Rock in a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 29? I'll take it.

With Del Rio back and BROCK FREAKING LESNAR the main event scene in the WWE just got a lot better.

This Raw was literally perfect.

 

[Daxdiv]

Pretty good RAW. Really liked Brodus coming out and saving Santino after the fight. Guess that means since Lord Tensai appeared, Brodus is getting out of squashing Superstar regulars and into the big leagues. Then again I kind of had that feeling after his little show last night, since Cena did something like that.

Del Rio's return was also welcomed. I can see a triple threat match between Sheamus, Bryan and Del Rio in the future. That way Del Rio gets back into Main Event Status, Bryan gets his rematch and we get one neat match.

I also liked the Mark Henry vs CM Punk fight, especially with the Daniel Bryan and YES! Chants all the way through.

Also Brock Lesnar is back. I heard he signed a 1 year contract with the WWE. Hopes that means we see him more in the ring and not just a repeat of Cena vs Rock. Of course a Cena vs Lesnar fight is the first I expect since Cena was starting to pick up steam right around the time Lesnar left the WWE.

 

[hobbyfan]

Welcome back to:

Brock Lesnar! I hate to disappoint you guys, but Lesnar has unfinished business with Undertaker from UT visiting a UFC show a while back, so I think victim #21 just arrived.

Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez. Is it just me, or were the tech guys screwing around with Al's mic, teasing Rock coming back out for a RockBottom just for Al saying, "it doesn't matter"? Yo, April Fool's Day was Sunday.

Lord Tensai (formerly A-Train). The 8 years spent in Japan did him some good, but he ate a wee bit too much sushi, and is announced at 360, or 10 pounds more than he was before. At least the caveman hair is gone.

Abraham Washington made an appearance, a quick teaser if you will, on Smackdown 11 days ago, making his first pitch to Mark Henry. Hard to believe Abe toiled in FCW for 2 years before being recalled. Well, at least he ain't doing another bad talk show.......

But if they want Henry being managed by someone, why not call back laughing boy Tony Atlas?

What didn't work:

Eve's promo. Enough said. Watching paint dry would be a good equivalent.

Zack Ryder jobbing to Miz. I'm sorry, but that isn't right. Miz is being rebuilt, but he has no redeeming value at this point and needs to continue serving penance, IMPO.

What worked:

Lesnar. Enough said there, too.
Punk with a new name for John Laurinaitis. Anything to try to recapture Austin vs. McMahon, but when will they learn you can't catch lightning in a bottle twice?
Cody Rhodes getting his just desserts. Works for me.
Rock's farewell address, at least until they need him again this summer.

What we need:

A better GM. Laurinaitis already is stale because he became overexposed the last few weeks. The heel GM act is moldy as it is, and yet McMahon refuses to give it up. I say, he must. Now.

 

[Jin Kazama]

Something kind of fun that I realized last night, in one of those "stupid facts that no one cares about but is still kind of neat."

Brock Lesnar made his debut the night after Wrestlemania 18. He returned the night after Wrestlemania 28. I doubt that was intentional, but still neat.

It also made me think how much the dynamic has changed since we last saw Lesnar/Cena. Cena was just scratching at the main event for the first time, and that was his first real test of if he could hang with the big boys. Now that we're here for Lesnar/Cena II, they're both the biggest things in the company.

I kind of like how everything's coming around full circle.

 

[MDawg]

So outside of Lesnar's return, I think Daniel Bryan is possibly the most-over man in WWE now.

This happened after RAW - http://www.twitvid.com/S0RPE

And it was followed up by this
[video=youtube_share;nNhTzUNr9jM]http://youtu.be/nNhTzUNr9jM[/video]

 

[The Talon]

Alright, so here's what I liked from last night's RAW:

The Rock's promo. Very awesome mic segment from The Great One. It ends the Cena/Rock feud & sets up a comeback for Rock. It also set up the WWE Championship as the biggest title in all of the WWE.

CM Punk vs Mark Henry. Extremely good match from Punk & Henry. It built up Mark as the domiant force he was back in Fall 2011, & set up Punk as a vulnerable babyface. The post-match attack from Chris Jericho was heinous. It made him look so damn evil.

Also, Abraham Washington's back as Mark Henry's new manager. Pretty sweet I must say. It's always nice to see managers back in the WWE again, plus, AW is pretty good on the mic.

Lord Tensai's debut. Tensai looked like a complete monster in this squash. Though, i'm a little worried for Riley since Tensai was working really stiff in that match. Also, WWE's story for Lord Tensai is that A-Train left WWE to train in Japan & came back infatuated with Japanese that he became "Lord Tensai". Nice to see that WWE isn't trying to insult our intelligence by gimmick him some completely new background.

Santino vs Swagger & Ziggler. The match was pretty decent, but I liked the post-match action from Santino, Brodus, & Zig-Swag. Dolph took a SICK bump on the ramp with Brodus' headbutt. Plus, it looks like Funkasaurus might be in an actual storyline/feud. Also, someone needs to find me a gif of that dance party.

Brock Lesnar's return. Ten years after his post-WrestleMania X8 debut, Brock has made his return to WWE. I think he's going to be a heel from now on, though. Hopefully, we'll see Brock vs Cena sooner than later.

The Miami crowd. Easily the best/smarkiest crowd WWE's had in years. I think Bryan getting squashed at WrestleMania just might've been the best thing to happen for his career.

All in all, fantastic show from RAW last night, & I can't wait to see how WWE in general now moves forward after WrestleMania 28 now.

 

[Tanooki]

Probably the best RAW I've seen in a long, long time. And I LOVED the "Yes!" chants! Especially during the Punk/Henry fight. lol

 

[Kindness King]

How incredibly ironic it was that Laurinitis gave last night's RAW the unofficial "People Power" tagline. Boy, they had no idea.


Speaking of Laurinits, his first night as GM was great. He's not stale at all, he's got flair and is easily better than Bischoff was. I was glad to hear him tell Punk that he was going to defend the WWE belt on a more consistent basis. That's something that has been missing on RAW lately, more big title defenses.


Talon already said everything else I wanted to say, but I do have to add what an amazing crowd they had last night. I hope they have a decent one next week.

 

[Mr. Hypocrite]

I remember Brock Lesnar's last match...

AND IT STILL FILLS MY HEART WITH A RAGE THAT BURNS HOTTER THAN ONE MILLION SUNS!!!!!

That being said, it was a nice return. I don't hate John Cena, but I can't think of a better way to get yourself over right now than beating him up. And apparently neither could Brock.

My brother realized who Tensai was a mere second before he unmasked. I started to cotton on to the fact that there were no Japanese wrestlers as big as him that used to wrestle in the WWE, and then started to wonder more when I realized that the Titantron wasn't showing his face. It finally clicked though.

It was the lack of chest hair that kept his identity a secret I think. It's like he's a different person...pretending to be japanese.

Punk being forced to guzzle booze (which I assume wasn't booze) by Chris was heinous from an in-story perspective (since Punk is legitimately straight edge and all). Jericho is a real slime for that stunt.

Not a bad raw. So many old guys from the early to mid 2000's coming back. Rock, Jericho, Brock, and even Albert. I wonder who else we will see?

Anyone know where Batista is?

 

[hobbyfan]

Raw next week will be in Batista's hometown of Washington. Anyone care to guess if he also takes a shot at Cena?

 

[ToonFaithful]

I wonder what Shane Douglas has to say about Cena when we hit up Philly again

Anyways, wow....I was shocked when it first happened, not saying that I didn't expect it, but man 'o man was that pop loud. Glad to see Brock back. His return automatically changed the atmosphere, great things are coming for WWE.

That F-5....ouch! How dare Cena wears a Celtic colored shirt in the American Airlines Arena!

 

[EinBebop]

Punk being forced to guzzle booze (which I assume wasn't booze) by Chris was heinous from an in-story perspective (since Punk is legitimately straight edge and all). Jericho is a real slime for that stunt.

Not the first time Punk has done that for an angle... and actually, this all ties in humorously... Punk cut this great promo about how he hated Raven because Raven was a drunk like his father. This led to a brutal dog collar match, and if you don't have time for the whole thing, skip ahead to 40:00.

Edit... actually, the match video recaps the entire feud up until that point, including the promo from the first link.