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With the craziness of WrestleMania now officially behind us, we begin what is traditionally a down period for WWE. Generally from April through July, WWE goes into its post-WrestleMania lull. That's a scary thought because although many of the programs leading into Mania were good, the two biggest angles have concluded (The Undertaker & Triple H and anything involving The Rock). It is far too early to have a buyrate for WrestleMania, but February's Elimination Chamber PPV had a shockingly low buyrate for a show that had traditionally been one of the better drawing PPVs of the year. Even if WrestleMania draws a good buyrate (600,000 domestic?), it is likely to be an aberration because this month's Extreme Rules PPV is going to be a major bomb, especially coming the day after what will be one of the largest UFC shows of the year. And if anyone thinks that the upcoming Over The Limit, Capitol Punishment, or Money in the Bank PPVs are going to do big business, I'd really like to hear your reasoning. One would think MITB might do fine, but last year's was a huge disappointment so I don't expect any change this year.
I thought last week's Raw was a good show for the first hour and 45 minutes. Then unfortunately, John Cena came out. This man, who just was screwed out of the WWE CHAMPIONSHIP in the MAIN EVENT of WRESTLEMANIA, the BIGGEST SHOW OF THE YEAR, came to the ring with a huge goofy smile on his face. He immediately began telling jokes about losing last night. He congratulated The Miz on retaining the title, and even went as far to say that he never wants another match with him. Um, why? Wouldn't you want a fair shot at winning the championship? Well hell, after how awful their match was at Mania, I really hope I never see this match again either. However, despite what Cena said last week, I still think we end up seeing Miz vs Cena at Extreme Rules because frankly I don't see how you set up a new challenger for Miz over the next three weeks. Maybe you could throw Orton in there, but I don't think anyone is salivating for another Orton vs Miz match.
Anyway, The Rock came out next. The crowd loved The Rock and chanted 'Fruity Pebbles' at Cena, which again of course, caused Cena to laugh with a huge smile on his face as the fans basically told him he was a joke. Then the unthinkable happened. The Rock told Cena he respected him and that Cena was one of the best champions in WWE history. The 'WWE Universe' HATED this and let them know it. It was the first time that The Rock was booed. WWE managed to do the unthinkable. Instead of having Cena get the positive rub from being accepted by The Rock, The Rock actually got the negative rub by being associated with Cena. If that doesn't tell WWE how much Cena's character is hated, then nothing will. And word is backstage many were quite unhappy with how the angle played out on Monday, including John Cena. Anyway, Cena then challenged The Rock to a match. The Rock suggested that they do it at WrestleMania XXVIII (2012) in Miami. Cena agreed, and the two shook hands. This should have been one of the biggest moments in recent WWE history, and instead, it was greeted by almost indifference from the crowd. Again, there were many unhappy within WWE about this, but honestly, how could they not see this coming? Any one of us here could have told Vince ahead of time that having The Rock and John Cena become best friends before actually having a match, no less a match that is a year away, would not go over well with the fans. Plus, of all the buildup we had for weeks of The Rock hating John Cena was thrown out the window. We never really got a conclusion because the only physical contact The Rock got on Cena was a single Rock Bottom at WrestleMania, and now when they fight a year from now, it will be two friends facing each other. Fans were desperate to see The Rock kick Cena's *** at WrestleMania or on Raw, and it didn't happen. This has to be considered one of the biggest examples of WWE dropping the ball on a major money angle in recent history. Plus, now you won't have The Rock on TV again anytime in the foreseeable future. Fans were excited for his return this time, but after seeing him leave as Cena's best friend, I don't know if he'll draw anywhere near the buzz when he returns later in 2011 or early in 2012.
Other big things from last week's Raw:
- Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler opened as the announce team for Raw which was a great surprise but unfortunately lasted only for a few segments.
- Triple H cut a good promo putting over how brutal his match with The Undertaker was last night. I would have preferred they kept Triple H off TV for at least a week to sell the injuries of the match, but since Triple H probably won't be on TV, it was fine. He said when The Undertaker eventually comes back, he'll be waiting. This is presumably setting up a rematch at WrestleMania XXVIII.
- Michael Cole came out in his singlet and head gear to put over his big "win" over Jerry Lawler at WrestleMania. Cole said Lawler would get a rematch, but it would be a rematch of his Raw match from last week against Jack Swagger. Lawler went after Cole during the match, and Swagger eventually caught Lawler and made him tap to the ankle lock. After the match, Cole went to his Cole Mine and found JR's BBQ Sauce inside. Cole was outraged and proceeded to squirt the BBQ sauce directed in JR's face and eye. JR chased after Cole to the back, and this would be the last we would see of JR. Cole, Matthews, and Booker were the announce team for the rest of the show.
- Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio beat CM Punk and Cody Rhodes when Orton pinned Rhodes clean in the middle of the ring after an RKO. Right after Rhodes had momentum from a nice WrestleMania win, he is pinned cleanly for absolutely no reason by Randy Orton, someone who needs clean wins less than anyone in WWE.
- Steve Austin came out with the Tough Enough geeks (I did actually enjoy Tough Enough, but we'll see if it keeps my interest past week 1). They had each contestant introduce themselves which of course was a crowd killer. Eventually The Miz came out to tell the Tough Enough guys this was the closest they would be to the WWE Title. Miz asked Austin if he had one more match in him. Austin told the Tough Enough geeks to clear the ring. Alex Riley jumped Austin from behind as The Miz left. Austin got the best of Riley, hit a Thesz Press and finished him off with a Stunner. This was fun until Austin tossed beers to all of the Tough Enough geeks which everyone hated.
- John Cena needed to take notes on this next segment. Alberto Del Rio came to the ring and he was actually PISSED OFF. Unbelievable. He loses a title match at WrestleMania and he's mad about it. Del Rio squashed Evan Bourne.
- Since we didn't get the match on WrestleMania, we got Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan for the United States Title tonight. Too bad it was a quick 2-3 minute basic squash with Sheamus getting the win. I've lost hope on Bryan in WWE. If he's released in the coming month's it wouldn't surprise me at all. Sheamus continued to beat on Bryan after the match when Sin Cara debuted to make the save. Yes, he botched his entrance into the ring slightly, but he had a good quick showing that ended with a spectacular springboard top rope plancha to the outside onto Sheamus.
Just a reminder that Tough Enough airs at 8PM ET tonight before Raw (and it airs right after Raw as well). If I'm home in time, I'll watch before Raw. Otherwise, I'll just catch it on DVR later on. I really, really, really hope Michelle gets eliminated because I hated her. 11 years my ***.
