Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: Brock Lesnar breaks Shawn Michael's arm, CM Punk continues his slow turn, and Dolph Ziggler pins Chris Jericho heading into SummerSlam

By Ryan Kester

Triple H and Brock Lesnar

WWE needed to do a hard sell for this match this week and for the most part they accomplished their goal. Paul Heyman served as the hard sell MVP with his heelish antics to the way he sold Lesnar "breaking" HBK's arm.

My problem with this final sell is that it seems to paint the picture for triple H going over on Sunday. If that is indeed the plan, then WWE is making a huge mistake. Lesnar is already down one in the big win department and he "quit" the WWE once already. If they have Triple H go over on Sunday, they will have wasted their money and any remaining mystique the Lesnar character had.

CM Punk, John Cena, and Big Show

I remain convinced that the slow burn heel turn is a mistake in regards to Punk. I feel like He should already be at the gathering massive amounts of heat stage with his character rather than piddle farting around in mixed tags and matches against fellow heels. This looks and feels like WWE is testing the waters and their tentativeness with Punk is making the WWE Championship match rather unappealing and lukewarm when it could be white hot with a fully heel Punk on the mic.

Getting past my reservations with Punk and how he is being handled, WWE is doing a good job of building the Punk and Cena rivalry up while having Big Show around to take the fall and extend the life of their feud. I would be shocked if Show didn't take the pin this Sunday or was used to knock out Cena before Punk steals his pin. Again, I don't agree with the general direction Punk is going with in regards to Punk, but they are doing a decent job with the direction they have chosen.

Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho

I remain excited to see Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho wrestle this Sunday and I enjoyed the work they put into their build last night. Jericho's assertion that he will win is normally reserved for babyfaces that are actually going to win, but I could easily see him putting Ziggler over in spite of his guarantee.

I liked the visual of Ziggler pinning Jericho off of the Walls of Jericho on the Miz. This feud is about building up Ziggler for his main event spot and it's doing wonders in making him feel like a bigger deal than he did a month ago.

Overall Show

Last night's show was far from perfect. Several segments dragged on and on and the three hour format continues to give WWE some hiccups. Still, there are signs of improvement present, but I wish WWE would have done more to make it feel like one of the biggest PPVs of the year were right around the corner. As it stands, SummerSlam feels as important as Money in the Bank did the month prior.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester.