Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: CM Punk aligns with Paul Heyman, Alberto Del Rio continues to get a renewed push, Vickie Guererro torments AJ, and Daniel Bryan and Kane once again steal the show

By Ryan Kester

CM Punk

CM Punk did great work last night. He's continuing to get over his latest character evolution with all of his respect talk, walking out on his hometown crowd, and if anyone was still holding out that he may be a tweener, Punk aligning with Paul Heyman should put that to rest.

That being said, I'm not completely sold on this idea. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure t will produce some great television moments, but I can't help but get the feeling that Punk does not need Heyman and if Heyman was willing to do work with more than just Lesnar I would have liked to see him paired with someone that actually needs the help getting over.

Alberto Del Rio

WWE hasn't put the entire hype machine behind Del Rio by any stretch of the imagination, but in short order they have had him pin Cena, which even cheap victories count for something against that man, and he tapped out Randy Orton clean. It's nice to see WWE finally give this man some rub; even if it's happened two months too late to get anyone caring about the Sheamus/Del Rio feud.

Vickie Guererro and AJ

I like and dislike this feud. I like the idea of giving Vickie some good old-fashioned heat again and I love anything that allows AJ to develop her crazy character more than her current GM role allows. However, the execution last night was off. They focused on AJ far too long after she got slapped around and it quickly made for uncomfortable television.

I think my main misgiving with where this is going is that AJ would make so much more of a convincing heel than she does as a babyface. She's over, that much is certain, but she could mean so much more if her antics were done for heat rather than cheers.

Daniel Bryan and Kane

This feud, or comedy sketch, or whatever you call the recent interactions between Daniel Bryan and Kane have been an absolute riot. From the anger management segments with Harold to the first ever "hug it out" match, Bryan and Kane have worked wonderfully off of each other thus far. This is the most compelling stuff Kane has done since he first spoke after putting his mask back on.

One has to wonder where WWER is going with this. Are they going to end up being a strange bedfellows tag team? Will we just get a string of solid to good matches at the next few PPV? In a rare occurrence, I don't really care; I'm content to enjoy the ride wherever this odd-yet-fun angle takes us.

Overall Show

More of the same from WWE. Some solid matches and a few advanced storylines, but it was all hindered or hurt by the three hour format. I'm someone that feels that the three hour shows could work, but not with their current execution. WWE needs to be shaking up the formula and they're just coasting.

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.