Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: John Cena chooses to give Daniel Bryan a shot at the WWE Championship, CM Punk and Paul Heyman steal the show, and Bray Wyatt gives his first crazed promo

By Ryan Kester

John Cena and Daniel Bryan

It's good to see Daniel Bryan being kept in the main event picture following his loss at Money in the Bank rather than feuding with Curtis Axel, the man that cost him the match. There's simply no getting around how much of a step back it would be for Bryan, who's getting such a strong, consistent crowd reaction, to be used to bolster another act.

This is going to be an interesting feud, and one that could make or break the hottest act WWE has. WWE is going to have to be careful with how they position these two men over the next few weeks, and whether the plan is to move the belt onto Bryan or not, he needs to be treated as a threat to the title by Cena and the announcers.

CM Punk and Paul Heyman

The exchange between Paul Heyman and CM Punk was phenomenal. They quickly established that it was a moment you'd want to pay complete attention to, and they delivered a great performance. I've said a lot about how Dolph Ziggler needs a defining babyface moment that calls fans to rally behind his character. For Punk, this was his moment, and it was executed with a master stroke from two of the best talkers WWE has. If you missed this segment for whatever reason, do yourself the favor of seeking it out.

Brock Lesnar's subsequent attack did a great job of reestablishing Lesnar's monster status while making Punk look like a babyface that simply wouldn't back down. If the participants can keep this intensity going throughout the entire feud, this will be a fun one to watch.

The Wyatt Family

When the Wyatt's music first hit this week, I worried that we'd see an attack that was a carbon copy of the one Kane received last week. Luckily, this week's Wyatt Family attack focused on the centerpiece of the act, and we got to see how Wyatt handled himself on a bigger stage.

I was impressed. Wyatt is completely committed to the cult leader character, and both his mic work and the little subtleties of his body language played into the character well. I've been enjoying this act during their NXT stint, and I am glad that it's translated so well to WWE television.

The call out to Kane at the end of the segment piqued my interest. All too often, debuting heel acts spend weeks working their gimmick against undercard acts ad nauseum with no real inclination towards a feud or story. Whether Kane is joining the group or will be Wyatt's first WWE feud remains to be seen, but it's good to see that WWE already has a direction in mind.

Overall Show

Last night's Raw was a strong follow up to Money in the Bank. I wish WWE spent some more time focusing on the two winners of the actual MitB contracts, but they did so much last night to start feuds for SummerSlam that it may have simply been too much for one show.

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.