Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: John Cena defeats CM Punk, Brock Lesnar and Triple H brawl, and Jack swagger continues to build to a WrestleMania main event

By Ryan Kester

John Cena vs. CM Punk

This match was fantastic and served as a reminder of why everyone enjoyed this feud last time around. WWE does a decent job of keeping these two men apart and when they do meet it tends to be extremely entertaining. Last night was no different and I commend both men for putting on the best Raw main event in some time.

I'm glad that the main event of WrestleMania is established one way or the other. I've enjoyed Punk's involvement in the build as it kept things fresh, but we needed to know what the official match would be. I hope that The Rock and Cena have something in mind for their build to keep it from becoming a repeat of their build to last year's match that saw them undercut each other rather than sell the actual showdown.

Triple H and Brock Lesnar

This was a well-handled segment. The brawl between Triple H and Lesnar was intense and brutal and did a great job of bringing this feud back in a big way. I wasn't very crazy to see this match again when it was rumored, but I can get on board if they keep this momentum up.

Something that I feel is important to note is how Lesnar reacted at the end of the segment. In Lesnar's last run, he would have some chickenshit tendencies and would appear flustered when things didn't go as he planned. Now, he had a huge brawl with Triple H and left bloodied but smiling. Lesnar is acting and being presented as the beast that he should be, and it's got me interested to see what comes next.

Jack Swagger

I must admit, I was quite a bit shocked to see Swagger continuing on a build towards a WrestleMania title match following his arrest. I'm glad to see that he is, though, because I have enjoyed his work with Zeb Colter.

I wish I could say the same thing about Alberto del Rio. I was initially interested in the character again when he turned babyface, but Del Rio is struggling in his new role. He's simply one note on the mic and doesn't seem to know what direction to take his character in. I attribute a lot of that to creative, but it doesn't make his talking segments any more enthralling.

Overall Show

Last night's show had two extremely solid segments that were separated by massive amounts of filler and product placement. We are well into what is supposed to be the Road to WrestleMania, but WWE is failing to make the big show feel imminent. I attribute that to the burnout that comes with WWE's inability to book properly for weekly three hour Raws.

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.