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Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: Triple H forces Big Show to knock out Daniel Bryan, CM Punk promises to break Paul Heyman's face, and Cody Rhodes loses his career for speaking up

Posted in: Kester Editorials, MUST-READ LISTING
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Sep 4, 2013 - 09:35 AM

By Ryan Kester

Daniel Bryan and The McMahon Regime

WWE is dead set on putting heat on the new heel authority figure and his chosen champion. On this Raw, Stephanie McMahon had her turn to receive the lion's share of the heat, and she played her role as the cold manipulator well.

While I want to make it clear that I am enjoying the story WWE is telling and the way they are willing to put legitimate heat on some heels, a quality lacking in the WWE product for years, I do hope WWE comes up with a different way to close Raw with this group for the next week. Having the heels be extremely powerful and be allowed to gain heat is one thing, but WWE is facing diminishing returns with the wrestlers on stage and increasingly extended assaults on Bryan. The core idea of giving Bryan more and more sympathy and building up the heat on the heels is solid, but by going back to the same well for the execution weak after weak, WWE is seeing less success with each repeat.

They are telling a good story; they just need to tell it in more than one way.

CM Punk

CM Punk gave a brief but very effective promo. WWE isn't usually as direct with the message of "order the PPV and you will see X," but Punk did a great job of establishing that he will get his hands on Heyman at Night of Champions. Whether that comes to pass or not, it is a great incentive for Punk's fans to order the show.

Personally, I hope WWE manages to stay the course and keep Punk off of Heyman for a little bit longer. The more they draw that payoff out, the better it is for everyone involved, and I simply don't get the impression that the angle is I need of Punk getting his revenge on Heyman this soon.

Cody Rhodes

While Rhodes is obviously on the way out for an extended spell, he had the best night of his career on Raw. From a great television match with Randy Orton to a passionate exit promo, Rhodes clicked with his babyface character in a way that I didn't expect. Whenever he eventually returns, I hope he can take some of what he did on Monday and carry it with him to a better position on the card.

It's moments like Rhodes had on Raw that draws me in so much to the current main storyline of WWE. Once one gets past that the two people headlining the new heel power duo are more than established accts, it's obvious that the heat they gather can be good for the babyfaces WWE needs to build up. Yes, the sight of a stage full of them doing nothing is troublesome, but the little moments of rebuttal like we got from Rhodes make the few that will be stepping up into heroes for the WWE audience. It opens up an avenue of storytelling in WWE that simply hasn't existed sin the past several years.

Overall Show

I enjoyed Raw. There were several solid matches and the current focus of building strong heat for WWE's heels is working for me.

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.

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