By Ryan Kester

John Cena and Daniel Bryan

I can't say I am impressed by the McMahon storyline being shoved into the middle of the John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan build for SummerSlam. WWE has plenty of material to work with from the two men's history to make the match feel special on its own, and the inclusion of the McMahons arguing over whether or not Daniel Bryan is worthy of the shot is muddying the waters. Last night gave the impression that the match is more about the McMahons' power struggle than it is about the match's participants, and that is a mistake.

Now, even though I feel this isn't the best story to be told, the chances for Daniel Bryan to prove his worth does give fans even more reason to rally behind him. The proving matches will and have helped get Bryan more over than he was before, but the story involved should still be primarily about Bryan's feud with the champion he's going after, not Bryan having to prove himself to his boss.

CM Punk and Paul Heyman

This week's Punk and Heyman interaction was a nice change of pace. While the two men are amazing on the mic with their verbal chemistry, a week off from the exchanges did the feud wonders. Punk getting his hands on Heyman without being able to extract his revenge was a good tease, and it intensifies the anticipation for that final physical payoff.

That being said, where is Curtis Axel going to end up in all of this? He's fighting an uphill battle to get some heat as it is, yet he's been positioned as Heyman's fall guy for the past several weeks. Axel is a good tool for WWE to have at its disposal for the exact reason he was used last night, but if they're wanting to actually get a good midcard heel act out of him, this isn't going to help.

The Wyatt Family and Kane

The Wyatt Family finally made their way back to Kane, and while the segment was solid, it left me wondering where the feud is going. Kane certainly has a track record a mile long for putting new acts over, but he's also fresh off of his split from Daniel Bryan and a lost feud to Dean Ambrose. There isn't much that can be grained from the three men being able to overcome him at this point.

I remain thoroughly impressed with Wyatt's dedication to his act. He's come a long, long way since his last run on WWE television, and that dedication is what makes what could be an absolutely ridiculously over-the-top act believable and engaging.

Overall Show

Last night's show was a serviceable edition of Raw. We received plenty of storyline advancement, but the show definitely lost a certain vibe from being prerecorded. WWE is still managing the three hour format better than they have for the majority of its run, which makes the off weeks more bearable.

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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