By Ryan Kester

John Cena and Daniel Bryan

John Cena and Daniel Bryan had a great Raw. Both men delivered strong promos for why they wanted to walk out of SummerSlam with the WWE Championship while respecting the threat of their opponent. If that was all that went into their build last night, then it would have been brilliant.

Unfortunately, the McMahon family drama story is threatening to envelope a good feud with nonsense. The McMahon story is only distracting from the build for SummerSlam's main event, and it's doing so at the detriment of what could be a breakout moment for Bryan's career.

The show-closing bit with Randy Orton was well done and added an extra wrinkle to the WWE Title picture. While it remains to be seen whether WWE is ready to pull the trigger on Orton's cash in at SummerSlam or not, they have at least planted the seed. That possibility alone could help sell some buys for the big show.

CM Punk and Brock Lesnar

If there's one thing that can be appreciated about the McMahon storyline getting tied to the main event story, it's that it has been kept far from the Punk vs. Heyman and Lesnar story. This has been a nice, slow build with a clear story.

The brawl between Lesnar and Punk was great. It upped the intensity from their last scuffle, and Punk got in more offense than he did before. I like the note from Michael Cole that Punk was only laid out after he let his anger get the best of him and took his eye off of Lesnar. It's a simple idea, but it helps this feud stand out against the work Punk has done the past few years as a careful tactician.

Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez

This came out of nowhere. Rodriguez has always added to Del Rio's act, and it's unfortunate to see Del Rio turn on him in such a way that would be impossible for them to continue together.

Del Rio's assault did exactly what WWE intended for it to do; it made him look vicious and drew great heat from the live crowd. I'm simply not convinced that one night of good heat is worth taking away one of the few aspects of Del Rio's act that made him stand out from the rest of the roster.

Overall Show

Last night's show was underwhelming. There was some good story progression involved, but the pacing was simply off. This was the first show in weeks that felt like it took three hours to get through.

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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