Powell's WWE Raw Hitlist: C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan, and A.J. drama, Eve gets under the skin of Punk, John Cena and Kane vs. Chris Jericho and Big Show, Anonymous General Manager payoff, Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler again

By Jason Powell

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WWE Raw Hits

C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan, and A.J.: If you don't care for this soap opera drama, then you must have really disliked Raw last night. This was the only compelling aspect of the show. That said, I'm ready for the next chapter. They have to have A.J. pick a side or move on to someone else at Money in the Bank. They can't drag out the triangle another month because they're definitely heading into overkill mode. I'm still intrigued heading into the pay-per-view, but I don't think I'll feel the same way on Monday if they don't forward the storyline at MITB.

Eve and C.M. Punk: An interesting backstage segment with Eve pointing out that Punk is overshadowed by a number of Raw wrestlers. Punk showed that her words got to him a bit, so I don't think we've seen the last of this. With Punk telling Cena that he would lead their tag team and now this segment, I'm curious to see where things go from here.

John Cena and Kane vs. Chris Jericho vs. Big Show: A minor Hit for a decent television tag match. Jericho was the most entertaining guy in the ring. They went out of their way to make Big Show look strong and made Kane look weak again in the process. Kane was better off in the A.J. saga than he has been in the build to MITB. Some of Cena's dialogue was odd during his promo, but it was good to see him show some passion and sell the pay-per-view as a must see event.

WWE Raw Misses

Overall show: The first hour was filled with throwaway squash matches and the overall show was bogged down with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler drama, and the Anonymous General Manager nonsense. The worst part is that Cole, Lawler, and Hornswoggle really don't have anything to do with the pay-per-view on Sunday. WWE failed when it came to making me more excited about Money in the Bank. In fact, I've lost enthusiasm for the Raw MITB match with each week that has passed since it was first announced.

Anonymous Raw General Manager: I mentioned a while back that I wouldn't go off if WWE delivered a payoff regardless of who the mystery person was. I was that anxious to finally get a payoff. The way this played out, maybe we were better off not knowing after all. I'm not sure whether it's better to abandon a top storyline once and for all or to abandon a top storyline, bring it back, and deliver a payoff that defies logic and reminds viewers that they wasted a lot of time on the whole mess.

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole: The 75 percent of the fans who voted to see this match can kiss my ass. I feel better now that that's off my chest. Why can't WWE let this go? Why can't they just have someone beat the hell out of Cole to the point that he's humbled and turns into a traditional play-by-play voice who actually has some level of credibility. Call me crazy, but that just might come in handy when you need the guy to sell angles and pay-per-views.

Sin Cara vs. Heath Slater: Heath Slater loses to retired wrestlers, yet somehow a win over Doink The Clown was apparently enough to put him in position for a chance to qualify for Money in the Bank. The Bob Backlund post match appearance was greeted by the sound of silence initially, but some of the fans got into it by the time Backlund got the best of Slater.