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Pruett's Pause: WWE Raw SuperShow - Big Show weakly over-acts his heel turn, Tensai loses his Lord-ship, C.M. Punk and Daniel Bryan continue, John Cena bullies John Laurinaitis some more

Posted in: Pruett Editorials, MUST-READ LISTING
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May 22, 2012 - 11:15 AM

By Will Pruett

- It is actually borderline offensive for Jerry Lawler to refer to Over The Limit as the darkest night in WWE history. I won't bring up all of the darker nights that WWE has experienced (aside from Beware of Dog, which was shut down by a power outage in 1996), but this, even in kayfabe, can't be in the top ten.

- At first, I wondered if John Cena's opening promo on Raw was there to downplay every single loss he has taken in he last few months. He talked about how he came out every week and it made them seem unimportant as a whole.

- The way John Cena dealt with his loss at Over The Limit was strange. It was like watching an in-ring therapy segment go on for too long. His acting was not strong enough to justify the time or the scripting of this segment.

- While I'm on the subject of bad acting, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Big Show. He may be able to summon real tears, but his acting is just atrocious. Anger, sadness, and happiness don't suit him well. Show is a huge specimen, but he has been stretched beyond his limits.

- On the May and June pay-per-views in 2009 John Cena battled Big Show. That was when Show was 50-100 pounds lighter and the feud was fresher. Now, the feud still feels like a stale retread and Show is out of shape. Why should I want to watch No Way Out again?

- Big Show resigned Saturday, so both he and John Laurinaitis should have been fired, right? The lack of attention to detail in WWE's stories given all of the people they have working for them in creative is atrocious. If they want to be treated like every other type of entertainment (the TV shows they compare themselves to), then they should actually try.

- David Otunga has apparently never seen any of his matches with John Cena. They are always under three minutes and they never seem to go his way. I'd expect a professional athlete to watch his own tape on occasion.

- I would love to see Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins has a tag team that is heavily featured on WWE programming. I was excited to see them run down to beat up John Cena for Laurinaitis, but disappointed to see them followed by other heels as well.

- I liked the choice to give Sheamus some rub by making him friends with John Cena for the night. I also enjoy the fact that another babyface finally ran down to help Cena.

- Santino, for no apparent reason, decided to come out and bully Ricardo Rodriguez. This is a sad example of how to act to children who may watch WWE partially because of the "Be A Star" message. It is so easy to have babyfaces act like babyfaces, but somehow WWE misses it on a nightly basis.

- How many commercials did we have to see before we got to a real match (Cena vs. Otunga doesn't count)? Even in that real match, there was a commercial just a few moments in. This was a frustrating first 50 minutes of Raw.

- Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton had an okay match going before Chris Jericho's interference. I like the continuance of the four-way rivalry coming out of Over The Limit. I expect them to have two singles matches at No Way Out, but these four could stay intertwined with each other for a long time.

- Chris Jericho was quite good at playing deranged and intense in his segment with Orton. I don't remember if we have ever seen them in a major feud (aside from Orton's punt putting Jericho out in 2010), and I am very much looking forward to the prospect.

- The ads for Smackdown during Raw are actually terribly embarrassing.

- Daniel Bryan's promo about being robbed was exactly what I expected from him after the Over The Limit match and ending. He did a nice job of emphasizing just how close he was and how he could make Punk tap out next time.

- While I was expecting a great C.M. Punk promo discussing how he beat Bryan, I got a promo introducing a heel in Kane. That was an odd moment. I don't see why Punk was suddenly friends with Kane, or why Kane would agree to this.

- Punk encouraging and reveling in the beating of Bryan by Kane was another odd moment where a babyface celebrated the bullying of a heel, when the heel didn't seem to deserve it. This was an odd step in this feud and an unnecessary one.

- A.J. Is doing a tremendous job of playing the crazy girlfriend. She really is both insane and charming.

- Christian squashing Jinder Mahal was fun. I do wish that Mahal was either suited with a better gimmick or just off TV. Right now he is in the middle zone where I just dread seeing him.

- Beth Phoenix is still being pushed in the Diva's division. She definitely has the talent for it in the ring, but her act is stale now. She's been on top of this division for a long time doing the same exact thing. Phoenix can't really expand her act, because her acting ability doesn't allow it.

- Poor Tensai is no longer a Lord. It seems that his de-push is now beginning with the loss of his title. Of course, it should continue with some new, less distinct tights that don't make him look like a fat ninja.

- The main event handicap lumberjack match being called a "first time ever" extravaganza was silly. We also haven't seen a Hell in a Cell Ladder Lumberjack Match on Raw, but we all know that would be a poor choice.

- A major brawl broke out, with most of the WWE roster involved in it. Did the cameras stay with that, because of the talent that was participating in it and how important it could be? No. Instead they followed John Cena to the back. They never went back to the brawl. Once John Cena left, the roster meant nothing.

- Why is John Cena mad at John Laurinaitis again?

I really disliked this episode of Raw. It wasn't my standard dislike, it was advanced dislike. The story that the show told was thunderously disappointing. Between the story of John Cena and Big Show promising to be disappointing at best and looking to be horrid at the moment, and the lack of compelling stories told during the rest of the show, this was an all around sad Raw. I think we can officially declare ourselves in the midst of the Summer lull of WWE.

Looking forward, where does WWE have to go? Cena is now more important than everyone else. Even the camera crew showed it! I am one of the few columnist that regularly defends John Cena's act, but this was absolutely awful. WWE delivered a bad show that may have been the worst of the year.

Let's do some good old fashioned talking about this show! Feel free to email me at itswilltime@gmail.com or to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/itswilltime.

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