By Will Pruett

- What is worse than one Nickelback song on Raw every week? The two Nickelback songs we’re going to hear since the Elimination Chamber theme is also by Nickelback. Poor choice WWE.

- John Laurinaitis was a ton of fun this week. I liked the idea of a heel authority figure trying to book a show that would be viewed as a critical and artistic success in order to keep his job. It was a new wrinkle on the heel authority figure that we have not seen before.

- The Raw Elimination Chamber looks like it will be a good match, but it does not pack the punch these matches have in the past. It does not have the star power that we are accustomed to seeing. This is not a bad thing, since it definitely has a youthful feel to it and six guys who will try to steal the show.

- The announcement and quick hype of Daniel Bryan vs. C.M. Punk was really well done. For the first time, Bryan seemed intense and focused, as well as arrogant. Punk’s constant assertion that he is the best wrestler in the world combatted well with Bryan’s idea of being a role model.

- While I can definitely see how Vince McMahon would find being a vegan a heelish tactic, I don’t believe this will come off quite as villainous to the other four million people that watch Raw.

- Sheamus got a huge pop when he entered for the opening. For anyone that says the Royal Rumble did not make a star, I point to that. Yes, he was a fan favorite before, but Sheamus is on the fast track to being larger than life now.

- John Laurinaitis is one of the highlights of Raw on a weekly basis. I hate myself for feeling that way.

- Wade Barrett hiding out in a luxury box and doing an interview segment during a match was actually quite a nice change of formula. I enjoyed the fact that WWE didn’t plug him in on commentary (which always leads to match interference), but still allowed him to make his points.

- Dolph Ziggler did not lose a thing by having a competitive match with Randy Orton. It is short-sighted to expect Ziggler to be main eventing WrestleMania, so give him some time. After ‘Mania there will be time to build him up and WWE can use these competitive matches as a means of doing so.

- Randy Orton is a main event star because he wins. Expecting him to lose all the time is unrealistic.

- William Regal had the line of the night with the conjoined twins locked in his attic.

- I love me some “Funkasaurus” but I do believe it is time to get him started into a story. Perhaps it is the two squash matches per week that he is performing in, but fans will tire of the act if he isn’t moved to the next phase soon. I still pop for Brodus, but others may not be the dedicated Funkasaurus follower that I am.

- WWE embarrasses themselves on a weekly basis with the stock adds for Smackdown.

- C.M. Punk and Daniel Bryan had an early contender for television match of the year. This was a very hard worked match that showed just how much these two wrestlers have developed over the years. Make no mistake about it; this was WWE style at its best with the intensity turned up to 10.

- People can get upset about an unadvertised Champion vs. Champion match, but they should just relax and appreciate the fact that we saw a great match on TV. Besides, most people that would be compelled to watch Bryan vs. Punk would pirate it instead of paying anyways.

- The non-finish in a match between two World Champions that will likely go on to WrestleMania with those titles definitely makes sense. Chris Jericho’s run in was another well done step in building a feud between himself and Punk.

- Daniel Bryan technically won the match again C.M. Punk, which should give him something awesome to brag about on Friday night. This character may not be the character best fitted to Bryan’s strengths, but he is doing great work with it.

- Perhaps not at a future WreslteMania, but I would love to see an Iron Man Match with Punk against Bryan. They can tell that story extremely well.

- Kofi Kingston beaing The Miz certainly came out of nowhere, but Kofi needed something going into the Elimination Chamber match. Miz needs to be rebuilt, but I do not believe that Raw is the place to do that.

- R-Truth was not obnoxious for the first time since his return on commentary. Nice work, Truth.

- David Otunga is another guy that is really growing into his role. I don’t love him, but his work backstage with John Laurinaitis has been solid.

- Here’s a crazy idea: what if Sheamus did commentary instead of Booker T on the Elimination Chamber show? This allows him to express some opinions about possible WreslteMania opponents, talk in a normal way and show how likeable he is and it keeps in the spotlight.

- I can get behind The Rock’s hype video if they plan to just use this as a foundation. Seeing a clip of Rock sending a tweet is not exactly making me want to spend $60 on WrestleMania.

- If you don’t see the Beth Phoenix vs. Kharma writing on the wall, you aren’t looking hard enough.

- John Cena is embracing the brawl at ringside. This was a nice intense segment from Cena, who never seems to be off point with intensity. It’s all the other emotions that Cena has issues with.

- Triple H came off as more of a heel in embarrassing John Laurinaitis. This happens a lot with “The Game” as his brand of comedy often seems like overkill. This also could have been on purpose given what happened next.

- I love that WWE did not deliver on the announcement concerning John Laurinaitis. This was the best kind of bait and switch, because it involved an upgrade.

- I’m so glad I didn’t have friends over when Hunter mentioned the “special club”. I try and convince people that wrestling should be viewed as melodramatic performance art. This contradicts all of that.

- The Undertaker and Triple H caught lightning in a bottle one more time. This was a fantastic silent segment with perfect parallels to last year’s.

- Triple H walking away adds a nice new wrinkle to the standard streak-chasing story. Undertaker will be the man demanding the match to prove he can beat Triple H again and Triple H will dodge him. I love where this is going.

- The Undertaker’s surprise return was absolutely fantastic. Yes, his hair looks silly, but that is nitpicky. He is still one of the most compelling characters in wrestling today.

I loved this episode of Raw. Everything was pitch-perfect for heading into WreslteMania season. The Royal Rumble may have been a slight misstep, but WWE showed that they know where they are going storyline-wise.

After a long weekend of wrestling, I’m ready to take some time off, but I am so happy to end it on a high note. WrestleMania is taking shape and I couldn’t be more excited about it.

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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