By Will Pruett

- C.M. Punk is not WWE's next great acting star, but he is their current big wrestling star. His acting wasn't amazing, but it was passable. His promo was amazing. This was better than his shoot promo from last year. It carried a wrestling storyline forward and also allowed for Punk to come out feeling like an inspirational babyface.

- Chris Jericho gets a lot more Canadian when he stops trying to be shiny jacket Jericho. While I'm disappointed that the new jacket did not lead to a new character, it is not like the current incarnation of Jericho is a bad character. He was still entertaining when he left in 2010, so he could do much worse.

- Punk and Jericho heated things up nicely in the Raw opening segment. This was a great way to remind viewers of the importance of this match. They left themselves some room to bring the anticipation to a boil next Monday, but with Rock vs. Cena and Undertaker vs. Triple H doing that same thing next week they risk being overshadowed far more.

- I am actually really looking forward to what WWE does with the Rock vs. Cena documentary next Monday. I wish it were airing in a Saturday Night's Main Event slot of some sort. It should be a great promotional tool and given the sheer quality that WWE's video department brings at this time of the year, it should be really good too.

- Kane and Big Show could have been the semi main event of almost any pay-per-view in the last year. Instead, it was a short throwaway match on Raw going into WrestleMania. While I cannot say that it's a match I would like to see, this does hurt its potential marketability for the future.

- Do Cody Rhodes' punches hurt more when he wears boxing gloves? I get what WWE was going for with this beatdown, but it was not communicated clearly. The hype for their 'Mania match was there, but the visual was ineffective.

- David Otunga and Santino Marella may get some rub by being team captains for the general managers, but the general managers are being presented as the true stars of the match. The issue is that wrestling fans are generally tired of authority figures. Power struggles have been a constant on the national wrestling scene since 1997. Wrestling needs to evolve past them and do so quickly.

- Teddy Long dancing is far inferior to Brodus Clay dancing.

- The Rock was great in his video segment in front of the Rocky statue. He was funny, serious, interactive and he ultimately sold WrestleMania. This was a great use of him. Rock seemed more on his game than he has during this run of Raw episodes.

- Running through all of the names of past stars that have inspired him, The Rock was fantastic. He gives fans the opportunity to believe that he really loves this business and the history of it. Even if this isn't true (I believe it is), it is Rock's current character.

- Daniel Bryan is a World Champion, but in this build to WrestleMania he does not feel more important than Zack Ryder. I know that something has to suffer in the build to WrestleMania when four of the six men wrestling in the three biggest matches are part time and/or have recently returned. Bryan is playing his role well, his upcoming match just isn't all that important.

- John Cena and The Rock both receiving live music entrances at WrestleMania should be quite the spectacle. While I'm not the biggest fan of the concert atmosphere at wrestling events, this should be something special. I'm curious to see if we get covers of their normal theme songs or if we just get hits from the artists playing them to the ring.

- I watched the YouTube video of Shane Douglas unmasking and revealing his t-shirt in the middle of this show. Did he think this would be impressive? I have never really liked Douglas, but after a stunt like this, I wonder why anyone would. If you're really craving another ECW reunion, just buy some bootleg ECW DVDs. Don't make the rest of us suffer through this idiotic nostalgia for bad wrestling again.

- What message does it send to viewers about John Cena, a WrestleMania main eventer, when WWE cuts to commercial in the middle of his match?

- Mark Henry looked dominant in the ring with John Cena for the first portion of their match. I appreciated the effort to still make him look like a monster. This is the type of build Henry can use post-WrestleMania. If he gets that, he can easily be in the World Championship picture by May.

- Here I was hoping for a Nation of Domination reunion between Mark Henry and The Rock complete with Rolexes for everyone but Ron Simmons, when all I got was The Rock giving the Rock Bottom to Henry. This was an effective way to keep Rock and Cena from going face to face in a promo battle for another week. It will make next week feel like a fresh moment, instead of something we have seen a few times before.

- The Miz's fall from grace is clearly a storyline, but I wonder if they are doing too much damage to him. Main event stars are beating him in three to four minutes. How are we supposed to take Miz seriously in pay-per-view main events when he's losing so often now?

- I know it isn't how things work this year, but Sheamus deserves better as the Royal Rumble winner. There was no way for him to seem more important than the top three matches on the card, but he's being presented as number four and it hurts the Rumble and Sheamus. Maybe next week he can cut a good go-home promo ad change my mind.

- Josh Matthews and Randy Orton spending some time on an interview stage with the full arena in view is far superior to them chatting backstage. Way to bring back the classic Mean Gene position. This promo was a nice reminder of Kane's 15 year history of nicknames.

- The positive side of the twelve man tag at WrestleMania is that is gives younger stars a chance to shine. In the same way that Money in the Bank did, they will have a chance to steal the show with fast-paced action. The focus being put on it on Raw makes it feel like less of an afterthought than most multiple man tags at WrestleMania do. There are good sides to it.

- Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger are obvious choices for Team Big Johnny. Is Team Teddy being left intentionally weak to wait until next week for a big babyface comeback? Is WWE playing the "wait and see" game to see if they can get lucky with Rey Mysterio getting cleared for April 1st?

- WWE did a lot with little replays throughout the evening highlighting different Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker segments along with the happenings of the night. It may have been a little more than was needed, but it all accomplished the ultimate goal of selling WrestleMania.

- Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Triple H put together a great segment that once again did not give away too much. There is such great tension between them that feels more real than anything even The Rock and John Cena are doing. This year's build is an interesting study in the differences in perceived "real life" tension and a great wrestling angle.

- For those that say this Hell in a Cell match is not selling WrestleMania, I cannot be more confused by you. In the last few weeks, these segments have been the ones selling WrestleMania to me more than anything else. It may not be selling it to people already ordering it, but it adds that extra bit of value to the card.

- I honestly have no interest in watching Undertaker wrestle outside of WrestleMania. As calloused as that sounds, he means so much more on that show. Remember his run with Kane in 2010? The risk is not worth the reward of seeing him on other shows.

- Shouldn't Triple H be making fun of Undertaker for wearing gloves to cut a promo? Have they learned nothing from Rock and Cena?

This show was focussed on WrestleMania, but it did not give a premature go-home sell for the show. This has been the fatal error of some penultimate shows heading into WrestleMania and WWE avoided it well. This show was promo-heavy, but not in a bad way. Everything segment had an eye on the prize and built anticipation for the big event in two weeks.

It was wise to give Punk and Jericho the focus along with Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The Rock and John Cena building quietly, but not in the limelight is the best choice for them. Next week we all know what the biggest story and the final sell will be. Hopefully it will be amazing and motivate people to buy WrestleMania right at that moment.

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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