By Will Pruett

- Kicking off Raw with the contract signing, them swerving it into quite the treat of an Edge promo was fantastic. It hooked in some fans who expecting Lensar in the first segment, but still delivered a great segment with Edge.

- Edge's promo was great. While it may have been a little too soon in the program for it, the delivery and writing were both there. Edge is a master at these sorts of promos. I hope whatever his contractual issues are happen to get worked out so we can still see Edge on TV on occasion.

- It's a strange sensation. Kofi Kingston is basically meaningless in WWE today, but he is also the go-to guy when WWE needs a challenger to have a competitive match going into a pay-per-view. Since these matches tend to be competitive, any one of them could help to make Kingston. Sadly, he continues to occupy this spot instead of moving forward.

- Chris Jericho, after all of this time, really shouldn't have a competitive match with Kingston. He should be gaining victories in a near-squash going into a bit match. I loved the quality of Kingston vs. Jericho, but the booking behind it did not impress me.

- Throughout the evening we saw footage of Brock Lesnar destroying former WWE and current TNA talent. One of the amazing things this showed was just how similar TNA's main event scene is today to the WWE main event scene in 2002 and 2003. Why would WWE show current talent that could face Lesnar now in video packages that already show them losing?

- So Eve is now being given a minor authority figure role? That makes her the WWE equivalent of Karen Jarrett, only less entertaining, right?

- Is a liquor basket a standard gift in WWE? I've never seen one before, but it does look like an exciting gift to receive.

- I'm pretty sure every bottle in that liquor basket, as long as the basket itself, came from Michael Hayes' fanny pack.

- While I don't believe that Lord Tensai should be having a competitive match again this week, he also needed to evolve a little bit. Tensai is not capturing the imagination of the crowd. His look is unimpressive. His ring work is fine, but the noises he makes are just odd. It is a hard act to get behind and I don't see many people doing so.

- Kane's promo to open the traditional two hours of Raw felt odd and out of place. The promo work that Kane offers is decent, but it is always similar. Whether he is embracing hate or discussing his own humanity, Kane is just Kane.

- Paul Bearer was last seen with Edge backstage, tied up and in a wheelchair. Are we to assume that Edge was at the show primarily to deliver Bearer to Orton? Did Orton pay for their travel to Detroit? Has Edge been keeping Bearer and feeding him the entire time?

- Does tattling on C.M. Punk make Alex Riley a heel now? I'm not sure if he is a heel or a babyface, but I'm guessing he was a babyface before this.

- There was nothing too obnoxious about Great Khali and Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes and Alberto Del Rio. The heel team tried to pull something out of the giants, but they just couldn't. I see the time spent on Khali and Big Show as time wasted. There are so many other talents that could have a meaningful run and would be able to work to that caliber.

- The Miz is now on the pre-show for Extreme Rules. Does this say more about him or about WWE's creative team? He is talented, but the lack of evolution in his character has lead to him falling quickly down the card. Miz vs. Santino will probably be a decent match, but it won't be spectacular.

- Eve knows the WWE rule book rather well. I would love to read that document sometime.

- I love seeing announcers get beat down. I don't know what it is about it, but seeing Josh Matthews assaulted by Brock Lesnar brought a smile to my face.

- I sincerely hope that Beth Phoenix will be okay after he injury on Raw. From my view, it seemed to be a legit injury. It's possible it was a really good work, but I lean on the side of legitimacy.

- Nikki Bella winning the Diva's Championship was a fine move. I actually enjoy the Bella's some of the time. Their outfits, however, need to be changed. They leave far too little to the imagination.

- The entire sobriety test segment was disappointing. I understand what C.M. Punk and Chris Jericho were going for, but I don't feel like it was effective. Punk seemed to be getting more intoxicated as the segment went on and it just made Jericho look like an idiot. Shouldn't Jericho be getting the best of Punk prior to the pay-per-view?

- Punk, even pretending to be drunk, goes against the very nature of his character. I know it was a trick, but it went on for too long and felt like a segment that could easily go the wrong way. Punk is a hero to many because of his straight edge gimmick and I don't believe it should ever even be in question.

- Sheamus vs. Mark Henry was exactly what it needed to be with Daniel Bryan as the special referee. Henry is playing the spoiler heel to the main champions really well and it is nice to see him used in both world championship pictures.

- Bryan's attack on Sheamus was a nice sell for their pay-per-view encounter. This should be a very fun match and has the potential to steal the show at Extreme Rules.

- Finally, fast food restaurants are sponsoring individual matches. I am excited to see Jack In The Box present Hell in a Cell in October with a huge head popping out of the cell at one point.

- Have Primo and Epico beat anyone since winning the Tag Team Championships?

- Zack Ryder matters just about as much as Santino, which is to say not much. I have sympathy for Ryder, who was super over at the end of last year, but I am also not surprised. There was only so far that Ryder could go as a comedy figure, which is what he built himself to be. He got himself over, but he also shot himself in the foot.

- I'm pretty excited about what A.W. will do for the Tag Team Champions and potentially Mark Henry. He could be a great manager and should be very fun to watch. Hopefully this leads to a little more emphasis on Primo and Epico.

- I love Brodus Clay more than just about anyone else, but the combination of adding Hornswoggle to the act and sacrificing Dolph Ziggler to it makes his segments thoroughly unexciting. Ziggler should be in a big upper-mid card feud at the moment and instead he is in a comedy angle.

- "And then the midget bit her on the butt" is a sentence I will never tell my friends about wrestling. As much as I try to love the product sometimes, things like this keep me from doing so.

- I enjoyed the concept behind Brock Lesnar making demands prior to signing the contract with John Laurinaitis. I've been waiting for a talent to make demands like that in a contract signing segment for a long time and it has finally happened. Sadly, the concept was let down by the execution.

- Brock Lesnar was a pretty decent wrestling promo guy in 2003, but he was never great. Now, in 2012 he is not even decent. In the right situations he can be good, but in a 20 minute in-ring promo battle, he is not. This was the wrong way to use Lesnar and even if he had performed it well, it would have been a mistake. The fact that his performance was lacking does not help.

- I know that it is the cliche internet sentiment, but Lensar needs Paul Heyman. Heyman added a certain something to the act that cannot be replicated. He brought about that "spoiled athlete" feel that WWE is going for and was also obnoxious enough to draw heat, not matter how tough Lesnar was. They are great together and legitimate friends. I know Heyman is not one of McMahon's favorite people, but in order to get a return on the Lesnar investment, Heyman is necessary.

- Raw seemed like it went out with a whimper instead of a roar. John Cena did not look too tough with a chain around his neck, try as they did. I also would have liked to have heard a little more from him. I have no doubt that the match will be an exciting spectacle, but I don't believe that buildup this week drew people into it.

This was one of the better three hour Raw episodes that we have seen. Without a theme to bow down to, the show actually had a little more of a flow than usual. The first hour, which is usually uneventful contained a good Kingston vs. Jericho match and a great surprise with Edge. The rest of the show felt like a normal Raw.

Three hours still feels like it is too long for a weekly show, but this episode did strike a nice balance of talking and wrestling, so I can't complain too much. Did this show sell Extreme Rules? Honestly, last week had me more excited for the show than this week did.

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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