WWE Raw Review 9/4/12 - Brock Lesnar Breaks John Cena's Tooth

The Big News: Lesnar delivered an F-5 to Cena after having pounded him bloody earlier in the night. Meanwhile Chris Jericho delivered Punk another nasty drink fuelled surprise following on from Punk's wwe title match with Mark Henry and the Three Stooges struggled to amuse the Washington crowd. In a Nutshell: It's still real to Brock Lesnar dammit as he breaks Cena's tooth with vicious punch. Live from the Verizon Centre, Washington, DC. Graphic advertised a wwe title rematch between CM Punk and Mark Henry and involvement from the actors playing the Three Stooges in an upcoming film. John Laurinaitis came out to introduce the new face of wwe as he replayed the clip of Lesnar attacking Cena the previous week. He said that Lesnar was not a catchphrase based entertainer but rather a pure athlete who was going to bring a legitimacy lacking in the current product and confirmed that he would face John Cena at Extreme Rules. Lesnar came out to a good pop whilst Cole put over his accomplishments in the wwe, UFC and elsewhere. Brock, holding himself with true main event swagger began to thank John Laurinaitis for bringing back legitimacy when he was interrupted by John Cena. Cena was all goofy smiles and grins as he walked to the ring but on this occasion it actually played into the story as he lulled Lesnar into a false sense of security before slapping him hard across the face. Lesnar, in response, acted like any megaheel should and proceeded to tackle Cena to the mat where he struck a vicious blow to his rivals face before pounding him in the chest area several times promoting his MMA toughness. They then then rolled around for awhile before being separated by a parade of officials and members of the wwe roster whose convincingly anxious facial expressions helped to layer the brawl in a rough authenticity. Cena and Lesnar then both managed to get free to get in a few more shots before Lesnar was escorted from the ring. As they were being separated the cameras clearly showed Cena bleeding profusely from the lips in a genuinely unsettling visual which will make for an incredible video package later on down the line provided that they were able to capture some reaction shots from frightened kids in the audience. In all, this was a red hot angle which accomplished many things. In regards to execution, it played as a refreshing no-nonsense segment which showcased two men who have very little to say to one another and who are very eager to trade blows. It felt archaic, unpredictable, exhilarating and most importantly of all real and immediately established an edgy atmosphere at the beginning of the show that made you desperate to see what might transpire next. From a character perspective, it is also really gripping to witness a Cena opponent who isn't intimidated in the slightest by his presence. Orton, Edge and Batista all played cowardly roles during their long standing programmes with Cena and whilst Rock simply played it cool, Lesnar is a raw animal who seems intent on destroying Cena every chance he gets and his superior physique and legitimate toughness makes for a really interesting dynamic between the two men. The sight of Cena smiling through blood drenched lips was also a wonderfully juxtaposed image that painted him as a brave maniac in the vein of Mick Foley, a man who perhaps knew he was going to get his ass kicked but was going to be a man about it anyway and when it boils down to it that was what made this so fantastic, it was two real men having what felt like a real fight with a real sense of hatred emanating from the testosterone fuelled ring. If that doesn't make you excited to see two opponents battle then nothing will. My thoughts on Lesnar vs Cena fighting so soon at the next Extreme Rules PPV and the manner in which the match was announced will be covered in my final thoughts. Backstage Laurinaitis got mad at Teddy Long for not containing John Cena as had apparently been promised. He then asked Long to go and ask John Cena for an explanation as Eve walked in and flirted with Laurinaitis before asking him to call her. 1.) Brodus Clay and Santino Marella defeated Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger via pinfall Clay got in some early offence before Santino endured a lengthy, beatdown from the heels. Santino then managed to roll out of danger and tagged in Clay for the hot tag who pinned Ziggler following a head butt, overhead throw and a big splash. It's good to see the Funkosaurus being given some new direction in his team with Santino though it kind of sucks for Ziggler that he had to suffer the pinfall. I just wish they'd give him the chance to cut promos instead of letting the main eventers hog all the interesting storylines and mic time. ** Backstage, Miz tried to have words with Laurinaitis but the GM held him off till next week. Long then arrived with Cena in tow. Cena was still bleeding and said that he like to hit and be hit and that he was just getting warmed up for Extreme Rules. Hopped up on the adrenalin he then demanded to compete on Raw against any opponent the GM decided he should face. Laurinaitis told Long to tell Otunga that he would be facing Cena in the main event. Again the brave, slightly unhinged Cena came off really well here. 2.) R-Truth defeated Cody Rhodes via pinfall I can not believe how dumb this was. So last week Rhodes was in the middle of a match with Kofi when Show interfered and aired a clip of him knocking out at wrestlemania. This week Big Show interfered again and distracted Rhodes by airing the clip of him being distracted from the previous week! Clearly Rhodes hasn't read "Dramatic Foreshadowing for Dummies" because he continued to watch the video like a gormless fool before allowing Truth to recover and hit him with the downward spiral for the win. This full on PG psycho gimmick Truth has now is simply wretched and it's hugely detrimental for any opponent to lose to him at the moment no matter what the circumstances of the loss. DUD Santino discovered the actors playing the Three Stooges backstage and performed a whacky skit with the trio which included elaborate sound effects. Earlier on he annoyed Kane when on the lookout and this played into the comedy later on. 3.) Lord Tensai defeated Yoshi Tatsu via Match Stoppage Tatsu tried to build some momentum at the start but Tensai swatted him down and dominated from there on out to the tune of "Albert" chants from the crowd. Tensai battered Tatsu with headbutts, stiff elbows, a corner avalanche, butterfly supplex and a baldo bomb before the ref stopped the fight as Tensai insisted on dominating. This was another fun squash match and I like how they're handling the character creatively but the mocking reaction from audience members is not a good early sign at all. ** Following on from his drink fuelled humiliation at the hands of Chris Jericho last week, Punk felt it necessary more than ever to reaffirm his straight edge principles. He said that he didn't choose the lifestyle because it was cool but because it was a way of life and something that he's deeply proud of. He said that Jericho tried to destroy his privacy by exposing his family secrets which he embellished and in some cases outright lied about but it didn't work because he made his opponent tap at Wrestlemania. Punk then said that was why Jericho had to take it a step further when he poured whiskey all over his body the previous week with the stench reminding him of his father. As Punk began to detail some of these dark memories, Jericho appeared on the big screen. He teased Punk by asking if he felt hungover of tipsy and labelled him CM Drunk. Punk told Jericho that he couldn't break him and that he had made the biggest mistake of his life because all of the anger Jericho was responsible for would come back to haunt him. Punk then reiterated that this was no longer about being the best in the world, it was about him kicking Jericho's ass. This was a really good back and forth between the two men, however I can't help but feel that the progression of this feud feels a little mistimed. The stakes have now supposedly been raised to make the rivalry more personal but the wrestlemania match itself had already gone past the point of being just a contest to see who was the best in the world and was for the most part a really brutal, hard hitting encounter as opposed to two men trying to out wrestle one another. It seemed that it would have made more sense for Jericho to bring up Punk's dark past after realising that he needed a psychological edge following on from his loss at Wrestlemania. This is the problem however when you have such stupidly short windows between Pay Per Views. 4.) World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry defeated CM Punk via DQ Not much of a match as Punk hit Henry with a monitor for the DQ in the early going. He then stood up on the apron and was about to come down on his opponent with the weapon in his hands until he was distracted by the appearance of Jericho who carried some beer down the ramp. DUD With Punk distracted, Henry enacted his revenge on Punk by taking him to the mat with two world's strongest slams whilst Jericho played the slimy heel role to perfection by pulling anxious faces on the outside. Jericho then poured tons of beer on Punk whilst teasing him about his family. Punk twice valiantly tried to make a recovery only to be stunted on both occasions by Jericho's codebreaker. This was a good segment which elicited apathy and empathy in the right places whilst putting over the unpredictable and deadly nature of Jericho's finisher. The storyline it seems would right now itself in that if Punk loses to Jericho at Extreme Rules he should be forced to not only relinquish the title but also to share a drink with the new champion in the post match aftermath. On the other hand if Jericho loses he should be forced to earnestly confess to both his rival and the wwe universe that it is not he, but Punk who is in actual fact the best in the world. Certainly a grinning, title holding Jericho, cheerleading Punk into drinking after defeating him would make for a fantastically heated segment that would continue to raise the stakes of the rivalry whilst increasing the hatred and sympathy for the characters in question. Obviously of course the drink would be a prop but a guy like Punk could easily manage to convince people that he had been forced to indulge in his first taste of alcohol. This I feel would be the most creative and rewarding route to embark on. 5.) Alberto Del Rio defeated Zack Ryder via pinfall Del Rio got the early advantage but Ryder fought back to hit his broski boot. As he attempted to land his finisher however, Del Rio thwarted him in mid-air in a clumsy transition before making his opponent tap to the crossarmbar. * Hopefully after the Draft, we'll see an end put to the numerous short, meaningless matches that currently plague these supershows. Two of the stooges came out to an apathetic response from the fans. They wondered where the third stooge was and so he came out dressed like Hulk Hogan and did a pretty good impersonation of the Hulkster whilst plugging the Three Stooges film. Kane then emerged and the Stooge Hogan must have deluded himself into thinking that he had Hogan's real powers because he pointed the finger in confident fashion only to be downed with a chokeslam. I'm probably in the minority here but I actually quite enjoyed this for what it was. Mark Henry had an interview backstage where he announced that next week he would face Punk for the title again in a match with no count outs and no disqualifications. Backstage Josh Matthews interviewed Brock Lesnar. Lesnar got to the point immediately talking about how he had taken wwe to new heights during his initial stint in the company and how he had built the success of UFC with his blood, sweat and tears. He talked about the wisdom of Laurinaitis in bringing him back and that while Cena might think he's on top, he knows that he couldn't really lace his jockstrap. He said that he wasn't here to make friends with anyone, he was here to be a war machine and an ass kicker and he was proud of that just like the suits and fans were proud to have him back. This was like a more eloquent version of a Mark Henry promo and was perfect in establishing Lesnar as a ruthless, extremely self confident and frightening force who is more than ready to put his words into action whenever he so pleases. It's been a long time since we've witnessed such a mean, intimidating character like this in the wwe and just his presence alone has filled the urgency usually lacking in the post-mania void. 6.) John Cena defeated David Otunga via submission John Laurinaitis was watching on at ringside. Cena out wrestled Otunga to start taking his opponent to the mat with a sideheadlock takedown. He then did a comedy spot where he rubbed the oil off his body from where he had tangled with his greased up opponent. Although amusing it didn't really work for Cena to adopt such a laid back approach to this match when earlier in the night he had been quite brutally busted open. Although he has his own strengths as a performer, Cena really should study the likes of Punk and Orton to see how you effectively sell earlier injuries in order to convey to an audience the pain that is continuing to haunt you. It amazes me that he is still so clueless in this fundamental aspect of wrestling after some seven plus years as a main event talent. Otunga then lashed out at Cena in the corner with fast kicks as Cena's blood started to reappear and a massive parade of €œLet's go Cena / Cena sucks€ chants filled the arena. Otunga continued to ground Cena with a headlock and some neat rope assisted elbow drops before taking the time to flex his muscle to the crowds. The crowd barely reacted but the distraction enabled Cena to fire back with punches before hitting all his trademark moves and making Otunga tap with the STF. * 1/2 Post-match Lesnar emerged to low-blow Cena but he effectively put it over in such a way that it didn't feel like the act of an coward but rather the behaviour of a callous individual just doing it for his own amusement. He then hoisted Cena up and pelted him with an F-5 to leave him laying just like last week. Meanwhile Laurinaitis clapped on from ringside as Lesnar menacingly circled his fallen foe. Verdict: Although widely expected to clash at Summerslam, it was confirmed on this show that Brock Lesnar's first match back would be as soon as the next PPV Extreme Rules against John Cena. I personally am glad for this because it means that once this feud is over Lesnar can continue to have spotlight feuds with superstars who would have more to gain from feuding with him. I also think this feud is good to do now because it puts Cena, a man who has coasted along for years overcoming all odds in a sudden damaging situation whereby he has just lost a match he said he couldn't afford to lose against The Rock and now finds himself at odds with a monster who possesses a toughness that he has never had to contend with before. When Cena inevitably loses to Lesnar question marks will continue to surround his state of mind and if there's any stale member of the roster who could do with some question marks and dramatic uncertainty at this stage of his career then it's most definitely John Cena. Meanwhile a Summerslam programme with Lesnar would do wonders for any number of other star faces be it Punk, Orton or Sheamus. Cena simply does not need to occupy the primary storyline at every big show. What I hated about all this though was the manner in which this match was announced. Regardless of the fact that this bout is taking place on a B PPV show Cena vs Lesnar is still a big deal and having Laurinaitis just nonchalantly announce it like its just your typical everyday match was an unbelievably dumb move. Not to mention the fact that it might have been far more exciting and had far more impact if the match had been confirmed after the intense brawl had commenced rather than moments before it. The interactions between the two men thus far have been suitably tense and demonstrative but they have some work to do to really hype up this contest in the few weeks they have remaining before their match. I don't think it would be hard at all to expand Cena's fanbase by putting over the fact that he is a seriously tough S.O.B who continued to try and come at Lesnar and then wrestle later in the night with a broken tooth. It's pretty bloody hard not to respect that kind of grit to be honest and though Lesnar might want to take it a bit easier in the future, that sick punch could prove to be a turning point in Cena's battle with the crowd. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. With Punk / Jericho effectively escalating their feud this was another week where a few great angles managed to disguise the stagnant nature of pretty much everything not involving the main eventers which is at least a dramatic improvement compared to this time last year when pretty much all the storylines lacked any real urgency or interest.