WWE Raw Review 02/01/12 - Chris Jericho Steals Show With Silence

The Big News: Chris Jericho returned after a fourteen month absence from the company, Dolph Ziggler defeated CM Punk via count out in their WWE Title match and Cena saved Zack Ryder from Kane's wrath in the main event of the show. In a Nutshell: Chris Jericho steals the show with silence. They recapped the Kane/Cena feud with a superb video package that ended with the very effective segment from last week's Raw where Kane tried to get Cena to embrace the hate he saw inside of him. Cena came out though of course and jumped around like he was crash bandicoot before wishing the crowd a happy new year. He then talked about making some changes in 2012 such as wearing less underwear, banning his father from Monday Night Raw and whipping Dwayne Johnson in WWE's biggest match of all time at WrestleMania in order to hopefully convince his rival that he had lost his ladyparts. Yes he mentioned biggest WWE match of all time and ladyparts in the same sentence. I think that sums up everything wrong with the Rock/Cena dynamic at the moment. Cena then said that one thing that wouldn't change in 2012 though were his convictions and that he would stay true to his words of hustle, loyalty and respect. He said that his emotions from last week were nothing to do with the crowd as they had paid to watch the show and should be allowed to cheer and boo for who and what they want. Rather he said his problem was with Kane because the big red monster was not prepared to settle their differences in the usual fashion of having a match inside the centre of the ring. He then talked about how he would continue to enjoy any emotional response he received before beginning to thank the crowd again up until Kane's music blared to graciously drown out his nonsense. Kane then spoke from the fire and brimstone of hell (otherwise known as backstage) and promised that Cena would embrace the hate and witness the true power of it later on in the show. He then pulled of the Dr Evil laugh whilst fire exploded around the turnbuckles. This was the usual Cena promo full of lame comedy and obnoxious crowd pandering that didn't even hint at any form of internal conflict or denial. A really short and cool "It begins" video package aired with the tagline "It ends tonight." 1.) Daniel Bryan defeated Cody Rhodes via pinfall Bryan got the advantage early pasting Rhodes with some stiff kicks in the corner before whipping him into the opposite turnbuckle. Rhodes blocked Bryan's charge with some high knees however before slamming him down to the mat arm fist in a sweet maneuver. Cody worked the arm for a while with a series of holds and then sent Bryan into the corner. Bryan got a leg up though to halt Cody's momentum and then planted Rhodes with a clothesline before sending his opponent out of the ring where he met him with a running knee from the apron. Back inside Rhodes surprised Bryan with the beautiful disaster kick for a near fall but saw his second front supplex attempt countered by Bryan into a small package. ** 1/2 Post-match Bryan cut a massive over the top celebration perhaps in glorious shock that he had finally gone over. Backstage Miz was annoyed at John Laurinaitis for not taking his beatdown from R-Truth the previous week seriously and even more annoyed when the Interim GM told him that he would be competing later on against Sheamus. Miz told Laurinaitis that he was now basically a laying duck for Truth to attack him again but Laurinaitis told him that at least this was better than being a lame duck. Miz did not find that funny and as he left the office Truth appeared in front of the camera and started performing an impersonation of a duck quacking. It was more amusing than it sounds. They aired a recap of Barrett throwing Orton down the stairs before turning our attention to Barrett grinning from the ring. Wade then got on the mic and said that he wasn't out there to wish everyone a new year because he didn't really care about their new or old year. He was keen to note however that 2012 has already been fantastic because it is devoid of Randy Orton. He spoke about how Orton was now in the past and he was looking forward to the future and in particular towards winning the Royal Rumble and main eventing WrestleMania. Barrett was then cut off by Santino who wanted to ask Wade a quick pop quiz question about which of the pair of them lasted longer in last years Royal Rumble. Before Barrett even had time to respond, Santino cut him off and said that it was him. He then said that the barrage was going to get run over by the Santino Marrella choo choo train. 2.) Wade Barrett defeated Santino via pinfall Wade dazed Santino with some quick left hooks but Santino hit back and then dropped down to the splits to try and confuse his opponent. Barrett noticed however, leaving Santino in an unenviable position on the mat with Wade kicking him in the skull. Barrett then sent Santino to the corner but Santino dodged his press and called for the cobra. Wade kicked his way out of danger though and then finished Santino off with his winds of change finisher. Santino is great in this role. * 1/2 Miz was caught between the Bella Twins bickering backstage and then told them to shut up and asked them if they had seen Truth. They hadn't but as Miz walked past catering, Truth appeared in front of the camera again and held his finger to his lips, telling us all to keep his whereabouts quiet. I guess he was concerned that someone watching at home might consider texting the Miz with the words "He's behind U..." Miz vs Sheamus was scheduled next but never really got under way as Miz sneak attacked Sheamus to the mat before the bell had rung and then tied the Irishman's right arm in the ropes whilst hitting him with punches. Miz then tried to tie up the other arm but Sheamus fought out and pasted Miz on the ropes with some fists causing Miz to evacuate the ring and head for the crowd to escape. Whilst there he was greeted by the appearance of R-Truth hanging out with members of the audience. Truth said that he had run into Little Jimmy and then began an imaginary conversation with a little Jimmy whilst telling Miz that Jimmy doesn't like him and Jimmy wants him to get got. The Seinfeld crew probably deserve some royalty checks for this exchange. Miz scampered back to the ring only to be pasted on the outside by a brogue kick from Sheamus and then hit in the face by Truth's water bottle which has to be the worse weapon in the history of wrestling. Truth then got a real little Jimmy to sarcastically wish Miz a happy new year. Truth was a superb babyface here though Miz is starting to look like a pretty pathetic heel. Recap from last Monday with Dolph beating Punk to get a shot at Punk's WWE Title. That reads of course like a typo and encapsulates how stupid this entire deal is. Guys with Championships should only ever lose when its time for them to drop the gold. Otherwise I don't understand the point of them being on top in the first place. Anyway ranting over as the next backstage segment was great as we cut to Josh Matthews holding a microphone to Dolph Ziggler's legs. Yes Ziggler was in the middle of doing a headstand before flipping to his feet and cutting a concise, star worthy promo about how he was a walking surplus of talent, intelligence and charisma who had it all except for one thing... the WWE Title. Dolph then told people to keep their ticket stubs as they would want to remember the time and place that he won the gold. As much as I like Vickie in her role, I think Dolph is ready to fly solo now. Zack Ryder was creeping out Eve backstage talking about how he had watched their tag team victory from the previous week over and over again and then asked her if she wanted to watch it with him after the show. Eve was in the middle of politely brushing him off until Swagger made a timely interruption and announced that there was an impostor walking around with the US Title. Ryder responded by saying that though both their names ended in er, only Swagger would be ending up in ER after tonight. Ryder sold his own line as if he had just said the funniest thing in the world which in turn made it pretty darn funny before Swagger threatened to steal both his title and his girlfriend. Ryder got in Swagger's face about how he wasn't afraid of him before Laurinaitis arrived to tell both men that he had booked them in a six person tag team elimination match with Ryder pairing up with Cena and Show to take on Swagger, Kane and Mark Henry. 3.) WWE Title Match: Dolph Ziggler defeated CM Punk via count out (Punk retains the title) Match started with each man taking the other down with a string of sneaky pinfall attempts establishing a back and forth momentum that continued throughout. Punk avoided Dolph's elbow drop attempt and treated his opponent to five leg drops in a row! Dolph then got back into the match by pasting Punk with a flapjack onto the ropes and executed a neckbreaker for a two count. Dolph landed the elbow drop second time round and got in a headlock but Punk countered into a stomp and a spinning heel kick to send Dolph to the outside. Awesome spot next as Punk tried a suicide dive but Dolph blocked Punk's face with his hands and then sent Punk sliding to the outside via a rope assisted neckbreaker. They must have been pleased with the execution of that one as it came off beautifully. Back from the break Dolph locked in a sleeper but Punk reversed it into a side supplex for a near fall and then took Ziggler to the ground with a scoop slam after his opponent had succeeded in blocking the running knee. Ziggler then reversed a supplex attempt into a pinfall attempt which Punk reversed into a pinfall attempt of his own but it was too close to the ropes to count. Dolph then executed the best dropkick in wrestling for a near fall before hitting Punk in the corner with a splash and taking him to the mat with a front face supplex. Punk kicked out of Dolph's pinfall attempt and then accidentally knocked the turnbuckle pad off the apron before firing back at Dolph with a high knee and a bulldog. Punk then called for the GTS at which point John Laurinaitis made his way down to the ring to tell the referee about the exposed turnbuckle. Whilst they were going back and forth, Punk made Dolph tap to the anaconda vice with no ref there to verify the submission. Dolph then used the distraction to go for the zig zag but Punk moved and Dolph flew into Laurinaitis who fell to his knees on the outside apron and appeared to hold down the ropes as Dolph bounced Punk in his direction. As a result Punk landed awkwardly on the outside and was unable to break the ten count as he struggled to return to the ring. This was another tremendously worked bout between the pair up until the hugely contrived turnbuckle spot. *** 1/2 Post-match Dolph took the title and vaingloriously celebrated whilst he worked his way through the crowd. Another effectively brief "It begins" segment saw the two kids telling us that "He is here." 4.) The Bella Twins defeated Eve and Kelly Kelly via pinfall Ass smacking exchange to start as Kelly got the better of Brie and then smothered her opponent buttocks first into the corner. Unfortunately this was nowhere near as exciting as it sounds. Brie then grabbed Kelly's hair and tagged in Nikki as they double teamed for an attempted pinfall. Kelly recovered to hit Nikki with a jawbreaker before tagging in Eve who dropped Nikki with a clothesline and then went for her booty poppin moonsault. Brie made the distraction however allowing Nikki to get on top. Eve fought back with a back elbow and landed a sweet moonsault from the top rope but Nikki emerged to break the count. Kelly then got in the ref's face enabling Brie to switch places with Nikki and roll up a surprised Eve for the win. * Backstage John Laurinaitis and David Otunga were interrupted by a furious CM Punk who told the Interim general manager that he had nearly cost him his world championship. Laurinitis responded by informing Punk that he had now lost to Dolph two weeks in a row and so would be forced to defend the title against Ziggler again at the Royal Rumble in a match refereed by himself. Punk told Laurinaitis that he was lucky he had Otunga as a lawyer because if he thought about screwing him out of the title at the Rumble, Punk would end up in jail for beating him like a bitch. I think Laurinaitis is doing a decent enough job in his role but with someone like Cornette in his place these confrontations with Punk would be absolute dynamite as opposed to mildly entertaining. The final "It begins" video package aired with the mystery man revealed as CHRIS JERICHO! Goosebumps as his music hit and Y2J emerged with a ridiculously flashy jacket. Jericho soaked in the adulation, clapped hands with the fans and milked the applause like a bona fide showman until asking for a microphone. He then dropped the mic and demanded more cheers whilst actually conducting the audience from one side to the other. He then slapped hands again with all the fans around the barricade, asked for more cheers and grinned like a spoilt rich kid at his eight birthday party. He spent so long keeping up this performance that some of the overwhelming cheers had even turned to boos as Jericho finally made his way up the ramp again. This was hilarious, intriguing and completely inspired from Y2J and I can't wait to see how they follow it up on next week's show. Utterly tremendous segment. 5.) Tag Team Elimination Match: John Cena, Zack Ryder and Big Show defeated Mark Henry and Jack Swagger via pinfall Before the match Otunga announced that Kane wouldn't be participating thus leaving the heels at a disadvantage. Henry tried to hit Show with a chair on the outside but Show stole the chair from his hands and hit him with the weapon instead. This led to both men being eliminated with Cena doing a great job of acting dissapointed on the apron. Ryder then laid out Swagger for the broski boot and attempted the Rough Ryder but Swagger countered the move into an Ankle Lock with Ryder struggling towards Cena to make the hot tag. Cena then just obliterated Swagger with his signature moves before taking him to the mat with an Attitude Adjustment for the win. * 1/2 Post match the lights went red and Kane emerged from under the ring whilst Cena was outside waiting for him. Kane then choked Cena with his glove outside the ring before trying to take Ryder back down inside the ring with him. Cena arrived to make the save however as fire erupted fom the hole leaving both Ryder and Cena quaking in their boots. I'm sure this was intended to be dramatic and thought provoking but it actually felt like a scene from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Verdict: It was a terrible decision to not have Jericho return in the main event of the show. You don't need to worry about ratings when people are excited for a big star returning and it became impossible to care about anything else on the broadcast after Jericho's grandstand performance. About three minutes into Jericho's return I knew he wasn't going to say anything and I thought what transpired was not only unique comedy gold but also a brilliant set up for his likely heel speech next week when he can talk about how he had the moronic crowd members in the palm of his hand. As a lifelong Jericaholic I can't express how refreshing it is to see him back again and I'm confident that his own creative input into his latest character presentation will justify the fantastic "It begins" video packages that have been used to steadily hype up his return. Other positive news emerging from this edition of Raw is that we will now get to see Dolph and Punk work their magic at the Royal Rumble PPV. I don't know if I really want to see Laurenitis as the special guest referee for this match but I guess they're staying strong to this Punk versus establishment storyline and so we'll just have to hope that it leads somewhere good. I thought the big negative of the show was the development of the Cena/Kane rivalry. Last week I thought they did a really good job of adding some tension to the feud but this week it just felt cartoonish and throwaway. If they are in the process of slowly turning Cena heel then they need to start adding in some subtle touches week by week that gradually highlight his transformation. They could start with getting rid of the stupid jubilant addresses to the camera that Cena insists on doing week in week out regardless of whatever struggle or conflict he happens to be involved in. Crap like this is why Cena, a talented performer, has so many haters in the first place.