BRM Reviews the 2/13/2012 Raw

[Big Red Machine]

KANE PROMO- seemed very robotic. I think that was on purpose, but I didn’t like it.

ELIMINATION CHAMBER DEBATE- Punk was great, Miz, Ziggler, & Kofi were good, R-Truth was bad, and Jericho was awesome.

KOFI KINGSTON vs. CHRIS JERICHO-5/10

CENA & RYDER BACKSTAGE- okay

JOHN LAURINAITIS & DAVID OTUNGA BACKSTAGE- hmmm… I am intrigued.

RANDY ORTON vs. THE BIG SHOW- 4/10. That was a pretty horrid RKO botch.

HBK & TRIPLE H SEGMENT- Awesome. They are taking this a very interesting route.

R-TRUTH vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (w/Vickie Guerrero)- no rating. Enjoyable segment

SANTINO & RYDER- dumb

TAMINA vs. BRIE BELLA (w/Nikki Bella)- no rating. Good squash

KANE, CENA, EVE & THE AMBULANCE- total crap, made even worse for those of us who remember the episode of Raw shortly after the Katie Vick thing where Kane locked Triple H in the trunk of his car and drove off, only for it to be revealed that Tripe H escaped via the emergency latch in the trunk. Come on, Kane! Learn your lesson! Anyway, this segment was just totally stupid and pointle-WHOA! This just got interest-WHOA! This just got VERY interesting.

CM PUNK vs. THE MIZ- 5.25/10. Not close to being good enough for a main event, but these two did as well as they possibly could with the inappropriately shout amount of time they were given.

CENA, RYDER, & KANE SEGMENT- good. Ryder’s bump looked crazy.

Overall, a very up and down Raw, but it worked well as a go-home show.

[kiel297]

Truth was BAD in the debate? I thought he was absolutely brilliant!

On a related note, I really started to get behind Kofi Kingston this week. I think it was the fact that his character had SOMETHING to it in the form of him being upset about being an afterthought. The fact that he got a bit pissed off about it kind of drew me in for the rest of the promo, and he kept that little flame going through his match as well. He got kept pretty strong in his match too, so I'm guessing we're gonna be seeing a Kofi push going into Mania. Maybe a new US Champion?

In the HHH/HBK segment, I think the one line I loved more than anything that brought out his entire heel persona, without him having to be heel, was the line "All of this is going to be MINE!". To me it kinda showed that despite being a good guy, his character is still motivated by his own greed and want for success.

[kiel297]

Also, I wasn't very optimistic about how Zack landed coming off the stage. That bump was just so stupid and risky on so many levels. His legs, the second he landed, looked VERY awkward too.

[Big Red Machine]

Truth was BAD in the debate? I thought he was absolutely brilliant!

On a related note, I really started to get behind Kofi Kingston this week. I think it was the fact that his character had SOMETHING to it in the form of him being upset about being an afterthought. The fact that he got a bit pissed off about it kind of drew me in for the rest of the promo, and he kept that little flame going through his match as well. He got kept pretty strong in his match too, so I'm guessing we're gonna be seeing a Kofi push going into Mania. Maybe a new US Champion?

In the HHH/HBK segment, I think the one line I loved more than anything that brought out his entire heel persona, without him having to be heel, was the line "All of this is going to be MINE!". To me it kinda showed that despite being a good guy, his character is still motivated by his own greed and want for success.

I just can't enjoy crazy R-Truth. In his entire promo, only one thing made laugh to any degree. I chuckled when he said "back to the issue at hand: the box of spiders." I have a degree in Government & Politics. I love political parody. I usually enjoy the hell out of any time that they have someone goof around and give a speech like they are running for office. But this just so juvenile that I couldn't enjoy it. And it is entirely possible to do comedy enjoyable to both children and adults. Look at the H. Ross Parrot character from Sesame Street. Funny stuff if you don't get the parody, and very funny if you do.

Another thing that is probably more at the core of me not enjoying anything R-Truth has done since he became a comedy character is that I absolutely loved the Sun-tan Superman from the first time I heard him cut a promo, way back in October 2005 in TNA. To see someone like that reduced a moronic outlet for juvenile humor is very disappointing to me.

I definitely agree about Kofi. I can see him facing Swagger at Wrestlemania for the US Title.

As for your comments about Triple H, calling that greed just seems a bit too harsh to me, but I see where you are coming from, and I definitely agree. That is the sort of motivation that makes characters seem more real to me. If Triple H (or almost anyone, for that matter) didn't want to be the one to break Taker's streak because they respected Taker so much, it would feel like the BS that went on between Eddie and Davey last year in the build to their match at Best In The World 2011. Taker wouldn't come back every year for Mania if he didn't want competition.

[badnewzxl]

I too thought Truth was great in the 'debate;' I liked his part best, actually. His insanity is GREAT!

I felt the same exact way about the ambulance part; it seemed pointless until the kiss, which is actual very smart imo. I like how this angle is kinda like a horror movie with Kane constantly stalking the protagonists. I can't think of the name of it, but there's a movie that pops into my head every time I see this angle being worked on tv....

[Verdun]

Truth on the debate was gold up until the point where he went back to the spiders and talked about stew.

There's funny crazy then there's not funny changing the channel crazy.