Monday Night Roundup: An Electrifying Raw

Wrestling fans everywhere felt chills on the back of their necks during Raw’s twenty-minute overrun this week.  It was a truly awe-inspiring sight as The Rock stood in the middle of the ring and delivered his most memorable catch phrases.  Whether or not you were a Brahma Bull fan during his glory days seems irrelevant.  If last night’s return didn’t have you feeling sentimental, you’re made out of stone.  The People’s Champ, who will serve as WrestleMania 27’s guest host, promised the WWE Universe that he wouldn’t be leaving any time soon, and if the rest of his speech is any indication, we can believe him.  In addition to feeding our nostalgia fueled hearts with classic Rocky banter, The Great One called out some of WWE’s current stars, namely The Miz and John Cena.  Nobody knows for sure what the Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment has in store for the company that made him a star – some expect him to wrestle again, some expect him to be the GM – but I’m looking forward to whatever it is.  WrestleMania has certainly just improved, and I have to imagine the same can be said for WWE programming in general.  Raw was an otherwise Pay-Per-View caliber show, easily the best in a while, although it’s understandably been overshadowed by the return of one of the greatest WWE Champions of all time.  Reactions to the rest of Raw, along with a Ring of Honor recap, after the jump.

• On any other night, CM Punk Vs John Cena in a match where “there must be a winner” would be the main event.  On last night’s blockbuster Raw, it opened the show.  The fabulous CM Punk was victorious over his rival once again, and it’s good to see them play up the fact that he’s 3-0 versus Cena.  The Nexus arm handing a chair (then a wrench) out to Punk was a nice touch and a good way to put the Straight Edge Superstar over in the match without hurting Cena’s position as the company’s top face.  Despite Punk securing the pinfall, we haven’t seen the end of this feud.
• Alberto Del Rio delivered his usual destiny promo, this time interrupted by Edge.  Good to see these guys getting some exposure on Raw.  After Edge attacked the #1 contender, Vickie & Dolph appeared on the ramp to tell Edge he’s no longer the champ and that he’ll be fired on Friday Night Smackdown because they have proof of his involvement in the Teddy Long attack.  This one stinks of foul play from a mile away.  I have no doubt that Ziggler will not be named champ and that Edge will not be fired, but we’ll save that for Friday’s Smackdown preview.
• The newest 2.21.11 vignette clearly showed the Undertaker, so we know he’ll be on Raw next week.  The video implied there will be a second wrestler showing up as well, as it featured a mysterious figure approaching the house that ‘Taker was in.  We’ll have some more speculation on that tomorrow.
• Eve Torres retained her title in a lumberjill match against Natalya.  Having all the divas around the ring at once really made it obvious that there are an abundance of heel women on Raw and a shortage of faces.  The ending to this one was botched, but I can forgive anything on a night that saw the return of The Rock.
• Mark Henry was jumped by Sheamus while approaching the ring.  If they’re building to a Sheamus Vs Henry match at Mania to free Triple H up to face the Undertaker, I will be severly disappointed.
• WWE Champion The Miz went one-on-one with US Champion Daniel Bryan in what was not only the match of the night, but thus far the match of the year.  Both men looked fantastic in this one, and it served both of their characters exceptionally well.  Miz notched a much-needed clean victory, and Bryan was able to take the WWE Champion to his limit.  Fair wins for the Miz have eluded him for some time now, and this one did wonders for making him appear to be a legitimate competitor.  If Bryan finds himself in the midst of a WWE Title push within the next few months, I’ll believe this match was the catalyst.
• John Morrison Vs R-Truth is changed to the two men teaming together in a tag match against Michael McGillicutty & David Otunga of the New Nexus.  The originally scheduled match would have been better, but they may have feared Truth generating a heel reaction in that scenerio.  Morrison showed some emotion in this one, being all worked up about the black eye Punk gave him last week.  He and his partner defeated the Nexus members in under five minutes.
• Ariel Winter, Triple H’s costar in The Chaperone, was a guest host for the Khali kiss cam.  Kind of a waste of time.  We saw Santino and Tamina, who I expected to play bigger roles on Valentine’s Day, as well as William Regal give Zack Ryder a smooch.  In kind of a strange moment, Hornswoggle appeared with a box of chocolates for Winter, and received a kiss for his effort.  Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but 24-year-old man seeking the kisses of a 13-year-old girl is creepy even if the guy is short, right?  How is this OK?
• Randy Orton went over Sheamus with an RKO in a relatively short match.  I don’t think anyone expected much from this one, as the crowd was simmering for the guest host reveal.  Anything that was put on directly before the host segment would have been underappreciated.  WWE realized that and gave us a match we’ve seen numerous times over the past few months rather than waste something new.

This was easily the best wrestling show of the year to date, and probably the best one since Bret Hart’s return last year.  The Rock coming back was an amazing event that blew the roof off the building, and the moment was preceded by a show full of awesome matches.  Raw was miles better than the TNA Pay-Per-View the night before, and I legitimately cannot wait for next week.  Who was the woman who got out of the limo backstage?  What did the Raw General Manager’s email say?  Who was the second figure in the 2.21.11 promo?  Does the Rock plan to wrestle again? Ahhhh, the Road to WrestleMania is in full swing!

Meanwhile, on Ring of Honor, #1 contender Homicide defeated Mark Briscoe in a really good match.  Homicide also called out World Champion Roderick Strong to end the show, which led to a brawl between the two.  In the first round of the Top Prospects Tournament, which Mike Bennett seems destined to win, Kyle O’Reilly defeated John Gresham.  Next week, the tournament will roll on, and Chris Hero will go one-on-one with Kenny King.