Top 10 Talking Points: WWE Raw 30/1/2012

Coming on the heels of a historic Royal Rumble pay-per-view, WWE Raw Supershow on January 30, 2012 was a blockbuster, to say the least. The entire show was newsworthy, leaving us plenty to discuss about. Let’s go ahead with the top 10 talking points of WWE Raw 30/1/2012:

1. Undertaker is back!

Perhaps the biggest moment of the night was the Undertaker‘s return. I certainly didn’t see it coming. With the Undertaker showing eagerness for a Wrestlemania match with him, Triple H was portrayed as being disinterested for now. But as we had reported earlier, Triple H Vs Undertaker would be happening at Wrestlemania 28. My prediction is that they would have a last man standing match, and of course, Taker wins. 20 – 0.

Undertaker and Triple H had a staredown on Raw

2. Laurinaitis joins the kiss my ass club… well almost!

I have a feeling that Laurinaitis did a good job on Raw. Though he stammered, blabbered and even swallowed a few words, he did well when it comes to taking the story forward. Be it at the starting of the show with Punk, Bryan and Sheamus or at the end with Triple H. Triple H made a mockery out of his statement that he would do anything to keep his job. When he knelt down, I was wondering if we are still in the PG era. Kudos to Johnny for the laughs that he gave us at his expense.

3. Champion Vs Champion

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan put on a solid match. The match was physical and it would have been great if it had a concrete finish. As Michael Cole said, it would have been a hall of fame worthy match. It’s a pity that it ended in a disqualification. But, there’s no doubt that we’ll get to see these two ‘wrestlers’ wrestle each other in an even bigger stage.

Jericho attacked CM Punk with the codebreaker

4. Jericho’s intentions revealed

I had a hunch that something big was brewing, every time CM Punk said ‘Best Wrestler in the world’ during the first hour of the show. Jericho came out, hit the codebreaker and made his intentions clear. We will get to hear from Jericho regarding this attack, next week.

5. Raw Elimination Chamber match announced

CM Punk will defend his WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber on February 19 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin against Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, R-Truth and Chris Jericho. Michael Cole plugged that the reason for Jericho’s attack on Punk was regarding this Elimination Chamber match. Really Cole? Really? Anyways, it wasn’t ideal to announce this match at the start of the show. But taking into account of what happened at the end with Undertaker’s return etc, WWE have justified the reason why they had to plug in the elimination match at the start of the show itself.

2012 Raw Elimination Chamber match

6. Funkasaurus and T-Reks

As Jerry Lawler wittily put it, we were in a Jurassic Park with both Funkasaurus and T-Reks(Tyler Reks) in action. The Funkasaurus reigned supreme yet again. It has to be said that Funkasaurus has really gotten over with the crowd.

7. What’s up fella?

The royal rumble winner made a very brief appearance during which he teased about the championship he was going to choose to fight for at Wrestlemania. He hasn’t made the decision yet which is kind of good as they can develop this storyline for a few more weeks, until Elimination Chamber. He too made mockery of John Laurinaitis, which was actually very funny.

8. Kane gets ambushed by Cena

Beth Phoenix made quick work of Eve in the Divas Championship match but what happened after that was the highlight. Kane came out and tormented her and John Cena made the save. Cena brutalized Kane with the steel steps and forced Kane to retreat. WWE has taken a clever route of bringing in Cena’s wrestlemania match with The Rock into this feud with Kane. But folks, don’t get your hopes high. It is gonna stay Rock Vs Cena. Kane’s feud with Cena is likely to come to an end at Elimination Chamber event.

Cena brutalized Kane with the steel steps

9. Randy Orton shows off his prowess

Wade Barrett watched from a skybox as Randy Orton made a victorious return to Raw by beating Dolph Ziggler. The intra-match interviews with Barrett was something new and good. With the announcers talking predominantly about Orton and Barrett throughout the match, you might have known that an Orton victory was imminent.

10. Kofi Kingston gets a push at the expense of The Miz

The Miz, who lasted the longest in this year’s Royal Rumble, was beaten fair and square by Kofi Kingston, courtesy of his Trouble in Paradise. R-Truth, who was watching this match at commentary was fun throughout. He kept snubbing Michael Cole when asked about little jimmy, which was hilarious. I think that these three men are in the Elimination Chamber match just to make up the numbers. So, it would be better if they begin a new feud among themselves to keep them in line for a Wrestlemania match.

Raw was worthy watching. The episode was simply superb and it kind of made up for the Rumble disappointment. But the fact that we still don’t know about John Laurinaitis’ future is a bit disheartening.

My personal Raw Rating: 9/10 Excellent!