WWE Raw Storyline Tracker
By Robin Scannell, PWTorch Specialist

Episode - January 16, 2012

(1) WWE Title picture / Punk vs. Laurinaitis

Raw opened with Mick Foley coming to the ring to talk about his dream to wrestle in front of his two new children. He said he would be one of the 30 participants in the Royal Rumble.

Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero then came out to the ring. Ziggler lambasted Foley for wanting to take one of the 30 slots when there are others who have worked hard all year. Ziggler did a funny impression of Foley’s time in the Royal Rumble. He said that once he wins the title, it will be a letdown in having to defend it against Foley. Ziggler ended up telling Foley to “just go away."

C.M. Punk then came out and attacked Ziggler for standing behind a woman. Punk said he’d still be the champion at the Royal Rumble. Laurinaitis then came out and said he would be unbiased at the Rumble, and would consider Foley for entrance into the Rumble. After briefly thinking about it, he decided that Foley wouldn’t be in the Rumble. The segment ended with Vickie maniacally laughing at Foley.

Backstage, John Laurinaitis announced that there would be a six-man tag match featuring Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry, and David Otunga against C.M. Punk, Daniel Bryan, and “you,” as the camera panned to show Chris Jericho. Jericho turned off the lights and posed with his light-up jacket.

In the main event, Jericho tagged in and played to the crowd, before walking to the back and Bryan ended up running from Henry towards the back. Foley then came out to even the odds, convincing the referee that he had Laurinaitis’s permission to enter the match.

Foley tagged in and hit his double-arm DDT and applied the Mandible Claw, leading the referee to call for the bell. John Laurinaitis then came to the ring, angry at Foley since he did not give him permission to join the match, so he reversed the decision.

Punk took Laurinaitis’s mic and told him to shut his mouth. He said that he’d do nothing about him grabbing and shoving him. Punk said that Laurinaitis never had “it” and that must have been hard to have a brother, from the Road Warriors, who was more charismatic than him. Punk said he’ll still be better than Laurinaitis even if he screws him out of the WWE Title. Punk teased punching Laurinaitis and called him pathetic.

Laurinaitis then said he’ll soon be the permanent GM and that he wasn’t pathetic. Foley wanted him to admit that he was going to screw Punk at the Rumble. Laurinaitis loosened his tie and told Foley that he would screw Punk. He said he’s tired of being disrespected despite putting on the most entertaining show each week. He said he wouldn’t take it anymore and hit Foley with the mic before leaving the ring.

Reax: One problem here was that what caused Punk to be angry wasn’t worth being reasonably angry over. Foley lied and wasn’t in the match, thus he would be disqualified, so a reverse decision is fair. Although in fairness, Punk didn’t focus on that in the content of his promo.

Also, Punk’s criticism of Laurinaitis as a wrestler was focused on Laurinaitis’s charisma and not whether or not he was a great wrestler or that he didn’t win enough matches.

Despite these criticisms, I thought this final segment was strong and put the babyface, Punk, in jeopardy of losing his title because of the actions of the heel, Laurinaitis. In addition to this, Ziggler’s mic work was good and the match between Punk and he at the Rumble has a chance to be very good.

***

(2) Tag Title Picture

After losing their Tag Titles at a house show the night before, Air Boom's Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne had their re-match against Epico and Primo (with Rosa Mendes). Epico & Primo defeated Air Boom in a short match to retain their titles.

Reax: The day after, Evan Bourne was suspended for 60 days after a second strike for breaking the Wellness Policy. The tag division now consists of Epico & Primo, The Usos, and Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks (who are generally confined to Superstars). The Usos are the only babyface tag team, unless including the new tag team of Santino Marella & Mason Ryan, who wrestled together on Superstars.

***

(3) United States Title Picture

Backstage, Zack Ryder said in an interview that he wasn’t cleared to wrestle, but wouldn’t give up the title. Eve then said she’ll accompany Ryder.

Jack Swagger defeated Zack Ryder in a short match that involved multiple gutwrench powerbombs to win the United States Title. Backstage, Laurinaitis said that he only just saw Ryder’s doctor’s note. Eve shouted at Laurinaitis, but Laurinaitis just told her to shut her mouth.

Reax: It was later shown that Ryder wasn’t cleared to wrestle. John Laurinaitis hadn’t opened the letter containing that information yet. If only there was precedent for nullifying the result of a match upon a wrester not being fit to compete... oh wait, on the November 25 edition of Smackdown, this exact scenario played out with Daniel Bryan and Mark Henry and the decision was nullified. Also, it wasn’t made clear enough (if this was the case) that Ryder would lose the title if he didn’t defend it, which, even if that was said, Ryder shouldn’t be worrying, considering he has a doctor’s note.

If the fictional Board of Directors makes Laurinaitis the permanent GM - which Laurinaitis later stated was his ambition - then the Board will look stupid. Even if a rationalization could be made that the Board knew Laurinaitis was undermining Triple H, there is no basis on which they could give him the job when something like this happens. In saying that, perhaps they will address this situation on the next episode of Raw.

As a side note, how does an injured Ryder kick out of Swagger’s finisher at all? He managed to kick out twice before finally being unable to kick out after the third. To summarize, Jack Swagger won a match that didn’t really count, it took him three finishers on an injured opponent to get that victory, and then he got beat down by Cena later in the show.

***

(4) Cena vs. Kane

Backstage, John Cena was angry at Laurinaitis for making Ryder compete. Laurinaitis said that he made a mistake and then announced Cena vs. Kane at the Royal Rumble. Laurinaitis then booked Cena vs. Swagger for that night.

Cena ran to the ring to attack Swagger. After attacking him on the outside of the ring, Cena went to hit Swagger’s head with the ring steps, but Kane appeared on the Titantron, interrupting. Kane said that what Cena did was impressive and that they will meet at the Rumble.

***

(5) Royal Rumble Hype

In addition to Foley announcing his intentions for entering the Rumble, a Royal Rumble flashback of the 1992 event aired, showing Ric Flair winning the WWF Title.

R-Truth came to the ring and Barrett interrupted immediately, saying that he’s in, and will win the Royal Rumble. Truth then showed some slides from Disneyland. Afterward, The Miz attacked Truth from behind and Sheamus made the save. Teddy Long came out and booked Barrett, Truth, Miz, and Sheamus in an over-the-top-rope challenge. First, Barrett was eliminated, and then Truth eliminated Sheamus and Miz at the same time to win the match.

Reax: Who else is surprised that this wasn’t a Tag Team match? My big problem with these matches is they’re entirely inconsequential. Now, if the match lead to a better number pick at the Royal Rumble, then suddenly the match is pretty important.

***

(6) Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show / World Title Picture

After a recap of A.J.’s injury on the previous Smackdown, Daniel Bryan came out on-stage and said that Big Show is a cruel freak and that he purposely ran into A.J.. Bryan called Show pathetic and that his tears were crocodile tears. Bryan said that if Show shows his face on Smackdown, he’ll make him pay. He then hyped his World Title match with Mark Henry on Smackdown.

***

Other Stories

- Perez Hilton announced the Divas for a tag match, which saw Kelly and Alicia Fox defeat the Bella Twins after Perez Hilton foiled the Bellas’s attempt at Twin Magic. After the match, the Bellas pushed Perez over, and he took arguably the worst bump in the history of professional wrestling.

- Brodus Clay defeated JTG in a short match. He previously defeated Curt Hawkins and Tyson Kidd, making his new gimmick 3-0.

Current Feuds Active this Week (# weeks)

Raw

John Cena vs. Kane (6)
C.M. Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler (4)
R-Truth vs. The Miz (4)
Zack Ryder vs. Jack Swagger (3)

Smackdown

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show (6)
Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett (3)

Feel free to email any comments to scannell.torch@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @robinocracy for my thoughts on the pay-per-view and non-wrestling related things.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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