Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 4/23
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Please, never again. NEVER give Brock Lesnar more than 30 seconds of mic time ever again. That was the most hilariously bad main-event level promo I've heard in a long time. While the very last part of the segment with Cena was intense, it took forever to get there, and Brock's promo didn't work at all because of his promo abilities. He couldn't deliver his points well, stumbled through the whole thing, and it just wouldn't stop. This is actually a recurring theme of tonight's Raw - it just wouldn't stop. Tonight was a two-hour Raw stretched to fill three hours.

Think of all of the recaps, Cena-Lesnar hype videos, etc. tonight. If most of the fluff was cut out, it would have a typical two-hour Raw. And, while I love proper pay-per-view hype, the WWE Title match had way too much time, thus creating a predictable and unnecessary alcohol testing segment. Why didn't they just use a breathalyzer? Why did Punk even act drunk in the first place? Sure, it gave the feud some more exposure, but it also made the entire thing seem like it passed the point of no return in a bad way. I'm hopeful that Punk retains on Sunday, but considering that he beat the stuffing out of Jericho tonight and will be "in front of his family and friends," I assume that will be the case.

A lot of heels ended up looking pretty weak tonight, though. Primo and Epico continue to lose (though the crowd loves the Ryder-Santino duo), and Ziggler and Swagger continue to have their immense talents wasted. The tag match with Rhodes and Del Rio vs. Khali and Big Show was slow, and the wrong team won. Del Rio looks like a coward and Cody continues to lose steam after having a great year in 2011.

As far as pay-per-view hype was concerned, Daniel Bryan was ironically one of the only heels to look better after the show, with a decent attack on Sheamus. Of course, it was at the expense at Mark Henry looking weak, but you can't win them all. Oh, and I'll reserve my comments on the Divas Title change for a bit - if Kharma takes the belt from the Bellas, then I'll be fine with the title switch.

Lord Tensai has continued to not connect with the audience, but the match before his with Jericho and Kofi was very good. In fact, the first 30 minutes of the show was particularly strong, with an awesome promo from Edge setting the tone for Extreme Rules perfectly. Yet, as can be seen, that momentum didn't keep going throughout the program. I can sympathize with the Creative department having a three-hour show to fill with no gimmick to rely on. However, tonight could have been far better.

Any questions or comments? Follow me on Twitter at BTuckertorch, or e-mail me at btuckertorch@aol.com.

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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