WWE Raw Reax - January 12, 2008 edition

Matt Johnson of Norway, Mich. (8.5): Best: Cena vs. Michaels. Worst: Beth Phoenix/Melina segment. I love what WWE is doing with its characters. There are now three-dimensional characters. It is not like Vince Russo’s shades of gray, when people didn’t know who to cheer for. Little things like Cody Rhodes chatting with Mickie James and C.M. Punk being a jerk to Candice makes the characters more interesting. Terrell Owens may be a “heel” football player, but he does not act like a complete jerk at all times. Great decision adding DiBiase to Legacy. Orton, Rhodes, and DiBiase share common traits that separate them from Snuka and Manu. The IC Title would seem more important if they built up the match all throughout the show. I have come to the conclusion that Raw is not the show to build stars. Knox-Mysterio would be better served headlining ECW or being featured on Smackdown. The match just doesn’t seem very exciting. They should put Rey back on Smackdown while he still has value. Nice choice for the Royal Rumble theme. Awesome effort by Cena and Michaels. I was fully expecting a DQ finish after five minutes.

Adam Riemer of New York, N.Y. (6.5): Best: HBK/JBL story actually making me care again. Worst: Kane losing like that nonsense; how bad Candice looked. This was an okay Raw that had very good parts and just "who cares" parts. I always like Jericho and Stephanie's interactions, and tonight was a nice touch. Jericho needs something big - a feud with the face boss might be a big step for him. Lately there is little success when a heel going against a face authority figure pan out very well. Most of the time it ends up pretty bland and stupid (e.g. Angle-Cornette in TNA). Jericho against Stephanie on a complete reversal from the glory years might be a fresh, nice change. I guessed DiBiase from the get-go, and it was obvious that he was not going to go face. I don't like the "past is the past" crap and total forgiveness, but at least this angle is fun to watch. C.M. Punk vs. Regal is crap, plain and simple. The WWE builds up the IC title to do what? Crush it with garbage. You have two good wrestlers to build up a title that is a shadow of even the TV title on WCW and you ruin it with terrible matches and sloppy, lazy, lousy writing. Now, onto the main reason Raw was great: JBL. JBL standing over Cena said one thing to me: Why on earth is this man NOT the authority figure on Raw? I still don't buy JBL as the number one main eventer on RAW. He is definitely one of the best heels in the last ten years in the WWE, but he belongs as the Raw GM now. Him standing over Cena looked so great, but as the heel authority figure that just shut up his insubordinate employee, not as a world champion contender.

WWE Raw Coverage
-- CALDWELL'S 1/12 Raw TV Report
-- KELLER'S 1/12 Raw TV Report
-- Summary, Notes, and Info on 1/12 Raw

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