-- 7/30 WWE Raw Reax

Annabella Cordana of Raleigh, N.C. (4.0) Best: Punk. Worst: Death of A.J. This show reminded me a lot of a WonderBra: a lot of padding trying to create the illusion of a complete package. When the show wasn't recapping Triple H-Brock Lesnar five times, recapping a pyro malfunction five times, or pimping out Tout, things were okay. The problem is those okay moments drowned in a deep sea of sludge. I thought Punk was the MVP of the night. Sitting on the announce table and tearing into Lawler was the highlight of the night, and Lawler's feeble attempts at comebacks were hilariously sad. You can't fight back against the cold hard truth. Bryan becomes more entertaining by the week. But, the most disappointing thing about the show was A.J. by a mile. A.J. got over as being an unpredictable, unstable, crazy little pixie who shoved her tongue down several guys's throats and left a trail of chaos in her wake. I don't know where that girl went, but in her place tonight was a mature, sane, utterly bland young woman in a power suit borrowed directly from Stephanie McMahon's collection who did everything I expected her to do. She messed with Bryan and made a triple-threat match for Summerslam. She's not even the same character anymore. If they continue down this road, she will lose her heat quickly. I'm very disappointed with how much my excitement for her was dampened by tonight's show.

Chris of Tyler, Texas, student: A rape joke? Really? And, their response is just to have Cole say we apologize for the remarks? I don't know what was worse. The fact that AW thought a rape joke would be funny or that he thought a ten-year-old rape reference that didn't really make any sense would be funny. And, what's with the new Raw intro? Among all of the titans of the industry, there's Undertaker, Flair, Jericho, Triple H, and...Otunga? I'm done. I love the C.M. Punk angle, but this officially isn't worth my time anymore. I don't have three hours to invest in this every Monday.

Steve in Pompano Beach, Fla. (5.0): Best: Bryan-Sheamus Street Fight, Jericho/Christian vs. Ziggler/Miz. Worst: Del Rio vs. Santino. Most annoying: multiple Lesnar-Triple H recaps. Another middle of the road Raw, with too much filler and not enough quality. Punk's opening promo and the segment with Bryan & A.J., who, for some reason, was dressing like Stephanie McMahon, were entertaining, but Del Rio vs. Santino Pt. 37 & the Funkaboreus/Vickie/Sandow variety show was a waste of that entire first hour. Thankfully, Sheamus vs. D-Bryan started Hour 2, even if all three match choices for them were essentially the exact same thing. The psych evaluation bit with Bryan dragged on too long, though, which was time that could've been dedicated to another match... Y2J/Christian vs. Ziggler/Miz was largely all right despite Dolph's botch. As for the main event, the ending was clear the moment that Show launched Cena over the table and into Punk. A triple threat for the WWE Title at Summerslam is all well and good, but the thing that bugged me most was the reaction that Punk showed to A.J.'s announcement. At the start of the show and during his backstage talk with Cena, Punk largely seemed the same as he had been before he left Rock laying. From those instances alone, it seemed as if he could've fallen into tweener status and had the mixed crowd reaction that typically goes with it. But, by having him scream at A.J. about how his being in a triple threat isn't fair, Punk came off as a whiney heel. I hope that's not the case, as the "chickens--- heel" persona needs a rest in WWE; Punk could do a lot better as a "gray area" guy more along the lines of Austin, and wouldn't be losing over a year's worth of character work and build-up in the process.

Matt, PWTorch reader: Three hours and no Divas anything? Gimme a break! I don't think WWE has any clue what to do with the Divas division. Yet, we get replay overload on everything and this idiotic Tensai shoved down our throats. I hope WWE leaders noticed everyone sitting on their hands during everything Tensai. Nobody cares! And, we get that the set caught fire before the show. Big whup! We don't need to see the piddlin' fire 50 million times. Just my two cents.

***

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

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