By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

KELLER'S WWE RAW TAKE
MARCH 19, 2012
PHILADELPHIA, PA.
AIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK

-Could you have imagined a little over a year ago that the announcers introducing Raw would throw in a mention that Rock is in the arena as an afterthought, and not even include a picture of him or convey in their voice that it was a big deal? Michael Cole plugged Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H would face off in the ring and titled it "And End of an Era" and also hyped with a graphic John Cena vs. Mark Henry, but apparently they couldn't find a photo of The Rock.

-Strong mic work from C.M. Punk at the beginning, with a response to Chris Jericho last week. His best line was that while what Jericho said was true and known by his close friends, it wasn't his story to tell.

-Jericho's performance was also fantastic. His apology for talking about his dad's alcoholism was well done and almost believable, but his delivery of the line, "However, about your sister…" was a perfect example of holding back and not overacting. His subtle delivery was perfect as he went into an expose of Punk's sister being a drug addict.

-The vast majority of fans see the Punk-Jericho exchanges the last two weeks and are quite sure it's all part of the show, even if it's drawing from real life truths, so in that way it's different than the "real" tension between John Cena and The Rock. What makes it better is that there's a clear-cut sympathetic figure whom you want to see beat up the smarmy heel. It's clear, and it's easy to relate to if you've spent any time on this planet dealing with real issues that real people have within families. People can relate to fearing a family secret getting out and wanting to strangle someone who doesn't mind their own business; people can't relate to Cena taunting Rock for being "off his game" and not leaving a successful movie career to work house shows, or whatever ridiculous case is being made against Rock behind the scenes by Cena, Vince McMahon, and other top people in WWE.

-I kinda believe Big Show wants to kick Cody Rhodes's ass after that angle tonight. Show did a great job conveying that he was incensed with Cody and ready to take his head off when he gets his hands on him. Not sure where they're going with the boxing glove angle, though. Will it be turned into a boxing match a la Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T?

-Did Cole and Lawler not point out that Santino's six-pack is painted on? Or were we not supposed to notice? I think it's part of the joke and it went right over their heads.

-Quotebook - Michael Cole: "Look at the physique on Otunga. How can you boo that?" That sounds like it was fed directly to Cole via Vince McMahon. That's totally something he would say.

-They finally got around to showing a picture of The Rock 34 minutes into the show. It's hardly getting top billing, though, as the majority of the hype is going to Triple H-Undertaker-HBK. Lawler did show some enthusiasm, though.

-A vignette aired for Lord Tensai.

-Quotebook - The Rock: "That's the Rock at 12 years old… Yeah, The Rock knows what you're thinking. The Rock looked like a chunky little girl at 12 years old with short shorts, his little pebbles were coming out. But that's not important."

-The Rock is back. He was charming and self-deprecating and cocky all at the same time. He reenforced to fans who had forgotten that he's a real fan going way way back and can talk about his WrestleMania memories just like fans can. He was smart to include local references to Pat's Cheesesteak and great pro wrestling characters like Mick Foley, Ric Flair, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. And in the end he made it seem important to him that he wins on April 1, noting that he needs to beat Cena to complete his legacy.

-Oh, and Rock also made it more clear this week than when he did the pretaped vignettes in Boston that he would be in the arena later. That could help ratings.

-When Daniel Bryan comes out wearing the World Hvt. Title right after a Rock promo, there's a contrast that might not be great for WWE overall, which is the juxtaposition of yesterday's World Champions such as Rock and Steve Austin and today's "joke of a" World Champion Daniel Bryan. Obviously Bryan is great at what he does, but his character is portrayed as a joke, yet he has the World Title.

-They showed the TMZ headline: "John Cena rear-ended, okay to fight The Rock." That's fodder for Rock to work with, if it were 2011.

-I love Jerry Lawler saying "It's huge" that Flo Rida is going to perform at WrestleMania. He said he's the biggest star in all of hip-hop, but I'd bet he never heard of him before tonight.

-They gave Henry a decent amount of offense in his match against Cena, so it wasn't a complete squash or burial, but the one-time potential "dream match" between a top babyface star on Raw and a top heel star on Smackdown never really was positioned to draw money.

-I suspect some fans will have wanted more Rock-Cena banter than offered this week, but I think we could all use a break from scorched earth approach they've taken in past verbal altercations, especially when Cena's apparent goal was to tear down Rock rather than promote their match. And having the Taker-HBK-Hunter segment is a good way to end the show, especially since it played opening act for Rock-Cena in recent weeks.

-Did The Miz read Greg Parks's column pointing out that no one since King Kong Bundy has had as big of a dropoff after main eventing a WrestleMania as Miz between last year and this year.

-Quotebook - Jerry Lawler on David Otunga: "I heard he's going to name his first-born daughter Sue."

-I love to see the return of the announcer (Josh Mathews in this case) interviewing a wrestler on the stage with his back to the crowd. They used to do that circa 1990 on the syndicated shows and it really works. I think in this case it just shakes up the feel and look of the show production-wise. I'd like to see a move away from non-wrestling segments inside the ring and keep the ring just for wrestling so it felt more like a place to fight and less like a place to promote feuds.

-The Orton promo was okay given his position on the card this year. It set the table for the match, but it didn't pretend to be anything but a mid-card match for him this year. Being lost in the crowd a little bit this year does make the possibility of his headlining higher on the card next year a fresher situation.

-Quotebook - Jerry Lawler in response to Cole saying Vickie Guerrero looked pretty: "I've seen better heads on a pimple."

-Cool clip of Triple H doing the tombstone and scoring a pin Undertaker-style against Dolph Ziggler at MSG last night.

-When Shawn Michaels said, "If you'll let me be honest with you for just one minute," I thought, "How about you're always honest with me and not just for the next minute."

-Still no glimpse at Undertaker's bald head.

-Quotebook - Undertaker to Michaels: "You did enough talking last week. It would be in your best interest to shut up and listen."

-I love Taker saying the match has to be pure. It's so simple, but it speaks to fans who want the same thing and are as suspicious as Taker is that it won't be.

-Quotebook - Triple H: "All of those matches I have been through have been for one moment - April 1st, WrestleMania, Hell in a Cell. The whole world is going to see the end of an era - yours."

-What the Triple H-Taker promo showed is that you have a history to draw from, well established characters, and a big setting, you don't have to get overly cute to sell fans on the match. The methodical pace was great. And the final punchline and the reaction to it was great. Undertaker telling Triple H "he is" (Michaels is better than you) and Michaels instant self-satisfied chuckle followed by Triple H turning and glaring at him are easy to understand, memorable, and sells the dynamic in the match. Good stuff and a nice close to the show with one more to go.

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