10 Thoughts: WWE RAW 12.16.2013 (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton)

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1. The opening seemed to last forever in my eyes and part of that, to me, was because of just how long it takes for Randy to walk down the ramp and into the ring. And even when he got there, he was pacing the ring slowly while his music drones on. Also, it doesn’t help that it was a Randy promo. I’m not really putting much stock into having Bryan face Orton as a sign that WWE wants to put Daniel Bryan back into the title picture. Bryan apparently still has business with the Wyatts to tend to and besides, I’m still looking at him to win the Rumble.

2. I’m really trying to look past my own personal bias against Mysterio and say that the tag match was decent but a lot of that credit will be given to CoDust. We can at least agree on that, right?

3. For a split second, I was about to boo Big E for stopping Cesaro from attempting to swing Mark Henry. However, I then remembered that Big E can do no wrong in my eyes and I went back to laughing at the chalky hand print E left on Mark Henry’s chest. He’s such a rascal.

4. The Brodus heel turn was solidified and I couldn’t be happier. I dug the funkasaurus angle just because it was so out of left field and unexpected when he redebuted but it quickly fell into a repetitive circus of dancing, lights and (at times) dancing with children. Not sure if he’s now going to be an evil dancer (joining Fandango, I’d assume) or revert to the typical angry big guy. Either way, I’m just glad there was some sort of change. And give Xavier Wood’s the Tons of Funk music, why not?

5. HBK coming out to interrupt Punk was such a surprise that I think it even surprised Shawn seeing as how he seemingly forgot his lines. I’m not really complaining because Shawn could come out and recite Ke$ha lyrics and I’ll still be the giddy HBK fan. The promo itself seemed to be just a reason to use Shawn since they were in Texas but how fun would it be if HBK came back? He could totally work an Undertaker schedule for a couple years. And sure, he got the best sendoff anyone could ask for but so did JD on Scrubs but that didn’t stop him from starring in a few episodes in the 9th season.

6. Punk really does seem to be having fun in his matches these days and that’s one of the reasons why I’m sort of okay with him not being on the main scene right now. I have a feeling both Bryan and Punk are just biding their time til Rumble because I feel like either could win it. And whoever doesn’t win it will probably be busy soon thereafter with setting up for their Mania feuds.

7. So Abigail is Rosebud? Either that or that’s the name of the carpenter that made the rocking chair. A man’s bond with his carpenter is sacred.

8. I know I won’t be the only one to point this out but this week’s Raw was pretty decent in my eyes. Very little storyline, just a little continuation or resolution from TLC but nothing that’ll be required to be furthered until after the taped holiday shows. Instead we got longer matches and nobody seemed to mind those matches. However, the weakest part of Raw this week was easily the commentating. Either it was them going on about their social networkings or the incoherent babble that made up their distracting bickering during the matches. And yes, cutting away to watch Jerry take a photo of himself during a match was just bad in so many ways but that just seemed like the tip of the iceberg. The complaint has always been that they don’t concentrate on the matches enough but that problem only seems to get worse. A 3 person booth still feels very crowded even though WWE likes having a face, neutral and heel commentators but it feels unnecessary. I understand why Cole is necessary but they could easily save JBL for Smackdown and PPVs only.

9. I don’t know if “impressive” is the right word when referencing the superkick Tamina delivered to Nikki Bella because it just feels wrong to say the words “impressive” and Tamina in the same sentence. Maybe effective is the appropriate word considering it busted Nikki’s lip pretty good.

10. I know I’m preaching to the converted but Daniel Bryan really can bring out the best in just about anybody. This was a reminder just how dumb it was to take Daniel Bryan off and replace him with Big Show. I know WWE REALLY wanted that Cena vs Orton unification match, and they still could’ve done so but using a Big Show buffer between Bryan and Cena was kinda unnecessary. Either WWE could’ve gone with another gimmicky ending that screwed Daniel Bryan again and move onto Cena or find a way to put Bryan into a 3 way at TLC. Either would’ve been better options that Big Show vs Orton at Survivor Series. Bryan is seemingly not done with the Wyatts and so I’ll continue with my guarded optimism that Bryan will be back in the title scene very soon.

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Chris

Chris is a writer from Fayetteville, NC. He's the co-creator of Irrelevant But Awesome Productions which produces podcasts you all know and love like Classy Ring Attire, Trashy Ring Attire and The Disney Magic Podcast. You can keep up with everything on twitter by following @IBAStudios and @CWSanders39