The Redman Report: WWE Raw 6/2/12: “This is not over.”By Jimmy Redman| February 8, 2012 The Redman Report Feels like ages since I’ve sat down and watched Raw when I’m supposed to. So, Hunter and Taker eh? Jericho and Punk eh? Cena and Rock and at the same time Kane eh? Anyway, we’re getting into WrestleMania season now, lets do it. Time to play the game! Never change Hunter. This was one of those classic Hunter promos that basically says in 20 minutes what he could have said in 5. But, tedious length aside, this was so great to me. I invested into the story of Hunter/Taker more than most things I’ve seen, they left it perfectly open for the rematch, and now its February they’re going about it EXACTLY how I envisioned. Taker won the match but lost…something in being carted out like an old mortal man, so he’s back to avenge his victory and do it right this time and prove he’s still the Phenom and that the Streak is intact. Hunter knows he almost killed Taker last year, in his mind he irreparably damaged him, so he thinks if they rematch he’ll finish the job and Kill the Legend of the Undertaker ™. And, just like Shawn initially refused to be the one to carry the burden of ending Ric Flair’s career, Hunter respects Taker and doesn’t want to carry the burden of being the one who kills him and ends the Streak. All we need now is for Taker to take offense to Hunter writing him off as finished and be all “Old Yeller?! OLD YELLER?!” and we’re set. And man, they did their job with me because Hunter was being so…Hunterish, bleating on and on about how he feels sorry for the old man and how washed up he is, I already cannot WAIT for Taker to beat the SH*T out of this guy. Tombstone City, motherf*cker. Show and Bryan was another fun match-as-angle. Bryan got in some cool offense, like the shoulderbreaker to the knee, and Show looked cool coming back, especially the SPEAR. The angle ruled, Bryan going to springboard but Show cocking his fist causing him to bail right into Plan B: AJ! Bryan blatantly using her as a shield, then Show PULLING UP before he killed her again and his shock, and Bryan using it as the perfect excuse to take her and haul ass away from Show, again, great stuff. They like their music videos tonight, that’s for sure. I’m someone who is always thinking they should play more videos on TV, and even I was thinking “How many videos are there going to be?” Although it helped to not miss anything as I nodded off here and there. Not feeling well. Otunga is so great as a Stooge. The Tebow ruled. I assumed Sheamus here and I was right. Fun little squash, the shirt-rip Chest Wallops was fun, and Otunga for his 30 seconds of offense looked really good just throwing a million stomps. Then BAM BROGUE KICK. Enjoyed. Its funny, after all of the Jericho trolling, he came out and just spoke here like every other guy and nobody cared. Its kind of weird how easily he brushed past the trolling stuff in half a sentence to move into the “everybody steals my stuff” angle. He was just sort of dicking around for a month to no consequence waiting for his feud to start. Punk coming out and pretending to engage but then just holding up the title was great. The title proves he’s the real best in the world, and hey, that is exactly how you should deal with a troll too – ignore their BS and treat them like the toddler they are. Orton and Khali is one of the most absurdly awesome babyface teams ever. And apparently they think so too as they got a little Benoit/Angle on. Cody springboarding into the CHOP OF DOOM was hilarious. If I ever tire of the CHOP OF DOOM, kill me. That RKO was pretty fun too. However things end up going down, I cannot fathom this guy not being in the world title match at Mania. At least Beth now has something to do with the “no challenges left!” angle. It presumably leads to Kharma at the end of the road so I’m looking forward to that. I like how she’s increasingly pissing off the Bellas by being such a dick to them all the time. At least Tamina won and she’s actually getting a title shot out of her push. Ace! He’s a survivor, just like Drew. People never actually get fired from this company anymore. I’m intrigued by Shawn next week. It feels too soon, but at the same time Shawn has a great perspective since he tried twice and he lost his career to it. I love this angle. The main event was a fun thing. I missed the start of it as I nodded off again, but the second half ruled. Nothing more needs to be said about Miz and Truth. Its funny, when Dolph and Miz did their running clotheslines on Punk I thought Miz was Jericho. Copycats indeed. But all of the multi-man spots were super fun, as was the little Kofi/Jericho interlude. Finish was predictable but the right one. I liked the body language between them, and Jericho copying Punk’s sitting position was a nice touch. At this point the annoying girls in the crowd screaming into the camera were starting to really bother me, until they cut away and I realised it was Eve. This wasn’t anything new but I’m looking forward to their match, especially on the back of last week where Cena enjoyed himself WAY too much when he went Hate Embracing Cena again. And how weird to see a whole show without John Cena. Anyway, this was a bunch of fun.
