Raw Recap (BEDA 9)

So I watched Raw last night, but most of it was either boring or generally uninteresting, so I'm just going to talk about the good parts. Specifically, the last 20 minutes or so. We had a contract signing segment, hyping the upcoming match between CM Punk and John Cena to determine the undisputed WWE Champion, which Triple H will now be officiating. I was less than pleased when Triple H initially announced that he was inserting himself into the match. However, by the end of the night, both Punk and Cena impressed me so much with their mic work that I'm now looking forward to this encounter just as much, if not even moreso than their previous match.

Punk has been on fire for a while now, and I even said last week that they could just let Punk talk for 2 hours on Raw every week, and I'd be perfectly fine with that. And he continued to be on fire last night, sparking some particular interest by namedropping the recent legit firings of Vladimir Kozlov, Harry Smith, and Chris Masters. But while Punk was just as good as ever, it was actually John Cena who really impressed me last night.

For a while now, Cena hasn't been that good on the mic. He's felt so forced, so insincere. I just haven't been able to take him seriously at all lately. But last night, that all changed. This was a return to form of the old John Cena, the Cena with a little bit of an attitude. It probably helped that he took a page out of Punk's book and started referencing certain "in" things, such as the internet fans' comparisons of him to Hulk Hogan, his "Five Moves of Doom", and his need to channel his "heel persona". But for the first time in a long while, I actually believed what Cena was saying. He actually sounded like he was speaking from the heart, rather than reading from a script, which was such a refreshing change of pace.

These two tore it up on the microphone last night, and now I'm super hyped for their upcoming encounter at Summer Slam this Sunday. I'm still not thrilled about Triple H's inclusion. And as a result of his inclusion, I have a feeling that Punk won't be walking away with the title after Sunday. But regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to the match, which I'm sure will deliver the goods. I just hope that they don't drop the ball in the aftermath.