By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

KELLER'S WWE RAW BLOG
FEBRUARY 13, 2012
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
LIVE ON USA NETWORK

-There's something about putting six wrestlers in a spoof debate setting that comes across as degrading to the wrestlers' characters. It makes them seem "small," if that makes sense, just puppets for the writing team who think of some cute scripted interplay and one-liners to make the wrestlers act out. I think there were some cute little moments to snicker at, but it felt belittling overall. I think a debate format like that could work with a lower card four-way match or something where it's comedy figures or lower card novelty acts.

-The best part might have been Kofi Kingston throwing his name into the mix of possible winners and giving a plausible path to get there.

-There were times when Jerry Lawler's interruptions felt very forced and scripted, like he was interrupting "on cue" where it told him to in the script.

-It didn't take long for Chris Jericho to feel like he's just another wrestler in the mix. It's like he never left. And his character - after all of that talk of wanting to do something entirely different - is starting to feel a lot like his last heel character in WWE.

-The Jericho vs. Kingston match should have been more substantial. Jericho cheating with a thumb to the eye helped keep Kofi from seeming totally beneath him. At five minutes it wasn't a squash or anything, but even a couple more minutes and a few more near fall exchanges would have built up Kofi a little more.

-"Do not leave this locker room." When John Cena told Zack Ryder that, you knew Ryder was doomed again.

-Did Jerry Lawler really offer up this one-liner: "Do you know what I think Daniel Bryan's only chances are of retaining that championship? Slim and none." Seriously, Jerry. Seriously?!

-WWE math strikes again… Cole says Bryan has only a one-in-six chance of winning the Chamber. Fact: He is one of six men in the Chamber. Not a Fact: If Howard Finkle was thrown into the match instead of Big Show, he would not have a one-in-six chance of winning. If the Washington Bullets play the Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA game, the Bullets do not have a one-in-two chance of winning. It's just so stupid they keep repeating this as if it's self-evident and obviously so.

-I am glad they've switched Cole to gushing praise on Bryan. Lawler's disgust with Cole's sudden turnaround is also entertaining… Wait a second. Now he's tearing into him for interfering with the title belt. He goes, "He can do whatever he wants, he's the champion." Then he scolded him for it and said he ruined another great match. Cole is all the place. I don't get this approach to Cole's commentary. If fans don't like Cole, how they are supposed to feel when he criticizes Bryan? Are they supposed nod along in agreement with the heel commentator, or disagree and root for Bryan? This isn't a subtle, sophisticated "shade of gray." It's just a mess.

-Quotebook - Shawn Michaels to Triple H: "Are you telling me you married that chick and now you've become one of them? Is that what you are now? A sellout?"

-Quotebook - "Like it or not, whether anybody likes it or not, I don't give a damn if they do or not, this, all of this, all of it is going to me mine. And it's my responsibility and that responsibility weighs like a ton on my shoulders, even now."

-Quotebook - "I look at Undertaker like a brand, a brand that is good for business, Shawn, and I can't let that brand end because it's bad for business."

-When Triple H tells Michaels they're the last of a different breed that engaged in a "smash mouth style that doesn't exist, we left it all in the ring every night." Okay, so why are supposed to watch now if the smash-mouth guys have been replaced with new wrestlers who… well, who Triple H is in charge of hiring? What a destructive narrative in the big picture.

-Quotebook - Triple H: "I'm not going to do it to feed my own ego. I sure as hell an not going to do it to feed your ego because you want to live vicariously through me to get things done you couldn't get done."

-Quotebook - Shawn Michaels: "Here's the thing. I am at peace where I'm at in mny life. You, however, have no peace."

-So Undertaker became a barber since WrestleMania 27?

-The segment between Michaels and Triple H was at times a little self-indulgent, but at other times compelling and gripping. In the end it added to the sense that it's a big match if it happens, and built up the mystery of what it will take to get Hunter to agree to the match if Michaels can't goad him into it.

-Quotebook - Jerry Lawler on Vickie Guerrero's outfit: "She told me that was a designer outfit. Who were the designers? Polly & Esther?"

-Uh oh. Eve is breaking Zack Ryder's heart by going with Cena. The idea that Eve would be the one to turn Zack against Cena has taken a twist. Not sure where this is going, but it's interesting. I loved how the angle with Kane and Eve got Cena out of smirking his way through a reaction to the video package on The Rock being Mr. Celebrity all week promoting his movie.

-Zack's facial expressions may have been thrown off by his neck brace, but he really began to overdo it with the angry face. The crowd, though, seemed to feel his pain after the "I just want to be friends" line.

-After watching Punk beat Miz via tapout, it just confirmed my thought that the best way to promote the Chamber match isn't to establish that three of the six are decisively better than the other three. In Miz's case, he was knocked down a notch and nothing about Punk beating him made the match more compelling.

-The fans chanting "We All Hate You!" was pretty heavy. Cena replied, "Guys, it's been like six years. People like that who can't understand that I'm comfortable in my own skin. It's people like that who don't understands that I'm proud to be who I am and proud to do what I do. It's people like that who don't get I rise above hate."

-Quotebook - Kane: "You stole the one true love of your only friend. I thought I was sick, but you sunk to depths that I can only derma of. You truly have finally embraced the hate." That was as much like a normal person Kane has ever sounded, for better or for worse. It sounded like the voice and tone Glen Jacobs likely uses when talking to his family at dinner.

-In the end, they did push the main event of the PPV - Cena vs. Kane - in a way that teased the idea that Cena might be ready to crack with so much going wrong with Ryder because of him. That couldn't have felt good when his wheel chair crashed off the stage like that. I thought I was watching "Tosh.O" or "Jackass" for a second. With Eve grieving by Zack's side and Cena looking on, the hook is how will Cena respond to how his approach to life is affecting others. I get that. I'm not sure in the end it's as clear as it needs to be how that may play out in an ambulance match against Kane. Fans need to think not just "poor Cena, nothing's going right for him, I wonder if he's questioning his approach to live." They need a hook that says, "I need to see Cena wrestle Kane on Sunday." I'm not sure how this show-closing angle does this.

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