By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

KELLER'S WWE RAW TAKE
APRIL 30, 2012
LIVE ON USA NETWORK

[For a detailed report on everything that happens on the show, check out James Caldwell's Raw Report elsewhere on the PWTorch main listing. The following are my observations and opinions in chronological order, updated throughout the show.]

-The slightly red but mostly black & white still shots of the John Cena-Brock Lesnar fight at Extreme Rules gave it a sense of being "forbidden" without getting too graphic.

-For some reason, Raw opened with "Monday Night Raw starring Brock Lesnar" even though Cena pinned him. Maybe John Laurinaitis will explain it...

-Quotebook - Jerry Lawler: "Last night was something special. I've never seen anything like it."

-Laurinaitis entered the ring and patted himself on the back for bringing Lesnar into WWE to revolutionize the company. He called him the most destructive force and most dangerous athlete whose face will be synonymous with WWE for years to come. He said he beat up Cena so badly, Cena will never be the man he once was again. He said he proved Cena is a mere mortal. He said he turned WWE on its ear more than anyone in the past and brought it more legitimacy. He then introduced him. They are definitely linking Leslar and Laurinaitis. They're not going half-way with that or dropping it.

-Lesnar bragged that people saw him bring the pain last night.

-Triple H music got a nice pop. A crowd chant followed. Remember when Triple H said there was no one left to fight other than Undertaker. Could Lesnar be that one opponent who could be "worth fighting" because he's a "smash mouth" wrestler like he and Undertaker.

-Triple H said nobody is bigger than WWE and he won't get any of those perks unless he pays for them, such as limos and the private jet. He said the name of the show is "WWE Monday Night Raw." Nothing more. He said he has to live with the original terms that he approved, not the demands he bullied out of Laurinaitis last week. He said he agreed to them, but he didn't have the authority to grant them to Lesnar without his (Triple H's) approval. Laurinaitis said he doesn't think it's right if they go back on their word to Lesnar. Triple H ripped up the paperwork Laurinaitis handed him.

-When Triple H said the WWE Universe wants him there. The crowd booed. Triple H said they may not like him and they may even hate him, but they want to see him face Cena in a rematch, plus face Randy Orton, Sheamus, and C.M. Punk. That's my list of top priority Brock opponents. Triple H insisted he must face them on the terms of his original deal. He said if he doesn't want to re-sign, that's fine, he can take his ball and pack it away with just his loss to Cena on his record, that's fine. Hey, Brock lost to Cena??! They had avoided that subject. Laurinaitis said it's not right to put a talent of Brock's stature in that position.

Triple H stepped up and told Lesnar isn't between them now. He said the original terms were more than fair. Laurinaitis told Triple H he's not being reasonable. Triple H didn't turn around, but did direct his comments at Laurinaitis behind him: "I'm going to say this one time - shut up!" He asked Brock if they have a deal. Laurinaitis interrupted Triple H, who turned to Laurinaitis. Lesnar then jumped Triple H from behind and shoulder rammed him into the corner, pulled his jacket over his head, and then uppercut him repeatedly. Triple H made a comeback with some punches. Lesnar threw a knee and then applied the kimura armlock. Cole yelled, "He may have broke his arm! He may have broke his arm!" Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Sheamus, and Big Show ran out. Lesnar slid to ringside and knocked over the top of the ring steps. Hunter clutched his left arm, then said, "He broke my arm. It's broken." Looks like the first true angle setting up WrestleMania 29 in NY/NJ, but maybe they'll get to it sooner (Summerslam) if they have other WrestleMania 29 plans for Lesnar (The Streak? First Cena rematch? The Rock?).

-This explains why they did the contract demands angle last Monday on Raw, so they could set up the idea that Lesnar fought Cena but wasn't under contract beyond that, and now his future is up in the air because Triple H - who has more power than Laurinaitis - is not caving in.

-Lesnar's offense against Triple H looked really good and stiff. The uppercuts, the knee, the kimura all looked legit.

-Miz's waistline is less "pudgy" or thick looking than just a few months ago. It looks like he's working on getting a sleeker, less bulky, more athletic, less bloated look. It's a good fit for his frame.

-The finish of Chris Jericho vs. Big Show seemed to be messed up. The ref seemed to count too slowly, as it appeared he was supposed to count out Big Show with one second left, giving Jericho a "Beat the Clock" win. Instead, he was a half second late because he counted so very slowly. I'm just guessing there based on the way it played out and the way the announcers reacted.

-Nice feature on John Cena's work for Make-a-Wish. A family member in a small town knows of Cena making a call on short notice to a very young fan in Minnesota who died shortly thereafter, but it was greatly appreciate by the sick boy and his family.

-Well, they're giving Jericho the win, but after the break, they did say Miz still has the time to beat, so Jericho's countout win is officially a second or so too late to be the Time to Beat.

-Quotebook - Jerry Lawler on Cena-Lesnar: "Never seen anything like it. I've been with this company since 1993. Never seen anything like it. It was brutal."

-With how much they're playing the Cena comments after the Lesnar match, it certainly wasn't something Cena winged that Vince McMahon disagreed with. It now feels very intentional, even if I don't think it was the best thing to do.

-The Beat the Clock format is working in terms of getting the crowd into the match with that sense of urgency. It also positions them to root against Miz even when he's not in the match, as happened with Orton rallying near the end against Jack Swagger and scoring the pin with just two seconds to spare, taking over Miz's spot.

-Triple H's arm is broken, reports Lawler during the tag title match. Does that timeline, storyline-wise, allow for Triple H to return in time for Summerslam to get revenge? Probably.

-It makes a lot more sense to have A.W. selling his services to Primo & Epico now that they've lost the WWE Tag Team Titles than earlier this month when he was pitching himself to them as if they needed his help despite being reigning tag champs.

-I wonder if they gave Nikki Bella that short Diva's Title reign just to even things out so Brie wouldn't forever have bragging rights to being the sister with the title reign. At least now they're both one-time Divas Champions, although Brie can certainly brag about having to most successful title defenses and longest reign.

-Pointless WWF Fact of the Week: WWE Raw and Smackdown *can* be seen in more homes in China than in the U.S. Yes, China has way way more people than the U.S.

-Well, they weren't going to give a WWE Title shot to either Kane or Khali, right? We knew that, right? So that meant viewers were guaranteed a four-minute-plus match between Kane and Khali. Is there a train wreck appeal to that or did it turn off viewers? The crowd reaction indicated boredom and unrest start to finish.

-I can't believe in 2012 I'm watching Jerry Lawler wrestle in a Raw main event match with a WWE Title shot at stake. I bet Bryan felt it was pretty cool to get to wrestle Lawler on national TV given their age difference and that Lawler's in-ring career slowed down to part time when Bryan was still in grade school, and Bryan's a seasoned veteran at this point.

-Daniel Bryan wins the Beat the Clock Challenge. So a Smackdown wrestler gets a shot against WWE Title holder Punk. With the fast turnaround to Over the Limit, it's an interesting choice to make since there's not a WWE backstory that makes this instantly marketable. But these two have a history pre-WWE and some WWE interaction that they can play off of.

-The Zeus reference is pretty dated by now.

-Who got the bigger pop - Layla last night at the PPV or Tensai on Raw tonight when it seemed he was being introduced as Cena's opponent at Over the Limit?

-It is going to be very telling what the buyrate comparison is between Extreme Rules and Over the Limit. Going from Cena-Lesnar and Punk-Jericho to Cena-Laurinaitis and Punk-Bryan is a pretty big dropoff. WWE has its work cut out for it the next two Mondays to sell this thing.

-For whatever it's worth, Laurinaitis is 13 years younger than Lawler and only four years older than Kane, so he should be able to have a respectable match with Cena, although it'll surely be storyline-oriented and perhaps set up with the deck stacked against Cena with Tensai perhaps helping Laurinaitis.

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