WWE RAW 1/16/2012 - The Last Son of Funk

[Peoples_Champ]

Well done Laurinitis. His best promo since his debut.

 

[The Holy One]

Wow, just saw a little bit of Vince right there in old Johnny. Nice of him to show some emotion

 

[Chrome]

Mick got laid out by that?? Get up Mick and get Mr Socko and PWN his ass!!

 

[Vincent Michaels]

Now THAT was pure greatness.

 

[Ellye]

One of the best RAWs in a long time - and RAW has been quite decent those last few weeks!

 

[Flip36]

great way to end it, like to see JL blow up, finally!

 

[Nate DaMac]

Holy Story development. Raw fucking ruled tonight.

 

[Rising Savior]

Damn I gotta say this was the best raw that I've really enjoyed in a while.

 

[KnowYoRole]

lmao at laurniatis running out of breath while trying to go on a rant. good to see him finally snap, punk gave a great promo, and im now officially interested in punk/ziggler.

 

[The Bearded One]

I like RAW. A lot.

 

[klunderbunker]

Review is up.

Ace.....With Emotion?

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Holy Story development. Raw fucking ruled tonight.

Oh yes indeed sir. Best Raw in quite some time. Lots of angles worked and progression all round.

 

[NickSF93]

Cena and Lauranitis- The raw of snapping Johns.

 

[The_Reptile_]

Theme of the show: People Fucking Snap

 

[AnvilForever]

Cena and Punk are getting me tuned in week after week, and I loved how their story lines developed this week.

And wow, Johnny Ace became interesting! I didn't know he had it in him!

That last moment turned this week's Raw from OK to great.

 

[somehetero]

They did kinda make it look like Punk was bullying JL, especially with the whole fake punch thing.

In reality, Laurinaitis hasn't done anything wrong over the past few weeks. He's tried to intervene when matches get out of control, usually to the advantage of the heel, but never overtly helped a heel win. The whole "anti-authority" hero only really works when you don't have sympathy for the authority figure. I kinda felt a little bad for JL while Punk basically undressed him and played his bitch card in the middle of the ring.

 

[KnowYoRole]

They did kinda make it look like Punk was bullying JL, especially with the whole fake punch thing.

In reality, Laurinaitis hasn't done anything wrong over the past few weeks. He's tried to intervene when matches get out of control, usually to the advantage of the heel, but never overtly helped a heel win. The whole "anti-authority" hero only really works when you don't have sympathy for the authority figure. I kinda felt a little bad for JL while Punk basically undressed him and played his bitch card in the middle of the ring.

you're forgetting tonight when Ace sent out Ryder to compete even though he wasn't medically cleared...

 

[Nate DaMac]

Foley will neutralize JL at the Rumble. I hope that's the case anyway.

 

[AnvilForever]

They did kinda make it look like Punk was bullying JL, especially with the whole fake punch thing.

In reality, Laurinaitis hasn't done anything wrong over the past few weeks. He's tried to intervene when matches get out of control, usually to the advantage of the heel, but never overtly helped a heel win. The whole "anti-authority" hero only really works when you don't have sympathy for the authority figure. I kinda felt a little bad for JL while Punk basically undressed him and played his bitch card in the middle of the ring.

But I don't have sympathy for J.Ace. Until ten minutes ago, he was a boring heel that drained energy from the show. The storyline brought him in based on complaints of "unsafe working conditions," but then he puts an injured Zach Ryder into a match. He claims he didn't know he was not cleared, despite the fact that if he had even a shred of awareness of what was happening on his show, he would have seen Kane beat the crap out of him last week and put him out of a title match.

Punk's promo was awesome. In fact, in some ways, it was even better than his shoot promo in July, because he actually cut it right in front of the guy in charge.

 

[somehetero]

you're forgetting tonight when Ace sent out Ryder to compete even though he wasn't medically cleared...

That happened, true, but it wasn't an overt action by Ace to screw Ryder. We all know he's a heel and we all know that was his motivation. But, from the point of view of someone inside the story, you can't blame him for it because he wasn't made aware that Ryder wasn't cleared until after the match was over. He said as much when he talked to Ryder in the back. Also, Ryder insisted on competing anyways.

That's what I mean, really. They're having him do things that make the fans know he's a heel. Faces never really try to keep other faces from having advantages, so we know he's a heel when he stops Punk from using the exposed turnbuckle or reverses a decision. As a GM though, he's never been truly biased. He's made alot of matches that fans have wanted to see, basically making him a form of a tweener.

That's why it's possible to develop sympathy for him. If he was an all out heel and Punk beat his ass, of course everyone would cheer.

 

[KnowYoRole]

That happened, true, but it wasn't an overt action by Ace to screw Ryder. We all know he's a heel and we all know that was his motivation. But, from the point of view of someone inside the story, you can't blame him for it because he wasn't made aware that Ryder wasn't cleared until after the match was over. He said as much when he talked to Ryder in the back. Also, Ryder insisted on competing anyways.

That's what I mean, really. They're having him do things that make the fans know he's a heel. Faces never really try to keep other faces from having advantages, so we know he's a heel when he stops Punk from using the exposed turnbuckle or reverses a decision. As a GM though, he's never been truly biased. He's made alot of matches that fans have wanted to see, basically making him a form of a tweener.

That's why it's possible to develop sympathy for him. If he was an all out heel and Punk beat his ass, of course everyone would cheer.

they showed otunga give him the paper before ryder's match, he could've read it beforehand but he conveniently chose not to read it until after he got beaten.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Foley will neutralize JL at the Rumble. I hope that's the case anyway.

You assume Vince cares enough about Mick for him to take some sort of vengeance. I'm not sure he does.

 

[somehetero]

they showed otunga give him the paper before ryder's match, he could've read it beforehand but he conveniently chose not to read it until after he got beaten.

Exactly.

If they wanted him to be a full-fledged heel GM, he would have read it and then went to Ryder and told him that he either had to defend or forfeit the title.

Instead, he "didn't read it" until it was too late. Shady, no doubt, but not a direct screw-job on Ryder.

Covert, not overt.

 

[somehetero]

On a side note, the whole situation is a contradiction to the first Bryan cash in that just happened a few months ago on Smackdown.

Bryan cashed in on Henry, but since Henry "wasn't cleared", the decision was reversed. This time, it's ok for Ryder to lose the title despite not being cleared to compete?

Poor, inconsistent writing.

 

[Tyrath]

I was gonna say its kinda shitty the show is ending with Laurenitis, but I stand corrected. He was entertaining.

On a side note, the whole situation is a contradiction to the first Bryan cash in that just happened a few months ago on Smackdown.

Bryan cashed in on Henry, but since Henry "wasn't cleared", the decision was reversed. This time, it's ok for Ryder to lose the title despite not being cleared to compete?

Poor, inconsistent writing.

No it isn't. It's up to the General Manager. Teddy Long is a much more reasonable guy and he reversed it. Laurenitis is a heel and therefore let it happen.