Raw 2-20-12

Matches:

1. Sheamus v. Mark Henry - 3 out of 5
2. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth v. Epico & Primo - 3 out of 5
3. David Otunga v. Ezekiel Jackson - 2 out of 5
4. Daniel Bryan v. Santino - 2 out of 5
5. The Bella Twins v. Aksana & Kelly Kelly - 1 out of 5
6. 10-man battle royal for #1 contender for WWE championship - 3 out of 5


The matches scored low on this show this week, mainly because most of them were squashes. Three of the men who would go on to compete in the battle royal had matches earlier in the night, and the whole idea of having the battle royal was pretty pointless in the first place. Being eliminated, not by pinfall or submission, but by knock-out from the elimination chamber, Jericho was the obvious contender for CM Punk's title. When Jericho cut his promo earlier in the night about the match, he didn't even seem bothered by the idea that he had to compete for the position, which clearly should have been the first thing he said. It made me wonder if the current creative team really understands his character.

The first main talking point of the evening, however, was the unavoidable subject of Eve's heel turn. For the record, I've never been an advocate of this idea, mainly because I never thought she seemed like she could pull it off. Sadly, she proved me right on Monday, and the result was the humiliation of yet another woman on the roster. Pro tip for Eve: when even the heeliest of the women (The Bellas) are giving you a look like, "Woah, back the fuck up", maybe this is not the best direction for you. Not to mention that this whole thing meant Kelly had to tag with Aksana, which left even Kelly looking very unsure.

Later, of course, came the big confrontation between Triple H and Undertaker. Undertaker accused Triple H of not wanting to be gone from the business (not in the way that the IWC does, but it still felt like a double-meaning jab), and called him a coward. At first, Trips laughed in his face, saying he knew what Taker was doing and that it wasn't going to work, but before he could get halfway up the ramp, Taker threw another insult at him by saying he was never as good as Shawn Michaels. I guess that was the straw that broke the camel's back, because not only did Triple H accept the challenge (a little premature for my tastes, but okay), he stipulated that it would be a Hell in a Cell. Now, I'm not as down on this as others seem to be. A little worried, perhaps, as is Mehe, but I find the idea interesting, and we shall see if these guys can pull it off for an epic final battle. I do like to try and keep an open mind.