WWE RAW WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK
WWE Monday Night RAW Wrestlers of the Week 1.30.12
By Neil Borenstein
Each week here at 1wrestling.com, I will select three of the top wrestlers from the Monday Night RAW brand and present them to you in inverse order as the show’s Wrestlers of the Week. In choosing the brand’s top three superstars, performances from that week’s RAW and any relevant preceding programming will be taken into consideration. This is a RAW exclusive. However, SmackDown brand wrestlers will be eligible if they appear with any significance on that week’s RAW broadcast.
Monday Night RAW Wrestlers of the Week for January 30, 2012
3. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan – for putting on an excellent match after coming off successful title retentions at the Royal Rumble:
When WWE Champion CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan entered their respective title matches at the Royal Rumble this past Sunday night, they did so with the odds stacked pretty highly against them. Punk battled Dolph Ziggler with a keen eye over his shoulder on the chance that John Laurinaitis would decide to interject himself in the match. And Bryan faced two giants among men in The Big Show and Mark Henry within the confines of a Steel Cage Match.
Despite those challenges, the two unlikely professional wrestling success stories made it to Monday Night RAW the next evening possessing their respective championship belts. Little did they know, however, perhaps an even tougher test would come their way on this night when Laurinaitis attempted to make one last ditch effort to save his job as interim general manager of RAW.
While opening the program with one of his rousing announcements, he listed a set of matches to take place on RAW that he believed would excite the WWE Universe. He was certainly right about one of them, as he booked Punk and Bryan to face each other for the first time ever on RAW. The friends of 10 years had a couple of confrontations prior to this match, but they both seemed to be on the same page when it came to giving the fans an exciting wrestling match that they’ve come to expect from the two of them.
In that department, Punk and Bryan did not disappoint. It was shocking to me that this match was taking place for free on RAW in the first place when this easily screams pay-per-view main event. And the way they competed in the ring made it look just like one.
Neither competitor seemed to really fall all that much shorter than the other and they stayed pretty even keel throughout. Bryan was a little more focused on keeping Punk grounded and attacking the arm. But Punk was also quite resilient and able to withstand the punishment to deliver a good deal of his own.
The result of the match had very little to do with either one of them, however. Punk managed to put Bryan down with a kick to the side of the head, which forced the World Heavyweight Champion to roll to the apron. Seemingly out of nowhere, Chris Jericho appeared to grab Bryan off the apron and send him right into the barricade. This was all in plain view of the referee, leaving the official no other choice but to call the match a disqualification in favor of Bryan. But Bryan wasn’t Jericho’s real target. He then entered the ring and dropped Punk with a Codebreaker, getting the ball rolling on that highly anticipated showdown between the two men that claim to be the best in the world at WrestleMania.
In most cases, an ending like that would seem disappointing. But I think it worked out well for both champions. Nobody truly lost and they proved that when the time is right, they can put together a nice program that maybe spans a few PPVs. The most important thing on this night, though, was getting that Punk-Jericho feud started. And the fans were treated to a great match before things headed in that direction.
2. Kofi Kingston – for following up his Royal Rumble Match moment on Sunday with a solid victory over former WWE Champion The Miz:
In a Royal Rumble Match that lacked a lot of big name stars, both The Miz and Kofi Kingston reasonably had a chance of becoming a surprise recipient of that WWE or World Heavyweight Championship Match at WrestleMania. Unfortunately for both, Sheamus ended up coming out of nowhere as the victor. But they still had their moments. Miz lasted longer than anybody else, going in as the No. 1 entrant and leaving as the 25th elimination. Meanwhile, Kingston had the John Morrison moment of the night when he hand-walked his way out of an elimination and back into the ring.
Kingston and Miz will have another shot to headline WrestleMania by participating in the WWE Title Elimination Chamber Match at the Elimination Chamber PPV. They also met up this week in singles action.
Miz naturally complained before the match about his accomplishment of lasting 45 minutes being more impressive than Kingston’s handstand. He is wrong, of course, but declared that this minor detour will not deter him from winning the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber.
Not overlooking the task at hand, Miz actually looked quite decent against Kingston and maintained control of the bout for a good portion of it. But Kingston managed to work himself back into the match and got into a battle of reversals with Miz toward the end that eventually led to a Trouble in Paradise. Kingston simply covered from there and scored a three-count that provides him the bit of momentum Miz was obviously trying to get three weeks away from Elimination Chamber.
After losing the WWE Tag Team Championships (thanks to his partner), Kingston was obviously hoping to progress his singles career with a Royal Rumble victory. But even after missing out on that, he still had a pretty solid moment in that match that likely played a big role in landing him a spot in the Elimination Chamber Match. He’s not a favorite to walk out of that PPV with the gold. But anything can happen inside the chamber, so he has to be happy to at least be in the mix.
1. Randy Orton – for returning to RAW after a bit of a layoff to defeat the WWE Championship contender just 24 hours prior, Dolph Ziggler:
Randy Orton was out of commission for several weeks thanks to Wade Barrett tossing him down a flight of stairs. But for what could have resulted in a far worse injury that likely would have had The Viper out of WrestleMania, Orton managed to mend himself just in time to be a participant in the Royal Rumble Match Sunday evening.
Orton came up short on locking up a championship match at the big event, entering the Rumble at No. 28 and being eliminated at the same number. But he enacted some revenge on Barrett by tossing him from the battle royal, and now has his sights set on a one-on-one showdown with the man this Friday night on Smackdown.
Before getting to Friday, Orton returned to RAW this week for a bout against the man who lost to CM Punk in the WWE Championship Match at the Royal Rumble – Dolph Ziggler. Barrett kept a keen eye on this match from the suite he was sitting in and informed Josh Matthews that he had something far worse planned for Orton when they meet up later this week.
Orton didn’t seem too worried about it and was focused entirely on getting a good match under his belt in preparation for that match against Barrett. Ziggler provided a good challenge for Orton and he came up with a few near falls along the way. But when the voices started talking inside Orton’s head, it was all she wrote Ziggler.
Ziggler scored a two-count cover as a result of hitting the leg drop bulldog and looked to finish Orton off with the Zig Zag. But Orton held onto the ropes and shrugged Ziggler off before closelining him all the way to the outside. Orton followed him out to throw him right into the barricade, which then allowed Orton to toss Ziggler back onto the apron for his famous DDT. Orton pounded the mat after that and hit the RKO, which kept Ziggler down for the three-count much to the chagrin of Barrett.
It is disappointing that Ziggler had to go from WWE Title contender to automatic victim for Randy Orton. But he at least got to have another great showing, which goes a long way in building Orton back up for his match against Barrett on Smackdown. Orton now looks like he barely missed a beat and is clearly prepared to bring the fight to Barrett.
Neil Borenstein
br7qbsteelers@yahoo.com
Category: Wrestling.
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