The Storylines
-The continued storyline of Paul Heyman and CM Punk continue with the insertion of Ryback. The very first thing I noticed was that Curtis Axel was basically thrown to the side. This is a huge slap in his face. WWE is realizing that he may not be the main piece to align himself with Heyman. I like what Axel does in the ring, but his character is better suited as a face. His name and his heritage only reminds us how great his father was.
Back to the point of Ryback getting a big push. Heyman does it again. His facial expressions, his diction, and his kiss on the cheek of Ryback was creepy good. He is so talented at making us forget this is a scripted show. That is always going to be the hardest thing to do in pro wrestling. If you can act and make us feel and believe you, you have won. Paul Heyman wins. Ryback and Heyman are a good pairing because Ryback needed a reason for us to care. Hate him all you want, but Ryback is going to stay around until a big injury forces him out. I do not wish on injury to anybody, for the record. Ryback vs. Punk happened last year and was average. You flip heel and face and this could really be a positive step in the overall process of Punk getting his revenge on Heyman. The money is Heyman vs. Punk.
Grade: B+
-Stephanie McMahon and Dusty Rhodes get face to face in the ring. Stephanie offers a job to Cody or Goldust. She tells Dusty that he must make the decision. She pits his neglected son against his golden child. This was a clever way of keeping Stephanie as a big time heel. She has pieces of Vince in her demeanor and personality. That is always going to be what she is associated with. I enjoyed this segment because it felt real. It felt like McMahon andn Rhodes tried to make this more important than it is. Cody and Goldust may both get jobs back in the WWE.
My biggest problem was Big Show punching out Dusty. After the punch, he grabbed him and gently placed him on the mat. This is better than Big Show being the savior for Daniel Bryan, but do we really want to see Big Show be forced to do these ridiculous things week after week? We will see where it goes from here. What will be Big Show's breaking point? That is the question I am thinking about right now.
Grade: B-
