Lenaire's been telling me all week to watch this week's Raw. She reckons it's... AWESOME. Not just one match but all of it. I'm sitting by the TV waiting for our horribly delayed coverage gasping in anticipation. I know Stone Cold's making an appearance and Lenaire's a major Stone Cold mark so I guess we'll see if this Raw is still awesome in the parts without him. Okay, Raw's on and...

The Undertaker on his WM match against Triple H
It's now a no holds barred match! I guess they're really vying for the mainevent.

I like Taker's spin on it by using his history with HBK as an example. HBK failed two times in a row to beat Taker's streak. I was at WM25, HBK's first attempt. The following year HBK would lose again. Now it's Triple H's turn. I'd like Taker to retire with his streak in tact. To the powers that be, make it so.

Randy Orton def. David Otunga
It's a quick match and all over when Randy hits Otunga with a RKO "from out of nowhere" and, oh yeah, punts him in the skull with his boot. Any members of Nexus beaten by Randy before Wrestlemania are banned and cannot come to CM Punk's aid. So far everyone but Mason Ryan's injured. I think Ryan's going to WM with Punk but we'll see next week.

Christian def. Brodus Clay
Alberto's out and he tells Christian he must fight his "little friend" Brodus Clay before they get it on. It's another quick match with Christian beating the rookie with ease. I guess this match was made to give Alberto some more screen time which is good for Christian too. Alberto uses his finishing move on the weakened Christian and it looks like it's all over for him. I can't help but think... shouldn't they be building a feud with Edge? Maybe Edge and Christian will team up against Alberto and we'll see the return of E&C.

Sunny's in the Hall of Fame
I don't really remember her but Lenaire calls her the original diva (I thought that moniker belonged to Miss Elizabeth).

Divas champ Eve def. Nikki Bella
It's an okay title match but Michael Cole interrupts them to make a special announcement and although he's right (the match is boring) it's also quite rude. Naughty Cole. Eve retains. Umm, yay.

Special Guest Referee in Michael Cole vs Jerry "The King" Lawler's WM Match
Cole's in the ring now and announces the special guest referee for his match against Lawler is none other than... JBL... who looks great! His mic skills are still awesome too. I'm quite surprised by this. JBL was one of the best heel commentators of all time!

JBL's about to sign the contract making him the special guest referee when I hear the sound of breaking windows. It's Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold! He whomps JBL's ass with a stone cold stunner and signs the contract making him the special guest referee instead. Cole is not happy, but I am. I guess this is what Lenaire was referring to for this week's Raw. They didn't disappoint. No Tough Enough news? Who cares! This is way better!

This year's Wrestlemania looks like it's going to be really, really, really good. I mean there's The Rock and now Stone Cold. Come on!

Other Stuff
Some other stuff happened and you can read about it in more detail here but, frankly, they could've ended it there. No wait! I should mention...

Cena's response to The Rock
It was good - funny and true - but he basically repeated what he said last time. I'm glad they're ending it here but at least The Miz got the final word by smashing Cena with the title belt turning the focus back to him. Cena and The Rock will happen. I'm hoping it'll play out like I predicted. And, that's the end of this week's Raw.

In Conclusion
Was it awesome without Stone Cold? It was very good and that's saying a lot from me. They surprised me on more than one occasion (JBL, Stone Cold, etc). They're not playing it safe anymore using what I call the dart board approach to storytelling (or maybe it's less apparent) which is great!

So, on that closing note, I am the Cliff and I'm...
AWESOME!