'Monday Night Raw' recap: Please respect CM Punk

‘Monday Night Raw’ recap: Please respect CM Punk

By Houston Mitchell

Aug. 7, 2012 12 AM PT

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;On this week’s “Monday Night Raw,” CM Punk continued his slow march to the dark side, and the show is better off for it.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Ten things to take away from this week’s episode:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;1. We just saw Shawn Michaels two weeks ago, and he’s already back? I saw less of the guy before he retired.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;2. Michaels, however, is one of the few wrestlers who know how to sell a segment. His facial expressions during the entire Michaels, Triple H, Paul Heymand and Brock Lesnar confrontation were great. All the younger wrestlers in the back should be required to watch Michaels whenever he sets foot in the ring.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;3. A.J. continues to excel in her role as general manager. Her interactions with Daniel Bryan are always one of the best parts of the show.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;4. This week’s show had fewer video recaps, which made the show flow much more smoothly. Hopefully it stays that way.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;5. Dolph Ziggler can pull off wearing a neon pink shirt. Chris Jericho can’t.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;6. If you know you are going to end the show with The Big Show standing tall, why have him get laid out by Randy Orton earlier in the broadcast?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;7. Where was Rosa Mendes? How can you bring out Primo and Epico without her?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;8. Only in &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”ORCRP016911”&amp;gt;WWE&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; can you steal someone’s car and bring it back trashed and not be arrested.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;9. CM Punk has tweaked his character perfectly. He shows heel tendencies, but has enough rational justifications for his actions that you can understand where he is coming from, even if you don’t agree with him.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;10. The WWE put together a great music video for SummerSlam, which is at Staples Center on Aug. 19. You can watch it above.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;ALSO:&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-monday-night-raw-cm-punk-20120724,0,7908834.story”&amp;gt;CM Punk steals Raw 1000&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-monday-night-raw-aj-cm-punk-20120710,0,1932281.story”&amp;gt;The problem with AJ and CM Punk&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-raw-charlie-sheen-20120626,0,1756756.story”&amp;gt;Charlie Sheen is money in the bank&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

‘Monday Night Raw’ recap: Please respect CM Punk

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