Yes, No, Maybe: Monday Night Raw, 02/06/12

• No Brodus Clay

"Funk is on a roll!" Well...not this week. Yes, the writers didn't have time to put him on the show (or the past Smackdown either), but maybe (and certainly in my opinion) this could be a good thing. Every week, people like Curt Hawkins, Tyler Reks, Tyson Kidd, JTG, and Alex Riley (and even Drew McIntyre at a pay-per-view) were geting squashed, for seemingly no purpose but to cater to the Funkasaurus dominance? Yeah, I'm confused about that too. This would be a perfect time to actually put him in an angle. Honestly, I think him and the Miz would work well together. You heard it from me first... ok, I'll admit, I had to call my momma about that.

• Six Pack Challenge

Man, matches like that are so fun to watch. I may be the only one who feels this way (I doubt it though), but I really want the Championship Scramble match back. With all these pointless gimmick pay-per-views throughout the years, why not have one for the Championship Scramble. Imagine this with me... "WWE Scrambled Eggs." Sounds great, right? Maybe that's a bit overboard, but it can be a feature match every year at maybe a Vengeance, Extreme Rules, or Night of Champions. Back to the Six Pack Challenge, the minimal involvement of Chris Jericho, and then having him win was a good way to keep some life in the hype that has revolved around his return.

• No John Cena

No need to call me the Nostradamus of the WWE, but I did predict... well... at least protested against the overuse of John Cena leading to Wrestlemania. Good idea to keep him off the show. We need to see less of Cena to prepare for the Rock and to get out of this feud with Kane. I don't quite understand the relevance of an Ambulance Match (could they have thought of something better?), but I'd imagine that it would end the Cena/Kane feud, give Cena about six weeks to revitalize the angle with Rock, and prepare Kane for Zack Ryder at Wrestlemania. Have I expressed how much I don't want to see Kane/Ryder at WM? I don't think I've expressed it enough. I'll just keep it short this time; I ABSOLUTELY don't want to see it, but the only saving grace would be if Kane wins. If he doesn't... it would truly be THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.

• Jericho/Punk Segment

That was the best you got? If so, there is a TON of work to do to even come marginally close to matching the hype of this feud. First, you simply start the feud by a Jericho run-in, and then you explain it by Jericho calling everyone 'Chris Jericho wannabes' and saying that CM Punk is the biggest wannabe? Wow... UBER CREATIVE! Not really. Wait, it gets better. CM Punk comes out and drops the mic in front of Jericho, and walks out. SHEER GENIUS! Not really. With all the great mic work that both of them have, we could have been spared the Y2J complaining. I thought his character was supposed to be unique and different than all the other variations? I sure don't see it. Come on WWE, Jericho is losing steam already, and its not his fault. Or CM Punk's. Or the WWE Universe's. Or the arena janitor's. Or the merchandise cashier's. Or the ring crew's. So I guess that limits it to the writing staff. Yep, sounds about right.

• Wade Barrett Music

So when I heard Barrett's music at the Royal Rumble I thought, "Yikes! That song is pretty bad! Maybe the WWE will see how bad it is during his entire entrance and change it back." Then I heard it on Smackdown and thought, "Ok. Maybe they wanted the television viewers to hear it and see what they think about it." Then I heard it on Raw, and I thought, "Three strikes, you're out." The last theme song fitted him to the T. This one, eh, hardly. No, I'm being too nice, NOT AT ALL. He doesn't even know how to react to the music, because it is so confusing and doesn't go with his overall cadence. So in essence, Alex Riley should get a bigger push now since his music is WAY better than Barrett's. Or maybe I just wanted to throw in an excuse to push Alex Riley. Yep, probably the latter.

• Jack Swagger Absence

#areyouseriousbro? He just won the US Title a few weeks ago, and now he's losing in non-title matches on Superstars? Ridiculous. Jack Swagger is one of the most talented athletes on the entire roster, and has shown time and time again that he can hang with the main-eventers as far as putting on a five star wrestling match (or at least a four star). But still, the WWE refuses to utilize him to at least half of his potential. Cody Rhodes, the Intercontinental Champion, gets a spot in the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match, but Jack Swagger, the US Champion (I reiterate), doesn't get a spot on the Raw one? PLEASE explain to me the logic here. I'm sure it'll be VERY hard to do. Oh, did I mention that he was a no-show on Raw this week? Well, if I didn't, HE WAS A NO-SHOW ON RAW THIS WEEK. I'll be waiting for reasonable logic... Ok. I've waited long enough; THERE IS NO REASONABLE LOGIC.

• 'Taker/HHH

Although I still am not a fan of the third match between the Undertaker and HHH at Wrestlemania, I can tolerate the approach that they are presenting. From HHH's promo, and 'Taker's video package, the angle is making 'Taker look like the underdog. Good idea. If there was any way to make this feud (and 'Taker more than likely winning at WM) worth having some kind of intrigue, this is a good way to go. Now, 'Taker's win will not seem so predictable. Instead, he'll be getting retribution for HHH beating him so bad at WM 27 that he had to be carried out on a stretcher, shaved his head bald, and wears a wig on national television to make the character of the Undertaker retain the same mystique. Maybe I added the last two elements, but still, he got beat up very bad last year. I can see myself watching the match this year supporting the Undertaker's mission to get payback, so I applaud the WWE for going that route.

• The Great Khali

He'll never win a Royal Rumble, King of the Ring, series of 10 consecutive matches, or a World Title, but The Great Khali could be an asset. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not really opposed to Khali being a part of the EC match at the pay-per-view. I'm pretty much a fearless guy, with a background of amateur wrestling and boxing, but I know I wouldn't want to be stuck in the cage with Khali. So although he won't win, he does bring some star power to the list of competitors. We must not forget, he is a former World Heavyweight Champion.

• John Laurinaitis

So wwe.com confirmed that John Laurinaitis will remain the Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw. Good call. Unfortunately, his fire has sizzled a bit. Don't get me wrong, he still receives some good heel heat, but at one point of time, it was at a fever pitch equal to Vickie Guerrero. Could he get back to that level? Possibly. It'll be pretty hard though, since his two biggest rivals, CM Punk and HHH, are getting ready to go full-on with their respective feuds with Chris Jericho and the Undertaker. David Otunga had a decent spot on Raw as well. Another good move. Laurinaitis and Otunga could continue to be a tandem that, if properly utilized, could be fairly over with the crowd, as well as help the career of a mid-card babyface.