WWE Raw: The Undertaker Returns, Laurinaitis' Fate, Y2J Attacks Punk and More

Raw opened with John Laurinaitis sucking up to the WWE Universe and to the crew at ringside.

He’s looking forward to his performance review and booked a number of matches for the show, including CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan and the Raw elimination chamber match at the Elimination Chamber PPV.

That brought out Punk, who started to lead the crowd and some of the crew members in the chorus of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”

He was out there to see Laurinaitis’ “dim-witted face” one more time before Triple H fired him.

Bryan made his way out and said no one cared about their problems. Punk wanted to put on a show with Bryan and that brought out Sheamus.

He said he won the Royal Rumble and will win one of the World Championships at WrestleMania.

Sheamus then left the ring to end the segment.

This was an entertaining way to open the show. Laurinaitis was great, while Punk was good like he usually is.

Daniel Bryan has really come into his own on the mic and was great in the segment as well.

I wish Sheamus was featured a bit more as he did win the big match last night, but the little mic time he had got him over huge with the crowd.

Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler

With Wade Barrett in a sky box with Josh Matthews, Randy Orton picked up the victory with an RKO.

I thought this was good match that saw some back-and-forth action and had a good pace to it.

Whether Orton came back from his injury early or not, he looked good in the ring and performed quite well.

Ziggler continued to prove that he belongs in the main-event scene with the likes of Orton with his performance here.

Ziggler will no doubt be a star performer in the elimination chamber match.

Backstage, Laurinaitis is sucking up to crew members.

William Regal showed up and Laurinaitis wanted to know how his son was. Regal actually had daughters who were conjoined twins who he keeps in the attic.

Laurinaitis walked off and bumped into Curt Hawkins before disappearing.

Regal was hilarious and he really should be getting some kind of push!

Brodus Clay vs. Tyler Reks

After Reks actually brought Clay down to a knee, the Funkasaurus hit the What the Funk for the win.

This was the typical Brodus Clay squash match that saw the Funkasaurus eat another victim.

I’m getting a bit bored with these squash matches and I hope WWE gives Clay a real opponent soon.

Poor Tyler Reks, he may have just joined the soon to be Future Endeavored Class of 2012.

Backstage, Daniel Bryan walked up to CM Punk. They put down each other’s lifestyles and Punk said he was the best in the world.

This was a nice little segment featuring two guys no one ever expected to be on top of the WWE.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan picked up the victory by disqualification when Chris Jericho threw him outside the ring.

Y2J then proceeded to connect with the Codebreaker to Punk.

This was a great match! It had a lot of back-and-forth action and was very even from beginning to end.

It was good seeing two “indy kids” wrestling each other on the flagship show of the WWE.

Both Punk and Bryan put on great performances and showed why they are on top of the biggest professional wrestling company in the world.

As for Chris Jericho, it’s about damn time he did something other than running around the ring like an idiot.

I think this was the perfect way to start their feud.

Not a single word was said, Jericho just slid in without any warning and sent a message to the champion.

Mike Tyson was then revealed as the next inductee into the Hall of Fame.

While he’s a better inductee than Drew Carey, I’m still waiting for WWE to announce the induction of Randy Savage.

Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

With R-Truth on commentary, Kofi Kingston picked up the win with Trouble in Paradise.

This was another good match. Kingston and Miz put on good performances here and it’s about time that Kofi is getting a push.

It’s been far too long since Kingston has had a good push, and while he may just be getting this spot due to the lack of depth on Raw, but hopefully it pans out to something worthwhile for Kingston and the fans.

The Miz had a great showing at the Rumble and I hope that once his feud with R-Truth ends, he’ll get back to being a dominant heel.

Backstage, John Laurinaitis is texting when David Otunga walked in.

He tried to influence the decision and Laurinaitis is worried that Otunga wanted his job. He assured him that he wasn’t and wished Laurinaitis good luck.

Every time I see David Otunga, I get flashbacks of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and I can’t stop laughing.

The fans were then treated to the same Rock video from last night. I took that time to take out the trash.

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve: Divas Title

Beth Phoenix won the match with the Glam Slam. While Eve had a small flurry of offense, this was an overall squash.

I was hoping that Kharma would come out and start the build to Beth Phoenix vs. Kharma at WrestleMania, but we got Kane instead.

He will continue to hurt Zack Ryder until John Cena embraced the hate. Since Ryder wasn’t there, though, he was going to destroy Eve.

Kane then appeared but Cena showed up quickly to save the day.

They brawled for a bit until Cena beat the hell out of Kane with the steel steps.

The Big Red Monster then ran off after blocking an Attitude Adjustment.

It was good to finally see Beth Phoenix on Raw, but like I said it would have been nice if WWE started building the eventual Beth/Kharma match.

John Cena seemed to embrace the hate tonight and finally gave Kane what he wanted.

The blow-off match between these two should be an epic encounter.

John Laurinaitis then came out to find out his fate.

He gave himself a lot of fives in his own self-review until Triple H returned to Raw.

After screwing around with Laurinaitis with almost booking him in a gauntlet match and teasing the return of the Kiss My Ass Club, Triple H just laughed at him.

He didn’t want to screw around anymore and was out there for business.

The board of directors told him that he could take charge of Raw anytime he wanted. He was about to wish Laurinaitis all the best in his future endeavors when the bell tolled and the lights went out.

The Undertaker was back and his sights were set on the Game.

The Deadman looked up at the WrestleMania sign and cut his throat. Triple H just patted him on his shoulder and left the Undertaker in the ring alone.

The Laurinaitis/Triple H segment was entertaining though it wasn’t fulfilling. Is Laurinaitis fired or not?

While the Undertaker/Triple H part of the segment was basically the same as the 2-21-11 segment, it was awesome to see the Undertaker return after almost a year away.

While Triple H denied him the match, it’ll no doubt be happening, and WrestleMania begins to take shape.

Overall, tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw was a great one.

The majority of the matches were quite good and the only two in-ring segments of the night were great.

Chris Jericho attacking Punk and the Deadman’s return were definitely the best moments of the night for me.

This was the best Raw in a while and I hope WWE can keep it up on the road to WrestleMania.