WWE: Post-Royal Rumble Show Proves That Wrestling and Entertainment Can Coexist

Following the Royal Rumble, most of the WWE Universe were expecting some storylines to begin to churn just as we started our road to Wrestlemania. Usually, a show following a major PPV involves an overabundance of promos and half-hearted matches.

Monday's Raw had neither.

The night started off predictably, with Mr. John Laurinaitis coming out and putting a smile on in an effort to keep his job. Laurinaitis, resorting to desperate measures, began to list off a number of high-profile matches.

All of the matches served no purpose for storyline advancements. Brodus Clay danced his way to another strong showing, Randy Orton ran through Dolph Ziggler to build some pop for his return to Smackdown, Kofi Kingston and the Miz put on an entertaining battle.

But the match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan was particularly interesting.

As it was a champion vs. champion match, we knew a clean victory by either man wouldn't happen. That didn't stop Punk and Bryan from having an excellent match.

Punk and Bryan had a PPV-worthy match that provided excellent wrestling combined with a bit of showmanship from Bryan and Punk.

Besides the amazing match the two men put on, the run-in by Chris Jericho finally gave his character (as well as fans) some direction into where Y2J is going.

The only low spot, as usual, was the Divas match. Beth Phoenix came out, survived a few punches and then hit a Glamazon slam to win.

Combined with the great wrestling performances inside the ring, we also got some great entertainment outside of it.

R-Truth provided some nice comical relief from the over-serious (it's not working for him these days) Miz, and the John Cena-Kane segment finally saw Cena be more than a bland character.

The show ended with the segment between Triple H and Laurinaitis. For as long as the segment went on, it didn't seem to drag.

HHH even brought back the "kiss my ass" club, which Mr. Laurinaitis was all too happy to join in order to save his job.

Just when HHH was ready to send Laurinaitis packing, an all-too-familiar gong sounded over the arena. The Undertaker, making his usual Road to Wrestlemania appearance, came out and challenged HHH.

Undertaker's appearance had nothing to do with the ongoing segment, but it gave us a jolt of excitement none the less.

As you can see, last night's show was one of the best in recent memory. What made this show particularly special was the balance between entertainment and wrestling. Since the "Summer of Punk," fans have been waiting for a change to occur in the WWE.

I'm not saying we should expect any monumental changes, but last night's show was a step in the right direction. The show meant very little for story angles, but it may have meant a lot more for the wrestling community.