WWE Raw: Best Moments of the Episode Before SummerSlam 2012

WWE's momentum barreled ahead as SummerSlam 2012 nears. 

Chris Jericho and Dolph Ziggler furthered their feud. JTG regretted what he asked for. CM Punk got plenty of the spotlight he's been demanding. 

While Brock Lesnar and Triple closed the show, it wasn't the central story of the episode. WWE put plenty of emphasis on the WWE Championship match and its other feuds as well.    

The Lesnar vs. Triple H segment dragged even with Shawn Michaels' stellar sell job. The rest of the show picked up the slack.   

CM Punk Survives Big Show

Raw kicked off the WWE Champion, the World's Largest Athlete, the hottest WWE wrestler of the moment in Daniel Bryan and the company's biggest star in John Cena. What a way to get things started. 

Big Show dominated much of the match, tossing CM Punk around the ring. 

Punk showed championship-level grit in not losing to the big man. Of course, he was helped (and hurt) by Daniel Bryan's interference. Bryan continues to insist that he should be involved in the title match. 

This angle allows him to get main event spotlight regardless of his SummerSlam booking. 

Ryback Destroys JTG

Ryback is finally moving up the food chain. He is beginning to get stiffer competition. 

WWE's patience with this angle has been surprising. The longer the wait before Ryback is seriously challenged before he eventually loses, the more satisfying the outcome will be.

JTG ranted about not being used on Raw despite the show's new length. 

In his squash match with Ryback, JTG made the best of his time. He packed an impressive amount of drama into the handful of moves he was asked to do. 

Ryback is swaying more and more WWE fans. The "Goldberg!" chants are getting softer as the "Feed me more!" chants grow louder.  

Piper’s Pit

Even if he has mellowed out since his prime, Roddy Piper is always entertaining. 

WWE fans made the right choice in selecting Chris Jericho to be Piper's guest. Putting two microphone masters in the ring is never a bad idea. 

Piper and Jericho only had a few moments to exercise their funny muscles before Vickie Guerrero, Dolph Ziggler and The Miz crowded the ring. While the ensuing segment wasn't groundbreaking, it more than did the job of furthering Ziggler and Jericho's feud. 

The tension that simmered when Ziggler attempted to take over the show by grabbing Piper's mic was an attention-grabbing moment. 

WWE wisely had the bubbling anger created here utilized in a Triple Threat match.

Chris Jericho vs. the Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

The best match of the night was a preview of what will be SummerSlam's best match. 

Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho showed off excellent chemistry and Miz inserted extra athleticism. The three wrestlers worked the crowd into a frenzy with near falls and ever-shifting momentum. 

The Dallas crowd grew louder as flesh banged against the Raw announce table, Jericho delivered a jaw-popping dropkick and all three wrestlers worked at an exciting pace. 

One of the best moments saw Jericho superplex Miz while Ziggler powerbombed Jericho.

CM Punk and John Cena vs. Big Show and Daniel Bryan

Raw led into SummerSlam with the aid of this tag match where the partners had just as much bad blood between each other as they did for their opponents. 

A high energy Dallas crowd watched a fun match teeming with star power. 

Punk forcefully tagged his way in. Cena did the same. The tension between was worked beautifully, not overdone in the least. 

They went on to mock each other's signature moves in entertaining fashion.

It was hilarious seeing Bryan ordering Big Show around and Punk hold the tag rope in his mouth.

WWE is clearly making Big Show look good before the pay-per-view which is either an attempt to justify a Big Show win or more likely to make Punk look that much better by being able to defeat such a dominant powerhouse.