‘Monday Night Raw’ recap: Paul Heyman helps the CM Punk heel turn

Ever since “Monday Night Raw” expanded to three hours, it has been a test of endurance to sit through it. The shows haven’t been bad, it’s just asking a person to carve three hours out of their night every Monday can be a chore at times.

But if every episode had a payoff like this week’s, it would be worth it.

John Cena and Alberto Del Rio were competing in a great “falls count anywhere” match, when they went backstage. After getting the upper hand, it appeared Cena was about to win when, out of nowhere, CM Punk attacked him and gave him his “Go to Sleep” finisher. Del Rio got the victory and Punk made his way to the passenger side of a car, getting in as the car slowly began to pull away. As the car pulled past Cena, Paul Heyman stuck his head out of the driver’s side window.

For those of you who have just started watching pro wrestling and think Heyman is merely the mouthpiece for Brock Lesnar, think again.

Heyman is one of the best heels of all time. Dating back to his days as Paul E. Dangerously, Heyman has always exuded a certain sliminess and self-importance that makes him the type of guy you love to hate. And, since no one seemed to be booing CM Punk despite the best efforts of the WWE to turn him into a bad guy, pairing Punk with Heyman is a brilliant move.

Next week will be very interesting. Now, instead of dreading another three-hour show, you can actually anticipate it, wondering in what direction the Punk-Heyman alliance will go. And it made the three-hour investment this week seem worth it.

But please, please WWE, don’t get any bright ideas about expanding the show to four hours.

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