WWE RAW came to Cleveland,Ohio with a rap/rock battle between John Cena and Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson as they prepare for the most talked about match in Wrestlemania history on April 1st. The live show on USA Network last night also featured developments in the fueds between WWE Champion CM Punk and Chris Jericho as well as the Undertaker and Triple H with the special guest ref for their match, Shawn Michaels. Let’s rundown RAW and see if WWE is keeping it exciting before Wrestlemania XXVIII on April 1st in Miami.

You don’t like reading? Well busy person,  Listen to Rumble Radio’s @KevKellam in this RAW podcast recap. It’s only 10 minutes.

The Rock rocks while John Cena gets ‘thuganomic’

The show opened with mega-star John Cena decked out in his old-school ‘Thuganomic’ gear in a basketball jersey and bike-chain necklace. The 10-time WWE Champion then cut a rare rap (if you didn’t know, Cena has mad skillz) where he dissed the Rock. It was a short sweet 5-7 minute segment that opened up RAW strong, and left viewers anticipating Rocky’s musical rebuttal with his signature musical promo. Watch John Cena’s rap on the Rock from WWE RAW

In stark contrast, Rock took his time with his show-closing ‘Rock Concert’ where he satirized Cena and his ‘ladyparts’ for 20 minutes in front of a Cleveland crowd that sat on their hands most of the night. After three weeks of getting bested at the end of RAW by Cena, Rock had a strong comedic performance with his acoustic jam that implied he made love to Cena’s mother. Rock did stretch himself a little thin with his karaoke spin on Queen’s “We Will Rock You”  but the crowd signing along to it, did not expose him. The Cenation is going to decry the Rock for reading off a music sheet and the Titan tron, but at the end of the day Rock provided some very entertaining live TV.

There are many 20 something ‘Attitude’ era fans who have flipped their allegiances recently from Rock to Cena, as he’s been rightfully put into question Rock’s absence from WWE when he leaves to make movies. Aftermath radio host Arda Ocal went so far as to say that Rock’s act was “phoned in” on RAW, and that Cena is coming off better in feud where most thought he would be outclassed by one of the greatest talkers in WWE history.

Chris Jericho calls CM Punk’s father a ‘drunk’. Yes, he went there.

WWE Champion CM Punk got humbled on RAW this week when his Wrestlemania challenger Chris Jericho appeared on screen after Punk made the Miz tap out, to reveal that Punk’s father was an alcoholic and that his legitimate Straight Edge lifestyle exists out of fear. Jericho who returned to WWE after a hiatus, truly humiliated Chicago’s own CM Punk who held his head down while he walked to backstage area. Even with the Rock, Cena, Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels, this exchange was the most dramatic of the night. Punk came off uncharacteristic and exposed in a rare scene of emotional vulnerability while Jericho was once again a very despicable villain playing mind games. Punk vs. Jericho for the WWE Championship at Mania could steal the show. Two weeks ago this story was about who is the ‘ Best in the World’ now it just got very personal. It will interesting to see Punk’s response next week.

The Undertaker messed up the date for WM28, but he scared Shawn Michaels

The HeartBreak Kid had his career ended in 2010 by the Undertaker when he lost a “Career vs. Streak” Match at Wrestlemania 26. That reality hanged over the confrontation between Michaels and ‘Taker with the news that Michaels will be the special guest referee in the Hell in a Cell match with Taker and Triple H. Yet the segment which seemed like a home run on paper fell flat, and featured the usually on-the-point Undertaker making a clear mistake when said Wrestlemania is on April 21st, when the show is actually on April 1st. Read all the jokes that fans and comedians made online about the Deadman’s mistake here.  No worries here as WWE still planted some strong seeds of dissent on RAW with Michaels teasing his ability to screw either Undertaker out of his 19 year running undefeated Wrestlemania streak or his Degeneration X buddy, Triple H. Read about the Undertaker’s list of injuries and how he’s overcome them all.

Team Teddy Long vs. Team Laurinitis announced for Mania

Yesterday on WWE.COM before RAW went on the air, it was announced that the warring General Managers  Smackdown’s Teddy Long and RAW’s John Laurinitis would each field a 6 man team at Wrestlemania, with the winner getting a control of both WWE shows. The interest in the match is lukewarm with fans right now after it consumed an excessive amount of TV time and has been tying up so much talent like United States Champion Santino Marella to get over two non-wrestling characters and their quest for power. The angle played out on RAW last night with Laurinitis’s goons like Mr. Jennifer Hudson, David Otunga beating on the beloved Marella in a post-match brawl. This 6-on-6 man match could be a fitting match to open the ‘Mania 28 Pay Per View. The sad part about this match is it’s presence on the Mania card writes  off the chance of seeing the metal mayhem of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match with bodies flying and crashing.

Zack Ryder needs to remember Broskis before Hoeskis with Eve

This was a brief segment with the self-proclaimed Internet Champion Zack Ryder trying foolishly to get the cooniving ‘hoeski’ Eve to go on date with him. Does’nt he remeber that this backstabber only flirted with him before to climb up the WWE ladder? Maybe all that hair gel is going to his brain. Maybe Ryder can find a new lady to chase and get back in the ring.

Mil Mascaras announced for the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012

If you have no idea who WWE was talking about last night when they announced on RAW the latest inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame who will participate in a ceremony with Edge and the Four Horseman on March 31st in Miami, then check this out. “The Man of a Thousand Masks” is pretty much one of the greatest Mexican luchadores of all time, who was one of the first cross the border and continue to be successful. Though everybody will be talking about Edge and Ric Flair have to say in their induction speeches, it will be a treat for Lucha fans to see one of their own get the honors. USA Network will air a one-hour special of the WWE Hall of Fame 2012 on late night on the day before Wrestlemania 28 Saturday, March 31st.

To read more pro wrestling blogs, check out @KevKellam on Examiner.com with the Pro Wrestling Examiner / Wrestling fans marked down your calendars, Rumble Radio will present a live pre-Wrestlemania chat show extravaganza live on WXAV.COM on Wednesday, March 28 th at 7pm CST. Tune in for a fun and hilarious rassl’n talk days before the big show. Follow@RumbleRadio on Twitter and Facebook to get podcast info to download the show.