Punk! Cena! Self-Belief! Ego-Stroking! Best in the World! WWE Championship!

Was this so freaking hard to do?

CM Punk and John Cena facing off for the WWE championship; two of the most popular guys on the roster, one-on-one at Night of Champions in Boston, MA. Punk, the champion for the past nine months, going toe-to-toe with Cena, the face of WWE for the past seven years. These men had an amazing feud a year ago, but they have practically been living in separate universes since then.

We finally get to see these two men on a crash collision course.

Last week (Aug. 20) Punk demanded that Cena call him, "The Best in the World", in order to become the number one contender. Cena politely declined, telling the "Straight Edge Superstar" his "personal constitution would not allow it". Cena went on to state that, "...to do anything in life, be it wrestling or otherwise, one has to believe that he or she is the absolute best at what they do."

Those are some wise words to live by.

Cena is able to step up his game when he's facing a higher quality opponent, and it's always a good thing when Punk, again the WWE Champion, is in the main event. How they get from Cena turning down this opportunity, to the match being "official", will be interesting to watch. There's also Jerry "The King" Lawler, who received a smart kick to the head from Punk last week, and his role in all of this (hopefully ending with more kicks to his head).

The WWE Championship is back at the top of the card where it belongs. The two biggest stars are acting like it actually matters. The spotlight is on them and them alone. This could be a great storyline for all involved.

Am I wrong for having too much hope in all of this?

The rest of the show after the jump.

AJ Lee is the General Manager of Raw. Daniel Bryan is her ex-fiancé. He was also very mean to her when they dated. Now that AJ holds power over Bryan, she is getting back at him by putting him in unfavorable situations. Bryan has anger problems, so AJ is making him take anger management courses -- starting tonight.

Kane was AJ's kind-of, sort-of, boyfriend for a minute -- before he broke up with her. Now that she's in power though, he seems to be obeying her commands. He also has anger problems, so maybe he will be placed in anger management as well.

There's really not much left to say. Kane has reverted back to the silent monster where he does his best work. Bryan continues to be amazing in everything he does, and AJ...

Here's the thing about AJ Lee; she's 25-years-old and has been on television for a little more than a year. Should either of those factors have come into play before WWE gave her such a big role? Yes, of course. However, there is something to be said about giving her a chance to grow and feel more comfortable in her role. Pro wrestling, almost by definition, is filled with plenty of overacting. If AJ awkwardly skipping around in her power suit and taking excessive Triple H-esque pauses during her promos were the worst part of Raw, well then I would say it's still a pretty good show.

Maybe that's just me, though.

Everything Else! Bullet Points!

• Triple H is expected to address his future with WWE tonight. I'm sure that will be fun!
• Seriously, though. Triple H will probably be gone. Brock Lesnar's gone. Shawn Michaels is gone. Chris Jericho is gone. The Rock isn't coming back until the run up to the Royal Rumble in January, and Undertaker will probably not be coming back until late March. What other major storylines are currently going on or even brewing? If Raw is going to stay at three hours, then at least fill it with something.
• Damien Sandow and Brodus Clay will probably go after each other tonight. That will actually be a lot of fun.

Enjoy the show!