Pre-show notes:

- If you like the report and read it all the time, click the like button and drop a comment. My only real reward for doing this is knowing that you like it. Well, there’s also money, but that’s not specifically for this. What I’m saying is either leave me a comment and click like, or send me a bunch of money.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- Continued thanks to Casey/THESTINGER for helping me out with gifs and pictures. Be sure to visit his gifs Tumblr.

- Don’t forget to check out the Raw Deal at TJR Wrestling. John’s perspective is easier to enjoy than mine, and contains 100% fewer Excel Saga references.

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT:

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Your only previews for tonight’s show:

-WWE will tape RAW tonight in Greensboro, North Carolina. Local advertisements claim the show will focus on the fallout of Brock Lesnar breaking Triple H’s arm last week.

… and:

So who knows? We’ve got an arm-breaking Brock Lesnar on the loose, “Ghana Get Got” as our new tag team champions and an ever-increasing chance of John Laurinaitis flipping out and dropping John Cena with an Ace Crusher.

Things to remember:

- My 10 favorite comments from tonight’s open discussion will be featured in tomorrow’s Best And Worst Of WWE Raw report. This wins you instant Internet fame and a Bragging Rights trophy* (*while supplies last).

- To nominate a comment as one of the best, reply to it with a +1.

Enjoy the show.

Two major points of interest here:

1. Whenever he’s within 200 feet of the Memphis city limits, Jerry “The King” Lawler becomes awesome. I don’t know what I like more, the fact that he’s piledriving a guy on a basketball court during a timeout or the fact that he’s got spandex King pants that match his Grizzlies jersey.

2. Charles Barkley just stuck up for WWE Superstar John Cena (a job usually reserved for women and little kids covered in wristbands) and threatened former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current WWE simulated arm-breaker Brock Lesnar, promising an ultimate team-up with Shaquille O’Neal if Brock doesn’t leave Cena alone. I’m sad he didn’t threaten to Five Buck Box him in the diverticulitis.

The boast seems like just another one of Sir Charles’ ridiculously spoken sentences, but you never know … Barkley does have connections in the wrestling business:

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Via Facebook:

I spent every day of my 30′s puttin’ in hard work..

So today, I can turn 40 and say with a big ass smile..

I’m just gettin’ started!

As of this posting, that status has about 90,000 “likes”. Today is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s birthday, and if you haven’t been paying attention … he’s pretty popular.

To help celebrate Rocky’s milestone, we’ve compiled a loosely ordered list of moments, matches and Kung Pao Bitch jokes from his career. Whether you like him or you don’t, it’s hard to deny that he’s one of the most influential and entertaining performers in the history of pro wrestling … and one of two pro wrestlers cool enough to be a G.I. Joe. Three if you count The Fridge.

Happy birthday, Rocky.

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Pre-show notes:

- Drop a comment on the report! We want to hear what you have to say and appreciate having you around. Also, seriously, click that like button. If you don’t I’m gonna stretch the next 5-page report into a Bleacher Report thing that reloads the entire page whenever you move.

- Follow us on Twitter @withleather, follow me personally @MrBrandonStroud and like us on Facebook.

- Continued thanks to Casey/THESTINGER for helping me out with gifs and pictures. Be sure to visit his gifs Tumblr for the stuff I didn’t use.

- For another perspective on Raw, make sure you check out John Canton’s Raw Deal at the new TJRWrestling. He’s a nice guy with a great crew and deserves your support.

- For a Best And Worst Of Raw-approved Tumblr account, visit Feminist Pro Wrestling. It’s totally right, and a more straightforward approach to addressing the serious, f**ked-up problems of pro wrestling without my weird anime tangents. Support reasonable people who like pro graps!

Please to enjoy the Best and Worst Of WWE Raw 4/30, with special guest star … oh, let’s say “Moe”.

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What a great match! And now Daniel Bryan is once again the Heavyweight Champion Of The World! YES! YES! YES!

- Before you participate in tonight’s discussion, make sure you’ve read The Best And Worst Of WWE Extreme Rules ’12.

Tonight on Raw:

- Everyone is hurt and John Cena died on the way back to his home planet.
- New WWE Divas Champion Layla could show up for between 2-3 minutes. Michelle McCool could show up for even less than that!
- Triple H returns, and I try not to be a total dick about it.

At Extreme Rules, Raw and SmackDown GM John Laurinaitis had a mysterious phone conversation with Triple H. The GM promised to reveal the nature of their conversation when The Game comes to Raw SuperShow tonight. What will the two have to say?

“My name is John Laurinaitis.”
“This business.”
etc.

Poll time:

- The top 10 comments from tonight’s WWE Raw open discussion thread will be featured in tomorrow’s Best And Worst Of WWE Raw report. To nominate a comment for top 10 status, please reply to it with a +1. The easiest ways to a top 10 comment are 1) using contextual references to things I love, like Watchmen or the first season of Pokémon, 2) signs or pictures of signs at WWE events featuring me or something I’ve said, 3) saying hateful sh*t about Sheamus. Still, even though he lost!

Up for grabs tonight: the second in our series of Daniel Bryan YES! badges. Yep, we’re gonna do three of them in total, and if you get all three you’ll have a big YES! YES! YES! section on your UPROXX achievements page.

To earn the second YES! badge, you do the same thing you did to earn the first: During the show, tweet this open discussion thread to everyone you’ve ever met, share the post on Facebook and click that “like” button just below the title of the post. That’s it! And hey, if you missed out on last night’s badge, don’t worry — this blue vegan bad boy will look great by itself. Even if you lose it in 18 seconds.

Let’s enjoy pro wrestling! WWE Raw discussion starts right now.