By Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp)
In memory of Ultimate Warrior
– The show started with a touching and fitting tribute to Ultimate Warrior, who tragically passed away last week. This came after Warrior’s first appearances in the WWE in 18 years, where he essentially delivered his own eulogy. WWE and the WWE Network will be paying tribute throughout the coming days and weeks, and I look forward to checking all of that out.
– WWE announced a number-one contender’s tournament for the Intercontinental title prior to the show, which I think is awesome. I’ve been an advocate of televised tourneys for a long time, as it essentially works as a built-in storyline for mid-card guys. I know a lot of you guys expect fresh, new stories and angles for all of these guys, but writing 350+ hours of TV a year isn’t easy, folks.
All of the winners in this tournament will depend upon whether Cesaro works as a face or a heel, in my opinion.
– Alberto Del Rio vs. RVD started the show, and I was expecting a really good match from the two. Instead, the two were playing softball through most of the match. RVD was hitting air on his kicks, and Del Rio opted to land kicks to RVD’s arm, probably so he didn’t give another workhorse a concussion.
There were some cool spots in this match, and as all WWE matches seem to go of late, it heated up in the end. However, these two are capable of putting on a good, hard hitting match from bell to bell, and that didn’t happen. Solid, though. RVD picked up the win.
-I am thrilled to see Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs Rybaxel getting some time on Raw. I really feared these guys would be losing screen time with the influx of new and returning characters to Raw.
Cody Rhodes didn’t look the smoothest, missing a couple of big moves. One has to wonder if his knee injury is affecting his performance.
Also, I’m stunned that “Goldberg” chants keep happening to Ryback, two years in. Pretty dumb, actually. Speaking of Ryback, he picked up the pin over Cody Rhodes after a big clothesline.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this, but I’d love Ryback and Curtis Axel to run a meathead gimmick, where Ryback is insecure over his body, but Axel is overly confident. I think it’d be hilarious.
-I think Bo Dallas is going to get over. I am sure I’ll regret this. The BoLieve vignettes are hilarious.
-For someone who showed up last week, Paige is over as hell with the crowd. She beat Alicia Fox this week, and looked damn good doing it.
– A rematch from last week’s pointless Batista/Randy Orton vs. Usos segment was up next, including the Usos wearing some awesome, Warrior-inspired facepaint.
The match was a mess, and mercifully ended with a Shield run-in causing a DQ. I’m not sure who the hell will be challenging Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules, but it seems like Shield vs. Evolution will be on the card, which should be great. The in-ring stuff has been a train wreck tonight, though.
– Cesaro squared off with Mark Henry in a tourney match that was set up basically as a display of Cesaro’s strength. It’s unfortunate that after Mark Henry’s promo of the year last year that he’s fallen so far, but he looks like he’s lost a step. Cesaro, who doesn’t have theme music as of now, won with the Neutralizer.
– Lana is the only good thing about Alexander Rusev. I do not like this character, I do not like the finish. Michael Cole says the Bulgarian Rusev has a background in sumo and muay thai, but not Sambo? Good job, WWE. Rusev squashed poor little Xavier Woods.
– Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger was next, in another (unspectacular) tournament match. This match was nothing special, but both guys worked really stiff, and beat the hell out of each other. A few years ago, I would have accepted this as a PPV title match, but man, times have changed.
They got the crowd behind them big time after a Swagger Patriot Lock, before Sheamus won with a Brogue Kick. I’ve been really disappointed in the match quality on this episode of Raw. This tourney was a really good chance for the midcard to show they are worth so much TV time.
– There were really uneventful segments featuring Big Show, Damien Sandow, The Wyatt Family, and John Cena. Once again, Cena was made to undermine the seriousness of the Wyatt gimmick in a really dumb segment.
The WWE took a good John Cena/Wyatts segment, added some really dumb jokes to it, and made it unbearable.
– There also wasn’t much to Fandango & Layla vs. Santino & Emma, but I’d like to say that Layla replacing Summer Rae as Fandango’s valet makes plenty of sense, being that she’s a dancer. Oh yeah, Fandango and Layla won.
– Stephanie McMahon was backstage, trash talking Kane, saying he needed his edge back, and etc. Kane grabbed his mask, said he’d beat up Daniel Bryan. Bryan wasn’t on the show tonight, as he’s on his honeymoon, but it looks like Kane vs. Bryan at Extreme Rules for the title, which could be good.
– The last first round tournament match was up, with (linear WWE champion) Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler. I was really disheartened by the lack of “boom” chants for Wade Barrett, but both guys got pretty good reactions from the crowd. At one point, WWE cut to a commercial when the ref was at a five count towards a countout, which seems kind of stupid.
This was easily the best match of the night. Dolph Ziggler, when given any substantial amount of time, puts on fantastic matches, and switches it up just a little bit in order to make it differ from everything else that has been seen on any given night. Barrett took the win with the Bull Hammer, but these two saved the show from being a 100 percent stinker, in my opinion.
– The main event was Shield vs. mystery opponents. Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger, Fandango, 3MB, Titus O’Neil, Rybaxel, Rusev, and Bad News Barrett were those opponents, making it 11 on 3.
This match was what it was, a way to make the overpowering Shield look like the underdog. The highlights came at the end, before the match was thrown out as Reigns hit a spear on Ryback, before Rollins hit a big dive on the crowd of wrestlers.
Evolution‘s music hit, and the faction is officially back together. With the help of the 11 others, Evolution left the Shield laying. The last 25 minutes of this program helped save the show, although it was a little too far gone in my opinion. Luckily, Shield vs. Evolution is on the horizon, as are plenty of other positives.
Also, Batista and Randy Orton’s Powerbomb/Reverse RKO combo is filthy.
– Honestly, this was one of the worst Raw episodes in recent memory, and really suffered with the absence of Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar, and not having John Cena or the Wyatts in action. Now that WrestleMania season is over, the void left by CM Punk is also starting to show. I’m hoping things pick up, because the WWE had been firing on all cylinders lately.
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