After an incredibly strong SummerSlam
this week's Raw had a lot to live up to. Expectations were high
amongst WWE fans, and there were a number of questions that needed to
be answered heading out of the pay-per-view and towards Night of
Champions. Whilst it was impossible for the show live up to the hype,
it was another strong showing from WWE's flagship show, and manage to
set the wheels in motion for a number of smoking hot rivalries that
will see us into the next pay-per-view and beyond.
Randy Orton's Championship Coronation
After Triple H
turned on Daniel Bryan and gifted the WWE Championship to Randy
Orton, there was one question on everyone's lips, why? We'd have to
wait til the end of the show to here it from the WWE Cheif Operating
Officer himself, but we did get a sneak preview, when Stephanie
McMahon interupted Daniel Bryan before he could even get going.
Stephanie certainly works a lot better as a heel, as she played the
corporate women, saying Triple H's decisions were based on what was
good for business, before calling Bryan a “B+” with perfect
delivery that clearly struck a chords with the audience in
attendance, as well as those at home. Bryan continued his string of
strong promos, as he fought back against McMahon, saying he would
have expected it from Vince McMahon or Stephanie, but not from Triple
H, before delivering a stinger of his own, with the words “If you
lie down with trash for long enough, you start to stink” in
reference to Triple H's marriage to Stephanie. With Bryan saying that
he wasn't afraid of being fired, because he'd simply go wrestle
somewhere else, with shades of CM Punk's infamous Raw Roulette promo,
Stephanie had Bryan forcibly removed from the building. I thought
this was a strong segment, as it set up the show and allowed the
words to play on the audiences mind for a further two and a half
hours before Triple H would come out to the arena.
With Randy Orton's
Championship Coronation getting closer, there was a backstage segment
featuring Stephanie McMahon and Raw General Manager Brad Maddox. With
Brad Maddox coming to inform McMahon that Bryan had gotten back
inside the building somehow. With McMahon looking non-plussed she
headed into her father's office. I liked this little addition to the
story, as it showed us that all the players were in place and made us
question what Daniel Bryan had planned by getting back inside the
building. It also for the first time showed that Vince McMahon was
somehow involved with the whole thing, as many had suspected. Either
way it set up nicely for the final segment of the show, especially
with having no seen Orton, Triple H or Vince yet on the show.
So finally after
just under twenty four hours of waiting, we were about to find out
why Triple H Pedigreed Daniel Bryan and handed the title to former
rival Randy Orton. With both Vince and Stephanie in the ring, waiting
for Triple H to come down the entrance way, with pretty much the
entire WWE roster on the stage and new McMahon co-horts The Shield
(more on that later) standing between them and the ring. Triple H
went on to explain his actions, in a strong heel promo, ripping into
Daniel Bryan and saying that the WWE fans deserved better than him as
a WWE Champion. It was an interesting concept and one that played a
proportion of the internet believing that the WWE sometimes believes
it knows what the fans want, more than the fans. Triple H may be
known for his long, rambling promos, and this was certainly a long
promo, but it was spot on for me, in terms of pace, delivery and
content, really getting under the skins of the fans. Then The Game
brought out the new WWE Champion, The Viper, Randy Orton! This is
where things began to get even more interesting. I have to say I have
really missed heel Randy Orton, and like most WWE fans have been
waiting for this moment for a long time, and Orton thanking Triple H
for his WWE Championship is something I certainly never thought I
would see.
With Triple H
calling out Daniel Bryan, in the most patronising way possible,
getting the crowd to chant “Yes!” and playing Bryan's music to
“Make Daniel feel at home”. With Triple H telling no one to touch
Daniel Bryan, it was clear it was a trap and Bryan walked straight
into an onslaught from The Shield. Bryan attempted to fight off
United States Champion Dean Ambrose and Tag Team Champions Seth
Rollins and Roman Reigns, and after seemingly taking out all three
men, Bryan headed to the ring. Only to receive a thunderous spear
from Reigns. After some more beating, that really made you feel for
Bryan and build up the disdain for Triple H and the corporate
machine. Triple H did however stop The Shield from Triple
Powerbombing Bryan, allowing the Submission Specialist to get in the
ring, continuing to patronise him ever step of the way. However, once
Bryan got in the ring, Orton struck with an RKO. With The Orton,
Vince, Triple H and Stephanie all raising each others arms to close
the show, it was clear who had the upperhand and exactly where the
power lay in WWE. Many have compared Bryan's role to the role Stone
Cold Steve Austin had between 1997 and 1999, however I'd like to
remind those people that in the past both Randy Orton and CM Punk
have been described as the new Stone Cold, and both have managed to
carve out their own path, I'm willing to see where this goes before
calling it a remake of that storyline, and at that moment I think we
have an interesting few months ahead.
Unsanctioned Match:
CM Punk
vs.
Intercontinental Champion
Curtis Axel
with
Paul Heyman
The CM Punk and
Paul Heyman story continued, with Paul Heyman in the ring to deliver
his thoughts on the situation, following Punk's match with Brock
Lesnar at SummerSlam. It was a short and succinct promo from Heyman,
as he attempted to perform somewhat of a U-turn, asking Punk to end
this family feud and offered him a place back in his stable. Of
course, this being Paul Heyman, the place came at a price, and that
price would be an apology from Punk for his actions against his
former best friend. Heyman is still the undisputed king at this kind
of promo in WWE, as it looked like he truly believed in what he was
saying, even if the WWE fans didn't buy a single word of what he was
saying regarding Punk.
With Punk being
teased to give his answer to Heyman, it was clear that something was
about to blow up. With Punk in the ring, you could tell he was ready
to unleash another outstanding promo, he looked incredibly psyched up
heading out. This all came to a head at the start of his promo, when
Punk turned to a member of the audience that was booing him. In what
felt like a flashback to Punk's days in the IWA, Punk berated the fan
in a foul mouth tirade, that whilst Punk probably got a ticking off
for backstage, really helped to show the emotion that the Punk
character was feeling, and sold how much the loss to Brock Lesnar had
meant to him. With Punk teasing that if Heyman came out to face him,
he might apologise, out came Heyman, alongside Intercontinental
Champion Curtis Axel. Punk's apology came in the form of being sorry
for not doing a number of things to Heyman in the ring, including
Punk taking Heyman's arm home. I don't think anyone in WWE can pull
off a passionate promo as well as CM Punk, everything about him looks
like he is fully believing in what he is saying and that this is how
he truly feels about Heyman.
With Punk
challenging Heyman to a fight, Heyman instead sent Curtis Axel down
the ring for a fight, delivering a promo in the style of an old
fashioned school teacher, telling off his student. Once the fight got
started, and this was a fight, not a wrestling match, Punk began
dismantling Axel with a number of weapons, including the steel chair
and the ring bell. It looked like Punk was going to dispatch of Punk
in fairly easy fashion, as he went for the GTS, only for Axel to slip
free and attack Punk's injured knee. When in control of the bout Axel
looked good, picking apart Punk's leg before wrapping it in a steel
chair and heading for the top rope. Of course, Punk escaped to
deliver another beating to Axel this time on one leg, finishing him
off with a GTS onto the steel ring steps. This brawl wasn't on par
with the ones Punk had with Lesnar, but it was still an enjoyable
watch, with Punk's struggle on one leg showing his desire to exact
his revenge on Heyman even more. Axel's period of control, allowed
him to not lose out to much in this battle, although it is obvious he
is simply becoming a device to keep Punk away from Heyman, rather
than WWE having any real plans for him going forward.
Now, I'm still not
quite sure how this story is going to move forward now. I've
suggested in the past that a handicap match with Punk facing Heyman
and Axel could be a interesting concept especially if Axel's
Intercontinental Championship is on the line. However, after
pay-per-view matches with Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker
and The Rock over the last six months, it would definitely feel like
a bit of a comedown for Punk. It could work, but would have to be
booked incredibly well for it not to end up getting lost in the
shuffle at Night of Champions. Punk certainly needs a good couple of
wins in the next few pay-per-views to build himself up again, and I
could see this Heyman and Punk story running for a few more months
yet, with a possible conclusion at Survivor Series in November, of
course in a Traditional Survivor Series match seeming like a very
fitting way to end this family feud.
John Cena's WWE Future
Raw kicked off
this week, with John Cena coming out to discuss his match with Daniel
Bryan at SummerSlam. And after that show Cena was probably the last
person most people expected to start the show. Now despite being
confused about whether he is from Massachusetts or the deep south,
Cena delivered a strong promo, putting over Daniel Bryan strong. Now
whilst certain sections of the wrestling communinity do not respect
John Cena, there is no denying that Cena is still WWE's top star, and
has a loyal fanbase, therefore putting over Bryan so strongly is a
very big thing for Bryan, especially after going over clean at
SummerSlam. Cena also did a good job of running down the actions of
Triple H and Randy Orton, saying how disgusted he was at their
actions.
Cena went onto to
announce that he would be leaving the WWE to have surgery on a torn
bicep, and would be out for at least four months. Cena said that the
injury wasn't an excuse for him losing, which is probably why WWE
went for a pinfall finish rather than Bryan taking advantage of
Cena's injured elbow. Cena certainly seemed like he didn't want to
leave for four minutes, let alone four months, and it was this
serious tone that really helped me feel sorry for Cena here, for the
first time in a long time. We're used to seeing the smiling goofy
Cena, but when he goes serious, albeit because of a very real
situation, he is one of the best on that microphone and certainly
deserves more praise for the work he does.
With Cena bringing
out Daniel Bryan before exiting the ring, it certainly felt like
change was a foot in the WWE. For the last year and half, we've been
faced with the “Worst Year of Cena's Life” storyline, that
developed into Cena's subsequent redemption at WrestleMania, and then
unfortunately fizzled out with disapointing feuds with Ryback and
Mark Henry. We now seem to be entering a new chapter in WWE, and Cena
stepping away from the screen for a while will certainly help this
begin to develop. Daniel Bryan seems to be being position as the top
face of the show for the time being at least, opposite Randy Orton
and the McMahon family and it's difficult to have seen this being
allowed to play out, with Cena still around.
So, what next for
John Cena? Well with Cena's return looking to land between Survivor
Series and Royal Rumble, Cena will certainly have enough time to
build to credible WrestleMania match against a big name opponent, who
that opponent will be is yet to be seen. You'd expect Cena would come
back in opposition to the McMahon family, although hopefully sometime
after Daniel Bryan has gained retrubition, it would certainly leave a
bad taste in the mouth if Cena came back to beat Randy Orton for the
WWE Championship. I quite like the idea of Cena returning in the
Royal Rumble match, similar to his 2008 win, only to be thwarted by
his future WrestleMania opponent. I'm struggling to see where Cena
fits into the new look WWE, unless WWE does the impossible and has
Cena join forces with The McMahons and finally turn heel (I'll eat my
hat if this happens)
Best of the Rest (In The World)
After succesfully
defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Christian at
SummerSlam, Alberto Del Rio didn't waste anytime getting straight
back into action as he faced of against Sin Cara. The match didn't
last very long, with Sin Cara performing a Suicide Dive to the
outside and pulling up with somekind of wrist injury, with the
doctors considering unable to fight. Seriously, is this guy made of
china? He's suffered so many injuries since signing for WWE, and had
a number of high profile botches that it's getting a ridiculous. WWE
clearly has no plans for him going forward, other than feeding him to
whoever they feel needs a win that week, before most likely letting
him go once his contract runs out. The argument that Sin Cara has
been put up against wrestlers who don't know his style is now out of
the window, as Del Rio spent his early career in Mexico and
definitely knows how Sin Cara wrestles.
After Del Rio
stood around for a bit looking confused, he grabbed a microphone and
cut a nice promo on how he was going to become a hero for all the
latinos, similar to one he cut after his SummerSlam victory. With
former Personal Ring Announcer Ricardo Rodriguez interupting him to
inform the World Heavyweight Champion that Rodriguez had a new
client. Everyone expected it to be Rey Mysterio, after Mysterio made
several appearances around SummerSlam weekend, as well as stating he
should be ready to go around this time. However, WWE through a curve
ball, and Rodriguez' new client turned out to Rob Van Dam. With Van
Dam taking the action to Del Rio, about to hit a Five Star
Frogsplash, Del Rio escaped the ring and lived to fight another. I'm
seriously intrigued by the Van Dam and Rodriguez partnership, as I
can't really see how it's going to work, but a title shot for Van
Dam, in what should be another solid outing for Del Rio at Night of
Champions is something I am definitely interested in.
Big Show was also
in action this week, after Raw General Manager Brad Maddox ordered
him into a One On Three Handicap Match with The Shield. This was due
to Big Show negative remarks about Triple H's actions at SummerSlam
on WWE.com. It was a good way to get the new regime over, as well as
cementing Big Show's face turn, that hadn't really been explained
since his return on the previous week's show. The Shield had already
been shown as an ally of The New Corporation (or whatever they choose
to call it), after having another Handicap match against Dolph
Ziggler earlier in the night (more on that later) however the rules
of this one were adapted to allow all Shield members to be in the
ring at the same time. This change not only allowed Big Show to look
even more powerful and allow The Shield to use their numbers
advantage without having to result to a disqualification finish.
Of course, Big
Show, now sporting an bright purple singlet, dominated the early
going using his power to fight of Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns one by
one. But once Ambrose and Rollins got there act together and began
with a number of quick strikes that took the World's Largest Athlete
to the floor, the tables quickly changed. Show got a quick comeback,
but a Spear from Reigns quickly put an end to that, with The Shield
picking up a victory after a treble powerbomb. In terms of handicap
match this was a very good match, telling a good story and keeping my
attention throughout. It was cleverly kept short because that was all
that the story needed, any long and it would have become tedious and
unbelievable.
As mentioned
earlier, The Shield had another bout on the card, as they faced off
against Dolph Ziggler, who was once again being punished by Brad
Maddox for comments made about Triple H. In a completely different
bout from the one from the Big Show match, with The Shield having to
work tags, Ziggler used his quickness and cunning to stay in the
match. However the numbers game was too much for Ziggler also, as
after numerous comebacks and nearfalls, Roman Reigns managed to hit
another spear on Ziggler, which was visually impressive to pick up
the pinfall victory for The Shield. Zigger's selling really helped
this match, making it easier to empathise with the character as he
was clearly giving his all against these three. The bout will do
wonders for Ziggler's face run, which seemed to be faltering.
Cody Rhodes was
also in action on Raw, as he faced off against World Heavyweight
Championship Money in the Bank Winner Damien Sandow in a SummerSlam
rematch. At first it seemed like we were going to get another piece
of classic WWE even steven booking, with Sandow picking up the
victory. However, that was not to be the case, after another strong
contest between the two, with a number of reversals of momentum,
fought at a fast pace towards the end, saw Rhodes pick up the pinfall
victory after a well worked sunset flip varation out of the corner.
After two victories in a row of Sandow, in two technically sound
matches, I can only assume that Sandow will challenge Rhodes one more
time, this time putting the Money in the Bank briefcase on the line.
It would be nice to see these two get some more time for their
matches, as their work on this story and the matches involved in it,
have been great and hopefully it hasn't gone unnoticed by WWE.
Bray Wyatt made
his Raw in-ring debut this week, facing off agaisnt R-Truth. Wyatt
made short work of Truth in an entertaining squash match. Truth did
get some offence in, using his speed against Wyatt, but was quickly
stopped by a thunderous cross body. Wyatt went on to pick up a
pinfall victory with Sister Abigail, with even extra theatrics than
usual. Whilst a win over R-Truth doesn't particularly mean anything
in today's WWE world, and this bout did very little for Wyatt, it at
least gave him a clean victory over his opponent which was needed
after Luke Harper and Erick Rowan got involved in his match with Kane
at SummerSlam. Wyatt is going to need a few more of these to allow
him to look a threat as a singles competitor in his own right.
There was also
women's action in the form of a tag team match with The Funkadactyls
taking on Diva's Champion AJ Lee and Layla. After The Bella Twins had
bizarrely called The Funkadactyls unentertaining on Total Divas
(shouldn't they be promoting the whole show, rather than calling half
of it boring?) the Bellas told the Funkadactyls they had to win as
they were representing the show. Despite what apparently believe, AJ
Lee continues to be the star of the Women's division in WWE, with
some superb heel antics in winding up the Funkadactyls, coupled with
some excellent selling really bringing a pretty drab match to life.
Unfortunately, for this one a botched ending with Cameron getting a
roll up on Layla, whose shoulders were clearly up before three,
through away the good work done by AJ earlier in the bout. Layla's
ridiculous antics afterwards also didn't help, the reaction was just
too over the top to feel anything about.
The Miz was also
in action, fresh off of hosting SummerSlam, against Preston's Wade
Barrett. It would seem that Barrett's work with the McMahon's has
gone unnoticed, as Barrett was made to look fairly weak in this one.
After getting some early offence in, Barrett quickly saw The Miz's
attack head to his legs setting up for the Figure Four Leg Lock, it
would've been good psychology if the bout had been another five
minutes longer. However, with The Miz locking in the Figure Four Leg
Lock and with Barrett on the brink of tapping, Fandango made the save
hitting a top rope leg drop before dancing away. I don't think The
Miz is the best person to put Fandango into a rivalry with, mainly
because The Miz's poor face character won't help to develop Fandango
as a heel. It feels weird that WWE had been building to a three way
between Fandango, Miz and Barrett heading into Payback, but now
Barrett seemed simply seemed to be an afterthought.
Bully Ryback was
also causing havoc backstage once again, in one of the most
uncomfortable viewing experiences of the PG era. Ryback forced a
rookie into a shower area, making him open his gym bag before beating
him to a pulp in the corner. I'm not sure why WWE decided for the
shower scene, which would have fitted in a gritty prison drama, but
just felt awkward and out of place here. Which surprisingly nothing
to do with Ryback who has really got to grips with his character as
of late, I'm just not sure what WWE is planning to do with as we head
towards Night of Champions.
There was also a
rematch of a tag team bout from Main Event, with The Usos facing off
against 3MB, (with Drew McIntyre replaced by Jinder Mahal) It was
another entertaining tag team battle, if not a little short. It was
kept pacy for the majority of the match, showcasing The Usos as a
team well, whilst 3MB used their number advantage to try to keep the
upperhand. The ending saw a scramble between Uso and Slater and
McIntyre on the outside of the ring, with Uso getting the upperhand
sending Slater into McIntyre, before hitting a Superkick on Mahal.
Then came something special, with the Usos really hitting their
stride as a team, one Uso charged over the top rope on Slater and
McIntyre and in the process the other managed to tag himself in and
hit a Superfly Splash to get his team the victory. The Usos continue
to show that they are one of the best tag teams at the moment,
constantly putting on good match, and it can only be a matter of time
before they pick up another title shot.
As the WWE's tag
team division continues to improve The Prime Time Players were in
action against The Real Americans. After a more of the same promo
from Zeb Colter, the bout got underway, with The Prime Time Players
apparently now a face tag team. This can only be due to Darren Young
coming out as gay, which seems a bit of a poor move by WWE. Young's
personal life choice shouldn't play a part in his on screen persona,
if the team had been gradually changed face their would be no problem
here, but to change them with no on screen explanation seems a bit
forced from WWE. The action was actually a good tag team outing, with
Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro working over Titus O'Neil, building
up to a hot tag to Young, who was doing a good job working the corner
and building up the crowd anticipation. Once Darren was in the ring
he looked a million dollars (pardon the pun) with a great exchange
with Cesaro, and with O'Neil and Swagger taken out of the equation,
Young got a win for the Prime Time Players after Gut Check. After the
week Darren Young has had I won't take this moment away from him,
because he does deserve it.
Elsewhere in the
show, Zack Ryder and Justin Gabriel took part in a commercial for a
popular sports shop (I'm not going to mention them unless they're
paying me as well) with a bloke offering Ryder and Gabriel tickets to
a pay-per-view, which was pretty amusing. Fandango then turned up
with Summer Rae and had an exchange about sneakers (he definitely
meant trainers). It was a completely mind boggling segment, and
didn't really make me want to buy shoes. It just got me thinking
about how many Raw appearances Zack Ryder and Justin Gabriel are
going to have this year.
Whilst WWE was
putting on two solid tag team contests, as they seem to be building a
number of tag teams at the moment, it would seem another will be on
the scene soon. A vignette aired for a team named Los Matadores,
which is infact a repackaged Epico and Primo. I guess Rosa Mendes
isn't ready to come back after her expulsion from the European tour
in April. The gimmick is basically a combination of Tito Santana and
Los Conquistadores, who knows if it will take off. Epico and Primo
are talented enough in the ring, to possibly be able to pull it off
if it is done correctly, but personally I can't really see where the
team will fit into the division.
Finally....
What did I learn from this week's Raw?
1. The McMahon's and Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan could have another legs to ignite Raw for months to come.
2. CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman is far from over, but I have no clue where they are going to go with it.
3. John Cena's possible six months on the sideline, could do wonders for WWE and Cena himself, allowing each a chance to freshen up their act.
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