TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1219 - New Day v Jeri-KO

WWE rolled into Los Angeles for the third time of the year, RAW was headlined by a tag team encounter as Universal Champion Kevin Owens teamed up with Chris Jericho as Jeri-KO to face current Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods). With Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, Rich Swann, Tony Nese and Brian Kendrick featuring in major spots on the card, how would this trip to the Staples Center live up to Los Angeles classics like WrestleMania 21 and SummerSlam 2013?

The lesser spotted duo of Big E & Xavier Woods managed to overcome Universal Champion Kevin Owens and "Y2J" Chris Jericho in the defacto main event, despite not having tagged on TV since May! This was a well-crafted tag clash, paced just right that it remained entertaining either side of the break, as both teams slotted together nicely. Jeri-KO worked well when in control, with Owens hamming it up on the number of occassions, like mocking Woods as he reached for the hot tag. It's a shame that Owens can't seem to get the heat that his performances deserve, as the vocal portion of the fan-base almost always cheers his actions, because they are so bloody entertaining. The build to Woods' hot tag to Kingston was great stuff, as Owens' #1 Contender Seth Rollins' music hit, distracting the Universal Champion and flowing wonderfully into a barage of belly to belly suplexes from E. Rollins would also get involved in the finish, jumping on the apron as Jericho had Woods locked in a Liontamer, meaning that after a bit of back and forth, New Day got the win with the Midnight Hour on Y2J. The result and events seem to leave a couple of options open over the two weeks building towards Rollins and Owens at Hell in a Cell, whilst also elevating E, Kingston and Woods even further.

The New Day v Jeri-KO bout was put together earlier in the show, as E, Kingston and Woods interrupted Jeri-KO after the villains had mentioned the possibilities of going for the tag team titles. This produced one of the best talking segments on WWE television in recent memory as all were on stellar form, creating issues out of thin air and being incredibly entertaining whilst doing so. The beginning with Jeri-KO explored a number of storyline possibilities, as Owens suggested Y2J be the referee for a title bout with Seth Rollins, before Jericho would shift the conversation towards the tag belt, with the cracks beginning to show when Y2J proposed that he could perhaps put his Universal title he could always go after Owens' title instead. Once New Day came out on the stage, the five guys seemed to bounce off each other, as both teams digging into the verbal bag of tricks. Jericho ran riot with his list gimmick, Owens' deadpan delivery was perfect for questioning the sancity of Booty-O's cereal, whilst New Day were their usual happy-go-lucky selves as well as bringing a new "Team Huddle" idea to their gimmick. The segment concluded robustly as Owens said that New Day had "jumped the shark" and had a wonderful back and forth with Woods, where both men showed a promising amount of chemistry, before the tag match would be confirmed.

The show closed with Sasha Banks winning the Women's Championship for the second time after submitting Charlotte with the Banks Statement, following a superb contest. Easily the best match on the show, this featured some great storytelling, some very good wrestling and a wonderful finish. Banks' selling of the back, following being tripped on the top rope, was consistently strong, adding genius touches like stretching her fingers to suggest nerve damage, whilst The Genetically Superior Athlete focused in on the injury with a number of interesting holds, including a modified Camel Clutch in the ring ropes. The narrative brought us the best moment of the match, as after Charlotte dug deep and connected with a corkscrew moonsault to the floor, Banks would roll into the ring and whilst the Boss grasped her back Charlotte hit Natural Selection with spot on timing. The pacing of the finish that saw Charlotte shouting at Banks to stay down before The Boss would recover quickly getting a headscissor into a Banks Statement before holding onto the move long enough to win the prize. With an extra five minutes (minimum, I think it could have actually been given another ten or fifteen minutes and not been hurt) and the removal of a couple of slip ups, I wouldn't have thought twice about given this bout the full beans! 

At the other end of the show, United States Champion Roman Reigns, "The Ravishing Russian" Lana and "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev opened the evening in a storyline advancing segment that lead to a Hell in a Cell bout being booked between Reigns and Rusev on 30th October in Boston, Massachusetts. Having Lana interrupt Reigns alone, produced a different dynamic, whilst also meaning that Reigns wasn't left exposed on the mic on his own for too long. Lana played her part much better than I was expecting, appearing genuinely emotional at the lack of respect that she perceived that her husband had been shown, adding extra dimension to the feud, that very well could be the missing piece of the puzzle. The pair's brawl around ringside and through the crowd was fun stuff, but whilst the conclusion that saw Reigns blindside Rusev on the ramp with a Superman Punch got a decent pop, I found it hard to buy that Reigns was capable of taking a multiple kicks and being thrown into the steps and barricade, before legging it up to the stage within minutes, but Rusev was left lying for an age after a Superman Punch. A spear onto the hard floor I perhaps could have bought, but an otherwise strong opening segment was harmed by having The Big Dog look so much stronger than the Bulgarian Brute once again.

The opening match saw Brian Kendrick pick up a victory over Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins in an improved version of their bout from 25th September. The story told in this one was simple but effective as Kendrick developed his veteran, win at any cost gimmick and Perkins face shine was much pacier and exciting than the previous encounter. The moment where Kendrick took control of the match was a particular highlight, as he trapped Perkins fingers in the turnbuckle, before dropping neckbreaker across the metal part of the buckle. I'd have liked to have seen The Fil-Am Flash's neck play more of a role following this as it could have played into Kendrick's finish The Captain's Hook (Grounded Reverse Chinlock), however I think that perhaps keeping things simple and flashy in these early Cruiserweight bouts is definitely the route to go down as the characters and performers introduced (or reintroduce) themselves to the audience. The Wizard of Odd getting the win through various underhanded means (Eye rake, ref push etc.) advanced their issues between each other, giving Kendrick a claim to a future title rematch, whilst also beginning to cultivate some empathy between Perkins and the wider WWE audience.

Rounding out the top of the card was another Cruiserweight division clash with WWN's Tony Nese picking up his first win since the Cruiserweight Classic 1st Round, as he perhaps surprisingly he defeated WWE contracted Rich Swann. Even more surprising was just how much the presentation was all about The Premier Athlete. From in-vision promo during his entrance to the sheer volume of offence he got in on Swann, it was clear that WWE is taking their Cruiserweight division in a different direction, trying to keep things as unpredictable as possible. The conflict was decent enough, mixing some pacey Lucha style action with hard strikes, including great sequence from Nese after he'd dodged a moonsault. It was a shame about the last quarter of the bout, which included Swann doing a double stomp to the back of Nese's neck, which ended up looking like a double footed version of Seth Rollins' banned Curb Stomp. There also seemed to be a botch in the finish as Nese was unable to catch Swann correctly coming out of a handspring attempt and weirdly moved to an awkward Pumphandle Michinoku Driver II for the pin. 

Best of the Rest 

• Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson picked up a win over The Golden Truth (Goldust & R-Truth) in a short and simple tag clash, with Gallows & Anderson continuing the beatdown post match.
• Enzo & Cass presented replica Women's Championship belts to three women who have survived cancer in a heart warming moment that the crowd loved.
• Michael Cole interviewed Seth Rollins with the Architect dazzling as he challenged Kevin Ownes to a title rematch and adding plenty of depth to the storyline and his slowly turning babyface character.
• Sami Zayn and Titus O'Neil had a dud of a bout, but at least Zayn went over with a Helluva Kick, in a weird moment after O'Neil had debuted a new "Brand" gimmick. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.54/10

A lot of this week's Monday Night RAW was pretty good this week, but then a lot of the show was also filling for time. This meant that while the main segments were all interesting, engaging and humorous (with the exception of the throwaway Nese v Swann bout), there was a bit too much stuff like Golden Truth v Gallows & Anderson and Zayn v O'Neil and that's without mentioning the squash matches for Braun Strowman and the Cesaro & Sheamus tag team. With a good deal of time given to the Cruiserweight division, it appears that WWE still seems to be finding it's feet with how it wants to present the Cruiserweight division and that's coming across in how the wider audience is yet to take to the concept or any of it's performers in any great numbers. With a few tweaks in this area and perhaps a more balanced conclusion to the Reigns, Lana and Rusev segment, then this would have been a good wrestling show. However, with just two episodes until Hell in a Cell, there are certainly worse things that WWE could be putting on in their three hour slot on USA Network than this slightly above average event!

Match of the Night - Charlotte v Sasha Banks 

Non-Wrestling Segment of the Night - The New Day interrupts Jeri-Ko

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar 

All images remain the property of their respective owners.

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1218 - Jeri-KO v Enzo & Cass 2

The 1219th episode of Monday Night RAW came just one night after RAW's first post-draft PPV, Clash of Champions, where Kevin Owens had retained the Universal Championship over Seth Rollins, thanks to a little bit of help from Chris Jericho. After Owens appeared on an episode of Jericho's Highlight Reel, the pair would find themselves in the main event against Enzo & Cass, whilst Roman Reigns put his newly won United States Championship against "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev, whilst Sasha Banks, Tag Team Champions The New Day, Tony Nese, Women's Champion Charlotte and Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins all found themselves in major spots on the show. Heading out of a good PPV, this was going to be brilliant TV, right?

Chris Jericho is on fire, right now. He's been one of the best things about watching WWE television for the last couple of month's and he didn't let me down here either, as he knocked out the park on The Highlight Reel. Even before Jericho welcomed guest Universal Champion Kevin Owens to the ring, Y2J was commanding the screen and the ring, toeing the line between entertaining and annoying perfectly, even when having to build for a feud with Ashton Kutcher and some other lad for next week. The relationship that he and Owens have cultivated plays wonderfully into Owens title reign, as Jericho's heat will transfer nicely to Owens, who has arguably struggled to get heat recently, thanks to the haphazard booking of his title win and feud with Seth Rollins. The Prizefighter's promo about Rollins' injury at Clash of Champions being karma for the injuries that The Architect has caused was great connocotion of fiction and reality, with Owens mocking tone and pacing as he called himself "The Most Dangerous Man in Wrestling" was much closer to where he needs to be promo wise at the moment, whist Jericho parroting his sentences will help even more. Rollins brief appearance, before being pushed to the back by security and General Manager Mick Foley was a nice way to keep the feud going, whilst Rollins was unable to get physically involved. Things would slide nicely into an unnannounced main event, after some hilarious banter between Jeri-KO and old rivals Enzo & Cass. 

The main event was a more than passable TV effort, with the two teams benefitting from having previously feuded but not had a whole load of matches with each other on TV. This meant that things felt recognisable and meaningful, whilst also having a fresh and exciting feel to them. The structure of the match was a fairly simple tag bout, but it was fleshed out with a lot of nice touches that made the ten or fifteen minutes went by quickly. Enzo & Cass' routine is pretty much nailed on now, but with a couple of variations, their face shine is fun, Amore as a face in peril always offers something different, Cass' hot tag is polished and hits the spot and they have a number of signatures to dip into when required. Their act is made even more satisfying when you have two solid heels to work them over and that's what Jeri-KO provided here, pulling out a number of your classic heel tag tactics, cutting off the ring and dominating Amore for a long section. Thinking about it this match had a lot of similarities to the kinds of matches Enzo & Cass were having with The Revival in NXT, especially in the first two thirds. I'd have liked to have seen the pace upped a little in the closing stages and it was frustrating to hear the Cinnicinati crowd not react as well as they could have, but as a main event being used to span some space until Rollins is cleared and to essentially build up Jericho & Owens as a unit, this was a good watch. 

After Roman Reigns and Rusev hadn't particularly wowed audiences with their United States Championship bout on Clash of Champions, it was a brave choice to have the duo open the show with a match that went over 25 minutes. In my opinion, at least in terms of what was presented on screen, that decision paid off as Reigns and Rusev put on a stronger contest than the previous evening and righted a few wrongs as well. Arguably, this bout had the most involved crowd as Cincy reacted to pretty much every movement and were also one of the more pro-Reigns crowds I've heard in a while. Part of the match's success was the storytelling, which was head and shoulders above Sunday's match, as Rusev used his wrestling ability to keep control of Reigns, whilst latter focusing in on The Big Dog's back after sending his opponent into the post. This was handled well by both, as Reigns sold his injury well and it would play heavily into the story as Reigns would unable to hit a number of his offensive moves throughout the contest. At points, I felt like Reigns was over-selling just a bit, perhaps to stretch the match out a little, but it didn't have a major impact on my enjoyment. 

Before I talk about the Dusty Finish, I'd like to mention the terrific sequence the pair had moments before that, when they'd both miss a series of signature strikes, before The Bulgarian Brute would nail Reigns with a superkick as the US Champion came charging in for a spear in a seamless transtion. I was fairly happy with the crowd brawl leading to the double countout finish because it worked well with the storyline of Rusev trying to hold in his rage agaisnt Reigns in order to win the belt, however the stuff that went on after the match took a little bit of the sting out of it. Reigns didn't really need to hit the spear, he really didn't need to that moment after winning the belt the previous night, however a prolonged beatdown from Rusev with a chair would have felt like the natural progression of the match's story and would have also upped the ante for a second rematch for the Bulgarian Brute. However, this was still a great opening match, that started the show off hot and had plenty of action, creating a much more satisfying start to a wrestling show than most of the fifteen minutes promos are. 

Another rematch from Clash of Champions would see Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson get another chance at The New Day's Tag Team Championships as they came up against Big E and Kofi Kingston, in another case of the TV bout being a better effort than it's PPV counterpart. The match started hot with Anderson and Gallows nailing Kingston and Big E with some hard shots on the floor, including a brutal looking clothesline from Gallows to Kingston. After The Dreadlocked Dynamo had slotted into the face in peril role and Big E had come flying out with his belly to belly hot tag sequence, both teams had convincing false finishes hitting The Midnight Hour and The Magic Killer respectively, with some nice build around this to add to the believabilitiy. I think the eventual finish struggled to keep up with the strength of the previous near falls, as Kingston would win the match with a Trouble in Paradise, this was also partly to do with their being a bit of awkwardness as Kingston appeared to be pissing blood from his head for some reason and not quite all there. Still this was a good TV tag and a big improvement on their other matches. 

The Women's Division on RAW continued to offer entertaining talking segments, as the feud between Women's Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks depended with an in-ring confrontation that set up a title match between the pair for #1220, next week. The drive of Charlotte's initial promo as she reminded fans of her success and claimed she'd put away all challengers meant that Banks' entrance coming right on the peak of the promo was very satisfying. Charlotte calling her rival "Sasha Wanks" was a bizarre moment, that went completely over the Cinnicinatti crowd's collective head, maybe she thought she was in London. Charlotte was however mostly on great form on the mic and in her performance in general as she teased the crowd that she'd give Banks a rematch on the show, pulling her jacket off as Banks did the same on the other side, only to tell Banks she'd have to wait til next week. Dana Brooke was fairly surplus to requirements here though, only really doing anything when she had to take a Banks Statement from Banks, which considering Charlotte got chucked out the ring herself, could easily have been covered by the Women's Champion. Overall, however, this was added a little extra spice to their match next week, whilst also watering the seed that Mick Foley had planted a few week's earlier, making satisfying viewing for regular watchers.

The Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins got his in-ring debut on #1219, besting NYWC's Tony Nese in a brief, pacy encounter. For me, this was the match that should have happened on the Supercard, as Nese has much more of a recognisable "Cruiserweight style" than the way that Brian Kendrick wrestles and he showed that here in a blistering opening section that included a mental dive to the outside. The crowd however were having none of it, which honestly really pissed me off as a home viewer. They chanted "CM Punk" and "Randy Savage" over it and it seemed to effect both guys work as they clearly weren't expecting to be shit on, because they were working their fucking arses off. It seemed to be a case of the audience being horrendously smarky, but hilariously ignorant at the same time. If you don't know who these guys are, give them a chance, stay quiet and let those who want to watch enjoy it, you'll be presently surprised if you do. 

Best of the Rest 

• In more Cruiserweight action, Rich Swann & Cedric Alexander teamed to defeat Drew Gulak & Lince Dorado, which saw all four guys produce impressive spots and work well together for a short, but exciting tag. 
• Mick Foley would declare Cesaro and Sheamus's Best of Seven Series a draw, whilst offering them a Tag Team Championship match together in the future, with all three bring a lot of passion to the segment. 
• Cesaro and Sheamus would later go over Nick Cutler and Willis Williams in a match that clearly got them over as an odd couple tag team. 
• Mick Foley continued his strong show-wide performance opposite Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, with the duo adding more depth to their relationship, as well as the main event of Clash of Champions. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.84/10

This was a fine episode of RAW, that in many ways improved on the PPV from the night before, with both the Roman Reigns and Rusev bout and New Day v Enzo & Cass being a least a step up from what they did on Sunday evening. The tag team main event may have been essentially a way to fill some space, whilst Rollins fully recovers, but it made good use of everyone involved and will only stand to benefit the main event feud, especially with Rollins being forced to the back. The main negative would be that the Cruiserweight division is still struggling to connect with the larger audience, despite producing plenty of exciting action this week, it appears like WWE expected their wider audience to be more familar with these talents and hasn't put the time and effort into getting them over as they should have.

There was plenty of storyline development, producing things that I'm looking forward to seeing where they lead in the future. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the direction that the show takes on next week and which feuds are taken forward for the Hell in a Cell supercard on 30th October.

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1216 - Roman Reigns v Kevin Owens 2

Aired - 12th September 2016

In the penultimate episode before Clash of Champions, Monday Night RAW featured a marquee bout between Roman Reigns and Universal Champion Kevin Owens, in which Reigns could earn a title match at the supercard, as well as Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods of Tag Team Champions The New Day having a SummerSlam rematch with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as the two teams looked to put last week's "Old Day" segment behind them. Would RAW continue to build momentum with just two weeks until their first PPV in ten years?

The main event was a lengthy second encounter between Universal Champion Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns, as they had a rematch from an October 2015 episode of Thursday Night Smackdown, but this time with a little more on the line. Reigns had an opportunity to slot into the Universal title bout at Clash of Champions alongside Seth Rollins, if he could get a win over the champ. With so much on the line and a handful of different storylines involved, it was inevitable that the match would have a few shenanigans, as the company continued to build a card for a show that is now only 13 days away. The first twist in the tale would see Seth Rollins charge down the entrance ramp to attack an Owens who had only moments earlier thrown Reigns into the steel steps. The run in got a nice pop and Rollins got a good beatdown in on The Prizefighter. It would have been a disappointing conclusion to the battle, so luckily General Manager Mick Foley was out to restart the bout. That wasn't before Foley had verbally assaulted Rollins for the attack and after the pair had been involved in a handful of backstage segments earlier on, it will be intriguing to see exactly where they'll go with that. 

Outside of the storyline development, Owens and Reigns had a damn good match, combining their bruising styles to create a diverse and stimulating encounter. Watching K.O. control a match is usually good fun and this was no different, as he was constantly chatting away either to himself, Reigns or the audience, whilst his application of simple moves like chinlocks are kept entertaining by his verbals and superior utilsation of said moves. It felt like there was a purpose behind every motion, whether that was inflict damage on Reigns or just annoy the crowd a little bit and that makes all the difference when you're going over twenty minutes on live TV. There were a few similarities to the match that AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose had the night before, mostly in how the bouts were structured, as Owens dominated the contest and got a high number of near falls, but seemed unable to put his opponent away on his own. 

The finish would see the return of United States Champion "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev to our screens after a few weeks off, as he appeared at ringside to cause a distraction that would result in Owens getting the win with a Pop-Up Powerbomb. A cute bit of booking as Rusev had been away just long enough that it felt like a bit of a surprise and got a decent pop, whilst not having the US Champ get physically involved meant that Owens got at least some of the rub that a victory over Reigns presents. Owens will also have a chance to brag about the victory on next week's go home episode. The show would conclude with Rusev decimating Reigns with the Accolade and having to prized away by a couple of referees. Of course, there's plenty of unfinished business between Reigns and Rusev, after their scheduled SummerSlam contest never began and whilst their feud hasn't quite reached the levels it could have, it probably still deserves a PPV match. With an extra bit of build next week, Reigns and Rusev should be able to have a strong semi-main or upper midcard battle on 25th September.

Tag Team Champions The New Day managed to bury last week's terrible Old Day segment, with some humorous banter, leading into a SummerSlam rematch with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston facing Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Woods, Kingston and Big E didn't mess around as they ripped into the horrible piece of television from last week, talking about what the audience could have done instead during it's time on screen. Comparing Gallows and Anderson's skit to having put the audiences time "into a dumpster fire" was pretty accurate. It was really the only way that RAW could have got past the shambles of last week, because continuing in the same direction clearly wasn't going to do anyone any favours. Gallows and Anderson brought a much more serious edge to their reply and it suited their demeanours a hell of a lot better. Let's hope that we never see anything from the pair even resembling what we saw last week ever again. 

Slotting into the semi-main event, the match was a much better version of the contest that they had at SummerSlam, as it didn't include Jon Stewart and featured a much more satisfying conclusion. Kingston and Woods obviously bring a different dynamic to what we see regularly from Big E and Kingston and this was played upon well, with an early face shine from the highflyers, before Anderson and Gallows would dominate Kingston. It was some of the strongest in-ring work that Gallows and Anderson have done since jumping ship from New Japan Pro Wrestling, as they worked a style that suits them, cutting off the ring and just beating the shit into Kingston for a bit. They're two tough mean dudes and it was nice to see them presented like that! Woods hot tag sequence was another highlight as he continued to show why he's one of the more underrated in-ring talents that the company has right now, with a flurry of action that included near falls off the Honor Roll and a tightrope elbow drop. Anderson and Gallows picked up the win with The Magic Killer, to set them up for their Clash of Champions title bout, putting to rest the disappointing SummerSlam match and the hammy skits that we've seen over the last few months.

The evening began with an exciting in-ring segment that would see General Manager Mick Foley eventually book Bayley, Sasha Banks and Dana Brooke in a Triple Threat match, where the winner would get a shot at Charlotte's Women's Championship on 25th September. There was a lot going on here, with a number of moving parts and different character relationships, that managed to give the division some real depth, whilst Foley was able to keep a nice thread through the middle of things in his GM role. Whilst Banks and Bayley were putting their cases forward for getting a title shot, Charlotte was given the best material here as she got to look like a real dick with some brutal words for protege Brooke, whilst also getting the opportunity to not just insult Bayley and Banks but also try to drive a wedge between the pair. Whilst The Nature Girl's delivery wasn't always as good as it could have been and she stumbled on some odd dialogue about "WWE Camp", when given the chance she hit the right notes and hit them well. Without Charlotte upping the energy, the eventual booking of the triple threat and Brooke returning a slap to her (potentially former) mentor, wouldn't have had half the impact they did and would have got nowhere as strong a reaction from the crowd. 

The fifth match of Cesaro and "The Celtic Warrior" Sheamus' Best of Seven Series may have been the best match of the series so far, thanks to the depth of story that the pair had to dip into. With the benefit of four previous matches, that have been heavily based on psychology anyway, the European grapplers added in call-backs to the finishes of most of those matches, building some quality near falls that had the crowd more involved than we've seen before. With the story continuing to revolve around Cesaro's injured back (that occurred in Match 2 during SummerSlam), we got to see a real selling master class from the Swiss Superman as he grabbed hold of the injury at every opportunity, including when hitting a diving crossbody! The bout would conclude with a series of near falls for Sheamus, after Cesaro had been unable to perform the giant swing correctly, only for King of Swing to take the series to 3-2 as he pinned Sheamus with his feet on the ropes. It was a divergent ending, that showed just how desperate Cesaro was to keep himself in the running. Judging on what we've seen from the pair so far, I'd expect this finish to play a big part in the final two matches.  

Sasha Banks earned herself a shot at Charlotte's Women's Championship at Clash of Champions, as she defeated Bayley and Dana Brooke in the first match on the show. With Bayley and Banks being booked to stay apart from each other, this meant that Brooke had a real chance to elevate herself with a strong performance. She handled herself well throughout, involved mostly with Bayley, but also showing some nice aggression during the ad break as she tripped Banks on the apron and threw her into the barricade. The final stretch that involved all three women was well done, with a series of strong spots, like Banks going for the double knees on both opponents and well-worked near falls including Bayley kicking Banks in the head moments before Brooke was about to tap to the Bridging Crossface and The Boss' last second save after Brooke had been nailed with a Bayley to Belly suplex. The conclusion appeared to be setting up a Triple Threat match for 25th September, as it looked like the former NXT Women's Champions had each other's shoulder pinned to the mat, although it was strangely ignored by the commentary.

"Y2J" Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn somehow managed to build a fierce feud, in around ten minutes as The Underdog From The Underground guested on an edition of The Highlight Reel. Jericho's character development has been a real joy to watch over the last six months or so and he continued to do great work here, easily manipulating the crowd into chanting "Ole" for Zayn and also seeming to get heat for just being around a microphone. Whilst the argument between the two had a lot to do with Universal Champion Kevin Owens (which can only uplift Owens and his title run), as the pair went back and forth about their opinions of the Prizefighter, it was when Zayn began to discuss how Y2J had inspired him when coming into the business that the fledgling rivalry began to take on a life of it's own. Zayn calling Jericho nothing more than "Kevin Owens' bitch" edged the segment nearer to it's crescendo, as The Man of 1004 Holds suckered Zayn in with the pretense of showing him a text from Owens, only to twat him in the face with his mobile phone and pull out a cheeky Codebreaker. We've seen Jericho and Zayn tangle on TV in April and July this year, but a rematch at Clash of Champions with more bite behind it should be their best effort yet. 

The Shining Stars seemed to have finally found their niche in a feud with Big Cass and Enzo Amore and whilst Amore's schtick continues to become even more poop based, the short bout between he and Epico was a decent watch. I've become a real mark for Epico's Trileda sequence, just because it's a damn cool twist on the three amigos, that probably doesn't belong in a mid-card tag feud in WWE! It was only a brief match, but the two lads in the ring and the two lads on the outside packed a lot into it, with both Amore and Epico hitting dives to the outside and Cass nailing a big boot on Primo in a fun section. The finish continued what's been an lightly entertaining feud so far, as Primo would aid Epico in victory by pulling Amore's legs from underneath him on a suplex attempt and holding them down from the outside to give his cousin his first television singles win since beating Evan Bourne on a December 2011 episode of Superstars. (Obviously not including his run as the surprisingly more successful Fernando).

Jinder Mahal debuted a new gimmick as he is now apparently "The Man Who Comes in Peace". To be honest, I'm not quite sure what that actually means, as his promo didn't really explain it all that well. He said "Namaste" and talked about his time off from WWE as the crowd lulled into a light sleep. Things weren't helped by Jack Swagger coming out as Mahal's opponent. I've got nothing against either guy in particular, it's just that neither excites me, especially at this point in their careers. I wanted to stay focused on the action, but there really wasn't that much to stay focused on. It was Jinder Mahal v Jack Swagger. Some moves happened. The crowd chanted USA. Some more moves happened. The crowd stopped chanting and went for a piss and probably missed Mahal picking up his first victory since beating Heath Slater for his RAW contract.

Nia Jax would get her biggest showcase since moving to RAW, as she decimated former Divas Champion Alicia Fox. The annihilation didn't result in a victory though, as this was all about showcasing the power of Jax, as destroyed Fox on the outside of the ring, in a revenge attack for a backstage outburst last week, throwing her opponent in the ring post and the barricade. The match evolved into more of an angle as Jax drove Fox through the barricade and into the timekeepers area, in one of the most impressive moments that the Women's division has produced in a long time. This is a spot that's usually reserved for big PPV matches and almost exclusively used by the male competitors, so it was a truly shocking moment to see Jax pull it out here. It made the Hawaii born performer look like a beast and built on the foundation that has been created with the various squash bouts that she's had since debuting. 

Best of the Rest 

• Moments prior to the main event, Kevin Owens gave Seth Rollins a verbal dressing down, whilst bragging about his new buddy Triple H, leading to Mick Foley warning Rollins to not get involved in Owens bout with Roman Reigns.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.08/10

This was the strongest Monday Night RAW episode since the post Battleground show, that saw Finn Balor earn a shot at the Universal title. The main event was a more than solid encounter, that easily could have headlined a PPV, had there not been all the shenanigans that you'd expect from a television main event! There were a couple of good matches elsewhere on the show as well with The Club v The New Day, the Women's Championship #1 Contenders Triple Threat and Cesaro v Sheamus all having their merits. Perhaps one of the biggest positives was that the Titus O'Neil and Darren Young feud was kept off the show!

Outside of the matches, Sami Zayn's appearance on The Highlight Reel was probably the best thing on the show, with Chris Jericho continuing his rich vein of form. The opening segment with Mick Foley, Charlotte, Dana Brooke, Sasha Banks and Bayley was also a decent watch.

Whilst there remains a couple of nagging issues, the only major segment that I actively disliked this week was the Jinder Mahal and Jack Swagger match, mainly because I don't think Mahal's gimmick is very well defined or different enough from what he was doing previously to warrant the switch, and also because it was a Jinder Mahal vs Jack Swagger match! 

With one episode left before Clash of Champions, and just four matches currently announced for the show, I'd expect next week's episode to struggle to match the quality on display here as we may see a bit of a scramble to get the rest of the line up in place.

All Content - James Marston

Banner Credit - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1215 - Sami Zayn v Kevin Owens 6

Aired - 5th September 2016

After #1214 had seen Kevin Owens win the vacant Universal Championship, #1215 would feature the newly minted champion going up against his fiercest rival, Sami Zayn, in the main event. After producing a number of WWE classics over the last two years, could Owens and Zayn create another masterpiece and kick start the era of The Kevin Owens Show?

I don't think that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn could ever have a bad match, actually I don't think that they are capable of doing anything less than very good bout together. Using a number of motifs from their previous outings, Zayn fought well from underneath, getting a number of near falls, whilst Owens came across as a dick as he repeatedly went to hit Zayn with an apron powerbomb. The match was full of the smooth reversals that you'd expect from two familiar opponents, whilst still having the impact of two guys who hate each other's guts. The finish called back to Zayn's match with Seth Rollins two weeks earlier, as The Underdog from the Underground would hurt his ankle as he went for the wristlock springboard tornado DDT, and after had been able to hit a nasty looking half and half suplex on the floor he was unable to get across the ring quick enough to hit the Helluva Kick, allowing Owens to nail a superkick and powerbomb to get the win and take their WWE series to 3-2. A brilliant piece of booking to have Owens first match as champion against Zayn, as it guaranteed a very good main event, whilst also allowing Owens to pick up a win over the man that most recently defeated him. At the close of the show, Owens would end up having a stare down with Roman Reigns, with General Manager Mick Foley booking a match between the two for #1216 with the possibility of The Juggernaut joining the title bout at Clash of Champions with a victory. It's definitely worth noting that the final image as RAW went off the air was Reigns standing on the turnbuckle, as seen above.

After the shocking events of last week, Seth Rollins would get an opportunity to take out his frustrations on Kevin Owen's Jeri-KO tag team partner, Chris Jericho. This lead to the second TV bout between the two being the match of the night, driven by the fire of The Architect as he batter Jericho around the ringside area on numerous occasions, whilst the level-headed Y2J was able to take control between the ropes, using anything opportunity that Rollins left open for him, including using the referee to hit a triangle dropkick! As Rollins continues his babyface turn, Jericho was a clever opponent to place him with, as he's been doing some of the best heel work of his career recently and his style clashes with Rollins' in all the right ways. After Rollins had hit a slingblade and a blockbuster, the pair put on some slick sequences, with near falls dotted throughout, that made for an exciting final third. Jericho catching Rollins springboard flying knee and turning it into the Walls of Jericho was a particular highlight, as was a sequence that saw The Architect block a superplex, then miss a Frog Splash before Y2J hit a Lionsault. If the lead up had been enthralling the finish picked things up a notch, as Jericho kept up with the man 15 years his younger in a swift back and forth sequence that saw Rollins get the emphatic win with a Pedigree.  

Bayley continued to shine on the big stage as she defeated Women's Champion Charlotte in a smashing opening match. The pair produced a simple narrative, that they performed well and kept the crowd hooked throughout a number of near falls. Bayley had appeared to injure her right knee when trying to hit her running baseball dropkick, under the bottom turnbuckle, and like a shark who smells blood, the Nature Girl went straight for the leg on the outside. The leg injury would used to create a number of hope spots, as Bayley would appear to be about to make a comeback, either for the leg to give out or Charlotte to manage to hit the target with another vicious move. One of my favourite moments was Bayley managing to block a Figure 8 attempt, only for the champ to lock in a single leg Boston crab. Each of these little moments meant that when Bayley went for a school-boy pin out of nowhere, the crowd popped big, but they'd pop even bigger when Bayley kicked out of a roll up and sent Charlotte in Dana Brooke at ringside and even bigger when Bayley hit a Bayley to Belly to get the win! It was star performance from Bayley, her selling was perfect throughout every moment, getting across the pain and making that victory seem even more impressive. A Women's title match at Clash of Champions is surely coming her way!


The arena show began with a red-hot in-ring celebration for the new Universal Champion Kevin Owens, presented by Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley, interrupted by Seth Rollins. The interactions between the four was enthralling television, that jolted around like a dodgem car as it headed toward Foley booking a title match between The Prizefighter and The Architect for the 25th September supercard, Clash of Champions. Owens was supremely good as he looked every inch of the top guy his belt suggest that he is, turning on Kansas City's "You Deserve It" chants, claiming they were trying to steal the spotlight from him and also claiming that he had the match "98% won" and Triple H only helped to do what was right! He's great about being a dick. Rollins bought the passion of a babyface, but his verbiage suggests he hasn't quite turned yet, as he seemed to using some heely hypocritical phrases when complaining about Owens relationship with Triple H. The crowd went nuts when the two had a bit of a scrap and that probably should have been it as the bickering between McMahon and Foley over whether Rollins was suspended or not was a bit awkward and unnecessary. Still this was an exciting start to the show and kick-started a new feud that will only get better over the next three episode's before Clash of Champions!

I feel like the less said about The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) segment with Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) and their retired counterparts from the future The Old Day the better. Seriously, I just want to forget that it even happened. *takes deep breath* So, basically The Club continued their retirement gimmick, as they talked about attacking The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) two weeks earlier and then introduced The Old Day, who were apparently from the future where they live in The Club's Retirement Home. Whilst there were some cool touches on the entrance, like a slower version of the New Day's theme, the crowd gave Gallows & Anderson complete indifference throughout and all the jokes were lame. Just when you thought The New Day would save the day, they began talking about what would happen if they touched their "older selves". How am I supposed to react to that? Not every sci-fi trope works in wrestling. The segment would conclude with E, Kingston & Woods taking out the Old Day after The Club had scarpered. 

Also in the tag team division, The Shining Stars (Epico and Primo) picked up a surprise victory over Big Cass and Enzo Amore in a lively encounter. Things began with Cass & Amore interrupting Epico and Primo and doing a weird skit about being in labour, because it was Labour Day in the US, which wasn't funny at all. Cass just about made it work with a bizarre breathing routine thing that kept the crowd involved. The match was much better than I was expecting it to be, as Epico and Primo were finally given a bit of time to show off what they could, which included Epico hitting the Trileda [belly to back suplex, german suplex and a brainbuster in quick succession] as Amore worked the face in peril role. Cass' polished hot tag routine would run into the shock finish as after Primo had thwarted a Badaboom Shaka Laka attempt, Epico was able to roll-up Amore to pick up the victory. I enjoyed seeing a different tag team getting a spotlight to show what they could provide Monday Night's and after being held back by their gimmick it looks like The Shining Stars might finally be ready to cash in on their potential.

Cesaro and "The Celtic Warrior" Sheamus's Best of Seven Series had already reached Match Three and with Sheamus already 2-0 up, the drama was beginning to build between the pair. I'm a sucker for storytelling and especially continuity, so having the bout revolve around the back that Cesaro had injured in the previous match after being sent back first into the ring post, made me a very happy man. The Swiss Superman made the moment, as after an initial face-shine with plenty of uppercuts, he took a back bodydrop and had to roll out of the ring because of the pain. Clasping his back and grimacing as he tried to fight off his foe was marvelous stuff, whilst being unable to fully push Sheamus into the air with his regular uppercut, because of the back was even better. The narrative would conclude with The Celtic Warrior hitting a series of Irish Curse Backbreakers with more venom than they've had behind them in years, before a Brogue Kick would take him to 3-0 in the Series. The duo are scheduled to have Match 4 of the Series on 7th September in London at a house show and if there first three matches have been anything to go by, the duo will thrive in an environment with less restrictions and the heightened theatre.

Sasha Banks proved that she was worth more than her weight in gold, as she put on a mesmerising performance on the microphone, despite what the lame Kansas City audience would've had you believe. The segment had been pushed as being Banks' time to deliver some bad news and it followed all your usual tropes of a retirement speech, calling back to Daniel Bryan's emotional "farewell" in February. It felt real, an element that is so important but often lacking from modern day WWE and was easy to build an emotional connection towards, not just because of it sharing tropes with previous speech, but also the stories that Banks chose to tell and the reality behind them. Luckily for us, Banks wasn't out to retire however and after Dana Brooke had headed to the ring, interrupting Sasha as she mentioned she had received some bad news from her Doctor, in an attempt to send Banks away "on her terms", proving she spent way too much time with The Club last week, the former Team B.A.D. member quickly got the better of Charlotte's protege making her tap to the Banks Statement. The segment ended with Banks revealing that the bad news was for Charlotte, as she would taking back the Women's title when the pair met at Clash of Champions.

Over the last few weeks, the main thing that's been making me tear my hair out while watching RAW has been the Prime Time Players explode storyline. The storyline had about as much momentum as a clamped car when it began and somehow it's managed to go backwards. This week Darren Young would go over Jinder Mahal, after Titus O'Neil had tried to get involved. Young even managed to make the transition into his finish clunky as he fumbled around before hitting the Gutcheck double knee gutbuster. Things were made almost unbearable by O'Neil on commentary only having one thing to say about Young and his life coach, Bob Backlund, "When was Darren great in the first place?". It was boring a few weeks ago, it's pain inducing now and with no heel heat it's clearly not working. Young would brawl with O'Neil after the contest and the number of people who gave a fuck decreased even further.

Best of the Rest 

• Sin Cara put up some fight against Braun Strowman, but eventually lost by countout after being dragged under the bottom rope and straight into the barricade
• A backstage segment with Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley opened the show as an emotional McMahon promised Foley that she had nothing to do with Triple H's involvement in last week's main event.
• Ann Esposito got in the most offence of anyone against Nia Jax so far, but Jax still proved she's not like most girls with a quick victory with a powerslam. It would appear that Jax is moving into a feud with Alicia Fox, who was presented as a close friend of Esposito. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.83/10

If we forget that The Old Day skit and the Titus O'Neil and Darren Young feud exists, then this was a cracking episode of Monday Night RAW. With those two things, as well as lacklustre crowd, then it's still closer to good than it is average. 

Whilst not having Triple H appear on the show seemed like miscue, there were three good matches at the top of the card, with Owens v Zayn, Jericho v Rollins and Bayley v Charlotte all scrapping it out to become match of the night, as well as a strong storytelling bout in Cesaro and Sheamus' Best of Seven Series on the undercard as well! Add to that a red-hot opening segment as Owens celebrated his title, as well as the Sasha Banks promo and you've got over an hour of good to great wrestling television! (RAW's run-time is around two and a quarter hours without ad-breaks) 

With Roman Reigns v Kevin Owens already booked for next week and number of other storylines only just beginning, it looks like we should be in for an entertaining three weeks as we head towards Clash of Champions. That's if we can put up with The Primetime Players scrapping for that long! 

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1210 - Sasha Banks & Enzo Amore v Charlotte & Chris Jericho

After the first week of the re-formatted Monday Night RAW had produced one of the best episodes of the show in months, could the brand keep that momentum going with a similarly good episode with just three week's until the 2nd biggest show of the year? 

This week's main event came at the beginning of the show, with Charlotte and Chris Jericho going over Women's Champion Sasha Banks and Enzo Amore. The segment took up almost 20% of the show, which is a massive chunk, personally I prefer for these kinds of things to be broken up with the two parts being split across the show. However, I found a lot to to enjoy in the first 25 minutes of the show. The highlight for me was Charlotte and Banks getting to bask in the spotlight of the opening segment and running with that opportunity, just as they did last week with their title match. Their back and forth on the microphone was playfully entertaining, with the two throwing insults back and forth. The crowd were into it and reacting to each and every sentence that came out of the girls mouths. 

The second part of the segment saw some interesting creative decisions indeed with Jericho interrupting Banks and then Amore coming out to join in the fun. It was clear that the whole segment here was designed to continue to help getting the women out there as bonafide top tier talents and begin to change the mindset of the casual fan. Jericho is a genius at getting other people over, so it was not a surprise to see him work his magic with Charlotte as he cut a promo on her ability, in his now usual obnoxious style, whilst running down Banks for not being a true "boss". Amore is, of course, is still a fresh talent in many fans eyes, but his sheer energy means that whatever he's saying has your attention, so therefore if he's telling you that Sasha Banks is a "bawss" then you're listening and taking it in. The relationships between all four were laid out clearly and made complete sense, whilst Mick Foley would take more opportunity to put the babyfaces over before setting up the match. 

The bout itself wasn't spectacular, but did what it did well and continued the effort of positioning Charlotte and Banks as main eventers. The match seemed to be designed to showcase their abilities, as it was the ladies who had the hot tag sequence after Jericho had controlled Amore for a short while. Obviously, it meant that it was the women who had the most exciting part of the match and it was their storyline that ended up being directly effected when Charlotte got the pin on Banks. Personally, I thought the ending was a little too busy, with Dana Brooke getting involved and Banks slapping Jericho, feeling a bit like they'd decided to throw as much at the walls and see how much sticks. Some good ideas, but could have done with a little refining. Kevin Owens was a brilliant addition to the commentary team though, and the idea of him joining Jericho in a feud with Enzo & Cass is a mouth-watering and that's just thinking of the promo possibilities. 

Hey, Mark Henry, you've only have one singles match this year, it was in February and you lost, do you fancy a shot at the United States Championship? Yes, in his first RAW singles match in over five months, Henry would lose to Rusev by submission in a match. Rusev's current US title run is looking mightily similar to his first, as he runs through the same guys to build up his reign. Of course, the biggest talking point was Roman Reigns confronting Rusev after the bout, which would seem to start a feud that should elevate Rusev into the upper echelon of guys on RAW. The scrap between the two was a fun watch, but "The Bulgarian Brute" having to cut a promo about Russia's situation in the Summer Olympics felt like a backwards step for the character and caused me to audibly groan. There's potential here though to have an engaging storyline that should do each guy a world of good.

In the strongest match on the show, Seth Rollins picked a victory over Sami Zayn, in the former's first TV match since his series of unsuccessful WWE Championship matches. Just as you'd expect from these two talents, it was smooth as fuck, with the two putting together some lovely sequences, highlighted by a couple of reversals into near falls for Zayn, like the Michonoku Driver and Blue Thunder Bomb. It was a shame that the commentary team didn't pick up on some of the detail, like Rollins being extra physical on the outside and constantly going for the Pedigree, as this would have helped Zayn to look a lot more than just the warm-up for Finn Balor that they put him over as. For me, this barely scratched the surface for what Zayn and Rollins could do in the ring and despite being a good match, almost felt like a waste of what could've been a PPV main event in six months or so.

Rollins would also get a run-out on the mic earlier in the night, as he interrupted an in-ring interview between Balor and Michael Cole. As always Rollins' delivery was spot on, complemented by his weird heel laugh that has somehow taken over his entire being. The best thing about his promo though was the content, that found clever parallels between Rollins' career and Balor's, before pointing out how "The Architect" did everything first. Opposite Balor, Rollins has an opportunity to really flex those heel muscles in a way he hasn't quite been able to do since his return. "The Demon" held his own for the most part, but could have been slightly tighter in his replies. The little scrap at the end gave a little taste of what they could bring to SummerSlam and also gave Balor a little extra credibility after he sent Rollins packing with a Pele Kick. 

Closing out the show was the return of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to RAW, as the build towards Lesnar v Randy Orton really began to getting going. Heyman could read the phone book and I'd still be glued to the screen and his simple promo, putting over Lesnar as an entertaining and violent force to be reckoned with, shilling the SummerSlam PPV and questioning whether Orton should listen to the voices in his head (a la his theme music) was as captivating as always. Even with just a few weeks of the brand split, Orton turning up and RKOing Lesnar, out of the proverbial nowhere, felt like a truly special moment and received a massive pop. Having Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon run out with security as Orton legged it through the crowd felt similar in style to the stuff that was done during the early part of the Invasion angle and had the crowd losing their shit. It should also hopefully get more people tuning into Smackdown the night after, as they want to see if Lesnar has a reply for Orton and what the consequences will be. Lovely stuff. 

Rounding off the top of the card this week, was a thrown together clash that saw Cesaro defeat Sheamus. These two have had twelve matches on TV and PPV against each other (32 if you count house shows and dark matches) and I've also enjoyed their bouts for the physicality that both men bring and this was no different. Whilst I wouldn't consider this amongst their best, their time on the screen was always satisfying and they made the most of their slender ring-time. A straight-forward story with Sheamus focusing on "The Swiss Superman's" arm after it crashed in the ring post, with Cesaro managing to overcome the injury with a beautiful finish where he flipped out of a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to transition into a Gotch Neutraliser. A bit worrying for the pair that the Atlanta crowd seemed completely numb towards them both though.

I have to admit at feeling more than a little short changed when Big E picked up a flash pin on Karl Anderson less than two minutes into the tag bout between The New Day and The Club. I still can't work out what this piece of booking was actually done for. I get you need a way to have Gallows and Anderson beat the shit out of the New Day, so why not just have one of them hit and low blow and stake their claim that way. A pinfall loss to the champions after less than two minutes surely rules them out of a title shot, no matter how impressive the post match beat down is? Big E took a nasty shot to the Little E's, also. Those bastards. 

As the Prime Time Players randomly perhaps exploded, Titus O'Neil picked up a victory over Darren Young, with a handful of tights. I couldn't really tell you what happened because I quickly lost interest in what was going on and nothing that happened on my screen was interesting enough to make me pay more than the most minimal amount of attention. It seemed like the crowd felt the same way as they were completely silent throughout. I can't help but feel that in 6 months time these guys will be working as a tag team again, after WWE realises that they they have nothing else for them as singles guys.

We have a cavalcade of squash matches this week to skim over. The Shining Stars went over The Golden Truth, because R-Truth was too obsessed with Pokemom Go! Nia Jax destroyed some lass called Ariel Monroe. Braun Strowman quickly dispatched of Evan Anderhaul (NXT regular Corey Hollis). Jinder Mahal made his return to WWE after a two year absence, earning himself a RAW contract with a roll-up victory over Heath Slater in 14 seconds. 

Results 

Mixed Tag Team Match: Charlotte & "Y2J" Chris Jericho def. Women's Champion Sasha Banks & Enzo Amore in 9 minutes, 58 seconds 

Singles Match: Braun Strowman def. Evan Anderhaul in 1 minutes, 1 second.

Tag Team Match: The Shining Stars - Epico & Primo def. The Golden Truth - Goldust & R-Truth in 2 minutes, 1 second.

Singles Match for United States Championship: "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev (C) (with "The Ravishing Russian" Lana) def. "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry in 6 minutes, 35 seconds 

Singles Match: Titus O'Neil def. Darren Young (with Bob Backlund) in 3 minutes, 56 seconds. 

Singles Match: Nia Jax def. Ariel Monroe in 1 minute, 9 seconds. 

Tag Team Match: Tag Team Champions The New Day - Big E & Kofi Kingston def. The Club - Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in 1 minute, 20 seconds

Singles Match: Cesaro def. Sheamus in 5 minutes, 50 seconds. 

Singles Match for a RAW Contract: Jinder Mahal def. Heath Slater in 14 seconds 

Singles Match: Seth Rollins def. Sami Zayn in 11 minutes, 39 seconds 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.5/10 

A definite drop in quality this week, as Monday Night RAW begins to settle following the electric start to the new format this week. There were some points in the show that definitely dragged, and considering no segment went particularly long, that's a more than a little worrying. Ten matches across the two hour and fifteen minute air time was way too much and meant that matches that felt like they could have developed into good matches, ended up going short and not reaching potential (Cesaro v Sheamus stands out in particular). 

There was some promising pieces of booking and the main bulk of the show was still entertaining, with the opening segment and match being particularly well thought out. The strongest part of the evening for me was the Heyman/Lesnar/Orton ending to the show, which was well-structured and got a massive reaction, ending the night on high, whilst promoting a number of different shows at the same time. 

RAW was never going to be as good as last week and it's going to take time for a number of the newer talents like Nia Jax and Braun Strowman to find a place outside squash matches, but I was still expecting a better show than this. Here's hoping this is more of a stumble than a fall. 

Written and Media content by James Marston
Results from cagematch.net