TV Review: WWE Superstars #391 - Neville v Curtis Axel 6

In between the Monday Night RAW recaps, this week's episode of WWE Superstars was headlined by another contest between Neville and Curtis Axel. Was it better than last week's show? Let's have a look. 

Neville's win over Curtis Axel actually turned into a pretty good match as the duo around seven minutes inside the ring and made the most of that time. The action settled down nicely in the early going, before a Neville face shine brought the crowd to life, as the Geordie reached into his bag of tricks and pulled out a Corkscrew Plancha! The moment I realised how much I was beginning to enjoy the bout was when Axel caught Neville going for a Red Arrow, took his legs from underneath him before nailing him with a sweet big boot to knock him to the floor. After the idea of Neville's finish was planted in the mind, Axel played his role well, taking a chance to mouth off at the crowd, including hitting a nice dropkick and getting a strong near fall off an Axehole (Hangman's Facebuster). In the closing sequence, "Mr. Irrelevant" sold well off an Enziguiri, before Neville got the win with Red Arrow, which is always pretty. I wouldn't go as far as suggesting that you go and watch this bout, but if your someone who likes to watch as much WWE as possible then I'm sure you'd enjoy this bout. 

Best of the Rest 

• Darren Young (with Bob Backlund) got a victory over Jinder Mahal in a short bout that showed early promise, but fell apart heading towards the finish. 

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 3/10 

Show in a Sentence - Neville v Axel was good, everything else was recaps or Jinder Mahal. 

Words - James Marston

IntercontinentHell

Stuck in a multi-man ladder match at this years WrestleMania, what ever happened to the Intercontinental Championship, eh?

In the last five years, there has been twenty-five different Intercontinental Championship reigns, with only six of those reigns lasting longer than three months. Without looking it up, try and guess those six reigns.

If you had said Drew McIntyre (December 2009-May 2010), Dolph Ziggler (July 2010-January 2011), Cody Rhodes (August 2011-April 2012), Wade Barrett (December 2012- April 2013) Curtis Axel (June-November 2013) and Big E (November 2013-May 2014), you have won yourself a porked pie. Obviously, the length of a title reign isn't everything, but how much do you actually remember from these title reigns? Any feuds that stand out? Drew McIntyre's match with Kane at Elimination Chamber? Ziggler taking on Kofi Kingston Rhodes against Ted DiBiase, Axel battling Kingston all at separate Night of Champions. Big E challenged by Jack Swagger at Elimination Chamber? Barrett didn't even manage a PPV match during his three month run as Champion!

Five title runs for Barrett and yet he looks no closer to jumping up the card.

It's not even like I'm picking purposefully obscure matches from each Champions run, these are longest bouts each Champion had on PPV, surely they should be memorable for title reigns that took up months of screen time? 

It's even more telling to look at where each of those six men is currently positioned within WWE. In an ideal world, a lengthy spell holding the Intercontinental strap is a springboard to the World Heavyweight Championship. Drew McIntyre is currently not employed by the company, Dolph Ziggler had short reigns with the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011 and 2013, but has since slipped back into the Intercontinental picture, Cody Rhodes is now Stardust looking to get reclaim the IC title after a year in a team with Goldust, Wade Barrett is now Bad News Barrett, current Intercontinental Champion. Curtis Axel is a job guy and Big E is part of the poorly thought out New Day stable.

Remember when you were a Heyman guy, Curtis?

The title used to be all about upward movement, positioning a performer for a run higher up the card. The last time a former Intercontinental Champion won his first WWE Championship was CM Punk in July 2011. Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Rob Van Dam, Edge, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho have all achieved the same feat since 2000. This used to be the norm, a right of passage if you will. However, I think it's telling that WWE chose to keep Roman Reigns away from the belt before his big title showdown with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. 

Think what having Reigns have a strong run as Intercontinental Champion could have done for the belts prestige when Reigns defeats Lesnar at WrestleMania. Suddenly, the Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania is raised in stature. The same principle would apply to Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus who all skipped the IC title before winning the big one. Other big name talent that is being heavily pushed at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt and Rusev, similarly negated winning the belt.

An IC Title run would have made Reigns look strong.

How often have we been told that a wrestler plans to bring "prestige and honour" back to the Intercontinental title? Whilst blatantly pointing out that the company knows it's been mishandling the title for sometime, it's also a case of WWE telling the fans something, but never showing it. One person isn't going to make the belt seem important again, it's going to take the time and effort of a handful of wrestlers and the booking staff to rebuild the belt on a consistent basis, whilst also making it part of the bigger picture. The title needs to stop feeling like an island away from the rest of the company, from where a wrestlers career will never return.

It won't be until WWE decides to give those who they have a clear plan of moving up the card long and satisfying runs, filled with exciting matches and gripping feuds, that we'll see the belt begin to feel important again. However, maybe because of how far they've allowed the belt to fall in the eyes of the fans in the last few years, WWE doesn't seem to want to put the title on those earmarked for success in the main event. It's a poisoned chalice that WWE doesn't seem to know what to do with or how to reverse the damage they have caused over the past few years. We may never see the Intercontinental Championship return to it's former glory.

WWE Main Event #94 Review (Sheamus vs Miz VIII)

This week's WWE Main Event was headlined by a rematch from Raw (Review here - http://www.acrossthepondwrestling.co.uk/2014/07/wwe-raw-14th-july-2014-review.html) as United States Champion Sheamus battle the man who defeated him the previous night, The Miz. After a match that seemed to have potential but fell flat on Raw, could the pair deliver live on the WWE Network? Let's find out! 

The show kicked off with everyone's favourite wrestling talk show... MIZ TV! Essentially, this was just THE MIZ cutting a promo with a special set as it didn't appear like he would be having a guest. Miz's new self-obsessed Hollywood star gimmick is a million times better than anything he ever during his ill-fated babyface run. Miz has changed up his promo style and takes a lot more time with his delivery and actually managed to get a decent reaction out of the Fayetteville crowd. The idea of Miz reading out a letter he had written about himself was a nice idea on paper, that seemed to lose a little in it's delivery. 

Miz was, of course, interupted by his opponent for the evening Sheamus and the two had some back and forth  on the microphone, mainly focused around Miz calling his face his "moneymaker" and Sheamus threatening to kick it. Eventually, Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick, with Miz once again escaping and fleeing up the entrance ramp. An enjoyable opening segment that set up the main event nicely, laying out the storyline clearly and setting up an issue between the two opponents, it really couldn't have done much more. 

Match 1 - EMMA vs CAMERON

YIPPEE-KAY-EH, Emma is back! She must have begged, borrowed and stole to get a place on the show. 

Her opponent Cameron is currently embroiled in a feud with former Funkadactyls partner NAOMI who joined Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton on commentary. I found the commentary to be very frustrated throughout this match, as whilst it did push the feud hard and Naomi offered some nice insights into her relationship with Cameron there was no real effort to call the match and tell the story of the match embroiling in front of them. For the time they were given I thought the girls did well, incorpating a nice story where Cameron continued to escape a number of Emma's signature moves, including the DilEmma, which unfortunately wasn't picked up on by the commentary team. The finish saw Cameron to focused on taunting Naomi and walking into an inside cradle that allowed Emma to steal the victory. It was surprising to see Emma pick up the victory here for a number of reasons, but it did make sense in the continuing storyline with the former Funkadactyls pair. 

Following the match a frustrated Cameron attacked Emma, with Naomi quickly making the save, chasing off her former partner. Am I particularly interested in watching the match between the the Naomi and Cameron on the Battleground Kick Off show? Hmmmm...not really. 

Match 2 - RYBAXEL vs BIG E and KOFI KINGSTON

Billed as a look at four participants in the Intercontinetal Championship Battle Royal, this was an decent slice of tag team action, with all four men pulling out some nice looking offence. Big E again looked impressive against a similar sized man, in the shape of Ryback, before launching Kingston over the top rope onto RybAxel in a nicely worked highspot to send the match into the break. The momentum changer of Curtis Axel leaping off the apron onto E was looking solid and the use of repeated knee drives in the corner by RybAxel was also well done. The booking of the match was good enough to get a "We Want Kofi" chant out of the game crowd, as RybAxel worked off E for an extended period. Following the hot tag the match headed to it's conclussion with a flurry of action seeing all four men get involved, ending with Kingston delivering Trouble in Paradise to Axel for the pinfall victory. An enjoyable finish to an enjoyable match, although I would've liked to have seen more tension between the teams to remind us of the ever man for himself aspect of the upcoming battle royal. 

Backstage, RENEE YOUNG interviewed Miz in a segment that really wasn't needed. That's not to say Miz using phrases describing himself as "WWE's most valuable asset" or a "1000 watt megastar" weren't good lines, it just felt like after the opening segment set up the main event this was a little bit of overkill. 

Chris Jericho vs Luke Harper for Friday's Smackdown was hyped, that has potential to be a very good match and add a little extra spice to Jericho's battle with Bray Wyatt at Battleground on Sunday.

Match 3 - THE MIZ vs United States Champion SHEAMUS

This was the match that the Raw bout should have been. The story was much more focused than we saw Monday night, as Miz attempted to protect his face and avoid Sheamus' Brogue Kick. Whilst the match was slow to get going and at times felt a little awkward, the final few minutes were pretty entertaining with the two putting together a good sequence of reversals and quick pins that go the crowd into the match. The finish was cleverly done as Sheamus attempted a Brogue Kick with Miz quick to protect his face, allowing Sheamus to get the victory with a School Boy roll up. Not only did this call back to the finish of their match the previous night, but it also set up a potential rematch for next week's Raw with Sheamus still to hit Miz with the Brogue Kick. I would have like to have seen this match be for the United States Championship, as Miz holding a victory over the champion should have earned him a shot and if Sheamus was going to win this one anyway it would've meant the match could remain the same, yet feel a little more important. 

This episode of Main Event was an enjoyable watch, the matches were all passable, whilst also furthering some storylines and adding something to match-ups occuring on this Sunday's Battleground. It wasn't must see WWE television however, and you won't really have missed out on anything if you didn't watch the show, but it was still decent piece of action to pass an hour away with.

Let us know what you thought of this week's Main Event on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

WWE Night of Champions 2013 (Bryan-Orton IX) DVD Review

WWE Night of Champions 2013 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now, available from www.wwedvd.co.uk, priced £12.99 on DVD and £13.99 on Blu-Ray. Broadcast live on Pay-per-View from the Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, USA on 15th September 2013, the show is main evented by Randy Orton defending his WWE Championship against Daniel Bryan, alongside a Two-on-One Handicap match pitting CM Punk against former mentor Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel, Axel defending his Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston, as well as five other matches.  The commentary is provided by John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

Content Listing

Intercontinental Championship Match

Curtis Axel (C) vs. Kofi Kingston

WWE Divas Championship Fatal-Fourway Match

AJ Lee (C) vs. Brie Bella vs. Naomi vs. Natalya

World Heavyweight Championship Match

Alberto Del Rio (C) vs. Rob Van Dam

Fandango vs. The Miz

Two-on-One Handicap Elimination No Disqualification Match

CM Punk vs. Paul Heyman & Curtis Axel

United States Championship Match

Dean Ambrose (C) vs. Dolph Ziggler

Tag Team Championship Match

The Shield (Reigns/Rollins) (C) vs. Prime Time Players

WWE Championship Match

Randy Orton (C) vs. Daniel Bryan

*DVD Extras*

Tag Team Championship Number One Contenders Tag Team Turmoil Match

The Usos vs. The Prime Time Players vs. Tons of Funk vs. The Real Americans vs. 3MB

WWE Night of Champions Kick-Off, 15th September 2013

Review

      Another WWE PPV, and another cover that spoils the result of the main event! Now, I try to keep these reviews spoiler free, recommending action if it is good, but allowing the reader the opportunity to be surprised if perhaps they haven't been paying attention to WWE in recent times. So, what I will say about the Night of Champions main event, is that it is an enjoyable piece of WWE main event action. Orton looks great when in control and Bryan looks great fighting from under neath, these two really complement each other in the ring and have proven that time and time again. The finish is anti-climatic and the bizarre angle that followed the next night on Raw really tarnishes some decent action beforehand. This is probably the best of their series of PPV matches, although personally I think they've out done this on more recent episodes of Raw.

CM Punk's quest to get at Paul Heyman continues in a storyline heavy handicap match also involving Curtis Axel. There is some entertaining stuff going on here, with Punk's constant attempts to get at Heyman, who plays the perfect villain throughout, and there is some decent wrestling sequences between Punk and Axel, it feels like something is missing in this match, that even the debut of a new Heyman guy can't replace. Axel is in action in the opening contest as well, being forced to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston. This one again has some decent action and crisp moves from both men, but relies to heavily on rest holds and lacks a cohesive story and flow.

Elsewhere, Alberto Del Rio defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam in a sloppy contest, with a screwy finish only capitulating this. Dean Ambrose defends his United States Championship against Dolph Ziggler in a match that shows promise but is given neither enough time to really deliver or enough build up for anyone to care. The Miz and Fandango wrestle a match that is no more appealing now than it was at the time. The Shield's Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins defends the Tag Team titles against The Prime Time Players in a basic and short tag team affair. AJ Lee puts her Diva's Championship on the line against Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi in a Fatal Four Way match, that has very little to offer, apart from a double Sharpshooter from Natalya, and even that has been seen before.

In terms of DVD extras, there's one solitary inclusion here as The Prime Time Players, The Usos, 3MB, Tons of Funk and The Real American's do battle in a Tag Team Turmoil match, with the winner facing The Shield later on in the show. It's an entertaining battle that showcases the strength of WWE's tag team division very well with some clever spots and paint by numbers booking. Again, it's a shame there's only one extra included here, but apparently that's your lot when it comes to WWE DVD's these days.

In conclussion, this is a fairly poor PPV, which is clearly filling time and treading water for a lot of storylines to keep moving forward. Orton and Bryan will go on to have bigger matches, Punk's still got time to chase Paul Heyman, Del Rio and RVD put on a much better contest at Battleground, I could go on. Honestly, if you're a completist, by all means head out and pick this one up, but if you're after three hours of entertaining wrestling, head some where else on this one.

WWE Raw 7th October 2013 Review

After a disappointing debut for the Battleground Pay-Per-View, WWE rolled into Pittsburgh for Raw, with a lot of explaining to do. Could the company begin to regain the trust of it's fans, after two consecutive dodgy finishes to pay-per-view main events, and begin to convince people that they should buy Hell in a Cell in less than three weeks time? Let's find out!

We start of the show with a short recap of last night's main event between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. Despite WWE's superb production work on the video, it's still a crappy ending, especially when you think about the money people would have payed to watch it (It was free the UK though)

The first person out tonight is Stephanie McMahon, who is now being billed as a “Part-Owner” of WWE, for what ever that's worth. Of course, she only has one thing on her mind, and that thing just happens to be The World's Largest Athlete. She calls out Big Show and begins verbally eviscerating him, with a series of wonderfully bitchy barbs about his private life. Stephanie is such a good heel, because it's legitimately easy to hate her, I don't even think she needs to put that much effort into her performance. It all built up to Stephanie asking Big Show to beg for forgiveness, with Show snapping once again, in a really enjoyable moment where he stood up for himself against the family that had been oppressing him for so long. The emotion that Show portrayed felt believable making it easy to get behind him here, especially when Stephanie began repeatedly slapping him in the face. The segment finished with Stephanie transforming into her father (not literally!) and firing Show, who walked out saying he didn't care. Whilst this was enjoyable as I had been waiting to see what would happen once Big Show snapped, it would have been much more enjoyable if it had not come off the back of a disappointing conclusion to a pay-per-view main event.

They then repeated the key moments from the opening segment, come on WWE, that's just insulting your audience's intelligence.

Dolph Ziggler

vs.

World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Holder

Damien Sandow

(12 Minutes, 15 Seconds)

It's amazing that after such a sub-par effort on Battleground Kick-Off, that in the rematch on Raw, Dolph Ziggler and Damien Sandow could turn things around and create a contest that I actually wanted to watch. The difference between the two, this bout had a defineable, followable storyline that was put over well by both the competitors in the ring and Michael Cole on commentary. Sandow attack Ziggler viciously from the outset, with the story being that Sandow was upset with Ziggler for injuring his knee the night before, meaning Sandow couldn't cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase. The match continued in this vein, with Sandow putting quite a beating on Ziggler, who we know can sell like a boss anyway, with number of Ziggler's comeback attempts cut short only building the anticipation of a comeback from Ziggler. The finish was quick, pacy and somewhat surprising, with Sandow whipping Ziggler into the ropes and Ziggler attempting a quick roll up, Sandow rolled through but ended up on the receiving end of Fame-Asser from Ziggler, who went on to pick up a pinfall victory. It would've been nice to see Sandow at least get his victory back here to give him some momentum, and Ziggler winning with a move most people have kicked out of, doesn't really help the Intellectual Saviour of the Masses.

Winner: DOLPH ZIGGLER

Backstage, Stephanie McMahon was up to more heel antics and on the receiving end of her bitchy diatribe this time was Raw General Manager Brad Maddox. With Stephanie berating him for a number of occurrences from Battleground, including the power outage, before sending him out to the arena to apologise. Both play their roles fantastically well at the moment, and it looks like they are slowly turning Maddox into a face, which could be a nice twist on the dynamic they currently have.

They showed a video of what was supposedly “App Exclusive” footage of Jerry Lawler bringing out WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino for the fans to sing happy birthday to the longest reigning WWE Champion of all time, which was a heart warmingly nice touch.

Six Woman Tag Team Match

Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes & Aksana

vs.

Natalya, Eva Marie & JoJo

(3 Minutes, 20 Seconds)

This was really quite awful. It was Eva Marie and JoJo's first match, and quite simply they aren't ready, but to be fair to them there are a number of women in this match that have been wrestling for sometime that shouldn't be on television either, I'm looking at you Aksana and Rosa Mendes. JoJo didn't even get as far as getting into the ring, as she stood as ringside looking awkward, as Eva Marie flailed around the ring with an expressionless face attempted to sell. Natalya and Alicia Fox did have a decent exchange to finish things up, with Natalya picking up the submission victory with a Sharpshooter but it wasn't enough to stop this match from stinking the place out.

Winners: NATALYA, EVA MARIE & JOJO

Before the women had chance to leave the ring, Brad Maddox was out to make his public apology, by order of Stephanie McMahon. This apology came in the shape of booking Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell Pay-Per-View. A truly shocking revelation I'm sure you'll agree, but that's the problem with these themed Pay-Per-Views in the first place. Maddox then announced that there would be a Guest Referee for the contest, that the WWE fans could vote on, with a choice of three candidates. It sounds like a nice idea, but if your a regular viewer of WWE then you know that there really isn't any choice. The first candidate was revealed as Booker T, who got a decent pop, before explaining why he should the Guest Referee with an alright promo, bigging himself up, before the use of the phrase “Best for Business” almost guaranteed that he wouldn't be winning the vote later on tonight.

It was then time to learn how to download an app for all those technical noobs that are watching Raw.

Tag Team Match

3MB

(Mahal/McIntyre)

with Heath Slater

vs.

Los Matadores

with El Torito

Ah, Los Matadores. Los Matadores. Los Matadores. I actually enjoyed this short squash match, Los Matadores having some interesting offence, including their finish the Double Wrist Lock Samoan Drop which picked them up a quick victory here. I'm beginning to warm to their gimmick as well, it's incredibly goofy, there is no denying that, and probably wouldn't be the first thing you'd show to someone you were trying to get interested in wrestling, but it's a bit of fun and it's reignited Epico and Primo who were looking pretty stagnant, so, for now atleast, I'm willing to ride the wave of excitement that Los Matadores are bringing to WWE.

Winners: LOS MATADORES

It was then time for the second replay of the opening segment with Stephanie McMahon and Big Show is WWE targetting this at goldfish or what?

It was then time for our weekly sermon from Paul Heyman, surrounded by his guys Ryback and Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, as he Heyman masterfully lead us through the occurrences of Battleground that saw CM Punk beat Ryback following a low blow. Once again it was clear that Heyman believed what he was saying was true, and the hypocritical nature of the speech after Heyman hardly won his bout at Night of Champions through honourable means! Out came CM Punk saying he could beat Ryback again and that he accepted the challenge of a rematch before it was even issued, Punk does those rallying promos excellently and the crowd seemed to agree. With Heyman claiming that Ryback was being bullied again, it was left to Ryback to challenge Punk to step into the ring. With Punk being joined by R-Truth the challenge was accepted and it was time for some tag team action.

Tag Team Match

Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel & Ryback

with Paul Heyman

vs.

CM Punk & R-Truth

(12 Minutes, 45 Seconds)

I thought this was a strong piece of tag team action, playing to each man's strengths to create a logical bout. After some interaction between Punk and Ryback, saw Ryback quickly exit the ring, Heyman's team quickly took control of the bout, with Ryback looking convincing when running through Truth, who did a good job of selling the attack, with Punk working the crowd into a frenzy on the apron. Truth eventually made a comeback hitting Ryback with a heel kick, before making the hot tag to Punk, keeping Ryback's selling to a minimum was certainly a good idea. Punk went on to destroy Curtis Axel, running through a crowd pleasing series of signature moves, before hitting a GTS, Ryback tried to get involved but got quickly bundled out of the ring. Punk allowed Truth to pick up the win, after Truth hit the Corkscrew Leg Scissors to pick up the pinfall victory. This bout did wonders from R-Truth who is actually beginning to look mildly relevant again!

Winners: CM PUNK & R-TRUTH

It was then time for the reveal of the second option in the WWE App vote to become the Guest Referee for Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton's match at Hell in a Cell, WWE Hall of Famer, Bob Backlund. Wow, just wow. Backlund is as crazy as he ever was, barking to the crowd why he should be named Guest Referee, in a hilarious rant, in a “What am I watching?” moment. I wouldn't mind seeing Backlund step into Hell in a Cell, I'm sure it would be a spectacle of one kind or another, but I have a feeling that they might be saving the best til last. Oh, for those that missed it earlier they showed how you can download the App as well, riveting stuff.

Kofi Kingston

vs.

Randy Orton

(13 Minutes, 45 Seconds)

This bout was a little paint by numbers for me, whilst the action was sound, I just found it difficult to get into, as it was so obvious what was going to happen. With the past history between these two they could have built a really interesting storyline that people would have been interested in seeing, as well as fuelling the realism of the main angle they're running at the moment. Orton beat on Kingston for quite some time, before Kingston had a comeback that no one really bought into, even if what was happening in the ring was decent, before Orton snapped and totally destroyed Kingston like we've seen a number of times in recent Orton matches. Orton hit a DDT from the barricade to the arena floor, before rolling Kingston into the ring, hitting an RKO and picking up a pinfall victory. It was far from awful, but felt like more like a missed opportunity than anything else.

Winner: RANDY ORTON

After the bout, Daniel Bryan appearred and took the beating back to Orton, with a series of strikes, before sending Orton over the announce table and Bryan having to pull away from Orton by a number of official and producers, including Jamie Noble and Finlay. Orton managed to escape to the back, with Bryan continuing the chase. Whilst on paper this probably looked like a good idea, it just had me wondering why exactly Bryan was attacking Orton? It wasn't exactly Orton's fault that Bryan didn't win the WWE Championship the night before.

Backstage, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio found Smackdown General Manager Vickie Guerrero, with Guerrero revealing she was there to announce Del Rio's opponent at Hell in a Cell. With Del Rio apparently coming onto Guerrero, in one of the most cringeworthy scenes on WWE television in recent years. I'm not quite sure what Del Rio's character is anymore either. It didn't work on Guerrero though as she defiantly threw down Del Rio's scarf once Del Rio had disappeared.

It was then time for the final option as Guest Referee for the Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton to be revealed and it was none other than the Heart Break Kid himself, Shawn Michaels. It didn't even matter what Shawn had to say it was obvious that he would be winning this vote. He was the only name that actually makes sense to fit into that match. With his connection with both Orton and Bryan, as well as Triple H, they didn't even need to have to the vote to justify Michaels being apart of the match. Either way, it's always great to have Michaels back on Raw, so I'm not going to complain too much.

Once again it was back to the announce desk to learn how to download an app, for all those Redneck Goldfish still tuning into the show.

In an unbelievable twist, they replayed the opening of the show between Big Show and Stephanie McMahon for the THIRD TIME!

World Heavyweight Champion

Alberto Del Rio

vs.

Ricardo Rodriguez

(35 Seconds)

Before the match could even get started Vickie Guerrero was out to announce Del Rio's opponent at Hell in a Cell. It was none other than a returning John Cena. For me, that's huge news. Not only does it look like WWE have panicked with the dipping ratings, but it could do wonders for the World Heavyweight Championship, which has struggled with somewhat of an image problem lately, when compared to the WWE Championship, so someone of Cena's calibre going after the title can only be a good thing for that strap. Rodriguez used the distraction to get a quick roll up victory over Del Rio, in a bit upset.

Winner: RICARDO RODRIGUEZ

After the bout, Rodriguez attempted to celebrate but Del Rio wasn't ready to mess around, as he destroyed Rodriguez on the announce table, before sending him into the steel steps and locking in the Cross Armbreaker with the aid of a chair. This was definitely needed to keep Del Rio looking good and to mean that Rodriguez quick victory wasn't dwelled on too much by the audience. Can they make Del Rio look like someone who could beat Super Cena? Probably not.

REPLAYS! REPLAYS! REPLAYS!

Zack Ryder

vs.

Fandango

with Summer Rae

(2 Minutes, 45 Seconds)

Pretty short match this one, with the crowd really not giving a monkeys what was going on, except for any of Zack Ryder's crowd participation moves. I'm not really sure what the point of this one was, it didn't exactly do anything for anyone, and just felt like a bit of a time filler. Fandango picked up the victory after a Diving Leg Drop. WWE clearly has no idea what to do with Fandango, he's had so many botched pushes and misguided rivalries (The Miz anyone?) that it's becoming a bit silly for the Ballroom Dancer.

Winner: FANDANGO

It was then time to reveal the result of the vote on the WWE App to choose who would be the Guest Referee for Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton's match at Hell in a Cell, with Shawn Michaels taking first with 61%, Bob Backlund in second with 32% and Booker T bringing up the rear with 7%. It wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was definitely the best decision for that match, with a lot of interesting ideas for them to play around with over the next two weeks, I'm interested to see how things will play out at Hell in a Cell. Is it enough to convince people that WWE won't produce another screwy ending? Not really.

Tag Team Match:

The Real Americans

(Cesaro/Swagger)

with Zeb Colter

vs.

The Great Khali & Santino Marella

with Hornswoggle

(3 Minutes, 45 Seconds)

This bout was essentially a cut down version of the one they had one night previous at Battleground. Therefore all of the fun stuff and different spots that had gone into that had made that bout so entertaining were stripped away and we were left with a three minutes build up to the Cesaro Swing on Khali, which is all anyone wanted to see anyway, and gave Cesaro another pinfall victory over the Punjabi Playboy.

Winners: THE REAL AMERICANS

After the bout, Swagger tossed Hornswoggle into Cesaro to attempt the Cesaro Swing on the midget. Of course, it was easy for Cesaro, but then Santino recovered and after waiting like a child trying to get on a roundabout, Santino hit Cesaro with The Cobra, before Khali hit Swagger with the Brain Chop. Pretty much classic even steven booking, although I'd expect WWE have more plans for The Real Americans than they do for Santino and Khali, which is fine by me.

A lovely video package of an interview with Titus O'Neil about his late grandmother was shown, in conjunction with the Breast Cancer awareness campaign that WWE is running at the moment. The package was very classily done, and I commend WWE for the work they are doing at the moment.

Miz TV was thankfully interupted rather quickly by The Wyatt Family's eerie entrance into the arena. When the lights came on Erick Rowan and Luke Harper were in the ring, as they chased Miz towards Bray Wyatt. In a strange move, The Miz actually got the better of Wyatt managing to escape, but Wyatt wasn't phased, hanging from his family upside down and staring at Miz. Who knows what WWE are doing here, or why they chose to have The Miz of all people get the upperhand with Wyatt. After a lot of initial buzz, The Wyatt Family is cooling off pretty quickly, and if they don't get Kane back on television soon, WWE might have managed to botch one of the hottest new acts they've had in quite sometime.

Backstage, Stephanie McMahon reminded Brad Maddox that he had a long way to go if he was going to make a decent General Manager, before Triple H turned up and put Maddox in place once more, telling him to do nothing with the main event, saying that he would go to make sure the match was “Best of Business”. I'm really sure what they're doing with the Maddox stuff at the moment, or where it's all leading, it is however been well played and brings some extra depth to Triple H and Stephanie's characters, so it's not neccesarily a bad thing, for now.

Six Man Tag Team Match:

The Shield

vs.

Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes & Goldust

Another well crafted six man tag team match involving The Shield. After a few back and forth exchanges between Rhodes, Goldust and The Shield earlier on in the match, The Shield gained the upperhand after Ambrose sent Rhodes from the top rope to the outside, thanks to a Roman Reigns distraction, in a well worked spot. After this The Shield worked quick tags to wear down Rhodes, with the best action coming between Ambrose and Rhodes with the two gelling well in the ring. Of course, this was to build up to a hot tag, as it was continuously teased that Rhodes could be making the tag, meaning that once Rhodes reached Daniel Bryan, after Ambrose got distracted by Goldust, the crowd popped nicely and the match really lifted from here. With Bryan and Seth Rollins reminding us what they can do when paired together in the ring, with an exhilarating series of moves, and everyone else taking each other out with a series of signature moves. It looked like Bryan might have the match won for his team with the Yes Lock applied to Rollins, however Ambrose had recovered sliding into the ring with a Steel Chair which ended up being placed in the gut of Goldust to give Bryan, Rhodes & Goldust the disqualification victory. I thought this finishing sequence was strong, with the base of the work from Rollins and Bryan making a good backdrop for everyone else to do their thing.

Winners: DANIEL BRYAN, CODY RHODES & GOLDUST!

But it wasn't going to end like that, with Triple H at ringside, the Chief Operating Officer of WWE got on the mic to announce that the match wouldn't end like that, restarting the bout as a No Disqualification bout. WWE really are incredibly desperate to get back some trust after some questionable finishes recently, even if it means Triple H having to basically step out of character to do so.

No Disqualification Six Man Tag Team Match:

The Shield

vs.

Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes & Goldust

This one didn't last very long at all. With Bryan getting the upperhand over Rollins in the ring, and Reigns and Ambrose taking control of Rhodes and Goldust on the outside, Bryan hit a Suicide Dive onto both Reigns and Ambrose and it looked like Bryan might have won the bout single handely for his team. However, that was not to be the case, with Randy Orton appearing through the crowd to hit an RKO on Bryan, before rolling him into the ring and allowing Rollins to pick up the pinfall victory for The Shield. A pretty disappointing ending to a good six man tag, and probably not what WWE should be doing after having problems with finishes over the last few months, but it contiues the Bryan and Orton feud well and gives it a little more intensity heading into Hell in a Cell.

Winners: THE SHIELD!

With The Shield beginning to pick apart Goldust in the ring, Big Show came back out into the arena, making a bee line for the ring. The Shield quickly got the upperhand on the giant, with Triple H screaming for them to finish him. However, once The Shield went for the Triple Powerbomb, Show overpowered them sending them to the outside and leaving Show standing face to face with Triple H. In a moment that has been built up to very well over the last few months, Show punched Triple H straight in the face, sending the COO crashing to the mat. I really enjoyed this moment simply because it has been built up to so well, and Big Show had done such a good job in his role. The show finished with Daniel Bryan leading the crowd in a load “YES!” chant. It was certainly a good decision to give Bryan the spotlight to close the show, because he is the one in the main event of the next Pay-Per-View, not Big Show or Triple H.

Overall, this was an alright Raw. It wasn't particularly special, with a lot of filler bouts and a ridiculous amount of replays and other pointless things, but had a fair amount of story development, as well as Big Show finally knocking out Triple H after months of being put down by his boss.

Quick Results

1. Dolph Ziggler defeated Damien Sandow via Pinfall

2. Six Woman Tag Team Match

Natalya, Eva Marie & JoJo defeated Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes & Aksana via Submission.

3. Tag Team Match

Los Matadores defeated 3MB (Mahal/McIntyre) via Pinfall

4. Tag Team Match

CM Punk & R-Truth defeated Ryback & Curtis Axel via Pinfall

5. Randy Orton defeated Kofi Kingston via Pinfall

6. Ricardo Rodriguez defeated Alberto Del Rio via Pinfall

7. Fandango defeated Zack Ryder via Pinfall

8. Tag Team Match

The Real Americans (Cesaro/Swagger) defeated The Great Khali & Santino Marella by Pinfall

9. Six Man Tag Team Match

Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes & Goldust defeated The Shield by disqualification

10. No Disqualification Six Man Tag Team MatchThe Shield defeated Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes & Goldust

WWE Main Event 25th September 2013 Review

This week's Main Event was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Whilst the action in the ring was solid throughout the show, there wasn't really anything that made me sit up and take notice, and on paper there wasn't anything that anyone would particularly go out of their way to see.

Justin Gabriel 

vs. 

Intercontinental Champion 

Curtis Axel 

with Paul Heyman

This bout went on last and was by far the most interesting of any of the matches on the show. Justin Gabriel has been getting some what of a push recently, as part of the group of wrestlers standing up for Daniel Bryan. Even if that push has been mainly so he can used as fodder for The Shield he has been featured in main event slots on both Raw and Smackdown and has become prominent on both shows, a lot more than what he was getting a few months ago. Therefore, I was intrigued to see how competitive he was in this bout with Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel and how long the match got, as the show, has generally been used to test out talent before giving them a stronger role on the two main television show.

The match started slowly, with Axel dominating, I found it really hard to get into at this point. Whilst Axel's technical skills are sound, and it did make storyline sense for him to work over Gabriel, there was no interaction with the audience. Whilst Paul Heyman generates heat from just being at ringside, Axel himself really needs to start stepping things up with his crowd interaction, if he really wants to get taken seriously. The strongest part of the earlier part of the match was a nice series of roll ups and pin variations from Gabriel, which were well executed with Gabriel even managing to correct an earlier botch at one point, but it still wasn't enough to make me think Gabriel was going to pick up the win.

There was, however a really nice near fall for Gabriel heading towards the conclusion of the match. Axel attempted the Running One-Armed Swinging Neckbreaker, which Gabriel slipped out of delivering a swift Roundhouse Kick to the head, before hitting a springboard Moonsault off the top rope for a two count, the swiftness of the delivery felt like it could easily have finished off the match and was the first moment that really got me interested in what I was watching, with Paul Heyman's reaction on the outside really selling the moment for me. The finish saw Gabriel closing in on victory, attempting to get Axel to re-enter the ring, only for Axel to pull Gabriel into the ring ropes allowing the Intercontinental Champion to slide into the ring and hit the Hangman's Facebuster to pick up the pinfall victory. It was a decent enough finish, it wasn't anything special but it did it's job here, in allowing Axel to look credible in the ring.

So, how did Justin Gabriel do in this one? Given as this match was of a decent length, in fact if it's longest he's had on WWE television, with only a couple of NXT battles with Tyson Kidd coming close, so it's the best look we and WWE have had at Gabriel when the lights are on bright. I really like Gabriel in the ring, I think he's capable of putting on some really watchable and exciting matches, and at times we saw flashes off it in this one, with the false finish being really well worked by the Cape Town Werewolf. He could potentially be moved into a spot higher up on the card, possibly even have runs with the United States Championship (we've seen him get a couple of shots at that title on PPV), but I just can't see him moving further up than that, or past the “good little hand” stereotype. Maybe it's because he hasn't been in real feud since his day's in Nexus, but he just doesn't seem to have enough about him, the It Factor if you will, that would capapult him into a more important role for the company.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on the show, the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championships The Usos were put up against the bizarre pairing of Fandango and Big E Langston, who were accompanied by Summer Rae. On paper, the team of Fandango and Big E Langston sounds atrocious, but for this one match they were fairly entertaining. The story running throughout the match, was the way the two teams operated, with The Usos sticking to the team work that they have become known for, whilst Fandango & Langston would use blind tags with Langston doing the majority of the work on one of The Usos, before Fandango would tag back in. There was some nice spots, such as Langston catching an Usos in mid air on the outside, only to be taken out by another flying for inside the ring. At times, Fandango didn't look particularly interested in this one, and never really got going in the way we've come to expect of him, with a dodgy looking suplex that could have easily injured Uso.

The finish saw The Usos begin to get rolling, with Fandango feigning a leg injury on the outside of the ring, The Usos managed to get a tag before, Langston could gain any momentum from the distraction and the Superkick/Superfly Splash combination got them the win. I'm not too sure about this ending, whilst The Usos worked it well, seeing Langston go down in such a situation doesn't exactly help his monster character that has barely even got going, whilst Fandango's continued cowardly nature, isn't exactly making him look like a threat to anyone, so what is the reason we are supposed to care about him? It was the right decision to give The Usos the win and they are looking really good at the moment, after a strong showing on Raw in the Eleven-on-Three main event, I wouldn't be surprised to see The Usos snatching that tag team gold from around the waist of The Shield's Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns some time soon.

The other match on the show saw an angry Big Show take on World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Winner Damien Sandow. This was essentially a squash match, with Show pulling apart Sandow within a few minutes. Sandow did get some offence in, in terms of a David vs. Goliath style fight back, but seeing as Sandow was playing the heel it didn't really work. Big Show went on to win the match with a Knockout Punch for a pinfall victory. After the bout, Show removed Sandow's briefcase that was handcuffed to the ringpost and placed on Sandow's chest. I thought this was a nice touch to show how Big Show is being effected by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, but apart from that this match didn't really impress. 

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's Main Event.

1. Curtis Axel needs to up his game and start bringing the crowd into his matches.

2. Fandango & Big E Langston worked as a one off tag team, but I wouldn't want to see them team up on a regular basis.

3. When Big Show finally flips on Triple H it should be an epic standout moment.

WWE Raw 9th September 2013 Review

I was a little unimpressed with Raw this week, whilst the co-main events were both strong television contests, there wasn't really a lot else. There were some really uninspiring match ups, which was reflected by the Canadian crowd quickly becoming restless during bout like Alberto Del Rio vs. R-Truth. The returns of Edge and Goldust helped lift the anticipation for the show, but it was sadly back to that dragging feeling that had seemed to disappear since the start of the Triple H regime. 

Daniel Bryan 

with 

Big Show

vs. 

United States Champion 

Dean Ambrose

 with The Shield  

The show kicked off with WWE Hall of Famer Edge's first WWE appearance in just under a year, with an edition of The Cutting Edge. According to Edge his guest was scheduled by Triple H to be Edge's Rated RKO partner WWE Champion Randy Orton, but instead he had chosen to have Daniel Bryan on the show. Bryan came out and cut a good little promo, going over what had happened in recent weeks, saying that he enjoyed the struggle and knew he could beat Randy Orton. Edge did some good work motivating Bryan, before they were interupted by Randy Orton. With Orton getting some cheap heat from mentioning Cananda and Edge insulting Orton for being spineless and Triple H for not being able to pick talent. This of course drew out Chief Operating Officer Triple H. The Game and The Rated R Superstar went on to have some nice back and forth, with the two throwing around insults, like Triple H telling Edge he couldn't draw money and Edge telling Triple H that at least he didn't have to marry into success. It was an extremely entertaining exchange, but the problem was Triple H vs. Edge is not coming up in six days time, Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan is, and both sort of took a backseat in this segment. After Triple H had booked Daniel Bryan in a match with Dean Ambrose, with The Shield in Ambrose's corner and Big Show in Bryan's, Triple H had The Shield bring out a battered Christian, with Edge running to check on his friend/brother. Again, I'm asking the same question, what is the whole point of this stuff with Edge? He can't wrestle and isn't going to involved in a match, he simply should have been there to put others over. 

Later in the night, Edge stormed into Triple H office and the two got face to face, with The Shield flanking the Chief Operating Officer. Triple H tore into Edge, telling him to leave the building. It was good television, it just wasn't good wrestling booking. Although with the news that Edge is going to on Smackdown this week, they do have somewhere else to go with it, so I'll reserve calling this a waste of time until Friday.  Hall of Famer Booker T turned up again on Raw, and it would seem he has become the WWE's guardian angel, as he decided to speak to Big Show in the lockeroom. I thought Booker T's promo telling Big Show to ignore his pride and be a professional was solid, with Show leaving without giving an answer to Booker leaving things open for the main event. I'm quite enjoying how WWE have been using Booker T at the moment, even if there is no particular reason for him to be hanging around the locker room after being fired as General Manager of Smackdown a few months ago. Stephanie McMahon also caught up with Big Show, telling him he couldn't touch The Shield in the main event, I guess this was to give us some more of Big Show fighting with his conscience.

Bryan vs. Ambrose was very strong television contest, even if WWE spent most of the match showing us Big Show clapping away at ringside. Bryan spent a lot of the early part of the match in control, working over Ambrose with blows and submission holds. It was a slow start to the match with both wrestler just getting warmed up, with the only blemish seeing Bryan struggle to lock on a surfboard. The two did well to recover with Bryan continuing to roll, and The Shield paying off for Ambrose at ringside causing the distraction allowed Ambrose to send Bryan off the apron into the barricade. Ambrose was allowed to look good on his own, countering a Daniel Bryan comeback by moving out of the way of running dropkick in the corner to send Bryan crashing to the mat. Ambrose looked great working Bryan, with Bryan really selling the seriousness of the situation and Big Show going mental at ringside for some reason. The match then upped a level, with a number of 
spots, including Bryan's back superplex on Ambrose, and then Bryan thwarting The Shield's attempted interference sending Roman Reigns into the steel steps and sending Seth Rollins into the table, only for Ambrose to take control again with a DDT on the outside. 

The finish saw Bryan look absolute out of the match, with Ambrose doing a tremendous job working the crowd and yelling at Bryan, only for Bryan to jump up and trap Ambrose in a Small Package to pick up the pinfall victory. I thought this was a strong finish, that played up to Bryan's struggling character well and suited the match that had gone before it. After the match, Randy Orton came down the ramp, only for Bryan to hit a Suicide Dive and take it to Orton. Bryan on top didn't last long however, with The Shield quickly jumping on Bryan. Big Show then appeared to forget Stephanie McMahon's order grabbing a steel chair and attempting to chase away The Shield, but after Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had entered the arena, Big Show quickly backed away. After Orton had hit Bryan with an RKO, Triple H ordered Show to punch Bryan in the face once again. There was some more of Show playing with his conscience which is getting old quickly, luckily Orton was on top form barking order to the World's Largest Athlete which helped this segment a whole lot. With Show taking his time, Daniel Bryan found his feet again and hit Orton with a Running Knee leaving Orton knocked out, as Big Show left the ring. Bryan finished the show by celebrating with the WWE Championship belt. I liked the idea of Bryan being on top to close the last Raw before Night of Champions, it gives the Bryan and Orton rivalry something different, as seeing Bryan get beaten up each week, whilst Bryan does a great job would have gotten old pretty soon. It also gives the viewer hope that Bryan can beat Orton at Night of Champions, which could garner a few extra buys for the pay-per-view. 

Goldust 

vs. 

WWE Champion 

Randy Orton 

(If Goldust wins, Cody Rhodes is rehired) 

I thought the story and hype to WWE bringing back Goldust was really well done by WWE. When it makes storyline sense to bring back Legends like Goldust I am all for it, and it certainly did here with Goldust coming back to attempt to get his brother Cody Rhodes his job back. It did feel a little jarring that Goldust was back in the gold paint, after Rhodes had used it as part of reasoning as why he hated the McMahon family on last week's Raw, but it was still good to see him back in his first Raw match since November 2010. The first time we saw Goldust on the show he was being interviewed by Renee Young, I thought Goldust's promo was really ropey, with some awkward pauses and a delivery that didn't really work for me. Goldust was interupted by Triple H, who put over the pressure of the situation for Goldust. Personally, I don't think this interview segment was needed at all, it lessened the impact of seeing Goldust enter later on and only repeated what we already knew.

Luckily, the match between Goldust and Orton did not disapoint. It was drama filled from the offset and built up really nicely from the beginning, with Goldust attacking Orton with a series of punches getting over the emotion of the situation well. Goldust really took it to Orton in opening section of the match, with the WWE Champion unable to take control, which the crowd absolutely loved, giving Goldust a rousing rendition of “You've Still Got It”. A thumb to the eye gave Orton control of the match, and decent amount of heat, and bar a short comeback for Goldust to head to commercial Orton dominate for the main body of the contest, with a number signature moves and mannerisms of Orton, including the back suplex onto the barricade and the dreaded Randy Orton headlock of doom, which allowed Goldust to build towards a comeback and the strongest section of the match. The match was certainly helped by the strong story heading in, with red hot Toronto crowd 100% behind Goldust, making a number of near falls for Goldust feel even more dramatic, including a school boy roll up after Orton had almost collided with the referee. The best false finish for me saw Orton going for the RKO and Goldust hitting Cross Rhodes in a repeat of last week's false finish with Orton against Cody Rhodes.

The finish saw Goldust arguing with the referee following the previously mentioned Cross Rhodes near fall, allowing Orton to attempt to roll up Goldust, getting a near fall, before Goldust got to his feet and ran straight into an RKO from Orton to give the WWE Champion to pinfall victory. A very enjoyable finish, that built upon the drama that had been layered into the match well. Of course, it was never in doubt that Randy Orton would be picking up the victory here, he is the WWE Champion and it would have been silly for him to lose to someone not even employed by the company, especially with Cody Rhodes still expected to be taking more time off, however the match did a good of making people think otherwise at certain points, as well as continuing a strong string of matches for Orton at the moment.


Later on in the show, Stephanie McMahon approached Goldust in the backstage area, and was in full on bitch mode. McMahon ripped into Goldust, calling him a loser and adding to his emotional distress by reminding him that he let his brother down by losing the match. There is no doubt that Stephanie is fantastic heel, and this proved it for me, a lot of fans legitimately don't like Stephanie and this promo will certainly help towards that. Goldust crying was maybe a bit too far, you can understand, sort of, understand why he might be, but at the same time there has been a lot of crying on WWE television recently, and it's not usually considered a trait of a face to go around crying their eyes out every five minutes. So when will we next see Goldust? I would be surprised if Goldust wasn't in the next Royal Rumble match in January, but due to Goldust's excellent in ring performance I wouldn't mind seeing him sooner as it feels like he still has something to offer the company on a semi-regular basis, at least. 

Kofi Kingston 

vs. 

Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel 

with Paul Heyman

In rematch from last week's Smackdown, Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel took on Kofi Kingston. I have no idea why this wasn't a title match, after Axel lost to Kingston clean on Smackdown. I was really disappointed in this one, after their Smackdown match was a good solid contest. The only moment in the match that was any good, was Kofi Kingston hitting SOS, the move that won him the match on Smackdown, but it was too close to the ropes so Axel grabbed the ropes to break the pinfall. The finish saw Axel beating Kingston down in the corner of the ring,  leading to the disqualification. The finish worked in getting over that if this happens at Night of Champions, CM Punk will be left alone with Paul Heyman, with Heyman selling it really well. For some bizarre reason, Kofi Kingston then hit Axel with Trouble in Paradise to close the segment. Unless WWE have anything planned for Kofi Kingston there was no need for Kingston to get one up on Axel here.

Backstage, Paul Heyman has slipped on some water. Yes, Heyman had slipped on water. With Heyman refusing to be seen by WWE doctors, instead saying his own doctor would see him. It was clear what had happened from the beginning, and it all felt a little bit like a shitty slapstick comedy. Heyman later came back out to the ring, with Curtis Axel and Heyman's Doctor, stating that he wouldn't be able to compete at Night of Champions, whilst also getting cheap heat for some comment about Canadian Healthcare. Heyman played his role really well here, trying to weasle his way out of the match once again. Bizarrely, he was interupted by Raw General Manager Brad Maddox, who headed down to the ring to thwart his plan. It just didn't suit the Maddox character to be the one stopping Heyman's plan, he is after all a heel and part of Triple H's new Corporation. There then followed a really awkward couple of minutes where the WWE doctor examined Paul Heyman, which probably didn't need to be shown on television. The WWE doctor went on to declare that Heyman would be able to compete at Night of Champions. 

With Heyman losing it with Maddox, CM Punk headed down to the ring to rescue the segment. Punk, weilding a Singapore cane again, caused Heyman to forget about his injured leg and run for the hills, with Axel quickly following him. Punk then took his frustrations out on Heyman's Doctor, hitting him with a number of extremely vicious singapore cane shots, that got over what CM Punk can do in the ring when given the chance and made him look like an arse kicking machine. I thought up until CM Punk coming out, this segment was really quite poor, with the exception of Heyman's short time on the mic, feeling extremely goofy in a storyline that has felt very real up until this point. Even with Punk coming out, I still think this is one of the weakest parts of the Punk-Heyman storyline which is a real shame, so close to the pay-per-view.


With Night of Champions just a six days away, I'm beginning to wonder if this storyline has enough legs to take it past this weekend, after already being so strong for the last three months. Whilst I would love to see Punk and Heyman continue their rivalry, it does risk becoming stale pretty soon, with not exactly a lot more space for the story to go. It's a bit like a sit com series, where you've really enjoyed the first three series, and you'd love to see the characters again, but doubt that the writers could come up with situations for those characters to be in, that would be as funny as the situations they have been in before. Part of me is telling me Punk isn't going to be able to get at Heyman at Night of Champions and his frustrations will continue to build, into the next pay-per-view, and the other part of me is saying Punk is going to beat the shit into Heyman and move onto something else, that's why I'm still interested in the Handicap match at Night of Champions. 

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on Raw, Rob Van Dam, accompanied by Ricardo Rodriguez was in action against Ryback. Prior to the match, World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam's Night of Champions opponent came out and cut a promo on Rob Van Dam and Ricardo Rodriguez. It was a short promo, Del Rio didn't do a great job at all. Between calling his Night of Champions opponent washed up, because that's really going to make people want to watch their match at Night of Champions, and a horrible “ADR” chant, Del Rio never really got going in a way that is going to sell pay-per-views. It really wouldn't have taken much for Del Rio to put Van Dam over and then tell us why he will retain the World Heavyweight title, playing up that Rodriguez would be a weak link for Van Dam. 

The match between Ryback and Van Dam was short and really offered nothing of interest. Van Dam dominated Ryback for the majority of the three minutes, hitting a number of signature moves, before heading to the top rope to hit the Five Star Frog Splash. Ryback, however moved out of the way, with Van Dam diving to the outside for a nasty looking collision with the barricade. The finish saw Ryback send Van Dam groin first into the ringpost to give Van Dam the disqualification victory. The segment closed with Ryback delivered Shellshocked to Van Dam. I don't really see what this segment was supposed to achieve, Van Dam destroyed Ryback in the regular part of the match, but the got taken out by Ryback, so this match did absolutely nothing for nobody and with Ryback not booked for Night of Champions made even less sense.

The aforementioned Alberto Del Rio was also in action himself earlier in the night, taking on R-Truth, in a match the Toronto crowd couldn't care less about and to be honest neither could I. R-Truth's now feels completely out of place on Raw, his gimmick is incredibly stale and having not won on Raw since April, he doesn't really have any fan support. The in ring contest actually wasn't too bad, with a nice springboard dive to the outside from R-Truth being the highlight of the bout for me, but I wasn't really presented with a reason to care, either by the competitors in the ring or the commentary team. The finish saw Del Rio duck R-Truth's Corkscrew Scissors Kick, hitting a horrible looking Tilt-a-Whirl Slam, before locking in the Cross Armbreaker to get the submission victory. I thought the finish here was really weak, especially with Del Rio botching his slam, which would usually have been a shoulder breaker. 


I said after my Smackdown review that the Del Rio-Van Dam feud was beginning to gain momentum, and any momentum it had was killed here on Raw. Del Rio buried Van Dam in his promo, then Van Dam ended up getting a beating from Ryback, with Rodriguez doing absolutely nothing and Del Rio had a match no one gave two donkeys about with R-Truth. I couldn't tell you who is going to come out of Night of Champions with the World Heavyweight Champions, and to be quite honest I really couldn't care anymore. That belt is in dire need of an image, which Del Rio's reign is unfortunately not bringing to it, I'm still miffed as to why they dropped Del Rio's feud with Dolph Ziggler before it's conclusion. 

Bray Wyatt also in action this week, surprisingly against Dolph Ziggler. I say surpringly because Ziggler seemed a little too high up the card to be jobbing to Bray Wyatt, but it was obvious WWE wouldn't be having Wyatt lose so early on his career. The match was a decent outing for both men, with Ziggler fighting valiantly against Wyatt, before Luke Harper and Erick Rowan attempted to get involved, with Ziggler evading them similar to what he did with 3MB at a while back, before Wyatt took control, hitting Sister Abigail for the pinfall victory. I suspect WWE is planning big thing for Bray Wyatt at Hell in a Cell, so he needed a victory over a top face in WWE, but it didn't quite seem to fit Wyatt's character to have him be someone dishing out punishment on behalf of Triple H, as we've seen happen to Ziggler in the last couple of weeks. 

In an uninspiring contest The Miz took on World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank winner Damien Sandow. The match trundled along for a couple of minute, with both Sandow and Miz going through the motions again, with the crowd really not caring for what was happening in the ring, but especially for The Miz. Sandow really needs to sort himself out at the moment and stop going through the motions, if he wants me to care about the fact WWE have made him feel unimportant as Money in the Bank holder. Luckily, Fandango came out to interupt the match, with the crowd going Fandangoing crazy, allowing Sandow to sneak a roll up victory over The Miz. The crowd couldn't care less that The Miz had just lost, continuing to dance away oblivious. The only thing that could make this Miz vs. Fandango feud interesting, is if the roles were reversed. 

There was also Six Woman Tag Team action with Total Divas cast member Natalya, Brie Bella and Naomi teaming up to take on Aksana, Alicia Fox & Layla. The action until Natalya and Alicia Fox were tagged in was really quite poor, with some horrible wrestling from Layla and Aksana really not helping the divas division, especially when Layla seems incapable of executing a basic pin, AJ Lee's commentary was the only redeeming factor about that first few minutes. Natalya and Alicia Fox actually wrestled quite well, and I enjoyed this part of the match, with Natalya especially looking fantastic, as she pretty much single handedly took out the other team and picked up the submission victory with the Sharpshooter. I can only hope that Natalya and Diva's AJ Lee are given most of the Fatal Fourway match at Night of Champions, as they are the strongest in the ring by a good way, Naomi is getting there and keeps improving, but if they put the title on Brie Bella, I might have to cause someone physical harm. 

We also got the return of Santino Marella in his first televised match since late April, as he took on Antonio Cesaro of The Real American's. The bout was a lot of fun, with Cesaro dominating the early going, including a ridiculous Giant Swing that went on forever, the crowd going nuts and Cesaro looking like superman. A fun Marella comeback, with all his signature reversals, built up nicely to a Cobra attempt from Marella, with The Cobra being crazily over with the crowd for someone. The finish saw Cesaro back in control, but unable to keep Marella down, with Cesaro shouting some expletive at Marella that was cut by the Sky Sports censors, Marella countered with judo throw hooking the leg to pick the pinfall victory. It was basically the same ending they used later on for Bryan vs. Ambrose (without the judo stuff), and yeah, it does suck a little that Cesaro lost, but Marella probably doesn't get enough credit for his matches, which are almost always entertaining, so I have no real problem with him winning on his return, and the match was some good old harmless fun.


Once again there was some Los Matadores promos, the same ones we've seen for weeks and I cared even less than I did before. 

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's Raw.

1. WWE closing the show with Daniel Bryan celebrating and not a crying Big Show is what's good for business.

2. Bringing Goldust back was a stroke of genius.

3. Apart from Bryan/Orton and Punk/Heyman&Axel, I'm not particularly excited for Night of Champions.