WWE Monday Night RAW #1437 Review - McIntyre & Sheamus vs. Styles, Miz & Morrison

 
 

This week’s RAW had an interesting card on paper. The on-going issues between WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Sheamus were highlighted as the pair tagged up to take on McIntyre’s TLC opponent AJ Styles, Mr. Money in the Bank The Miz and John Morrison in a three-on-two handicap match, Randy Orton went one on one with Bray Wyatt in a rematch from their dreadful WrestleMania 33 bout and Asuka and Shayna Baszler squared off for a mouth-watering first time ever match-up. Plus, Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Hardy and Ricochet & Dana Brooke vs. SLAPJACK & RECKONING in a mixed tag team match.

It was the last show of WWE’s residency at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, so the ‘E were gonna pull out all the stops, right?

Three-on-Two Handicap Match: AJ Styles, Mr. Money in the Bank The Miz & John Morrison def. WWE Champion Drew McInytre & Sheamus

The main story this week centered around the issues between Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, AJ Styles, The Miz and John Morrison. Aside from a Styles promo on Miz TV, you’d be hard pressed to work out what the WWE title match at TLC was, as the problems between the two weren’t as well-defined as what we saw between McIntyre and Sheamus or even the Celtic Connection and Miz & Morrison.

Beginning with Miz TV (not sure why WWE have dropped the Dirt Sheet or why Morrison has essentially become Miz's caddy), we got a quick interview with AJ Styles. The interview was mostly generic TLC based threats, before Sheamus interrupted, followed by his pal and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Whilst Sheamus looks absolutely hilarious at the moment (something he’d make a nod to on RAW Talk later in the night), McIntyre was on good form ripping apart Miz and Morrison for a perceived lack of balls, including a mildly amusing line about Miz borrowing Morrison’s because Miz’s wife Maryse kept them in her purse. In someone else’s hands this probably would’ve come across as pretty lame (like Miz and Morrison’s Scottish and Irish accents earlier on) but McIntyre has a knack of taking sloppy scripts and making it sound cool. McIntyre & Sheamus brawled with Miz & Morrison to close the segment, whilst Styles and his bodyguard, Omos, hung around the outside. Of course, the fact that Styles didn’t help out would get absolutely no reference later on. A clip of McIntyre launching Miz’s Money in the Bank briefcase from the ring to the top of the entrance ramp would be replayed multiple times throughout the show.

The match was fairly standard stuff with Styles only wanting to tag in when McIntyre had been subdued. This was watchable for the most part with solid action, but not a whole lot to talk about until the finish. Actually, that’s a little bit unfair on John Morrison who pulled out some creative offence on a handful of occasions, whilst also taking a major bump off a double fallaway slam from Sheamus & McIntyre, with the Shaman of Sexy getting launched over the announce table. Outside of that you had Sheamus as the Celtic Warrior in peril with Miz and Morrison doing some good heel work, before a hot tag from McIntyre. The pace of the finish was very good however lifting the whole match as Sheamus cleaned house on the heels, until a sweet back and forth sequence with Morrison lead to the Celtic Warrior nailing his own partner with the Brogue Kick. The shock allowed AJ Styles the time to pick up the win for his team with a Phenomenal Forearm. My main takeaway from this was that Morrison is way too good for his current role and I’d be interested to see him switch to go after Miz’s MITB briefcase sometime soon (A Mania ladder match between the two has major potential).

 

The post-match brawl between Sheamus and McIntyre backstage was a lot of fun with the build-up to the confrontation being well handled, creating more tension before the pair exploded on each other. These two are fantastic brawlers and didn’t hold back for this as they leathered the fuck out of each other, until stooge Pat Buck decided to try and break them up. The hapless Buck got launched through a table for his troubles in a wicked spot, before McIntyre and Sheamus laughed off their issues. I’m enjoying the story with Drew and Sheamus at the moment and their relationship is something that hasn’t been seen in WWE for a while, as they’ve been positioned as friends with a healthy rivalry who aren’t afraid to have a scrap if they need to settle something, but will still go for a pint when it’s all over. RAW Talk put an exclamation point on their relationship with the pair coming across very well on that show, with Sheamus happy to show off the shiner that McIntyre had given him. I’m not sure why this is happening during the build-up to McIntyre’s match with Styles a week on Sunday though.

 

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt ended in a No Contest  

 

This is a feud that we’ve seen before and as much as WWE is trying to put a new spin on it with The Fiend and Alexa Bliss, it’s still the same feud. Orton’s promo to open the show was okay, but I’ve always felt like anytime WWE try to push Orton as (in his own words) “the most evil son of a bitch on planet Earth” it doesn’t feel like a natural fit. There is some a decent story to be told here but shoehorning Orton in a box that he doesn’t really fit into isn’t the way to do it. Another issue I had with this was Wyatt’s turn in the Firefly Funhouse. I didn’t get it at all. Wyatt hosted a gameshow (alongside his puppet friends) called “Let’s Get Randy” (see what they did there?) and it went on for ages, had absolutely nothing to say and wasn’t remotely funny. I’m really not sure why this happened. Wyatt does play both sides of the coin well, but his eventually change of pace was not worth having to sit through the gameshow for so long. Eventually, Orton challenged Wyatt (not the Fiend) to a match later in the show, despite the segment having been promoted as Orton going to the Firefly Funhouse.

 

Orton vs. Wyatt went on last and produced some solid action. Despite being two talented dudes with a lot of parallels, the pairs record when opposite each other is less than stellar (WrestleMania 33, anyone?), so it was nice to see them tie up and actually work a decent match with no bells and whistles. Wyatt having a big smile on his face whilst Orton beat the shit out of him was fun stuff. The lad looked absolutely buzzing to get his ass handed to him and played his moments well. Admittedly, the match was fairly paint by numbers stuff but with a couple of nice storytelling touches to keep things interesting. Wyatt being unable to hit Sister Abigail after multiple attempts and Orton initially having his signature back drop on the announce table turned on him, before managing to hit it later on worked well, amongst the standard beatdown-comeback structure. Your mileage on the finish will probably come from how hokey you find the way WWE plays the relationship between The Fiend and Bray Wyatt, but I have to admit that I found it pretty cool when the lights went out mid-RKO and revealed the Fiend lying underneath Orton when they came back on. Finishing the show with a non-contest isn’t all the fun though and without any new direction, cliff-hanger or reason to tune in next week, this ended could have done a lot more. Personally, I’d have ended the show on the brawl with McIntyre and Sheamus as that would have worked as much a better hook for next week.

 

RAW Women’s Champion Asuka def. Women’s Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler

The top women’s segment this week focused around the build towards the unlikely duo of Asuka and Lana challenging the previously unlikely duo of Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the Women’s tag straps at TLC. The scrap between RAW Women’s Champion Asuka and Baszler was the best action on the show this week with the pair have a real physical clash, with plenty of energy. In a way, it feels like a waste of their first one on one clash, as this pairing have so much potential opposite each other that it should have been saved for a PPV, rather than thrown in to push a tag team storyline that is being used as a vehicle for a less capable performer (Lana). The submission sequence with Asuka grabbing a flying armbar before Baszler was able to counter into the Kirafuda Clutch with Asuka reversing into a roll-up and grabbing hold of the Asuka Lock before Baszler got to the ropes was superb stuff indeed. So smooth and yet still full of animosity and intention. The finish, of course, saw Lana and Nia Jax get into it on the outside, with Lana eventually sending Jax into the ringpost with a hurricanrana, before Asuka grabbed a schoolgirl roll-up victory on the Queen of Spades. A good match, but one that could have been great in the right storyline and setting.

 

Following RAW Talk, I was left wondering why Jax & Baszler aren’t allowed to show as much personality on the main show. On RAW we saw them talking before the match about wanting to put Lana’s boobs on her back, but on RAW Talk the Women’s Tag Team Champions were actually entertaining, showing real chemistry and having some fun interactions with Charly Caruso and R-Truth. WWE continues to stilt it’s talent and expect them to make chicken salad out of chicken shit scripts. R-Truth comparing Lana to Goldberg and constantly chanting “Lanaberg” was also entertaining as hell and did a great job of winding up the heels. Truth really is a national treasure and deserves more credit for his work.

 

RAW Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston def. Shelton Benjamin

Cedric Alexander def. RAW Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston

We time-travelled back to 2008 as Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin renewed their ECW feud and produced a mediocre match. I was expecting much better out of Kingston and Benjamin here, but at times they looked like they’d never seen each other before, putting together a number of awkward sequences. Moments that would have been pretty cool had they been performed with the pairs usual slickness, such as Benjamin reversing an SOS attempt with a Gutwrench Powerbomb, came off as flat because the crispness and speed just wasn’t there. After four minutes or so Kingston pulled out the victory with a Trouble in Paradise. The follow-up match Kingston had with Cedric Alexander (after Alexander had called Kofi back to the ring) was a better match, continuing to tell the story of Kingston having an injured leg and doing a much better job with that element. It wasn’t all plain sailing and was hurt by a horrible looking SOS from Kofi, but the scaffolding of the narrative helped out a short match. The aggression from Alexander as he targeted the leg and Kingston’s selling were spot on, with some great storytelling in the finish as Ceddy took advantage of Kofi tweaking his leg coming off the top rope to pick up the win with the Lumbar Check. With Alexander picking up victories over Kingston and Xavier Woods in consecutive weeks, it looks like we’ll get New Day vs. Hurt Business scheduled for TLC on next week’s show.

 

Alexander & Benjamin turned up on RAW Talk later on, but the only noteworthy moment was R-Truth confusing Shelton Benjamin with Benjamin Button.

 

United States Champion Bobby Lashley def. Jeff Hardy

 

Perhaps surprisingly this was Lashley and Hardy’s first one on one match in WWE (although they had two bouts in TNA in 2014 and 2017) and this was certainly a match that happened this week. Nah, seriously, this was solid but much more about building to feud between Lashley and Riddle than it was about putting on an impressive singles match. The wrestling here was fine, with Hardy mostly fighting from underneath as he took beats from Lashley, whilst Riddle’s appearance allowed the Charismatic Enigma some breathing space against the United States Champion. The pair put together some nice exchanges like Lashley attempting to turn Hardy’s Twist of Fate into the Hurt Lock submission and the finish where Lashley dodged the Swanton Bomb to nail a spear and get the submission win with the aforementioned hold. However, for a match that went nearly 15 minutes, there was very little of note and I feel like the pair could have made better use of their time here.

 

Post-match, Lashley lobbed Hardy at Riddle (who kept turning up with his “Bronuts” throughout the show and earlier suggested he and Jeff could team as “The Hardy Bros”). If Riddle wasn’t such a trash human then this could be an interesting feud.

Mixed Tag Team Match: Ricochet & Dana Brooke def. RETRIBUTION (SLAPJACK & RECKONING) 

Remember when Retribution were a big deal? Now they’re getting beaten by Dana Brooke in under two minutes. Brooke and RECKONING had a cat fight, Ricochet hit a rana and corkscrew tope on Slapjack, Slapjack hit a Falcon Arrow on Ricochet then missed a cannonball, RECKONING hit a Jon Woo on Brooke, who instantly recovered to win with a Samoan Driver. That was it. Quite fun to watch, but completely pointless.

After the match Mustafa Ali kicked off at SLAPJACK and RECKONING, so maybe that’s going somewhere. But let’s be honest Retribution has been a complete disaster.

 

Finally…

 

ATPW Scale Rating – 3.68/10

All in all this was a watchable episode of Monday Night RAW, but one that didn’t provide a whole lot to talk about heading out of the show. Besides, the brewing issues with Drew McIntyre and Sheamus that are completely overshadowing what should be a massive showdown between McIntyre and AJ Styles at TLC and a hokey finish between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt, I’m sure what my main takeaway from this episode was. Asuka and Baszler had a good match that was needlessly thrown away on TV, Shelton Benjamin and Kofi Kingston looked awkward as fuck with each other and the rest of the action was somewhere in between. Meanwhile, I wasn’t given much of a reason to tune in next week (Nia Jax vs. Lana?) and arguably even less of a reason to give a shit about TLC.

 

SmackDown 951 Review // AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal

On 7th November 2017, WWE aired the 951st episode of SmackDown on the USA Network, taped earlier in the day at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, Greater Manchester. The show featured Shane McMahon kicking off the show with The New Day leading to Kofi Kingston facing Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal defending the WWE Championship against AJ Styles, as well as appearances from Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, Becky Lynch, Rusev and The Usos...but was it any good? Let's take a look!

Shane McMahon & The New Day Kicked Off SmackDown // 12:36 // 

Kofi Kingston def. Sami Zayn via pinfall // 6:27 //

The opening segment had similar vibes to the one that kicked off RAW on Monday with Shane McMahon basically doing house work for the brand, covering a number of bases. McMahon ran down the card for the show, which got some good reactions, but when he moved to Survivor Series and his "issues" with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle, McMahon felt a little forced and ended up doing a half-arsed job of selling the hackneyed brand rivalry. McMahon also not understanding why the crowd booed when he said Daniel Bryan would return next week showed a real disconnect with the fanbase and how they enjoy the product. Once the New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) arrived though things began to pick up, bringing some much needed energy, as they ran down the red brand for doing nothing following two invasions of their brand. The trio also did a great job when interrupted by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, with their being signs of chemistry between the two units with Kingston getting over the idea that Zayn looks like a paper boy as Big E gave it the big ones as well. Whilst a tag team match would've made more sense, McMahon booked a match between Kingston and Zayn.

A short, but fun first-time clash as Kofi Kingston got creative and pulled out a number of great spots. The Dreadlock Dynamo controlled much of the action shown on screen, with Zayn still settling into playing an antagonist, spending lots of time out on the floor, stalling with Kevin Owens. The standout moment was a dive to the floor from Kingston that is difficult to describe, but essentially saw him get momentum by grabbing and bouncing on the top rope, before flipping over and hitting a senton. The match is probably worth checking out for that moment alone! The final few moments of back and forth saw the two connect well inside the ring, with a slick near fall for Zayn after he ducked a Trouble in Paradise attempt and quickly hit a Blue Thunder Bomb. The two dodged a number of strike attempts in the closing stages, including Kingston blocking a Helluva Kick, although Kofi winning with a springboard crossbody ended up feeling a little flat. Whether Owens was supposed to break up the fall before the three count for a DQ finish, I'm not sure, but it didn't feel like the ending to the match.

After the bell, Kevin Owens jumped Kofi Kingston, with Big E & Xavier Woods quickly running him off.

WWE Championship Match // AJ Styles def. Jinder Mahal (C) via pinfall // 12:32

AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal cut promos directly to the camera, putting themselves over ahead of their WWE Championship clash. Later, in an interview with Renee Young, cut a promo about eating AJ Styles, I think. AJ Styles would also have an interview with Young, discussing portion control, before launching into a passionate speech about being the hardest worker on the roster. 

WWE have been coming to the United Kingdom since 1989 and this was the first ever WWE Championship change in this country. In fact, when AJ Styles downed Jinder Mahal with a Phenomenal Forearm it was the first WWE Championship change outside of the USA since 2006, only the seventh non-US title change and the first time the belt had changed hands outside of North America. That's a great bit of history for the Manchester Arena. That being said, had the match been of the standard of some of Mahal's other title defences, then I'm not sure the win would've had the same level of impact that it did here. Ironically, this was the best match of Mahal's title run. It took a while to get going, with Styles spending a while in a couple of weardowns but Manchester was hyped enough that it didn't end up mattering. At times the action was scrappy, but the right storyline notes were hit and the crowd was hooked for moments like Styles locking in the Calf Crusher repeatedly (unfortunately not later sold by Mahal), Styles kicking out of a Khallas in a false finish that mimicked the finish of most of Mahal's title defences and then the match-winning Phenomenal Forearm. In triumphing, where Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura have both failed and having a watchable main event with Mahal, AJ Styles proved that he's the best professional wrestler in WWE and a match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series is tantalising prospect (if we get a motivated Beast Incarnante)

Becky Lynch def. James Ellsworth via submission // 5:56

James Ellsworth reminded Becky Lynch that they were in Manchester, not Womanchester, ahead of their Intergender bout, with Lynch replying by telling Ellsworth he had no balls. 

WWE did an Intergender match! 2017 is mad. You know what? It wasn't half bad either! There'll be people who hated it just for just being intergender or having comedy elements, but screw those wankers, this was a blast. It told a good, solid story, with Ellsworth playing the cocky, yet outmatched villain, until he realised he wasn't as good at fighting as he thought he was, tried to concede with an unwanted hug and ended up almost losing an arm in the Disarm-her. Inside that it was full of cute moments like Lynch rolling Ellsworth around, Ellsworth doing dorky things and then Lynch seemingly focusing on his balls with an atomic drop. It was a little long for what it was, but Manchester was hot for both acts and seemed to adore the story, lapping up Ellsworth's daft comedy and coming alive for Lynch in a way that hasn't happened for the Irish Lass Kicker for a while.


Carmella nailed Ellsworth with a superkick, seemingly signalling the end of their alliance.

Randy Orton def. Rusev via pinfall // 3:29

Aiden English sang Rusev to the sing, bringing out the big hit, It's Rusev Day.  

After the early attempts at the RKO and Machka Kick, this bout devolved into nothingness, before Randy Orton pulled out a flash victory with an RKO to keep Rusev off the SmackDown Men's Survivor Series team. What this means for Rusev going forward I'm not sure, although the logical move would be to turn him face and batter Aiden English, celebrate Rusev day and show more of his real personality that shines on Total Divas.

Tag Team Championships // Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable def. The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) (C) via countount // 2:49

The Usos cut a prom on the way to the ring, calling Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable "American Alpha Part 2", before welcoming them to Uso Peneteniary with a couple of right hands. 

Chad Gable attacked Jey Uso's knee at ringside with a chop block, ducked under the ring and then Shelton Benjamin watched as the referee counted Jey out, ending up looking dumb as fuck for not rolling Jey in the ring and taking the Tag Team titles.

Another forest-based vignette from the Bludgeon Brothers (Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) aired, as we await their debut. Somewhat weirdly, we also got a behind the scenes look at Damnation, which features Luke Harper, as creator Toby Tost and star Killian Scott (Love/Hate) put the former Intercontinental Champion over.

Shane McMahon booked Natalya vs. Charlotte Flair for 952 with the Women's Championship on the line. 

Watch // 

AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal // 

Kofi Kingston's crazy dive // 

Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth //

Avoid // 

N.A. //

Review by James Marston

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1220 - Chris Jericho v Seth Rollins 3

The 10th October episode (Episode #1220) of Monday Night RAW came from Oakland, California as the fallout from Clash of Champions continued. 

The main event saw Chris Jericho face Seth Rollins for the second time in just over a month, with Jericho having the chance to join a Hell in a Cell match between Rollins and Universal Champion Kevin Owens on 30th October. With Paul Heyman, Cesaro, Universal Champion Kevin Owens, General Manager Mick Foley and Women's Champion Sasha Banks all in major slots on the show, could RAW produce a show that drove them succesfully out of the post-Clash of Champions feel and towards Hell in a Cell? 

The main event saw Seth Rollins defeat Chris Jericho to keep Y2J out of 30th October's Hell in a Cell match in a very good TV main event. The two wrestled a clever bout, that saw Jericho control the action by focusing in on the ribs that Rollins had injured against Kevin Owens back at Clash of Champions. Indeed, it was Owens turning up on the ramp that gave Jericho the opening in the first place. This was all about furthering Rollins cause as he continues to slowly slip in the babyface role, as his gutsy performance whilst fighting against the pain on numerous moments. Fighting to reach the ropes whilst in the Walls of Jericho and kicking out of a Lionsault, moments after struggling to the top rope for a Frog Splash only to miss. Y2J is one of the best people in the business for making his opponent look good and he worked hard to make sure that Rollins looked a million bucks. There wasn't a lengthy period of dominance for Jericho, meaning most of the match was hope spots for Rollins or Rollins kicking out or surviving offence from Jericho or Rollins selling his injuries. 

The finish saw a flash of the pair heading into the next gear, with Jericho blocking a Pedigree and going for another and surely match-winning Walls of Jericho only for The Architect to grab a small package and walk out victorious. The events that followed made it clear why Rollins was given a flash win, as opposed to a more convincing Pedigree victory. Rollins quickly turned the table on an Owens attack, with Jericho saving KO from a Pedigree, before KO would bail and leave Y2J alone with Rollins to take a Pedigree. Whilst it was a nice tease for the upcoming Owens v Rollins rematch, but the real story was the seeds being planted for a Jericho v Owens feud. I'd suggest that this was the reason for Jericho not taking the Pedigree in the match. It's good to see some forward planning from WWE and hopefully the work that was put in here will pay off with an incredible Hell in a Cell bout with Owens and Rollins, before Owens transitions in a feud with Jericho, that could end up defining his title run and The Prizefighter right up to WrestleMania season. 

Slotting into the semi-main slot was Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston (accompanied by the rest of The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) going over Cesaro in a decent match, where the in-ring action was never the focus. After New Day's fun pre-match promo, most of the wrestling flowed nicely with Cesaro and Kingston having a nice chemistry in the ring, that I'd like to see explored more. The story of the bout was that E & Woods had Kingston's back when required, but Sheamus was too busy on Facebook Live to ever help his rival turned tag partner, Cesaro. Of course, this played into the finish, where Sheamus for some reason decided to grab Woods' trombone, Francesca 2, leading to a scrap with E & Woods, before Kingston rolled up Cesaro for the victory. It was entertaining, made sense, but was formulaic and didn't allow the wrestlers to flourish quite as well as it could have. This could be an interesting feud, but I'd like to see get some extra depth over the next two weeks building to Hell in a Cell.

Promoted as Mick Foley's Hell in a Cell address and pushed around the idea that Foley had competed in the most iconic version of the contest, Foley was joined by Stephanie McMahon to initial answer Sasha Banks' earlier request (more on that below). The segment would quickly become the Jeri-KO show as Chris Jericho & Universal Champion Kevin Owens headed to the ring as soon as Foley announced that Owens' match with Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell, would actually be a Hell in a Cell match. Owens and Jericho were their usual uber delightful selves, as Jericho quickly distracted from the fact that Owens didn't want to have a Hell in a Cell match, calling Foley a genie, requesting a private jet and putting Foley on the list twice. I found the ending particular interesting as McMahon appeared to get angry with Jericho, but also gave him an opportunity to get a title match that would also stack the deck against Rollins. The smile on Jericho's face told the story well and whilst I'm not sure how many people will have picked up on it, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how this unfolds across the rest of the Autumn programme. 

The mid-card was topped by a mixed tag team that saw Charlotte & Rusev (seconded by Lana) put over Women's Champion Sasha Banks & United States Champion Roman Reigns. For me, the best thing about this match was the finish as Banks reserved a roll up from Charlotte, locked on the Banks Statement with Reigns seemingly flying through the air and nailing Rusev with spear to deny The Bulgarian Brute the opportunity to interfere. The spear was perhaps the best that Reigns has ever hit and got a massive pop, partly because of it's visual and partly because of the perfect timing. Outside of that the action was solid, but didn't seem to correspond with some of the stories that had been introduced earlier in the show. For me, Reigns was a little too dominant, especially considering he was winning the match. I would've liked to have seen Rusev look incredible for a long time, build him up to look like he would've defeated Reigns, if Reigns hadn't been able to tag out and you've got an interesting story to go forward with into Hell in a Cell. 

Rewinding a little, the set-up for the mixed tag came at the top of the show as Sasha Banks opened RAW. Banks opening promo about winning the title and her journey to winning it was very well done. It was written well, felt personal and delivered with conviction. However, things became a bit messy from there as WWE struggled to bring the four competitors together to set up the match. As Charlotte headed out to discuss Hell in a Cell, Rusev interrupted before she'd even made it down the ramp. It quickly became clear that this was another attempt to get Roman Reigns over with the audience. Charlotte & Banks teamed to knock Rusev from the ring, because he called them "Lost women" in a misogynistic rant. There was a wonderful shot of a fuming Rusev dusting himself down outside of the ring and seemingly getting ready to assault The BFFs in some shape or form. Of course, Reigns music hit and he saved the women like a knight in shining arm. Unfortunately, instead of a massive pop, Reigns got a loud boo (mixed reaction, if you're being generous). Not sure how I feel about the message that the companies' top two women couldn't have handled themselves against Rusev.

The highlight of the show for me was Paul Heyman's return, as he announced that Brock Lesnar was issuing a challenge to Goldberg for a match at a future date. This was hype heavily throughout the show with Goldberg's ESPN interview with Jonathan Coachman being shown. The simple fact that Heyman made me want to see a rematch from a WrestleMania match that has featured one many a list of the worst matches ever to take place on that show stands as a testament for just how good this man is with a microphone in his hand. Heyman introduced the idea that Lesnar and Goldberg had had similar trajectories, showing a believable frustration that Lesnar lost the original match before passionately building it to a crescendo by challenging The Myth to a bout with The Beast. Just over five minutes of screen time, but every seconding was fascinating to watch. Bravo, Mr. Heyman, bravo. 

In the top contest from the Cruiserweight division this week, Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins continued to steadily get over with the audience as he defeated Ariya Daivari via submission. This was simple and effective contest, that showcased Perkins perfectly as he showed off some of his flashy offence, before Daivari worked effectively as the rough and tumble heel, before some back and forth lead to a strong finish. Daivari was brilliant in his role, generously helping Perkins to look as good as he possibly could, bumping crisply for him when called up, but also allowing him to show his ability to fight from underneath and survive big moves like the hangman's neckbreaker. The finish saw Daivari miss a Frog Splash, appearing to bang his knee in the process, with Perkins hitting a wrecking ball dropkick before locking in a knee bar for the submission victory. Brian Kendrick did as good a job as he could on commentary, despite having to fight against some repetitive questions from Saxton and Cole. The last thing heard was the comparison off Perkins' knee bar and Kendrick's Captain's Hook submissions and that should prove to the story of their 30th October.

Best of the Rest 

• Lince Dorado & Sin Cara went over Drew Gulak and Tony Nese in a decent Cruiserweight Division bout, that the crowd warmed to well.

• Bayley defeated Cammy Fields, before Dana Brooke attacked Bayley - Braun Strowman defeated The Splash Brothers (Clay Splash & Steven Splash) in a Handicap Match, before asking Mick Foley for more competition – Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson attacked Big Cass & Enzo Amore before a match – Neville & Sami Zayn defeated Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel - R-Truth (seconded by Goldust) defeated Titus O'Neil

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.56/10

Show in a Sentence - Mostly entertaining but with some odd or ham-fisted booking, but with a fine TV main event and a wonderful promo from Paul Heyman.

Best Moment - Paul Heyman calls out Goldberg

Worst Moment - Cesaro v Kofi Kingston 

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1192 (Owens, Stardust & Miz vs. Ziggler, Zayn & Cara)

Check out last week's Monday Night RAW review, featuring a look at AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens and more here

On 28th March 2016, WWE aired the 1192nd episode of Monday Night RAW live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA on the USA Network. With 6 days until WrestleMania XXXII, WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens teamed with Stardust & The Miz to take on Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn and Sin Cara, The Undertaker and Shane McMahon came face to face ahead of their upcoming Hell in a Cell Match and WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston of The New Day took on League of Nations' Alberto Del Rio...but was it any good? Let's find out.

monday night raw #1192 match card

Match 1 - Singles - Chris Jericho vs. Zack Ryder

Match 2 - Singles - Becky Lynch vs. WWE Diva's Champion Charlotte w/Ric Flair 

Match 3 - Tag Team - The Social Outcasts (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) w/Adam Rose & Heath Slater vs. Kane & The Big Show

Match 4 - Singles - WWE Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston (The New Day) with WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Alberto Del Rio (League of Nations) w/League of Nations

Match 5 - Singles - Konnor (The Ascension) w/Viktor (The Ascension) vs. WWE United States Champion Kalisto (Lucha Dragons)

Match 6 - Singles - Paige (The Total Divas) w/The Total Divas vs. Emma (B.A.D. & Blonde) w/B.A.D. & Blonde

Match 7 - Six Man Tag Team - Stardust, The Miz & WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens vs. Sin Cara, Dolph Ziggler & Sami Zayn

shane mcmahon smashes the undertaker through the announce table

This was a superb opening segment, as The Undertaker and Shane McMahon both put in top class performances, and added the last bit of sheen to the six week build to their Hell in a Cell match in six days time in Dallas. It all started off with Undertaker giving it the big the ones and pulling out the cliches like "WrestleMania is my yard" and what have you, with a boisterous Brooklyn crowd offering a great backdrop for the Deadman. Things really shifted into top gear, however, when Shane McMahon interrupted the former 4 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The two went back and forth seemingly trying to provoke each other and it was fantastic to watch it all unfold, with the crowd popping for any utterance either man made.

“You've been your Daddy's bitch” was what it took for Shane O'Mac to see red and the pair brawled their way out of the ring and around ringside. A big memorable moment to kick off the show, as McMahon got the better of his more decorated opponent with the help of TV monitor and followed it up with an elbow drop off the top rope straight through the announce table. WWE needed to show that McMahon could go toe to toe with the Undertaker in some shape of form, to allow fans to buy into Shane O'Mac as a viable threat to the Deadman on Sunday night in Texas, and I felt that they managed to do a damn good job of doing so here, whilst also keeping the Undertaker looking strong. A great opening to complete the TV portion of a feud that has came completely out nowhere to become the highlight of the last six weeks.

fast-forward...A quick recap of the goings on from the opening segment

zack ryder vs. chris jericho

Zack Ryder's 1st singles victory on Monday Night RAW since July 2014, saw the Long Island Iced Z end up part of Chris Jericho's ongoing feud with AJ Styles. Ryder and Jericho hadn't even locked up before Styles was out (wearing no shirt for reasons that were never explained) and causing problems for the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion in attempt to get his desired WrestleMania match against Y2J. A cheeky roll-up got the win for Ryder after just over two minutes. The Jericho and Styles feud has trod water for a while now, but there was some decent stuff going on here. Y2J losing his shit after the match and smashing a chair against the ring post showed his sheer frustration well, with things eventually escalating into Jericho accepting Styles' challenge for the Granddaddy of Them All. I do however wish someone would teach Styles the cadence needed in order to get a chant going, as his attempted "Y2Jackass" chant fell flater than a witch's tit, despite many many attempts.

becky lynch vs. charlotte

After some strong work over the last few months to build towards the WWE Diva's Championship match at WrestleMania, Becky Lynch and Charlotte's match ended up being a bit of shambles. The wrestling was fine, but I just can't get my head around the booking. Sasha Banks sat a ringside but didn't do commentary, and barely got involved in the match, which was head-scratcher and Charlotte going on Becky just 6 days before Becky get's a shot at Charlotte's WWE Diva's Championship makes little to no sense. Having Charlotte win with a move that's been used mostly as a false finish since she made the step from NXT (Natural Selection) didn't aid matters either. All three women just looking around after the match left things feeling incomplete just days before the biggest match of their careers!

fast-forward...Vince McMahon was interviewed by Renee Young, but for me the segment came alive when Shane McMahon interrupted, after a tired performance from Vince...After Social Outcast members Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel match with Big Show and Kane ended in a mass-brawl to promote the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal from the WrestleMania Pre-Show, with Kane and Show finishing things off with a couple of chokeslams...A recap of Roman Reigns attacking Triple H in the parking lot from Monday Night RAW #1191 aired...

the authority looks forward to a record wrestlemania attendance

Another piece of weird booking as WWE has seemingly lost any idea of what it's trying to achieve with Triple H's feud with Roman Reigns. The Authority had some pretty good heat in Brooklyn, but The Game's lengthy solo promo seemed completely aimless. The current WWE World Heavyweight Champion put Reigns over strongly, reminding the Brooklyn crowd that "they don't have the ability to make their dreams a reality" but that Reigns does. How on earth is that supposed to make a crowd that was already more than sceptical about Reigns cheer for him? A brief scrap between Reigns and Triple H closed the segment, but that wasn't the last we'd see between the two on show.

kofi kingston vs. alberto del rio

After The New Day had had some cereal based banter, it was time for Kofi Kingston and Alberto Del Rio to have their 15th televised match! The action between the two was pacy and crisp as they made the best of their seven minutes of match time, fitting in a lot and keeping things extremely watchable throughout. Xavier Woods playing La Cucaracha on his trombone was an interesting moment in the bout, especially with things Del Rio has previously said about his treatment during his last WWE run. It did however work nicely into a more aggressive Del Rio, and provided some much needed fire to proceedings. Kingston would eventually cap of a solid bout by reversing Del Rio's cross armbreaker attempt into a school boy roll-up after just over seven minutes. The surprise return of Jonathan Coachman to another that Sportscenter will air live from WrestleMania on Sunday and to dance with New Day was nice little addition as well. 

fast-forward...The commentary team pushed what was coming up on the WWE Network through the rest of the week...Backstage, The Dudley Boyz lured Roman Reigns into a backstage assault from Triple H...The previous segment got replayed...WWE United States Champion Kalisto squashed The Ascension's Konnor, before having a weird stare down with his WrestleMania Pre-Show challenger Ryback...

paul heyman is ready to unleash brock lesnar on dean ambrose 

A killer segment here as WWE let Paul Heyman do what he does best and just talk and talk and talk. Heyman put over every single element of the Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose match on Sunday night and made it seem like the most important thing that will ever happen in the history of the world. Just sheer poetry here. So much so, that my bullet points for the segment read - "Heyman. Heyman. Heyman". The stuff about Lesnar giving Ambrose a colonoscopy on Sunday was a bit odd though, not sure that many people will be tuning in with the hope of seeing one of those in Dallas. I got a nice little kick out of Dean Ambrose coming to ring to fill up his red wagon with potential plunder, without even acknowledging Lesnar or Heyman, before exiting up the ramp. It was perhaps a little flawed in logic, but I don't really care, it made me want to see Lesnar and Ambrose tear strips off each other and hopefully that's what we'll get at WrestleMania.

the total divas see red

Emma and Paige are more than capable of putting on an absolute classic encounter, but when place in the middle of the bizarre Total Divas vs. B.A.D. and Blonde feud it didn't really stand much chance. It was only a couple of minutes before the outside action distracted the referee long enough for Lana to level Paige with a big ol' kick to give Emma the win. With the heels having one more member of there team, I'd kind of seen the next moment coming. There was only one person who could save The Total Divas and of course, that one person, was Eva Marie! She made her Monday Night RAW return to take out Lana, seemingly joining The Total Divas side for their match on the WrestleMania Pre-Show on Sunday. What a time to be alive, eh? 

fast-forward...Another backstage segment with Goldust & R-Truth...Snoop Dogg was announced as this year's Celebrity Inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame...

dolph ziggler, sami zayn and sin cara vs. kevin owens, the miz and stardust

Wow, where to even begin with this one? Let's go with the crowd. Brooklyn turned on this match after five minutes or so and I'm not sure there were being quite as smart as they thought they were being. I completely understand them being a bit pissed off with how the Intercontinental Championship has been handled over the last two weeks or so and their frustrations with the shitty booking of the seven man ladder match, but chanting for "CM Punk" or "RVD" was not the best way to show their frustration. Why not cheer for usual favourites like Sami Zayn? Why not show the WWE how popular Zayn is? Nah, fuck it, that'd be stupid. I wouldn't be surprised if WWE nixed any upcoming plans to push Zayn post-WrestleMania and goes for something else instead. There was an opportunity to make a real statement about what the fans want to see and Brooklyn wasted it.

Whilst I actually thought that the six man was a bloody good contest, with some strong build-up work, nice storytelling that rewarded fans for paying attention and a thrilling sequence towards the end, it was clear for everyone to see that the contest was way too long. Taking up two commercial breaks, the match actually ended up going over 21 minutes. For a six man tag that was essentially a throw-away piece of build for a lazily put together WrestleMania match that is way, way too long. You could have gotten away with taking ten minutes or even more off the match and came out with a much more effective contest. Why would you expect a tired crowd that hasn't seen a match go longer than 8 minutes so far to stay hooked for a 21 minute bout with no consequence and featuring guys like Sin Cara and Stardust who have been essentially job guys for the last few months? 

roman reigns and triple h trade punches before wrestlemania 

Luckily we were saved another coma-inducing promo from Triple H, as Roman Reigns interrupted early and events followed a paint-by-numbers formula to complete the bulk of the companies WrestleMania programming. Reigns and Triple H got into a scrap, with Reigns getting the upperhand before the heel locker room emptied and then the babyfaces evened the score and a pull-apart brawl erupted. A beautiful dive of the top rope from Reigns onto Triple H and a crowd of performers was the highlight, as the Big Dog transformed into a majestical swan to close the show. The show close wasn't the most original piece of television but it at least kept me entertained and had nice pace and drive. 

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.70/10

Despite it's a number of flaws, the go-home show for WrestleMania was actually a pretty good show overall. The opening segment with Shane McMahon and The Undertaker duking it out set a level that the show struggled to compete with, although the Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose segment later in the show did a pretty good job of things, whilst even the un-original show closer was an entertaining watch. 

It was a shame that a lot of the show didn't seem to have been thought about beyond the fact that it needed to mention the number of WrestleMania and WrestleMania Pre-Show matches that had been booked for Sunday. The six man tag to promote the Intercontinental Championship Ladder match went ridiculously long and lost the crowd, the Divas Championship build was poorly put together and then there's the other women's storyline that's happening for reasons. It wouldn't have taken much for someone to pay attention to the card and apply a bit of critical thought about how best to showcase what would be on offer on Sunday, but it seemed that no one could be arsed to do that here.

Overall this was a better than average show to lead into WrestleMania, but a rather flabby piece of television in places.