TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1233 - Shawn Michaels Returns

With the Royal Rumble just twenty days away, WWE brought Monday Night RAW to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana on 9th January. The episode was headlined by returning Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels and his in-ring promo segment with Rusev, Jinder Mahal, Lana, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, whilst the main event was a Two on One Handicap match over the WWE United States Championship, with Roman Reigns defending against Chris Jericho and WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. With The Undertaker, RAW General Manager Mick Foley, Seth Rollins, RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus and Sasha Banks also featured, could RAW start heading in the right direction? 

This week's headline segment, featuring Shawn Michaels, Rusev, Jinder Mahal, Lana, Big Cass and Enzo Amore, is a difficult piece of television to review. I loathed the first five minutes, but it managed to find purpose once Rusev and his pals emerged, but then also ended up being a long-winded set-up for a Cass v Mahal match that I'm pretty sure no one had asked for. The fifty-one year old Michaels' ended up looking like a fish out of water, as he attempted to shill his new film, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, as well as the Rumble, managing to end up talking to some fan off camera. Then the crowd chanted "One More Match" and it was awkward as fuck. At least once The Bulgarian Brute emerged with Mahal and Lana, the segment found a purpose that wasn't one guy telling me to watch a truly awful looking film. The story of Rusev wanting Lana to be in a film that is due for release this month was kind of lame, but RuRu made it work with odd ball humour, like randomly turning heel on Star Wars. The whole thing limped towards a Mahal and Cass match after some clumsy interaction between HBK and Enzo & Cass.

Chris Jericho picked up his first WWE United States Championship by defeating Roman Reigns in a handicap match with WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens on his team. To say that I enjoyed this bout would be an overstatement, but it was certainly watchable and managed to finish positively with a convincing flurry from Owens and Jericho, including an apron powerbomb for KO. It's difficult to get too excited or interested though when presented with a damp squib of a concept. Nothing about this match felt important, from the handicap gimmick, that saw Reigns having to defend against two guys he's beaten previously, to the United States Championship, which has seemed less significant by the week since Reigns has set his focus on Owen's title. WWE needlessly booked themselves into a corner, as an underhanded Jericho win on last week's episode would have felt a much bigger moment than it ended up being here.

RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus went over Luke Gallows, in a scrap that was made by a strong false finish, as the rivalry between Sheamus & Cesaro and Gallows & Karl Anderson heats up. That false finish saw Sheamus distracted by Cesaro and Anderson brawling on the ramp (they had both been on commentary), allowing Gallows' to hit a Fireman's Carry Flapjack (fka Festus Flip) for a long two count. The timing on the moment was perfect by all involved and created a genuinely surprising kick out, something that doesn't often come along on RAW. Sheamus would go on to win with a Brogue Kick to even up the teams series, after Anderson had beaten Cesaro last week. The rest of the match was fairly standard stuff, that aired on the clumsy side at points, with a handful of timing and fluidity issues.

The show's opener saw Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins go to a double countout, after Strowman dodged a dive to the outside and couldn't get Rollins back into the ring in time. It was flimsy finish to contest that had really grabbed me with some cute storytelling in it's earlier moments. Rollins bumped like a trooper for the big fella, including a wonderful chokeslam in which The Architect appeared to be heading for the ceiling until Strowman decided he'd rather attempt to plow his opponent through the mat instead! This also allow for Rollins to look at his most babyface since his turn as he fought valiantly against the Beast, bringing some of the fire that has been missing. It might not have been the most technical of outings, but unlike Rollins' match with Kevin Owens last week, it was full of urgency and purpose. The spot with Strowman being able to thwart a blockbuster attempt by just holding Rollins in mid-air was crazy good stuff and the best way to get Strowman over with a portion of the audience that isn't kind on larger wrestlers.

The Undertaker declared that he'll be competing in his first Royal Rumble since 2009, in a short, but sweet, promo, that also briefly referenced his WrestleMania streak concluding in New Orleans three years ago. The content seemed to signpost that we'll see Undertaker's WrestleMania opponent revealed during the match, as The Deadman put a lot of emphasis on how he'd seek revenge if anyone stopped him from winning. The pre-amble to Undertaker's appearance was less impressive, with idea that General Manager Mick Foley needed Undertaker to appear or Commissioner Stephanie McMahon would fire him being one that I struggled to buy into. The initial tease of a Taker appearance after Foley begged him to come out, only for McMahon to turn up when the light's went off, did garner a little chuckle, but the rest of the segment and indeed, this storyline in general felt more than a little unnecessary when there's more interesting and deserving talent not getting a chance to breath. 

"Titus O'Neil wants to join the New Day" is the worst storyline 2017 has offered up so far. Whilst last week's interaction wasn't all that bad, there was less than no one who wanted to see a sequel. If a return of last week wasn't desired, I believe there were civilisation whose whole belief system was built around praying that the keg run from the bizarre other world of 2010 NXT would never ever make a comeback. Not only did we get replay of O'Neil falling over seven years ago, but there was the added treat of stock falling over sound effects that I'm fairly sure caused a little bit of wee to escape down Vinny Mac's trouser leg. Just when I was pretty sure the pain was over and the segment would be put out of it's misery, New Day presented O'Neil with a keg of "Booty Juice" ("It makes sure your throat is loose") to run around the ring with. Then O'Neil "dropped" the keg just before the line. Then something else happened. Fuck. I don't know. It wasn't good, whatever it was. What could happen next week? Surely, it won't be as bad as this? 

Somehow getting less time than the previous segment was RAW Women's Champion Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax's victory over Bayley and Sasha Banks in a completely baffling piece of booking. Banks was still selling her knee that was injured in the Iron Man match at Roadblock: End of the Line and did so well. However, it was Number One Contender Bayley who worked the face in peril role, after initially being out-wrestled by Flair and then trounced by Jax. After Bayley's fluke win over Jax the week previous she really needed to cemented as a credible contender for Flair's championship in this match, something that could have been done with a roaring hot tag, before Banks ultimately fell to Jax to simultaneously build their feud. Perhaps that was too obvious? Because what actually happened was Bayley failed to see Jax tag in on Flair and then ended up being pinned following a leg drop. What? Just like last week's three minute Bayley v Jax match, I don't get what this achieves and who it's helping. 

Any Other Business

• Kofi Kingston pinned Titus O’Neil with Trouble in Paradise in a match that occurred. 

• Jack Gallagher picked up a victory over Drew Gulak in a fun, but brief match.

• Big Cass went over Jinder Mahal, with Shawn Michaels hitting Rusev with a Sweet Chin Music on the outside.

• Neville defeated Lince Dorado, debuting a new Rings of Saturn-esque submission.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 3.93/10

As you could probably tell, I didn't really enjoy a lot about this week's Monday Night RAW. Maybe it was something to do with having a killer cold and watching it live at past 1am or maybe it was just a bit shit. There was probably about an hour and half worth of content here, that they managed to pad out to fill the 3 hour slot, creating a flabby piece of TV. Having both Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker on the same show, should have driven viewers towards those segments, but both segments wasted their time at points. The main event was solid, but strange piece of booking, Gallows v Sheamus didn't quite deliver and Rollins v Strowman was bright until the finish. Overall, the in-ring quality that helped last week's episode had dipped a little this week, whilst the incomprehensible booking (US title match, New Day & Titus, Women's tag, lack of time given to Cruiserweights) appeared to be getting worse also. 

Seeing as next week is the penultimate show before the Rumble, I'm hoping for a big improvement, but I'm not getting my hopes up!

Review - James Marston

Photo credit - wwe.com 

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TV Review: Monday Night RAW #1204 (James Marston)

It was the night after Money in the Bank, WWE had a brand new World Heavyweight Champion in the shape of Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles had something to prove after his controversial victory over John Cena and the Money in the Bank ladder match competitors were all looking to get back in the hunt...with the WWE Draft looming just over 4 weeks away, what direction would WWE take in the first Monday Night RAW of the Summer...and would it be any good? Let's start with the big stuff, eh? 

Book-ending the show, we had the fallout of Dean Ambrose's Money in the Bank briefcase cash-in on Seth Rollins, who had himself taken the title from Roman Reigns, on the PPV the night before. The opening segment saw both Reigns and Rollins interrupt Ambrose's address to stake claim to being Ambrose's first title defense opponent. I thought all three men put in top quality performances on the microphone with Ambrose's promo style being completely different from anyone else on the programme, making him standout as the champion even more. Reigns interaction with the crowd seemed was particularly interesting as he told them to "Shut up", I suppose with Ambrose now holding the title we'll get to see Reigns push the heel side of his character even more. Rollins, of course, was his usual self, owning every second he was on screen with a passionate promo against both Reigns and Ambrose. 

Shane McMahon booked Reigns vs. Rollins are the main event with the opportunity to face Ambrose on 24th July at Battleground in Washington, D.C.. The match was pretty much a compressed version of the pairs match on PPV the night before, being quick to move into a back and forth format, with both men getting some strong near falls. It lacked the detailed start that had been used for the PPV bout, but with the crowd being much more mixed in Phoenix, it perhaps didn't need to work so hard. It wasn't the best match that the pair could have done, but still saw the work hard and produce a solid television main event. 

The finish was a fairly obvious one, as both men ended up getting counted out after brawling around ringside. There was a nice element where Rollins managed to get back in the ring, only for Reigns to pull him back and therefore meaning the referee had to restart his count, that added a little extra drama to the rather basic finish. Shane McMahon would come out, but in a cute little twist Ambrose revealed that he'd face both men at Battleground. To be honest, I'm pretty sure everyone was expecting them to go for the Shield triple threat and it really could've been booked at the beginning of the show and allowed something a bit fresher to take place here. Unless Reigns and Rollins were going to have a match at least on the level of their PPV encounter, then I personally would've just booked the three way at the start of the show. 

In the semi-main slot, we had the continuation of John Cena and The Club's rivalry. The talking part of the segment was top class, with AJ Styles opening things by asking Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to apologise to him for interfering in his match the night before. The segment had a rather different tone, that I'm finding hard to describe. Styles looked like a dick, so did Gallows and Anderson, because they all looked like they playing out somekind of inside joke. This continued when Styles called out Cena so that Gallows & Anderson could apologise to him. This lead to a brilliant exchange between Cena and Styles, with The Cenation Leader coming out all guns blazing, claiming that Styles was "not as good as you think you are". Styles would fire back some bombs of his own, with both men showing a real passion and drive, with a real feel of the two having an issue with each other.

Styles offering Cena a match with any member of The Club, only to back out of a potential rematch, was another nice touch, it managed to add another level to feud and build more anticipation for a potential rematch. Cena's match with Karl Anderson was then perhaps disappointingly short, as any followers of Anderson's work in NJPW or ROH would surely know that Anderson would be more than capable of having a brilliant television bout with Cena, if given the chance. However, in terms of advancing the storyline, the Club running into the bout as soon as Cena hit an Attitude Adjustment, destroying Cena with a Magic Killer and a Styles Clash, was probably much more beneficial heading in a Styles vs. Cena rematch. Personally, I'd like to see Anderson and Gallows presented a bit stronger than they currently are, as they are coming across as Styles' lackeys, which might mean that we don't get to see them reach their full potential in WWE. 

Rounding off the top portion of the card, we had Paige challenging unsuccessfully for Charlotte's WWE Women's Championship. This was a much more satisfying match than they had on last week's show and arguably a better match than the Women's tag bout that was chosen for PPV the night earlier. There was a lovely thread through the bout with Paige getting numerous near falls, which all got strong reactions from the Phoenix crowd, thanks to Paige being seen as something of an underdog. The finish built up the relationship between Charlotte and Dana Brooke, as it was Brooke's involvement that would allow Charlotte to hit Natural Selection and secure the victory. Having been kept away from the Women's title picture since WrestleMania, it was great to see Sasha Banks return to the top table after the match, with a feud between Charlotte and Sasha having the potential to reignite the division, if handled properly.

Coming out of multi-man bouts at Extreme Rules and Money in the Bank, we saw a focus returned to Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens feud, with the pair facing off in the opening match. A fun, well-paced clash here, with both men bringing plenty of intensity to a fairly short bout, by their standards. It could have been easy for the duo to sit back here, after a brutal Money in the Bank ladder match the night before, but it felt like both men wanted to give as much as they could within the time constraints, as they both pulled out big moves, including a lovely half and half suplex from Zayn as part of the best sequence of action of the match. Zayn picking up his first victory over Owens in WWE (and only his 2nd ever) was needed to drive the storyline, with the flash manner of the win bringing a little bit extra to any future rematch. The pull apart brawl has been a little overdone recently, so I wasn't too into the stuff the duo did after the match. 

A short straight-forward tag match between Enzo and Cass and The Vaudevillains would settle their feud this week, with Enzo and Cass coming out victorious in a matter of minutes. It was very short and almost felt like an enhancement match, rather than a feud ender, as Enzo had a short face-in-peril stint, before making the hot tag and Cass cleaning house before picking up the victory. Nothing wrong here, but I would have liked to have seen a bit more emphasis on this match. Enzo and Cass looked great, but it was a real shame to see a strong and over team like the Vaudevillains end up getting pushed aside very quickly.

The return of the Wyatt Family was heavily hyped on the RAW Pre-Show, and after a couple of teasers throughout the main show, we'd eventually get to here Bray Wyatt cut a fairly solid promo. Things would take a turn however when the group were interrupted by The New Day. At first I got pretty excited about the prospect of a feud between the two groups, but then I began to worry if their two very different styles would be able to connect. In the ring, there's potential to have a fun match in a six man (even more so if Luke Harper get's back in the mix) but the promos could end up being too much of a good thing. Unless Wyatt can come up with an answer for The New Day's comical style, we may see something similar to his feud with John Cena a few years ago, where part of the mystique and uniqueness of the Family is taken away.

Following on from their average match at Money in the Bank, Titus O'Neil and Rusev were scheduled to have a rematch on the show. What we got however was finally a glimpse at what O'Neil is capable of when he dips into his mean streak and really has a reason to go after someone. After a disappointing promo on the Pre-Show, I thought O'Neil really stepped up his game here, with a powerful interview with Renee Young, followed up by beating the snot into the United States Champion. I'm hoping we get to see these two really begin to tap into this side of their game, as I think if they're given a reason for the characters to hate each other, it might bring out a much better match than we saw on Sunday.

Finally...ATPW Scale Rating - 5.7/10

A slightly improved effort on last week's show, with two strong talking segments being the highlight. The three way Shield opener had a lot of intrigue heading in and managed to live up to it's billing, whilst the three quality performances were joined by AJ Styles and John Cena's efforts later in the show. The match quality on the show wasn't great, but there was nothing that was anywhere near being a bad match. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens probably had the match of the night, as Rollins and Reigns' main event felt more like treading water and filling time until the triple threat could be announced for Battleground. 

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1198 (The Club vs. Reigns & The Usos)

On 9th May 2016, WWE aired the 1198th episode of Monday Night RAW, live from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, on the USA Network. 8 days removed from Payback 2016, WWE World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, now going by The Club, clashed with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and The Usos in an Elimination Tag Team bout, Sami Zayn got a chance to earn a spot in a WWE Intercontinental Championship match at Extreme Rules 2016, as he went one on one with WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Big Cass interrupted an edition of Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel...but was it any good? Let's take a look! 

monday night raw #1198 match card

Match 1 – Men's Singles – Dolph Ziggler vs. 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Winner Baron Corbin 

Match 2 – Men's Singles – R-Truth with Tyler Breeze vs. Fandango with Goldust

Match 3 – Women's Singles – WWE Women's Champion Charlotte vs. Paige (Ric Flair is banned from ringside)

Match 4 – Men's Singles – Sami Zayn vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz with Maryse (If Zayn wins he is added to the WWE Intercontinental Championship match at Extreme Rules 2016)

Match 5 – Sin Cara with WWE United States Champion Kalisto vs. WWE United States Championship #1 Contender Rusev with “The Ravishing Russian” Lana

Match 6 – Men's Tag Team Elimination - Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson & WWE World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender AJ Styles vs. The Usos & WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns

Match 7 – Men's Singles – Zack Ryder vs. Kevin Owens (If Ryder wins he'll replace Owens in the WWE Intercontinental Championship match at Extreme Rules 2016)

Match 8 – Men's Tag Team – WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day: Big E & Kofi Kingston with Xavier Woods vs. The Dudley Boyz: Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley

Commentary: John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Michael Cole, Bryon Saxton & Natalya (Charlotte vs. Paige only)

Theme(s) - "The Night (2014 Remix)" by CFO$/Kromestatik and "Denial" by We Are Harlot

fast-forward...A recap of last week's main event with Roman Reigns and The Usos facing AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson with the aftermath...

cass interrupts the return of jericho's highlight reel

Just six weeks after his Monday Night RAW debut, Big Cass was part of the opening segment, alongside former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho. It was a big moment for the 29 year old from New York and he did himself proud holding his own with the veteran main event star. "Y2J", of course, gave Cass a brilliant lead in, boasting about injuring Dean Ambrose on Monday Night RAW #1197 and continuing to run-down "The Lunatic Fringe" for apparently having less charisma than Mitch the Potted Plant (RIP), before ripping on the Nebraska crowd. Honestly, this was some of Jericho's best work this year, that worked perfectly towards Cass' interruption whilst also adding fire to "Y2J"'s feud with Ambrose. The segment closing with Cass getting the better of Jericho both verbally and then physically, instantly shifted "The Big Bambino" into a new role whilst Enzo Amore recovers from his concussion. 

fast-forward...Chris Jericho went to Stephanie McMahon to complain about Colin Cassady and ended up being booked in a match with him later on...

corbin defeats ziggler

I've had my criticisms of Baron Corbin in the past, but he's accounted for himself very well since arriving on Monday Night RAW #1193. Dolph Ziggler has provided a quality first programme for the Kansas City native over their six week feud, with this match seemingly being the culmination of that as Corbin went over clean with an End of Days after initially sending Ziggler face first into the top turnbuckle. A lively crowd helped make a neatly booked contest, that saw lots of near falls for "The Show-Off" but mostly dominance from "The Lone Wolf". Credit to Ziggler for working his arse off to make Corbin look as good as he possibly could have. His posting for Deep Six in stands out as particularly impressive. Whilst this felt like a natural end to this feud, perhaps we'll see the duo go at it one more time at Extreme Rules 2016 on 22nd May with some kind of gimmick in place. 

fast-forward...WWE Women's Champion Charlotte and Ric Flair visited Shane McMahon to get him to overturn Stephanie McMahon's decision to ban Flair from ringside during Charlotte's match with Natalya at Extreme Rules 2016, only for McMahon to ban Flair from Charlotte's match with Paige later tonight...Jo-Jo interviewed AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, with Styles telling us that The Club is back together...R-Truth pinned Fandango with bare antics from Goldust and Tyler Breeze at ringside...Stephanie and Shane McMahon are about to make a Triple Threat match at Extreme Rules 2016 with The Miz defending his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Cesaro and Kevin Owens, but Sami Zayn interrupts and talks himself into a match with Miz later on, if Zayn wins he joins the match...

paige defeats charlotte 

Fun little match here, with Paige and Charlotte putting on a physical encounter that would eventually descend into shenanigans. However, Natalya on commentary was not a great idea. It's not that she struggles to speak like Kalisto did last week, but she just says really cringy things and her interaction with the other commentators just makes me feel queasy. It's like your Auntie trying to get involved in the newest playground craze. Add to that Michael Cole constantly reminding us that Charlotte's match with Natalya would be "The Figure 8 vs. The Sharpshooter" and you had a near unbearable soundscape. Luckily, the crowd aided things, popping nicely for near falls like a well-performed superplex from Paige and lifting the whole affair. Of course with Ric Flair "banned" from ringside, her decided to come out anyway after Natalya stood up from her position on commentary, cue a big pop for Shane McMahon coming out to eject him and Paige sneaking a roll-up victory. I'm really not sure about the finish, as not only did it cut an enjoyable match short, but I don't know what it really offered in terms of narrative for the upcoming Charlotte vs. Natalya title match. Other than a way of getting Shane O'Mac out into the arena for a big pop, I'm not sure what it offered the storyline going forward.

fast-forward...Recap of Chris Jericho and Colin Cassady's segment from the opening of the show...

zayn defeats miz to earn a space in the wwe intercontinental championship match at extreme rules 2016

A fairly simple match here with a straight-forward layout, but completely watchable even with a result that was sign-posted more than Alton Towers. Basically, you had Sami Zayn getting numerous near-falls from roll-ups, dropkicks and what have you, whilst The Miz cheated to remain in control with help from wife and valet Maryse. Hardly an original concept, but the two characters made it work, because they are both so watertight and get the correct reactions with the crowd. I've mentioned the crowd a lot so far, but they really were that good, not in a "Hey, let's chant entertaining stuff" kind of way, but more in a way of giving the performers the reactions they were after. Sami Zayn was perhaps one of the most over characters of the whole show, getting big reactions for each near fall, as the crowd clearly want to see him get his shot. The match built nicely to the finish with Miz getting frustrated and arguing with referee John Cone, before running into an Exploder Suplex, which of course lead to a Helluva Kick and a pinfall victory for Zayn. Not a match that set the world alight, but a technically sound one, with a satisfying closing section that gave "The Underdog from the Underground" a sound reason for being in a match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, having suffered a loss to Kevin Owens 8 days earlier. 

fast-forward...Dana Brooke made her Monday Night RAW debut and attacked Becky Lynch during an interview with Renee Young, with Emma providing the distraction...Darren Young is with Bob Backlund now, apparently, yeah...The New Day, Sasha Banks and Dolph Ziggler sold pizza...Kevin Owens interrupted Zack Ryder talking to Shane McMahon, with Shane O'Mac booking Owens vs. Ryder for later on...Tom Philips interviewed Roman Reigns and The Usos in the locker room with Reigns saying that he'd eliminate Styles from their tag team match later on...

cara defeats rusev

Yup, a week after becoming #1 Contender to the United States Championship Rusev was losing to Sin Cara in less than four minutes. I completely get the idea of having Cara win here, as a way of showing that Kalisto could potentially upset the bigger man, but I'm not sure that WWE went the right way about showing that. The match itself was fairly entertaining, Rusev and Cara worked quite well together with a nice power and speed type deal with The Bulgarian Brute acting as a solid base for some of Cara's more flippy shit. However, with Rusev winning a battle royal to become Number One Contender, I think this week's episode of Monday Night RAW should have gone about showing him win in singles action, looking dominant and walking over an opponent. This outcome would have been much more suited to next week's go-home show for Payback 2016. However, having Kalisto have to interfere, nailing Rusev with a enziguiri after Lana had distracted the referee on the other side of the ring, before a roll-up from Cara got the win, hardly did Kalisto any favours. All we know is that Kalisto might be able to beat Rusev with some outside interference and the interference hardly made the current WWE United States Champion the most likeable chap either.

reigns and the usos defeat the club via disqualification 

Good solid action here, but just not enough of it. It took just over 9 minutes for the elimination tag team match to be down to just WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and his number one contender AJ Styles. 9 minutes for both Usos, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to all have their shoulder pinned to the mat. I suppose it could have came off as chaotic and energetic, but I don't think it did, with each elimination I felt a little bit disappointed that that wrestler had gone. The eliminations should have felt satisfying, they should been built to, you just can't do that with having a man pinned every couple of minutes. Gallows being pinned with a Superman Punch stands as the best example of just how rushed this contest was. I did like the booking of having Styles and Reigns as the final two, it gave the audience a nice preview of what we might see at Extreme Rules 2016. The pair scrapping to the outside was a nice touch, emphasing the eponymous stipulation of their upcoming bout. I have to admit to being a little disappointing at seeing Gallows and Anderson return to cause the disqualification finish, but I'm sure that was exactly how I supposed to feel, considering it made me want to see more.

At the close of the contest we got perhaps the most interesting exchange of the entire show. After Reigns had managed to dispatch of Gallows and Anderson with a pair of well-placed spears, Styles would have another opportunity to show his "true colours", as it were. In a superb tease, "The Phenomenal One" would position Reigns for a Styles Clash with a steel chair conspicuously placed beneath him. The move was held just long enough for the imagery to run through each and every fans mind, before "The Big Dog" would scramble to safety. The main event segment would close with some brilliant drama, as Styles and Reigns would stare each other down, tossing each other the steel chair to see just who would blink first. A last flurry of excitement came as Styles jumped from the apron and attempted a Phenomenal Forearm as Reigns went to pick up the chair, only for "The Guy" to quickly step aside and Styles to scramble to the outside. Despite the disappointing match, the aftermath was a terrific watch, that hopefully left every viewer wanting to see more and chomping at the bit to see Styles and Reigns tear it up again at Extreme Rules 2016 on 22nd May.

fast-forward...Replay of Styles, Gallows & Anderson vs. Reigns & The Usos...

owens defeats ryder to keep his place in the wwe intercontinental championship match at extreme rules 2016

Another fun bout here, that was completely made by it's stipulation. Zack Ryder's WWE Intercontinental Championship reign might not have lasted long, but it has allowed him to step up into an important role over the last few weeks, he's become jobber to the stars. A win over Ryder now means so much more, because the crowd are once again invested in him as a performer and character. We saw it last week in the United States Championship #1 Contender's Battle Royal and it was on display again here as he attempted to earn himself an WWE Intercontinental Championship match. Lot's of near falls for Ryder, almost mirroring the Miz vs. Zayn bout from earlier, however this would be no fairytale as despite getting the better of Owens for most of the match, Ryder succumbed to a Pop-Up Powerbomb after just four minutes. WWE has started using little stipulations like this over the last few weeks for some of the undercard bouts (with the WWE Tag Team Championship tournament being the biggest example) and it keeps things so much more interesting, giving you a reason to stick around. Hopefully they'll keep this sort of thing up and use it more often.

dudley boyz defeats new day

The New Day's promo was once again the highlight of their screen time on Monday Night RAW. Confusion on how to say The Vaudevillains, getting the crowd to "hail" the Booty-o and a joke about historical racism, this promo had it all. The match with The Dudley Boyz didn't really do much for me with not even time for either team to really hit their stride and at times a lack of direction. It felt very much like both teams were waiting for something, which of course would be The Vaudevillains, who turned up to attack Xavier Woods at ringside leading to D-Von Dudley pinning Kofi Kingston after a big lariat. The #1 Contenders then hit Kingston with a Whirling Dervish before legging it. A decent way of furthering the issue between the two teams, but having the third champion end up being pinned on the same show really doesn't sit too well with me and shows a lack creativity on the whole from the booking staff.

ambrose destroys jericho's jacket

Part of me was disappointing at not getting to see Big Cass in the closing match of Monday Night RAW, the rest of me was jizzing my pants at the incredible visual of Dean Ambrose attacking Chris Jericho with the only light coming from "Y2J"'s Justin Bieber jacket. It was beautiful. Even Michael Cole struggling to pretend he didn't know what was going on, it was marvelous. Ambrose destroying Jericho's jacket in the middle of the ring seemed very 1990's, but worked well because Jericho sold it like it was the end of the world and made it seem like a big deal. Big Cass getting physical and stopping Jericho from leaving meant that his involvement was entirely lost either. A different end to the show in a segment that had less than eight minutes television time, but one that despite it's retro call-backs, felt rather fresh in it's presentation. 

fast-forward...Stephanie and Shane McMahon chatted about the loss of Jericho's jacket and seemed to be getting on rather well...Jericho continued to shout at Ambrose for destroying his light-up jacket...

finally...

atpw scale rating - 4.75/10

A lot of really good stuff, let down by lazy booking and a little too much filler. The main event between The Club and The Usos & Roman Reigns is the best example, as the match was rushed, but the aftermath was dramatic and built the anticipation for the upcoming WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules 2016. In other marquee segments, Sami Zayn and The Miz put together a solid bout with a reason to watch and Big Cass looked comfortable stepping up to Chris Jericho's level to open the show. Jericho and Cass were involved in the highlight of the undercard (weird thing to say for the final segment) with Dean Ambrose's attack on Jericho providing some top notch visuals and taking their feud up another level. The multiple champions suffering pinfall loses, following distractions or outside interference, stands out as particularly weak booking and watered down Sami Zayn's achievement and begs the question that if Zayn earned a title match by the defeating the champion, why wouldn't Paige or The Dudley Boyz get the same treatment? Throw into the mix the United States Championship #1 Contender losing as well and you have to wonder why nobody flagged this up before the show began?

With next week's show being the final edition before Extreme Rules 2016, WWE will need to pick up their game and produce a tighter booked show, focusing on the positives mentioned above and emphasising them.