Blu-Ray Review: WWE SummerSlam 2015

WWE SummerSlam 2015 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now from wwedvd.co.uk and all other reputable DVD stockists. Broadcast live on PPV (and on the WWE Network) from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA on 23rd August 2015. The four hour show features The Undertaker trying to get revenge on Brock Lesnar for breaking the streak at WrestleMania XXX in the main event. Elsewhere Seth Rollins and John Cena put their WWE World Heavyweight and United States Championships respectively on the line in a Title vs. Title clash, Team PCB, Team Bella and Team B.A.D. going at it in a Elimination encounter, Kevin Owens facing Cesaro and six more matches! Dean Ambrose, Neville, The Lucha Dragons, Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler are all also featured. The Blu-Ray version includes over twenty minutes of special features, but no extra matches. Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John "Bradshaw" Layfield provide the commentary.

SummerSlam host, Jon Stewart opens the show, with 3 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Mick Foley, joining him in a chuckle-worthy skit. Despite Sheamus having a tonne of heat early doors, the crowd quickly get's bored of his distinctly average opener with Randy Orton. A much better choice for an opener would have been the Fatal Fourway for the WWE Tag Team Championships, with champions The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil), The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) (with Xavier Woods), The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara) and Los Matadores (Diego & Fernando) (with El Torito) putting on a pacy bout that has the Barclays Center rocking. Dolph Ziggler (with Lana) and Rusev (with Summer Rae) do the best they can to make their encounter, but with the worst finish of the evening, it's still a massive let down that the crowd rightly shit on.

There's a lot of fun to be had when Arrow and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles star, Stephen Amell teams with Neville to take on King Barrett and Stardust, with the three wrestlers helping Amell look much more experienced than he is. Ryback's WWE Intercontinental Championship defence against The Miz and The Big Show is kept short and full of action, although the finish pales in comparison to a couple of the falsies used. Whilst The Wyatt Family's Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper teaming up against former Shield buddies Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns has a frenetic start, the later two thirds of booking lead to a rather disappointing conclusion. 

With the WWE World Heavyweight and United States Championships on the line, Seth Rollins and John Cena work well together to produce a terrific contest. Whilst the finish isn't particularly satisfying (noticing a theme yet?), the two reversing roles to satisfy the racous anti-Cena crowd, stringing together sublime sequences and piling on the drama make this arguably the best title defence of Rollins time as champion. Unfortunately, the three way tag team bout from PCB (Paige, Charlotte & Becky Lynch), Team Bella (Alicia Fox, Brie & Nikki Bella) and Team B.A.D. (Naomi, Sasha Banks & Tamina Snuka) can't keep things up, being nowhere near as good as it needed to be to justify the "Diva's Revolution" tag. There are a few saving graces like a brilliant dives sequence, but with a messy narrative and a flat finish it's difficult to see what the actual idea here was. 

Awkwardly placed before the main event, Cesaro and Kevin Owens have to battle through a slightly subdued crowd, but do produce some great action. The main event between Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) and The Undertaker puts their messy WrestleMania XXX contest to bed, as the duo look like two completely different men. Believably physically and weaving a simple narrative, even the questionable finish can be reasoned with in hindsight. 

Blu-Ray Exclusive

When I saw a RAW segment with The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar on the Blu-Ray Exclusives, I was excited to watch Taker and Lesnar's pull apart brawl again...unfortunately this is their confronation from the RAW before SummerSlam and whilst it does feature some wonderful work from Paul Heyman, it isn't quite what I was hoping for.

Finally

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.10 (Good)

This is the 2nd highest rating I've given out for a WWE PPV this year (although WrestleMania 31 didn't receive a rating) behind Money in the Bank, so if you're looking to get a 2015 PPV on Blu-Ray or DVD then you can't do much better than SummerSlam. The fact that the show is Four hours as opposed to three, means that you're getting even more quality for your money. That's always a good thing! 

Two great matches in Undertaker/Lesnar and Cena/Rollins, whilst there's plenty to enjoy on the undercard also, with the Four Way Tag and Owens/Cesaro standing out as the strongest amongst the pack. 

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1168

The penultimate Monday Night RAW before Hell in a Cell brought us a preview of the PPV with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins facing his opponent at the show, Kane in a Lumberjack match, with the main event getting plenty of build-up throughout the show. Elsewhere John Cena put the United States Championship on the line against Dolph Ziggler as part of the Open Challenge and The New Day battled Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose in tag team action, but would WWE pick up any momentum heading into the PPV? Let's have a look.

The opening backstage segment with Kane, set up the concept that Stephanie McMahon and Triple H wouldn't be on the show, due to a delayed plane...because the two people in charge only arrive a few hours before the show begins apparently...

Kane was all over the show, with the Director of Operations Teddy Longing a match between The New Day and the odd couple tag team of Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose. This was probably one of the strongest parts of the show, with Orton and Ambrose having some nice back and forth on the mic and The New Day back to their usual fun selves. Kofi Kingston especially was on fire here, with some funny writing, as he listed Randy Orton's various factions and why the New Day were better than them. There was also the reveal that Orton and Ambrose would be facing Braun Strowman and Luke Harper of the Wyatt Family at Hell in a Cell on 23rd October.

Match 1 

Tag Team

Dean Ambrose & Randy Orton 

vs. 

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day's Big E & Kofi Kingston with Xavier Woods

A solid tag team encounter, that did exactly what it needed to do. There was tension teased between Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose, carrying on from the previous segment, with the pair arguing at various points. Whilst this makes sense to do heading into Hell in a Cell, it perhaps felt a little forced, it would have been nice to have seen this narrative picked up earlier in the build to the PPV. It did also mean that Kofi Kingston and Big E got a little lost in the story of the bout from time to time/ However, it made me very happy to see The New Day pick up the win here, as I was convinced we'd see the Tag Team Champs lose to help put over Orton and Ambrose as a unit before the PPV. It appears that Kingston may be the wrestler equivalent of a bogey team for Randy Orton.

Winners - Big E & Kingston via pinfall 

(Kingston on Orton (School boy roll-up) 

in 17 minutes, 52 seconds.

After Michael Cole hyped it so much, I was expecting more to a Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker promo package, than exactly the same clips shown in Paul Heyman's promo last week. Also, calling their WrestleMania XXX bout, "Chapter 1" is insulting to the intelligence of fans that have watched for more than 2 years.


Clips from Sasha Banks and Bayley's Iron Man Match from NXT Takeover: Respect were shown, as an attempt to get the fans chanting "We Want Sasha", it worked pretty well.

Match 2

Diva's

Team B.A.D.'s Naomi with Team B.A.D.'s Sasha Banks & Tamina

vs.

Team Bella's Nikki Bella with Team Bella's Alicia Fox & Brie Bella

This was a poor match, with a stupid gimmick of Brie Bella chanting "We Want Sasha" on the announce table as a "distraction" for Naomi, allowing Nikki to win with a forearm following up with a Rack Attack. It was probably the only time in the match the crowd refused to chant for Sasha Banks, it was pretty cringy to watch. 

Winner

Nikki Bella via pinfall 

(Rack Attack) 

in 4 minutes, 58 seconds 

Things got worse with a thinly veiled advert for one of the shows sponsors, involving Byron Saxton and Paige. I felt embarrassed for them.

I was hoping that John Cena's Open Challenge would pick things back up for the show, but I had to wait a little bit, as Cena spent his promo desperately pandering to the Chicago crowd. His "Some places claim to be the most famous arena in the world, but there is only one Allstate Arena" promo didn't hit the spot for me. I'm sure it was great if you were in the arena and we were from Chicago, but on television it didn't translate very well. There was space for Cena to talk about The New Day's attack last week or even offer to face Dolph Ziggler who would have been his opponent if not for the New Day's attack last week, but that would make too much sense. Ziggler answered the challenge anyway, of course. 

Match 3 

United States Championship

Dolph Ziggler 

vs. 

John Cena (C)

Easily, the match of the night, this was quality television bout with the pair going back and forth with some big moves and near falls. Some lovely transitions by the pair were the highlight from me, with the early STF attempt from Cena getting switched into a Sleeper Hold by Ziggler being done especially well. Cena attempting to hit the AA at various points put Ziggler over strong as he escaped time after time, including an eye-rake with Michael Cole emphasising the Show-Off's desperation well from the commentary table. The crowd even whipped out a small "This is Awesome" chant, and whilst I wouldn't go as far as to call it Awesome, it was definitely an enjoyable watch from start to finish and hopefully we'll get to see these two battle it out again soon, as there's potential for them to one up this match on PPV and with a strong story behind it.

Winner

John Cena via pinfall 

(Attitude Adjustment) 

in 17 minutes, 40 seconds 

*STILL CHAMPION*

Backstage, Kane chatting away to the Authority on the phone was a weird segment, with Stephanie McMahon's outbursts at various airplane staff being a needless and unfunny addition.

Match 4

Tag Team

The Ascension 

vs. 

The Dudley Boyz 

Squashy McSquash. The Dudley Boyz whipping out a Doomsday Device was a nice nod to Chicago's favourite tag team the Road Warriors.

Winners 

The Dudley Boyz via pinfall 

(Bubba Ray on Viktor (3D)) 

in 2 minutes, 43 seconds

Match 5

Tag Team

Neville & Cesaro 

vs. 

King Barrett & Sheamus

There were flashes of brilliance in this match, but it was 10, 15 or even 20 minutes short of reaching it's full potential, with a shit flash finish. A big waste of four talented European workers.

Winners

King Barrett & Sheamus via pinfall 

(Sheamus on Neville (Bull Hammer from Barrett) 

in 3 minutes, 48 seconds.

Roman Reigns' Bray Wyatt focused promo was so dull that I ended up watching the 1993 Doctor Who Children in Need special, Dimensions in Time, instead. I'm usually a big supporter of Reigns, but his mic work is not up to scratch of someone performing at this level. Everything was all on one level and the material he was given was unimaginative to start with. Even when referring to the crowd chanting "Boring" at him, he was devoid of any personality. Why WWE hasn't given him a manager or anyone who will talk for him, I really don't know. It worked for Brock Lesnar, why wouldn't it work for Reigns? A

Match 6

Tag Team

Roman Reigns 

vs. 

The Wyatt Family's Braun Strowman with The Wyatt Family's Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper

This was super basic encounter, with Reigns taking a beating from Strowman before making a comeback. Reigns did his best with the green-Strowman and the match was actually watchable, without ever becoming what anything close to resembling a good match. The finish of Strowman being unable to make it into the ring after being thrown into the announce table was an interesting way to protect Strowman put give Reigns momentum heading into his match with Wyatt at Hell in a Cell. I imagine we'll see Reigns face Luke Harper next week, which has potential to be a much better encounter.

Winner 

Roman Reigns via countout 

in 7 minutes, 50 seconds

More phone stuff backstage with Kane, with Triple H working nicely as the foil for Kane's shenanigans. Why this was supposed to make root for Kane later tonight, or more importantly at Hell in a Cell, I have no idea.

Match 7 

Singles

"The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev with Summer Rae 

vs. 

Ryback

I couldn't tell you how good this match was, because I was too busy getting all wrapped up in the stupidity that is the Rusev, Lana and Summer Rae story. Rusev's real life engagement to Lana was bought up throughout on commentary, despite Rae proposing to the Bulgarian Brute the week before on RAW. 

Winner 

Ryback via pinfall 

(Shellshocked) 

in 3 minutes, 5 seconds.

Fucking hell there was more of this God forsaken storyline to follow, with Summer Rae turning on Rusev because of the engagement to Lana. Her promo felt so disingenuous that I honestly stopped listening to her, until she went and swore. You rebel, Summer!

Match 8 

Singles

Kalisto with Sin Cara 

vs. 

Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens

An enjoyable contest, it was a shame that this match only got just under four minutes. Kalisto and Owens connected well in the ring, with a appreciative crowd (even if Owens still struggles for heat in places like Chicago) and strong finish.

Winner

Kevin Owens via pinfall 

(Pop-Powerbomb) 

in 3 minutes, 48 seconds

Match 9

Six Diva Tag Team

Team NCB's Becky Lynch & Diva's Champion, Charlotte with Team NCB's Natalya 

vs. 

Team Bella's Alicia Fox & Brie Bella with Team Bella's Nikki Bella

Another shoddy Diva's match here, with little to no emphasis put on the wrestling, which was a real shame considering there was some real talent in the bout. A missile dropkick getting the win for Brie, didn't feel like the finish, despite Natalya and Paige's argument at ringside allowing for the distraction.

Winner

Team Bella's Alicia Fox & Brie Bella via pinfall (Bella on Charlotte) via pinfall

Another backstage skit with Kane, lead to Stephanie McMahon banning Kane from competing in the main event with Seth Rollins made it super clear what was going to happen later on in the evening. Rollins' attempting to suck up to The Big Show was, at least, mildly amusing, even if it made absolutely no sense for Big Show to not be interested in helping Rollins in the Lumberjack match.


The exact same promo for The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar's Hell in a Cell match aired. I get that many viewers might not have been watching earlier, but was there no something else they could have aired to promote the PPV instead?


Despite The Authority stating Kane couldn't be in the main event, he was anyway. He came out in the mask as "The Demon", the problem was that Stephanie McMahon had explicitly said "Kane" couldn't compete, not just "Corporate" Kane, so it made very little sense.

Match 10

Lumberjack

Kane 

vs. 

WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins

Possibly as a result of what I mentioned earlier, the crowd were much more interested in getting behind Rollins than they were Kane. The WWE crowd has been trained for years that stacking the deck against the Champion is a heel move...so they rightly chanted "Let's Go Rollins". The bout itself wasn't bad at all, making decent use of the Lumberjacks, with both Kane and Rollins having run-ins with them. The New Day getting a big spotlight again in a main event, leading a heel attack on Kane (perhaps the only indication that he's supposed to be a babyface) before Kane sat up (before a Big E splash). The back and forth finish with Kane escaping a Pedigree to hit a Tombstone Piledriver was done nicely, and means the fans have a reason to believe Rollins could lose the title at Hell in a Cell. It's a shame that the World Heavyweight Champion had to lose clean (again) in the process.

Winner

Kane via pinfall 

(Tombstone Piledriver) 

in 8 minutes, 21 seconds.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating: 4.36/10

This was an improvement on last week, but not by much. John Cena and Dolph Ziggler's United States Championship match was clearly the best contest of the night, with the pair just about saving the show from falling to new depths. However, Cena's pre-match speech didn't hit the spot, although it was decidedly better than Roman Reigns effort later on, and Reigns' match with Braun Strowman didn't help either. The booking of Kane as a babyface has been completely miss handled and affect his encounter with Seth Rollins, just two weeks before they tangled over the World Heavyweight title at Hell in a Cell.


Plenty of matches with potential (Neville/Cesaro vs. Sheamus/Barrett, Owens vs. Kalisto) were allowed to run way too short, whilst both Diva's match were handed awful gimmicky interferences that did nothing for those in the matches. A spell of short matches and Kane backstage skits harmed the final hour also. Lets ignore Rusev and Summer Rae's segment and pretend it never happened.


Here's hoping for a much better go-home show for Hell in a Cell next week, with Ric Flair, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels all scheduled to appear.

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1161

Heading out of a SummerSlam that left us with plenty of talking points, the 1161st episode of WWE's Monday Night RAW presented us with the prospect of having The Authority's Triple H & Stephanie McMahon unveil a statue in honour of WWE World Heavyweight and United States Champion Seth Rollins in the main event segment. With Cesaro, Kevin Owens, PCB, Dean Ambrose and The Lucha Dragons and more in action on the show, could WWE deliver a fitting end to their three night run at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York? (For those wondering this was the version broadcast live on Sky Sports 3 in the UK)

RAW opening with a pre-titles backstage segment was a novel to start the show, with Triple H on terrific form as he congratulated Seth Rollins on his victory from the night before.

Paul Heyman isn't from this world, I'm sure. His handling of the aftermath of his client passing out against The Undertaker at SummerSlam was Malcolm Tucker-esque, making good use of the convoluted finish to truly lay it on thick about The Deadman tapping out earlier in the match. The crowd lapped up every word and popped at the points ("G.F.Y") making this an event better watch at home. The sheer energy that the New Yorker had whilst announcing that Brock Lesnar wanted a rematch with Undertaker right there and then was truly something to behold.


I popped so hard when Bo Dallas came out instead of The Undertaker, because I knew exactly what was going to happen (and if you didn't you haven't been paying enough attention). Dallas performed his role down to a tee, with his patronising inspirational character poking the proverbial bear, with the excitement building for what was clearly around the corner. The Inspirational Superstar bumped around for Lesnar taking a series of devasting looking German suplexes and it was glorious. Heyman begging Lesnar to deliver for punishment, with the crowd also very insistent, was a nice twist to what we've seen in the past with Heyman attempting to calm down the Beast. Could we see Dallas be Lesnar opponent for the upcoming live special at Madison Square Garden?


Another act I'm getting a kick out of at the moment is Tag Team Champions, The New Day, so when Xavier Woods turned up with a trombone and the trio sang their version of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" I was in my absolute element. Big E and Kofi Kingston's match with The Lucha Dragons was hot from the start, with Kalisto looking impressive heading into the ad break. Whilst there was some more cool stuff in the bout post-break, the match didn't receive enough TV time to get too excited about, with Big E getting the pin in just over 6 minutes. The New Day may have been over with the Brooklyn crowd, but they couldn't compete for the affection of the crowd when The Dudley Boyz made their return to WWE, and proceeded to run through their greatest hits on the Tag Champs! 


A promo for John Cena granting his 500th wish for the Make a Wish Foundation, nothing but respect for the way WWE handled the video and Cena for his work with the foundation. 


Stephanie McMahon and Triple H hiding the statue from Seth Rollins was a cute little backstage segment, although them showing the statue here made it pretty clear that we wouldn't be seeing it later on tonight.


Once again Bray Wyatt wore his funky hoody with horns on and once again we didn't get to fully see it, due to the lighting of his entrance. The first section of the bout Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper's SummerSlam rematch with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns was pretty similar to the opening of their match the night before, with plenty of quick paced action on the outside.

After the break, I found the match much more enjoyable than their SummerSlam clash, with Ambrose revelling as the Lunatic Fringe in peril, whilst the other three also put in a shift in their respective roles. The near falls were done well, with Wyatt coming close off a ura-nage, whilst Reigns seemed to have the match done and dusted with a well-time Jackhammer. Perhaps the stand-out moment of the wrestling content was Harper and Wyatt attempt to mimmick The Shield's triple powerbomb move, which got a nice reaction out of the crowd. It was the finish that will be the talking point however, as SOME GUY arrived with a black sheep mask on and caused the disqualification that would give Ambrose and Reigns the win.


However, it's not like Reigns and Ambrose had to time to celebrate, as the mystery man destroyed the pair with a funky submission hold, in one of the most impressive debuts in recent times. It was that impressive that WWE replayed the moment directly after the break. 

There were elements of Miz TV with Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch that I found really entertaining. I thought the three women did a sound job of getting their separate characters over in the interview, with The Miz acting as a good personality to bound things off. Team Bella also handled themselves well and the two teams back and forth on the microphone was particularly strong, with Becky and Alicia Fox's interaction standing out. However, the close of the segment with Team Bella awkwardly attacking PCB from behind, after the latter trio rounded on Miz, made them look a little bit stupid and the fact that the comments from their real rivals earlier on weren't enough to start a fight didn't make a whole lot of sense either. It was also disappointing not to see anyone reference the "We Want Sasha" chants, as it could have been a good opportunity for the Bella's to get some more heat.

I have to admit that the section of this match that came before the commercial break (just over 5 minutes worth of action) struggled to hold my attention, with not a whole deal going on. It wasn't that the action was particularly bad or botch, just that there was very little that piqued my interest. However, Charlotte did stand out during her time in the match, putting together some pretty cool stuff with Nikki Bella towards the end of that initial five minutes, including the corkscrew plancha that lead the match into the break.

The second portion of the bout, I was enjoying quite a lot actually, as Team Bella worked the legs of Charlotte, which, of course, meant that he ability to use the Figure Eight submission hold was diminished. Alicia Fox's stretch muffler submission was rather nice, with Charlotte selling well. Of course, this went straight over the head of the Brooklyn crowd who proceeded to do a Mexican Wave and chant "We are Awesome". Doing a Mexican Wave doesn't make you awesome, sit down and shut up, Brooklyn. Charlotte continuing to sell the leg by lying on the apron, after managing a hot tag to Paige, made me a very happy boy. It was surprising to see Alicia Fox pick up the win for her team with an Axe Kick, but with the Bella's back to their cheating ways, I thought that the finish offered even more potential for this feud going forward.


The segment that Stardust turn on his partner King Barrett, before Neville proceed to batter Stardust didn't do a whole lot for me, but I suppose it's one of those things that will improve once a proper explanation is given.

A segment involving John Cena, Jon Stewart and Ric Flair was next, and did exactly what it needed to do. We got a decent explanation to why Stewart got involved in Cena's SummerSlam match with Rollins, an appearance from Ric Flair and then John Cena got his revenge on the 52 year old former Daily Show host with an Attitude Adjustment. There were moments of charm as Cena delivered a decent promo about how stupid Stewart had been, but Ric Flair was simply there because he's Ric Flair, with the Nature Boy kind of just standing around once Cena hit the ring.


It was surprising to see everyone in, what was technically the main event, eight man tag team match get an entrance to the ring, although it, at least, allowed the match to feel like a proper main event and gave the commentary team time to get over the various feud.


With two ad breaks in this one, the first portion was mainly focused on the on-going feud between Dolph Ziggler and Rusev, with all eight men having a stare down on the outside being a good way to enter the first lot of commercials. The second portion continued to focus on Ziggler, as he slotted into the Show-Off in peril, as Rusev, Sheamus, The Big Show and Kevin Owens took it in turn to work over the former 2 time World Heavyweight Champion, whilst throwing in some chuckle-worthy ad libs (Big Show's "Feel the wrath of the Celtic Warrior" being a particular highlight for me)

There was a lot to enjoy in the home straight of the bout, whether that was Ziggler selling his knee after Sheamus kept his in stretch muffler variation (with "Are you not entertained?" addition), the cat-fight between Lana and Summer Rae that would lead to the hot tag, a surprisingly exciting collision between Ryback and Kevin Owens and a sizzling conclusion that saw everyone getting involved, this match turned into a great television main event. Sheamus falling to the pin, after a Big Show accidentally hit him with a Knockout Punch was an intriguing ending, but one that would continue to play out following the match.


Big Show getting beaten down by everyone, firstly after a disagreement with Owens and Rusev (Owens: "I've loved you since I was thirteen years old") followed up the babyfaces getting in on the action was a bemusing segment, it almost seemed as if this was Big Show's last hurrah in WWE.


A recap of The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar's bout from SummerSlam was shown for reasons.

Seth Rollins, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are three performers who clearly know their characters down to the ground, as they worked this angle, that saw all three of them trying to one up each other in how much they could put over one of the others. Both Triple H and Rollins had lengthy promos, with The Game explaining why Seth Rollins was now the man, whilst Rollins was focused on thanking the Authority for the opportunities that they had given. The whole build up to the reveal of the statue was quality television, with the trio making it clear in their performances that what was allegedly under the curtain wasn't actually there, making the audience stick around to find out what or who was standing there.
That man was Sting and that pop was thunderous. As soon as the curtain raised and the painted face of the Vigilante was shown, the crowd went absolutely nuts and I'll admit to marking out like a little child also. Sting holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship aloft, with The Authority looking on at the entrance ramp made for a interesting visual, as the commentary teams pushed an interview with Triple H on the WWE Network to follow. Is Sting in the WWE title picture in 2015 something that I particularly wanted to see, no. Did I care when watching this segment close RAW, not one iota.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.4/10


This Raw was akin to the style that WWE uses post-WrestleMania, with plenty of big surprises and a fresh debut. The Dudley Boyz, Sting and Braun Strowman's appearances all got a good reaction out of me.


There might have only been four matches on the three hour show, but they were mostly lengthy tag team match bouts, that were enjoyable, despite the Brooklyn crowd turning on the Diva's Tag Team bout. For me, the main event was easily the match of the show. Whilst there wasn't a lot of in-ring content, the show was book-ended by two superb segments, the first with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman and the closer with The Authority that were both handled well both in terms of creative and performance.


This show has given WWE some momentum heading into Night of Champions next month, with Sting vs. Seth Rollins already confirmed for the main event, it will be interesting to see how WWE builds on this over the coming weeks.