TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1190 (Triple H vs. Ziggler plus Reigns returns)

On the 14th March 2016, WWE aired the 1190th episode of Monday Night RAW live from the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia, USA on the USA Network with . Dolph Ziggler clashed with The Authority, leading to the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H going one on one with The Show-Off later on in the show, before Roman Reigns made his WWE return and elsewhere, The New Day put their WWE Tag Team Championships on the line against The League of Nations' Alberto Del Rio & Rusev...but was it any good? Let's find out!

monday night raw #1190 match card

Match 1 - WWE Tag Team Championships - The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) with Kofi Kingston vs. The League of Nations (Alberto Del Rio & Rusev) with King Barrett & Sheamus

Match 2 - Singles - Ryback vs. Sin Cara with WWE United States Champion Kalisto

Match 3 - Singles - Sami Zayn vs. The Miz

Match 4 - Tag Team - Team B.A.D. vs. Team Bella

Match 5 - Tag Team - The Social Outcasts (Adam Rose & Bo Dallas) with Curtis Axel & Heath Slater vs. The Usos

Match 6 - Singles - Dolph Ziggler vs. WWE World Heavyweight Champion "The Game" Triple H with Stephanie McMahon

Match 7 - Singles - "Y2J" Chris Jericho vs. Neville  

the new day defeat the league of nations to retain the wwe tag team championships 

A rematch from two days previous at Roadblock, I enjoyed this contest much more than it's Special Event counterpart. It was an interesting twist to see Xavier Woods partner with Big E for the first time since August 2015 (a losing effort to The Prime Time Players on Thursday Night Smackdown #834) and one that I feel paid off. Without Woods chatting away at ringside, The New Day instantly become more likeable and partnered with a stronger match structure than Saturday night, the main weakness of the Roadblock encounter was removed as the heel/face divide was much clearer throughout. The CONSOL Energy Center was into the action, with their suport of The New Day growing throughout, leading to a spirited comeback from Big E following Woods' work as the face in peril. The final few minutes produced the strongest action of the bout with a brilliant near fall off a Rusev superkick to Woods (with Michael Cole doing a stellar job on commentary) before the scrappy closing stages saw Kofi Kingston, Sheamus and King Barrett involved in shenanigans at ringside and Woods rolled up Rusev to retain his team WWE Tag Team Championships! A good television opener, for sure and it was great to see the show open with some action rather than the usual talking segment.

Fuck me up the arse and call me Barry White, The League of Nations actually looked like a credible group of bastards. Following the match, they utterly destroyed all three members of The New Day with everyone getting a chance to hit their finisher on one of them, before standing in the ring doing a bizarre bow thingy. Why the fuck didn't this happen months ago? You know, when the group was involved in the main storyline across the show and Sheamus was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion? Ah well, let's forget that for now, this was a fantastic piece of booking and exactly what needed to be done to help this feud. The New Day now look like credible babyfaces, The League of Nations look like credible heels and the whole feud takes on a much more serious edge. 

fast-forward...A recap of the previous match and it's aftermath aired, yay...

dean ambrose and brock lesnar *almost* come to blows

It felt much easier coming into a talking segment after having an opening match already, I'm not sure why exactly but I'd certainly like to see this style used more often. It definitely helped that it was Dean Ambrose coming out to the ring, as he's been one of the highlights across WWE programming over the last couple of months, whether that be in a match or on the microphone. This was no different as he did a good job of moving past his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match two nights earlier and discussing the "controversial" three count he got in the bout well, this kept Ambrose title ambitions open for the future, but re-focused things on WrestleMania at the same time. Paul Heyman once again knocked it out the park and beyond with his reply, but the moment that completely sold the upcoming match between Ambrose and Brock Lesnar was The Beast Incarnate disobeying his manager and stalking the Lunatic Fringe around the ring, before retreating after Ambrose pulled out a crowbar. I wanted to see the two fight so bad, I wanted to see Ambrose swing a crowbar at Lesnar, I wanted Lesnar to suplex this shit out of Ambrose. Two more weeks of this stuff before WrestleMania could be very special stuff indeed.

ryback defeats sin cara

Well, the good times couldn't last forever could they? Literally no one in the arena gave a flying fuck about Ryback and Sin Cara, because it was Ryback and Sin Cara. The bout was met with utter indifference and whilst it was a bad match, there was nothing here to get too excited about at all. Of course, the Big Guy picked up the win, following two Shellshocks. Following the match, Ryback cut a heatless promo about a good big guy beating a good little guy every time, despite only being a few inches taller than Cara, before challenging Kalisto to a WWE United States Championship match at WrestleMania. Ryback is basically doing the gimmick that Sheamus was given just after last year's WrestleMania, except with about a 1/3 of the charisma, 1/4 of the heat and with an opponent nowhere near as over as Sheamus' rival, Daniel Bryan, was then.

dolph ziggler interrupts the authority

HEY GUYS, DO YOU LOVE TEN MINUTE TRIPLE H PROMOS?! YEAH, WE DO! Said no one ever. You know, Triple H is obviously an accomplished public speaker and can easily handle a crowd, but brevity is not one of his strong points. Neither is subtlety either it would appear, because this promo hit you over the head with what it wanted you to feel and then told you how you feel. Trips even told the Pennsylvannia crowd that they loved Roman Reigns, whoever wrote that deserved to be fired. How is that a helpful line for a crowd that still hasn't warmed to Reigns in the position he's in? The whole babbling about Authority and how everyone hates their boss and how the crowd lives vicariously through their heroes on television was like someone reading bullet points on why the Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon feud from the late 90's and early 00's was so popular. The highlight of the first portion of this for me was Stephanie McMahon's exaggerated introduction for her husband and her little dance to her theme music on the way down to the ring.

Dolph Ziggler's interruption did bring something different to proceedings, attempting to draw on "real-life" situations (or at least what has been relayed through various wrestling newz websites over the last few years) by placing The Show-Off opposite the Authority figure. It's a real shame that this whole sub-storyline has clearly been thought up very recently (two week's ago Ziggler was trading sub-minute victories with The Miz) and Ziggler hasn't really been built up enough for what this role required, making things feel just a tad forced at times. That being said, announcing that Triple H would wrestle on Monday Night RAW for the first time since an April 2014 bout with Daniel Bryan (even though the commentary team pushed it as his first match on RAW for three years) was again a twist that I didn't see coming. Stephanie choosing The Game as Ziggler's opponent (with The Show-Off getting to choose his match at WrestleMania had he won the bout) and having the match later in the show gave things a sense of urgency that announcing a match for the following week wouldn't have done. 

sami zayn defeats the miz

Before looking at the finish, I think it's only right to talk about how Sami Zayn looked in his first Monday Night RAW match since early May 2015. Just like he did with AJ Styles a few months ago, The Miz allowed Zayn to look great, as the former NXT Champion ran through a series of his flashiest signature moves, whilst also getting an opportunity to show of what makes him one of the best babyfaces in the business right now, his selling. It wasn't a match that set the world a light, or even one that many will remember even happened next week, but it introduced Zayn to an audience that a large proportion of weren't familiar with him against a familiar face. WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens on commentary provided plenty of insight into the rivalry between he and Zayn, putting in a strong character performance also. I'm not too convinced on the finish of the match however, as Owens attempted to get involved, before getting cheap shotted by Miz and the causing the distraction that allowed Zayn to pick up the win with the Helluva Kick. Complete over-booking in a match that needed a simple clear finish. With the commentary team mentioning that Zayn and Miz, as well as Neville, wanted shots at Owens' Intercontinental Championship, it feels like WWE is shifting towards having a multi-man bout for the title, rather than going for a straight-forward Owens vs. Zayn bout at WrestleMania.

fast-forward...A 2nd recap of the opening match and it's aftermath...A video package about WWE's paediatric cancer charity Connor's Cure partnering with The V Foundation aired, including the announcement by Stephanie McMahon earlier in the day from the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh...Team B.A.D. went over Team Bella, with Lana causing Brie Bella troubles at ringside...The Social Outcasts were in an advert for Burger King...Lana and Team B.A.D interrupted Jo-Jo's interview with Paige with a multi-woman tag bout now seeming likely for WrestleMania...WWE Diva's Champion Charlotte and former 2 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair both put in great performances during an interview with Renee Young, discussing Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks and teasing something for this week's Smackdown...Despite The Dudley Boyz trying to get involved at the commentary desk, The Usos made short work of The Social Outcast's Adam Rose and Bo Dallas...In another superb backstage segment former 3 time WWE World Heavyweight Champion Mick Foley made his return to company talking to Dean Ambrose about his No Holds Barred Street Fight with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, concluding with Foley presenting Ambrose with the prior's weapon of choice, a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat...

triple h defeats dolph ziggler + roman reigns returns

 After not really buying into their talking segment earlier on in the show, I thought that Triple H and Dolph Ziggler put in a real quality television main event here. Despite a slow start, the bout was very well structured and had the pair had the Pennsylvania crowd eating out of their hands by the time things were done. Triple H focusing on Ziggler's arm and giving him a vicious beating on the outside made The Cerebral Assassin look a like an ass-kicker, with The Show-Off selling his beating nicely. Outside the initial few minutes of action, Ziggler's offence was kept to bursts of big moves, followed by perfectly timed near falls, and a big pops from the crowd each time. The finish mimicked The Game's victory over Dean Ambrose on Saturday as Ziggler rolled into the ring and almost straight into a Pedigree, only to quickly escape, fail to hit a Zig Zag and finally succumb to the WWE World Heavyweight Champion's Pedigree and forfeit his chance at a WrestleMania match. A nice piece of booking that offered that last sliver of hope right at the end before snatching it away.

Roman Reigns is back, but whilst he wasn't booed out of the building, it was hardly the heroes welcome that WWE was clearly hoping for. However, I did enjoy watching Reigns give Triple H an absolute beating as he attempted to gain a modicum of revenge for the champion's attack a few weeks ago. I liked Reigns intensity (even if the commentary team pushed this WAY TOO MUCH) and the brawl going backstage was a nice touch that provided a different back drop for the action. Having even more blood involved in the rivalry added an extra depth to things, now that both men have spilled each others blood, how far exactly will they go when the WWE World Heavyweight Championship is on the line at the biggest event of the year? Or at least, that's what WWE is hoping you're thinking at this point. Just in case you were wondering, Triple H had over 40 minutes of TV time dedicated to him and his feuds on this show.

fast-forward...A recap of the previous segment aired...The commentary team pushed #FreeWrestleMania, as well as looking ahead at what the WWE Network had planned for WrestleMania week...R-Truth dressed as a penguin in an attempt to convince Goldust to be his tag team partner...

neville defeats chris jericho via disqualification

Chris Jericho and referee Charles Robinson did a stellar job of covering and calling on the fly after Neville had suffered a serious ankle injury, ending the promising match after only a few minutes. Lesser experienced performers would have drowned with so much TV time to fill and no way to finish the match, but firstly Robinson called for a clever DQ finish that kept the heat on Jericho, before Y2J called for a microphone and continued to pour scorn on the WWE Universe, Neville and rival AJ Styles. As much as I was disappointed that this match didn't get to reach it's potential, this was something that everyone coming through the WWE Performance Center should be shown as there was more than a couple lessons to be learned. Jericho ended up playing for time, until AJ Styles made his way out and one-upped the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, laying him out with the Phenomenal Forearm to continue their feud.

the undertaker chokeslams shane mcmahon

I'm digging Vince McMahon's character right now. He's basically taken the backstage image that's painted off him by various dirt sheets and turned it up to eleven. Starting the segment by talking about the things that Shane McMahon could do if he took control of Monday Night RAW, all of which were great ideas, and then being like "Nah, I'm not gonna let that shit happen". Brilliant. His clash with The Undertaker was pretty much perfect, with Vince first admonishing The Deadman, before quickly realising that Undertaker was about to batter him, shitting his pants and apologising. The extra bit of spotlight put on their relationship allowed Vince to look even more of a pathetic weasel, which is exactly how he should be portrayed right now. 

The crowd lapped up the rest of the segment, as Shane McMahon came out and he and The Undertaker had their first meeting since their match at WrestleMania was announced. If Pennsylvania wasn't popping for what the performers had to say, they were sitting and listening, just waiting for something to happen. Shane O'Mac bought his A-Game as well, and armed with some killer material about Taker being a puppet, completely smashed it. The little bit of a scrap between the two WrestleMania opponents showed viewers that Shane could potentially hold his own against Undertaker, before Vinny Mac helped Undertaker show just how destructive Taker could be, pushing Shane into a chokeslam that would end the show. Another storyline that has managed to maintain it's momentum over the last few weeks, there's two weeks left to add the finishing touches to one of the most unexpected WrestleMania matches in history.

finally...

atpw scale rating - 5.83/10

Another solid episode of Monday Night RAW, this edition was a slight improvement on the week before. Whilst Triple H lengthy promo was my least favourite part of the three major segments of the show, his match with Dolph Ziggler and involvement in the return of Roman Reigns, both provided plenty of entertainment, even if the 40 minutes of Game based television was way more than I would have liked. The New Day and The League of Nations opener and follow-up angle gave the Tag Team division a much deserve spotlight, whilst established new roles for both teams excellently. Upcoming WrestleMania bouts (Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon and Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose) both had their ante upped as the segments promoting these matches were arguably the best parts of the show, despite being overshadowed by The Cerebral Assassin. 

The show wasn't without it's misgivings however, as Ryback's match with Sin Cara garnered utter indifference from the crowd, Sami Zayn and The Miz's match was let down by an overbooked finish and Neville suffered an unfortunate injury that lead to Chris Jericho having to cover for time. There was portion of the show in the 2nd hour that saw a lot of matches and segments being very short, leading to them feeling more than a little bit rushed. This almost certainly had something to do with the length of Triple H's earlier promo and meant that the show suffered from major pacing issues during this period.

All in all another strong step on the road to WrestleMania for WWE, with just 20 days to go. This episode left plenty to build upon over the next two episodes! See you next week. 

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.

WWE Monday Night RAW #1148 Review

The last WWE event at the famed Nassau Coliseum, on Memorial Day in the US no less, WWE was going to pull out all the stops for this one, weren't they? With storyline development between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, including a tag team match pitting Ambrose and Roman Reigns against Rollins and Kane, another open challenge from John Cena and the continued fallout of Rusev and Lana's break up, could the go-home show for Elimination Chamber deliver? Let's find out. 

Tag Team Match

Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose 

vs. 

The Authority's Seth Rollins & Kane with J&J Security

Things kicked off this week with The Authority (minus the A.W.O.L. Big Show) announcing that Seth Rollins' World Heavyweight Championship match with Dean Ambrose at Elimination Chamber would only go ahead if Ambrose could get to sign the contract for the match. With the theme of the entire episode laid out early, Ambrose and Rollins had some fun back and forth on the microphone, including Ambrose referring to J&J Security as a hobbits and Rollins debating the finer points of being referred to as Justin Bieber by the WWE Universe. There's so much chemistry between the two rivals that it's almost a shame to have so many others involved in this feud. Things would eventually lead to Stephanie McMahon booking a tag team match with Rollins & Kane taking on Ambrose and Roman Reigns.

The match was a decent enough encounter, although the match itself was remarkably similar to a plethora of matches that we've seen on Raw and Smackdown over the last six months. Reigns and Ambrose spent a surprising amount of time in control of the match, with the commentary team pointing out that this was due to their familiarity from their days in The Shield, whilst this makes sense when you don't think about it, as soon as you consider that Kane & Rollins have teamed up seventeen times in the last ten months with Ambrose and Reigns only teaming three times, that logic gets completely lost. The closing sequence that saw Rollins and Ambrose going back and forth with a handful of reversal before Ambrose picked up the win with backslide was the highlight of an otherwise paint by number, go through the motions tag bout.

Things would get interesting during a backstage segment where J&J Security would confront Ambrose during an interview with Renee Young. After Ambrose lost his cool with Noble and Mercury, Ambrose hit the camera man, in what would turn out to be a far-cleverer segment than it originally looked. The camera man would go on to press charges, with the Authority and especially Rollins gloating as Ambrose was carted off by the police. Rollins line "Jail is too good for him. He belongs in a zoo" was perhaps the highlight of the entire show. Stephanie and Triple H were later joined by RAW guest stars Kevin Connoly (Entourage, Unhappily Ever After), Adrian Grenier (Entorauge), Kevin Dillon (Entourage, Platoon) and Jerry Ferrara (Entourage) who were there to promote the upcoming film version of HBO's Entourage. The segment was pretty unremarkable, featuring awkward interaction between the two, but the reference to Stephanie's clash with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 31 was a nice touch and will almost certainly keep the rumour mill turning. The use of a Youtube video to show that Rollins had pushed the camera man into Ambrose earlier in the night was a novel way to reveal how things had really went down.

The main event segment of the show centered around The Authority gloating about Ambrose being unable to sign the contract for his match with Rollins at Elimination Chamber, with Rollins masterfully skimming past his involvement in Ambrose's arrest. Reigns coming out to confront the Authority, only to get beaten down in quick fashion thanks to a chokeslam from Kane, felt a little superfluous, other than needing to keep Reigns face on television. Of course, Ambrose was able to make it back to the arena, driving the police van that took him away and wearing police uniform (I'd love to hear someone try to explain that) eventually able to sign the contract after he and Reigns hit Rollins with police batons, Reigns had speared J&J Security and Ambrose had hit Dirty Deeds on Kane. It did it's job, I suppose, but the whole segment and story was too convoluted for my tastes, and similar to last week seemed to be trying to fit weeks of storyline into one week. Holding off on the Ambrose vs. Rollins match until Money in the Bank would have offered a much more satisfying tragectory for the pair, without having to have the story dominate the show (Almost 45 minutes of air time was dedicated to this storyline)

United States Championship Match

Zack Ryder with The Cast of Entourage

vs. 

John Cena (C)

It was once again to jump on the Hustle Loyalty and Respect tram to Cenation boulevard, as John Cena opened up the challenges for the United States Championship. Beginning with a strong promo from Cena, in which the Cenation Leader talked about the "Let's Go Cena" "Cena sucks" chants, pulling them apart and separating the two fan groups, before admitting those who chant "Cena Sucks" may be chanting "Fight Owens Fight" at Elimination Chamber. Cena has showed just how clever he can be with these promos over the last two months and this may be his brightest moment as United States Champion. Whilst many will feel rebellious for chanting against Cena on Sunday, as a certain section of the fanbase loves to do, they'll in fact be doing just what John Cena (and crucially the WWE) wants them to do, which should hopefully lead to cracking atmosphere inside the American Bank Center.

After being introduced by the Entourage cast, it was hometown boy Zack Ryder who made his way out to accept the open challenge. It may have only been his second singles match on Monday Night Raw of 2015, but the Uniondale crowd couldn't have cared less as they lapped up Ryder's entrance and were strongly behind him all match long. Ryder clearly still has a connection with the audience, especially in New York and it's surprising how little he is used on WWE's two main shows. Four matches on Raw and no match on Smackdown since September is mind boggling considering how over Ryder still is with live crowd. Maybe a run on NXT might help WWE find a place for him?

Inside the ring the action was decent enough, with Ryder battling through Cena's patented offence thanks to a little distraction from fellow Long Island native Kevin Connoly, running through a series of his signature moves (including his own version of the Tommykaze/Tommyknocker/Impaler/Unprettier/Killswitch) all of which got decent to good reaction from the crowd, with the Rough Ryder especially working well as a near fall. The highlight of the match though had to be Ryder's missed 450 splash, seriously when has Zack Ryder ever done a 450 splash? It put over what the match meant to the Long Island Iced Z, and even with Cena pulling out the win with the Attitude Adjustment, made for a great moment. 

With Ryder and the Entourage lads leaving Cena to celebrate, it as time for NXT Champion Kevin Owens to make his presence felt once more. Owens delivered a Pop-up powerbomb to Cena and in scene similar to last week held the NXT title belt aloft whilst standing on the United States belt. Owens has been allowed to look very impressive over the last two weeks both on Monday Night RAW and at NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, and he's really picked up the ball he's been handed by WWE and sprinted with it. The simple build to Cena and Owens' match at Elimination Chamber has felt the most natural out of all the other feuds we've seen going on over the last two weeks, allowed to grow at it's own pace, whilst building an strong feeling of excitement for their clash on Sunday.

Singles Match

R-Truth 

vs. 

Rusev

This match finds itself so far up this review thanks to a lot to the story-line activities that followed it. Going just a minute, Rusev, now proudly waving a Bulgarian flag, destroyed Truth in a quick fashion, picking up the win via submission with the accolade. Firstly, I'm not sure why WWE have put R-Truth in the Elimination Chamber for the Intercontinental Championship when they clearly don't have any real direction for him. Secondly, if WWE really wanted R-Truth in the chamber match why have him get absolutely destroyed by Rusev? Surely, there was someone else knocking around that could have been fed to the Bulgarian Brute?

Rusev went on to repeatedly call out Lana. Seriously I lost count of the amount of times that the Super-Athlete pleaded for his former manager to join him in the ring, before she eventually came out in her Miss Hancock-esque attire. Full of the WWE style soap area the pairs interactions was a well-scripted see saw of a segment, that had me hooked from start to finish. The narrative was easy to follow with Lana initially seeming to want to reconcile with Rusev until he asked her to say she was wrong, which, of course, didn't go down to well. WWE script writers often get it in the neck for their writing, but this segment was done very nicely, getting over a lot of information in a short amount of time.

Whilst the script writers deserve praise for the segment, it could have fallen apart if it weren't for Rusev and Lana pulling out their strong performances on the microphone that I can remember. Lana particularly took her chance and ran with it, with a superb tirade on Rusev at the conclusion of the segment, delivered with real venom. After what had gone before it was easy to believe she genuinely hated her former charge. The development that Rusev is an old-fashioned kind of fellow ("You need to know your place, woman!") was an interesting touch, and whilst it might be another slice of WWE stereotyping foreign performers, Rusev handled it well and got strong reactions from the crowd with his lines.

With Lana heading for the back, new love interest Dolph Ziggler took the opportunity to come out for smooch. This was a bit of a dick-ish thing for the babyface Ziggler to do, in all honesty, even if the kiss was little more than a peck on the lips. Whilst I'm enjoying the feud between Lana and Rusev, it's notable that things do feel a little bit rushed between the two. Perhaps if Lana had been kept off TV following her dismissal by Rusev last week, allowing things to breath (with Rusev in the Elimination Chamber there was no real need for the program to start right away) everything could have been that little bit more assured, and produced something that felt like it was growing a little more natural than what we've seen over the last two weeks. Almost proving my point, that wasn't the last we'd see of Rusev and Lana this week...

Singles Match

Sheamus 

vs. 

Dolph Ziggler 

The pairs third televised singles match in just over five weeks struggled to meet the standard of their previous two bouts. Essentially a match of two halves, I found the early part of the contest rather dull. Despite a big tilt-a-whirl slam on the outside and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, the match didn't find it's natural groove of the big Irishman working the show-off's back, or at least Ziggler just didn't fancy selling it. All the passion and fury that the two had bought to their rivalry over the last two months had been dropped and two simply had a match, which for someone who had bought into what had been an interesting and exciting program was a little disappointing to see.

Whilst the fire had gone, the closing sequence was done well, with both Lana and Rusev turning up a ringside. A lovely reversal sequence that saw *takes breath* a jumping DDT by Ziggler, turned into White Noise by Sheamus, turned into a Roll by Ziggler, turned into a Brogue Kick attempt by Sheamus, that would eventually lead to Sheamus connected with the ringpost, before Ziggler hit a superkick for two, was smooth as hell and produced a good reaction from the live crowd for the near fall. It was Rusev's involvement that would get the win for Sheamus however, as the Bulgarian caused the distraction that allowed Sheamus to pick up the win with a Brogue Kick. Rusev's then demoltion of Ziggler, placing him in the accolade whilst screaming "Kiss him now" at Lana was a pleasant end to the segment.

Ten-on-Three Handicap Match

The Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, Los Matadores, The Prime Time Players, Cesaro & Tyson Kidd with El Torito & Natalya 

vs. 

The New Day

Booked by Kane (go figure) this match followed a promo from The New Day in which they complained about being placed in an Elimination Chamber match this Sunday. The three continued to show off solid mic work, with the Nassau Colisseum eating up everything that the trio had to say. Whilst some of it was cheap heat, it was heat non-the-less, as Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and Big E continued to push forward as one of the most over acts on WWE's TV product. Kane's interruption and talk about fairness did little for no-one, seeing he's supposed to be a heel, the Big Red Monster then booking them into a ten on three handicap made even less sense. It's difficult to work out what WWE was aiming for with this segment and with Kane's involvement in particular.

The match itself then made things even more confusing, as it broke down after less than a minute of The New Day working over Kalisto. The action that followed was done well, with every team attacking each other and a number of big moves being hit, before Cesaro and Tyson Kidd were the ones standing tall following their Cesaro Swing/Dropkick combination to Kofi Kingston. Whilst that action was good, I still can't get my head around booking a ten on three handicap match and then abandoning it a minute in, so everyone can fight each other. Why not just book a twelve man tag team match? The Elimination Chamber bout should be a great spectacle and a good platform for the division, but this segment did very little to help promote the match.

Singles Match

Paige 

vs. 

Tamina Snuka with Naomi

For the short amount of time they were handed, Paige and Tamina did a stellar job with this match. Plenty of strong action, with Paige hitting a cannonball off the ring apron standing out as a particular highlight of the brief clash. Things were however let down by an ending the saw Naomi hit Paige on the outside, in plain sight of the referee, allowing Tamina to hit a Samoan drop for the win. Putting aside the fact that a number contender was just pinned, whether it was the referee, Naomi or Tamina who were at fault for the huge botch of allowing the ref to see the interference this won't go anyway to help proving to WWE's upper reaches that the diva's deserve more screen time. The Bella Twins (who were on commentary) ended things with a stare down with Naomi and Tamina. 

Singles Match

Neville 

vs. 

Stardust

A short but enjoyable contest, that featured Stardust focusing Neville's leg that had been injured at Payback, beginning with a nice dragon screw leg whip in the ropes. Unlike last week's match with Bad News Barrett though, Neville quickly recovered to hit a Tornado DDT and Red Arrow to pick up the victory. The storyline progression following the bout with Bo Dallas attacking Neville with a dropkick to his injured leg was a welcome addition and it's nice to Dallas getting a chance to shine in a decent storyline with Neville. Stardust however is wallowing in no man's land although a pre-match confrontation with actor Stephen Amell (Arrow, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half Shell) and the publicity that followed, might prove a springboard for the down on his luck wrestler.

Singles Match

Ryback 

vs. 

King Barrett

King Barrett and Ryback squared off prior to both men being involved in the Elimination Chamber for the Intercontinental Championship this Sunday. The match was beginning to look interesting as Barrett focused on Ryback's still injured ribs, sending the Big Guy into the corner of the barricade, delivering multiple kicks to the mid-section, hitting a diving elbow drop, locking on a seated surfboard stretch and hitting Wasteland, with Ryback doing a good job of selling the ribs once more. However, the below four minutes that the match was given wasn't enough to provide a satisfying finish as Ryback hit a spinebuster and a shellshock to get the win, almost out of  nowhere. 

Other Stuff 

The show opened with John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Alicia Fox, Roman Reigns, Booker T, The Bella Twins, Titus O'Neil, Dean Ambrose and Natalya reciting parts of Ronald Reagan's 1982 Memorial Day speech, as well as ten bell salute inside the arena., First Look: Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes! Yes! Yes! on the WWE Network was promoted with a sneak peak, whilst The Rock's new film San Andreas also received some promotion.

Finally...

Whilst there was storyline progression a plenty, after the strength of last week's Raw, this was almost certainly a step backwards. Whist the main programs of Ambrose vs. Rollins, Cena vs. Owens and Lana vs. Rusev entertained in different ways, Ambrose's feud with The Authority dominating the episode meant that mid and lower card matches were short to make good on their early promise (See: Ryback vs. Barrett, Neville vs. Stardust, even Tamina vs. Paige) and the one match that was given time in Sheamus vs. Ziggler struggled to provide the fierce action that the feud ending match deserved. 

Elimination Chamber still manages to look an exciting prospect, even with the less than stellar build to the two Elimination Chamber matches, both matches will most likely deliver, whilst Cena vs. Owens and Rollins vs. Ambrose should also be strong. However, this episode didn't do much to contribute to that excitement, and whilst entertaining in places, ultimately fell flat.

The Rating

Upper card - 6/10
Mid card - 3.5/10
Lower card - 3.7/10

Overall Rating - 4.8/10

WWE Extreme Rules 2015 Review

WWE's follow up to WrestleMania featured a Steel Cage match, a Last Man Standing match, a Russian Chain match, a Kiss Me Arse match, a Russian Chain match and Bo Dallas, but was it any good?

Steel Cage Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Seth Rollins (C) 
vs. 
Randy Orton

Before the main event could get underway, there was a number of backstage segments, focused on building the story of the bout. Kicking off with Triple H talking to the "Gatekeeper" for the match, Kane, and Seth Rollins in his flimsy office. A rather long winded segment that didn't provide any new information, rightly receiving "Boring" chants from the Chicago crowd. The build up continued with another backstage segment between Kane and Randy Orton with Orton relaying the history between the two, in an equally dull conversation. Neither of these segments were particularly needed and nothing new was put out there for the match.

The match focused on Rollins' repeated attempts to escape over the top, Orton not being allowed to hit the RKO and Kane being the gatekeeper. Rollins attempts were always foiled by Orton but this lacked the big spot that was required especially when both were fighting on top of the cage. Orton would attempt to use the other big move in his arsenal, the Punt, but of course because that move is legitimately banned Rollins moved out of the way. Orton did however hit the RKO on Kane latter on, which was fine, apparently, as was Rollins hitting Orton with a cutter variation. Kane proved to want to hurt everyone, but still put Rollins on top for the pin, making his entire involvement in the match as irrelevant as the rest of his last three years in WWE. 

When the two were allowed to wrestle, they put together some nice sequences that used the cage well, Orton catching Rollins dive off the ropes into his signature Scoop powerslam stands out, but these were too few and far between. A lack of convincing finishes, mainly down to the shocking amount of over-booking, hurt this match more than anything else, with only Orton's pedigree and Kane's chokeslam spot really standing out as potential match enders. As main events go this was tepid affair that perhaps wouldn't have looked out of place on an episode of Monday Night Raw, but lacked any real drama to justify it's spot closing a PPV.

By this match, it's clear that the pairs feud clearly isn't over yet. We know that they can put together good match, with their WrestleMania bout standing testament to this, so a rematch with less focus on Kane's involvement and more on the animosity between the two wrestlers would be more than welcomed by this reviewer. WWE seemed reluctant to put it's faith in either Orton or Rollins to carry a PPV main event and therefore decided to through all the gimmicks they could possibly think of at the match, which was in the end it's downfall.

Last Man Standing Match

Roman Reigns
vs.
Big Show

This bout received a little build-up before bell time with Renee Young interviewing Roman Reigns. I believe Reigns took inspiration from Chumbawamba's 1997 hit Tubthumping, when he reminding us that he might get knocked down, but he would indeed get up again. I think I would've actually preferred to see Reigns sing the entirety of this banging tune, (with Renee on backing vocals) as seeing the big man belting it out at the top of his lungs would have been a lot more entertaining than this tired promo. I think I am now most angry that this song only ever got to Number Two in the UK charts.

All joking aside this match proved to be the surprise of the night. Mainly focused around the big spots, these built up nicely, with each spot feeling like a natural progression from the next, as the referee's count got closer and closer to ten. The hints at upcoming spots were placing nicely throughout the match as the environment developed throughout, but this never felt contrived as can often be the case, and allowed the match to flow much better than if the pair simply went from one spot set up to the next. Big Show choke slamming Reigns off the apron through a pair of tables was visually impressive, whilst Reigns' samoan drop through another table made The Juggernaut look pretty damn badass himself.

Storytelling wise the last man standing gimmick offered pretty much all that needed to be there, with the gimmick offering itself as a skeleton around which the match could be fleshed out. However, Reigns attempting to knock Show down with his signature Superman Punches but being unable to was a nice addition, although it would have been more effective if we hadn't seen Big Show get chucked around like a ragdoll by Brock Lesnar a few months prior. Show's booking has been inconsistent at best throughout the last two or three years and I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief at points during the match. 

The objective here had to be continuing the attempt to get Roman Reigns' over as a babyface, that the fans can get behind. Whilst there will always be a section of fans (see: John Cena) that will forever be getting on Reigns' back, it seems that Reigns has turned the corner in most fans eyes, actually being helped by not winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. He looked impressive in a bout against a now limited Big Show and even with the Last Man Standing gimmick offering itself as a crutch of soughts, seemed more than comfortable in another main event-esque match.

Russian Chain Match for the United States ChampionshipJohn Cena (C) vs. Rusev with Lana

Those stupid fucking lights. I suppose the argument for them is that it creates a good visual, but I struggle to get my head around what purpose they actually have. The concept of momentum is entirely subjective, and without it being fully explained pre-match either by the commentary team or even on the Kick-Off show, it for frustrating viewing for the finish of the match, where Rusev was "touching" the corner, whilst Cena was ramming him into it. I can't be the only who considers that if your getting shoved into a turnbuckle then you haven't got any momentum and if you do that means your opponent doesn't have any either. The finish was so weak, with Cena hitting an AA on Rusev to touch the final ringpost, that it moved what had been an enjoyable feud into dangerous territory. 

The action wasn't anything special here and the gimmick wasn't used to it's full potential. Whilst it should have been a brutal conclussion to the feud, it looked like both men simply wanted to touch the turnbuckles as quickly as possible and leave, rather than two guys who wanted to beat the shit into each other and prove that their country was indeed the best. The chain looked flimsy when used a weapon, and the two looked creatively baron when using it for spots, with Rusev using it as a pully system on the outside about all the two could string together. Whilst there were a handful of good reversal sequences, they seemed plucked from their previous outings and had little to do with the match itself.

A real missed opportunity in this one saw Rusev begin to work Cena's ribs, picked up on well by Michael Cole on commentary, including the aforementioned pully spot which saw Rusev laying into Cena's mid-section with some nice kicks. This seemed like it would become the story of the match, but was seemingly dropped in the later stages, with Cena neglecting to sell the ribs and nothing really coming of this earlier good work. The psychological attempt could have added the story telling element that the match craved, with Cena unable to hit signature moves like the AA and having to put in a superhuman effort to pull Rusev around to make it to the turnbuckles. Alas, it was not to be.

Following the bout there was to be even more antics, as Rusev and Lana argued in what I imagine was Russian, before Lana went to talked to The Authority. It was later revealed in a backstage interview with Byron Saxton that Lana had negotiated for an "I Quit" match between the two for May's Payback PPV. This continued WWE's run of announcing a match for the next PPV on PPV's that are included as part of free months on the WWE Network. Personally, I think this feud was feeling tired after WrestleMania so another four weeks or so, could really drag. A third loss in a row to Cena, especially having to say "I Quit" could really harm Rusev going forward.

Kiss Me Arse Match

Sheamus
vs.
Dolph Ziggler

A decent enough match, that saw Sheamus dominating for the majority of the match, allowing The Celtic Warrior to really show off his new antagonistic persona. Whilst Sheamus was busy working the crowd, Ziggler worked well fighting from underneath, selling Sheamus' offence well and able to garner crowd support with quick bursts of offence. The biggest problem this match had was that it was just too short for the story that was being told. The finishing sequence felt more like a transitional sequence building towards something bigger, and when Ziggler got the pinfall it didn't feel like the satisfying finish that the build up had layed the foundation for. A more decisive finish would have made Sheamus' post match reaction even more deplorable.

That reaction, seeing Sheamus first trying to avoid kissing Ziggler's arse and then hitting a low blow and a Brogue Kick to get Zig's to kiss his pale Irish behind, finally made sense of the gimmick that had been randomly plonked on top of the match. Sheamus looked like a nob for not following through with the stipulation he came up with and recieved a decent amount of heat for his dickish reaction. However, again because Ziggler's win came across as a fluke, him then getting battered even more post-match didn't do much for The Show Off, hopefully with Daniel Bryan (who Sheamus would surely have been feuding with heading into the next PPV) currently out injured, we'll get to see some more of this feud and Ziggler get, at least, a modicum of revenge.

Chicago Street Fight

Luke Harper
vs.
Dean Ambrose

Quite literally a match of two halves and from bell-to-bell one of the longest singles matches in WWE history! This one really comes down to one spot, which saw Harper attempting to drive away from the arena, only for Ambrose to dive through the window of the car as Harper drove them both away. It was a make or break spot, that you were either going to love or hate and personally I hated it. I think the idea on paper sounded quite good, but it was poorly executed and didn't really suit the characters in the match. I found it hard to believe that the two had continued fighting and driving around for fourty minutes in between the two sections of their match and this wasn't helped by neither man looking remotely tired or selling anything upon their return. Perhaps some pre-recorded footage of their antics around Chicago would have improved the situation.

The final portion of the match followed pretty much the same pattern as the first, with a couple more spots to finish things off. Whilst the spots were good, and the finish was strong with Ambrose hurling Harper off the top onto a pile of chairs before hitting Dirty Deeds for the win, it felt like there was no real consequence to anything that was going on. Alongside the gimmick of them disapearing for a drive around Chicago mid-match, this bout was let down by nothing looking quite as good as the spots that were used in the build up. We'd seen Ambrose head through a ladder at WrestleMania and then the announce table on Smackdown, and yet neither of those weapons came to play in this match. Not the show stealing performance many had expected.

Tag Team Match for the Tag Team Championship

Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (C) with Natalya
vs.
Big E & Kofi Kingston with Xavier Woods

For the length of the match, I thought the four guys in this match did incredibly well to create an exciting tag match with a number of athletic sequences and worked in a handful of nice false finishes, including Cesaro making the late save for Kidd after Kingston and Big E hit their Midnight Hour finish and Big E saving Kingston when it seemed like Kidd's Sharpshooter was about to get the win. The finish was built well getting all participants involved before Kingston was able to get a school boy roll up on Kidd with a handful of tights to pick up the cheap victory and win his fourth tag title in WWE. The newly heel New Day have a lot of potential and their reaction post-match and in a backstage interview with Renee Young showed promise for this title run going forward. 

Singles Match for the Divas Championship Match

Naomi
vs.
Nikki Bella (C) with Brie Bella

Apart from the out of the blue babyface turn by the Bella Twins and a couple of slip ups early on, I was actually rather impressed by this Diva's Championship match. Given a decent amount of time, Nikki and Naomi put together some decent sequences, with Naomi slipping out a Rack Attack to hit a Full Nelson Bomb being a particular highlight for me. Naomi seemed to trying a little too hard in her new heel role, but I get the feeling she'll settle into it over the next few months, and hey, she's got shoes that change colour! The finish let this one down, as it just didn't make any sense to have the newly babyface Bellas cheat to win, with Nikki's distraction allowing Brie to clatter Naomi with a kick on the outside. A few troubles throughout, but still a promising effort from the two female performers in the ring.

Bo Dallas & Ryback Segment

FILLER CITY, BITCH! Bo Dallas came out and cut a creative, but cheap promo on the city of Chicago, for reasons. Before Ryback came and battered him with a Meat Hook and Shellshock. The only real reason for this seemed to be to make up a bit of time, although giving Ziggler and Sheamus an extra five minutes would have been a much better option.

Miscellaneous 

The WWE Network was heavily pushed throughout the show, with a number of new shows being promoted for the next week, seemingly because the free month of April is about to come to an end. Tough Enough is back soon, as a couple of audition videos were shown, some good and some bad, although it was painfully obvious that this audition process isn't as open as WWE would have the public believe. The Kick-Off panel got their obligatory segment with Byron Saxton, Booker T and Corey Graves chatting about the Chicago Street Fight and Tag Team title match, as well as highlights from Bad News Barrett and Neville's pre show match. The Marine 4: Moving Target is WWE's latest direct-to-DVD offering, this time featuring The Miz and Summer Rae, which is nice. A promo for Payback on 17th May aired, mainly focused on Roman Reigns. MTN Dew is a beverage that can be drunk, it was good to be reminded of this. Live is Jericho returns to the WWE Network following this week's Smackdown with Jericho being joined by Stephanie McMahon. There is a hero in all of us, apparently, which surely removes the point of being an actual hero.

Finally....

Not a good PPV by any stretch of the imagination, but there was enough that kept me entertained throughout the three hours. Big Show and Roman Reigns put on the pick of the three main event level matches, with Rollins vs. Orton and Rusev vs. Cena both being harmed by a lack of creativity and questionable booking. The mid card was hit and miss with both Sheamus vs. Ziggler and Harper vs. Ambrose having their moments, but Sheamus and Ziggler could've done with a bit more and the Chicago Street Fight being harmed by a gimmick that didn't deliver on what it promised. The tag team and Diva's Championship matches made the most of their undercard placings, with the tag team match in particular shining through as a standout match on the show. Not a great follow up to a strong WrestleMania card, WWE will need to dust itself down and try again come May 17th's Payback.