TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1215 - Sami Zayn v Kevin Owens 6

Aired - 5th September 2016

After #1214 had seen Kevin Owens win the vacant Universal Championship, #1215 would feature the newly minted champion going up against his fiercest rival, Sami Zayn, in the main event. After producing a number of WWE classics over the last two years, could Owens and Zayn create another masterpiece and kick start the era of The Kevin Owens Show?

I don't think that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn could ever have a bad match, actually I don't think that they are capable of doing anything less than very good bout together. Using a number of motifs from their previous outings, Zayn fought well from underneath, getting a number of near falls, whilst Owens came across as a dick as he repeatedly went to hit Zayn with an apron powerbomb. The match was full of the smooth reversals that you'd expect from two familiar opponents, whilst still having the impact of two guys who hate each other's guts. The finish called back to Zayn's match with Seth Rollins two weeks earlier, as The Underdog from the Underground would hurt his ankle as he went for the wristlock springboard tornado DDT, and after had been able to hit a nasty looking half and half suplex on the floor he was unable to get across the ring quick enough to hit the Helluva Kick, allowing Owens to nail a superkick and powerbomb to get the win and take their WWE series to 3-2. A brilliant piece of booking to have Owens first match as champion against Zayn, as it guaranteed a very good main event, whilst also allowing Owens to pick up a win over the man that most recently defeated him. At the close of the show, Owens would end up having a stare down with Roman Reigns, with General Manager Mick Foley booking a match between the two for #1216 with the possibility of The Juggernaut joining the title bout at Clash of Champions with a victory. It's definitely worth noting that the final image as RAW went off the air was Reigns standing on the turnbuckle, as seen above.

After the shocking events of last week, Seth Rollins would get an opportunity to take out his frustrations on Kevin Owen's Jeri-KO tag team partner, Chris Jericho. This lead to the second TV bout between the two being the match of the night, driven by the fire of The Architect as he batter Jericho around the ringside area on numerous occasions, whilst the level-headed Y2J was able to take control between the ropes, using anything opportunity that Rollins left open for him, including using the referee to hit a triangle dropkick! As Rollins continues his babyface turn, Jericho was a clever opponent to place him with, as he's been doing some of the best heel work of his career recently and his style clashes with Rollins' in all the right ways. After Rollins had hit a slingblade and a blockbuster, the pair put on some slick sequences, with near falls dotted throughout, that made for an exciting final third. Jericho catching Rollins springboard flying knee and turning it into the Walls of Jericho was a particular highlight, as was a sequence that saw The Architect block a superplex, then miss a Frog Splash before Y2J hit a Lionsault. If the lead up had been enthralling the finish picked things up a notch, as Jericho kept up with the man 15 years his younger in a swift back and forth sequence that saw Rollins get the emphatic win with a Pedigree.  

Bayley continued to shine on the big stage as she defeated Women's Champion Charlotte in a smashing opening match. The pair produced a simple narrative, that they performed well and kept the crowd hooked throughout a number of near falls. Bayley had appeared to injure her right knee when trying to hit her running baseball dropkick, under the bottom turnbuckle, and like a shark who smells blood, the Nature Girl went straight for the leg on the outside. The leg injury would used to create a number of hope spots, as Bayley would appear to be about to make a comeback, either for the leg to give out or Charlotte to manage to hit the target with another vicious move. One of my favourite moments was Bayley managing to block a Figure 8 attempt, only for the champ to lock in a single leg Boston crab. Each of these little moments meant that when Bayley went for a school-boy pin out of nowhere, the crowd popped big, but they'd pop even bigger when Bayley kicked out of a roll up and sent Charlotte in Dana Brooke at ringside and even bigger when Bayley hit a Bayley to Belly to get the win! It was star performance from Bayley, her selling was perfect throughout every moment, getting across the pain and making that victory seem even more impressive. A Women's title match at Clash of Champions is surely coming her way!


The arena show began with a red-hot in-ring celebration for the new Universal Champion Kevin Owens, presented by Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and General Manager Mick Foley, interrupted by Seth Rollins. The interactions between the four was enthralling television, that jolted around like a dodgem car as it headed toward Foley booking a title match between The Prizefighter and The Architect for the 25th September supercard, Clash of Champions. Owens was supremely good as he looked every inch of the top guy his belt suggest that he is, turning on Kansas City's "You Deserve It" chants, claiming they were trying to steal the spotlight from him and also claiming that he had the match "98% won" and Triple H only helped to do what was right! He's great about being a dick. Rollins bought the passion of a babyface, but his verbiage suggests he hasn't quite turned yet, as he seemed to using some heely hypocritical phrases when complaining about Owens relationship with Triple H. The crowd went nuts when the two had a bit of a scrap and that probably should have been it as the bickering between McMahon and Foley over whether Rollins was suspended or not was a bit awkward and unnecessary. Still this was an exciting start to the show and kick-started a new feud that will only get better over the next three episode's before Clash of Champions!

I feel like the less said about The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) segment with Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) and their retired counterparts from the future The Old Day the better. Seriously, I just want to forget that it even happened. *takes deep breath* So, basically The Club continued their retirement gimmick, as they talked about attacking The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) two weeks earlier and then introduced The Old Day, who were apparently from the future where they live in The Club's Retirement Home. Whilst there were some cool touches on the entrance, like a slower version of the New Day's theme, the crowd gave Gallows & Anderson complete indifference throughout and all the jokes were lame. Just when you thought The New Day would save the day, they began talking about what would happen if they touched their "older selves". How am I supposed to react to that? Not every sci-fi trope works in wrestling. The segment would conclude with E, Kingston & Woods taking out the Old Day after The Club had scarpered. 

Also in the tag team division, The Shining Stars (Epico and Primo) picked up a surprise victory over Big Cass and Enzo Amore in a lively encounter. Things began with Cass & Amore interrupting Epico and Primo and doing a weird skit about being in labour, because it was Labour Day in the US, which wasn't funny at all. Cass just about made it work with a bizarre breathing routine thing that kept the crowd involved. The match was much better than I was expecting it to be, as Epico and Primo were finally given a bit of time to show off what they could, which included Epico hitting the Trileda [belly to back suplex, german suplex and a brainbuster in quick succession] as Amore worked the face in peril role. Cass' polished hot tag routine would run into the shock finish as after Primo had thwarted a Badaboom Shaka Laka attempt, Epico was able to roll-up Amore to pick up the victory. I enjoyed seeing a different tag team getting a spotlight to show what they could provide Monday Night's and after being held back by their gimmick it looks like The Shining Stars might finally be ready to cash in on their potential.

Cesaro and "The Celtic Warrior" Sheamus's Best of Seven Series had already reached Match Three and with Sheamus already 2-0 up, the drama was beginning to build between the pair. I'm a sucker for storytelling and especially continuity, so having the bout revolve around the back that Cesaro had injured in the previous match after being sent back first into the ring post, made me a very happy man. The Swiss Superman made the moment, as after an initial face-shine with plenty of uppercuts, he took a back bodydrop and had to roll out of the ring because of the pain. Clasping his back and grimacing as he tried to fight off his foe was marvelous stuff, whilst being unable to fully push Sheamus into the air with his regular uppercut, because of the back was even better. The narrative would conclude with The Celtic Warrior hitting a series of Irish Curse Backbreakers with more venom than they've had behind them in years, before a Brogue Kick would take him to 3-0 in the Series. The duo are scheduled to have Match 4 of the Series on 7th September in London at a house show and if there first three matches have been anything to go by, the duo will thrive in an environment with less restrictions and the heightened theatre.

Sasha Banks proved that she was worth more than her weight in gold, as she put on a mesmerising performance on the microphone, despite what the lame Kansas City audience would've had you believe. The segment had been pushed as being Banks' time to deliver some bad news and it followed all your usual tropes of a retirement speech, calling back to Daniel Bryan's emotional "farewell" in February. It felt real, an element that is so important but often lacking from modern day WWE and was easy to build an emotional connection towards, not just because of it sharing tropes with previous speech, but also the stories that Banks chose to tell and the reality behind them. Luckily for us, Banks wasn't out to retire however and after Dana Brooke had headed to the ring, interrupting Sasha as she mentioned she had received some bad news from her Doctor, in an attempt to send Banks away "on her terms", proving she spent way too much time with The Club last week, the former Team B.A.D. member quickly got the better of Charlotte's protege making her tap to the Banks Statement. The segment ended with Banks revealing that the bad news was for Charlotte, as she would taking back the Women's title when the pair met at Clash of Champions.

Over the last few weeks, the main thing that's been making me tear my hair out while watching RAW has been the Prime Time Players explode storyline. The storyline had about as much momentum as a clamped car when it began and somehow it's managed to go backwards. This week Darren Young would go over Jinder Mahal, after Titus O'Neil had tried to get involved. Young even managed to make the transition into his finish clunky as he fumbled around before hitting the Gutcheck double knee gutbuster. Things were made almost unbearable by O'Neil on commentary only having one thing to say about Young and his life coach, Bob Backlund, "When was Darren great in the first place?". It was boring a few weeks ago, it's pain inducing now and with no heel heat it's clearly not working. Young would brawl with O'Neil after the contest and the number of people who gave a fuck decreased even further.

Best of the Rest 

• Sin Cara put up some fight against Braun Strowman, but eventually lost by countout after being dragged under the bottom rope and straight into the barricade
• A backstage segment with Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley opened the show as an emotional McMahon promised Foley that she had nothing to do with Triple H's involvement in last week's main event.
• Ann Esposito got in the most offence of anyone against Nia Jax so far, but Jax still proved she's not like most girls with a quick victory with a powerslam. It would appear that Jax is moving into a feud with Alicia Fox, who was presented as a close friend of Esposito. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.83/10

If we forget that The Old Day skit and the Titus O'Neil and Darren Young feud exists, then this was a cracking episode of Monday Night RAW. With those two things, as well as lacklustre crowd, then it's still closer to good than it is average. 

Whilst not having Triple H appear on the show seemed like miscue, there were three good matches at the top of the card, with Owens v Zayn, Jericho v Rollins and Bayley v Charlotte all scrapping it out to become match of the night, as well as a strong storytelling bout in Cesaro and Sheamus' Best of Seven Series on the undercard as well! Add to that a red-hot opening segment as Owens celebrated his title, as well as the Sasha Banks promo and you've got over an hour of good to great wrestling television! (RAW's run-time is around two and a quarter hours without ad-breaks) 

With Roman Reigns v Kevin Owens already booked for next week and number of other storylines only just beginning, it looks like we should be in for an entertaining three weeks as we head towards Clash of Champions. That's if we can put up with The Primetime Players scrapping for that long! 

Words - James Marston

Banner - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1208 - Cena, Amore, Cass & The New Day v The Club & Wyatt Family

It was the night before the first Draft in five years and the final Monday Night RAW before Battleground 2016 on 24th July, so WWE had a lot to build and promote. How would they go about it? Would it be an action packed show or would it just be Michael Cole should the words "WWE Draft" over and over? 

In what was arguably the biggest match on the show, The Club (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) & The Wyatt Family (Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan) defeated Big Cass, Enzo Amore, John Cena & Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) after Styles pinned Amore [Styles Clash] in a thrilling twelve men tag team match. With so many bodies involved, this was always going to be a bout that kept the action coming and the final moments of the bout certainly provided that. Guys were in and out of the ring, hitting big moves, with momentum swinging one way and then the other. When things got down to the nitty gritty, The New Day and The Wyatt Family brawled to the back, keeping both teams on a level playing field heading into Battleground, leaving The Club with their opponents for the PPV. The finish was cleverly booked but poorly executed, as Amore would end up hitting Cena with a horrible clothesline after Styles had ducked out of the way, leading to The Club getting the victory. It felt a tad contrived and was probably the only thing that didn't work throughout the match. 

The meat and potatoes of the match was put together nicely, playing of the strengths of everyone involved and making sure that fresh combinations and stories were being showcased throughout the match. The crowd's reaction to Cass and Strowman ending up in the ring together was brilliant and aided by a number of factors. First Amore's attempt to take down Strowman got the crowd hyped and onside with creative. The tease of scrap was denied when everyone else in the match began brawling, leading to Cass and Strowman being left alone in the ring again and even bigger reaction. It was a simple of piece of booking that presented something, made the fans realise they actually wanted to see it, took it away and then gave it back again. Lovely stuff. Throw in plenty of interaction between the two heel stables, as Kingston and then Cena worked the face in peril role and you've got an extremely enjoyable TV bout. 

Talking of extremely enjoyable, the segment that came before the match may have been even more so than the match itself. Cena's interplay with Enzo & Cass, put over the idea that the trio aren't quite a cohesive unit much better than the finish of the match, whilst Amore was on blistering form with a pun filled that insulted all three of the Club members. Then you had The Club, who have got a different style to pretty much any other act on the roster when delivering promos, funny, but annoyingly arrogant, entertaining but in a way that makes you want to see them get kicked in knees a bit. Then by golly gosh, out came the New Day to tie a Pokemon Go shaped bow on the whole thing. The crowd ate it up as they made sneaky jokes about masturbation and began to list various pocket monsters. Wyatt Family would act as the spoilers to lead to the break. Lots of fun here, it actually looked more fun to be a part of, than it was to watch (and it was really fun to watch!). 

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose would square off in the show's final segment, with the WWE Championship on the line, just days before they will be joined by Roman Reigns at Battleground. It'd be difficult for these two to have a bad match at this point, having previously gone at it ten times on WWE programming (add a further five from FCW, plus many more on live events) and teamed up before that, they seemingly know each other inside out. That was so very clear throughout this, as they flew through the match, swapping holds and big moves with an ease that only comes with familiarity. A personal favourite sequence was Rollins having a suicide dive attempt blocked by an Ambrose elbow, before getting clotheslined over the top rope on the other side and getting crashed into by Ambrose hitting a dive of his own. Whilst not being their greatest encounter, the regular tropes of today's big PPV matches were there with both kicking out of each others finisher, with a loud and surprisingly split crowd, this was easily in the top five matches on RAW this year.

The first WWE Championship match on RAW since January, Ambrose and Rollins' title clash would end in controversy after a top rope superplex by Rollins and a small package reversal by Ambrose would result in a double pinfall. The finish was probably what stopped me calling this the best match on RAW this year, as it felt all a little bit messy. The double pinfall was clearly not a double pinfall, even without a reply and there was also a weird ref bump thrown in there. The show finished with Rollins holding the belt aloft after "The Man" had been proclaimed the winner by RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. It all felt a bit too contrived in it's set-up, an shoe-horned way of pushing the "brand rivalry" set to begin the following night. It didn't leave me wanting to see the Draft any more or after the title changed twice in a night at the last PPV all that interested in who was actually considered the champion, as I suppose was the aim. Twenty five minutes worth of action deserved a much better finish than this. 

The show began with RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon revealing 3 time WWF World Heavyweight Champion Mick Foley (Cactus Jack/Mankind/Dude Love) are the new General Manager of her show, whilst Smackdown Commissioner Shane McMahon announced 3 time WWE (World) Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan as his GM. Two interesting picks here, for sure. Foley should take away the sharp edges of the Stephanie McMahon character, giving a good cop, bad cop partnership that has proved to be pretty entertaining in the past. It should also mean that WWE is stearing clear of the overbearing in heel in control of the show, which has grown more than tired over the last ten years. With Bryan the fans were clearly not ready to say goodbye to his character during his retirement speech in March and two lengthy spells on the sideline he never really got the prolonged time in the spotlight that his WrestleMania XXX performance deserved. Whilst he might not be in the ring anymore, there's certainly some space for him to get involved in storylines and interact with the roster. 

Whilst it was head and shoulders above the close to last week's RAW when Shane and Stephanie were given their respective brands by Vince McMahon, it did feel a little bit long for the amount of legitimate content. Shane and Steph throwing insults each others way about having or not having testicles or having shag wrestlers to remain relevant got good reactions out of the crowd and were well timed within the make-up of the promo, but I'll be happy to see the back of them being on the same show every week! Bryan probably could've done a massive shit in the ring and thrown it into the front row and still got the crowd to do a "Yes!" chant at the end of his promo. He's hardly the most charismatic guy in the world, but they hung on his every word here. Truth be told, Foley looked a little bit lost in the mix. I'm not sure what was happening during his promo, but Stephanie kept talking to him off microphone, which was bloody weird to say the least. "The Hardcore Legend" then became "The Hardcore Gooseberry" as he stood about whilst the McMahons and Bryan's got on with the promo. The segment wasn't the best you'll ever see, but it did it's job and leaves us with two interesting partnerships on each shows. 

The opening match saw Sami Zayn and Cesaro defeat Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens, after Zayn got the pin on Jericho [Small package] in a solid TV tag bout. The match played out attractively with the four talented performers slotting together well and telling a fun story with their characters, and barely putting a foot wrong doing so. Zayn and Owens' feud was obviously at the core of the bout, with the pair getting to brawl with each other on numerous occasions, include duking it out in the middle of the ring towards the end of the contest. A clever sequence would set up elements for the finish as Jericho tagged himself in on Owens as Zayn went for the Helluva Kick, then as Y2J celebrated his genius, Zayn tagged in Cesaro for a diving crossbody near fall. The finish would give "The Underdog from The Underground" some huge momentum heading into the Draft on Tuesday and Battleground on Sunday, as he was able to reverse Jericho's sneaky roll-up attempt (Zayn was busy laying into Owens at the time) and turn it into a small package for a big win. A lot of fun to be had here with a reminder of Zayn and Owens match on the PPV without going over the top with a segment the pair clearly don't need at this stage.

Another tag team match would see United States Champion Rusev get Dolph Ziggler to tap [The Accolade] in bout that also involved "The Bulgarian Brute"'s former League of Nations buddy, Sheamus and Zack Ryder, who will challenge for the US title on Sunday. The contest didn't do a whole lot for me. It was basic stuff with Ryder's road to the US title continuing to be a weird one as he played the face in peril role and got battered about by both Rusev and Sheamus for the majority of the match. Everyone seemed to just go through the motions, with guys like Ziggler and Sheamus currently just floating about WWE without a whole lot of purpose, you can hardly blame them. "The Bulgarian Brute" shouting at Sheamus to tag him in after "The Celtic Warrior" and "The Long Island Iced Z" had nailed each other with clotheslines was probably the best thing about the entire match. The whole Rusev v Ryder storyline has been completely bizarre, with Ryder being put across as a bit of loser, whilst Rusev is Machkaing former World Heavyweight Champions with ease! 

Yet another tag team match was on the card this week, although it didn't get a chance to get going as Natalya attacked Becky Lynch three minutes into Lynch teaming with Sasha Banks against Women's Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke. The action before the attack was nothing more than treading water with not a massive amount going on. Charlotte and Brooke would then pick apart Banks inside the ring, including a sweet Natural Selection from the Women's Champion. I suppose it was a decent way of continuing both women's feuds heading into the PPV without actually having to give the whole division much more than five minutes on the air!  

Darren Young would pick up a huge squash victory over Alberto Del Rio [O'Connor Roll] after Intercontinental Champion The Miz would attempt to get involved. Baron Corbin was handed a swift victory over Sin Cara, before also swatting Kalisto aside when he attempted to make the save for his former Lucha Dragons pal.

Results 

Tag Team Match: Cesaro & Sami Zayn def. "Y2J" Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens in 11 minutes, 56 seconds 

Singles Match: Darren Young (with Bob Backlund) def. Alberto Del Rio in 2 minutes, 23 seconds 

Twelve Man Tag Team Match: The Club - AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson & The Wyatt Family - Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt & Erick Rowan def. Big Cass, Enzo Amore, John Cena and Tag Team Champions The New Day - Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods in 19 minutes

Singles Match: Baron Corbin def. Sin Cara in 1 minute, 18 seconds 

Tag Team Match: Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks def. Women's Champion Charlotte & Dana Brooke by DQ in 2 minutes, 20 seconds 

Tag Team Match: United States Champion "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev & "The Celtic Warrior" Sheamus def. Dolph Ziggler & Zack Ryder in 3 minutes, 48 seconds 

WWE Championship Match: Dean Ambrose (C) v Seth Rollins - Double Pin after 24 minutes, 16 seconds

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.85/10 

RAW gets it's best ATPW Scale Rating for quite some time this week. This is mainly thanks to the two top matches on the show, with the brilliant segment that came before the Twelve Man Tag also having a major effect on this week's score. Two different matches in major slots on the show, that felt like they had a purpose going forward, whilst also remaining entertaining throughout. The show was held back by an undercard that lacked creativity in it's booking and at points lacked any logic at all (Yes, Zack Ryder's United States Championship storyline, I'm talking about you!)

After weeks of treading water, it was nice to see WWE finally produce something that felt meaningful a week before Battleground, with the top half of the card all being good viewing. Before we get to Battleground though, there's the small matter of the WWE Draft to be dealing with on Smackdown LIVE! 

Article text by James Marston.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally...ATPW Scale Rating - 5.7/10

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

PPV Review: WWE Money in the Bank 2016 (James Marston)

Sup homeslice. Here's ATPW's look at Money in the Bank 2016, fresh for your eyeholes. We've switched back to the MOTD format, because...just because. Let us know what you think about what we think in the comments or social media. Oh look, here's Dean Ambrose. Hi Dean Ambrose. 

So, we had two new WWE World Heavyweight Champions crowned in one night, for the first time since...erm...November last year...okay that's not really that impressive, is it? How about the first time we'd have three WWE World Heavyweight Champions in one PPV since SummerSlam 2013 in August of that year. That's a bit better, isn't it? The first time someone's won a Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed it on the same night against a new champion? Hmmm, that's probably the best we're going to get here. (And more on Dean Ambrose's Money in the Bank Ladder match victory later on in the review) Let's be honest, these kind of occurrences have become pretty common place in WWE since 2005, but that didn't seem to effect the reaction that Dean Ambrose got from the T-Mobile Arena when he headed down to the ring and grabbed WWE's main prize from Seth Rollins' hands after hitting Dirty Deeds for the victory. It was a fairly straight-forward "shock" finish to the show, that I'd guess many had predicted and leaves some interesting option heading out of the show, even more so with the WWE Draft less than a month away.

So I've covered the aftermath, which was always going to be the biggest talking point, but how did Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins do with their main event contest. For me, the former Shield duo, both put in credible performances, that managed to work with the crowd reactions and play up certain aspects of their game in order to do that. Reigns' early period of dominance was a clever piece of booking, as it almost saw the two swap roles and allowing the crowd to be involved in the contest, without trying to fight against them. We had Reigns mouthing off to Rollins, questioning whether he was ready, before throwing over the announce table table, there was a definite shift in presentation here, similar to Reigns' previous matches with AJ Styles. 

There's also perhaps comparisons to be made with Seth Rollins' series of matches with John Cena last summer, where we got to see Rollins employ a much flashier offence, one you'd expect from a babyface. His comeback was highlighted with a suicide dive, which was quickly followed up by a tope conhilo, not some usually associated with your main event "heel". Following Rollins' quick and pacy comeback sequence, the pair settled into a back and forth contest, trading near falls and working some pretty neat transitions. Perhaps the biggest marker of their back and forth section was Reigns nailing Rollins with a Superman Punch directly after being thrown into the turnbuckle with Rollins' signature Buckle Bomb. During this period I felt that both men's facial expressions managed to hold the match together, where at times the running times almost felt a bit flabby. 

With both men getting solid near falls, including a well-timed Pedigree from Rollins as a reversal to Reigns' spear, it was perhaps surprising to see Rollins pick up a clean victory as he hit another Pedigree to win the title. I think this is especially surprising as WWE was planning to have Dean Ambrose come out immediately afterwards to take the title away from Rollins. Did it effect the reaction Ambrose got? Probably not. And with Reigns being protected somewhat by having the match won a few minutes earlier after hitting a Spear with the referee down, this kind of finish does perhaps lend itself more to a continued feud between the three heading into the Summer. I've also got a feeling that WWE will be turn Rollins babyface over the next few months, as this seemed the plan for him prior to his injury last year, so having him win the title cleanly will only help that turn when it happens. 

After years of appearing on everyone's WWE vs. TNA dream cards, John Cena vs. AJ Styles had a lot of hype to live up to. It was always going to be difficult to separate the match from the years and years of build up, but Cena and Styles managed to deliver a very good match indeed. The pair kept things relatively simple inside the ring, but did things well, telling a strong, coherent story throughout the match and flowing from one moment to the next relatively easily. 

From the opening exchanges it was made clear what direction the match was heading, with both the commentary and the performers making this clear as mud. The story, especially early doors hinged on the fact that Cena was having his first televised match since December and hasn't wrestled regularly since October. This played out in the ring as Styles dominated the early proceedings. The part that really caught my eye was Cena's regular comeback sequence being cut of by Styles at various points throughout the match, in different ways. This created a different feel to the match, with Cena constantly gaining momentum, only for Styles to cut him off almost immediately.

Yes, the match had a couple of cool false finishes and the transition into the Calf Crusher was quality, but I can't review this match without talking about talking. As someone with so much experience as Cena has, I shouldn't be able to hear him call anything during the match, let alone every single spot. It's shoddy work that let's down the creativity of any spot that the two did, because most of the time I knew exactly what they were going to do, because Cena had told me! Also interesting to note that Cena lead the match, I'm sure many will have something to say about that. 

The finish was, in my opinion, exactly what the match needed. With Cena inadvertently knocking down the referee, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson would strike, hitting Magic Killer on the Cenation Leader, giving Styles the victory. For me, this cheap victory was needed to cement Styles as a top heel in the company. A rematch between Cena and Styles is a bigger, more personal match because of the result and also gives the company months of material to play with on Raw and Smackdown. There's more to come from Styles and Cena, but this match laid the foundation for what should be a massive feud this summer. 

Money in the Bank ladder matches are all about the spots, aren't they? Loads of blokes chucking other blokes onto bits of metal. This years match had plenty of cool spots and moments, with all six men putting in fine displays, both delivering out the punishment and being on the receiving end of it. Perhaps, the match lacked a defining moment or any really mind blowing, but the action was kept fairly fast with lots going on. These types of matches are usually very easy on the eye, without asking an audience all that much, this clash was no different. It was good to see everyone looking relatively safe throughout the bout.

The contest felt very split across the two major feuds that were involved in the match, with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens continuing their story, whilst Chris Jericho looked to gain a measure of revenge on Dean Ambrose. Zayn and Owens' action stood out amongst the pack, with Zayn's Michonoku Driver onto a ladder on it's side and Owens powerbomb onto a ladder spanning the turnbuckle and an upright ladder, being among the matches most notable moments. At times it felt like Cesaro and Alberto Del Rio were there to fill the spots, but both guys made sure they didn't fade into the background, especially in the first two thirds of the contest.

I have to say I thought the finish ended up feeling a little bit flat, not because Dean Ambrose won the match, but down to how the ladder structure that was set up was used. With two ladder joining a turnbuckle to the main ladder, it felt like we were about to see something truly spectacular and whilst the ladder "bridges" were used, there was nothing that could be described as spectacular. The moment where also six men where on the ladder, and the follow up spot with ADR and Cesaro bringing in their own ladder seemed poised to offer up the "Holy Shit" moment the match needed but it never came with the tension slowly petering out. I would talk about Ambrose's potential with the Money in the Bank briefcase, but as we know, he'd already be WWE World Heavyweight Champion by the end of the show, so there's nothing to actually talk about! 

Leading the under card was a busy Fatal Four-Way tag team match, involving Enzo & Cass, The Vaudevillians and Gallows & Anderson challenging for The New Day's WWE Tag Team Championship. These matches have become pretty common place on WWE PPV's over the last few years, but this bout was perhaps the strongest looking line-up for a while, with all three teams having legitimate claims to the title. This was played up nicely by some strong near falls, with all three of the challengers hitting their finish and getting solid reactions from it. Gallows and Anderson's Magic Killer on Aiden English was probably the strongest part of the bout. 

I did feel however that parts of the match weren't as smooth as they could have been, perhaps because certain parts felt very rushed. The teams never quite seemed to find a rhythm to settle into and I think this was fairly obvious by the finish, which felt clunky as Big E and Kofi Kingston went for the Midnight Hour on Karl Anderson, whilst waiting for Big Cass to take out Luke Gallows with a Cactus Big Boot. Kingston would then go on to pin English a couple of minutes after taking the Magic Killer. had this match just been a bit tighter on it's timings, slowing down at points and speeding up at others, it could have been a real triumph for the tag team division, however what we ended up with was a good bout, that should have been better.

Elsewhere, Baron Corbin went over Dolph Ziggler in a solid match, that failed to capture the crowd. The two guys have struggled to get their programme over, despite starting it the night after WrestleMania in April. The duo have had five matches on TV since then and it was clear to everyone that feud had outstayed it's welcome as they contested their sixth match (the first on PPV), as the T-Mobile Arena showered them in either "Boring" chants or complete silence. 

To be fair to Corbin and Ziggler, the pair did work hard for each throughout the match, showing flashes of chemistry with some decent sequences peppered throughout the bout. Had the pair managed to pull out a match like this a few months back and then both moved onto to something else I feel it would have benefited both men, a lot more than the current structure of their feud. Despite this, I thought that the finish was incredibly weak, as the pair fannied around in the corner, which lead to nothing, before Corbin hit End of Days for the victory. Marking Corbin's fourth victory over Ziggler in a row, here's hoping that this feud is finally over.

 
Further down the card, we had a women's tag team match, because, why would you put a Women's Championship match on PPV, stupid idiot? A complete nothing match here, as Charlotte and Dana Brooke went over Becky Lynch and Natalya, in a match that happened. The Women's Champion and Brooke did some decent heel work, using underhanded tactics to keep control of the match, but beyond that I haven't got much to say. If the bout had taken place on Monday Night RAW or even Thursday Night Smackdown, it wouldn't have looked out of place, but it definitely didn't merit a spot on PPV. Natalya's turn on Lynch after the match was the most noteworthy occurrence, which in my opinion could be the best thing for Natalya who looks incredibly awkward and cringe-worthy as a babyface. (Yes, she unfollowed us on Twitter for saying that) 

Apollo Crews' first WWE PPV appearance saw him put a decent bout with Sheamus, en route to picking up the biggest victory of his 6 year career. The crowd was very timid at the start of the contest, but it felt like Crews was beginning to win them over, as he got his first real chance to show what he can do since being promoted from NXT. His moonsault off the apron to the outside looked extremely pretty and felt like the turning point in winning the crowd over. The reaction to Crews kicking out of a Super White Noise was a big one and I think had the pair had another five minutes to really kick on they could have potentially stole the show. A highlight of the undercard that showed potential in a talent who has struggled to connect with the crowd as of yet, there's more to come from Crews and Sheamus, as they both try to find their place on the current programming. 

Down at the bottom of the pile, we have Rusev retaining the WWE United States Championship over Titus O'Neil in a match. There was some storyline here with O'Neil's kids being at ringside and it being Father's Day, but it didn't really do a whole lot for me. I found myself quickly zoning out because I'm neither guy has got me invested over the last few weeks in their storyline and they didn't show much else here either. The Bulgarian Brute joking about with O'Neil's kids after the match and shouting "Happy Father's Day" got a good chuckle out of me though. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.04/10 

This show was promoted as the "Greatest Money in the Bank PPV of all time" and it wasn't. It was always going to struggle to live up to the billing, considering that Money in the Bank 2011 is considered one of the greatest PPV's off all time. However, I thought the top matches did manage to deliver plenty of entertainment, with Styles vs. Cena, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout and the Money in the Bank ladder match all being high quality contests. My personal match of the night would be Styles and Cena, as I thought they created a compelling contest that built nicely throughout, whilst also leaving something extra for a future rematch, that will be a bigger match because of this. 

Elsewhere, I thought the undercard was particularly weak with the Women's tag, Corbin vs. Ziggler and the United States Championship match bringing very little to the PPV. The Tag Championship match and Sheamus vs. Crews showed promise at points, but were held back through booking and a couple of slip ups. 

With this being the last show before the WWE Draft, it felt like a few of the performers were holding back just a little bit, when they should have been going all out to show that they deserved a major spot on either Raw or Smackdown. 
  

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

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

monday night raw #1198 match card

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

cass interrupts the return of jericho's highlight reel

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

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

corbin defeats ziggler

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

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

paige defeats charlotte 

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

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

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

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

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

cara defeats rusev

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

reigns and the usos defeat the club via disqualification 

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

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

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

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

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

dudley boyz defeats new day

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

ambrose destroys jericho's jacket

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

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

finally...

atpw scale rating - 4.75/10

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

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