RAW #1268 Review - Roman Reigns vs. Jason Jordan

On 11th September 2017, WWE aired the 1268th episode of Monday Night RAW live on the USA Network from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The show featured Jason Jordan stepping in the ring with Roman Reigns, John Cena battling Universal Championship #1 Contender Braun Strowman and The Hardy Boyz teaming with Tag Team Champions Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins to take on Cesaro, Sheamus, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, as well as The Miz, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Bray Wyatt and Goldust in a major segments. But was it any good? Let's take a look!

• Cold Open - As the announcer asks for a moment of silence, in memory of the lives lost on 11th September 2001, someone shouts "I love you Booker", good work moron. 

Singles Match
Roman Reigns def. Jason Jordan
(12:18)

It was great to start off with a match this week and it really does make all the difference when you get to go straight into the action and give the wrestling fans and exciting bout to kick off the show. The bout was a simple, up and comer vs. established star contest, with Reigns dominating a big portion of the bout allowing Jordan to show off his selling ability and explosive comeback ability, that made his team with Chad Gable popular in NXT. The role suited Roman well, as it allowed him to let out some of the cockiness that we've seen in his promos recently, locking on headlocks when in control and cutting off hope spots with samoan drops. The contest built well to some traded punches, with Jordan launching into a comeback sequence and gaining a couple of decent near falls of a standing dropkick and rolling Northern lights suplex with a bridge. The result was a pretty conclusive victory for Reigns as he nailed a Drive-by, superman punch and a spear for the three count, leaving him looking great and with momentum heading into his match from John Cena at No Mercy, but we also got to see enough from Jordan where he looked like a credible threat and produced an entertaining main event calibre match. Since SummerSlam the booking of Jordan has definitely began to improve, as whilst he's lost to Finn Balor, John Cena and now Reigns, he's looked valiant in defeat and produced entertaining bouts, which is a much better way of getting a babyface over than giving him a kayfabe Dad and looking like that'd lead to winning the Intercontinental Championship within a month!

In-RingRoman Reigns, John Cena (5:57)

Post-match, out came John Cena for another back and forth on the microphone. For me, it's almost becoming a case of overkill, as we've seen Cena and Reigns battle it out with worked shoots for the last three weeks in a row, with the pair quickly burning through lots of content and developing very little. I can see why WWE have gone down this route because the initial promo caught the imagination of fans and produced a memorable segment and whilst this week's effort was still a good watch, it was definitely an example of diminishing returns. Cena called Reigns a "One man Human centipede", claimed their match at No Mercy would be a "cake walk", before Reigns called Cena a bitch again and wildly alleged that he was selling tickets that Cena couldn't. It was all shades of stuff we'd heard from the two before until Cena dropped the final bomb, "At No Mercy, consider me like a drug-test...you ain't getting past me!". The last sentence made the segment worthwhile, got a good reaction, based on Reigns' failing of the wellness programme in 2016. Once again no contact made between the two, which is working in building my anticipation for the clash on 24th September, but I wouldn't mind seeing them throw hands next week.

• Singles Match - Emma def. Sasha Banks - Swift submission victory for Banks, after an even encounter. Not quite sure what a submission victory does for Emma in the RAW Women's Championship Fatal Four-Way at No Mercy or even if WWE gives a shit.

• MV - Braun Strowman vs. The Big Show (Steel Cage, from RAW #1267) 

In-RingBrock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Braun Strowman  (6:55) 

Fuck, this segment was brilliant and probably the highlight of the entire show as the Strowman vs. Lesnar feud continues to dazzle on Monday night's. Part of what's making the feud work has been Paul Heyman's magnificent work with a microphone in his hand and that was certainly the case once again this week as The Advocate produced once again. We've seen Heyman put over Lesnar's opponents in the past, most notably with Samoa Joe recently, but I can't remember the last time we've heard such a glowing endorsement from Heyman as he gave Strowman here. He claimed that for the first time, Brock was the underdog when defended the Universal Championship, he put over Strowman's recent achievements and compared The Monster Among Men's tear of late to what we saw in 2002 when Lesnar made himself known in WWE by taking the Undisputed Championship from The Rock. Whether Heyman's promos are scripted by someone else or not, he makes me believe every word he says. Heyman raised the intensity throughout before he was almost shouting, moving around the ring like perhaps never before, goading Strowman to fight Lesnar, shouting "Fighter Ready! Fighter Ready! FIGHTER READY!". Perhaps what was even more of an endorsement of Strowman's threat to Lesnar's title run followed, as perhaps for the first time since his return, a call from Heyman backfired, as the #1 Contender dominated the Universal Champion, no selling a German suplex, hitting a chokeslam and following up with a running powerslam and posing with the red belt. The crowd went ape for it. I went ape for it. Let's hope that the match in Los Angeles can live up to this delightful hype!

• Commentary - Corey Graves, Booker T & Michael Cole - Discussion of the devastation from recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida, showing images and provided the address for any donations - ghcf.org/hurricane-relief 

Singles Match

Bray Wyatt def. Goldust

(2:09)

This one began with a quick on-screen promo from Wyatt, as the creative team decided to undo months of work with a Goldust heel turn. For the limited amount of time they had, Goldsut and Wyatt went right at it, packing the match with cool spots like Goldust's cannonball off the apron before Wyatt sealed a quick victory, hitting Sister Abigail for the win. Finn Balor would make the save for Goldust after Wyatt tried to remove Goldie's face paint and reveal him as "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes. They've really ran out of ideas for this feud, haven't they?

Tag Team Champions Ambrose & Rollins, Gallows & Anderson and Sheamus & Cesaro Brawl on the Entrance

The tag team scene received some focus this week, beginning with some good work from Sheamus & Cesaro on the mic, where they claimed they don't see Tag Team Champions  Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins as a threat or a team and that when the going gets tough they'll throw each other to the wolves, skimming over their upcoming bout with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson. That bout would never happen, because as soon as Sheamus & Cesaro were on the entrance ramp, they were met by Rollins & Ambrose who had been on the commentary team, before long Gallows & Anderson joined the scrap as well initially helping Cesaro & Sheamus before all three teams scrapped amongst themselves. Following the break, Ambrose & Rollins asked Kurt Angle for a match with Gallows & Anderson and Sheamus & Cesaro, with the general manager to putting them in an Eight Man Tag, if they can find two partners...the crowd chants "Delete"! Some decent work all round here, with the initial promo producing some good content and story development, although I'm not sure how Gallows & Anderson's involvement helps the scheduled No Mercy match with Sheamus & Cesaro challenging Ambrose and Rollins. 

• Vignette - Asuka is coming to RAW, let the start of talks of dream matches with Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss and a rematch with Bayley begin! 

• Backstage - Nia Jax, Women's Champion Alexa Bliss - Some great character from both with Bliss moaning about the Fatal Fourway at No Mercy for her Women's title and Jax reminding her that they're not best friends and surprising Bliss with the news that she'd asked for Jax v Bliss to happen next week. 

Singles Match 

Elias def. Kalisto 

(4:25)

Before this one, we had some a classic Elias performance with guitar-based cheap heatery. It's perhaps time to start changing this up as whilst it's still entertaining and is getting a reaction, I'm not sure how long it can keep that up if they are doing it every week and PPV. The match was a fun extended squash with Kalisto getting in a good deal of offence during his face shine, including a tope conhilo. It's baffling that Kalisto is still jobbing on the regular roster when he seems like a perfect fit for 205 Live. The finish put over Elias strong as he catches Kalisto in a rana into a powerbomb, before hitting Drift Away (Swinging Fisherman Neckbreaker) for the win. 

Singles Match

John Cena def. Braun Strowman via DQ

(10:04)

Another big time match for John Cena on free television, as WWE seems to be attempting to get as much as possible out of Big Match John over his latest run. This felt like almost a throwback to the underdog Cena that was prevalent ten years or so ago, with Cena fighting from underneath for almost the entire bout, sticking to his core moves and doing a lot of lying around. The commentary team pushed Strowman harder than they've pushed anyone in quite some time, but it was a sequence where The Monster no sold a dropkick and then hit a front dropkick of his own, that should have been enough to hammer home just how highly he's thought of by the WWE right now. The match, kind of, got by one the spectacle, with Strowman's dominance and power moves and Cena's exemplary selling driving the bout, whilst the story mostly revolved around Cena's only hope being Strowman running into things and hitting the AA. It was a shame that it concluded with the DQ, but it wasn't unexpected for such a big name clash on television. After rolling to the floor after taking an AA, Strowman decided he couldn't be fucked trying to beat Cena, so hit a running powerslam onto the steel steps, after bringing them into the ring. The commentary team made a deal out of this being some kind of message to Brock Lesnar, which was interesting because obviously if Strowman did the same thing at No Mercy he'd still lose, no matter how much damage he did to the Beast Incarnate.

• Backstage - Tag Team Champions Ambrose & Rollins, Dean Malenko, Jamie Noble, The Hardy Boyz - The RAW Tag Team Champions search for their partners for later, eventually landing upon The Hardy Boyz as Matt goes nuts with some of his "Broken" ways.

In-Ring
Miz TV with Enzo Amore 

(8:32)

The Miz continues to take any screen time he's given and make it captivating. He took an announce about Maryse being pregnant and used it to take a shot at Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan and actually get some heat, before Enzo Amore came to the ring and got absolute eviscerated on the microphone. I mean, it makes absolutely no sense for your heel Intercontinental Champion to destroy the babyface #1 Contender to the Cruiserweight Championship on the microphone, but that didn't stop it being entertaining as fuck. The personal attack included referencing Amore being kicked off tour buses, kicked out of the dressing room and spelling it out that Enzo's move to 205 Live was demotion. The crowd cheered The Miz and booed Enzo, with Muscle Marinara having very little in the way of a come back for the Intercontinental Champion. Why Miz hasn't been put in a proper programme over the IC belt yet, I've no idea, because he's continuing to do some of the best work of his career, bringing passion to his work like almost nobody else on the roster and getting big reactions from the crowd. The segment would lead to...

Singles Match

Enzo Amore def. Intercontinental Champion The Miz via DQ

(2:59)

Still confused about the reasoning behind any of this, especially considering it was the first time a Cruiserweight guy had faced a main roster talent, when so many others would've done a better job in the ring (Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik, Neville, Gentleman Jack Gallagher, Rich Swann...the list goes on and on). There wasn't much of a match to review here, as both just continued to talk on the mic in between a bit of scrapping, before Amore suggested that Miz was possibly not the father of Maryse's baby, resulting in the DQ when The Miztourage interjected on the behalf of the Intercontinental Champ. After the match, Miz, Axel and Dallas beat the shit into Enzo and then later on  backstage, Amore staggered around before Cruiserweight Champion Neville appeared and laughed at him a bit.  

Eight Man Tag Team Match 

The Hardy Boyz, Tag Team Champions Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins def. Sheamus & Cesaro, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

(9:41)

A fun eight man tag bout here that closed the show on a high, as it made the most of it's parts, even if the direction seemed unclear. I think, if I was to look at the competitors involved, then how the match played out, was exactly how I would have wanted it to play out. The Hardy Boyz took the face shine, heel distraction resulted in a lengthy spell with Dean Ambrose as the lunatic in peril with the villainous foursome working quick tags, more distractions, double teams and restholds to control, then after a couple of hope spots, the hot tag came from Rollins, leading into a short break down, before Sheamus & Cesaro walked out on their partners, leaving Rollins to hit the Ripcord Knee, followed up by a Dirty Deeds from Ambrose to allow Rollins to pin Anderson. It wasn't anything outside the box, risky or particular news, but it had a logic and built the drama through a wonderful series of hope spots for the Lunatic Fringe and gave us a blue-eye win at the end of a long show. There was a little moment where Matt Hardy appeared to botch making a save for Dean and had to shout "kick out", but he's broken af so we'll forgive him that one slip. I'm interested to see how The Hardy Boyz and Gallows & Anderson play into the championship match at No Mercy, but it's good to see WWE begin to give teams that aren't in the title hunt directly, something to do, as the profile of the division continues to rise following the brilliant match at SummerSlam.

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.67/10

Not a bad episode of RAW this week, not a great episode or a particularly memorable episode, but there was certainly a lot of stuff that I found some level of enjoyment in. Roman Reigns v Jason Jordan and the Eight Man Tag Team bout battle it out for match of the night, with both providing entertaining action, that did it's job well and if pushed I'd probably say the Eight man just pipped Reigns and Jordan to it. The Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and Braun Strowman segment was clearly the best thing on the show together and WWE may have stumbled upon a formula that could really work for them and proper future mega star in Braun Strowman. However, a lot of the show felt like it was lacking in direction, with the Women's division getting shafted again, Goldust's recent heel work being thrown out of the window for a feud between Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor that is dying on it's arse and Enzo Amore having a match with The Miz just weeks after joining 205 Live. Had the rest of the show been given as much attention as Strowman v Lesnar, Cena v Reigns and Jason Jordan have been receiving then it goes without saying that the quality of those other programmes would rise. Guys like The Miz are doing the best they can with no direction, but there's only so long you can watch someone tread water, before you give up on them, no matter how many worked shoots they cut during it.

Banner Credit - Jim Maitland (Turning Face)

WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Review (4th June 2017)

On 4th June, WWE aired Extreme Rules 2017, as a RAW exclusive PPV on the WWE Network from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The show featured Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe in an Extreme Rules Fatal Five-Way match for a shot at Brock Lesnar's WWE Universal Championship, Dean Ambrose defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against The Miz in a match where if Ambrose was Disqualified he'd lose the title and Austin Aries challenging for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Neville in a Submissions match, as well as appearances from RAW Tag Team Champion The Hardy Boyz, Sheamus & Cesaro, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Alicia Fox. But was it any good? Let's take a look.

• VT - The opening focused on the "Extreme" nature of a number of the stipulations for tonight's matches as well as looking at the competitors in the Fatal Five-Way #1 Contender's match. 

• VT - A look at Dean Ambrose and The Miz's feud over the Intercontinental Championship, as well as the specific rule regarding Ambrose losing the title if he gets disqualified.

Miz def. Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship

 

Whilst the gimmick of Dean Ambrose being able to lose the Intercontinental Championship by disqualification was probably the least extreme stipulation there has ever been, Ambrose and The Miz managed to work with the stip to make their seventh match in twelve months engaging throughout. The majority of the contest was focused on Miz trying to get Ambrose DQ'd through a number of different methods, including repeatedly slapping the champion as well as introducing a steel chair and getting Maryse to slap him, whilst referee John Cone reminded the Lunatic Fringe what would happen if he was DQ'd. Mixed into that story, you had Ambrose injuring his leg whilst jumping off the top rope and The A-Lister taking full advantage, targeting the knee in the corner, before locking in a figure four leglock after sliding through a sunset flip from Ambrose. The champion is a great seller and kept going to the injury at any relevant moment, whilst the sequence building to Ambrose locking in a Figure Four of his own got a strong reaction, after a number of slick reversals. 

The finish of the match had a good narrative that flowed well from moment to moment as after being unable to put a Busaiku knee and Ambrose escaping a number of Skull Crushing Finale attempts, Miz went all out trying to provoke the Lunatic Fringe into getting disqualified, getting more and more desperate after each attempt. The conclusion saw Maryse being kicked out of the arena and with the referee distracted Miz shoved Ambrose into the ref, knocking him out of the ring. With the champion pleading with the referee on the outside not to DQ him, Miz snuck up behind and finally landed the Skull Crushing Finale to gain the pinfall and the Intercontinental Championship. It was cool to see the DQ stip used to progress the story of the match, without having it used to swap the championship, as it created some interesting scenarios throughout the contest, but wouldn't have done much for anyone if the title had changed hands that way. Miz can now boast about pinning Ambrose, whilst there's the idea that he wouldn't have been able to do so with the unique stipulation, which should be perfect for his arrogant heel character. 

• Backstage - Charly Caruso interview Bayley, with the Hugger explaining that she's been watching Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and Steve Blackman to prepare for the Kendo Stick on a Pole match and she's willing to do anything to retain the RAW Women's Championship.

Banks & Swann def. Fox & Dar

Well, this certainly was a match that happened on the show. The hometown crowd for Rich Swann gave the bout a little something extra, but the match itself wasn't anything to write home about. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox hugged a lot, Swann had a wicked hot tag and Sasha Banks hit a meteora onto Dar on the outside. Beyond that it was a mostly fun of the mill, mixed tag match with the girls doing a lot of hair-pull brawling and the guys portion was mostly Dar taking a flurry of moves from Swann (still love that front-flip fameasser). I like the act that Dar is doing at the moment, but I'm sure if WWE quite gets what to do with it and whilst there was nothing wrong with this match, it didn't warrant a place on the PPV, especially when Akira Tozawa and The Brian Kendrick had a superb Street Fight on 205 Live recently that would've been more suited to the event. 

• Advert - KFC promised to launch their Zinger sandwich into space, which was nice of them.

• In the Arena - Elias Samson did a little song on his guitar and got some decent heat for it, whilst the crowd went nuts with the lights on their phones. The song was mostly cheap heat about Baltimore being a shithole, but also some intriguing content about the main event and Brock Lesnar.

• VT - Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss, focusing in on the idea of whether Bayley was capable of "going extreme". This went quite long and actually followed the story week to week, concluding with the dire This is Your Life segment.

Bliss def. Bayley in a Kendo Stick on a Pole Match to retain RAW Women's Championship

Man, I feel for Bayley, she's been booked horribly for months, going back to the handling of her winning the title, through the This Is Your Life and segment and now being made to look like a complete dweeb in this match with Alexa Bliss. The whole story heading into the bout was about whether Bayley had it in her to "go extreme" and using a kendo stick, which is lame enough in itself, but surely we'd get the pay off here and finally see Bayley get the upperhand on Alexa. Nope, because that would make too much sense. What we actually got was both girls reaching awkwardly for the stick for two minutes, before Bayley spent a minute or so looking at the kendo stick as if it were a loaded gun and then a few more minutes of Bliss going nuts with the stick before pinning Bayley with a DDT in just over six minutes. The gimmick sucked, the story telling was piss poor and the only proper spot of the match looked clumsy. This feud should have been hot, but whilst it's had the odd moment of brilliance, those have almost always been overshadowed by terrible writing.

Sheamus & Cesaro def. Hardy Boyz in a Steel Cage Match to win RAW Tag Team Championship

Let's start of by saying that the escape the cage stipulation is a pile of shit. Always has been and always will be. A steel cage match is supposed to happen at the peak of a feud, when nothing else can contain the anger two (or more) men have for each other, to suggest that one would even want to win without pinning their opponent or making them tap out is weak and dissatisfying to watch. Having escaping the cage as the only way a match can end is even worse. Even more so when both members of tag team have to escape and their feet be on the floor at the same time. Not only is that pretty confusing and overly complicated, but it's not conducive to producing an entertaining wrestling product. Yes, you have to get creative in a tag steel cage to work out pinfalls and such, but the two teams had to get even more creative just to breath a little bit of life into this. Having Jeff escape on his own and then get back in when he realised his brother couldn't fight two men that are bigger than him, made the Charismatic Enigma look like a fool, before the finish of Matt pulling his brother out moments after Sheamus and Cesaro jumped down on the other side made the contest feel like bargain basement obstacle course. 

Bless these four lads for working so hard and managing to produce some creative spots against the tide of the gimmick. We had a pair of Poetry in Motions with the heels sandwiched in between the ropes and the cage, Cesaro holding onto Jeff as he dangled outside of the cage leading to Jeff's initial escape, a double-team Pale Justice to Matt and a top rope assisted White Noise to the no longer Broken one (the fixed one?). All good spots, but of course it wouldn't be a Hardy Boyz cage match if Jeff didn't do something stupid off the top of the cage and boy, did that lad jump off a high thing again. With Jeff realising that his brother was getting battered, he decided to climb back in the cage and do a Whisper in the Wind off of it and knacker himself as well in the process, because jumping off high thing is painful. Similar to the Bliss v Bayley feud, we've seen flashes of greatness between these two teams and there was plenty on display in this match, but the way they are being booked is making me lose interest.

• Ad - The WWE Network is thing, if you weren't sure what you were watching the show on.

• VT - Austin Aries v Neville is up next and there's a lot of Geordie words in this.

Neville def. Aries in a Submission Match to retain WWE Cruiserweight Championship

I feel like I write this a lot when discussing WWE's Cruiserweight division, but this was a really good match, let down by the crowd who seemed to have decided they weren't interested in purple ropes. Neville managed to get a decent reaction at points, but mostly the crowd were silent, which I think is more to do with WWE's presentation of the Cruiserweights rather than the in-ring action. I think the biggest compliment I can give the match is that it felt a lot shorter than it actually was, mostly because the two kept shifting narratives and worked in a couple of different stories to follow. Neville went after Aries' knee after a dive to the outside and then his arm (great commentary from Corey Graves here), with some lovely selling from the challenger, we'd then see those injuries play into the submission attempts as Aries' unable to keep hold of Neville in a Figure Four, whilst Neville later went for his Rings of Saturn on the injured arm. Some storytelling motifs didn't work for me, specifically Austin pleading with the ref not to DQ Neville after the Geordie grabbed the ref whilst in the Rings, as whilst I enjoyed the nod to the finish of their Payback match, I'm pretty sure there are no DQs in a submission match. Inside the story the two had a number of super crisp sequences (as well as big strikes for Aries), with the highlight being Aries hit a sunset flip powerbomb then transition straight into the Last Chancery, keeping hold of the move when Neville rolled to the outside and actually getting a submission from the champ (which obviously didn't count because it was outside the ring). 

Neville winning after dodging a lope suicida, hitting a Red Arrow to the back before concluding with Rings of Saturn, left the storyline without a satisfying conclusion and with the feud already feeling tired three matches in, I can't see that we're going to get one. After we'd seen Aries get thumbed in the eye at WrestleMania Kick-Off and then Neville get himself disqualified at Payback, it would have made total sense to have Aries manage to overcome Neville here in a match where the rules (should have) been in his favour. I'm not quite sure where this leaves Austin on a show like 205 Live and how WWE will go about placing him on that show, whilst also keeping him away from the title picture. Perhaps a trip to NXT for matches with the likes of Kassius Ohno, Hideo Itami, Johnny Gargano and others would benefit him, before moving over to SmackDown. As for Neville I'm intrigued to see who he's placed with next after months with Aries, a feud with Akira Tozawa, Gran Metalik or Cedric Alexander would be fresh, but revisiting issues with Jack Gallagher or Rich Swann could be effective also.

• VT - The Fatal Five-Way Number One contenders match is up next, the package highlights each competitor, pretty basic stuff.

Joe def. Wyatt, Rollins, Balor and Reigns in an Extreme Rules Fatal Five-Way Match to become #1 Contender to the Universal Championship 

There really should have been no doubt in anyone's mind that this was going to be fantastic main event. Five of WWE's top tier talent going at it for almost half an hour should have been incredible and the match didn't disappoint. All five lads put a shift in, as everyone got a time to shine and all looked like stars as the Baltimore crowd lapped it up. Finn Balor in particular came out of the match in a much better position than how he entered it.. In his first PPV match since getting injured at last year's SummerSlam, Finn was superb in this match. He sold a beating from Bray Wyatt and Samoa Joe like a trooper, gasping for air after taking a pair of running sentons with a steel chair on his chest, before he later made a roaring comeback getting revenge on Joe and Wyatt with the chair and flying round the ringside area like a madman. He may have ended up taking the fall after being choke out in the Coquina Clutch by Joe, but he'd just downed Roman Reigns with a Coup de Grace, after dodging a spear moments earlier, so even that won't hurt the Irishman. 

I mentioned Wyatt and Joe working together above and that partnership really was the driving force behind the bout, providing a robust backbone for which the rest of the match could build on. After Wyatt had saved the Samoan Submission Machine from a Reigns' drive-by kick, the two dominated the competition, grabbing hold of the steel steps and cleaning house. Seriously the two big blokes wandering around ringside with the steps and just clattering into whoever they came up again was much more fun than it perhaps should have been. Their dominance continued for some time, but there was always something being introduced to keep things interesting, if two big lads battering people wasn't enough. Wyatt added some nice little touches like randomly standing on Rollins, whilst potential comebacks from Rollins and Reigns were quickly thwarted as Seth took a DDT onto the steps and Reigns took a uranage onto the announce table (both from Wyatt). The build towards the inevitable falling out between the two was well handle, with Wyatt initially turning a turn earlier in the match, before Joe would end up getting pushed in front of suicide dive from Rollins. The straw that broke the camel's back however was Joe breaking up a pinfall moments after Wyatt hit Sister Abigail on Rollins, with the two taking big ass shots at each other, which was much more exciting than it would've been without the build. 

Around the Joe and Wyatt spine you had plenty more high octane action that just seemed to keep on coming and coming. The highspots were placed well through the contest, with each weapon shot feeling like it meant something as part of the wider whole. The biggest and best spots were saved for towards the end, as Reigns speared Joe and Balor into the timekeepers area, whilst moments later Rollins came flying off the top rope and through the announce table with a Frog Splash to Wyatt. The set-up for both spots was wonderfully handled, with Balor's comeback on the outside being cut short by Coquina clutch from Joe, heading into the spear. The moment directly after the big spots was also a really well put together piece of work as Reigns and Rollins dragged themselves from the wreckage, with both selling terrifically, before engaging in some of the best one on one action of the entire match. The two had a cracker on the go-home episode of RAW and went back at it with a series of back and forth sequences.

The closing sequence saw Wyatt and Rollins falling by the wayside, Balor countering a Reigns spear into a slingblade, nailing a Coup de Grace, only for Joe to catch him in the Coquina Clutch and get the victory. These last few minutes were a thrilling watch with the momentum switching back and forth between all five of the participants as the match headed towards it's conclusion. Using a similar finish to what we saw on RAW in the three way with Balor, Joe and Wyatt was a neat touch, with the match having a lot of similarities to that triple threat, but this time around we had Joe looking much stronger as he took the initiative and forced Balor to pass out. The fact that we'll be getting Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar on WWE show this year is marvellous. Imagine someone suggesting this match in the early 2000s, when Lesnar was killing it in WWE with The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero and Joe was rocking it in ROH with CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Austin Aries and Low Ki, or later when Lesnar shifted MMA and dominated the likes of Randy Couture, Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, whilst Joe was climbing the ranks in TNA with Angle, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Christian Cage. It's gonna happen and it's gonna be good.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.28/10

Before the main event, this was probably an average wrestling show, with the fights ranging from good to poor. The Cruiserweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship coming at the right end of the scale for me, whilst the Women's title and mixed tag towards the other end. The main event however pushed the event much higher, as it was just that damn good. It was thirty minutes of pure wrestling entertainment that carried the rest of the show across the finish line. 

It wasn't particularly extreme and a number of the gimmicks held back the competitors, however as an entire package this was a mostly fun and creative event. 

WWE Monday Night RAW #1253 Review (29th May 2017)

On 29th May, WWE aired the 1253rd episode of Monday Night RAW live on the USA Network from the Bon Secours Wellness Center in Greenville, North Carolina. The show featured Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt in a Triple Threat match, former Shield buddies Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins facing off for the first time in nearly a year, Cruiserweight Champion Neville tagging with TJP against his #1 Contender Austin Aries and Gentleman Jack Gallagher as well as The Hardy Boyz, The Miz, Cesaro and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose. But was it any good? Let's take a look.

• Michael Cole and Corey Graves welcomed us to the show on Memorial Day in the US, reminding us that Bray Wyatt, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe will face off in a triple threat and Roman Reigns will battle Seth Rollins tonight. 

Ambrose & Hardy Boyz interrupt Miz TV with Cesaro & Sheamus

A strong opening segment, with a number of different faces getting the opportunity to open the show. The Miz continued to be an utter head magnet as he opened the episode, easily working the Greenville crowd by saying "Don't cheer him" after mentioning WWE Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, leading to the crowd chanting even louder. The interview with Cesaro & Sheamus saw some lovely work by both sides as they bounced off each other and feed each other even more heat, with the tag team duo benefiting from sharing mic time with a man who can get the crowd going nuts by just putting his hand in the air. The rest of the segment was paint-by-numbers stuff, but done well, as Ambrose came out to interrupt, playing it as if it's so unstable he's ready to fight three on one, with Miz taking the bait telling Ambrose to "do the math" (sic), only for RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz music to hit and the crowd to go nuts. We close the heels getting chucked out of the ring to send us to break. Lovely stuff. 

Ambrose & Hardy Boyz def. Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus

This was heading towards being a very strong opening match, with some well-paced trios action, until an awkward finish took some of the shine away. Miz and Matt Hardy's closing exchanged looked like neither man was quite sure what they were supposed to be doing as they randomly touched each other before Miz took a Twist of Fate like a swinging neckbreaker. There was however a lot of good work from both sides earlier on in the match as Matt and Ambrose both had spells as the face in peril and Cesaro & Sheamus continued to develop their interesting take on the bruising heel tag team. I particularly liked Ambrose's hot tag, that saw the villains try a number of underhanded tactics to take control only for them to backfire, like Cesaro attempting to stop an Ambrose suicide dive onto Sheamus, only for Jeff Hardy to come flying in with a baseball slide. The build to a hot tag to Jeff was the strongest part of the bout with Cesaro getting a lot of heat for booting Hardy off the apron, meaning Matt's tag had to go to Ambrose. However when it eventually came I don't think it lived up to the work that had been done previously and left the conclusion feeling a little flat, obviously this wasn't helped by the aforementioned exchange between Matt and Miz. 

• Corey Graves showed General Manager Kurt Angle something on his phone that could "ruin" Angle...mysterious. 

Samson def. Evans 

Elias Samson picked up his first pinfall win on RAW, picking up a squash victory over a lad called Zac Evans with a snap swinging neckbreaker. Samson brutalised Evans, bouncing him off the apron, wrapping him around the ringpost before delivering a running knee, a couple of forearms and finishing off with the neckbreaker. Considering Evans got absolutely no offence in this bout was surprisingly long and not only made Samson look credible but also like a complete jeb end for the amount of unnecessary punishment he dished. By the end of the match Samson was getting over with the Greenville crowd who seemed to be initially uninterested in him. The most thought-provoking part of the segment though was Samson's pre-match song in which he made reference to his match with Dean Ambrose last week, signalling that he owes Miz a favour for causing the DQ, which will almost certainly lead to Samson costing Ambrose the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules on Sunday. 

• Bray Wyatt hacked the feed as Samoa Joe was giving an interview with Charly Caruso, saying a series of weird words about angels and demons and things. 

Joe def. Balor and Wyatt

A fun triple threat here that used it's mix of competitors well, told a decent story and worked as a good advert for the 4th June five-way. The structure was paint-by-numbers stuff, but there's a reason the layout has been used so many times. Joe and Wyatt initially both tried to get the other to fight Balor, however when this didn't work and we saw Balor hit a tope conhilo onto both heading into the break and when we came back Joe and Wyatt were working together an in control. You could see where things were heading, but when it arrived at that point, it wasn't any the less enjoyable for it's familiarity. Wyatt turned on Joe, hitting a lariat and pretty soon after, Finn launched into a comeback, that including sending both opponents into the barricade with front dropkicks and the crowd coming unglued. After the comeback came some of the best action of the bout between Joe and Balor, including Finn escaping the Coquina Clutch by running up the turnbuckles and hitting a double stomp, as well as Joe turning a Slingblade into an overhead belly to belly. 

The finish set up something that can be worked with at the PPV as Balor hit Coup de Grace on Wyatt, only for Joe to send Finn into the post and pick up the pin Bray. The finish got over the first fall to the finish idea that will be in play at Extreme Rules, showing how being in the right place at the right time can lead to the victory. This could be use to protect other competitors in the match for a future match with Brock Lesnar down the line and would also make for an effective false finish. The win gives Joe a much needed momentum boost, after two losses to Seth Rollins in the last month and also gives him another string to his bow after mostly winning via submission. Balor looked great through so didn't really need to take the victory here, whilst Wyatt has been protected well since jumping to RAW and has the ability to dust himself off from big losses because of his character and mic ability. 

• Seth Rollins was interviewed by Mike Rome, with a relatively bland promo about his history with Roman Reigns ahead of their match later on. 

Swann def. Dar

Not much to this Cruiserweight match with most of the work for the Mixed Tag Match at Extreme Rules with Sasha Banks joining Rich Swann and Alicia Fox joining Noam Dar already having being done. The two kept things simple with Dar working the arm with a couple of different holds, before a short Swann comeback. Having Banks get involved and knock an interfering Fox off the apron was probably the last touch the feud needed heading into the PPV and anything more would have been overkill and result meant that we saw Banks and Swann could make an effective team. Dar and Swann have potential to produce a great match together, but this wasn't really the time and neither did they have the time for it here. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Banks' ability as a dancer, but it's definitely something that happened.

• Charly Caruso interviewed The Revival, asking them about Enzo Amore's attack last week, bringing up footage of Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder (supposedly out injured) in the building last week...the mystery deepens. 

• They showed highlights of the brilliant Street Fight between Akira Tozawa and The Brian Kendrick on last week's 205 Live, before Big Cass confronted Corey Graves following Graves' insinuating Cass had something to do with Enzo Amore's attack...the mystery deepens. 

• Titus O'Neil picked up a quick victory over Kalisto, winning with a handful of tights as Apollo Crews looked on. 

Bayley: This Is Your Life with Alexa Bliss

Where to even begin with this segment. Bayley: This Is Your Life was absolute car wreck from start to finish. Bless Alexa Bliss for trying to make it entertaining, but it was poorly scripted and unnatural that it was almost physically painful to watch. Bliss is not an actress, so trying to get her to perform an acting segment solo with a couple of extra was a terrible idea on paper and a terrible idea in practice. Bliss looked uncomfortable with the lines she was reading and appeared to be desperately trying to make them fit her character, as she spoke to Mrs. Flapper ("Bayley's former teacher"), as well as "Bayley's ex best friend" and "Bayley's first boyfriend" about how much of a dweeb Bayley was. I'm not sure if in kayfabe these people were actually who Bliss said they were or if they were actors, nothing was ever quite made clear. After ten minutes of Bliss ripping into her for liking wrestling and being a "Daddy's girl", Bayley finally came out and then ended up getting beaten down anyway. Why on earth wouldn't Bayley come out straight away? Was she on the toilet? Well, that's where this segment belonged anyway. 

• Enzo Amore was found unconscious backstage again, with Big Cass furiously telling Kurt Angle it was The Revival and vowing to stay by Amore's side going forward...the mystery deepens. 

Aries & Gallagher def. TJP & Neville 

This bout was all about it's finish, as Cruiserweight Champion Neville tapped out to #1 Contender Austin Aries' Last Chancery just six days before the Greatest Man Who Ever Lived challenges for the King of the Cruiserweights' title at Extreme Rules. Following an Aries hot tag, that included some lovely overhand chops, the two worked a nice sequence of near misses as Neville dodged a missile dropkick and then Aries rolled out of the way of a middle rope Phoenix Splash and slid straight into the submission. The commentators hammered home the meaning of the tap out and the implications for the PPV title bout. Overall though the bout was needlessly long with Jack Gallagher working the face-in-peril role, being mostly worked over by TJP and nothing much of note happening. Take five minutes off this and you've got a much more exciting match that would've made the Cruiserweights stand out from the rest of the roster. The Cruisers need to feel different and at the moment there's nothing distinctive other than the lads being a bit smaller (or in Finn Balor's case the same size) than the main eventers.

• The Goldust and R-Truth feud continued with two rather good promos coming back to back. Both brought the intensity to their movie-themed monologues, getting over their distaste for each other, whilst remaining thoroughly entertaining throughout.

Reigns def. Rollins

An excellent TV main event here as Roman Reigns put away old friend and rival Seth Rollins in a match that may have been better than their PPV effort at Money in the Bank last year. The two kept a great pace throughout their near 20 minute bout, starting with a hot back and forth sequence, that included a standing moonsault from Rollins, before beginning to tell a story that worked to the strengths of both men. The Kingslayer quickly became the babyface of the match, taking a Drive-by that sent him into the ringpost and injured his midriff, whilst Reigns zoned in on the injury and at times came across as a bit of a bully when in control of the match. Rollins sold the injury well throughout, with some strong psychology after being unable to suplex the Big Dog and then later only getting two off a Frog splash after grabbing the ribs. The other thread was Reigns almost constantly attempting to hit the spear, which, of course tied in nicely with Rollins ribs injury, trying it at the start of the match, offering up a nice near fall for Rollins who turned on attempt into a school boy roll-up, ending up crashing into the steps, as well as having one blocked just before the finish. 

The finish was a nice series of near misses and reversal done at pace and concluded with Reigns' finally hitting the spear after dodging Rollins' rainmaker high knee. The pacing of the final few minutes of the bout was great stuff and concluded the episode with a heap of energy heading into the PPV. Reigns victory and his previous win over Finn Balor would seem to point to him not winning the Fatal Five-Way match, as he's been rightfully protected heading in and doesn't particularly need the win. I'd expect he'll have a programme with Brock Lesnar at some point and these victories keep him in a position to challenge for the Universal title. I was pleasantly surprised we didn't see any inference or post-match shenanigans with a cliche show-closing brawl and with the triple threat earlier in the show and the work that all five have done over the past three or four weeks there wasn't really any need for it.  

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.78/10

Two quality matches to build the Fatal Five-Way couldn't save this from getting a below average rating. This was mostly caused by the God-awful This Is Your Life segment which I'm still trying to get my head around, as well as the length of Elias Samson squash match and the nothing match between Rich Swann and Noam Dar. Considering we're heading into a PPV I'm not sure this show did enough to make anyone who wasn't going to watch Extreme Rules anyway, watch Extreme Rules on Sunday. There was a number of strong story beats, like Aries tapping out Neville, but for the most part the episode felt complacent and phoned in, in regards to both creative and handful of the performers.

WWE Payback 2017 Review

Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns knocking lumps off each other. The Hardy Boyz defending the RAW Tag Team straps against European Chums, Sheamus & Cesaro. Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe colliding for the first time since 2008 in Ring of Honor*. Chris Jericho, WWE Champion Randy Orton, The Miz, Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt all on the undercard, as well as something called the House of Horrors match. 30th April's WWE Payback looked, at least, interesting on paper, but would San Jose's first PPV since 2007's The Great American Bash (headlined by John Cena v Bobby Lashley) manage to deliver? Let's take a peep. 

*Not counting their one house show match last week, I'm not a mad man.

Kickoff 

• Tonight's panel of Renee Young, Jerry "The King" Lawler and Sam Roberts welcome us to the show, which was nice of them. 

• Swiftly they moved onto chat about Chris Jericho v Kevin Owens for US title, focusing a lot of time on the possibility of Jericho going to SmackDown should he win the match. 

• Sasha Banks joined the table to discuss, Bayley v Alexa Bliss for the RAW Women's Championship, as with most things female and RAW this quickly became the Sasha Banks show, rather than actually discussing the upcoming bout. 

• Seth Rollins v Samoa Joe was the first bout to get hype package. 

• A surprisingly short amount of time spent talking about Rollins v Joe, they really could have spent more time getting into the rivalry and all the potential storyline directions.

Enzo & Cass def. Gallows & Anderson 

A decent tag opener here, with everyone playing to their strengths and keeping things relatively simple. The lads had me onside from the off as Enzo went right after Karl Anderson, looking to avenge The Club's attack on last week's RAW. It's this kind of attention to detail that can drive a match and make it worthwhile keeping up with the product. Actually, Enzo's performance through the bout was up there with some of his best. No one is going to argue that Enzo is a technical wizard, but his character display here was great stuff. He sold, sold, sold for Anderson & Gallows, not just during his beat-down, but also after the hot tag and even at the end of the match, as he held onto the arm that his opponents had been working over a good few minutes before. My only complaint here was that after the extended build up to the hot tag, the eventual happening felt a little anti-climactic. I'm not sure if it was due to timing or a lack of ideas, but it a really satisfying hot tag could have taken things up a notch.

• Backstage, The Golden Truth met up with The Hardy Boyz and spoke awkwardly about nothing for a minute or so. 

• Sheamus & Cesaro joined Charly Caruso in the Social Media Lounge for a fun, character driven interview. The two played up their disagreements nicely and made the most of what were pretty dull questions (from peculiar sounding Twitter accounts)

• The panel then quickly skipped over a few points about the Hardy Boyz v Sheamus & Cesaro RAW Tag Team title match.

• A long hype package for Bray Wyatt v Randy Orton in a House of Horrors Match followed, covering their feud from Orton's house burning party. Still no real clue to what would air later on. 

• A bit of discussion about House of Horrors, Renee tried her best to give the rules, but I'm sure it was too vague to tempt any drifting casuals (which is surely the purpose of the Kick-Off show). 

Balor laid waste to Miz and turned "Miz TV" upside down

Miz is just excellent, isn't he? Given a talk show segment with someone not known particularly for his promo ability, Miz ran with it and managed to make Finn Balor look like a real star. The A-Lister commanded the crowd, mocking them for cheering Balor's "five minute entrance", talked up Balor's achievements and when Finn told him he wasn't "worth it", his facial expression was superb. Whilst Balor wasn't particularly well-served in terms of dialogue ("Finn Balor just kicked my arse club"?), he handled it well, even if the verbiage, sort of, contradicted his "James Dean cool" thing that WWE are pushing at the moment. The biggest bit of new coming out of the segment was the Balor wants to challenge for Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship, which was already a given, but now it's been given a bit of focus. It will be interesting to see if WWE moves forward with Balor v Lesnar match soon. 

• With minutes until the main show, there was a quick recap of the card that was on it's way. 

Main Show 

• The opening video package asked the question "What breaks you, also makes you" which is a pretty flimsy statement when you think about it. 

Jericho def. Owens via submission to win United States Championship

With a finish as curious as it was unusual, this was another fine outing for Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens as their rivalry continues to snake it's way across WWE's top two brands, with Jericho now joining Owens on SmackDown. After their slow-burning match at WrestleMania, this match came straight out of the gates with Jericho attempting big moves like the triangle dropkick and lionsault early doors, with Owens dodging most of his rivals offence, constantly rolling to the outside, before nailing a running cannonball on the outside to take control. With The Prizefighter's headlock obsession being used correctly, the crowd was loudly behind the babyface Y2J and by the time the pair hit their stride and traded attempts at signature holds like the Pop-Up Powerbomb and Lionsault, the SAP Center was exactly where they needed to be. The highlight was a lovely sequence where Jericho flawlessly countered a Pop-up Powerbomb with a hurricanrana, before transitioning through in a Walls of Jericho. 

Now back to that finish, because it was those last few minutes that were the most interesting to me. After Owens managed to get a solitary finger on the bottom rope to break the aforementioned Walls of Jericho, mimicking a similar situation from their WrestleMania clash, there was real shift in the direction and storytelling. Y2J snapped and brutally went after Owens finger and hand, finishing off by sandwiching the champions arm in between the ring steps and apron and dropkicking the steps. It was clear that the crowd didn't quite know how to react to viciousness of Jericho. Here was a babyface acting furious and frustrated, which WWE doesn't often do, especially in more clean-cut affairs like this. For me, the plotting was gorgeous in those last few exchanges, with Owens getting a convincing false finish on an eye poke and roll-up, but then couldn't hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb because the hand injury. Owens then sold his second stint in the Walls of Jericho like a trooper, attempting to reach for the ropes, only for his suffering extremity to make the task impossible, resulting in the submission. I'm fascinated in where this story is going next with both on SmackDown live, because of just how different the conlcusion was to pretty much anything else.

• A WWE Network promo...on the WWE Network. 

Aries def. Neville via Disqualification,

Neville retained Cruiserweight Championship 

Whilst the screwy finish means that this was a slight step-down from their WrestleMania Kickoff show-stealer earlier in the month, Austin Aries and Neville continued to show why they've been positioned at the top of the Cruiserweight division, with some crisp and pacy grappling. The match played out a nice simple story of Neville being able to cut off any high-risk offence from Aries, with the King of the Cruiserweights initially taking control with a huge dropkick to halt his opponents progress. I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth to it, but the action that was produced was slick throughout, with the opening exchanges of holds and arm drag being particularly well-done. Whilst the crowd's lack of enthusiasm has often been an issue since the return of the Cruiserweights, San Jose was into the majority of the match and by the time Aries hit a tasty neckbreaker in between the second and third ropes, they were well behind the 2 time ROH World Champion. 

The ending was pretty clever, but also disappointing as Neville pulled at the referee to break up a Last Chancery and ended up getting disqualified. Had this finish been a few week's earlier on RAW, then I wouldn't have minded it so much, as it would have added more depth and potential for the PPV match, which is surely what the television product is supposed to do. Hopefully there's one more match to come as I got that sense that if the pair were allowed off the leash just a little bit more, they could tear the house down. Perhaps a rematch on an episode of 205 Live would provide the best opportunity? 

Hardy Boyz def. Sheamus & Cesaro to retain RAW Tag Team Championship

The main show's only tag team match was put together well and built across it's thirteen minutes into squad fittle. Cesaro and Sheamus worked the default heel role well, with their style suiting the amount of control they had, with them often taking advantage of Matt & Jeff's riskier offence by just being two big bruising lads about town. Cesaro hit one of the most ridiculous leg drops that I have ever seen. Seriously, no one should be able to jump that high from a standing position and then hit a leg drop. Imagine how much more fucked Hogan's back would've been if he was jumping that high every night in the 80s and 90s? A string of strong near falls after the break down pushed the match up a level with Sheamus' mid-rope White Noise standing out in particular as The Celtic Warrior & The Swiss Superman continue to develop into a top drawer tag outfit. It appeared that Jeff was out of position for the finish, with the referee having to tell him he was in the wrong corner, leading to Sheamus and Matt having to improvise for a bit and then repeat their spot. It didn't have a massive effect, because the finish of Jeff nailing a Swanton Bomb as Sheamus went for a pin was still pretty cool, but it certainly would've been cooler had it been smoother. (Oh Sheamus also knocked Jeff's tooth clean out when he just kicked him square in the head, as well) 

Following the bout, Sheamus & Cesaro went full heel in a superbly timed moment, that had been well supported by the build-up on RAW recently. Going back to the handshake trope that we've seen the two teams use at the end of their two TV singles matches, it appeared like that might have been exactly what we were getting as at every feasible opportunity for a turn, there was nothing. They shook hands and then headed up the ramp leaving the Hardy Boyz in the ring. I actually wrote down that it was different, but I liked it. Then after waiting just the right amount of time, Cesaro came charging back into view and the duo began a vicious assault on the RAW Tag Team Champions. It was brilliant. Sheamus and Cesaro looked so fucking angry as they threw Matt and Jeff into the chunky ringposts and topped it off with Sheamus nailing a Brogue Kick to Jeff's back that sent him into said ringpost. The wait for the attack and the voraciousness of it made the moment stand out from the rest of the evening's action.

Bliss def. Bayley to win RAW Women's Championship 

Completing the run of title matches (that all oddly came at the top of the PPV), we had what in my opinion is Alexa Bliss's best match to date. Bliss benefited from this being a character driven encounter and mostly wrestled within her ability level, helped by the stronger in-ring talent of Bayley. We hadn't got to see much of the pair interacting in the rushed build-up, but the strength of the two characters and their juxtaposition was enough to keep me entertained., Bayley, the fun-loving hometown hero against Bliss, the spiteful and malicious spoiler made perfect sense, with the San Jose crowd loudly behind their girl, whilst Alexa made sure to mock the champion at every opportunity. The second portion of the match in particular saw some good wrestling, highlighted by a Code Red out of the corner from Bliss and a diving elbow drop near fall for Bayley that had the crowd hooked. Still not sure how I feel about Bayley's violent knee strike though! 

As had been hammered home during the Sasha Banks v Charlotte Flair feud, no one ever wins in their hometown. Therefore there was no real surprise here when as Corey Graves quipped "Sometimes the wicked witch wins" in a line as delicious as it was alliterative. Bayley would wack her head of the bottom of the ring post as Bliss escaped a pin attempt that itself blocked a second Code Red attempt, before Bliss claimed victory, and the title, with a snap DDT. It was creative finish that allowed Bliss to win clean, but look like a real bitch at the same time, whilst also protecting Bayley at the end of her two and half month run on top. Whilst the hometown atmosphere won't come around again for these two, I feel with a little more build-up over the coming weeks and months, adding some depth to their rivarly, they should be able to produce a more robust rematch.  

• A repeat of the Bray Wyatt v Randy Orton hype package from the Kick-Off show. THERE WILL BE HORRORS IN A HOUSE...probably. 

The House of Horrors happened...

The House of Horrors felt like it was produced by someone who had heard about TNA's Final Deletion, but hadn't actually watched it. There was certainly none of the charm and silliness that made that match (and it's sequels) a cult classic. In fact, the only thing that raised a smile from me was the daftness of a driverless tractor clumsily cutting past Randy Orton as he got out of a limo to enter the house. The actual fighting of the match was done well as Orton and Bray Wyatt brawled in various rooms with a nice intensity, but then nothing really happened. They chucked each other into the walls a bit, but there was very little in terms of spots and the environment wasn't used to it's full potential. At times, it felt formulaic and repetitive as Wyatt ambushed Orton three or four times, but because you knew what was coming it was never particularly exciting or scary, whilst the use of imagery that had been present in the build-up on RAW and SmackDown was almost completely absent boiling down to some dolls suspended from the ceiling and a dirty fridge. The fridge did provide the only spot of the segment with Wyatt toppling it onto to Orton before heading to the arena (disappointingly in Orton's limo rather than the possessed tractor)

• We'd have to wait to see what happened to Wyatt and if Orton was dead under a fridge, because a hype vid for Seth Rollins v Samoa Joe signalled that was next.

Rollins def. Joe

The evening's longest bout, Seth Rollins battling victory saw some of strongest wrestling on the card. The bout started hot with a cracking face shine from The Kingslayer as he hit a slingshot tope, jumped off the barricade and then nailed a pair of suicide dives after Joe tried to roll out of harms way, before a dragon screw leg whip as Joe caught his opponent getting into the ring saw the bout shift focus. Following up with a big boy suicide dive, the Destroyer dominated, with a series of holds and attacks on the right knee of Rollins. It was simple stuff, but Joe adapting offence like the running senton to impact directly onto the knee, whilst Seth sold with every movement made absorbing television. Joe's sweet folding powerbomb into Boston Crab was a personal highlight from the Samoan's dominance, whilst Rollins knee giving out on that cross-handed thingy he does into an enziguiri was a nice touch also. 

The last two or three minutes seemed to lack that special something that could have made this a great contest, as Rollins attempted to stave off the Coquina Clutch, first with a variation of the Bret/Piper finish and then with a successful roll-up attempt. It felt like the bout was missing, at least, another five minutes of action, and the quality of those last few exchanges wasn't up to the level of the rest of the match. Whilst the knee injury was used well in the middle of the match and sold consistently throughout, it felt weirdly absent in the finish, even when the clear opportunity of having it give way when Seth attempted to push off the ropes when in the Coquina Clutch was presented. A rematch needs to deliver a top gear section of action, whilst also producing a much crisper finish, that doesn't have a tacked on and rushed feel.

• Another WWE Network promo...on the WWE Network, because WWE Network. 

• Bray Wyatt turned up in his commandeered limo, looking like he'd actually ran the whole way, the conclusion to the House of Horrors match was next then.  

Wyatt def. Orton in the House of Horrors Match

The in-ring portion and conclusion of the House of Horrors match managed to provide a nifty moment to begin with, but then quickly lost it's sense of purpose. Orton turning up behind a Wyatt who was convinced that he'd win by forfeit, having crushed his opponent under a big fridge, as well as the Eater of World's reaction, was crafted nicely and got a big reaction from the SAP Center. Unfortunately, the bout spiralled soon after as despite some fun brawling around ringside and trading a few big moves, we ended things with an interference finish. The Singh Brothers initially jumped the Viper, and when they were unsuccessful out came Jinder Mahal to twat Orton with his hijacked WWE Championship belt. I suppose with Orton being the top champion for a different brand, they were always going to have to do a screwy finish here, but if this was the best they could come up with, I'd rather have them just end this feud at WrestleMania or on SmackDown. For a match that was supposed to be "horrific" this was relatively tame, even by current WWE standards.  

• An overly long promo for our main event, looked at the history of Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns over the last couple of months. Remember when Braun tipped a limo over, halcyon days. 

Strowman def. Reigns 

Two big bad motherfuckers tearing strips off each other and throwing each other around, this was a lively and entertaining main event. It maybe uncool to praise Roman Reigns, but Roman Reigns pulled out a major league performance, allowing Braun Strowman to shine as the match's aggressor. Heavily bandaged from Strowman's backstage assault on RAW a few week's previous, the Big Dog was tasked with selling both his left shoulder and his ribs and did so admirably. The apparent pain was etched across his face, his breathing was laboured, especially during higher velocity action and little touches like only throwing his right arm in the air for his trademark, pre-spear roar, made all the difference. The wrestling was rarely sophisticated, but it didn't have to be. Yes there were some moments that didn't quite work, like Strowman's lifting arm triangle choke, but for the most part the bout protected both by hiding their short-comings and extenuating what they both do tremendously well. Strowman defeating a man who defeated The Undertaker in his final match in the main event of WrestleMania should be considered a watershed moment for a guy who has only been on our screen since August 2015. 

The post-match beatdown produced some uncomfortable viewing as Strowman brought the steel steps into the ring and obliterated Reigns. To close the show with such an angle was another brave step, but one that Reigns' uncool factor allows for, in a way. The crowd chanting "Thank You Strowman" almost created the feel of a schoolyard bully being egged on by his cronies, which was pretty powerful television. I was honestly expecting someone to make the save for Roman, especially with Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose now on the same brand and both babyfaces. Reigns spitting blood on to the mat, as a supposed result of a shot to gut with the stairs produced a great visual and really sold the impact of the attack. Like a lot of this event, I enjoyed the offbeat booking that made this moment, along with many others on the show, stand out from the all too often cookie cutter environment of WWE.

RAW Talk 

• We begin with Roman Reigns being helped backstage and get a surprising amount of action with Braun Strowman ambushing the Big Dog and accidentally taking an ambulance door off and throwing himself into a load of boxes. The Juggernaut then lost his shit and slammed the other door repeatedly into Strowman, mental scenes. 

• Renee Young and Jerry Lawler discussed the main event and start of RAW Talk, which was a little jarring, considering we'd just seen a man assaulted with a vehicle.

• Alexa Bliss was the first interview and handled herself very well, bemoaning the lack of celebration for her title win. The new RAW Women's Champion spoke about how she used to feel like she was in the shadow of the "Four Horsewomen" but had done something none of them had ever done in holding the two Women's belts currently in the company. 

Young & Lawler talk House of Horrors, United States and RAW Tag Team Titles Matches

The first lengthy period of discussion on the show, as Jerry Lawler and Renee Young ran through a variety of topics in between the two interviews. Whilst Young and Lawler don't quite have the same chemistry that Renee has with Daniel Bryan on SmackDown, there was enough to hold my attention. Talking about the House of Horrors match in this environment was never going to work, because it was clearly more entertainment than sports. To have Renee wondering how Orton managed to get back to ring after having a fridge tipped on him only serves to throw light on the ridiculousness of the whole situation. However, the talk about the United States and RAW Tag Team Championship matches was much stronger as the bouts had plenty of realistic talking points. Jericho's shift to SmackDown and the conclusion of that match, as well as the chat about Sheamus knocking out Jeff Hardy's tooth were the highlights.

Sheamus & Cesaro Interview

A great opportunity to strike while the irons hot, directly after a heel turn and Sheamus & Cesaro jumped on it here. They got over their new attitude, gave solid reasoning for taking out the Hardy Boyz earlier on and delighted in getting as many replays as possible of Sheamus kicking Jeff in the face shown. Their babyface run has been fun, they've had some good opportunities and had decent matches with The New Day and The Hardyz, but portraying them as two pissed-off hard-hitting bastards is almost certainly going to allow for more physical and engrossing tag matches. With The Revival currently out, there's space for the heel turn, but it will be interesting to see how the division that has a much strong villain contingent already is shifted by this move over the next few months. 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.23/10

Payback 2017 was the strongest RAW-exclusive PPV since the draft split and a massive improvement on the likes Fastlane and Roadblock: End of the Line. The majority of the matches told strong stories with intriguing and distinct developments throughout. Whilst the RAW brands main problem of unsatisfactory endings was still present in matches like Neville v Aries, Rollins v Joe and to some extent the House of Horrors bout, the trope never became the norm and two of those finishes will be remedied if built upon heading into Extreme Rules in early June. I'd love to have said that there wasn't a bad match on the card, but unfortunately the House of Horrors match was not what it needed to be and ended up letting the rest of the creative down.

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