The McMahons & Kevin Owens Opening Segment
Yes, we had been promised the start of a "new era"- so of course the new era started with the same Opening Segment we've had for approaching 3 Years now. Actually, that's a lie. It was the same in the sense that Stephanie was out there, but I won't lie I actually quite liked her last night. I've given Steph a lot of shit, with 95% of it being deserved- but she really played off her character well last night. You could just tell she was being disingenuous throughout, while at the same time she wasn't hamming it up to the point where it was cringeworthy.
I actually like Stephanie when she's not trying to be a Bitch Heel, if you haven't already seen it her and Triple H did like a Livestream Tour of Axxess at Mania- and they were just being themselves and it was fucking hilarious. In short, I want more of that Stephanie and the one we got to a degree last night. It's good Owens is getting featured as prominently as he has been the last two nights, and given what Triple H said Pre-Mania with regard to them seeing him as a Future "Top Heel" it appears as though the future's most definitely bright for Kevin Owens.
Cesaro v Kevin Owens- IC Title #1 Contender Match
I can pretty much Copy & Paste my last Review of the match these two had a few weeks ago, to be honest. That's far from a bad thing though. These two will be on anyone's list for Top 5 Wrestlers in the Company, so putting them together is never going to be a bad thing. I think the finish was fairly obvious with having Miz on Commentary, but I was surprised that once Sami entered and cleared the ring we didn't get a Tag Match. Especially after last night where the Zayn/Owens stuff bled into Cesaro/Miz across almost a Third of the PPV, I thought we might end up getting a "double-barrelled" segment last night as well.
Stephanie McMahon, Dean Ambrose Backstage Segment
It was as this segment announced another Ambrose Asylum that I feared the worst for the Potted Plant. I was a nervous wreck from this point of the show onward.
Goldango & Gorgeous Truth Backstage Segment
I wonder what the Backstage Segment to Match Ratio has been with Truth & Goldust since they started this whole thing. I won't even call it an angle, because doing so would imply it's actually going somewhere. This is just a "thing". However, I did quite like this segment to be honest. I've got a lot of time for all of the guys involved, and they all "get it" with regard to their current roles and how to play it off.
AJ Styles, Gallows & Anderson, Roman Reigns & The Usos Backstage Segment
This segment made me think one thing, and one thing only. I can't wait for Cena to be in 6-Man Tags with Balor, Gallows & Anderson once he's come up in the RAW Main Event every week.
Tyler Breeze v Goldust
I had absolutely no fucking clue what was going on in this match, you had Breeze still being Breeze- but with just insanity all around him. I can't really say for definite, but I think I liked it though. I didn't watch this and think "I wish this would be over ASAP", and I found myself quite enjoying it. Given the material that they were given, a lot of praise has to go to the 4 guys involved for that fact. I doubt they'll even be on RAW next week, but I enjoyed having this on last night.
The Entire Tag Title Picture in 1 Segment
I was interested to see where they'd go with Enzo being off TV for a bit, especially with Big Cass- and on the whole I quite liked it. The Vaudevillains played off what happened at Payback with Enzo well and managed to get heat on themselves for it, New Day are just New Day, The Dudleys know their roles perfectly and Cass didn't fall flat on his face during his Promo which was all he needed to avoid to stay over.
New Day & Big Cass v The Vaudevillains & The Dudleys
I've had a lot of criticism for Bubba since his return. I think it's because I was comparing him to when he was Bully Ray, in the best shape of his life and in my opinion, the best Heel in the business for a stretch. However, he was fucking great in this match. The match wasn't amazing, but I wasn't really expecting much from a match straight from the Production Line of Holla Holla Industries. Bubba was just great, and by far and a way the best person in the match. Which just makes me wonder where he's been for the last 8-9 Months.
Emma v Becky Lynch
I'm surprised they actually had this match on RAW, and not only that they actually gave some back story to it. The match was pretty "meh" I thought, but I saw some people saying about how it was good for a normal RAW Womens Match- which brings me to a point I've wanted to make for a while.
You aren't helping the Womens Division get over, if you don't give direct comparisons the Mens Matches. Saying a match was good "for a Womens match" isn't praise, and being more lenient with the Women if you do Star Ratings (which I actively avoid) is just stupid. The Women are being pushed as equals in the WWE, so it's only fair that people who critique the Womens Matches also grade on the same scale.
Epico & Primo Puerto Rico Vignette
There's two outcomes in my mind that would make me these vignettes worth it. The first one, is to have these Vignettes suddenly get really dark. Like sort of put over that Epico & Primo have done some properly shady shit in Puerto Rico. Sort of like having them walking down the Street all happy and smiley while you can see Little Kids and their Mums running down a Side-Alley to get away from them in the background.
The other, is have them building up to a big "reveal". Like have a couple of vignettes with Epico & Primo walking around a Mansion, talking about a special person etc. and then it's revealed to be Carlito. Apple Spit into the Camera, the Colon's are coming back. I highly doubt they're going to put as much effort into the idea as I've just done by writing this out, but you never know. Creative folks, if you're reading this- feel free to steal the idea.
The Ambrose Asylum w/Stephanie McMahon
I'd said a few weeks ago, I don't often get deadly serious in these Reviews. I try and make them as fun as possible for you reading them. But, I feel like I need to change the pace of these a bit now. I will not stand back and let a GENOCIDE continue to take place. 3 Weeks ago, we lost a Potted Plant. We commenced a week of mourning, and we all moved on with our lives. SOME OF YOU DIDN'T TAKE ME SERIOUSLY. I WAS TWEETING #PLANTLIVESMATTER FOR A REASON.
What we saw last night, was the most barbaric and horrific thing I've ever seen. AND I'VE WATCHED THE ROCK IN "DOOM". We now enter another week of mourning, for another fallen brother in "Mitch" the Potted Plant. ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION NOW?! WHY DID ANOTHER POTTED PLANT HAVE TO DIE?
US Title #1 Contender Battle Royal
I'm going to talk about The Ryback here, because there's not really a better spot given who he wrestled at Payback. I suppose there's not actually a lot to say in all honesty, except if Ryback's last match in the WWE is the one he had at Payback then he couldn't have finished his WWE Career better in my opinion. I said in my Payback Predictions that I think I'm the one person who still likes Ryback, but he definitely won a lot of people over at Payback. So fair play to the (big) guy. Also, given his history, if Ryback's last match involves him saving Kalisto from certain death as he did- then I don't think there's a better way to finish.
Right then, onto the Battle Royal. I was genuinely surprised to see just how many wrestlers who I'd label Upper-Midcard (or just below) were in this Battle Royal considering the US Title's not even been defended on the Main Card of a PPV in ages. You had legitimate guys in there like Sheamus, Del Rio, Rusev, Apollo Crews, Corbin- who you could have easily made an argument for winning the Battle Royal. So fair play to the WWE in that respect. Hopefully they put the Title on Rusev and it can be elevated (at least higher than it's been) by being in League of Nations Triple Threats.
The Flairs & Natalya Segment
I found it hilarious that they actually acknowledged and showed Little Naitch. This segment was fine I suppose, the Submission Match for Extreme Rules is weak in my opinion. Natalya's pretty much the safest worker in the Womens Division in my opinion, that's why I thought they'd put her in to kick-off the Womens Division in a Steel Cage Match or even something like a Ladder Match considering Nattie's one of the few Women who can actually catch. As it is we've got a Submission Match. It's not like Becky or Sasha have a Submission right?
Also in the without question winner in the 2016 Sammy's for "One-Liner of the Year" we have Natalya with "Last Night, you paid a Referee to screw me".
AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson v Roman Reigns & The Usos
There's been too many 6-Man Tag Main Events on RAW to count, but I'd honestly say this was one of the better ones- at least in recent memory. AJ Styles is in fact a very good wrestler, I'm sorry if that's just blown your mind. That combined with a not Short-Wearing Gallows and Anderson playing their roles to perfection against Roman and The Usos made for a pretty fun Main Event.
It's funny in a way, Roman Reigns (and The Usos) are pretty much female versions of Natalya. They can definitely work, despite what some people say- it's just the connection to the crowd isn't really there. More so in The Usos case, to borrow from Enzo Amore (he doesn't need it at the minute anyway, too soon?) they just lack a certain something to be properly over- and you can't teach that.
The after-match stuff perfectly summed up where Roman Reigns' character is in my opinion, He's a Tweener with Heel tendencies. From Roman Reigns' point of view, he's just seen AJ kill both of The Usos with Chairs not knowing The Usos came at him first- of course he was going to attack AJ. The whole idea of this feud now is to escalate it to the point where the Bubble is just about ready to burst at Extreme Rules. I'm fully expecting a quite violent (for PG) match match between these two in just under a Month.
I made this joke last night as well, but I'll repeat it because I'm anything but original. This wasn't a good RAW, it wasn't a bad RAW, it was just a RAW. But that's not necessarily a criticism. With the Ratings being where they are, and in my opinion nearing rock bottom in-terms of a realistic drop- I can't see the WWE changing much and just continuing to build up AJ, Owens, Sami etc. while at the same time hoping Roman magically gets over. Basically, if you're expecting a drastic change on RAW as a result of the bad ratings- you might as well stop watching.
Thanks for reading as always, now that the Football Season (at least for Fulham) is over as of this coming Saturday- expect a few extra Wrestling Posts to come out at varied points over the next Month or so. I'm going to probably do a few Booking Blogs, with the main one being how I'd bring Balor up (assuming he isn't up before I've written it). I might do a Bray and/or Seth one as well. To add to that, I think I'm going to try and write a few more "opinion" pieces, similar to the one I did last year about why the End of the Streak was a good thing. So hopefully you'll be reading those, as well as coming back here next week for another RAW Review. Just remember everyone, as of this Post going up the week of mourning has begun. #PlantLivesMatter.
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