"Hall of Fame Forum"
We had three of the best talkers in WWE history sat at one table, which should be a recipe for success. However what they delivered was so clearly written and the forced tension between the panel members came off as a petty argument which did little to sell the fight in my opinion. I know its intentional, but them having Hogan constantly kiss Cenas ass is also very forced in my opinion. Cena's promo also all but guaranteed he wouldn't be winning at Night of Champions with the line "I'm not going to Night of Champions to beat Brock Lesnar. I'm going there to kick his ass." Although I'm starting to get a bad feeling about them having Cena win at Night of Champions because of them having two of the three on the panel say he wasn't going to win, combined with the face I don't think Cena has ever lost a "rubber match".
Rusev v Jack Swagger
After having Rusev go over Jack Swagger twice, they decided this wasn't enough. Although Swagger hasn't technically been pinned- the fact Rusev has had to effetively "no-sell" being in an ankle lock the amount of time he has been and still come through and look strong greatly affects Swagger in my opinion. I don't know where they're going with the Bo Dallas angle- I hope they use it as a vehicle for Swagger to become very aggressive and push him to the Intercontinental Championship when The Miz is done challenging Dolph, as they could play up this aggressiveness by reminding us Swagger gave Dolph a concussion not so long ago.
Cesaro v RVD
This match seemed like they'd got 5 more minutes to go and they got the voice in the referees head saying "finish up". I don't know who thought Cesaro v RVD was a good idea, but they don't have much chemistry together- which is more important than individual talent, which both have in abundance. I think the styles of Cesaro and Sheamus will be a much better match- and could potentially deliver show stealing performances at the Pay-per-Views they fight at (if they are given time)
Paige v Natalya
Natalya becoming more aggressive was a nice touch, however this was centered around the A.J. v Paige angle so this is what I shall also focus on. I don't know where they're going with this. I very much doubt they're going to all in and do a lesbian angle, so why they've done this angle the way they have is very confusion in my opinion. They could easily of done this angle with an extra degree of physicality (no, not in that way) and play up the fact both A.J. and Paige have treated the Divas Title like their child, but instead we're getting a weird "sexual tension" angle which as previously stated isn't likely to go anywhere that would have a suitable payoff. Unless they're doing a similar angle to Dawn Marie and Torrie and Paige ends up screwing Phillip.
"The Eulogy of Dean Ambrose"
I like the addition of Reigns into the picture, as prior to last night it seemed Reigns has simply accepted Rollins' betrayal and moved on- and there is a lot of aggressiveness they can tap into on both parts. However I'm not sure which way they're going on this. Unless Reigns has a stipulation where Kane is banned from ringside, or they have a cage-match I can't see a way Reigns would go over (which he most likely will) without hurting Rollins character immensely after the way he's been booked as the win at all cost heel that he has been. The segment itself was fine aside from Rollins' evil laugh, and it served as a suitable place for these two Shield members to fight it out- without completely forgetting about the third. Also look out for Reigns planting his fist through the "cinder blocks" in a Superman-esque way.
The Usos vs Stardust and Goldust
THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SEE! I can't remember if I wrote in one of these blogs or tweeted it, but I couldn't see any heel tag-teams (unless they booked Slater Gator in a similar way to the Bro-Mans) that could of challenged The Usos after they went over the Wyatts clean on multiple occasions. But this segment managed to address this issue to perfection. I Like the idea of both of the Rhodes' becoming a team desperate for the opportunity to win the tag belts and The Usos should (in my opinion eventually drop the belts to the Rhodes' after losing by DQ/Count out (by accident/being unable to continue) a few more times. Fantasy booking from my standpoint, I would book the Rhodes' doing a promo next week similar to the one Cody did before he went to get married- and turn the goofy Gold/Stardust into a "shooter" tag team of Cody and Dustin Rhodes.
Brock Lesnar Promo Video
This is the way I can see Brock being booked for the majority of his title reign, and I'm not against this. It gives Brock a constant presence in between appearances and still sells the angle. Now they've gone all in on the WWE Network (long-term) I believe they should cut down on the number of PPVs which would make a title defence feel like a big occasion again, especially in Brocks case where every fight he's in must feel like a big occasion- I wouldn't mind Brock not defending at TLC provided they give us a really good Main Event like Shield v Team Hell No and Ryback a few years ago (yes I know that wasn't the Main Event but it should of been).
Dolph Ziggler v Damien Mizdow
I liked they finally used Sandows schizophrenic gimmick in a way that actually (kind of) made sense. Sandow in the role of a "stunt double" for The Miz actually made sense, however I don't see it as being a long-term role for Sandow. It was pretty entertaining for Sandow to copy Miz' moveset, and he could/should do what Charlie Haas was doing a while ago.
"Family Reconciliation" between The Bellas
This segment deserves awards. The Gooker. They've given two females the stage to succeed and they've nuked it. Whoever told Nikki Bella that being a good heel meant shouting a lot should have to face Nikkis menacing finger brandishing. Nikki wishing Brie died in the womb was in bad taste, and made the segment very uncomfortable without adding much heat to Nikki (who's already resorted to insulting the crowd in a means to garner heat). Combined with the worst "upset, crying" performance I think I've seen in WWE history from Brie made this segment truly awful.
https://twitter.com/Wrestling_Memes/status/504087569144225792 Look at this. She looked like she'd had 30 years worth of plastic surgery, and them doing constant close ups on Brie WHO WASN'T ACTUALLY CRYING took this segment to a new level of awfulness.
Roman Reigns v Kane and Seth Rollins
I hope the cinderblock nearly taking Lawlers head off doesn't stop them using it as a prop, because it adds a real element of danger to Rollins' character. However the fact they had Reigns fight off both of the men with apparent ease this early in the feud didn't sit well with me as we had Ambrose getting annihilated by the same two men less than a week ago. However this is clearly the route they want to go down with Reigns, and I hope they don't regret sacrificing young talent (more later) in order to build up certain guys
Slater Gator v Los Matadores
I could be wrong but I think one of the Matadores worked the whole match. They ended Slaters winning streak on Superstars so I expected this to end with Matadores winning quickly, as did actually happen- however Titus and Heath have a certain chemistry with each other, and given the right set of circumstances they could become players in the Tag Division as the "Team Hell No" oddball team.
Bo Dallas v Kofi Kingston
So they've officially given up on the Big E, Xavier Woods, Kofi stable. I can only assume Big E was watching a monitor backstage in disgust. The match was serviceable for what it was, and Swagger attacking Bo wasn't entirely what I expected for this week. As said earlier I hope they have Swagger become very aggressive either as a result of Bo antagonising him, or under the tutelage of Bo.
Bray Wyatt v John Cena/The Wyatts vs Cena, Henry and Big Show
Why? Why on earth did they decide Bray Wyatt should be the person Cena steamrollered through in order to get his character over again. The majority of the suplexes Cena did were pretty sloppy, and I'm thankful Bray didn't hurt his shoulder/neck on the second German Suplex. The addition of Henry and Big Show I thought would of provided Cena a necessary vehicle to stand tall over Harper/Rowan as the show ended. But Cena had to go Super Saiyan and not only make Harper tap out, but also deliver Attitude Adjustments to all three members of the Wyatts with relative ease, after previously making Bray look like a jobber, which I'm sure Jericho is overjoyed about this being that the last three guys he's put over have all been fed to Cena or another top guy.
Looking back on the episode, I think Orton would of made a much more suitable addition to this main event given his current storyline of "losing his way" and having one of the exciting new guys be Cenas cannon fodder made me hate this Main Event.
Overall this RAW was one of the worst/if not the worst of year.
Thanks again for reading, I'll have my Fulham-Brentford review up later tonight.
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