Yes, I'm back with the RAW reviews after a few weeks without them- although if you follow me on Twitter you'll know why, and I hope y'all understand. Anyway I'm back now, and hopefully there won't be the need to have a 2 Week gap in my blogs again.
We were of course in Liverpool for the RAW tonight, which meant two things. Pre-Taped Episode, and edited crowd chants. Also forgive me if I missed a few minute details- but I was dead on my feet by the final segment last night.
Cena, Ryback, Authority Segment
They were never going to make Ryback go full heel this early into his new lease on life. It seems the only reason they had Ryback attack Cena was to have the Main Event for the RAW- but the problem is they still have a RAW after this one, which in turn means they need to fill a week of TV with Ryback presumably getting pissed with everyone and eventually deciding he wants to kill the Suit wearing team. The actual promos were ok, although Stephanie is annoying me at the moment- and not in a good way. The announcement of Swagger was ridiculous to be frank, anyone who actually believed he'd be on the team needs to be checked into a mental hospital- and was once again purely so they could have a segment mean something.
Seth Rollins v Jack Swagger
Even with the announcement, this match didn't really mean much to be honest. Nobody actually expected Rollins to lose regardless of whether you read the spoilers or not- and that also affected the crowds involvement in the match, which in turn hurt it. I'd have preferred them to completely kill Swagger to give him a proper injury angle so he could be written off of TV and regroup in the New Year- perhaps with a heel turn, or by going after Rusev now he has the US Title, but instead they "just" used Curb Stomps to presumable write him off of TV given what happened later on in the night.
Dean Ambrose promo
This was a good promo, I like the personal aspect with Ambroses dad- as a personal element turns a good feud into a great feud. I haven't blogged in the last few weeks so I haven't really had a chance to say what I think of this angle- and provided they don't cut the time down to 1-2 PPVs this could provide one of the better feuds of the last decade. I expect- or rather hope this leads to a Wrestlemania match with a huge payoff, and it wouldn't surprise me if Ambrose joins the Wyatts- and we get the angle we would have gotten around Wrestlemania season last year with Bryan. This'll of course lead to people going "Ermahgerd der burying Dean Ambrose"
Kane, Ryback segment
This was ok for what it was, neither of these two are great "actors" but they still know how to sell a story to a sufficient level for WWE TV.
Paige v Alicia Fox
I'm honestly not sure what to think about this match. I might have missed something but as far as I'm aware they haven't turned Paige face (?), although her playing the babyface in the match may have just been because of the location of the event. The match itself was fine as these are two of the better workers in the Diva Division, although it does annoy me slightly that they didn't have Paige do something more meaningful given the location.
There are also ways to stay a heel even if you're in your home country as we all know, which brings me to an idea I wish WWE had thought of. Bo Dallas had a foot injury unless I'm mistaken, which presumable wouldn't have prevented him from travelling. So why not have him do what Bad News Barrett was doing for months and simply cut a promo. Everyone knows how much England- and specifically areas like Liverpool are into Football. So why not have Bo come out in a Man Utd shirt and tell Brendan Rodgers, Balotelli and Liverpool in general to Bolieve.
Sheamus v Rusev
This match was pretty average, both of these two men are capable of much better- and it reminds me of the RVD-Cesaro situation where they simply don't have enough chemistry to provide us with a really good match. The ending was a good way to set up what happened later with the joining of both teams- however I'd have preferred a shorter match in order to deliver the same outcome.
The Miz and Mizdow w/ Mini Miz v Los Matadores
Can't just give Sandow something can you?
John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Triple H Promo
*dun dun dun dun* Another one bites the dust
Dolph Ziggler v Mark Henry
This match was one of the better matches on the night. Dolphs selling ability naturally compliments a wrestler like Mark Henry who doesn't do much except power moves- which only really look good if the person is selling them correctly. The ending was again a good way to set up the joining of the teams, although I'd have preferred Big Show to stay out of the Main Event of the PPV as soon as you saw Mark Henry come out in the opening segment you knew Show was coming so at least they done it in such a way that people cared about it.
AJ v Brie Bella
It seems they've all but given up on the Bella angle because as far as I can tell they've relegated the "Oh My God Poor Brie" segments to the WWE App. Thank God. The match itself was pretty dull- and at this point I'm just praying to god Nikki doesn't win the belt.
Tyson Kidd v Adam Rose
KRUGAH!
John Cena v Ryback
This match was never going to be amazing, the one thing that surprised me was that it went as long as it did because I thought with the pretape it would have been exactly 3 Hours long- which made me expect the finish a lot sooner than it actually happened. The one thing I have to give credit to WWE for is they didn't make Cena look ridiculously overpowering with Ryback- in fact when Kane interfered Ryback was close to the finish (albeit through shenanigans). The end of the segment was good, I wasn't sure why Dolph didn't come out (at this stage) but that in turn made Ryback look stronger as he overcame the odds at the end of the show.
I'm not sure why Harper did what he did, I'm very intrigued as to where they'll build this- but I just hope Harper doesn't get lost in a match such as this, which was the reason I didn't want Bray and Ambrose in the match when someone suggested it.
Thanks for reading, as always I appreciate any feedback on these blogs- with the International Break there might be a few different types of blog in the next week, which I hope you'll stay tuned for. Thanks again.
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