Heyman & Brock Open the Show
This truly was a novel concept- an opening promo on RAW that was pretty much guaranteed to be engaging and basically just good. I'm not sure if they planned it to happen like it did or Cole just improv'd but Cole essentially apologising for Brock F5-ing him was hilarious and in a weird way really up-sold Brock. Any segment where Heyman cuts a Promo is money and this was no exception and that is really all that can be said about this segment.
Kane v Dean Ambrose
Ok, I don't mean to alarm anyone- please remain calm through this next statement. KANE HAS WON 3 RAW'S IN A ROW- PANIC, EVERYBODY PANIC, RETREAT TO YOUR BUNKER AND PRAY. For a first match of the night and with two people who at this stage didn't really have any direction to speak of it was pretty good. It wasn't a 5* amazing match- it was solid and sometimes especially early on in the show a solid match is for the best and with the Seth interference it did both a good job of shielding (Wahey!) Ambrose and setting up the main angle of the night.
Backstage Rollins & Kane Promo
I suppose this can be described as functional in that it did the job it needed to do in carrying on the main angle of the night, it wasn't anything other than that- but still.
Primetime Players v The Ascension
Again this was "just" a solid match- I'm still not really into the PTP as Tag Champs, it's not that they're bad but New Day are just so much better at present and I wish the Primetime Players at least had a good build before they dropped the Belts but they literally had 2 weeks. That being said I was surprised the match went as long as it did and it did a really solid job of getting the PTP's over- and Big E got his "Backstage Monitor Watching" gimmick back so it's happy days.
Sheamus v Roman Reigns
Is it implied that Sheamus won this via Countout? Firstly I have to say that this match was surprisingly good. Little things like Sheamus squaring up to Roman as he made his entrance will help his perception long-term provided he doesn't go on a run of getting pinned by Midcarders like most MITB winners have done. These two had the first match that was more than "solid", I was surprised these two got as long as they did for what was such an obvious outcome but they used all of their time well and told a good story I know pretty much everyone isn't a fan of Sheamus at this stage and to a lesser extent but still prevalent Roman- but I have to give credit where credit is due.
The finish was cool and it got the "Bray's in Roman's head" angle perfectly- I'm still holding out hope that Roman's daughter is going to get involved somewhere down the line in this story because that'll take this angle to the next level and will legitimise to an extent Bray's character and motivations. The creepy room with all of the Roman pictures and the "Anyone But You" thing was cool and I'm really interested to see where they go with it all now.
Rollins meets J&J Backstage
As with the Kane backstage promo this can be described as functional and not much else.
Neville v Kofi Kingston
I understand why they didn't have Neville lose to Kofi especially with the Xavier and Big E expulsion- but why even go there with the expulsion angle, have Kofi win with Shenanigans to play up the numbers game and just for a split second make you think the numbers could get the better of Brock in a couple of weeks. That said New Day reinforced their role as in my opinion the most entertaining part of the current product whether it was Kofi prancing down to the ring clapping or Xavier's ringside shout-outs that had me in hysterics specifically the "IMMA CALL GRAVITY" one which if it isn't acknowledged in my End of Year awards in some way you have permission to shoot me. The one small critique I have with Neville at the minute and it is a small one- he takes too long balancing himself on the Top Rope for the Red Arrow in my opinion, it may be unrealistic to ask him to do it quicker but it get's to the point where the person on the deck in this case Kofi is out for nearly 30 Seconds because of a singular move that doesn't look like it had that sort of impact.
King Barrett v Zack Ryder
This was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object- who's will to lose was greater than the others. I'm happy Barrett actually won a match, but it's not as if beating Ryder means anything and we've seen the "Top Rope Bullhammer" spot so much now it's lost all meaning- I was hoping we'd see a Mid 450 Bullhammer or something cool like that so once RAW was over people would have been talking about what Barrett did but nope.
Cena and Owens Promos
Voyant que Owens a fait, je pensais que je pourrais aussi bien faire aussi. Google Translate baybay! It may be because of the stupidly high standard these two have set for each other but I was really underwhelmed by this little back and forth last night. This was truly "PG Cena" at his finest with his cutting deep insults including calling Owens a "garbage human being"- I don't know how Owens didn't burst into tears after that one.
Rollins Backstage with Trips & Steph
Functional.
The Bellas v Naomi & Tamina
*deep breath* NEW... DAY ROCKS, NEW... DAY ROCKS. I actually do have something to say about the Divas this week because I'm going to put out a Post most likely tomorrow basically looking at the Divas Division as a whole and why it's all so horrible for a while now before I just refuse to acknowledge it until we see a marked change in the Division. Also c'mon, The Bellas are working Face again solely because Paige isn't there because of Tough Enough- surely they could have worked out a way to make it work with them staying heel.
The Roman Terminator video package was just bizarre- but I didn't take against it; until they cut to Brock in the back and Cole said he was WWE's terminator which was just a "Well What was the Point of that then?" moment.
Ryback v Mark Henry
It wasn't quite new gear as I predicted- but they're definitely showing Ryback off more after last week where he appeared without his Singlet and looked even more like a beast than usual. Considering it was Ryback v Mark Henry being, well Ryback v Mark Henry it was good enough and Ryback adding another dimension to his moveset with the Splash is an interesting and good way to go. I wasn't a massive fan of Ryback winning the Belt at the Chamber but at this moment in time I'll happily say I was wrong because he's really come into his own again and the crowd getting on his side is proof of that.
Ryback Backstage Promo
I'm liking the more personal Ryback because he's not letting the stuff he says in these sort of things define his character- but he's still throwing it out there in a "Yeah, I'm Human" way which as a babyface is ideal because the crowd naturally gravitates towards him as a result of this sort of stuff. Also, He Killed Big Show!
Dolph Ziggler v Adam Rose
I only have a few things to say about this. Firstly, Dolph and Lana's chemistry is Nil. I know Rusev got hurt and that would have affected any potential angle they did- but surely they could have written Lana off of TV somehow especially after she got injured as a result of Rusev. Secondly, Adam Rose's Spinebuster is still one of the best I've ever seen. Lastly, Isn't Rusev supposed to be the Heel? I can't speak for everyone- but to me Rusev is coming off as the sympathetic Babyface in all of this. Summer Rae showing up doesn't usually bode well for an angle but I'm willing to give it a go.
Seth Rollins' Apology/Brock Beatdown
To me they played this segment perfectly. People can say what they will but to me this was a near perfect segment because it humanised Brock and made Rollins look like a threat to Brock in the strength in numbers way that was definitely needed in order to make the match at Battleground have some jeopardy to it. Brock still looked like a beast- and as long as Noble is ok in the long run that side will definitely help Brock's perception if they do bring it up, it's just on this occasion he was overwhelmed by Kane who's still a 7ft Bloke, Rollins who's the WWE Champion and then Mercury who is the Destroyer.
This RAW just felt really flat to me- and as I said just before it started last night and at the start of this seemed impossible given all of the ingredients they had to make last nights RAW. But it just felt really bare-bones with No Orton, No Paige, No R-Truth other than a Backstage Pre-Tape and just way, way too many Adverts for the second week in a row.
Anyway, thanks for reading as always- as I've already said there will (or at least should) be a Post tomorrow, Thursday and Friday this week so stay tuned for all of those- unless I drop dead I should be on Twitter later on for Tough Enough so why not tag along for that eh? Anyway, Thanks again for reading, Merci encore pour la Lecture- and I'll leave you with this. https://vine.co/v/e5iPZZAdMZQ.
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