Rollins, Kane, Heyman & Brock Promo
I liked this segment without loving it. Any Promo segment with Heyman is going to be great, let's be honest- but for me last night was the first time in a while Heyman started rambling a bit and going on longer than what was necessary which pretty much everyone apart from Heyman does almost weekly. The back and forth with Kane was fine although looking back across the whole show it doesn't necessarily make sense that they did it- but the crowd got into it, and at the end of the day that's what matters.
Randy Orton & Ryback v Sheamus & Big Show
This match made me laugh, solely for the reason that Cole (clearly with Vince in his Ear) called the four guys involved a "Four Premier Superstars" and billed this as a "Main Event Tag Match". Even the most hardened of Big Show fans would acknowledge that those statements don't apply to him. The match was- well Orton & Ryback v Sheamus & Big Show, My expectations weren't high- and they were largely met, the only real highlight was Miz on Commentary acting as though Marine 4 was a film to be proud of- I watched it the other day, and it's one of those films that you can't un-see.
Bray Wyatt v Dean Ambrose
At least Ambrose didn't have to get massively dressed up to go out there and do nothing. I liked the Reigns brawl just because of the way it played out with Reigns getting the upper-hand without killing Bray completely. Putting someone like Reigns out there with the way he looks and having him beat the hell out of people is never not going to get over, and in terms of Summerslam and the Rollins/Lesnar outcome the Reigns match and the clean (or not) outcome will give us a massive indication as to where they're heading for Summerslam and by proxy the likely outcome for the Main Event.
"Giving Divas A Chance"
This was a really cool moment- it's something 99% of people have been clamouring for and we finally got it. I think whenever the NXT Women did show up that was going to be the case and the way it's worked out it's presumably WWEs answer to the King of the Trios tournament coming up in September. In short I loved the reveal and in my opinion the right NXT Women have come up because we need to learn if Bayley can flourish in a proper featured role before she get's the call and Bayley still being down there will also give somewhat of a place to aim for, for the likes of Dana, Alexa and Carmella as well as the "New Girls".
I saw some people complaining about Stephanie being the one to announce it- and at the point before Becky came out I was in that camp because she managed to completely bury The Bellas and Paige in the space of about two minutes. However I think the closest thing I can compare this to is the Vince video when he basically announced the Attitude Era- in that it' legitimised the "movement" and sent out a clear message as to where they were going to go, I'd have preferred Triple H to do it- because as I've repeatedly said the Women in NXT are pretty much Triple H's project- but I do understand why Stephanie was the one to do it.
Like I said, I did love the reveals and all of that- however. The 9 Woman Brawl was almost comically bad in places- some of the selling was laughable, this isn't me singling Nikki out because she's Nikki it just stuck with me- someone kicked her in the Stomach and for want of a better way to describe it she casually sat down. I also felt the brawl went a bit too long for what it was- but we got the cool Submission Spot so that I can somewhat deal with. I also didn't get why Sasha Banks didn't come out with the NXT Womens Title, I get that they're maybe going to have Sasha play somewhat of an understudy to Naomi at first- but given that Stephanie introduced her as the NXT Womens Champion it didn't really make sense to me.
With all of that in mind I did love this segment- and you only have to see how much I've written about this segment to see the effect it's had in re-energising the fans interest in the Division.
Also, Why the hell did they end the segment with the bloody Total Divas theme.
(Quick Aside, If you missed it the first time- go back and watch Charlotte's Entrance and listen to Cole's voice crack when he does the "Woooooo").
Primetime Players & Mark Henry v New Day
The match was fine, but can someone explain the logic of having the one person who's not on the PPV being the one to pick up the win? I'll talk about it more in my Predictions- but surely New Day have to get the Belts back on Sunday, now that the Titus being a nice Dad thing has died down completely there's no reason for them not to get the Belts back.
R-Truth v King Barrett
I didn't like this at the time, I still don't- but looking back at the show as a whole this was perfectly placed to give the crowd a bit of a breather and be some comedic (term used loosely) relief. Combine that with the fact this feud is 99% going to be over after Battleground makes this segment not a complete waste.
Shoesev v Cesaro v Kevin Owens
If it were possible to elevate the US Title even further this is exactly what this match did. I'm not going to make the generic comment of "Cesaro's grabbed a Brass Ring" or whatever- because to paraphrase Punk the "Brass Rings" are completely imaginary. Vince will only let the people who he wants truly get over and stay there, that said if Cesaro keeps churning out matches like this- and the crowd keep reacting to him the way they have done it'll be almost impossible for Vince to ignore it. The match didn't really click for me at first- which was why I was questioning the "This is Awesome" chants surfacing when they did- the Chant has lost all meaning, but by the end the match was worthy of said chant. This match was a near perfect demonstration of how to get everyone in a match over while still having a clear and decisive winner.
John Cena v Shoesev- US Title
It was last week where I said thank god that they actually had Rusev be a Heel, this week- well what with Rusev's just deadpan humour and his hilarious lines when it comes to Owens, combined with the fact Rusev was definitely the sympathetic babyface in this match means we're definitely back to the confusing middle ground, but I don't really care. I never wish injury on anyone but after his Cena feud Rusev needed the time to regroup and his injury was definitely a blessing in disguise for him.
As I'll talk about a bit later on- by normal booking law the fact Owens got the upper-hand tonight means he's losing at the PPV, and depending on how they do it (if Cena does win) I won't necessarily mind it because Cena's Open Challenge continues to be one of, if not the highlight of RAW consistently.
Tough Enough Competitor thing
This was really strange- because surely they should have done this 3 or 4 weeks ago to get the audience familiarised with the whole cast. I'm aiming to get a post out every day this week as somewhat of an apology for effectively taking last week off, and one of them is going to be looking at just how much of a fuck up this season of Tough Enough has been on all levels. But hey, we got to see Lita.
Stardust v Neville
Firstly, I loved the comic-book presentation graphic for this match- and with that Amell bloke coming in presumably that's why they're doing it as such. It weirdly reminded me of Samuel Shaw- because there was that TNA event where he did the drawings for all of the match graphics. The match was fine and that's all that can really be said about the match.
I saw a lot- and by a lot I mean 99% of people bitching about the fact Stardust still exists- but I'm actually happy that they didn't just drop the gimmick and without knowing for definite I'd assume Cody said he wants to see the Character through. I always cite the Mysterio Title Win after Eddie died as my example of a "Dead Person Push" in that someone close to someone who's recently died get's a push for no other reason than a combination of sympathy/pity. I love Mysterio- but that was the only reason he won the belt at that time, so for me I'm perfectly happy for them to continue where the Stardust character was going with the Amell guy at Summerslam and then coming off the back of that I'd assume/hope we start to get the transition back into Cody Rhodes and he get's a mega push, because with all of the stupid gimmicks he's been saddled with and made work he deserves the World Title for that reason- not because Dusty died.
Brock & Rollins Contract Signing
This was a near perfect end of build for this feud- I'm not sure what the significance of the Axe Handle was- especially if they're building to Seth & Triple H I'd have just had Rollins use a Sledgehammer, because the Axe Handle is just a shite weapon to use. As with the Rusev match earlier this segment was a perfect example of getting everyone where they needed to be and getting them over (apart from Kane). Brock looked like- well Brock and Rollins looked like the wounded animal so to speak- but in turn that making him more vicious and ruthless. I'm assuming they're going to use the Kane angle to write him off for the time being, most likely through until the RAW after Summerslam where he'll return and be Brutal Demon Kane who wants to kill Rollins and burn him alive.
This RAW (while having a few low points) was the best RAW in a while, I don't know if it's better than the RAW after Mania- but the 3rd Hour of the RAW after Mania was so bad this may have overtaken it. I said it on Twitter last night, who'd have thought having Wrestling and Wrestlers on a show where people tune in to watch Wrestling would get over?
Thanks for reading as always, Like I said I'm aiming to get a post out every day this week- so keep coming back every day for the varied posts leading up to Battleground on Sunday and beyond. Thanks again for reading- with Becky Lynch and Paige teaming I feel it's only fitting that I leave you with what is going to be theirs (and Charlotte's Entrance).
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