RAW Review: 17th August

Hello! I really need to think of more witty jokes for these opening paragraphs. It was of course the go-home show for Summerslam last night- and after the last two weeks I had really high expectations for a RAW for once. Usually that isn't at all a good sign because every time I'm expecting a bad RAW it's good and vice versa. So, let's see how it all unfolded.

The Authority Open RAW
The Authority opening a RAW is truly a novel concept. This whole segment was just bizarre, Trips and Steph basically acting like they were on one of the TV Sales channels and trying to sell the Network. The one big problem with this, who on earth would be compelled to get the Network off the back of this segment? It was just really awkward throughout- it also pretty much set the tone for the show of there being absolutely zero storyline progression in pretty much every storyline, rather be pretty repetitive and having whether it was the Commentators or whatever leaning over your shoulder screaming "GET THE NETWORK, SEE THIS? YOU WANT TO SEE THIS!"

Randy Orton & Cesaro v Kevin Owens & Sheamus
This match was proof that they had such little stuff booked for tonight. I went out of the room for easily 5 Minutes because I was Microwaving Garlic Bread, I went back in briefly and they were still doing the bloody entrances. Anyway, after I finally got back in permanently the match was fine. It wasn't anything special- the crowd weren't really into it because they've seen this type of match type a million times before. One thing I did find interesting was Orton pinning Sheamus, I think it's pretty clear this means Sheamus is winning on Sunday- but if he wins on Sunday that rules out a cash-in. The only other thing of note was Cesaro trying (and failing) for want of a better way to describe it the Ric Flair spot when he was whipped into a corner- but just over the top rope. Safe to say he failed.

Undertaker Promo
This was fine. I had my say about Taker's promo skills on the RAW after Battleground- but backstage promos are better for him, because he can be protected and top an extent hide behind all of the shenanigans that you can do with a Backstage Promo.

Seth Rollins Backstage Promo
This was good in the usual Seth Rollins way. The only thing of note in this bit apart from Rollins wanting a statue (which I think would actually be a really good prop if they were to do it) was Triple H pretty much spoiling the match by conditioning the Statue on Rollins "bringing back two titles" basically confirming- or at least in my mind there's going to be shenanigans.

Roman Reigns v Luke Harper
Once again, this match pretty much confirmed my train of thought for the Summerslam match. The actual match was fine, I liked last weeks Harper match more- but Reigns played his role well and that's all that can really be said about the match. Ambrose was weird on Commentary, I saw some people really liking him- but to me he ended up getting quite annoying.

This match was also the point in the show when I suddenly went "Hang On, Michael Cole's actually being really good tonight". He was calling moves, he was getting into the matches and the stuff going on, he was explaining the stories- he was actually great last night.

Becky Lynch v Tamina
This match was actually fine. It was Becky's first Singles match on RAW so it had that going for it with me anyway. Tamina is, well Tamina- but she played her role well. Put it this way, as far as Tamina matches go at least this one was watchable.

Rusev v Mark Henry
This was pretty much the only segment that actually had some proper storyline progression. The actual match was fine for what it was- the spot where Henry tried to power out of the Accolade position was weird, but Rusev won and that's that.

I'm honestly not sure if they missed a cue somewhere along the way during the aftermath with Dolph. Lana appeared to look over Rusev's shoulder at least 4 times before Dolph's music hit- but Dolph did eventually come out, he got a good pop and it set-up the Summerslam match. Also, Lana's roundhouse on Summer- wow.

Ryback v The Miz
I'm honestly coming round to the idea that Miz might actually win on Sunday. I still don't think he will, and as you'll see in my Predictions there's a big reason for it- but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he did. The best thing, I wouldn't actually mind if he did. Miz has been great pretty much since the Mizdow stuff ended and on that basis I'd even argue he deserves the Belt.

The actual match was fine, it was Ryback v The Miz- you know what you're going to get. The only thing of note was the cool way Ryback set-up the Shellshocked. Also, if they really wanted to hype Tough Enough especially now we're only one episode away from the Finale- why on earth wouldn't they show footage of Big Show Bodyslamming Miz & Ryback on that Smackdown episode as a part of the build for this match. Or at least mention on commentary during this match "Hey, these guys came in on Tough Enough and now they're feuding for the IC Title".

John Cena & Seth Rollins Contract Signing
The Rollins Promo was fine, him talking shit and appealing to the Smarks was a bit weird and out of character but it wasn't a massive issue. But his Promo had absolutely nothing on Cena's.

Even the most hardened of Cena "haters" have to admit this was a great promo from Cena last night. It was just great, Cena pretty much had to put three weeks worth of Promo material into one Promo- and he did great with it. It was just an amazing promo, if Paul Heyman wasn't on this show Cena would have had the best promo on the show. Just go and watch this, it was just great.

The Primetime Players & Lucha Dragons v New Day & Los Matadores
This was weird. It was a nothing match and a Hurricanrana is a finish. I know it was the Hurricana/Spike DDT type thing, but it didn't even look like the Matador was spiked on his head- and he didn't even sell it like he had. It was just bad. They also did a better job of selling me on a possible  Xavier Woods v Torito match than the Tag Match.

New Day still rock though, I loved their little Promo segment before it. Xavier Woods in particular is so close to "snapping" now- everyone who reads these knows my love for New Day, but I honestly wouldn't mind them losing on Sunday conditioned on them "snapping" after the match.

Stardust & Barrett Promo
This was absolutely great. I've completely turned a corner on this feud in the last two weeks. I'm not at all surprised that Stardust & Barrett have chemistry with each other, that was already a well known fact for anyone who watched the JBL & Cole show. This Promo that was at the very top end a minute actually had me sold on Barrett being in the match. From two weeks ago where I was just bored with this feud this is now Top Three matches in terms of my interest for Summerslam.

Sasha Banks v Nikki Bella
It's not funny that Mick Foley went into meltdown with the crowd during this segment- but I did laugh a bit. I've said it so many times now, and surely Mick fucking Foley would know this if I do. The crowd doesn't know what to do during a Divas Match once it goes longer than 3 Minutes. It really is that simple- especially with the match being in such close proximity to Brock's appearance which had been entirely saved for the last segment meant the match was at a whole other level of disinterest.

On top of that, I had absolutely no idea who the Babyface was during this. Sasha started out as the Babyface mimicking all of Nikki's weird taunts- and then after the Ad-Break The Bellas were the Babyfaces and Sasha was getting the Heat on Nikki while Team Bella were doing the slow clap transitioning into a fast one thing and Sasha ended up winning via distraction. The whole match was a complete clusterfuck, I don't like the crowd when they do it- but given the way it was booked. positioned and- well a Divas match I know why they did it.

Brock Lesnar & Undertaker Segment
This was great, just absolutely great. I frankly can't be bothered to find out- but the way they built this up and the fanfare he got I got the impression that this was Brock's first time back "home" since he returned to WWE. Heyman was just great, I don't know why that's even worth saying at this point- of course Heyman was great- and then we got the Taker stuff which I loved.

Firstly, thank god Taker's gong hit when he did- I was afraid Heyman would pass out. The Taker stuff with low-blows etc. was perfect- I won't have anyone tell me otherwise. Taker is not a Heel, Jesus himself would have been booed if they were opposite Brock in Minnesota last night. Taker is simply playing the "veteran", the wise old-man who knows how to win a fight. Taker want's to beat Brock- he wants that win back, Brock on the other hand is seeing red and wants to kill Taker. So Taker doing pretty much the guaranteed thing that will instantly disarm Brock is smart on Taker's part. Brock/Taker isn't Heel/Babyface, I don't know how many times I've said it now- it's just Brock/Taker.

This RAW was just weird, and it actually annoyed me. I had high expectations for this heading into it- and it never really recovered from the opening segment and the theme which was basically "HEY, DON'T WORRY ABOUT TONIGHT, GET THE FUCKING NETWORK". I do also get the feeling that some people are praising this RAW because they actually booked it smartly in the last hour and that's of course what everyone remembers- but it was a nothing RAW for me. I do still have really high expectations for Summerslam though and as I'll go into a lot more detail with during my Predictions in terms of stories heading out of it- the RAW after and Night of Champions build/PPV in general could be quality.

Thanks for reading as always, with the way this weeks worked out from a Posting standpoint the Summerslam Predictions will be going up on Thursday either in place of or alongside the Impact Review. Basically if Impact pisses me off they'll be out for this week. Or, at the very latest they'll be going up on Sunday alongside the NXT Review. Basically at the minimum you'll be getting 4 Wrestling Posts in the next week and a bit with the two Summerslam posts, Impact Review (maybe), Next Weeks RAW Review and then Episode 3 of the Tough Enough burials after the finale next week. Speaking of Tough Enough I hope you'll join me on Twitter tonight to laugh at it as usual. Thanks again for reading, stay tuned for Thursday and through Summerslam Weekend and beyond- and let's just hope it's a good one on Sunday.