RAW Review: 12th October

Hello! That's right, the RAW Review's are back baybay! It's been a really weird week and a bit for me if you weren't aware, but the RAW Review's are back now. Well, I say they're back I may end up missing next weeks Review as well because I'm moving this Friday and I might not have the Internet for "up to a week". We'll put a pin in that one for the time being though, let's focus on last night's RAW- and it was definitely a thing.

Kane Backstage
First things first, I'm not going to do each Kane segment individually- I'll do this one and the Main Event. Kane was in SEVEN little Backstage Skits. SEVEN. They ranged from stupid to less stupid, but I did get some enjoyment out of a couple- so I won't say they were a complete waste. Kane "gets it" with regard to comedic timing, while last night wasn't his best work- it was still good. The stuff with Triple H and Stephanie not being able to get to the arena was weird, especially in hindsight because I thought the pay-off in the Main Event would have been different.

Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose & The New Day Promo
This was quite fun, as is the case with pretty much every segment New Day are in. When Ambrose and Orton were out there on their own I REALLY wasn't getting into it. Both Ambrose and Orton are good Promos without a doubt, but the dialogue they were given was just stupidly awkward and handcuffed both guys massively. New Day came out and were their usual selves, which of course made it great. One dynamic I'm praying they explore more is New Day and Orton. This was the case in the Montreal RAW as well, Randy Orton as the guy who doesn't take any bullshit opposite New Day being New Day with Orton sarcastically playing along is always money.

New Day v Randy Orton & Dean Ambrose
It's not that this match was bad, and to a point I wouldn't have minded Orton & Ambrose dominating New Day with their dysfunction. The point it crossed the line for me was when Kofi tagged in and ran into an Elbow from Orton and Ambrose who were arguing. Just a reminder, Kofi is a Tag Team Champion. I realise New Day are, well New Day- but come on. As I said though, on the whole this match was fine, and it had some cool spots with the finish they obviously wanted Hell in a Cell in mind. I'm honestly not sure who's going to turn at Hell in a Cell, I'm not sure if I'm saying Ambrose turning because I've been going on about it for a while. Either way, both guys would benefit from a Heel run so it's not a massive issue in-terms of who turns.

Nikki Bella v Naomi
This was the point I just checked out during last night's RAW and I didn't come back. How stupid are WWE? It's not a case of "if" WWE are stupid, it's a case of how stupid. WWE actively acknowledged the Sasha Banks/Bayley match and the video package they put together made it look like the best match ever. Then the match they give us is Nikki Bella against Naomi. The crowd didn't care about anything, except Sasha Banks- the one thing I have to give them is they acknowledged that would happen and used it for the finish. The problem with that, THEY ACKNOWLEDGED NOBODY WOULD CARE ABOUT ANYONE EXCEPT SASHA- SO WHY WASN'T SHE WRESTLING?! This is a rare occasion where two Wrestlers are sent out by people knowing that they'll fail.

Paige Backstage Promo
This whole thing was just odd. I hope for the sake of my sanity the idea to plug Payday in the way they did was Paydays idea. Also, I had no fucking clue what Payday was until last night. When they first said it I thought it was one of those Loan Companies that have ridiculous interest rates.

John Cena v Dolph Ziggler
I don't know what the plan is for Cena and the time off with regard to the US Title. It's funny how a lot of people have assumed Cena's going to drop the US Title, when really there's no guarantee- or really a need for him to do so. I don't see the need for Cena to drop the US Title when there isn't really someone who'll do anything apart from take the Title backwards until Cena inevitably comes back and wins it back anyway. That said, should Cena be dropping the Belt they've royally fucked up the Dolph stuff after last night. Dolph literally did every possible move and Cena kicked out of it all, Dolph even resorted to Heel tactics (which I thought was the finish) so that spot's blown should Ziggler be winning the Belt. Then Cena just needed 1 AA and pinned him. It was a really fun match, especially when the false finishes actually meant something- and the way it was presented made you think Dolph could actually win. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the match, but now Cena's won Clean even after Dolph Heel'd it up I don't know where they go now. IT'S SLATER TIME BAYBAY!

The Dudleys v The Ascension
This wasn't much, but for what it was it was perfectly acceptable and it put the Dudleys over. I'm not sure why the Dudleys need squash matches at this stage in their return- but hey.

Sheamus & King Barrett v Neville & Cesaro
This was a battle between 4 of the most misused guys in the company, and yes Sheamus is misused- that's not a debate. This match was good, but with these 4 guys if it weren't good I think that would be more noteworthy. I've got absolutely no clue where they're going with this, but as said I'm pretty sure that's the point of this whole thing.

Roman Reigns v Braun Strowman
Reigns' Promo was actually decent prior to this match. You wouldn't know it what with the Chicago Crowd basically being idiotic and trying to put themselves over. I said it last night and I'll say it again now, the Chicago Crowd is painfully overrated by some- seemingly entirely because of that Money in the Bank. I'm not saying they're not a good crowd, they're miles better than some- but they're no different to half a dozen other "smarky" towns.

I'm not saying Strowman's good, because he's not. With that said, he's improved every single time I've seen him- and a lot has to be said for that. You have to give a lot of credit to Reigns for how he worked the match, it got both guys over in the way they were meant to- and Reigns' offence looked good because they actually built up to it so when he did things like the Superman Punch it meant something. The Countout finish with Roman winning caught me off guard I will admit, but it was a good way to get Roman over while protecting Strowman to an extent because he was up immediately after the 10 Count.

Ryback v Rusev
I hated this segment. I hated it for multiple reasons. They've basically blown off the Rusev/Summer angle before Lana could even get back because of TMZ. Stupid. How they're going to explain Rusev doing his best to torment Lana and vice versa I don't have a fucking clue. This segment managed to actively piss me off, and I'll be even more pissed if they don't have anything for Summer after this thing blows over because she really deserves to be featured every week. This of course would have happened if they'd HAVE DONE THE FUCKING TURN WHILE ZIGGLER WAS STILL INVOLVED. A Heel Ziggler chasing Cena for the US Title with Summer in his corner would have been good TV, but no instead they just ignored the whole shoe angle and now it's all fucked.

Kevin Owens v Kalisto
All of this was fun, Owens is great- although I'm not sure if he should have been allowed to wrestling in his own words a "12 Year Old". The one thing that annoyed me about this, and it isn't anyone involved in this segment's fault. The WWE are supposedly trying to get Del Rio back because they need a Top Latino guy so they can get better penetration in Mexico etc. meanwhile Kalisto's losing in about 4 Minutes. Kalisto can be the next Mysterio, they just need to treat him as such.

Brie Bella & Alicia Fox v Charlotte & Becky Lynch
More stupidity! This time Charlotte was made to look like shit. DIVAS REVOLUTION! The actual match was tolerable, I can't say anything more than that because- well Brie. The finish just blew my mind with how monumentally stupid it was. Nikki basically slapped Charlotte, I think she was trying to do the Misawa Elbow but someone wasn't in the right place so it didn't look good. Then Brie does a Missile Dropkick, WITHOUT EVEN SCREAMING "BRIE MODE" and pins Charlotte. I hate this show. Paige was also there.

Rollins, Big Show & Kane Backstage
I thought I'd include this Backstage Segment as a separate one just because it wasn't Kane on the Phone. It was fine, I think the biggest talking point from this RAW in all honesty was the fact Rollins wasn't in 10 Billion Segments last night. Whether that's a good or a bad thing in terms of how the company view him I don't know. Although I get the feeling if the Ratings are up this week then it won't be long before Rollins is dropping the Title.

Kane v Seth Rollins- Lumberjack Match
I honestly don't know how to feel about this match. Kane pinning Rollins was weird, especially because "Demon" Kane has been ripping shit up since he returned he didn't "need" the win at all. Especially basically clean after multiple people tried to kill him. With that said, for what the match was- it was fine. The sit-up spot with Kane and Big E was really good. I'm not sure how Big Show's going to factor into it all, I hope his involvement is minimal. If there was a Betting Website that took this bet, I'd be telling you to put money on there being a "Cell Door ripped off" Spot at Hell in a Cell either with Big Show or Strowman.

The only thing that annoyed me about this whole match wasn't even something to do with the match. The thing with Steph and Trips telling Korporate Kane he wasn't allowed to be in the Main Event against Rollins and then Demon Kane being in the match has just blown their whole stipulation for Hell in a Cell. They're now firmly established Demon and Korporate Kane as separate entities, so when Korporate Kane is fired it has no effect over Demon Kane. What a great stipulation!

Overall this RAW wasn't very good, not much happened- which isn't fine but at the same time we're in the dead zone between the two PPVs. I'm not saying it's right that they do this, but WWE only really book the night after a PPV and then the week before the PPV. In between a lot of shit happens, and not much of it makes sense. Then when you factor in the bad crowd and there wasn't much to hold my attention last night. Next week does look interesting though, because judging by the Photos they used to plug next week Long-Hair Taker is back!

Thanks for reading as always, I know this won't affect some of you- but apologies for it being up later than usual. I had a Hospital Appointment that took longer than I thought it would hence the delay. Next Weeks Review is up in the air because I'm not sure if I'll have the Internet, so I'll let you guys know on Twitter when I'm moving and then hopefully when I'm back on in-time for the RAW Review next week. If I'm not, I can only apologise. With me being done with Impact I'm open to suggestions for the Thursday Slot which has opened up- I'm tempted to bring the Booking Blogs back because there's a few ones I think would be fun. However time might be an issue with those, especially if I wanted them to be weekly. So yeah, open to suggestions on that front. Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed the Review and I hope you have a good week.