RAW Review: June 20th

Hello! We're officially in the era of "The Dude", and as of last night we're officially building up to the Brand Split in about a Months time on Smackdown. In short, there's a lot to be positive about at the moment in WWE. That's a very rare thing, looking through Reddit, Twitter etc. this is probably the most happy I've seen Wrestling Fans since Bryan's win at Wrestlemania 30. Isn't it amazing to see positivity surrounding the WWE? Everyone's finally realised they need to FEEEEEEEEELLLLLL THE POWAAHHHHHH!

Anyway back on to last night, I was actually really interested to see what would happen. On the one hand, there's the Battleground PPV coming up in around about 5 Weeks time. However, before we even get to that- there's the Brand Split 4 weeks today. That means to me that while there's going to be feud progression with the main storylines, beyond that there's going to be a lot of filler and a lot of treading water with the Midcard and the Undercard. Because to be blunt, I doubt WWE have plans for what brand people are going to end up on beyond the "top guys". With all that said, let's talk get right into last nights episode.

Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns Promo Segment
Before this, we had the little bit with Ambrose "forgetting" the WWE Title in his Taxi- and I groaned. I'm not Ambrose's biggest fan, especially when it comes to his in-ring stuff and his move-set. However, where Ambrose shines is when he's on the mic. When Ambrose got the Title I thought he'd be given a bit more leeway, and be able to get away from all of the "I'm so wacky" type things they've saddled him with for a while now and move more into just being a really "intense" character. So that wasn't exactly a good start.

Ambrose's in-ring Promo was decent, without being anything more I thought. The crowd didn't exactly help though, because it was one of the more schizophrenic and just weird crowds I can remember in recent times. Roman's stuff was alright as well, and I did like the fact they had Ambrose put over how he would've cashed in on Roman as well. Rollins came out and was again decent and it all built up to the announcement of the #1 Contenders match between Rollins and Roman. Good stuff.

Also, to the people chanting "You can't wrestle" at Roman- you're stupid. There's a lot wrong with Roman Reigns at the moment, but his wrestling ability is very low down on that list. It's just amazing to me that it's even become a "thing" to chant that at Roman. So yeah, if you chant that you're stupid- you stupid idiot.

Sami Zayn v Kevin Owens
The one thing I was surprised about with this match was the fact we actually got a finish. It's literally impossible for these two to have a bad match with each other, so the finish is really all there is to talk about. I know it was a roll-up, but it was still an actual finish- so it was one step further than I thought they were going to go.

Given the fact WWE are seemingly keen on building up the Battleground PPV as a big deal, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if these two have their blow-off match and it's billed as "last time ever" because they'd have been drafted to different brands earlier in the week. I actually wouldn't mind that as well, because the chances of Owens/Zayn getting a lot of time and in general being pushed as a massive match would be a lot higher for Battleground than Summerslam.

The post-match fighting was a fun little bit, and it was extra funny to me- because aside from them both taking a big bump at the end it was exactly what I wanted these two to do at the Rumble.

People Power returns to RAW
For a one-off comedy segment, I loved this. Laurinaitis is just so perfect for the role they have him play on TV. Without a doubt the highlight of this segment was Shane listing off the "qualities" the new Smackdown GM needed and he says "There's not going to be any Corporate Yes-Men" to which Big Johnny says "I agree". It was just a bit of light relief that I liked and we moved on. Perfect comedy segment.

Enzo & Big Cass v The Vaudevillains
I was actually surprised at just how short and one-sided this match was. I thought they might have done the Enzo spot where he's thrown under the ropes again or something. But instead it was literally just a two minute (if that) squash match. Things are not looking good for the Vaudevillains. Also, they've now named Enzo & Big Cass' finish the "Badaboomshakalaka". Really. What was wrong with the Missile/Rocket Launcher? You can't tell me they suddenly don't want references to "Missiles" on WWE Television because we've had "Missile Dropkicks" for basically forever. That annoyed me.

AJ Styles, Gallows & Anderson "apologise" to John Cena
I loved this segment. It's similar to Batista in a way- although not to the same level, in that when he returned, that you just question why they came in as Babyfaces when you see how great they are as Heels. AJ's Promo was great last night, and considering that's always considering his "weak" point- that's a very good sign for AJ's future. The insincere apologies and AJ just basically coming off as a dick was just so well played off it was great. I know that's shocking, the AJ Styles/John Cena segment was in fact great.

I'm not sure what the dynamic will be when Balor debuts, because he'll be involved with AJ in some way. But I just hope that whatever happens they keep AJ as a Heel when Balor comes up. Because now we're getting Heel AJ, I don't want anything except Heel AJ.

John Cena v Karl Anderson
This wasn't anything, and it wasn't meant to be anything. It did annoy me a tiny bit that this match was basically the same as the Enzo & Cass/Vaudevillains match in just how much of a squash it was. Sometimes when they do these types of finishes they leave a bit of doubt in terms of whether in this case Cena would've won. There was absolutely no doubt, John Cena was about to beat Anderson in like 2 minutes without Anderson even landing a punch.

I was expecting a run-in, I won't lie. I thought we'd get a New Day run-in or something- but I'm actually more interested in the dynamic of Cena & The Club over the next month because of the lack of a run-in than I probably would've been had we gotten a run-in. So basically, I'm just looking forward to how this feud continues to unfold over the next month.

Natalya attacks Becky Lynch Backstage
I've been relatively "down" on Natalya lately, as anyone who's been reading these Reviews will be aware. This "attack" did absolutely nothing to change my mind about her. Becky did a really good Promo about everyone turning on her, and then Natalya hit her from behind- and using her one voice tone she said something to the effect of "I'm doing things for myself now". It was the literal definition of "meh". I understand why people may like Natalya, because she's the best in-ring worker in the whole company. However, she's got the personality and screen presence of a spoon.

Baron Corbin v Zack Ryder
You know what the middle part of this Episode reminded me of for the most part? NXT. You just had a sequence of squash matches with the sole goal being to build the winners up. There was the Enzo & Cass match, Cena's match and this one. It was just another squash match, where I was surprised Ryder got in as much as he did to be honest. Corbin's one of the guys that is relevant to the point I made at the start of this Review. They don't have a fucking clue if he's going to be on RAW or Smackdown in a Months time, so they're booking him accordingly. I'm fine with Corbin squashing guys for the next month, but if they don't have an angle for him Post-Split I will be disappointed.

Wyatt Family Vignette
This was actually a really cool vignette. It was really well put together, and was a montage of sorts of all of the vignettes we've had prior. I thought this was a really good way to hype up their return, if they would've started them a few weeks ago. I may be doing WWE a disservice in assuming this, but I doubt they actually knew when they were going to put Bray back on TV until Sunday Night. So we missed out on a chance to really hype their return up with vignettes and promos, which is a large part of what makes The Wyatts so good.

Charlotte v Paige- Womens Title
As of writing this, the Ratings aren't out yet. With the Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins Main Event, you got the feeling that they were really trying to pop a big rating last night. That's relevant to this match, because this match was the 3rd Hour lead-in which is usually reserved for a "big" feud. While I'm not saying a Womens Title match is irrelevant, it was Charlotte against a Paige who's barely been on TV lately. The match was fine, the one obvious fault was Dana somehow managing to fuck up putting Charlotte's foot either under or on the bottom rope. I don't even know how that's possible to be honest.

I said on Twitter when I saw the match was actually happening, don't be surprised to see Nikki or Sasha after the match. Sasha Banks came out, the crowd popped for it- that's all good stuff. The one thing I do have to say, crowds have been chanting "We Want Sasha" during most of the Womens matches. You've got Sasha now, so actually give a fuck when she wrestles. Because there's not really been much in the way of reactions to Sasha's matches I've felt for most of her run.

Bray Wyatt's "We're Here" Vignette
This was just weird. We had the whole thing with Bray saying "*insert city name*, we're here", there was a big pop from the crowd for it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Adverts. It was just such an odd place to show it, to the point where I'm convinced they actually accidentally pressed the button to air it at the wrong time.

The Wyatts & New Day Segment
I loved this segment. It's something completely different for both factions, which is especially good as far as New Day are concerned. I actually said I wanted The Wyatts in the Tag Title picture on Twitter earlier on in the night, although I did say I'd wait until Harper's back. So I'm largely happy with this new dynamic we've got between the two groups. The one really interesting point, or "happening" in the segment was Xavier seemingly being entranced by Bray. I don't know what's going to happen, whether it be Bray "possessing" Xavier or something weird like that- but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Also, in what was without a doubt the highlight of the night. Braun Strowman doing the "New Day clap" to Bray saying "New... Day Falls" was just absolutely amazing.

Rusev & Titus O'Neil Brawl
On the one hand, I'm happy they actually had Titus take issue with Rusev taking the piss out of kids- because that's something most people would want to kill someone for. However, it's Titus O'Neil for fuck sake. I just can't bring myself to care about him- and given the fact Titus had a relatively poor showing from a performance perspective on Sunday I thought it was going to end up being a "one and done" between these two.

Miz & Maryse "Movie Set" Promo
This was funny to me for two reasons. The first being the "stage hand", who may be a proper stage hand for the Film came up to Miz with the plate of food and said "Hey, Mike". The second being the Dog Maryse was holding looking increasingly startled as Miz started going in on the guy because HE WANTED QUAIL DAMMIT!

Shane McMahon & Chris Jericho Backstage Segment
This was one of those segments that we'll be seeing a lot of in the next few weeks, of them basically explaining how the Draft is going to work to the crowd without outright putting up a list of the rules. Jericho continued his run of basically just having a lot of fun in this current run. Good segment.

Seth Rollins v Roman Reigns- #1 Contender Match
I wasn't expecting a decisive finish in this match, but then again I wasn't expecting one in the Owens/Zayn match- which now I think of it may have had a decisive finish for exactly that reason. The match was basically the same as the one on Sunday, everything that went on in the ring was solid- but it just still felt a bit flat to me. It's weird considering the dynamic of Roman and Seth, but they just haven't quite clicked from an in-ring perspective to me. It would probably help if they had defined Heel & Babyface roles though. The finish was as expected, Michael Cole fucked up- which is always great and we're getting the long awaited Shield Triple Threat at Battleground.

This brings me onto a point I've seen raised on Reddit especially today. People being a bit annoyed that the Shield Triple Threat is happening at a "B PPV". There are definite "B PPV's" and it's obvious from the booking and calibre of matches. I'm not entirely sure WWE see Battleground as one. Last year we had Brock Lesnar in the Main Event and an Undertaker return at Battleground.

We may not get a decisive finish at Battleground to set-up a rematch of the Triple Threat at Summerslam, or if we do get one it's because there's something that'll likely be bigger for all three guys at Summerslam. It seems as though WWE are basically just trying to deliver on "Dream Matches" for every PPV at the moment, which I for one won't complain about.

Overall this RAW was decent I thought. There wasn't necessarily an "outstanding" segment on the show, but basically everything on the show had a point to it. Which as I said at the start, given the likely uncertainty for 75% of the Roster and where their future lies is all I can ask for.

Thanks for reading as always, remember that with the Brand Split there'll be Smackdown Reviews on here starting with the Smackdown where they actually do the Split in about a month's time. So hopefully you'll be here for those when they start, and all of the RAW Reviews in the meantime. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you have a good week- and remember PEOPLE POWER!

BONUS SECTION- Roman Reigns Suspended
I would be doing a whole other Post for this, but realistically there's not actually much to talk about. Obviously it's newsworthy in the sense that it's Roman Reigns being suspended for a Wellness Violation, but the WWE have actually done a really good job of limiting the damage of the suspension.

It's all hypothetical, but in my opinion- WWE knew about the Wellness Violation before Sunday's PPV. I'm not necessarily saying they took the Title off of him entirely because of that, but it will have obviously played a part. Then we get to last night and them doing the angle for the Triple Threat at Battleground, which Roman's not going even going to miss thanks to the fact Battleground's 5 weeks away. So we get the angle for that, Triple Threat's set-up and they announce Roman's suspension today.

There'll be a lot of talk in the next few days about this without a doubt, but this'll be the only time I properly talk about it. Because to blunt, what I've said is all that really needs to be said. We'll get Rollins and Ambrose carrying the feud for the next month, Roman comes in after the suspension for the PPV- and I just hope to god that they don't put the Title on Roman once he's served his suspension. So yeah, thanks for reading again. Nobody can ever say Wrestling's boring eh?