Hell yeah, guess who’s back. It’s me, it’s me. It’s the Armbar Express’ Tom Robinson. The wrestling writer of the millennium back from a couple of months of inactivity due to University commitments. But now, I want to do a bit more with this blog. And for starters is this RAW REVIEW! So let’s get to it!
Triple H/Stephanie McMahon Segment
One of the Principle Owners Of WWE Stephanie McMahon and one of the other Principle Owners Of WWE Triple H kicked off RAW. The power couple both had agendas to take care off tonight on RAW. Triple H, along with Evolution, was looking to settle the score with the Shield and Stephanie McMahon was hoping for Daniel Bryan to surrender the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to her. Before taking care of that business, there was someone else on the Authority’s agenda… RAW General Manager Brad Maddox. The couple slated Maddox for allowing the Shield to interject themselves into Batista’s match with Seth Rollins last week. While Maddox argued that he had no choice under threat of getting his ass kicked by the Shield, Stephanie said that they also had no choice… AND SUMMONED KANE! Kane made short work of Brad Maddox who was relived of his duties as RAW General Manager.
I’m truly amazed that Brad Maddox lasted this long as RAW GM. He lasted almost a year… sort of in charge. Brad was a good character and very charismatic. But being overshadowed by the Authority, Maddox was providing much as General Manager anyway. I think the WWE will want to appoint someone with a bit more buzz about him. When Maddox came in, he was still rather unknown of a character. I think they want someone that on-camera would have a bit of a backbone and prove a lot more of an authority than Maddox. Hell, they want the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Maddox want and you have to believe that they have someone in mind. The question is… who?
Cesaro vs RVD
A very solid match between Cesaro and Rob Van Dam in a number one contender vs number one contender match. Cesaro and RVD are challenging for the US and Intercontinental titles respectively at Payback. And one of those champions were on commentary duty! And GOOD NEWS! Bad News Barrett was chosen for the job! Barrett was gold at the booth. I wished they let him talk a lot more while he was out there. The match itself was really good. In the past, these two have struggled to click for some reason but this match was a real improvement. It was a lot more slick of an exchange between the two. After interference from BNB (who RVD had booted in the face during the match) Cesaro scored the victory with a German suplex. Cesaro’s celebration was cut short by a Brogue Kick courtesy of the Celtic Warrior Sheamus. It’s a nice way to build up these two mid-card matches at Payback with these exchanges.
Eva Marie vs Summer Rae
Oh gees. I really wanted to skip this match but with my duties as a wrestling critic… I had no choice. A minute long “Total Divas” match between Summer Rae and Eva Marie. The WWE made quite a deal with Eva Marie being on Maxim’s Top 100. Now I’m sorry but.. Am I the only person that does not finds her that attractive? Now I know this not really talking about wrestling but I am not a guy that likes a girl that floods her face with make-up like Eva does. Fair enough without the make-up she looks decent, but I cannot get over WWE’s attempt to make her look like a horrible Jessica Rabbit. I mean there are a lot of divas on the roster that look a lot better than her. Her opponent tonight Summer Rae for example. Only difference is she can go in the ring. This match wasn’t one to show that. I will go through exactly what happened in the entire match right now…
- Eva hit a forearm to Summer.
- Eva stomped on Summer and blew a kiss a couple of times.
- Summer reverse the throw to the turnbuckle and stomped on Eva.
- Summer threw Eva across the ring which got a 2 count.
- Summer slammed Eva’s face to the mat a couple of times.
- Fandango and Layla came out and distracted Summer allowing Eva to get the pin. Fin.
Yeah. I mean I get that Total Divas have been, somewhat, a success since it started. However, I cannot be done with matches like this. Fair enough they progressed the Summer Rae/Layla program but this was really a total wash.
Drew McIntyre vs El Torito
Oh man! I did some laughing at the finish of this one. The El Torito/3MB program was still going, YES, STILL GOING! Drew McIntyre fought El Torito and was basically throwing him around for a minute or so. He was trying to stalk him and my god, could he have looked any more creepy? Look at this…
I mean if WWE ever wanted to their own version of Samuel Shaw, Drew would be perfect for the job!
Now to the finish. Drew attempted to hit a superplex on Torito which saw Los Matadores interfere. 3MB laid them out and while they were brawling on the outside, Torito tripped Drew on the turnbuckle… and that was the finish! The turnbuckle wasn’t exposed or anything. It was just a standard turnbuckle! I truly believe that someone has never been pinned of being dropped on the turnbuckle. Just on that alone. I was just pissing myself laughing. You couldn’t give this match a lot more of a legit ending?
Post-match, 3MB beatdown El Torito. And then Hornswoggle proceeded to RIP OFF El Torito’s tail. Yes this legitimately happened! The Bull’s tail got ripped off by Hornswoggle. That is literally the first time someone have ever uttered that sentence. Anyway, Torito ran backstage and the tail was shoved into the bull’s ass (At this point, you’d start to wonder if you were reading a wrestling review or erotica!) Basically this was a comedy segment to tell you that things between Torito and Horsnwoggle are far from over. These two will embark in one last encounter at the Payback Pre-Show! Mask vs Hair! While I doubt this will come close to the classic at Extreme Rules, this should be something!
Wyatts Target Jerry Lawler
Bray Wyatt cut a stellar promo as always about John Cena and their last man standing match at Payback. He then targeted Cena’s number one fan at the commentary booth Jerry Lawler inviting him to the ring. He send Harper and Rowan after Lawler until JBL tires to save King. However, JBL paid the price and recieved a hell of a clothesline for his sacrifice. Finally, Lawler reluctantly went into the ring with Wyatt seemingly about to attack Jerry when Cena comes down to try and make the save. However, Cena was held back by Harper and Rowan. Bray was about to hit Sister Abigail on Jerry until the Usos evened the odds for Cena. Cena and the Usos cleared the ring and Cena grabbed the mic. Cena said Bray has become corrupt with power and vowed to end Wyatt at Payback.
This segment was really good. This was very interesting to watch and not only did Wyatt cut a great promo, so did Cena. This was a quality 10-15 minutes or so. I’ve not particularly enjoyed the last few weeks of the feud but this was REALLY good. I really do look forward to seeing what happens at Payback.
Rusev vs Zack Ryder
In the spirit of the USA’s Memorial Day, Zack Ryder waived the American Flag for the US and was inevitably squashed by the mighty brute Rusev. After Ryder got fed to the wolves, Big E made the save and actually won a brawl with Rusev. Big E picked up the flag waiving it around to end this segment. I like that Big E’s actually doing something post-IC-Title-loss but the prospect of him being beaten by Rusev doesn’t sit right with me as I really want Big E to get a big push. I guess we’ll have to wait on that one but at least Big E got a small victory here. 🙂
Evolution vs The Brotherhood
Due to a backstage encounter between Evolution’s Randy Orton and Batista, and The Brotherhood, a tag match was set up to settle the score. It was an OK match and Goldust looked really sharp in there. Orton landed a peach of a mid-air RKO to Cody Rhodes to and an unnecessary second RKO to seemingly win the match for Evolution. But then it was decided that this match was actually a No Holds Barred elimination match, leaving Goldust alone against Batista and Orton. Let’s explore that a moment. If the match was a No Holds Barred… why did Cody Rhodes go back to the locker room? If it was No Holds Barred, he could have helped Goldust. Was this Cody acting heel-ish and the commentators failed to mention it? Regardless, Batista and Orton made quick work of Goldust to win the match.
Bo Dallas RAW Debut
Bo Dallas made his RAW debut against New Sin Cara and made quick work of Cara for the victory. Dallas celebrated his victory as if he just won the Olympics and even shaked Sin Cara’s hand! I’m not sure I like him in the ring but damn he’s got a great gimmick right now! When he did a lap of the ring, I was in bits! He reminds me of Kurt Angle when he first debuted in the WWE. When he first arrived he was very much like Bo is now. Bo is pulling it off really well right now and this character could lead to great things for Bo. For a while I wasn’t much of a Boliever, but I’m starting to convert!
Stephanie McMahon/Daniel Bryan Segment
Next up was for Daniel Bryan to make his decision about surrendering the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Stephanie called for Daniel to give up the belt so we could have an active champion. Daniel admitted that the injury was much worse than he feared but refused to give up the belts. Stephanie then brought up his wife Brie Bella pushing her on RAW a couple of weeks ago. Stephanie gave Bryan up until Payback to give up the belts. If not… Brie was FIRED!
I think this segment has convinced me that WWE are not going to strip the belt off Bryan which really pisses me off. They’re holding off him dropping the belt and it’s becoming the same old thing week in week out. Give up the belt! NO! Give up the belt! NO! The title not being defended at a PPV is damaging to the belt’s prestige and I personally believe they should use the 30 Day Mandatory Title Defence Rule and just strip him. As much as this is going to piss of the IWC and his many fans, it’s the right thing to do because a champion needs to defend it. There’s nothing stopping Bryan from winning it again when he comes back. It just makes him look like a joke champion when he’s showing up on RAW with a neck brace every week. It’s gonna ruffle some feathers but it needs to be done.
Alicia Fox vs Emma
OK divas match which ended in Emma rolling up Alicia Fox for the win. Yeah, the number one contender for the Divas Title losing to Emma. The fact that one victory over Paige warrants a title shot is ridiculous enough. How does this loss make her remotely a formidable challenger to Paige? Alicia Fox’s new gimmick… is lame. Pure and simple. This is AJ Lee being redone in a really shit way. Fox cannot play this character off at all. Ripping shit up, stealing shit – it’s been horrible to watch. If Paige loses the belt to Alicia at Payback, I am really gonna be steamed.
Damien Sandow vs Adam Rose
Damien Sandow, dressed as Davey Crockett, took on Adam Rose in a short match that was interrupted by Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. Rose won but was attacked by Swagger. Rose made a comeback and forced Swagger out of the ring. This whole thing was… lame.
Alberto Del Rio vs Sheamus
Del Rio and Sheamus. An alright match which saw Sheamus picking up the win. I just wanna mention something. Before her segment with Bryan, Stephanie approached Del Rio probably about replacing Bryan as champion. Now how does him having that segment and then LOSING a match to the US Champion make him at all a world title contender? Really?
And a nice brawl to end off RAW between The Shield and Evolution. It was an alright RAW. Better than average I’ll give it because the brawl at the end of the show and the Wyatt/Cena segment were both really good. I know I’ve hardly mentioned the brawl between Evolution/Shield. It was good but it’s nothing that we haven’t seen week in, week out between these two. I’m not saying it’s bad, but at the end of a 3 hour RAW you have lost a lot of interest. It just drags on and I am really not a fan of a three hour WWE event that is not a PPV. The fans get burnt out at the end and you really can’t be bothered to keep up with it. However, this was a nice go-home show before Payback.
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