RAW Review and Reactions
Last night's show kick started with Stephanie McMahon and Triple, The Authority. This was the first time since Wrestlemania that the pair had both appeared on Monday night RAW together. The two obviously addressed what went down the previous night, boasting about how great of a night it was for The Authority, talking mainly about Seth Rollins, of course. They moved on talk about Ambrose, Reigns and Ambrose going back of the WWE World Heavyweight championship picture line. Things then shifted and the attention was put on the Intercontinental championship and while Stephanie spoke about Bryan giving up the title and Triple H would start to talk about the Elimination Chamber and how the next Intercontinental champion will be decided in two weeks time inside the Elimination Chamber, and to be honest Hunter did a good job selling the Network special. The Authority however, were soon interrupted by Sheamus, who was fresh off a huge, barbaric win over Dolph Ziggler. You guys know how much I have wanted Sheamus to start working with and alongside the Authority so I was interested to see where things were going with this. The former world champion continued to showcase that cocky, arrogant character, demanding that the Authority should get rid of the Elimination Chamber match and just give him the title, that of course saw the arrival of Ryback. I'll be honest, Ryback was actually pretty good on the mic last night. He's never been known for any of he's mic work but he did a great job last night and really got the crowd behind him. Sticking up for Bryan and "the small" guys of the WWE Ryback suggested that he instead took on the Big Guy tonight. Before anything could break out between these two, Stephanie announced that both of them would be competing in the Elimination Chamber match in less than two weeks time. Great opening segment. It was nice to see some more attention on the IC title and Chamber.
Going off of the opening segment, the first match of the night was of course Ryback VS Sheamus. I wasn't all that fussed about this match. I'm not a major fan of big guy VS big guy matches and I will admit I was worried for Ryback. Sheamus needed to keep he's momentum going and stay at the top of he's game, so it meant that he had to pick up a win over Ryback. But it was just the previous night that Ryback picked up a huge loss over Bray Wyatt at Payback. Two losses in a row didn't sit well with me but once again, a win over a big guy like Ryback is just the perfect way to make Sheamus look strong. I personally wanted to see Sheamus in something stronger. I would of liked to have seen him fit into a main event match and maybe take on a superstar such as Ambrose or Reigns. Ryback did take early control of this match and actually had things going at a pretty fast paced. Sheamus was once again brining a lot of character and stayed in full heel mode from start to finish. When Sheamus did start to take control we saw him really take he's time in the beat down. Weighing down he's opponents and showcasing that barbaric side yet again. I love seeing this viscous side to Sheamus, he portrays such a convincing, strong heel. I actually wasn't looking forward to this match and I wasn't expecting a lot so I was surprised at just how much I got into it. They managed to actually work really well together and the momentum was very split at times, with both playing their roles perfectly.Throughout the entire match we saw Sheamus focus he's attention on the mid section of Ryback which we all know was injured after he's Payback match. Ryback doesn't have the most diverse of move sets but he did such a good job last night just not good enough as Sheamus walked away with the win. This was surprisingly a good match. I was really entertained throughout and it really got me in the mood for the rest of the night.
There was also a really rather funny and entertaining backstage segment with Stephanie, Triple H, Kane, Seth Rollins , J&J Security and Dean Ambrose, where I actually almost cry laughed. Kane also announced that Ambrose would be going one on one with Bray Wyatt later on in the night. After the commercial break Renee Young was in the ring introducing Adrian Neville to the ring who was set to have he's rematch against Bad News Barrett. Before the match Bo Dallas would interrupt the mini interview. For me this was really nice flashback. I remember these two and their amazing feud down in NXT so seeing them back in the ring together last night put a huge smile on my face and was a nice start to things. Now, onto he's actual scheduled match of the night and I really wasn't happy these two were having yet another match against one another. I know Barrett and Neville have had some outstanding matches against one another but we have seen so many now that I just want to see something new and I don't feel like these two could do anything more against one another and it just felt pointless. Anyway, Neville took very early control of this match but it didn't last very long when Barrett started to go straight for the injured knee using that to he's advantage. Just like Sheamus earlier on in the night, Barrett showcased that amazing barbaric side that I love to see. As soon as Barrett started working on that injured knee, Neville found it very difficult to get back in control and Barrett spent a lot of time completely dominating the match up. The closing moments saw Neville miss a move costing him to be a little off guard, with Barrett took advantage of and picking up yet another win. After the match Bo Dallas attacked Neville which once again gave me some really nice NXT flashbacks. Maybe a feud between these two could work and may just be what Bo needs. We got to see a taster here of the Bo we saw down in FCW and NXT all those years ago.
Up next, we got Rusev's reactions from what happened the previous night at Payback were Lana told the referee that he was saying he quit. I have been speaking a lot over the past thew weeks about the
Dean Ambrose was up next as he took on Bray Wyatt in one on one action, after it was announced earlier on in the night by Kane. We all know these guys have had some truly outstanding matches in the past and have a huge history together so I was expecting quite a bit from these two, there's also the fact that they both are two of my current favourites. When it comes down to who needed the win more, I have to admit I was was hopeing for an outside interference, just because to be honest they were both in need of getting a clean win and could neither afford a loss. Their both on this momentum high journey and I felt like both of them couldn't suffer a loss. The match itself was very split, very back and fourth, just like what we have seen from these two in the past. These two really do put on a great match. The action was none stop and they kept you interested throughout the entire match. I will admit I was really tired last night so I didn't get into it as much as I would of liked but I did like it very much and it was hands down one of my favourites of the night. They both had a really good showing and the ending was very well done and I did really like it as J&J cost Ambrose the match. It was a really clever way to end the match, Bray got a much needed win but the way that Ambrose lost meant that h didn't look weak at all and we got some great story development.
A thew hours before the show started it was announced on WWE.com that the New Day would be defending their tag team championships in a rematch from Payback, against Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, and after Xavier Woods helped he's partners on Sunday to retain the championships, the voice of the faction was banned from ringside. I was so glad these guys were being given a rematch after how it ended at the weekend, but I also felt a little worried for Kidd and Cesaro. I didn't want them to get too many title opportunities all in one go meaning they pick up too many looses along the way, causing them to loose momentum and go down a not so great path. But on the plus side I was really looking forward to the match. They have set the bar really high for themselves and I had some pretty high expectations. This was defiantly going to be one of the matches I paid attention to and enjoyed. The early stages of the match saw the two powerhouses, Cesaro and Big E take centre stage with Big E taking early control, but it wouldn't take very long at all for the momentum to change, and Kidd and Cesaro got back on track very quickly. There so much going on in this match that you didn't know where to look and you could not take your eyes off of the TV. The thing with the New Day is that you may not like them but you cannot deny that they are getting better week after week and are becoming such worthy tag team champions as the biggest heels in the company right now. The match last night ended in DQ witch was pretty predicable but I did like how things broke down last night with the Lucha dragons, Los Matadores, The Ascension and the Prime time players coming out. The tag division as a whole right now is so so strong and last night it we got a little taster of what is coming at Elimination Chamber. Last night also saw the prime time players as the last men standing witch made me very very happy indeed. It's about time these two go their time to shine.
Cena and he's United States Championship, open challenge was up next and after defeating Rusev the previous night in an outstanding "I quit" match he was beaming with momentum. I mentioned in my RAW prediction post last night that I'm getting bored of the open challenges.I do enjoy the open challenges, they bring unpredictability to the show and they are of a high standard all the time however I really wanted to see a proper feud kick start that would allow the championship to be put centre of attention even more and something I could really get into. Last night it was the turn of the current NXT Champion, Kevin Owens. Now I'm not gonna lie I was not expecting that at all and I honestly marked the fuck out. Seriously, I was just about falling asleep and then Owens music hit and apart of me died. Owens coming out last night was such a nice surprise and showcasing the NXT Champion, putting him on the mic and up against John freaking Cena, it was just perfect and was such a strong way of promoting NXT Takeover. Loved every moment of this and the little promo and segment was just amazing. I think this was a really nice taste of the future. Now, we may not have gotten a match (even though I would of liked to have seen one) it was such a great moment of the night and one that we will all be remembering. Watch this space.
Dolph Ziggler was in action next as he took on Stardust. I didn't really have any interest in this match if I'm being honest. It was a completely out of the blue match and these two are very very talented and rather similar superstars when it comes to wrestling ability but I just had no interest in this match so I had very little expectations for it. This was a very very short lived match and I didn't even realise that Ziggler gotten the win. I looked away quickly and when I looked back he had one the match. After doing so he had a mini interview with Michael Cole where it was announced that Ziggler would be the final man competing in the Elimination Chamber match for the Intercontinental Championship. Then we saw Lana make another appearance....who then kissed Dolph Ziggler...I'm sure Ziggy felt like all he's Christmas' have come at once. A very jealous Rusev then came out to attack Ziggler but only ended up getting a nice slap off of Lana. I don't know about you but I'm loving the work between these two I just don't want the WWE to do an AJ on Lana and have her going round kissing half the roster. She could really offer a lot as a manger and I do hope they have big big plans for her which is rumoured anyway. After that we got a random tag team match between Harper and Rowan VS Fandango and Zack Ryder. It's always a special moment when we see Ryder in action. I do plan on doing a full blog post on the reunion of Harper and Rowan so let me know if that is something you would be interested in. Harper and Rowan of course picked up a quick win.
We then had another championship match, this time it was divas action and after being pinned by Naomi at Payback the previous night, Nikki Bella was set to defend her divas championship against her long term rival, Naomi. I did mention in my RAW Prediction post that I would have liked to have seen Nikki defend her championship last night against Naomi and I'm so glad that was a booking decision made for the night. I did think it was a touch predictable but I went into it not thinking about the ending too much. When the match was announced on the WWE app, I was hopeing that the girls would get a decent length of time in the ring allowing them to put on a great match but I did't get my hopes up. I was also expecting Paige to return so there was a lot too look forward to and watch out for. Before the match began there was a little backstage work between the Bellas and Stephanie where Stephanie did not allow Brie to accompany Nikki to the ring making things a little more predicable but I liked the move/idea a lot. At the start of the match we saw Naomi really play some mind games with Nikki Bella and show off her new cocky attitude. Nikki however managed to turn things around very very quickly and she began to really pull some strong stuff out of the bag. now, i was actually really really into this match from the get go. I don't know if it was the mood I was in or what but I really was paying a heck of a lot of attention to what was going on in the ring. What we got in this match was two very viscous, very talented divas and they did such a good job last night. Nikki in particular really stood out for me. She looked so so strong throughout, fighting like a true champion. The match itself ended in DQ when Tamina got involved in the match. The two one attack led to the return of Paige to make things a little more even and when she cleared the ring of Tamina and Naomi she made it clear she was coming after the divas championship hitting Nikki with the Rampaige.
Finally, it was all about the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins as it was time to well, celebrate Seth Rollins I suppose. In the ring was of course, Stephanie, Triple H, J&J Security, Kane and of course Seth Rollins. Kane did still come across very angry when talking to Rollins but of course said what he had to say, that he was glad Rollins was champion and to thank him for saving he's job. I kinda was just waiting for him to knock Rollins out, all I am still waiting for these two to have a full on feud and I do think that they will at some point. However, last night things were turnt very Dean Ambrose when he came out halfway towards the whole thing. Still demanding a championship match at Elimination Chamber he in the end Stephanie, well she demanded that Rollins took it to Ambrose right then and there. As a huge Dean Ambrose fan it felt so good to finally see him take centre stage and for things to finally start going he's way. The closing moments saw Ambrose in full control taking out the entire Authority but in the end it was still Seth Rollins left standing tall. I loved the ending of this match and I'm really really looking forward to their championship match at Elimination Chamber in two weeks time.
All round I thought it was a pretty strong show. We got a couple of very strong matches and some great story development. The hype and the build up for Elimination Chamber was so so strong and I can honestly say I cannot wait for the show in two weeks time. Just to let you know I won't be doing a prediction post or review and reactions post for Elimination chamber. I'd score last nights show a seven and a half out of ten. But that is what I think. Let me know what you thought of last nights Monday night RAW by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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