RAW Review and Reactions
The show last nights show kick started with a nice little surprise as the beast in carnet Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman made their way to the ring. I say "surprise" because I was genuinely not expecting Lesnar to make an appearance last night. I didn't look at any spoilers or tried to read anything that revealed who was backstage at last nights show so I had no idea that Lesnar was making an appearance last night at all, witch meant I had a huge smile on my face. It was only last week on RAW that we saw the former World champion return to the WWE after he was suspended at the hands of Stephanie McMahon back in March and after not a single word or action was made between Lesnar and the current champion it meant we could could expect a lot to go down last night. I have to admit it was bloody amazing hearing Paul Heyman speak again, that is honestly a voice I miss hearing. As usual Heyman did a phenomenal job selling Brock Lesnar and the up and coming pay per view match. We also got a great little video package recapping what had happened at Wrestlemania and the night after which I felt was a nice touch to the start of the show, it was like a little reminder to the fans and Seth Rollins just how dangerous Brock Lesnar is and what he is capable of. The promo delivered by Heyman after the video package was shown explained that the Authority wanted Brock to apologise for he's actions back in March and if he didn't then not only would he not get a title shot against Seth Rollins at Battleground but he would no longer be able to come back to WWE. I did think the apology was pretty hilarious. I love how he doesn't have to say a word to keep everyone entertained. Heyman then moved he's attention to Seth Rollins where he managed to hype him up and bury him all in one promo. In this one opening promo I went from being tired and considering having an early night to screaming at my TV and beaming with excitement.
The first match of the night saw Dean Ambrose go one on one with director of operations Kane. I wasn't over the moon about this booking but it was nothing less or more than I was expecting. Both of these superstars are at a difficult point in their careers right now. Kane is slowly fading out and heading into the retirement stage (witch kills me to say) and he's booking is really proving that. I still strongly believe that he should of been the money in the bank winner this year, the storyline's they could of had between him and Rollins would of been amazing and I think the WWE missed a huge opportunity there. It would of been a great way to slowly end Kane's career and give him one last big run but I will be speaking more about this in an up and coming blog post. We then have Dean Ambrose who just had one of the greatest months of he's career, he's looking to stay on track, keep the momentum at an all time high, is Kane the right man to keep him there, I don't know but what I do know is these two have a great history and have good chemistry so it wasn't terrible booking. It did also make sense with the backstage work we have seen between these two recently. What we saw last night was Kane take very early control of this match and of course he's used he's strength advantage to he's ability throughout this match. Ambrose wasted no time gaining slow control of the match either. He's speed really worked for him in this match and whenever Ambrose was in control he gave Kane no time to regain some momentum and get he's breath back, he just kept coming at him time and time again. What I found about this match was that it was an easy watch. It was easy to get into and with the back story it all just fitted well. It wasn't completely predicable witch I liked, we saw both superstars take control of the match and it flowed really well. Each move transitioned into another well and cleanly and with both superstars sharing that ruthless, aggressive, unpredictable side made this match one I got into very easily. I know we all give Kane stick and don't give him the best of reactions but it's not he's fault he is being booked this way and he is giving it he's all whenever he does compete. One thing I did notice in this match was Kane's attitude. He seemed like he was just fed up. Fed up of the same opponents, fed up of being the Authority's guard dog and I think the build up to Kane turning on the Authority is something we can all start to see grow. As usual, when Kane was in control of the match we saw him slowly beat down Ambrose and take he's time in wearing him down, sucking the life out of him but there was no giving up in Ambrose and he came back fighting with everything Kane had waiting for him. The match itself was way better than I expected it to be and in the end we saw Seth Rollins come down to the ring causing a minor distraction and it turnt out to be enough to allow Kane to get the win. An interesting turn of events but something we should all be paying very close attention to.
The Tag team champions the Prime time players were in action next. It was announced last night that Darren Young and Titus O'Neil will defend the titles in four weeks time at the Battleground pay per view against former champions, the New Day. Last night the champs went head to head with the Ascension. Yes, I am still a major fan of the Ascension. I remain a strong strong supporter and positive fan. I do think they are going to go really really far but they just haven't had their time yet. Give it a year and we will all be talking about these guys for all the right reasons. Give them time, these guys are still new on the block, with some changes and extra attention these guys could be in control of the tag division come the end of the year/start of two thousand and sixteen. Last nights match was very split but the early part of the match did see the Ascension take control. Both these teams have been together for a long time and so know their tag team partners well and of course they worked great together. We saw frequent tags made with the Ascension and it was great seeing a battle of power between Konnor and Titus. There was some great work between Young and Vicktor, I think given the time these two could have a great singles match at some point in their career. The closing moments saw Darren Young pick up the win for he's team when he pinned Viktor.
The two thousand and fifteen Money in the bank winner, Sheamus was in action next as he went toe to toe with Roman Reigns. This was a match I actually mentioned in my prediction post last night (witch will be linked bellow also) so I wasn't surprised to see this pop up at all. Both superstars are looking to gain and keep hold of some momentum before the next pay per view. What I'm loving about both of these superstar is love them or hate them they are both everywhere you turn right now. Everyone is talking about them and they are red hot names we cannot stop mention when talking
Adrian Neville was in action next when he went one on one with New Day member, Kofi Kingston. The booking made sense. We have seen Neville work with the Prime time players on a couple of occasions this past month against the new day and we have seen Neville and Kofi go at it a couple of times and to be fair, they do work pretty well together and are capable of a lot so I wasn't complaining. What I do hope is that we start to see the booking for Neville improve within the next couple of months. He's proven time and time again he is a main event star, there's no doubt about that it's just waiting for he's right time to shine and take over. I've been liking the slow build up approach they have taken with the former NXT champion but it's time to start looking at bigger things, we don't want him getting too lost in the roster. This was as expected a fast paced match with an even play out and the tag team champions did make an appearance last night to even the numbers until the referee sent Young, O'Neil, Woods and Big E to the back witch was a nice touch. It made the ending make more sense and slightly more predictable as Neville hit the red arrow to close in on the victory.
We then had another quick one on one when Bad News Barrett/King Barrett took on Zack Ryder. I honestly could hardly not even watch this. It was just a bloody piss take to say the least. I angers me so much because Barrett is such an all round superstar. He has a great image, great character/gimmick, good presence, amazing mic and wrestling ability yet he is being booked terribly. He could easily have a main event match with the likes of Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, or anyone of that league but instead he gets a good awful feud with R-truth. I can honestly say nothing is making me more mad than this right now. The only good thing to report is that he got the win last night.
Up next, the attention was drawn back to the hottest feud in all of the WWE right now, Kevin Owens VS John Cena and after the actions last week of the NXT champion we were all expecting a good old fashioned serious promo from fifteen time world champion John Cena who was back after taking a week out of action. Last week also saw Owens not only power bomb MGK but also make it clear he was coming after John Cena's United States championship so I was looking forward to this part of the night. I always find it hard what to say when it comes to the Cena promo of the night. It always does feel like I'm saying the same thing because in all honesty nothing really changes. What I can say is that I did enjoy this promo and part of the night. You guys know full well I'm not a John Cena fan at all but I have said it before, he is one of the men in the business I respect the most and I will never ever deny that. I liked the attitude of Cena last night, I loved the order it was done and how it was done and I just felt like it carried on the feud really well. The thing with this feud is that it just keeps on giving. I'm not bored of it in the slightest and it continues to excite me week in and week out. Owens was once again able to top Cena and on the mic yet again last night. He just told such a great story and developed the storyline so so well. I loved the different language part of the segment, I thought it as amazing! Great segment and probably my favourite part of the night.
Divas action next and with the Bella Army now having new member in Alicia Fox the divas division has officially began to really split. Last night we saw Brie and the divas champion Nikki Bella compete in tag team action against Tamina and Naomi. I'm not really a fan of the work in the divas division right now. I'm bored of the Bella twins and Nikki's title reign and I'm bored of this feud with Paige. I have no idea why the WWE are so stuck on the idea that all the fans want and all we need is the Bella twins and Paige because that is not the case at all. I want to see girls like Summer Rae, Emma, and Natalya take centre stage. Everything just seems so repetitive and boring and I just have no interest in it all what so ever. That what makes things so different with the NXT divas. We have several diva feuds right now down in NXT, all very entertaining and all of a great storyline while we have had the same thing on the main roster in the divas division since January and it's boring. Last night's match as predicable. Short lived, split, and saw Nikki Bella pin Naomi.
Our Intercontinental champion, Ryback was in action next and as announced on the RAW pre show he's opponent for the night was set to be the Worlds strongest man and former World champion, Mark Henry. Now, I have nothing against Ryback what so ever. I'm a huge fan of he's, I think he's a seriously passionate superstar and he's love for the business is so genuine and so obvious but I honestly cannot see how holding the intercontinental championship is benefiting him. I've already said it before but I was honestly not expecting him to win the Elimination Chamber match for the title at all and I don't think that putting it on him was the best of moves. Don't get me wrong, I think he more than deserves to hold gold, it's about time, but I just feel like this is doing nothing for both Ryback and the actual championship and if I'm being totally honest, I don't see how that is going to change any time soon. The thing with Ryback, and I will talk more about this in my prediction post, is that he doesn't have that star quality, he has a great connection with the fans witch is something we have seen grow over the past year but he doesn't have that star quality like someone such as Rollins or Ambrose. It was also announced last night an hour or so before the actual show that in four weeks time at the Battleground pay per view he will be defending the Intercontinental championship in a triple threat against the Miz and the Big Show. I honestly think this is terrible booking and I have no interest in this entire storyline what so ever. I think it's weak and brining the championship down even more, but as I said I will have more on this feud in the coming weeks and of course in my prediction post. Anyway, back to last night and Ryback was set to take on Mark Henry in one on one action. This was a predicable match in my eyes but these two have had some fairly decent matches in the past so I wasn't too fussed about the booking. It still makes me mad how they change Henry to a heel to a baby face on a monthly basis but it's nothing new with him. Despite their decent matches in the past I wasn't expecting all that much from their match for a number of reasons but I was still interested seeing where the story was going next between the three superstars competing at Battleground. We had Big Show a commentary last night for this one witch was a nice touch but I did feel as though it made things predicable and I'd rather had just seen Ryback out there doing he's thing on he's own picking up a much needed big victory. Back to the match and Ryback stayed confident throughout this match despite Henry taking early control. Now, when I say Henry took control I literally mean he took control. He completely dominated Ryback in the early stags of this match and proved why he is a veteran of the WWE. It was one of those matches that just felt like no matter what Ryback did it wasn't enough to keep Henry down but in the end he was able to do just that and picked up a gigantic win. I have to admit this was a proud moment for me as a Ryback fan. It was a nice touch seeing Big Show and Henry take their frustrations out on one another at the end too. A little confusing but year.
Being accompanied to the ring by Lana, Dolph Ziggler went one on one with Adam Rose who of course had Rosa Mendes at he's side. I don't like what the WWE are doing with Adam Rose but at the start of the month he did have a great match with Tyler Breeze down in NXT so there' still some hope but I have no idea what to say with what we got last night. There's no doubt that these two could put on a great match given the time but with how both of these superstars are booked I doubt it would never happen and with the rumours surrounding Dolph right now I don't know what to think, but I will have more on this and those rumours in the next couple of weeks here on my blog. What I would love to know is when or if we are going to see Lana actually start competing in the ring. We know that she can wrestle so it will be interesting seeing if they take her down that root. Last night's match was fairly split, I'll be honest, by this time of the night I was really tired so I wasn't really into it but it was a nice touch to the show and a nice little match that saw Dolph Ziggler pick up an obvious win. Rusev also threw a temper tantrum backstage and got the attention of Summer Rae....interesting.
Finally, to close the show we had a segment between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and the Authority as Rollins had spent all night wanting and almost demanding a "family reunion". Rollins told the WWE universe and the Authority that he would like to apologise to Kane and J&J Security, and I think we all knew the meaning behind this and why it was happening but I wasn't a fan of it. I did think it was clever but like I said, by this point of the night I was really tired and it would of been nice to actually have a wrestling match main event a wrestling show. I lost track how many times Rollins said he was not afraid of Brock Lesnar witch I found pretty entertaining. I
All round I thought it was a pretty good show. Stand out and match of the night had to be Reigns VS Sheamus. Great match and one that I really got into. Two segments stood out for me, the opening with Reigns and Heyman and of course Owens and Cena. We had some great story development as Battleground grew closer and all round I would rate the show a seven and a half out of ten. We need better work from the tag team and divas division next week. But that is just what I thought, let me know what you thought of last nights show by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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