RAW Review and Reactions
Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good. It's Tuesday witch of course means its time for my RAW Review and Reactions. I had mixed feelings about this weeks RAW. I loved the closing match and those moments I thought that was the highlight of the show. What I did really like about this weeks RAW was that it did really feel like Wrestlemania season. The WWE are doing a great job building up the matches and I have to say I loved how the divas number one contender match was booked. Ambrose has got himself a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match and he continue to be one of the hottest stars on the roster. There were a couple of things I would have changed but all round I thought it was an okay show, nothing to really moan about much. As always, you can let me know what you thought of the show this week by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria. Finally, any recent blog posts will be linked bellow including last weeks RAW Review.
Last night the road to Wrestlemania continued on as RAW hit Tenesea. After the brutal beat down delivered to Roman Reigns at the hands of Triple H, the game kick started this weeks show suited and booted sporting a huge smile on he's face, almost proud of he's attack from the week before. I mentioned this in my Smackdown review last week but I hate the fact that we are seeing Triple H bounce from suited Authority figure to leather jacket wearing, jeans wearing bad ass. This is such a controversial feud and a storyline that has really struggled to get fans on board, and last week showed just how much more interest the WWE universe have when Hunter is showcasing himself as the old school bad ass before the suit wearing days. For this storyline to really have a turn around and for it to generate the most amount of interest possible the WWE should really consider keeping Triple H in one direction. He's either going to be the all suit wearing, authority figure who will make your life hell by booking you in some tough matches or he can be the old school bad ass who will kick the living shit out of Reigns week after week. For this feud to really work we need to see that brutal, barbaric, care free Triple H that we all know and love and it's that Triple H that could really help and elevate Roman Reigns. The opening promo last night was pretty much the exact same thing we heard in the opening of last weeks Smackdown so if you saw that you honestly didn't miss anything different at all. The moment I gained any interest was when of course Dean Ambrose's music hit. I found it really interesting see Ambrose apart of last night's opening. Seeing him conitue to play such a role in the main event picture and the bigger storyline's at the moment is something to take note of. It's brilliant seeing him finally used properly and so strongly but it's interesting seeing him play such a major role. Now, this was a very very entertaining segment thanks to Ambrose and he's wit but I have a little issue with this. The one and only thing this opening made me want is a Dean Ambrose/ Triple H feud. We have seen these two collide a couple of times this year already and the opening segment last night only made me realise just how amazing a feud between these two instead for Wrestlemania would have been. I don't think it did Reigns any good what so ever. But I was a very happy Ambrose fan by the end of it. He is slowly making he's way to the top spot and something really special and its about time. Twenty sixteen is shaping up to be the year of Dean Ambrose. Last night the lunatic fringe did challenge Triple H to a championship match up but the game left us all hanging and booked Ambrose in a one on one against League of nations member, Alberto Del Rio.
Last week on Smackdown Charlotte announced that Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch would go one on one on Monday night RAW with the winner not only becoming the number one contender but would go on to face Charlotte at Wrestlemania for the divas championship. With the current champion at ringside alongside her father Ric Flair, this huge divas match was the first match up of the night and one that had the fans completely invested in the action. I honestly loved how well this match was advertised. The WWE for once got a divas storyline one hundred percent right. They didn't rush into a number one contenders match and instead allowed Becky and Sasha to create a story that would lead up to a match that made perfect sense and had the WWE universe interested. We have said it a million times before but these two women know each other extremely well. We have seen them team up to together and go one on one on several different occasions both in NXT and on the main roster and the early parts of this match really did focus on the pair of them showing just how well they really do know each other with quick covers and both women trying to lock their submission holds on the other. The crowed very early on also proved to be very split with half strongly behind Lynch and the other rooting for Banks. This was a very physical match where both divas were given the time to showcase the best of their move sets. Sasha in particular was as usual very fun to watch using new spots we have seen her add to her arsenal in recent weeks that have really gotten people on their feet. This might not of been the longest of matches but the reaction it got from the crowed, the skill that we saw, and tenacity of both these women really showed that one day both these divas could easily main event a Monday night RAW. The ending to this match was very unexpected. I predicted a twist in the ending in my RAW Predictions post (witch will be linked bellow) but I wasn't expecting a draw. I thought it was very clever and very different. It's nice seeing the WWE try something new with the women's division and it only added to the many reasons why this is shaping up to be one of the best divas storyline's we have seen on the main roster. A triple threat will most certainly be happening but honestly, it is so refreshing to see a strong divas storyline heading into Wrestlemania for a change and I liked that we were left waiting for a development.
Bray Wyatt cut another backstage promo last night. In all honesty I think its best to keep both Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt family off of TV for a while. I know it is Wrestlemania season and they all more than deserve to be apart of it but their momentum has been so badly destroyed that anything they do at the moment just doesn't have my interest at all.
An interesting match booked next as Dolph Ziggler and The Miz went one on one. Now, I'm not going to life I'm not the biggest Dolph Ziggler fan but I do absolutely love the Miz. I have mentioned throughout the past month how much I love watching the Miz compete in proper matches. Once he is booked in a match that allows him to showcase he's talent we really do get something special from him and he has proven that throughout the month. I may not be the biggest Dolph Ziggler fan ( I ain't denying he's a fantastic talent but he's character is so stale and repetitive that it bores the death out of me) we really could get a great match out of these two if they are given the time. Unfortunately last night wasn't one of those moments. The two were literally given around three minuets at the most and so we hardly saw anything to be honest but I do hope that the WWE have some bigger plans for the Miz. Building up would be great maybe looking at the US championship and a run with that in the next lets say four months time could be a good root to go down if the WWE do it right. A win over Ziggler is a big deal and I hope it leads to great things in the near future. It's been a very strong month for Miz for once so I'm very satisfied.
Last week on RAW, Vince McMahon awarded he's daughter the prestigious Vincent J. McMahon legacy award of excellence award but after Shane McMahon made he's huge return Stephanie and her speech were pushed aside. Last night Stephanie came down to the ring to deliver her acceptance speech and I'm not going to lie I had next to no interest from the moment her music hit. I do think she is playing a big role in the current McMahon power struggle storyline and I do want to see her do and say more as part of it all over the next several weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. The live crowed
last night of course showed Stephanie McMahon very little respect and Stephanie being Stephanie of course completely lost her shit and actually cut a great promo. The promo Stephanie cut last night is going to be such a key part of this storyline. It was great seeing her out there on her own completely owning that mic. She delivered her promo brilliantly and so convincingly. For anyone that has doubted her in the past all they have to do is check out that promo from last night. Honestly, this was one of my favourite parts of the night purely because of Stephanie's delivery and how important it was. She kept the theme of legacy and family strong throughout and I really do not have a bad word to say about this promo.
The Lucha Dragons were in action next as they took on the team of Rusev and Sheamus. You guys know my issue with Kalisto being booked in tag team matches every week whole he is the United States Champion so I won't go over that again today but I do want to see him in more important solo matches, I could have almost screamed at my TV last night. Now, I don't know about you guys but I love the team of Rusev and Sheamus. They are two very very dominate, ruthless, barbaric with such a strong European style. There is something so very raw and old school about them and I love that. I am a huge Rusev fan and I do think he needs something stronger. He deserves to be involved in something a lot bigger and more important and I'm seriously hopeing that the WWE don't drop the ball with him and have some bigger thing planned for him in the future because he really does deserve it. Such an amazing talent. Sheamus and Rusev spent a great deal of time in control of the action last night using there huge strength and power advantage to just that. I did spend most of this match just waiting to see Kalisto get involved. I really enjoy watching him compete and like I have been saying all month long I jut want to see him do more solo work. For me personally, the stand outs of this match were Kalisto and Sheamus but Rusev was the one who picked up the win over Kalisto witch was really interesting. After the match Del Rio punished Kalisto a little more clearly not over he's loss from Fastlane. I wasn't sure about this booking if I'm being honest. I do think the League of nations have potential to be something great but the WWE are running out of time with them. They have been looking very dominate in recent weeks but Kalisto scoring another loss just doesn't sit well for me at all.
Everyone and there mother knows that I am not a Ryback fan at all. In actual fact I really dislike him with an actual passion. However, if you have been reading my RAW Reviews over the past couple of weeks then you will know that I have been pretty impressed with the big guys recently. He has added some new moves to he's arsenal, has changed up he's look and made some adjustments to he's character and I've actually been kinda entertained by him. He completely destroyed Adam Rose last night putting the whole locker room on notice and I was legit left wanting more. I'm surprised at how interested I am in what the WWE have in store for Ryback in the next couple of months or so. I'm not saying I have all of a sudden morphed into a huge Ryback but I have gained some serious interest in what he does and I'm looking forward to what the WWE have planned for him. At the moment he is probably one of my favourites for the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal win alongside Braun Strowman.
I'm going to put it out there, I really do not like the idea of Chris Jericho and AJ Styles (aka Y2AJ) working as any kind of tag team. Yes, It was a cute little ending to their rivalry last week on RAW. It's nice to see two very talented superstars work together in a little tag team match here and there but I can't back them as a legit tag team at all and I know for a fact I am not the only one. I am not going to deny the fact that they do work exceptionally well together, over the past week they have proven to be very in-sync and they clearly have great chemistry. Their styles together work well as a tag team of course but these are two singles competitors and that is what they should remain, plain and simple. There is so much more they could be doing in the build up to Wrestlemania besides tag teaming. Styles in particular should be feuding with the likes of Kevin Owens, a feud that everyone is talking about and craving massively. Maybe the WWE went a little wrong in putting Styles and Jericho in a feud so early on and maybe the should have waited for Wrestlemania I don't know, but I do know is that this duo is something that needs to end pretty soonish because it just isn't working for me right now. If you completely disagree with me and love this idea then leave a comment bellow because I'd love to hear what you guys think! As for the New Day, they remain one of my favourite things in the WWE but their competition in the division is weak and minimal and if I'm being honest I'm just waiting for Enzo and Cas to make their main roster debut. Until then I don't think there is a feud for the New Day I'm really going to be interested in completely. Before the match up last night they cut another entertaining promo were they continued to mock the the League of Nations and of course their opponents for the night. Now, I may not be a fan of Y2AJ but when you put them in the ring with the New Day you really could get something pretty damn special. You easily get a brilliant tag team match capable of going down as a highlight of the night and month and possibly the year if given enough time. They worked well together on Smackdown so I was interested in this match up last night. Jericho took very early control of this match and just before the WWE went to an add break both Styles and Jericho worked amazingly well together to take out all three members of the new day. It's actually kinda annoying just how well they actually do work together. The tag team champs were able to gain some control when they back Styles into their corner taking it in turns to punish the Phenomenal one. What I did love was how well Styles and Kofi worked together. Everything was so fluent and great to watch, I really do want to see these two go one on one in a lengthy match up sometime in the future. There was one messy running bulldog to Kofi from Jericho witch was hard to watch but apart from that this was a really solid, entertaining match that had all my attention. The closing moments saw Jericho pick up the win for Y2AJ, beating the tag team champions again. Slightly predicable, I didn't like that the New Day loss but I'm going to stay calm and see where this goes because this could get very interesting. Jericho and AJ did make it clear that they were coming after the tag team championships but all I can think about is Enzo and Cas...
Of course, the hottest topic in the world of pro wrestling is the huge return of Shane McMahon. Last week Shane O'Mac shocked the world when he returned to the WWE after seven years away from the company. After declaring that he wanted ownership Vince McMahon set up a blockbuster match for Wrestlemania; Shane McMahon VS The Undertaker inside hell in a cell, and if Shane walks out the victor than he will get wants, Ownership. Just like everyone else, I have not stopped talking about this huge announcement and opening segment from last week and last night things only got eve more interesting when the Undertaker himself showed up on Monday night RAW. The fact this didn't open the show last night made me very happy alone but I was honestly so interested and excited to heat what the phenom had to say that I forced myself to stay away until three AM to do so despite being so extremely tired by this point of the night. Before Taker could make he's appearance last night, Vince McMahon came down to the ring, recapping last weeks events. The Chairmen went on to tell everyone that he loved he's son Shane enough to teach him one last lesson and force him to step into the ring at the grandest stage of them all against the Undertaker. I know I mention it every time Taker has an appearance but seriously, every time that entrance them hits I feel like an eight year old kid all over again and I'm sent right back to being at my nan's house with my brother watching Taker matches and being the happiest kid alive. It's something truly special. Before the phenom could say a word, Vince basically tried to make out Taker was he's puppet and he himself was he's master but the legend sure as hell was not going to take any crap from the boss. Grabbing the throat of McMahon, the Undertaker made sure Vince knew that he would be responsible for what happens to he's son not, Taker. Now, I liked that we got a short and snappy response from the Undertaker. This was a highlight of the night and Taker left such an impact last night. Vince did cut another promo once Taker had left witch was interesting. It was a good one and fitted in great with the storyline but I'm not completely sure abut the timing.
The feud between the Usos and Dudleys continued one last night as Jey Uso went one on one with Bubba Dudley. You guys know by now that I am actually a really big fan of this feud. I think it has so much potential and at some point we are going to be treated to a brilliant tag team match worthy of being on the Mania card if it makes it. Bubba dominated the early stages of this match really taking it to Jey. There's a decent amount of chemistry between these two teams and the trash talk from both sides was a nice little edition to the bout last night. Just as Jey was gaining control of this match D-Von took out a table and attacked Jimmy allowing Bubba to use the distraction to score the victory, just like we had seen done on Smackdown. I think this could be a great feud but the WWE need to give us a little more depth to the storyline and I do want to see the Usos pick up some momentum because they have next to none as it currently stands.
Last week on Smackdown Kevin Owens and Big Show did battle in what actually a decent match. Nothing special but I did enjoy watching it witch I was not expecting at all. After picking up a count out victory Kevin Owes was left standing tall last Thursday but the big Show was out for redemption last night when the pair went one on one again. I didn't think this should have took place. Whatever issues they had with one another should have stayed in Smackdown last week but it was a nice little filler and because I enjoyed their match before I didn't really have an issue with seeing them compete against each other again last night. I am however very interested in seeing what the WWE have planned for Owens and he's first Wrestlemania. I have already mentioned it today but my favourite is of course a one on one against Styles but I'm slowly learning that letting that go may be for the best. Again, I loved this match. I don't know if I'm going crazy or if I was just super tired last night but I enjoyed this a lot. I thought there was a nice poetic justice served in the closing moments with Show picking up the win the same way Owens did on Smackdown last week. I didn't even moan about the fact that Owens lost so something weird was happening last night.
Before her match up against Naomi, Brie found herself being confronted by Lana. Now, I have been waiting a very very long time for Lana to actually step in the ring and wrestle. I mentioned it a million times last year that I really wanted to see her eventually debut as an in ring competitor and when she did I was going to be super interested in seeing what she is capable of. When she does start to wrestle there is going to be an even bigger increase in the amount of attention the division receives and I honestly cannot wait for it. We had a great little tease last night and I liked it a lot. Brie Bella VS Naomi is something that has the potential to actually be pretty good. Not amazing, but Brie has skill and has improved a lot over the past year and Naomi, well I think the entire WWE Universe can agree she is one of the most underutilised women in WWE history. I wasn't expecting anything great last night at all and to be fair we didn't get anything great either. The entrances both took place during the commercial break and it was a shaky start and a messy match throughout. There was some solid spots from both of these divas but it was Naomi who took the spotlight as usual. Tamina played her role throughout the match assisting Naomi in a dominate performance. The match turnt around when Brie was able to move out of the way of a split leg moonsualt. The ending to this match was pretty messy just like the start but Naomi did pick up the victory. After the match Lana did come out to rub Brie's loss in her face just that little bit more. I have to admit, I like where there going with this and I am really anticipating Lana's in ring debut. I know a lot of people didn't see the point in the Brie/Lana thing from last night but trust me it does make sense and it's a great way to show what kind of role and character Lana will be playing once she starts competing.
As we saw at the start of the show, Dean Ambrose was set to face Alberto Del Rio in the main event of this weeks Monday night RAW. All night long the WWE had pushed the fact that all member's of the League of nations would be at ringside and to be fair I kind of liked that idea. It's nice seeing them booked strongly and advertised as this dominate faction that superstars should fear. They are team with plenty of momentum on their side and are clearly on a roll at the moment both as individuals and a faction. I was very happy and satisfied to see both Ambrose and Del Rio in the main event. Its something different and both these superstars deserved to main event the show. We all always go on about how much we want to see something a little different and this was that and I liked
it. I said it at the start of this post but this year has seriously been shaping up great for Ambrose. He's the superstar to top right now in my eyes. He;s been on fire throughout the past couple for months competing in some great matches and seeing him main event and in the position he is currently in is fantastic. I was very excited to see what Ambrose and Del Rio were going to put on together. They are both very different superstars with very different in ring styles and when you put them together and they have enough time you have something that could be really really great. Del Rio did spend most of this match in control. He focused on the injured ribs and shoulder of Ambrose throughout the match allowing him to stay in full control. There were a couple of moments in this match that we really got to see just how ruthless Del Rio is and I have to be honest, I love a more aggressive Del Rio that we have been seeing recently. Despite taking a beating from Del Rio Ambrose being Ambrose kept fighting on refusing to give in. The resilience of Ambrose is something that the WWE really are trying to push recently and it's working great. Just as Ambrose was looking to be closing in on a victory Triple H of course made he's perfectly timed appearance. Sending the sign for the League of Nations to make their sneak attack on the lunatic fringe, Ambrose once again found himself take another beating this time at the hands of Rusev, Sheamus, Del Rio, and Barrett. But that wasn't it and the night was far from over for the former IC Champion who suffered another huge beating from Triple H with the Game once again showing everyone just how dangerous and ruthless he really is. I'll be honest I loved this closing segment. I thought the match was great hence the reason is featuring in my top fifteen of the month but the closing moments between Triple H and Ambrose were just perfect. This exactly how Ambrose should be being used and exactly how triple H should be used/booked as champion. Well done WWE.
I had mixed feelings about this weeks RAW. I loved the closing match and those moments I thought that was the highlight of the show. What I did really like about this weeks RAW was that it did really feel like Wrestlemania season. The WWE are doing a great job building up the matches and I have to say I loved how the divas number one contender match was booked. Ambrose has got himself a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match and he continue to be one of the hottest stars on the roster. There were a couple of things I would have changed but all round I thought it was an okay show, nothing to really moan about much. As always, you can let me know what you thought of the show this week by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
Comments
Post a Comment