WWE RAW Review and Reactions

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well. Today I am back with this weeks RAW Review and Reactions. Now, I was planning on writing a Payback Review and Reactions but after spending all weekend unwell I wasn't in the mood at all to write anything.If you would still like to see a Review or a top five Payback moments than do let me know and I will defintley get writing that for the weekend or later on in the week. Last night's RAW was an interesting one. It may not have been as good as the past couple of weeks but we had some good story development, a strong main event, a Battle Royal, and three more matches added to the Extreme Rules card. In today's blog post I am going to be recapping and telling you what I thought of every single match,promo, and segment that took place on this weeks RAW. As always you can tell me what you thought of this weeks show and of course Payback by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria. Any recent blog post as usual will be linked bellow right at the very end.

This weeks Monday night RAW was the official start to a new era in the WWE. After Vince McMahon announced Live at the WWE Payback pay per view this past Sunday that both Stephanie and Shane would have equal control of RAW everyone from fans to WWE Superstars were left on the edge of their seats as a new beginning kick started in World Wrestling Entertainment. The night opened with a video package that highlighted the final moments of Sundays pay per view with the attention very strongly on the power struggle between Stephanie and Shane witch over the course of the next thew weeks we can expect to be the centre of all things WWE. Of course the two siblings would be the first to make their way to the ring and the early tension between the pair was clear and we got that strong feel of competition very early on. In my opinion, I honestly do feel as though this power rivalry and the time spent seeing Shane and Stephanie attempt to one up each other will provide fans with a very entertaining story and it does open plenty of creative doors for the next six months or so. Together they both bring something very different to the table and despite the decision to have both run the show being slightly controversial I have to say that so far I'm really digging it. Now, it took a while for Stephanie and Shane to even decide witch of the two would share their ideas for the night's show but Shane would soon be interrupted by Kevin Owens who fresh off a very dominate pay per view match and performance had a lot to say. Demanding his rightful Intercontinental Championship rematch witch to be fair he genuinely is entitled too however a title match was not going to come so easy and after being cheated out of a victory on Sunday Cesaro had his own opinions to express. The segment thankfully didn't last very long with Shane quickly booking a number one contenders match between the two identical to what we had seen a couple of weeks back. I honestly had mixed opinions on this. After all, Kevin Owens is rightfully owed a championship rematch but throwing him into a championship match last night right then and there probably would not have worked and despite the possibility of Zayn interrupting there wouldn't have been much story development or anything new. At least this booking allowed both Owens and Cesaro to compete in what was bound to be a solid opening match and keep both men in a story and involved in the title picture.

With the Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Maryse at commentary the action in the ring started the very moment the bell rang with Cesaro wasting very little time getting right on Owens with those lovely uppercuts.  Taking early control of the match Cesaro looked clean and impressive as usual with fast paced action both inside and outside of the ring that left Owens in the weaker spot. The turning point in this match was an amazing super kick from Owens that finally allowed him to gain some control and get that little bit closer to becoming the number one contender. Just as we saw the Miz do so at Payback Owens focused on the previously injured shoulder of Cesaro witch once again was tapped up making the perfect target for Owens. Once the should started play on Cesaro he started to find it more difficult to get one over on Kevin and remain in control with Owens knowing where he needed to target and when he needed to counter perfectly. What was so great as usual with the Swiss Superman was despite the injured shoulder Cesaro was able to showcase that amazing strength that got everyone on their feet just as much as that epic frog-splash from the outside from Owens did later on in the match up. Returning from the commercial break and it looked as though Cesaro has struggled to get back in control but back and fourth blows between the two saw the baby face get some much needed offence in for a while. As the match grew in length we got to see a couple of closer calls and Kevin Owens really did begin to showcase his frustrations with being unable to get a victory over the former US Champion. The closing moments of this match were pretty predicable. After The Miz got himself involved by showing off and taking an uppercut from Cesaro the champ got into the ring causing a disqualification and eventually Sami Zayn, who got a huge pop from the live crowd, made he's way to the ring taking out superstars left right and centre. Personally I'm really liking the IC Championship picture. We have four very different yet very talented superstars with big characters and like I said on Sunday these four could very easily put on a fantastic bout. The opening match was a solid one. A brilliant performance from both Owens and Cesaro, a match just as good as expected and as the rivals for Miz's championship line up he has a reason or three to be a touch worried.

I'm not even gonna lie, I was left extremely angry with the next booking decision of the night as Goldust went one on one with Tyler Breeze. In all fairness if you gave these two long enough in the ring together you could actually get something pretty entertaining and a solid wrestling match but the fact that moments before we saw a stupid comedic backstage segment between them and the pure reason that this match meant absolutely nothing left me with very little interest. I know that I have said it a billions times before here and over on twitter but it does seriously make me so unbelievably angry seeing what the WWE have done with Breeze since giving him the call up. It's so frustrating to see him used so badly after seeing him perform as one of the most promising and talented in ring performers and characters in NXT history. A man who had spent many many years in developmental working his butt off and delivering fantastic matches has now found himself being accompanied to the ring by R-truth in complete joke/pointless segments. Anyway, rant over, lets focus on the match and the actual wrestling witch to be honest is difficult to comment on because of the comedic angle to the whole thing. Yes, I was entertained and yeah I did laugh a little but I still wanted to see some impressive wrestling and we just didn't get that. The distractions throughout the match determined who was in control and the attention was mainly on what Truth and Fandango were getting up to at ringside and telling some kind of story between Truth and Goldie. A roll up would be the end result of this match adding a pointless but after all a win to Breeze's resume.

As they approach the three hundred day mark as WWE Tag team champions the New Day made their way to the ring and it was announced that following the devastating actions that took place at the Payback pay per view regarding Enzo Amore the Vaudevillians will challenge the New Day for the tag team champions in around four weeks time at the Extreme Rules pay per view. The tag team champs addressed the ending to the tag team tournament match from Sunday and wished him a speedy and healthy recovery. It was nice seeing a picture of Enzo that was tweeted out yesterday put onto the show last night to show everyone that he was looking strong and on his way to making a quick recovery. The feel of the segment was soon changed when the number one contenders Aiden English and Simon Gotch made their way to the ring. It really is becoming clear that the Vaudevillians are struggling to get over and make an impact on the main roster. Personally, I have always been a fan of the pair of them, after following their careers in NXT for so long I know all to well that they are amazingly talented superstars with a gimmick that has proven to work. However, on the bigger stage it really hasn't been a great start and they are struggling. If they want to stay relevant and interesting their going to have to find a way to really gain some serious heat and get the fans interested and hooked onto their work on a bigger level, their wrestling ability will hopefully be what turns things around for them. In the coming weeks I am going to comment on the Vaudevillians a little more. Now, after the English and Gotch rubbed in their "victory" and mocked Enzo they managed to grab the attention of the Dudley Boyz who didn't help in making life a little easier for the two newcomers, suggesting that the tag team tournament re-started. Big Cass eventually made his own appearance keeping him and Enzo firmly in the picture. Now, we know that Cass can handle himself perfectly on his own. A thew years back Enzo was out of action with an injury for months and it was Cass who firmly kept their brand strong. A brawl between the superstars in the ring soon started last night during the segment.

After the commercial break we saw an eight man tag match filling the RAW card, a match I was expecting to see following the segment. Very early on we got a little taster at seeing how well the New Day and the Vaudevillians work together ahead of their tag team match in a thew weeks time at Extreme Rules. With Big Cass on their side the tag team champs had early control of this match keeping Simon Gotch in their corner as far away from his team as possible. Of course throughout the match the New Day kept the crowd alive and on their feet as usual and they actually worked very

well with Big Cass who was rather impressive last night. The turning point in this match was when we saw Bubba Ray make the tag and work on dominating Xavier Woods assisted with some serious trash talk.  The double team from The Dudleys meant that the tables had turnt and with Woods on the other side of the ring away from his team we literally saw the situation change completely. Once again, despite not getting along in the segment moments before the Vaudevillians and the Dudley Boyz worked well together in this match with frequent tags and a plan that worked for a lengthy part of this match. Once the tag was made however Kofi Kingston was able to turn things around once again and change the pace of the match but before he could work on putting the built momentum to any use the Vaudevillians showcased that rougher side to their character with Gotch throwing Kingston into the barricade. To be honest I did think this match went on a lot longer than it should have but to be fair it allowed English and Gotch the time to show what they can do a little more and also gain come momentum ahead of Extreme Rules regardless of any end result.The former NXT Tag Team Champions had a strong showing and this was one hundred percent the match they needed. This wasn't the greats tag team match in the world but it was a good addition to the show, I was entertained and it felt as though every superstar had a role, a place, and time to show their skill witch is all we can ask for as fans and viewers. I would have liked to have seen a little more of Big Cass but when he was in that ring competing he was a beast and very impressive. He's the one superstar that every week you just see honestly getting better and better. The final moments of this match were booked very well with Cass taking the spotlight and picking the victory up for his team. It was good to see the Vaudevillians not taking the pin and it was even better seeing Cass keeping momentum strong for himself and of course Enzo.

In recent weeks have seen Becky Lynch and Emma collide in backstage interviews and segments and in over the past month or so I have commented a thew times on their rivalry making it clear that I personally am a fan of both of these women (Emma more so) and a feud between them really could work given that they are provided with enough time and attention. Unfortunately, balancing multiple feuds in the women's division is still something the WWE are working on and we haven't been able to see as much from them as I personally would have liked, however last night the two did go one on one for the first time on RAW and with both women coming from NXT and being so talented in the ring I was expecting something fairly good between the two superstars. A couple of weeks back we did see a great one on one match up between Emma and Paige witch saw the Australian superstar pick up a huge win meaning that she did walk into this match with slightly more momentum. In the early stages of this match and throughout we really got to see the new side to Emma and for anyone who doesn't watch NXT seeing the change in attitude was something that no one could avoid last night in Emma. Becky did have a better start taking early control  throwing and tossing Emma around the ring  but she was able to turn things around much sooner than expected and as we have seen from over the past eight months or so Emma pulled on the Hair or Lynch and focusing on wearing the Lass kick down slowly draining her of energy. The crowd of course was firmly behind Becky with Emma struggling to pick up any kind of reaction witch is a shame. I've said it before but it always is a shame seeing NXT superstars who were so over in NXT not as over on the main roster. The match last night did have it's messy moments but it was one I found easy to get into. Emma remains one of my favourite female competitors in the WWE today, her attitude and style in the ring grabs my attention every time and for me it was Emma that had all my attention after brining slightly more character. Becky as always  was impressive and it was nice to see both women competing on RAW in what was a solid match up. The closing moments saw Emma cheat her way into a victory after poking Lynch in the eye behind the referee's back. The win means the feud between the two can go on a little longer and Emma did pick up a much needed victory so good for her.

Early on in the night we saw a backstage segment between Dean Ambrose and Stephanie McMahon witch would result in another addition of the Ambrose Asylum with Stephanie of course as the special guest. I was actually looking forward to this quite a bit. There's great chemistry between Ambrose and Stephanie and I was definitely interested in seeing the direction the segment would go in. Dean very quickly jumped on Stephanie's new good girl act and after keeping up the act well claiming she was just happy Ambrose moved onto Wrestlemania and talking about that spear. Once again, instead of getting angry and screaming in Ambrose's face she managed to keep her cool even when the attention turnt to Shane McMahon. If I'm being completely honest the segment didn't live up to my expectations completely. They did have good chemistry and Ambrose did a fantastic job stiring the pot and pushing Stephanie's buttons but it did feel like it was missing that something. However, saying that it was a nice addition to the show and seeing Stephanie cancel the Ambrose Asylum was a pretty good to just showing that she still has a bitch side and she's still certainly playing the bad guy. Chris Jericho also made an appearance at this point of the show as it looked as though the fed between Ambrose and Jericho would be continuing still with a lack of in depth story but hopefully that changes in the coming weeks.

Up next was a number one contenders Battle Royal for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and you know me, I like a good battle royal so I was looking forward to this. Of course I had my favourite (Baron Corbin) heading into this match but it was nice to see faces like Apollo Crews,Titus O'Neil and Zack Ryder put into the royal and given the chance to become number one contender. It wasn't a long battle royal what so ever and the longer it went on the more predicable it became. Yes I was seriously pissed off to see Baron Corbin eliminated by Ziggler but the beating he gave the show off after made me feel a touch better. The WWE seem to know what they are doing with Corbin watching how he has been booked over the past couple of days, of course I hated seeing him loose at Payback and I thought it was one of the worse booking decisions of the night, it could have easily ended in DQ witch would have been much much better but I don't think he will suffer badly at all and I still believe that the WWE have some bigger plans for him in the future, his next match against Ziggler will be a huge decider. Fan favourites for the win last night included the likes of Titus O'Neil, Zack Ryder, Baron Corbin, and Damien Sandow but throughout the match it was all three former League of Nations members who stood out the most and any one of them could have walked away with the win. In the end one did and it was my favourite of the three, Rusev. You guys know how much of a fan I am of Rusev and seeing him get some kind of push put a huge smile on my face and trust me Kalisto and Rusev will certainly be able to deliver a fantastic match where they could very easily steal the show.

The ending to the women's championship match at Payback this past Sunday had everyone fuming. It was honestly the worse ending of the night and I'm still very bitter about the whole thing so trust me you can sure expect to see plenty of complaining tweets and comments here on my blog having a good moan. Last night Charlotte came down to the ring to address what happened at Payback and with Charles Robinson also making an appearance in the segment it added that fire and the depth in story the WWE universe have always wanted to see in the Women's division for so long. Now, I may have hated the ending of the Women's championship match on Sunday but Charlotte really is doing an amazing job as champion. She's hands down one of the best heels in the company right now, picking up genuine heat from the fans every week and she's entertaining to watch for sure.  We learnt last night that the feud between Charlotte and Natalya was far from over (thank god) with Nattie coming down to the ring voicing her feelings/opinions and then attacking both the women's champion and Ric Flair leaving her standing in the ring tall and proud. Moments later it was announced that Charlotte and Nattie will go one on one for the Women's Championship in three weeks time in a submission match with Ric Flair bad from ringside.

Following a backstage segment earlier on in the night this weeks RAW main event saw AJ Styles team up with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows (witch made me so happy I can't even) to take on The Usos and WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns. This was a match that we were all expecting to see after what we saw go down in Sunday's championship main event. Last night it was Styles and Reigns who kicked things off with Reigns very quickly trying to out muscle Styles but it was soon clear this was going to be a true back and fourth bout with both superstars having a strong start but with Reigns getting the upper hand Luke Gallows, the biggest man in the match, tagged
himself in and even though it first looked as though control would shift hands Reigns was able to stay on Gallows and keep control of this match. It was also interesting seeing how throughout the match Styles would clash with Gallows and Anderson for the same reasons we have seen him do so in recent weeks. Now, this was a match with so much potential, we had two very different teams and six very different superstars the crowd were split between Styles and Reigns throughout the night witch I liked too. Things started to change up in this match when the Usos got  involved and Anderson, Gallows, and Styles were able to finally get the upper hand and take control of this match. Each superstar taking it in turns to demolish Jey Uso and isolating him from his team. The pace again changed when Reigns was back in control of this match after making the tag. Taking out superstars left right and centre I have to admit that  he looked really really good last night throughout. What was so great was the closing moments. Gallows, Anderson and Styles were able to find a way to work together well enough to create the perfect ending. With Gallows and Anderson taking Reigns out at ringside Styles was able to close in on a victory inside the ring. After the match the action continued with Gallows and Anderson beating down Reigns and after Styles refused to get involved things broke down again and the final moments of the show saw Reigns give Styles the beating of a lifetime sending him through the announce table to end the night. It was a very interesting main event. It felt like I was watching Reigns' heel turn but the whole beat down was very very well I was just left a little confused. The story development was also fantastic throughout this main event.

Personally, I thought this was an ok RAW. The opening match was the best. I liked a thew booking decisions made including Rusev winning the number one contenders battle royal and so far the Extreme Rules pay per view is shaping up to be pretty damn strong with three matches announced for the show. As always you can let me know what you thought of this weeks RAW and of course Payback by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.