It's been a poor string of RAW's since the Over the Limit pay-per-view, but tonight's RAW should be good for a couple of reasons:
1) This is a 3 hour show so they have A LOT of time to build upon storylines and better matches.
2) It's the Go-home show for No Way Out this Sunday so it should be a very action packed RAW.
So, with all that aside, let's get to this RAW Review already!
Mr. McMahon Returns
The Boss is back!
John Laurinatis comes out and before he can even say a word, Mr. McMahon comes out to a HUGE pop from the fans. He comes in and runs down Johnny's list of bad things he's done as his time as GM like the Brock Lesnar incident, the lawsuits and the Big Show fiasco. The fans are chanting "Fire Johnny" and this brings out Sheamus.
He comes out and pretty much says the same thing and wants Laurinatis fired. Laurinatis then says he's gonna have an opponent for Sheamus.
But Mr. McMahon says, that Sheamus' match better be impressive and every match better be impressive or else Johnny is FIRED!
Good segment. It didn't eat up 20 minutes like I thought it would and Mr. McMahon sending Johnny's whatever that is he drives off the stage was pretty cool.
Sheamus vs Tensai
Regular big man match. Nothing too special. Tensai was dominating for a good portion of the match. Sheamus sold most of Tensai's work and made him look like a legitimate beast. Sheamus gets the win with the Brogue Kick. Now we await and see who Sheamus' new #1 Contender will be later on.
Backstage Segment
After a few moments of bantering, Teddy comes up with an idea to put Christian, Swagger, Khali, and Ziggler in a Fatal 4 Way match and that winner will face off against Sheamus at No Way Out. I think I have an idea who's going to win this one.
Tensai's Attack
Back from the break and Tensai is still in the ring with Sakamoto. Tensai attacks Sakamoto. That's about it. He's frustrated about his loss and takes it out on Sakamoto for what reason? Cause he lost the match and Sakamoto is apparently the only guy around. Well, Sakamoto was about as useless as a manager can be so I assume this is the last we'll be seeing of him.
I don't see what this does for Tensai's character. Is he going to get even more angry? How could be possibly become more physical than he already is now?
Santino & Layla vs Ricardo Rodriguez & Beth Phoenix
Remember when Santino and Beth Phoenix were a couple?
Anyway, nothing more than a comedy match. Santino and Ricardo fool around on the outside while Beth pins Layla in the ring. This means Beth and Layla will probably collide for the Divas Championship again which doesn't bother me. They put on a great match at Over the Limit. The fans don't care, but I can't wait to see both Divas lock up again.
A really funny part of the match is after Beth gets the win, Santino rips off Ricardo's shirt to reveal a skin tight Justin Bieber shirt! I admit, I got a chuckle out of this Big Time.
Daniel Bryan/CM Punk/Kane/AJ Segment
Daniel Bryan comes out the crowd loves him. He comes out and runs down Punk and Kane and also throws in AJ saying she's still in love with him. Bryan says Punk is jealous of him and is trying to make him jealous by dating his ex-girlfriend. He also finished with a cool catchphrase: "Once you go Bryan, there's no point in trying." He started a YES! Chant until CM Punk's music hits.
CM Punk comes out and he and Bryan battle on the mic. Bryan calls Punk a sell-out and that he used to respect him, but he's changed since his promo last year. And I can't help but to agree with him. Let's be a bit real, I was a Punk fan when he first came in, but his character needed a drastic change to become relevant . But that's neither here nor there.
Back to the promo, Punk said he achieved success on his own terms, unlike Bryan. They go back and forth for a little bit until Kane comes out. Kane comes out and talks about all the crazy things he's done in his past and proclaims he will win the WWE Championship at No Way Out.
AJ runs out and addresses all 3 men. She looks at Kane and says he actually has a heart, she looks at Bryan and says she hasn't gotten over him, and looks at Punk and says he's the coolest guy she's ever known. Then here what was key about this promo:
She puts on a straight face and says she knows the best man will win on Sunday. AJ's allegiance will finally come to light this Sunday. Can't wait to see how it all pans out. This has been one of the best feuds going on right now and we really don't know where AJ will go. Maybe she really does have a thing for Punk, maybe her and Kane will make a twisted couple, or maybe, just maybe, AJ and Bryan will get back together and form a dominant heel couple. Either way, it should be interesting.
Solid promo overall. I liked the back and forth between Punk and Bryan. That was really the only enjoyable part of the promo IMO. I felt like this could've been handled a lot better towards the end, but it was good for what it was.
Fatal 4 Way Elimination #1 Contender's Match
Christian vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs The Great Khali
A very short, but enjoyable match nonetheless. Didn't really care for Khali's elimination so I'll skip that one. Ziggler pinned his own teammate Swagger to eliminate him, and then it came down to Christian and Ziggler. These guys had a great back and forth and the crowd was hot for it. Ziggler finally pins Christian after connecting with the Zig Zag! This was a pretty cool spot in the match.
Ziggler wins and he's moving on to No Way Out to face Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship! Ziggler and Sheamus have a little face-off on the ramp for a little sneak preview. Ziggler's time has finally come. I don't think he's going to win, but he has another World Championship match under his belt. Should be a great match.
Ryback vs Local Jobbers
Typical Ryback squash. He destroyed these guys. They get funnier each week, but I really think it's time they did SOMETHING with Ryback other than feed him in town jobbers.
Steel Cage Match
Big Show vs Kofi Kingston
Kofi starts off attacking Big Show but that strategy quickly falls by the wayside. Big Show rebounds and destroys Kofi. Despite a great spot where Kofi bounces off the cage hitting the Trouble in Paradise and getting the crowd to their feet, Show dominated Kofi and literally knocked him out and left the cage.
This was another sample of Big Show's power and showing us what we can "expect" when John Cena faces Big Show Sunday. Kofi Kingston is no John Cena, but this is another way to get Big Show's monster character over more before Sunday.
Sin Cara vs Curt Hawkins
Meh, Sin Cara doesn't really do much for me. All the mood lighting and slow paced action. I skipped this match to be honest. Sin Cara didn't interest me when he debuted, and he's not getting me interested with this new red attire either.
Heath Slater vs Vader
Heath Slater was babbling and I wasn't listening until......VADER came out!
I don't know about most of you but seeing this guy is a blast from the past! I watched Vader from his time in the 90s and watched his old stuff as well. I was always a fan of Vader's. This was awesome to see. Glad to see him pummel Heath Slater and get the win. Finishing with the Vader Bomb was a sweet touch. One of the only bright spots in this 3 hour RAW.
Kane & Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk & AJ Lee
This was a very unusual tag team match. Punk and Kane start things off with some back and forth action until Bryan comes in and wants to get in on the action. Bryan and Punk do their occasional chain wrestling before Kane comes back in. In an awkward spot, Punk falls onto AJ which counts as a tag, I guess. AJ comes in and stares down the Big Red Machine.
She hops around the ring, jumps on Kane, wraps his legs around him and kisses him for a pretty long damn time. Kane is freaked out and leaves the ring. This allows Punk to take advantage and pin Daniel Bryan for the win.
AJ sits like Punk in the middle of the ring with a crazy look on her face as all three men look at her. This makes you wonder just who is AJ going to side with on Sunday? Which side is she going to choose? She's played this "crazy" role very well for the last month and it's finally time for the payoff. I think I have a solid idea of what might go down, but I want to see it happen. Can't wait to see how this all comes full circle.
Mr. McMahon's Decision
Mr. McMahon comes out with Security guards behind him and calls out Big Johnny.
Big Johnny tries to reason with Vince and said he's made RAW better, but Vince begs to differ. Just as he was about to fire him, out comes Big Show to defend his man. Show kisses Laurinatis ass for what seems to be a couple minutes. He mentions his contract and how he has done everything Vince has asked of him the last 14 years and he's done being what Vince wants and wants to do his own thing.
Cue John Cena.
Cena comes out and does his usual good guy rambling, but somewhere in that babble, Cena starts to make sense when he says everything Show has done will be all for not if he doesn't beat Cena. If Big Show doesn't beat Cena on Sunday, he'll be the World's Largest Disappointment. Show gets angry and throws around the security guards. Cena attacks Show, but gets swatted off. Mr. McMahon throws down Big Johnny and gets caught with a HUGE right hand by Big Show that lays him out!
Laurinatis and Big Show leave and Cena is still in the ring checking on Mr. McMahon as RAW goes off the air.
This segment was very....well awkward. Ok, let me not go that far. It was good. Mr. McMahon, Big Johnny, Big Show and John Cena got some decent mic time. This whole segment was just a way to put over the John Cena/Big Show match this Sunday. And now, there's a catch: If Big Show loses, then Big Johnny is fired. So now, for the second pay-per-view in a row, Johnny's job is on the line. We're almost assured now that there's a chance Big Show might pick up the victory. But after the way RAW ended, it's hard to exactly predict what might happen.
I mean, Big Show has been on a tear the last few weeks and if he loses to Cena, then this entire thing really would've been for no reason at all. If their serious about giving Big Show one last good run as a heel, he needs to pick up steam and be relevant and a loss to John Cena is NOT the way to go. But with Johnny's job on the line, I think Big Show might win this one. Then again, it is hard to say.
Overall, this was an ok RAW. If this is really what we're going to look forward too when RAW goes 3 hours in July, I don't know... the first hour was really a throwaway and things didn't get serious until the second hour. There were more bad spots than good spots. Some of the little things annoyed me like Heath Slater getting mic time, Hornswoggle getting air time, Sin Cara, Big Show burying the tag team champions.....again, more filler matches than actual meaningful matches, and no Miz. Really?
The only bright spots were Vader returning, the AJ/Punk/Bryan/Kane feud continuing and the last segment was ok. Mediocre at best if you ask me.
It was another lackluster RAW before a big pay-per-view show going down this Sunday. Well, I expect this to be a great show, but with the injuries and suspensions to guys like Jericho, Orton, and Del Rio, the buyrates will suffer quite a bit. Don't even know if I'm going to make a No Way Out prediction blog.
It'll be interesting to see if WWE can deliver another solid pay-per-view. Guess we'll find out on Sunday.
Feel free to Comment.
By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete
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