After attending a great RAW show last week, I’m here to write about what will probably be a mediocre show this week. Why did Ryback attack John Cena? Well, probably because he cut him off in catering. But tune in and follow along to find out.
I Wonder If Orton Will Forget His Moves This Week Too
RAW started with a 2-on-1 handicap match with Randy Orton and Sheamus taking on the Big Show. Sheamus tried going after Show early but he ate a sideslam. Sheamus came back again and hit some rope punches. He ducked a Big Show punch and dropped him on the ropes. Sheamus hit a battering ram off the top rope for two. Sheamus went for a quick Brogue Kick but Big Show moved and dumped Sheamus over the apron. Big Show hit a handful of slaps in the ring. Sheamus tried fighting back but walked right into a sideslam for two. Big Show tried going for a Vader Bomb, but Sheamus got up and was able to hit an electric chair for two. Sheamus was able to tag in Orton who went into Orton mode. He hit a dropkick then a top rope DDT. He went for an RKO, but Show blocked it and went for a chokeslam. Sheamus came in and hit a Brogue Kick, then Orton hit the RKO for the win.
Match Analysis: Definitely a different crowd compared to last week’s RAW. Crowd was very into the match, but there wasn’t much too it. The electric chair spot was cool. Show did a good job selling, but I don’t get how this progresses the Orton/Sheamus story. Nothing really moved on there. Everything was just kind of there. Survey Says: 2.5/5
Poor 3MB…
3MB came out to the ring to call out The Shield. They demanded a hand written apology. Instead, Brock Lesnar came out and destroyed 3MB. Lesnar hit a F5 on Heath Slater on the barricade twice. Paul Heyman said he told us last week that his client is ready for a fight. Heyman said he wants to fight HHH. Heyman said HHH did something that he didn’t think was possible, knock out his client. Heyman said if HHH was here tonight, he would shake his hand and show him the respect for what he did at Wrestlemania. Heyman said unfortunately, his client doesn’t share his opinion. Heyman said HHH and Lesnar are even. Heyman said Lesnar wants to fight HHH in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules.
Segment Analysis: I really hope the WWE signed Lesnar to more dates than his original contract. I get having the HHH/Lesnar rubber match, but there are more matches out there for Lesnar to have besides a third match with HHH. Heath Slater sold those F5’s like a Champ. Survey Says: 2.5/5
Kofi Kingston IC/US Title Match #26502
Kofi Kingston vs Antonio Cesaro for the US Title. Cesaro yodeled on the way to the ring. Kofi missed a splash in the corner then ate a clothesline. Cesaro hit a gut wrench slam for two. Kofi came back with some chops then a dropkick. He hit the Boom Drop, but missed Trouble in Paradise. Cesaro tossed Kofi in the air and hit an upper cut that got him a two count. Cesaro still had control back from commercial. Cesaro blocked a SOS attempt with a headbutt. Kofi was able to hit the SOS but Cesaro grabbed the ropes with his hand to break up the pin. Kofi was able to hit Trouble in Paradise, but Cesaro fell out of the ring. Kofi put him back in the ring but only got a two count. Kofi went to the top, but Cesaro caught him mid-air and hit a backbreaker for two. Cesaro charged at Kofi in the corner, and Kofi caught him with a kick to the head. Both men exchanged near falls, then Kofi hit Trouble in Paradise again, this time getting the three count.
Match Analysis: That was a good mid-card match between these two. Cesaro sold that last Trouble In Paradise very well. Weird to see Cesaro lose the title to Kofi there. I expected him to lose it to someone who could benefit from it. Kofi continues to live in the mid-card, but he did a good job of making the Title win seem important to him after the match. Maybe Cesaro starts to move up the card now. Good match. Survey Says: 3.5/5
Dolph at 9 p.m.? Works For Me
After replaying Dolph’s MITB win from last week, he came to the ring with A.J. and Big E. Dolph said him cashing in MITB was the single greatest moment in the history of Monday Night RAW. Dolph said he does everything better than every World Champion before him. He is just too good. Dolph said showing off is what you do when you are better than everyone else. He said being World Champ has perks. He kissed A.J., then Alberto del Rio came out. He said he wanted his rematch tonight. Vickie came out and said the match will start right now. Before the match started, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter came out. Colter said the only reason Dolph became World Champ is because Swagger tore him to pieces. ADR attacked Swagger and tossed him out of the ring. Swagger recovered and attacked ADR. He slammed Del Rio’s leg into the post then applied the Patriot Lock.
Segment Analysis: Pretty obvious that we weren’t getting the rematch right there. Everything is setting up for a triple threat match, more than likely at Extreme Rules. Unless they take Swagger out of the picture before that. My guess is a Ladder Match. Segment was just okay. Dolph has improved on the mic since he first started. He can definitely hold his own now. Survey Says: 2.5/5
Team Hell No vs the Prime Time Players. After a couple of early kicks from Bryan, the PTPs gained the upper hand and worked over Bryan. Bryan eventually made the tag to Kane. He hit a sideslam then his clothesline off the top. Kane tossed Titus over the top and Bryan hit a flying knee off the apron. Kane hit a chokeslam on Young then Bryan hit a headbutt off the top for the win.
It was announced that Team Hell No and The Undertaker would be taking on The Shield next week on RAW. I don’t get why they are giving away that match on TV rather than saving it for PPV. There are a lot of people who would pay to see that Extreme Rules. Maybe I’m over reacting, but that isn’t the smartest move by the WWE.
Wait? What? A GOOD RYBACK PROMO???
Ryback gave a pre-taped promo. He said Wrestlemania was the greatest night of Cena’s career, while it was the worst for him. He said Cena was at the top of the world, and he was at the bottom. There’s only one place for him to go, and that is up. While Cena is going down. Ryback said that Cena helped him out when he first came into the WWE. Cena gave him his Title shot when he was injured, which people probably hope for more often. Ryabck said that made him realize a friendship with John Cena is nothing more than being in the shadow of John Cena. Ryback said if Cena was Superman, he was kryptonite. Ryback showed clips of him being attacked by The Shield, and how Cena was never there to help him. Ryback said he was there to help Cena. Cena got lucky at the Royal Rumble, then he left Ryback to fend for himself against the Shield again. Ryback said Cena made it to the top, and he continuously tried to keep him in his shadow. But now he is stepping out of it. He ended the promo with Ryback rules.
Segment Analysis: Pre-taped or not, that was a GREAT promo from Ryback. I can’t believe all the continuity that went with there. Ryback made valid points the entire way, calling Cena out for never coming to his aid when he was attacked by The Shield. Ryback made a good point saying all Cena cares about is himself and his Road to Redemption, and didn’t help anyone else along the way. This feud just got a lot more steam to it then it originally had. Props to Ryback, and the WWE for doing this pre-taped rather than out in the ring. I’m sure it would not have gotten over as well. Survey Says: 4/5
R-Truth defeated Wade Barrett after he countered a pump handle slam into a Lie Detector. Looks like R-Truth may win the 10 man Battle Royal on Main Event Wednesday to face Barrett.
Team Rhodes Scholars defeated The Great Khali and Santino. Santino hit the Cobra on Sandow. Hornswoggle tried hitting the Cobra on Cody on the outside. He told Hornswoggle he wasn’t doing it right. The distraction allowed Sandow to roll up Santino for the win.
And This Is Why You Can’t Trust The WWE…
Fandango came out and asked the crowd who wanted to go Fandangoing with him. He tried to get the crowd to say his name right, which they didn’t. He told the crowd they could go Fandango themselves.
Segment Analysis: Not a great follow up by the WWE there. They tried to hard to push it down our throats and it didn’t work in front of a crowd that wasn’t last weeks. Fandango tried though. Survey Says: 2/5
Now World Champ, Still Jobs
Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger. Ziggler slapped Swagger then made him chase him around the ring. Ziggler took it to Swagger but he came back with an elbow. Swagger hit some knees in the corner then a clothesline. Ziggler caught a charging Swagger in the corner then hit a neckbreaker. Swagger caught Ziggler going for a dropkick and went for a Patriot Lock, but Ziggler got to the ropes. Swagger dropped Ziggler on the ropes then clothesline him to the outside. Back from break Swagger missed a corner charge, but came right back with a belly-to-belly suplex. Swagger went for a Vader Bomb but Ziggler got his boots up. Ziggler hit a dropkick then a DDT. Swagger got Ziggler up for a powerbomb, but he dropped Ziggler on the ropes instead and pinned Ziggler to pick up the win.
Alberto del Rio attacked Swagger on the stage after the match. He applied the cross armbreaker off the stage.
Match Analysis: Just an okay match. Tough for the crowd to get into a heel vs heel match. I don’t get Ziggler jobbing again, especially rather clean, after becoming World Champ. Weird. I know they want to get to a Triple Threat Match. But why not have Swagger beat Del Rio instead of the new World Champ? Weird. Survey Says: 2.5/5
Mark Henry attacked Sheamus backstage.
Someone Lost Their Smile
CM Punk came out. He said for 434 days as WWE Champ, he couldn’t enjoy the ride because he was always looking for what was next. And the next challenge was The Rock. But he wanted more, and he took on The Streak at Wrestlemania. Punk stopped talking and let an “UNDERTAKER, CM PUNK” chant play itself out. Punk looked at Paul Heyman and said he was done, and hugged Paul and walked to the back.
Segment Analysis: That was, different. Punk played up the emotional card looking like a man who gave it all to get to the top but didn’t quite get there. The ending left a little to be desired. You would assume Punk is off TV for a while, but they could have done a little better job playing that up. If it is true, Punk’s return will be pretty epic. Survey Says: 3/5
Booker T yelled at Teddy for doing what he did with Jack Swagger and the World Title situation. Booker made a Triple Threat match between Ziggler, Del Rio and Swagger.
Nikki Bella defeated Kaitlyn after Twin Magic.
The Ryback Does Not Care For You
John Cena came out. He said the Champ is here. And the Ryback is there, pointing backstage. He told the Ryback to get out here now. Ryback came out. Cena said Ryback destroys everything that is in front of him. The production people took screwed up and took a cut to the camera where The Shield was standing in a hallway. Cena said tonight Ryback made the WWE Universe sit through a highlight reel of excuses. Cena said Ryback knocked him down once, and that doesn’t make him the biggest threat to his WWE Championship. Cena said he understood what Ryback did last week, he just didn’t like how he did it. Cena said after last week Ryback held the WWE Title for a little bit. Cena said they should do it differently this week. Cena dared him to make a move and see if he has what it takes to win the WWE Championship.
Ryback walked up the ramp, but The Shield came out. They surrounded the ring and attacked John Cena. Ryback continued to watch on from the ramp. He walked to the stage and watched on as The Shield hit their triple powerbomb on Cena. Ryback walked to the back as The Shield stood tall to close the show.
Segment Analysis: The WWE kind of ruined what was going to happen with their bad production shot showing The Shield in the hallway. You kind of knew how it was going to play out after that. Decent ending to the show. It builds more to the Ryback/John Cena feud, which has a lot more legs to it than it did one week ago. Great job by the WWE there. Survey Says: 3/5
OVERALL
I thought that was another decent episode of RAW. Obviously the crowd wasn’t as hot, but it was still a good show. The Ryback promo was well done. I get why it was pre-taped. Ryback got all of his points across, and who would have thought the WWE would have that much continuity going in their storylines? We had a couple good wrestling matches. I don’t get Cesaro losing the US Title, but it was a good match. One would assume CM Punk is gone for a while after “walking off” during his promo. I also don’t like the idea of giving away that 6 man tag next week, or Ziggler losing as World Champ. Overall, I thought the show was good. Nothing great, but solid throughout with its highs and lows. Brock/HHH will be the match they build Extreme Rules around. Extreme Rules has some potential. I’m giving RAW a 6.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
