RAW is in London tonight. Get ready for some corny British jokes. But we also tend to get one or two good wrestling matches from these shows, so I’m holding out hope for that.
From DDS to DOO
RAW started with Randy Orton. He said Big Show blackmailed his way into the WWE Title Match at Survivor Series. He said last week’s beatdown showed he will be victorious at Survivor Series and remain the face of the WWE. He said while HHH and Stephanie McMahon are on vacation, he’s in charge of RAW. Brad Maddox came out and said with all due respect, he is the GM of RAW. Before he could say anything else, Kane came out. Kane said as Director of Operations, he is in charge. Maddox said since Kane is the new guy in town, Kane should follow his lead. Maddox said it will be fighting Cody Rhodes. Kane said no, that Orton will be fighting Goldust. Orton said to make up their mind because he can’t fight both of them. As they argued, Vickie came out. She said The Authority would have full confidence in Orton’s wrestling ability and said that she liked Orton’s idea of a 2-on-1 handicap match.
The match started back from break with Orton and Goldust. The two exchanged early submissions. Goldust hit a couple armdrags then tagged in Cody. Cody hit a face first suplex. Orton caught Cody with a kick in the corner. Goldust made a blind tag and went for a roll up for two. Orton, however, caught Goldust with an uppercut. Orton hit a clothesline then a couple kicks. Goldust fought back. The two exchanged punches but Orton knocked Goldust off the ropes into commercial.
Orton still had control back from break. Goldust fought out of a headlock and eventually connected on a DDT. Cody came in and hit a missile dropkick followed by an uppercut and moonsault for two. Cody hit a knee to the face then tagged in Goldust. They clotheslined Orton to the outside. Orton backed away and was intentionally counted out.
As Orton walked up the ramp Big Show came out. He attacked Orton then started taking apart the announce table. Big Show set the steps up next to the table and walked up them. He chokeslammed Orton through the announce table. Doctors tended to Orton into commercial.
Los Matadores and Santino vs The Union Jacks, formally known as 3MB. Diego started with Slater but Jinder made a blind tag and hit Diego with a high knee. Santino came in but Jinder caught him with some knees to the gut. El Torrito distracted Heath and he chased the bull around the ring. Santino, who had horns on, ran into Slater’s behind with them. Drew grabbed the bull but Los Matadores hit a dive to the outside on him. El Torrito hit a moonsault onto Slater. Santino then hit the Cobra on Jinder to pick up the win.
Damien Sandow vs Kofi Kingston. Sandow aggressively went after Kofi with multiple kicks. Kofi fought out a headlock but Sandow went right back to work with a shoulder to the mid-section. Sandow went back to a headlock then hit the Elbow of Disdain. Kofi moved out of the way of a legdrop and caught Sandow with a kick to the head. Kofi hit a splash off the top then his corner kick. He went for a springboard dropkick but Sandow kicked the ropes. Sandow hit the You’re Welcome for the win.
The IC Title Match At 9 PM? Sure Why Not!
Dolph Ziggler vs Curtis Axel for the IC Title. Ziggler backed Axel into the corner. Axel put Ziggler in a headlock and then into an armbar. Dolph countered but Axel caught him with an elbow. Axel caught Ziggler with a dropkick. They locked up again. This time it was Ziggler who caught Axel with a dropkick followed by a hip toss. Ziggler connected with a suplex followed by his ten elbows. Axel reversed Ziggler and he went over the top to the outside. Axel backed Ziggler into the apron then tossed him back in the ring. Axel landed some elbows of his own, but Axel took his time and Ziggler hit a DDT. Both men got up at the refs 9 count. Ziggler moved and Axel went into the ringpost. Ziggler hit a clohtesline followed by ten corner punches and a backbreaker. Axel recovered and catapulted Ziggler into the turnbuckle. Axel went for a rollup but only got two. Ziggler recovered and hit a Fameasser for two. Axel regained control again and hit a backdrop. He went to the top, but Ziggler grabbed him and hit a faceplant off the top for two. Dolph went for the ZigZag but Axel blocked it. Axel threw Ziggler into the air and he landed face first on the mat. Axel hit his finisher and picked up the win.
Kane and Brad Maddox argued backstage. Maddox made the Real Americans vs John Cena. Kane made The Shield vs CM Punk and Daniel Bryan.
Tamina defeated Nikki Bella.
Tyson Kidd vs Fandango. Tyson hit a handful of dropkicks, but Fandango stopped a jump over attempt and dumped Kidd to the outside. Tyson countered a backdrop attempt and hit a hurricarrana into the corner then a missile dropkick. Tyson then hit a hurricarrana off the apron on the outside. Kidd went for a springboard off the ropes into a rollup, but Fandango blocked it and scored the pinfall victory.
2-on-1? Super Cena Laughs At Your Challenge
Swagger and Cena started. After a brief exchange Cesaro came in. They locked up in the corner. Alberto del Rio’s music hit and he came out.
The Real Americans still had control back from break. Cesaro kicked Cena in the back and hit a reverse gut wrench for two. Swagger applied a headlock but Cena hit a backdrop to get out of it. Cesaro came in but he ate a neckbreaker from Cena. Swagger hit a Swagger Bomb on Cena. Cesaro came in and Cena went for a shoulder tackle but ate a Cesaro uppercut. Cesaro went for the Swing but Cena went for the STF. Swagger came in and went for the Patriot Lock but Cena countered. Cesaro came in and Cena went for the AA, but Swagger took out his leg. Cesaro went for the Neutralizer but Cena countered with a backdrop. Swagger was tagged in but he ate the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Swagger countered the AA into the Patriot Lock. Cena escaped then hit the AA, but Cesaro broke up the pin.
Cesaro came in but Cena hit a powerbomb. Both men exchanged punches but Cesaro launched Cena into the air and hit an uppercut for two. Cesaro hit a running uppercut into the corner. They went to the top but Cena knocked Cesaro off. Swagger tagged in and Cena knocked him off he top as well. He connected off the top and then locked in the STF on Swagger who tapped out.
After the match Del Rio attacked Cena with a chair. He put Cena’s arm in the chair and stomped on it, then applied the cross armbreaker. Big E Langston ended up making the save.
R-Truth defeated Ryback. Ryback dominated the whole match, but Truth ducked the meathook clothesline and rolled up Ryback to get the three count.
Big E Langston vs Alberto del Rio. Langston took Del Rio down with a couple shoulder tackles. Del Rio caught a charging Big E with a boot then a kick to the head. Big E escaped a headlock but Del Rio caught him with a DDT. Del Rio applied a sleepr but Big E escaped wtih a sideslam. Big E started his comeback and hit a splash. He went for the Big Ending, but Del Rio countered into the cross armbreaker. Big E tapped.
Before the main event, Paul Heyman was in the ring with Curtis Axel. Heyman had a neckbrace on and was in a wheelchair. He blamed Ryback for not living up to what he sold to Heyman. He then blamed the WWE Universe for encouraging Punk to take him out. Heyman promised to return with a vengeance. But as he went on his rant, CM Punk came out. Axel tried stopping Punk, but he ate a GTS. Punk then dumped Heyman from his wheelchair and hit multiple kendo stick shots on him.
Can The Internet Handle This?
Punk and Ambrose started. Ambrose knocked Punk down with a shoulder tackle but Punk came right back up with a dropkick. Bryan came in and both men hit a double suplex. Ambrose caught Bryan with an elbow and tagged in Rollins. But Bryan caught Rollins with a running knee, followed by a surfboard submission. Punk tagged in and hit a kick. Rollins went for a dropkick, but Punk caught him and catapulted Rollins into the turnbuckle. Punk went for the GTS, but Rollins escaped and tagged in Roman Reigns. Reigns landed some headbutts. Punk rolled under Reigns and tagged in Bryan. They hit some double kicks and went for a double clothesline but Reigns hit a clothesline on both men. Reigns dumped Punk to the outside then tagged in Rollins. Bryan hit a backdrop followed by some kicks, but Rollins caught Bryan with a kick to the head into commercial.
Rollins had a headlock applied back from break. Bryan tried escaping but Rollins tossed him hard into the corner. All of the heels took their turn working over Bryan. Bryan ate a hard hand to the face from Reigns. Eventually Bryan tossed Rollins over the top and then ducked a charging Reigns who went to the outside. Punk got the tag and he went to work with his usual offense on Ambrose. He hit the Elbow off the top, but Rollins broke up the pin. Bryan hit a missile dropkick off the top then a dive to the outside, but Reigns caught him with a clothesline. Punk hit a dive to the outside on Reigns.
Punk went for the GTS, but Ambrose escaped. Punk hit a GTS on Reigns. Ambrose went for a roll up but Punk kicked out. Punk applied the Anaconda Vice but the Wyatt’s music hit. Ambrose and Rollins stared down Harper and Rowan. They eventually started brawling as the crowd erupted. They eventually stopped as Bray said they had a common enemy. They stared down Punk and Bryan, then eventually surrounded them in the ring. They all attacked until The Usos and The Rhodes Brothers made the save and cleared the ring. The faces celebrated to close the show.
WHAT I LIKED
I’m going to make this nice and easy for everyone this week: I pretty much enjoyed everything about that episode of RAW. There were four, YES FOUR, solid wrestling matches. Nothing was over booked or shoved down our throats. All the handicap matches were well done. It was refreshing to see the Big Show/Randy Orton stuff done early. It was nice to see the IC Title match get a solid time slot by starting the 9 p.m. hour. I would have liked to see the main event go a little longer, but the ending more than made up for that. It was a perfect crowd to do all of that in front of. They were hot for a potential Shield/Wyatt showdown and even better for the faces making the save. If there is one thing I didn’t like, it was Big E losing again. Why not have Cena return the favor and distract ADR? Outside of that, this was a fun show. See what happens when Triple H and Stephanie McMahon aren’t shoved down our throats? I’m giving the show an 8.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
