It’s a holiday edition of RAW tonight. Most of the time that doesn’t mean good things. The only thing really advertised for tonight is Randy Orton appearing on Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel. What else is in store? Follow along to find out.
The Highlight Reel: Victim of Budget Cuts
RAW started with Chris Jericho in the ring. He said it’s ironic that his guest on Labor Day is someone who has never worked in his life. It’s someone that had everything handed to him on a silver platter. Jericho went to introduce Orton but the entire Authority came out. Jericho said he wasn’t expecting Orton to bring out his law firm of Sellout, Suck Up and Schnozz. HHH said Jericho has never grown up, figuratively and literally. HHH said he had important business to take care of. Jericho said HHH never has important business unless his wife is in jail. HHH said Jericho should be thanking him for making this the most important highlight reel ever. HHH said he has watched Lesnar/Cena numerous times and it might not be best for business to do Cena/Lesnar again. Jericho asked who he would give the rematch too. Orton said there is only one man and that is the 12 time World Champion. Kane said it should be him and Rollins said it should be him since he is the future. Jericho then talked about getting the Title shot before John Cena came out.
Cena said just because HHH’s best friends Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels said that he can’t beat Brock Lesnar doesn’t mean that he won’t. Cena said he invoked his rematch clause and HHH approved it, which means if he doesn’t get it then he will sue HHH in court and end up running the company himself. HHH said he can’t believe this is what John Cena has come too. He says as COO, he knows what he has to do and he does what is best for business every single day. And he doesn’t think John Cena as WWE Champion is good for business anymore, neither is John Cena’s career ending at Night of Champions. Seth said to let him have his rematch, because there is always a Plan B. Orton wanted a rematch too. Jericho said since Wrestlemania Orton has had 4000 rematches and won like never. Jericho talked about Orton losing to Roman Reigns. Orton said if Reigns were hear he would beat the crap out of him right now.
Reigns came out and said here he is. Reigns said just like he thought, all talk. Reigns said Rollins must be pissed from when he almost crushed his skull last week. Reigns says his name should be in the WWE Title picture. HHH made a six man tag: Kane, Rollins, Orton vs Cena, Reigns, Jericho. HHH said he would be watching at ringside later and seeing who would prove their worth. After Rollins tried to hit Reigns with the MITB Briefcase but Reigns ducked and laid him out.
Wrestling Needs More Stunt Doubles
Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus vs Cesaro and Miz. Cesaro landed an early uppercut on Ziggler then hit Ziggler’s elbows on himself. Ziggler countered and hit a dropkick. Ziggler went after Miz but Miz went to his chair at ringside and was given make-up by someone and Sandow. Cesaro regained control and tagged in Miz. Miz landed a couple of boots and went to a headlock. Ziggler escaped and connected on a hip toss. Miz bailed. Ziggler tagged in Sheamus who chased Miz down. Sheamus hit a shoulder in the corner then a running high knee. Sheamus tossed Miz over the ropes and landed his rope punches. Sheamus then hit a rolling senton for two. Cesaro ended up making a blind tag and hit a drop kick on Sheamus into commercial.
Back from break Cesaro slapped Sheamus which got him all riled up, but Cesaro recovered and hit a slam off the second rope for two. They went to the top. Sheamus hit a headbutt knocking Cesaro off then hit a battering ram. Ziggler got the hot tag. He hit a splash and swinging neckbreaker on Miz. Ziggler hit a DDT but Cesaro broke up the count. Sheamus then clotheslined Cesaro over the top. Ziggler went for the Fameasser but Miz escaped and sent his stunt double Sandow in. The ref stopped it but Ziggler still hit the ZigZag on Sandow. But Miz came in from behind and hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the win.
WINNERS: The Miz and Cesaro
Growing Up Bella: Nikki went to the prom with this guy Ryan. But later on in the night, she found him in the parking lot with Brie.
Cameron, Eva Marie and Rosa Mendes vs Summer Rae, Layla and Naomi ended after a minute when they all started fighting.
Haven’t We Seen This A Lot Recently?
Big Show and Mark Henry vs Erik Rowan and Luke Harper. Henry landed some punches then hit a splash in the corner. Harper distracted Henry which allowed Rowan to knock him off the second rope. Harper came in and hit a clothesline into commercial. The Wyatts remained in control back from break. Rusev and Lana walked to the ring. Henry hit a boot on Harper then tagged in Big Show. Show knocked Harper to the outside but Harper took out Show’s knee and he went into the barricade. Back in the ring Harper hit some kicks then tagged in Rowan. The Wyatts worked over Big Show until Show blocked a second bodyslam attempt by Rowan and hit a DDT. Mark Henry got the hot tag. He hit a powerslam on Harper but Rowan broke up the pin. Show and Rowan brawled to the outside. Henry went for the World’s Strongest Slam but Rusev came in and hit Henry with a kick to cause a DQ. Harper and Rowan tried coming in with chairs afterwards but Show thwarted them.
WINNERS via DQ: Big Show and Mark Henry
Growing Up Bella Part 2: Nikki passed her driver’s test, Brie didn’t. Brie one night took the car out and crashed it and gave the police Nikki’s license.
Paul Heyman came out. Heyman said Cena has been showing signs of over-compensatory behavior. Heyman said Lesnar emasculated John Cena at SummerSlam. He said John Cena has not listened to reason over the last few weeks. He said HHH sees Cena as a cash cow that will be milked for the last time at Night of Champions. He said you could stack the locker room together and multiply it by infinity and it still doesn’t equal half of what Cena will be in store for at Night of Champions.
Who Bets Their Life Savings On Pro Wrestling?
Jack Swagger vs Curtis Axel. Swagger hit some knees in the corner then tossed Axel across the ring. Axel hit a shot to the ribs and continued to work on the ribs of Swagger. Axel hit a dropkick sending Swagger to the outside. Zeb gave some words of motivation to Swagger and he came back into the ring and started a comeback. He went for the Swagger Bomb but Axel got his feet up. Swagger saw it and applied the Patriot Lock. Axel tapped out.
WINNER: Jack Swagger
Bo Dallas was on stage. There were three people with him who Bo said were some of the people he let down by losing at SummerSlam. Richie bet his life savings on Swagger at SummerSlam and lost. Angelo was so upset that he lost his citizenship test and is being deported back to Italy. Swagger used to be Jennifer’s son Stuart’s favorite wrestler, but now be wants to be Vladimir Putin. Bo said all they had to do is BO-lieve to get their lives back on track.
Adam Rose beat Titus O’Neil after the bunny from the Rosebuds attacked Slater, causing a distraction.
Growing Up Bella: Brie almost didn’t graduate high school, so Nikki took her place during her exams so she could “pass.”
Rusev made quick work of Zack Ryder. Afterwards, Mark Henry came out but Rusev bailed. Henry said he’s scared of what he might do if he gets his hands on Rusev. Henry said he just opened the international wing of the hall of pain and Rusev will be the first inductee.
Attempt #1 To Save The Bella Storyline
Steph said she had to come out there and congratulate Nikki on being able to come out and tell her side of the story. Nikki thanked Steph for letting her have the opportunity to let everything off her chest. Steph said Brie continues to take the spotlight from Nikki but as a businesswoman, Steph is proud of Nikki. Steph said Nikki is the face of the Divas Division that she is looking for and she is granting Nikki a match for the Divas Title. Brie came out and asked if this was what everything was all about. She destroyed her family for a Divas Title shot. Nikki said that once her goat faced husband sees through Brie too he will divorce her.
AJ decided to come out. She said she didn’t know if Steph forgot the concept of #1 Contender but she never got her rematch. She said to let the Bellas settle their differences on their own time and leave the Divas Title to her. Paige came out and said that with everything going on she needed to be out here. Nikki said she would forgive Brie if she just quit. She said that if she loves her as a sister she would just go. Nikki continued to yell at Brie until Brie finally shoved Nikki down, and also right into Paige. AJ grabbed the Title and skipped around until Steph told her to give the Title back. AJ did then skipped away.
Jimmy Uso vs Goldust. Before the match Goldust tried apologizing for their actions last week but the Usos attacked them. Goldust threw Jimmy hard into the corner. Jimmy ducked a clothesline and came back with one of his own. He hit a Samoan Drop followed by a butt splash and crescent kick. Stardust but Goldust’s leg on the rope. Jimmy hit a dive to the outside on Stardust but Goldust caught him coming back into the ring with a kick then the Final Cut for the win. After the match they attacked Jey and used a chair on the injured leg of Jey.
Michael Sam has been invited to RAW next week.
Cena Looked Constipated Half The Match
Main event time. Reigns and Ortons started. Reigns bounced out of the corner and hit a clothesline. Reigns knocked Kane off the apron then tossed Rollins into the ring. Orton tried stopping him but Reigns cleared the ring into commercial. Back from break Kane hit a DDT on Reigns and tagged in Orton. Orton and Reigns exchanged blows before Reigns hit a clothesline then a Samoan Drop for two. Reigns tried going to the top but Orton stopped him and hit a backbreaker. Rollins tagged in and slammed the head of Reigns off the apron then into the barricade. In the ring the heels continued to work over Reigns. Reigns finally got away and made the tag to Jericho.
Jericho hit a running bulldog and lionsault onto Rollins. Jericho then applied the Walls but Orton broke it up. Reigns hit a Superman Punch on Orton, Kane hit a chokeslam on Reigns but Cena hit the AA on Rollins. Rollins hit a springboard knee off the ropes on Cena. Jericho and Rollins exchanged pinfall attempts into commercial.
Back from break the heels this time had control over Jericho. Orton hit a powerslam. Rollins came in and went to the top but Jericho caught him coming off with a dropkick. Kane prevented the tag and hit a sidewalk slam. The heels went back to having control over Jericho. Jericho knocked Orton off the top and hit a crossbody. Kane stopped the hot tag at first but Jericho escaped a tombstone and tagged in Cena. Cena cleared the ring and ended up hitting the AA on Kane. He looked over to HHH at ringside and asked if that was good enough. Reigns then hit a Spear on Kane to pick up the win.
WINNERS: John Cena, Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho
After the match Cena hit the AA on Rollins onto the table.
WHAT I LIKED
Miz/Cesaro vs Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler: Nice little tag match. Miz’s act is actually getting better over the last few weeks. I like the addition of Sandow as his stunt double. Good action throughout although Cesaro was a little bit of an afterthought during the match.
Main Event: Acceptable action in the main event. Nothing ground breaking but it was good action. Cena may have looked awkward with his facial expressions on the apron but at least he kind of made it seem like he wanted in. Reigns getting the win in the end was a nice touch. But if anyone actually thought HHH was changing his mind on the main event needed to get their head examined.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Opening Segment: The opening missed for me. I mean, I don’t think anyone really believed that HHH was going to take Cena out of the main event in the first place. Then, HHH decides to make a six man tag to see who has what it takes to face Lesnar? Why not just make three singles matches to help stretch out the show? Instead everyone was thrown in the main event and it hurt the rest of the show (more on that later). Plus the zingers and one liners from HHH and Jericho weren’t that good.
Big Show/Mark Henry vs Erik Rowan/Luke Harper: When these two teams first fought a couple weeks ago I thought they had a nice little match. Now? It just isn’t fun to watch. The WWE has just run this match into the ground the last couple weeks to the point where nothing that these two teams do interest me. And this match was pretty slow. And the Wyatts continue to lose any momentum they once had.
Bellas Segment: The WWE must have known that last week’s segment bombed hard. Because they tried taking the three best women they have on the roster and adding them to the story. And it didn’t get off to a great start. Honestly, I would be much more interested in a Steph/AJ story at this point. And I like Paige, but AJ/Steph is what interests me more. But they couldn’t do anything to save this Bella story.
Lack of Character Depth: When you have all of your major players involved in the final segment of the show, it means you have a lot of time to fill. And what tonight showed is that the WWE has done a TERRIBLE job of investing in their lower card characters and making people care about them. Why should we care about Titus O’Neil vs Adam Rose. The WWE has given us no reason to care. If the WWE gave these guys some character and reason for us to get invested in them, maybe these matches would have more crowd involvement. But the WWE always fails big time in that department.
Another poor episode of RAW. The WWE seemed to want to get through this week and just get to next week where they stacked RAW (Orton/Reigns, Y2J/Bray in a Cage). But with all of the big guns in the main event it definitely hurt the rest of the show. Once again, RAW gets a 2.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
