Man, the opening two matches really set the bar high this week didn’t they?
Horrible Bosses
Stephanie and Triple H will definitely go down as two of the worst bosses in the history of the workplace. However this week, it was a lot more tame than usual. They basically brought them out to tell them that they were in a battle royal for a spot in the Money In The Bank Ladder Match for the title. That is, everyone except John Cena. The crowd loved that one, until they announced that he would face Kane in the stretcher match that Daniel Bryan was originally supposed to have at MitB. And it would be for a spot in the match. Because keeping him out of the match would be the worst thing ever!
Bumper to Bumper
Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler is a match we have seen a lot recently, first on Smackdown, then on Main Event and now on Raw. The difference was that the Raw match had more of a spotlight and it was essentially the same, but oh so different at the same time. There was a different energy to it than before. Both men brought their A+ game to it, and put on a show that is worthy of being considered one of the top Raw matches of the year. It had everything, top notch offence, near falls, athleticism, superb selling for both men (no surprise there!). I can’t say enough good things about it.
These are the people that should be leading the charge into the future of WWE. Not just them, but they should be at the top with all the others. These are the matches people want to see, not Big Show vs Sheamus, John Cena vs Kane, or Alberto Del Rio vs ANYONE!We can only hope this focus on Rollins and others is a sign of things to come. Cena seems to have an ever dwindling spotlight on him recently (more on that later) with a renewed focus on the mid card and guys that are more than capable of taking their inevitable place atop the WWE mountain. Will this continue? Who knows, probably not, but we can hope, because right now, the future looks very bright.
Speaking of bright futures….
I’m Afraid I’ve Got Some GOOD News!
What the hell? Two great matches back to back featuring two guys from The Shield? Am I dreaming? Either way, the match was amazing and really showed that Dean Ambrose has just as bright a future as the other members of The Shield (past and present). He even wrestled in jeans and a vest, and had his own theme music (which only played at the end of the match, so some people might have missed it). Does this mean The Shield are done? Will they just have Roman and Dean stay good friends and comrades, but have them focus on their individual careers? I mean, the backstage segment with Roman and Vickie, which was loaded with cheese and made me cringe, had him in his Shield gear so possibly not, but this is definitely a sign of the future again.
As for the match, it was great. Both men were on top form, and there was no definitive end which protects both men, which is something that WWE often misses when it comes to people like Barrett. Sure, you can make him look good in defeat, but the defeat is whats on the record. And as Paul Heyman said at NXT Takeover, wins and losses mean something. But that’s another story for another time.
1st, 2nd AND 3rd Time Lucky!
What is happening? This makes 3 great matches in a row featuring 6 guys who will be heavily featured in the future. Now, I know some of you feel that Sheamus shouldn’t be a top guy and this has nothing to do with the fact that I’m Irish like Sheamus is. Love him or hate him, Sheamus is a very good wrestler, especially with the right opponent. Lately, we have discovered that the 2 people who bring out the best in him are Cesaro (another future top guy) and Bad News Barrett. After tonight, I think we can add Bray Wyatt to that list. Wyatt is a fierce brawler and a very good wrestler, so its no surprise that he would have good chemistry with Sheamus. I actually missed the match they had on Main Event a while back so I had no idea that they worked so well together.
Again, no definitive finish, but with Harper and Rowan there at ringside, this was no surprise. Adding The Uso’s to the match to even the odds makes sense, and adds to the budding rivalry between The Uso’s and Rowan / Harper.
Poop Jokes, Am I Right?
C’mon Stephanie, you’re better than this. You’ve been on top form lately and now you’re drinking laxative filled coffee for comedic purposes? No, just no!
And The Downward Slope Begins…
Well, it had to happen at some point. First a poop inference, and now a Rusev squash. And on poor Heath Slater no less. For those who aren’t aware, there was a flurry of releases last week as part of cost cutting measures. The list of people let go was:
- Jinder Mahal
- Drew McIntyre
- Aksana
- Curt Hawkins
- Theodore Long
- Camacho
- Brodus Clay
- Evan Bourne
- Yoshi Tatsu
- JTG (WHAT?! NOOOOOOOOO!)
So that’s a list of people I didn’t really care about and 2 out of 3MB! The one that hurts the most (besides JTG obvs) is McIntyre. He had so much potential that got wasted along the way, the most glaring of which was putting him in 3MB and making him job to El Torito. A man once labelled as “The Chosen One” lost to a small man dressed as a bull, only in WWE.
The match lasted about 25 seconds so not much to say, Rusev continues to dominate, and Lana continues to give young boys erections with her ridiculous legs!
And Now Vomit Jokes…Is This An Adam Sandler Movie!
I imagine Rob Schneider will be on the show by the end to shout “YOU CAN DO IT!”.
Kevin Hart Is A Lemon!
Another week, another useless guest star. Unless your name is Bob Barker or Hugh Jackman, you’re not worth the effort of caring about as a special guest on Raw. I appreciated the use of Adam Rose though, as this is a good way to get him exposed on TV and make people know who he is. Although the scuttlebutt around the interwebs lately is that Vince is down on Rose, Bo Dallas (thank god!) and Paige (NOOOO!). So I’m not too hopeful for Rose to be a big part of Raw going forward.
Telegraphing Obviousness
Hi, I’m Gary, I like long walks on the beach, battle royal matches and I hate obvious outcomes more than anything else in the world. Ok, that last part may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I really hate when the outcome of a match is so obvious that it sucks the fun out of it completely. I think most of us knew that Reigns was going to win, because the rest of the people in the match apart from Bad News Barrett and RVD, were not even remotely qualified to be near a title match. I didn’t include Dolph Ziggler in the list of deserving people because it’s obvious by the way he is booked and the fact that he lost a qualifier already, that he is not viewed as someone who should be in the match.
Now I like Roman Reigns, more and more each week but I have to advocate for not pushing too much, too soon. He’s good, he’s got the look, and he’s getting the charisma. But if Ryback is anything to go by, pushing someone too hard and too fast can destroy their career. Romans in the match now, and that’s great, but him winning right now would be a grave mistake. I don’t think he will win however, due to the fact that he is on a collision course with Triple H for Summerslam by all indications. Now, they may make that match for the title, but thats a bad idea on a whole other level!
If Reigns is champion by Wrestlemania 31, then great, but not for at least another 6 months, give him time to get more seasoned!
Ugh, Cameron, Get Out!
Cameron is the worst person in WWE, hands down. If you’ve ever watched Total Diva’s then you know what I’m talking about. IF you ever saw her on Tough Enough, then you will know that her idea of “great” wrestling matches in history is Melina vs Alicia Fox, not Rock vs Austin! She is insufferable, cannot wrestle and doesn’t belong in a Diva’s division that needs to establish itself with strong beautiful women like AJ, Paige, Tamina and others.
Luckily Paige won, and easily too so Cameron doesn’t look like she’s headed for a title shot or reign for now.
Poor Cody
In another obvious swerve, Goldust’ mystery tag team partner this week was Cody in makeup. Shocking. They could have gone with Cody turning on Goldust and giving us the feud we wanted, but no, looks like we’re doing this weird crap now. Cody, I hope they do better with you in the future, but for now, I’m sorry!
At least they scored a win over Rybaxel instead of another loss I guess….
Speaking Of Obvious…
Ugh, can’t we just have one year where golden boy Cena doesn’t qualify for something involving the title. I understand he needs to be around it most of the time, but why not let other guys in. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to see Kane in the match either, but with Cena qualifying, it becomes 1000% less likely that someone like Wyatt or Cesaro will win the title. Before tonight, I was banking on someone new taking the title at MitB, but now I’m going to keep my money because betting against Cena (or betting on Vince to not have Cena win) is never a good idea.
The match was pretty bland and nothing we haven’t seen a million times before from these two, but I did like the interference at the end from Randy and Seth, and then Ambrose coming to even the odds. Based on him coming out alone, and having his own music now, along with Roman having his own modified version of The Shield theme, it seems like they are just dissolving The Shield now that Seth has turned on them. Which I am personally fine with now. I mean both men need to stand on their own two feet and this way, they don’t have to turn on each other down the line to have the final, official breakup!
2 weeks away from MitB and I’m curiously excited, but also very anxious now. With Cena in the match, like I said, the unpredictability goes down a lot. We can only hope that Wyatt and Cena take each other out allowing someone like Cesaro to claim the belts. Or maybe split them up again, because if the tale of Daniel Bryan has taught us anything, is that having one champion is a big risk when he could get hurt in an instant.
There’s a reason they say, don’t try this at home folks!
That’s gonna do it for me for this week! I hope you all enjoyed the read and be sure to come back Saturday for my NXT Revisited column focusing on where the up and coming talent get the spotlight t showcase their awesome skills.
Peace!
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