Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[WarroBODFan]

(Love the sig, Eighties!)

The Raw after Wrestlemania rarely fails to disappoint, but this one went way beyond my expectations. Definitely some surprises too!

I'm a big Paige advocate, but I had absolutely no idea they were going with her at this Raw. Then to put the title on her within 5 minutes? Wow! I'm really happy they're going with her, even if AJ wins it back from her at a later show. Massive props to the WWE for going against the grain and putting over new talent quickly. Doing it for the Brits, Paige.

Cesaro a Paul Heyman guy? Amazing twist. I don't really think it alters his run as a face either. Or even if he does remain a heel, it won't affect his popularity in any way. Guessing he'll be feuding with Swagger for a couple of weeks now.

I'm glad they gave the Wyatt family a strong win, it was needed after Wrestlemania. I won't go on about my thoughts on the Cena/Wyatt match at WM30, but this result on Raw was needed.

Great to see Wade Barrett back in the ring. I was a bit salty he wasn't involved at Wrestlemania, but hopefully they'll give him more opportunities again. Same for RVD!

No doubt my guys The Shield are fully fledged faces now. I got shivers when Reigns speared the crap out of Triple H. Will be interesting to see what they do with them going forward. I'm glad it seems they're keeping the skull masks too. Didn't think you could make their entrance look anymore badass, but they have!

None of my points are in any particular order, but oh well, I'm just stoked at how good that show was!

 

[cole phelps]

I just want to vent. I'm not going to get into it but this while Daniel bryan thing is a huge work. wwe want him on top because his the poster boy for political correctness and that's all wwe are interested in these days. They don't want a cm punk on top look how they treated punk during his reign. It doesn't matter if bryan Danielson is a great wrestler Daniel bryan does 120 kicks a match and that's pretty much it... his awful in the ring and his john cena 2.0 out of it and the thing that hurts me the most is fans shit on cena yet they cheer this guy why ? its the same fucking guy !

anyway if you can't see this whole bryan thing was done on purpose answer me this.... why has the show been centred around him for so long ? it goes back to team hell no hell even losing to sheamus at mania was part of this push..... connect the dots people.

WWE is aimed and woman and over protective moms who's safer to sell the product bryan or reigns ? bryan excately ! but people act like that isn't the case it does my head in.

if you cheer for bryan because u like his garbage character that's fine with me but don't cheer this mutherfucker because wwe are holding him down that's what wwe want u to think

Bryan = the current zac ryder

 

[BigThunder]

Very good Raw. Some of the praise seems excessive when we get yet another Santino/Fandango clash, the ugly Rey/BNB match, the Warrior promo (which succeeded only because he hasn't been on television in decades, the actual promo was a shadow of his former gonzo self), and the promise in the Divas division comes as the tag champs are buried yet again, but the first and third hours were superb, and the Heyman promo in Hour 2 was one of the greats. Brock's body language and facial expressions were the perfect accompiment.

DB continues to connect with the crowd, though I do wonder who he'll face in his initial program. I liked the disconnect between DB and the Shield at the end; they may have been on the same side, but they were operating in their own spheres. The Shield/Evolution clash looks like it'll build just as nicely as the Shield/Wyatts, and that was fantastic. Cesaro's defection to Heyman was a huge shocker. Paige's appearance was less surprising, but no less pleasant. I really do hope that we get a good Paige/AJ program, rather than burying the future Mrs. Brooks. The crowd was entertaining, and smirky heel Cena and playing to the crowd heel Shamus was almost as much fun as the Bo Dallas promos. Not sold on Adam Rose, even though I liked him as Kruger.

Raw did what a good post-mania Raw should do, and that's launch the storylines for the Mania-to-Summerslam period. And with the talent pool is rich as it is, and growing as it is, there's the promise of some outstanding matches to come.

 

[The Eighties]

I enjoyed Raw just as much as I did WrestleMania, it was a show filed with moments rather than great matches, but that worked out just fine.

They opened the show the only logical way, with the new WWE Champion! and what a reception he got, WWE have to be extremely pleased with how that segment came off, the sustained and loud Daniel Bryan chant was fantastic and the promo from him was humble and simple which got a "You deserve it!" chant from the crowd. Triple H and Steph coming out to huge heat and an asshole chant was great, and they played off their bitter anger perfectly.

The six man tag between The Wyatt's and the team of Cena/Sheamus/Big E was a good match, plenty of back and forth action with The Wyatt's being crazy over. I thought the finish might involve Bray and Cena but Bray pinning Big E worked well enough. It was a low key night for WWE's biggest star but him and Sheamus seemed to have fun playing up to the crowds boo's.

The Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar promo was brilliant, Heyman is a veritable mic working God and Brock's facials and body language as Heynman waxed lyrical about his client ending the streak sold the segment perfectly.

I wasn't a huge fan of The Usos being used as sacrificial lambs but I guess needs must, Orton and Batista needed to look dominant and regain some heat, although I'm not sure it achieved that with the live audience as they didn't seem to care about The Usos plight and chanted CM Punk and then JBL.

RVD got a great response upon his return, he hit a few of his signature moves in a squash win over Damien Sandow who is getting close to Zack Ryder territory of irrelevance.

I am already a fan of Rusev from watching him on NXT and I thought his debut went well. I wasn't sure a smark heavy crowd would be into such an oldschool type of heel, and while he didn't get much of a reaction they didn't crap on him which is the main thing, and I think Lana works well as his valet.

The Warrior promo was a little odd as it didn't even promote his new DVD set, but as a fan who saw his glory days it was a nice moment.

AJ's promo was good and I have no issue with her losing the Divas title, especially to a talent like Paige, but I do question the way it was done. Paige is a confident and aggressive character on NXT, so her being all timid and respectful before pulling off the 1-2-3 Kid type win was not how I'd personally have presented her to a world wide audience on her first night on the main roster.

I thought Hogan presenting Cesaro with the trophy he already got the night before was gonna be a chance for Cesaro to maybe clear off Swagger and Zeb with Hulk and then do a pose celebration to cement his face turn. Instead we got the swerve of the night! In an angle that would have made Bobby Heenan proud Cesaro ditched Zeb and became the newest 'Paul Heyman Guy', then Swagger ran in and smashed the trophy. It was an angle straight out of the 80's and I loved it.

Cesaro vs Swagger was a short taster of the kind of physical match we can expect from these two at the next PPV, the running European uppercuts from corner to corner were a cool addition to Cesaro's offense and I loved the visual of Heyman hugging the Andre statue at ringside.

Bryan vs Triple H for the title not actually happening was fine, it being used to cement The Shield as a rogue unit opposing The Authority was executed really well and The Shield once again got a "This is Awesome!" chant from a stare down. The spear on Triple H looked great and The Shield clearing off Orton, Batista and Kane before Bryan hit a running knee on The COO was icing on the cake.

The image of WWE's 4 young stars that will drive the next era standing tall to close the show was a fitting finale to the first Raw after the changing of the guard at Mania XXX.

In the context of this board I'm an old fan, but I am not sad about the doors closing in wrestling, I'm excited about the new one opening and this crop of talent that are walking through it. It has been a phenomenal 2 nights for WWE in my view.

(Love the sig, Eighties!)

Thanks man, like you said I didn't think they could improve The Shield's look and entrance but they have!

 

[LoudClearVoice]

They don't want a cm punk on top look how they treated punk during his reign.

Look how they treated him? They gave him the belt for like a year and half!

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I just want to vent. I'm not going to get into it but this while Daniel bryan thing is a huge work. wwe want him on top because his the poster boy for political correctness and that's all wwe are interested in these days. They don't want a cm punk on top look how they treated punk during his reign. It doesn't matter if bryan Danielson is a great wrestler Daniel bryan does 120 kicks a match and that's pretty much it... his awful in the ring and his john cena 2.0 out of it and the thing that hurts me the most is fans shit on cena yet they cheer this guy why ? its the same fucking guy !

anyway if you can't see this whole bryan thing was done on purpose answer me this.... why has the show been centred around him for so long ? it goes back to team hell no hell even losing to sheamus at mania was part of this push..... connect the dots people.

WWE is aimed and woman and over protective moms who's safer to sell the product bryan or reigns ? bryan excately ! but people act like that isn't the case it does my head in.

if you cheer for bryan because u like his garbage character that's fine with me but don't cheer this mutherfucker because wwe are holding him down that's what wwe want u to think

Bryan = the current zac ryder

What. The. Fuck.

Bryan is extremely over. More over thank CM Punk has EVER been in his life and ever will be. He has been for 2 years. That's why he's the champ. John Cena 2.0? He has multiple MOTYs with respected publications all over the world. Bryan is the anti Cena.

He's been the center of the show because he's over. Connect the dots. He lost to Sheamus in 8 seconds and then he was so ridiculously over they had to hot shot him into the feud with ADR and Sheamus.

No shit WWE wants you to think they're holding him down (and many legitimately did after Royal Rumble because they're dumb), it's how it's always worked. Smarks aren't above being worked.

You don't understand wrestling. If all it took for a guy to get as over as DB was good booking, wouldn't WWE have dozens of guys this over? They'd be a trillion dollar company. That's not how it works though. They push you, you get over, they push you some more, you get more over, they push you even more. End of story. Next Zack Ryder? Are you drunk? Ryder was about half as over as DB and only for about 6 weeks. DB is the most over guy on the roster and has been for about 2 years.

I loved Raw. The Warrior segment was surreal. The final segment was sweet. The Shield as the protective babyfaces is such a great angle. How they've been booked is some of the best stuff I've ever seen. These three will be stars. I haven't been this excited about being a wrestling fan in a long time.

 

[The Eighties]

I really liked the IC title tournament on Raw tonight, it really gave that title the biggest boost it has had in quite some time, very oldschool booking with 4 good matches that all had clean finishes.

RVD vs Del Rio was a really good opener, plenty of slick counters and a win for RVD over the guy who beat him last time he was in WWE. Cesaro vs Henry was exactly what it needed to be, Cesaro uppercutted Henry into oblivion before performing another beastly feat of strength and putting him away with The Neutralizer.

Sheamus vs Swagger was a solid match and while I thought Swagger could have used the win WWE clearly like to keep Sheamus protected. Ziggler vs Barrett completed the first round and was a strong outing for both guys, I'm not a fan of Barrett but it was no surprise that he went over.

Paige had a decent showing with her first proper match on the roster, her Scorpion Crosslock looked especially good on Alicia Fox.

I'm liking the booking of Rusev and Lana, the presentation really works well and Rusev is an impressive athletic specimen. Squashing lower card guys makes sense for now and I expect R Truth is next up.

I'm not sure what the Sandow segment with Big Show was meant to achieve, he apparently feels he deserves more, tonight all he got was knocked out with even JBL trashing him on commentary.

The Cena/Bray promo segment was decent apart from the comedy stuff which just felt out of place in this feud. I was hoping for something a bit more interesting than a cage stip for their match at Extreme Rules.

Fandango's new pairing with Layla has got off to a good start and they'll now hopefully move on from working with Santino and Emma. Curtis has done a good job with Fandango and while the gimmick has a ceiling for success I think Curtis has potential to grow beyond it.

Stephanie motivating Kane to rediscover the demon saw her channeling Vince and Kane taking his mask out of the glass case was a pretty cool visual. Can't say I'm pleased that it appears it'll be Bryan vs Kane at Extreme Rules though.

The thing I liked about The Usos vs Batista and Orton was the tag champs started off the match aggressively and were putting up a good showing before The Shield interrupted and attacked the heels. I'm pleased the WWE are not changing The Shield's style just because they are now faces, the crowd responded well to them going after Randy and Dirty Dave.

The three things that stood out for me in the 11 vs 3 main event were the snap on Rusev's elbow drops and falling headbutt, Reigns spear on Ryback, and the dives from Ambrose and Rollins.

Evolution's music hitting after the 11 heels had beaten down The Shield was a cool moment and the way Evolution dissected them was really well executed and took this angle to the next level. Shame it got so little heat from the crowd, they were really lively for the first 2 hours but seemed to lose their energy in the last hour.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Really enjoyed Raw.

The Warrior tributes were a nice touch and things like the Usos facepaint and Mark Henry's shirt were good sentiments

The IC tournament is great. I feel like RVD/Cesaro is a minor dream match. I'm a firm believer in opposing styles making better matches. Cesaro is one of the greatest modern bases, RVD is one of the greatest fliers of all time. Just hope Rob brings his A-game next week.

As far as the tournament matches, Henry/Cesaro and RVD/ADR were what you'd think. Ziggler/Barrett was the MOTN. Swagger/Sheamus protected Sheamus a bit and maybe gave Swagger's character enough motivation to screw Cesaro in the championship round. Guessing a heel wins this tournament since Langston is the champ.

Fandango/Santino was what it was. Fandango needs a foil to grow his character a bit. I'd suggest a flirty babyface trying to take his woman.

Wyatt/Cena was great. Cena being funny (especially his line about not needing a push) was great but I think it told a deeper story. Like when you are watching a scary movie with the lights off and turn the lights in the room on "because the TV is hurting your eyes". Cena felt he was getting dragged too deep down the rabbit hole and wanted to lighten things up. Wyatt wouldn't allow it. Maybe I'm reading too far into it. I love the idea of a cage match. I really feel like this is an instance where color is needed in a match. Maybe someone will get it hard way.

Bryan/Kane is a good idea. It evolves (devolves?) Kane into a monster again. Bryan gets a good challenge. I'd do something fun with the stipulation like a strap match. Strap Bryan to the monster.

Shield/Evolution was the recurring theme. I personally feel like Orton/Batista being hesitant to team because they're more concerned with the strap could have been milked out a little more but we don't know exactly where they plan on going with this. Usos looked strong so that's good. 11 on 3 made sense and the Evolution music was great.

Really the only thing I didn't like was Rusev. I just don't like his character or the way it's booked. It's not 1980. No one is impressed with 3 minute squashes. We all know it's a work. What's going to happen? A month of wasting our time with this and then he gets a decent challenge, wins, then wins a midcard title. Then eventually loses to a main event babyface when he's no longer over?

Sandow/Big Show segment I disliked at first. However, as I think about it, this is probably just providing motivation for Sandow's character to evolve. Sort of like Daniel Bryan's losing streak in Fall of 2010.

 

[laodaron]

Evolution's music hitting after the 11 heels had beaten down The Shield was a cool moment and the way Evolution dissected them was really well executed and took this angle to the next level. Shame it got so little heat from the crowd, they were really lively for the first 2 hours but seemed to lose their energy in the last hour.

Raw was good. Really good. Plenty of wrestling. A small amount of pandering to the IWC and smark fans. And then, boom, Evolution hits. And the crowd just sits there. This is the problem with recreating old gimmicks and stables. These fans don't remember 11 years ago, and they don't care to. They just want to see Ambrose do a suicide dive, Rollins hit a suicide flip, and Reigns Superman punch and spear someone.

All in all, this was a solid 4/5 as far as Raws go. It's like HHH knows the exact amount of screen time he needs vs. everyone else on the full time active roster. He's perfect as the heel authority/leader/corporate guy.

 

[Heel Randy>Face Randy]

This RAW was a perfect example in how the fault doesn't lie with creative...most of the time. Evolution returning was a big moment and deserved to be last in the show and the crowd, as laodaron put it, "just sits there". I feel WWE should do this big moments in the cities that are hot consistently throughout the night. They've changed scripts many times during the show so, why not? It's just, the hot crowds would make the big moments, even bigger.

On a side note, for the five or so seconds that Evolutions Titantron was displayed on TV, it seemed as if it was just stuck on their logo. Could this mean that WWE are considering to make a new entrance video for the group now that it's 'PG'?

 

[blueskyy]

I seldom watch Superstars... but The Rhodes Brother vs Rybaxel match last week on RAW was "choreographed" exactly like the one I saw on Superstars the prior week or two ago.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Tonight's RAW should be interesting to see what type of reaction Bryan gets after being off last week. I don't anticipate it being any different as I do believe he is truly over and its not just about the chant (although that helps for sure), but I still see a small chance that after the events with The Shield and The Authority that The Shield may have taken some of Bryan's momentum as top face.

I am most looking forward to this RAW to see how the crowd reactions differ between The Shield and Daniel Bryan.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I wonder if they'll do anything to signify Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella getting married? They come out to celebrate their nuptials, Kane interrupts, attacks DB and then kidnaps, or threatens Brie, or something to that effect.

 

[The Eighties]

I don't know if the opening segment was initially planned or if was written after the tragic news about Bryan's father in order to get him off TV quickly so he could go home for a couple of weeks, but either way it was a strong segment that worked well in making Kane look brutal and was enhanced by the fantastic heel work from Steph with her insincere pleas for Kane to stop. She should be in his corner at Extreme Rules.

Sheamus vs Barrett was easily the MOTN, these two have worked well together in the past and this was another physical, entertaining match and I loved the finish that put Barrett over as both smart and strong. The crowd actually seemed to be behind Barrett and Sheamus got some pretty audible boos, interesting to see him lose clean 2 shows in a row as well.

Bray's promo was excellent, I loved the way he subverted the standard Cena hate into the notion that he is brainwashing some of the fans against Cena.

The comedy 6 man tag was a good chance to go to the toilet and get a drink.

I dug Evolution coming out dressed all slick and the video package on the group was really well done. The Shield got a great pop when their music hit and I thought Ambrose and Rollins did a great job with their promos. Triple H positioning his foot soldiers between Evolution and The Shield was a good way to end the segment.

I'd really like to see Emma and Fandango get something better to do than this repetitive angle they are currently stuck in.

Cesaro vs RVD was ok after a couple of early miscues between the two. I honestly expected more but their styles didn't seem to gel. RVD going over via count out works as it seems to have set up a potential feud for after Extreme Rules.

Paige isn't being helped with all these cold matches against the jobber Divas, I think she needed some interaction with Tamina tonight.

It was cool to see Rusev use some new offense, I'm looking forward to seeing him work with some better quality faces who are actually over.

I wish Harper had won the app vote to face Cena, it was encouraging to see him get so many votes though presuming it wasn't rigged. I didn't care much for the handicap match or the way it finished.

So a mixed bag of a Raw overall.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Pretty good show that could have been really good had it not been for the main event. I dug the Kane/Bryan and Shield/Evolution build and Sheamus/Barrett was a fantastic match. With respect to the main event I think its more a case of being ready to move on from the Cena/Wyatt's story than anything else. It feels repetitive and I'm hoping that one way or another it ends at Extreme Rules and each guy can move onto something new.

 

[Reflection]

Watching RAW right now... I have a feeling Paul Heyman and Cesaro's alliance will be shortlived. Just as the week before, Paul Heyman said only one line about Cesaro and proceeded to continuously talk about Brock Lesnar. Cesaro could be seen trying to remind Heyman something, possibly to speak something about him, but Paul paid no heed. Eventually, this could lead to a frustrated Cesaro vs Paul Heyman's golden boy. Plus with RVD's advice, it seems even more likely to happen within the next few months.
By the way, Cesaro's new entrance theme sucks. It is a bad rip-off of Scott Steiner's TNA theme, mashed up with a generic rock track. I cannot imagine it After reading Bill Pritchard's description on WZ, I thought it would be great, but its awful.

 

[blueskyy]

A terrific Smackdown this week. The Paul Heyman vs. Zeb Colter "debate" (moderated by Vickie Guerrero) prior to the match was excellent! The talking point was simple, but very well executed. The match was good, one of Jack Swagger's better matches. -- 8/10

The divas match Natalya vs. Tamina was worth the watch. -- a 7/10 or 8/10 for a divas match.

The Shield's match was good, a bit messy, but the story was conveyed adequately. They might have a better match if they cut down the number of opponents even further. -- 7/10

These matches are what I can recall off the top of my head and not in any order, there might be other matches. Another match that I'd like to briefly mention is the Curtis Axel match, his best performance till date. -- 7/10

Overall, a great Smackdown.

ps: There must be something wrong with me... I'm always delighted to see Vickie on Smackdown.

 

[WarroBODFan]

A terrific Smackdown this week. The Paul Heyman vs. Zeb Colter "debate" (moderated by Vickie Guerrero) prior to the match was excellent! The talking point was simple, but very well executed. The match was good, one of Jack Swagger's better matches. -- 8/10

The divas match Natalya vs. Tamina was worth the watch. -- a 7/10 or 8/10 for a divas match.

The Shield's match was good, a bit messy, but the story was conveyed adequately. They might have a better match if they cut down the number of opponents even further. -- 7/10

These matches are what I can recall off the top of my head and not in any order, there might be other matches. Another match that I'd like to briefly mention is the Curtis Axel match, his best performance till date. -- 7/10

Overall, a great Smackdown.

ps: There must be something wrong with me... I'm always delighted to see Vickie on Smackdown.

Couldn't agree more, one of the most memorable Smackdown tapings in a long time! I know that's not saying much, but there was a lot more storytelling in this one than the usual Raw recap sprinkled with a few meaningless mid-card matches.

I literally cheered when The Shield prevented Fandango V Santino for the 5454987th time!

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Raw was decent. I enjoyed most of what I saw. The Cena/Wyatt, Bryan/Kane, and especially the Evolution/Shield angles were great. Which is what is selling the special event/PPV. I'm interested in all three matches, so that's good.

 

[laodaron]

Very above average go home raw. Maybe we get a ziggler/sandow match in the preshow. Move the tag titles to the actual show. I love shield v. Evolution. Hhh sells every piece of his character perfectly. Orton and Batista just have to stand there and pose, but hhh is always fun to watch.

 

[The Eighties]

I loved the way The Shield systematically dismantled the guys who were involved in the 11 on 3 match from Raw the week before, it was completely in-keeping with their characters. No one has been booked better as new comers in a long, long time, and the consistency of their booking has continued into their face run where they have remained badass instead of suddenly becoming all smiley and happy go lucky.

 

[The Eighties]

The opening segment was excellent, I always enjoy Cena when he's being earnest and passionate on the mic, as opposed to later in the show when he did his hokey Rock-lite routine. His promo tonight was another strong chapter in the narrative between him and Bray and then the kids choir arrived, that whole eerie segment with Bray laughing and all the kids in the sheep masks as Cena stood in the ring looking on in shock was gold, a classic Raw moment IMO.

The tag title match between The Usos and Rybaxel was actually pretty solid and WWE did a good job creating some doubt with the fake out injury to Jimmy.

Renee Young did a few backstage interviews throughout the show as usual but looked lovelier than ever, I think I'm in love.

Ahem.....

I don't know what the point of Sheamus vs Titus was, Titus attacks Sheamus from behind and then loses in a 2 minute match. I just don't see what that did for anyone.

I'm sure some fans heads exploded over the segment with Ziggler, Jackman and Sandow but I'm not gonna lie, as goofy as it was I laughed my ass off.

Cesaro vs Swagger was ugly, they just didn't seem in sync at all. The highlight of the match was Heyman grabbing Zeb in the 'Stache-lock.

Bertie vs Cody was a decent enough match, Cody lost but not through any fault of Goldust's, but was stroppy with him post match anyway.

I didn't see any point in Rusev facing Woods again when he's facing him this Sunday in a handicap match. I think him having an exhibition squash handicap against a couple of local jobbers might have been the way to go.

The Bryan and Steph segment was really good, strong mic work from both and it was good to see Bryan not just smiling and brushing off what happened, he did a good job of getting across being pissed off and Steph did a good job seeming more genuine than she usually does, making her harder to read than her more obvious disingenuous tone, good work.

The Brie vs Paige match was actually going quite well when Kane came up from under the ring to try and drag Brie to "hell." Yes it made no sense for Bryan to not grab her immediately and run, instead standing with his back to Brie and the ring, and yes she messed up her positioning and crawled back into harms way for no reason, but what the hell! Kane is a B movie slasher monster so it kinda fit, and while playing the damsel in distress angle would have been shit on in some Cities, in an oldschool wrestling city like St. Louis it got over.

I noticed a few people wary of Brie being involved as the days of getting the crowd behind you via danger to your girl are long gone, and frankly Bryan doesn't need any help getting crowd support. However I think we saw why Brie is in the angle when she called Steph a bitch, my guess is this will maybe be a little spin-off angle that runs to Payback where Steph can get her physical comeuppance via Brie.

The Barrett vs RVD final to what has been a good tournament was a bit lackluster due to it being used as a way to put together an odd triple threat match between Cesaro, RVD and Swagger which I imagine will be added to Extreme Rules, the whole thing was a bit of a clusterfuck.

I loved The Shield's promo on Evolution, Rollins in particular stood out. Flair coming out to put over The Shield after an awkward promo from Evolution was a nice moment, even if Flair already looked three sheets to the wind.

Reigns vs Orton was a short but solid match. Orton is so smooth in the ring and is an ideal guy to lead the physically impressive but inexperienced Reigns through a singles match.

The post-match brawl between the two factions was pretty good with everyone getting their shots in, I particularly liked the exchanges between Triple H and Ambrose. It was a simple and smart way to lead into the PPV as The Shield stood tall in the ring after getting demolished last time the two groups got physical.

Not a great Raw as far as in-ring action goes but the build up for the 3 big matches at Extreme Rules was very strong, which is the most important thing on a go home show.

 

[blueskyy]

Another great Smackdown this week!

The match that I liked the most is first match -- Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose. It was a great match, the audiences were rooting for both guys. The figure of four leg lock suited Ambrose very well, I like the way he applies it, looks very natural. The final finish by Sheamus could be executed better, with less delay, snappier.

I know a lot of guys here have been complaining a lot lately about Alexander Rusev. My assessment of Rusev is entirely different. Lana works well as Rusev's mouth piece, and Rusev works well in the ring. He has had multiple matches with R'Truth and Kofi, and that was one of the many reasons why people were discounting, or even dismissing him -- because all he had been doing is squash matches AND with the same guys. Well, I disagree. If he can take knocks from his opponents and bring out the fire in his opponents, then, I say he has the potential, even if his matches were short and he had not executed that many moves. What I look out for is the fluidity of the matches.

Roman Reigns vs. Mark Henry was good. Mark Henry has control of the match for the most part until Roman turned it around in the final moments. I have to hand it to Mark Henry, I don't know if any of you notices this, but he was very careful with Roman Reigns, a little too protective I would say.

And finally, the Batista vs. Seth Rollins match. Batista dominated the match, dishing out a lot of punishments to Seth Rollins. Seth Rollins made a couple of quick come backs at some very opportune moments but ultimately still lost on a count out.

ps: There are other matches, but these are the ones I remember.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I agree, it was a pretty good Smackdown. I enjoyed Ambrose and Sheamus a lot, despite Ambrose having to play up the injury thing. I would love to see more matches from these guys. Slug-em-out clashes I always find entertaining, and even a Smackdown crowd got into this one and didn't need quite as much fake cheers as Smackdown usually needs.

I'm passing judgement on Rusev until we see him feuding with one of the higher-ups on the roster. Whether he goes after the IC or US title remains to be seen, or whether he'll go after a bigger name superstar. The last few monster heel runs haven't been particularly great, but I'm hoping Rusev will buck the trend! For me right now, it's too predictable to really enjoy, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Cesaro & BNB v RVD & Big E was meh, nothing special. I haven't got a clue what they're going to do with Big E going forward, and he's now taking loss after loss.

Santino & Emma, Fandango & Layla. NO. Moving on. (Free Emma!)

I enjoyed Reigns V Henry, as brief as it was. Reigns hitting Henry with the Samoan Drop by picking him up off the turnbuckle was awesome. I've enjoyed their past matches, and I'd like to see them get longer in the ring together in the future, even though Reigns has bigger fish to fry down the line.

Los Matadores V 3MB. Sorry, I went for a piss.

Rollins V Batista was pretty good. Rollins was his usual self, and I thought both guys sold Rollins diving from the turnbuckle to the floor and then being caught by Batista and going into the table was great. Countout win for Batista doesn't harm Rollins in any way, I liked it. Post-match Batista bomb adds more fuel to the fire for the feud.

Wyatts V Usos and Cena was decent. I won't say much else other than I think Luke Harper is brilliant.

 

[WarroBODFan]

I wasn't particularly impressed with this Raw. Normally I have high hopes for the London Raw as often they have something big really go down, but it wasn't the best. Wasn't bad, but wasn't a classic.

I enjoyed Bray Wyatt's opening promo. Pretty much the same as his other promos lately, but this one felt a bit more personal than previous ones. Cena comes from behind with the sneaky AA, decent setup for the main event later.

Cesaro V Sheamus was a good match. Good ol' WWE assuming because Sheamus is Irish he'll instantly be over with a London crowd. NOPE. Heyman got some heat for his pre-match promo in which he included "What am I now? Nope I'm not your queen finally dying.. I'm the Undertaker at Wrestlemania!" I personally thought it was great!

I liked the beat the clock challenge matches for the IC title at Payback. Once again Big E gets no reaction, but neither did Ryback really. RVD beat Del Rio, and Zigger/Mark Henry match didn't beat RVD's time. RVD V BNB for the IC title at Payback. BNB clocking RVD in the back of the head, then bigging up the London crowd was cool.I'm enjoying Barrett's new "push" and I'm sure he'll retain at Payback.

Then Stephanie came out to Daniel Bryan's music which was pretty cool. I think she's a fantastic heel, and probably got the most heat out of anyone through the whole show. She said she believes the right thing to do is to strip Daniel Bryan of the title but she doesn't want to do it like this, so he needs to show up to Raw next week and give the belt up himself. I'm still of the opinion that actually stripping him, or him giving up the title is a good thing, and can add some importance to a probably DB/Kane rematch. I'd like to see Kane get the title, even just for a week.

I enjoyed the short promo from The Shield. Very much the same as usual, which is a good thing of course! I also liked the Rollins/Batista plus the rest brawl. Ambrose making JBL stumble a few times on commentary was brilliant! I didn't expect much else than what we got, as obviously this is just buildup for Payback.

Alicia Fox is still batshit crazy, and I was surprised that they gave her pretty much a squash win over Paige. Especially in London. Setting up a title match at Payback I guess. She had to get a win sometime, but I'm surprised they did it at London Raw.

Main event was predictable. Cena wins over Harper via DQ from a Wyatt and Rowan interference, and then beat him down. Still a nice buildup for Payback.

Also, was anyone else expecting something to happen regarding Kane and "May 19th"?