Raw Hits and Misses 8/15/13
Raw Hits:
Opening Segment: I'm of two minds about this. I hate that the build for the WWE Championship match at Summerslam involves attempts to give Bryan a corporate makeover. The video of him "selling out" by changing his vegan lifestyle and going to the barber was bad, but I liked how he tied it in as to how no matter what he did, he wasn't going to be what the company wanted as a champion.
The strongest part of the segment was the exchange between Vince and Bryan. Bryan's self-deprecation then depiction of himself as the opposite of Cena was well-stated, and it brought the issue somewhat back to between Bryan and Cena rather then leaning more towards Bryan and the McMahon's. Bryan made a strong statement both on the mic and in his attack on Wade Barrett that he was going to become WWE Champion his own way rather then by becoming a "corporate champion", and Vince was, as usual, fine as a disingenuous heel. A mostly strong segment.
Alberto Del Rio destroys Ricardo Rodriguez: Did Ricardo violate the Wellness Policy for a second time? This was a brutal beatdown by Del Rio resulting from his failed interference in Del Rio's loss to RVD. I would much rather Del Rio have picked up the victory despite failed interference from Rodriguez, then have Del Rio destroy Ricardo for his failings. However, this was an effective beating that made Del Rio look absolutely ruthless. He still can't win non-title matches, but he looks like a vicious heel and garnered fantastic heat for destroying Rodriguez. The spot where he smashed Ricardo between the steps looked absolutely vicious.
Curtis Axel vs. Cm Punk: This wasn't 'awesome' as the crowd was chanting, but it was very good. I'm not a huge fan of making the IC Champ fodder for another feud, but it's not as if Axel has really enhanced the title since winning it anyways. Further, Axel hung well with Punk and got in enough offense that he looked pretty credible before Punk abandoned the match to go after Heyman. Again, I dislike him being the patsy and taking the GTS simply to eliminate him from the equation, but he's easily the weakest character here and it made Punk look unstoppable for a time and on a mission.
**1/2.
The Wyatt Family vs. Tons of Funk: Simple enhancement match to get over The Wyatt family's aggressiveness, and set-up the post match angle with Kane. Kane's promo was very good, discussing how he and Wyatt do similar things, but for different reasons. Wyatt to send a message, Kane for his own amusement. I presume this will set up another Summerslam match of some kind, although I'm not a fan of the announced 'Ring of Fire' match made for Summerslam between Wyatt and Kane, which sounds like an Inferno Match.
Brock Lesnar and CM Punk brawl:The story that they're telling here is a great one. Punk is so obsessed with getting to Heyman and gaining revenge that he loses focus, and it costs him against a Brock Lesnar, rightfully so. Punk actually had the upper hand and was really taking it to Lesnar before he turned his attention to Heyman, and took an F-5 and several chair shots as a result for it. Good stuff that just furthers an excellent build towards their Summerslam match.
Punk vs. Heyman next week: Yes, this will likely play out in predictable fashion with the cowardly heel who has virtually no chance to win using a loophole to do so such as a No-DQ match, but I like Heyman laying down the challenge to Punk, who's been trying to get his hands on Heyman for weeks, with no success. He likely won't here either, but it's a good hook for next week and the build for the Punk/Lesnar match has been near-flawless, so I have faith they'll make this work.
John Cena and Randy Orton promo: Cena was intense and straight-forward and 100% focused on defending his title against Daniel Bryan at Summerslam, and Orton's presence was a good one. He's been held off Raw for a few weeks in a smart move, likely to not put an over-emphasis on the MITB briefcase, but his return was a nice reminder that he remains the wild-card in the WWE Championship picture. Cena remains great at working the crowd and instead of being flustered by them, he acknowledged their chants and dismissed the idea that he can't wrestle with proof: He's an 11-time WWE Champion.
Some people may not like Cena's comments about Bryan being most comfortable in a gymnasium and Cena verifying that he would never wrestle anywhere but WWE, but it's a strong endorsement for the company that he just so happens to be the top champion of. The Shield's interruption was fine, if not convenient, and Bryan's run-in set-up the main event nicely.
Christian vs. Heath Slater: A hit for the spear alone, as it was perhaps the best one Christian has ever hit. I dislike the fact that we didn't see interaction between Christian and Del Rio after Del Rio attacked him Friday night, but this was fine. It continues Christian's hot streak with an enhancement victory over Slater, and hopefully they'll devote more time to the actual Christian/Del Rio feud on Smackdown.
N/A
Kofi Kingston vs. Fandango: I was tempted to give Summer Rae a separate hit simply for her dress, but it works just as well here within here. This was a fine return for Kofi with Fandango actually sticking out a match instead of taking yet another count-out. The ending sequence where Kofi committed to Trouble In Paradise despite missing twice only to connect a third one was an excellent one, and Fandango, while he's now entrenched as a jobber, sells well and looks good on and creates enough sustainable offense to keep some credibility.
**
The Shield vs. Randy Orton, John Cena, and Daniel Bryan: While a short match, they packed a lot of action into the 6 minutes alotted, with Daniel Bryan once again looking like a star by working virtually the entire match without being able to make a tag, and getting Rollins in the LaBell Lock to the point where the Shield were forced to attack to avoid the clean loss.
**3/4.
As for the aftermath, there was a nice tease of Orton assisting Bryan and Cena in initially clearing the ring of the Shield, only to RKO both to tease the cashing in of the MITB briefcase. Orton looked both smart
and heelish by walking away as the Shield destroyed both Cena and Bryan. It leaves a lot of possibilities available for Summerslam, including that the Shield could interfere in an Orton cash-in, like they did tonight.
Raw Misses:
Overall Show: For the second straight week, the show was hit-or-miss. This is personified in the build to the Cena/Bryan match, with the sub-story of the corporate makeover attempts by the McMahon's on Bryan, but with Bryan and Cena's focus on each other. Orton remains a nice wildcard in the mixture. As for the rest of the show, there were some decent-to-good matches, but overall, it was quantity(10 matches) over quality. The Punk/Lesnar build continues to be outstanding, and there's intrigue in the Wyatt/Kane feud as well. Del Rio had a mixed bag night, as he lost another non-title match, but gained significant heat by absolutely destroying Ricardo after the match. It's a shame there's no heat right now on the Del Rio/Christian match, however. Rhodes and Sandow had an off-night in the clumsy nature of the booking and the mic work, and Ziggler just doesn't seem to be clicking as a top babyface right now. Kofi's return was a good one, and for the most part, the focus was on building towards Summerslam. The way they went about it, however, was very hit-or-miss. An average show.
C.
Rob Van Dam vs. Alberto Del Rio: Another non-title match, another loss for Alberto Del Rio. I get that the idea was to put the blame on the 'rusty' Ricardo Rodriguez for trying to interfere, but Del Rio simply shouldn't be losing so many non-title matches as champion. Could you imagine John Cena losing this much as WWE Champion? RVD gets his win back,and Del Rio? He looks like a weak champion once again as he loses another short match.
*1/2.
Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow: I like that they're setting a up(hopefully) a match between the two at Summerslam, but the feud is floundering right now as creative seems to have nothing new for the two to push as an issue. Cody also comes off as hypocritical when he said Friday that he would have done the same as Sandow, he just didn't like how he did it, then presented his issue as Sandow stabbing him in the back once again. They still have time, and the feud has the opportunity to elevate both men, but the soaked briefcase with the wet contract was a poor job of attempting to build this feud. They're stuck in neutral right now.
Ryback vs. Mark Henry:What in the world was this? At first, I thought it was a set-up for an angle with the Shield attacking Henry following Ryback walking out, but the ruthlessness we previously saw the past few weeks from Ryback completely disapeared as he walked out on the match.....and that was it. There was no semblance or reason to this match or Ryback simply walking out, especially without it leading to a bigger angle following.
1/4*
Kaitlyn vs. Layla: Layla's explanation for her turn on Kaitlyn and siding with AJ was poor, but somehow, this match was worse. Kaitlyn looked absolutely awful when on offense, and Layla looked to be off on her spots as well. AJ coming out to distract Kaitlyn was fine as follow-up given Layla's turn on Smackdown, but this was simply an awful match that was thankfully short.
N/R
The Usos vs. We The People: One step forward, two back for the tag team division. The Usos seemed to be the only team other then the Shield to be relevant whatsoever within the tag division, and they lose to a team that seemingly hasn't won since they joined forces. Baffling booking, although every time Cesaro hits the Neutralizer is impressive.
*1/4.
Big E. Langston vs. Dolph Ziggler: Creative seems to have lost some direction with regards to Ziggler, and it was a poor decision to give the match a conclusive ending when this feud seems destined to continue. Perhaps we'll get a mixed tag with AJ/Ziggler and Langston/AJ at Summerslam, but the last thing I'd want at this point is to be teaming with Kaitlyn. As JBL correctly pointed out, everything Kaitlyn is involved in right now isn't going her way, anf the brawl between the women took the focus completely off the match between the men. I appreciate the story they're trying to tell with her, but using Ziggler, who's much higher on the pecking order to do so, is a mistake.
*1/2.