Official Raw/Smackdown Aftermath, Ratings and Review Thread

[The Eighties]

I love it when Raw has a through-line and that was what this Raw had, from the opening promo segment, to Bryan getting a measure of payback by vandalizing Orton's Escalade, to the brazen show of power by Triple H that was sold really well by Miz, Dolph and Show at the top of the ramp.

Triple H is back in his element, smug, condescending and overbearing, this is the way I prefer Triple H and the first time I've really enjoyed anything involving him in years. As Jack-Hammer says he's gauging it just right instead of being over the top, and the fact he's physically dangerous just adds another element that sets his evil authority figure apart from Vince's.

One interesting thing was Triple H saying the WWE title was his and Randy carries it for him, that just seems more the way you'd address your henchman than "The Face of the WWE."

The Punk vs Axel match was good but the aftermath was glorious, easily the segment of the night for me, Heyman put so much into it he looked wrecked by the end, Punk's angry defiance was great "You better make it count you son of a bitch!" and the legit damage to his back just added a bit extra.

AJ's Pipebombshell was awesome despite the obnoxious Bellas doing their ghetto street corner act over the top of her, and I'm not sure what the intentions were behind the promo but I hope WWE realize that it essentially turned AJ face.

RVD vs Del Rio was ok but I hate when they set up a title match by having the challenger beat the champion in a none title match, that is what #1 contender matches are for.

Christian vs Orton wasn't quite as good as their previous matches put I put that down to the change in dynamic with Orton now working heel, something he hasn't done in a long time, the finish was the kind of dirty clean finish I like to see from heels, Orton shouldn't suddenly become unable to win a match because he's a heel now.

The Bryan vs Rollins main event was awesome, Rollins sells like a mad man but got in plenty of offense of his own. it was a great showcase for Rollins just as the recent main event outings against Bryan were good for Cesaro and Barrett. Shame the director missed the finish.

Overall 3 good matches, strong storyline development on the two big angles and the Pipebombshell made this a good Raw in my book.

As far as the "boring" chant, fuck the Phoenix crowd. It's not Punk or Heyman's fault they're too stupid to see a good story playing out right in front of them.

I thought the same but apparently they were chanting "Walrus" not boring.

 

[Radical]

As far as the "boring" chant, fuck the Phoenix crowd. It's not Punk or Heyman's fault they're too stupid to see a good story playing out right in front of them.

The "boring" chants weren't for Punk or Heyman. They were for Axel. They started chanting that around the time it was just Axel outside the ring with Punk spouting some garbage.

Axel is about as entertaining as a wet mop. Nobody gives a crap when he speaks or when he is by himself in the ring.

Ted DiBiase after seeing a guy like Axel with less athleticism and charisma than Ted getting the Heyman Push without deserving it.

The only thing to look forward to with Curtis Axel is him getting the beats and eventually shuffling further down the card until he is fired or leaves.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Over the past few weeks, it looks as though WWE really has been working to pull SmackDown! up to the level of Raw in terms of overall importance. At least, that's what it looks like to me. A few weeks back, a story came out alleging that WWE intended to do try and end the image of SmackDown! as the "B Show" of WWE.

In the last few weeks, we've seen the blue brand used to not only keep storylines that began on Raw front & center, but they've also used the show to progress storylines. Last night, for instance, the notion of Daniel Bryan getting back up in the near future was advanced with Big Show, Miz & Ziggler. Triple H continues to come off brilliantly as a world class dick with the manner he speaks to the wrestlers. When he was talking to Big Show and telling him to "Go" or "Move" or "Stay", it gave me the notion of a guy training a dog. Even though I know it's all scripted, it kinda got me a little mad, which is a great thing all in all when you consider the nature of pro wrestling. He even pisses my mother off, she actually called him a "shark nosed peckerhead." Big Show also did a great job of selling his emotions last night. He has a surprisingly expressive face and he was able to tell a convincing story.

I'm not claiming that SD! is now on the same level of importance as Raw, it just looks to me that the show could be on its way. Much of the time, SD! features good wrestling action while there's little to no advancement of any of the major angles beyond a couple of pretty standard, albeit solid, promos.

Last night's show also had solid wrestling action overall. Orton vs. Miz was a really solid 2.75 star bout I thought. I like how The Shield was at ringside but never interfered. Bryan coming out to clear the ring with a steel chair really fired the crowd up as well. It was good to see Bryan bring the fight to the enemy, which is a good example of progressing this angle. It's a simple step, but an important one and it usually would've happened on Raw rather than SD!.

The handicap match was well done and featured more good storytelling. I love watching Ziggler sell moves, nobody's better than he is. When Reigns hit him with that spear, you'd have thought Ziggler took a cannonball right to the gut. With Show being forced to "watch" what happened, it only helped drive the story further.

Bryan vs. Ryback was a good 3 star effort with, as usual, the crowd eating up everything Bryan was doing. It wasn't as good as the few other matches they've had, but it was still a good main event that had Bryan looking strong against the much bigger Ryback. The Shield interfering was expected and Big Show almost giving in and attacking them & Orton really got the crowd jacked up. The crowds are primed to see Big Show get medieval on somebody, but it's good that it didn't happen last night.

There was also more excellent mic work from Paul Heyman and I have to say that I'm more interested in seeing this handicap tag match at NOC than I was earlier in the week.

The Wyatt Family continues to be downright creepy. Harper & Rowan look like the embodiment of every scary, backwoods stereotype you can imagine and Wyatt gives off this charismatic, ominous vibe.

The only thing I wasn't all that into was Damien Sandow losing again. WWE is definitely applying the "tear him down to build him up" formula with Sandow. Unfortunately, it's tired & stale because we've seen WWE do it too often with too many guys.

All in all though, I thought last night's show was a surprising A-. SD! is a show that feels like it's becoming important in the grand scheme of things again.

 

[The Eighties]

Another good Raw as they build true heels, not heels that split the crowd, but nasty, arrogant, power mad bastards we can all hate and wish harm on, I love it.

The opening promo was good although Bryan should not be making masculinity jokes about Steph, bad Daniel! I liked that Orton got plenty of the mic time as he was kinda coming off as Triple H's WWE champion avatar.

Fandango vs The Miz was a match I didn't actually see much of, I caught the end though as Miz botched the Figure 4. This was a match that was predicted for NOC but I'm thinking Miz may team with Show against Rollins & Reigns since he has already dusted Fandango.

Ambrose attacking Ziggler before his latest punishment match against Ryback was a good set up for their potential US title feud. Ryback vs Ziggler was an entertaining squash as Dolph got some explosive hope spots in and made Ryback look better than he has in a while.

The promo between Steph and Show had the big guy crying again and Steph telling an absolute whopper about her age. I did like the fact she didn't belittle him in the typical mean bitch fashion, instead she played it with insincere sympathy and manipulation, I'd say it's Steph's best segment since she became an on air character again.

The Prime Time Players won another match, rumour has it Antonio Cesaro and Zack Ryder are considering coming out as gay.

Everything involving the Cody/Orton/Triple H stuff was great. The promo that set the match up made Cody look better than the other spineless guys on the roster, the match with Orton was very good and Cody's promo as he left the building was the best one he has ever cut, plus did anyone see the woman he is marrying? Nice catch Cody, I'd enjoy those few weeks off dude!

CM Punk came out to the ring and just kind of stood for 5 minutes being really over and then left. Ok he spoke a bit and did it with the intensity this feud has brought from him, but as he said, it's all been laid out, it's time for a Biblical ass whooping. They played the footage of Heyman beating him with the kendo stick for the 3rd time and when they came back he was still standing there just chilling and being really over.

There was a clusterfuck Divas segment with a triple threat number one contender match with AJ acting as the heel on commentary, then the babyfaces(?) gave her a 5 on 1 gang beating.........

I didn't see RVD vs Sandow apart from the Frog splash but I am guessing it was similar to their match on SD. This WHC feud with RVD and Del Rio couldn't be any more heatless unless it involved Jack Swagger facing Del Rio.

The main event was very awkward, Bryan is clearly mega over but people also like Show and after all the crying he did and Steph pointing out he's broke and may die soon the crowd didn't really want to go against him. So instead him and Bryan tried to tell a simple little story really well but the crowd could almost be heard shuffling in their seats and you could hear some guy yelling "Believe in the Shield!" every 30 seconds.

Once the virtual non-match was over as Big Show tried to leave, the twice weekly "Beat the shit out of Daniel Bryan" activities started. Show thought about stopping it, then walked away, then Triple H tried to make him knock Bryan out, he cried some more and refused and started off up the ramp, Steph came out, marched him back to the ring, stopped him punching Triple H and convinced him to knock out Bryan, the crowd booed a lot, Triple H and Steph look like absolute shit stains, poor Big Show cries some more.

Orton then came out to stand triumphantly on a fallen Bryan while someone quickly told The Shield who were exiting to go and stand on the ramp with HHH, Steph and Show.

The ending was uncomfortable viewing in some ways but it's great booking because when the fight back finally comes it should blow the roof off. It's gotta get darker before you see the light and all that!

 

[The Eighties]

Over the past few weeks, it looks as though WWE really has been working to pull SmackDown! up to the level of Raw in terms of overall importance. At least, that's what it looks like to me. A few weeks back, a story came out alleging that WWE intended to do try and end the image of SmackDown! as the "B Show" of WWE.

In the last few weeks, we've seen the blue brand used to not only keep storylines that began on Raw front & center, but they've also used the show to progress storylines. Last night, for instance, the notion of Daniel Bryan getting back up in the near future was advanced with Big Show, Miz & Ziggler. Triple H continues to come off brilliantly as a world class dick with the manner he speaks to the wrestlers. When he was talking to Big Show and telling him to "Go" or "Move" or "Stay", it gave me the notion of a guy training a dog. Even though I know it's all scripted, it kinda got me a little mad, which is a great thing all in all when you consider the nature of pro wrestling. He even pisses my mother off, she actually called him a "shark nosed peckerhead." Big Show also did a great job of selling his emotions last night. He has a surprisingly expressive face and he was able to tell a convincing story.

I'm not claiming that SD! is now on the same level of importance as Raw, it just looks to me that the show could be on its way. Much of the time, SD! features good wrestling action while there's little to no advancement of any of the major angles beyond a couple of pretty standard, albeit solid, promos.

Last night's show also had solid wrestling action overall. Orton vs. Miz was a really solid 2.75 star bout I thought. I like how The Shield was at ringside but never interfered. Bryan coming out to clear the ring with a steel chair really fired the crowd up as well. It was good to see Bryan bring the fight to the enemy, which is a good example of progressing this angle. It's a simple step, but an important one and it usually would've happened on Raw rather than SD!.

The handicap match was well done and featured more good storytelling. I love watching Ziggler sell moves, nobody's better than he is. When Reigns hit him with that spear, you'd have thought Ziggler took a cannonball right to the gut. With Show being forced to "watch" what happened, it only helped drive the story further.

Bryan vs. Ryback was a good 3 star effort with, as usual, the crowd eating up everything Bryan was doing. It wasn't as good as the few other matches they've had, but it was still a good main event that had Bryan looking strong against the much bigger Ryback. The Shield interfering was expected and Big Show almost giving in and attacking them & Orton really got the crowd jacked up. The crowds are primed to see Big Show get medieval on somebody, but it's good that it didn't happen last night.

There was also more excellent mic work from Paul Heyman and I have to say that I'm more interested in seeing this handicap tag match at NOC than I was earlier in the week.

The Wyatt Family continues to be downright creepy. Harper & Rowan look like the embodiment of every scary, backwoods stereotype you can imagine and Wyatt gives off this charismatic, ominous vibe.

The only thing I wasn't all that into was Damien Sandow losing again. WWE is definitely applying the "tear him down to build him up" formula with Sandow. Unfortunately, it's tired & stale because we've seen WWE do it too often with too many guys.

All in all though, I thought last night's show was a surprising A-. SD! is a show that feels like it's becoming important in the grand scheme of things again.

Smackdown is definitely getting better and better each week as regards continuing the momentum of angles from Raw, last week being the strongest to date with Triple H appearing and basically moving everything along with the big central angle, making SD feel more important than it has in some time.

One aspect it still needs though is for Cena and Punk to actually appear on it every week the same as the rest of the roster, for some reason they both seem to be given the show off and only appear under special situations like Punk's recent 2 appearances when the roster was off on the tour and they filmed two weeks worth in 2 days.

On a side note I thought Miz vs Orton was one of Miz' best matches as a face so far, they even had the crowd built up to the point they sounded like they were buying into him possibly winning.

I also like the Bryan and Ryback combination, I would be interested to see how they did with an actual program together that featured some longer PPV matches.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I enjoyed last night's show overall, though I personally wish they would have had Bryan ultimately rally and finally manage to send the heels packing. At the same time, however, I do like how WWE sort of spread things out last night with some strong focus on Big Show and Cody Rhodes.

The opening promo of the show was well done and Bryan is firmly established as a sympathetic babyface whose ultimately waging a one man fight against a corrupt, corporate machine. Constantly comparing & contrasting the differences between himself & Orton is a good way of ultimately hammering home his point of him being someone that's not "supposed" to make it as a big league star. I got a kick out of Triple H bringing up the Cruiserweight Championship as a means of belittling Bryan while playing it up as a means of putting him over. It seems like there's a "Bring back the Cruiserweight Championship" thread every month or so in the WWE forum, so it's another example of Triple H pushing the IWC's buttons.

The explanation regarding Big Show's "iron clad contract" was simple and effective, in my opinion. Even though the recession was at it's peak before Show was signed to his "iron clad contract" via Big Johnny, it's still feasible that Show lost his shirt with bad investments. Steph is playing her role well. She came off as a cruel, mean spirited, manipulative bitch with Show all while sounding sympathetic. Even though there's actually some genuinely logical truths to some of what she was saying, such as a man having to do what's best for his family, it was still cold hearted to bring up such "issues" in front of the world like that. Big Show has always been really good at selling emotions and the fact that he might be more over now as a babyface than he's ever been shows how hot Orton, Trips & Stephanie are as heels. Anybody they target is getting a strong level of support.

CM Punk's promo last night was strong, simple and effective. Just what you ultimately expect from Punk at this stage of this angle with Heyman.

Wrestling action was pretty solid all in all. Miz vs. Fandango, The PTPs vs. 3MB and RVD vs. Sandow were all solid 2.25 - 2.5 star matches in my opinion. I'm still not crazy about WWE's strategy with Sandow of tearing him down in order to build him back up because they've done it too many times with too many other wrestlers and they've done it too often. As a result, I expect Sandow to walk out as WHC at Night of Champions.

Orton vs. Rhodes was a really strong 3.25 star outing that told a great story. Again, as with Big Show, the fans really rallied behind Cody Rhodes on a level tonight that's well above what we've normally seen. Cody had a couple of very nice, believable falls last night on Orton, including when he hit Cross Rhodes, and I think we saw Cody turn a corner in his career last night. He did come up short against Orton, but the effort was definitely there. His exit promo later in the night was really well done and Cody seemed genuinely emotional. They kept playing up the fact that he's about to be married soon as a means of making him all the more sympathetic. On one hand, I think this match would've been a good opportunity for Bryan to screw Orton over a bit by providing some sort of distraction, allowing Cody to get the win. On the other, I like that they're keeping Orton strong by having him score clean wins over guys like Miz & Cody Rhodes in competitive matches. Plus, as I alluded to, Cody Rhodes had a big moment last night in which he'll ultimately come back bigger than ever and probably to a big push, so Bryan helping him score a win last night would have given the crowd a happy moment but it wouldn't have had the kind of impact to Rhodes' career as him being screwed over and fans wondering what'll happen when he returns. Plus, even though Bryan & Cody are both babyfaces, it makes some logical sense when you consider that Cody Rhodes hasn't exactly come to Bryan's aid to fend off the wolves.

The Divas match was kind of a cluster, though it was an intense cluster. If I'm not mistaken, Brie Bella looked as though she got her mouth bloodied a little bit out there and the live crowd was actually pretty decently into the match while it was happening. AJ did a good job on commentary and, again, it's nice to see her in this more serious mode than we've seen before. "Crazy chick" is entertaining, but this is a refreshing change in AJ's character and is a reminder of how good she actually is.

Bryan vs. Show told a really great story, though I wish it would have ultimately come off more of an even contest. The crowd was behind both men and created sort of an awkward moment for fans, which I think was part of the point. Both men are sympathetic with Bryan being screwed over by the corporate machine while the same corporate machine threatens show with termination in a passive aggressive manner while simultaneously airing "dirty laundry" of Show's personal life to the world. As you could hear Show saying during the match, it's a no win situation from a moral perspective. If Bryan beat Show, then Bryan hurts a friend that's put in a lousy situation. If Show beat Bryan, then he becomes a tool of the same corporate machine whose actions he's morally opposed to.

The ending with Big Show ultimately hitting Bryan with the KO punch drove home the point of the new power structure in WWE being heartless an cold. Basically, when you think about it, is really the stereotypical image people often have when it comes to big company executives. Show's display of emotions was also really well done and continued the story of someone painted into a corner and having no good options, like JBL pointed out on commentary. Sometimes in life, the only choices you have aren't good ones.

As I said, all in all, an entertaining show that featured some very good storytelling in my opinion. I personally would have preferred to see Bryan rally himself tonight, but WWE has obviously decided to save that for the go home Raw to NOC next week. It might be a strategy that pays off because people really want to see Bryan get some payback, so that might be an additional incentive to tune in next week that might pull some viewers from Monday Night Football next week.

I thought last night's show was a solid B.

 

[laodaron]

Just a few quick points that I'm really loving about the latest Raws.

Number 1 - Smarks and IWC get smacked down in the very first segment as Daniel Bryan, HHH, and Orton mention working in high school gyms and flea markets. Finally, WWE is mentioning the Indy scene, and they are acknowledging their placement as the Big Leagues.

Number 2 - The worked shoot on Big Show. Mention of his Iron Clad contract, and how it really isn't Iron Clad against disobedience. It just means he can't be fired on a whim. Another shut down of the IWC and the collective Smarks again.

Number 3 - The Divas. Great. Awesome. What's awesome here is that WWE is breaking the kayfabe 4th wall in a work. So, everyone knows that in kayfabe, the 5 Divas (Bellas, Funkadactyls, Nattie) are all enemies. But, thanks to Total Divas, everyone knows that's not true. So, WWE is capitalizing on that, and with a few NXT Divas on AJ's side under the guise of "real wrestlers" instead of "failed actresses" it can really turn into a great angle.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Last Friday's Smackdown was a strong show that had a simple build to it. The theme of the show was faces against HHH/Orton getting theirs and it worked. Miz probably had his most relevant match in a long time, Ziggler continues to work great with The Shield, and Bryan works great with anyone. WWE has done a great job thus far of building legitimate heat towards HHH and Orton. They have laid down the foundation for a strong story between Bryan and Orton/HHH that could see bridge us to the road to Mania.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

WWE is building up some great momentum now with a real good Raw that followed up last Friday's strong Smackdown. Raw's success pretty much followed the same story as Smackdown focusing on the faces (Bryan, Ziggler, and Show) who are against HHH/Orton/Shield. While this was the dominate theme, we still got to see the advancement of other major story lines with Rhodes (stealing the show and along with AJ from last week delivering some of the best mic work in 2013), Punk, Del Rio and RVD and the Diva's.

WWE is really hitting on their fall programs right now and I would not be surprised if we see a spike in the buyrate of Night of Champions as compared to other non big four ppv's.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I was indifferent to last night's raw. A few notes.

On one hand, the melodrama was a little bit too much for me at times. I get the whole point of showing how cruel and heartless the McMahons and Triple H can be, but watching Big Show constantly blubber and overact became tiresome after a while. Although, I will admit the match between Daniel Bryan and Big Show was done well, with Big Show being conflicted about following the orders of Steph and Triple H, and not wanting to hurt Bryan. And the ending with a shamed Show giving a knockout punch to Bryan and walking away with the Stephanie and Triple H was a nice cliffhanger, because it makes you wonder, who Show will ultimately side with in the coming weeks.

It's refreshing to see Triple H as the smug dick of heel, and it was nice to see Stephanie step away from the domineering bitch side of her character for a while last night. Instead, she was more condescending and narcissistic, as she degraded Show with a "killing them with kindness" approach.

I was really surprised how the live crowd rallied behind Rhodes, and the match with Orton was pretty damn good. It's the best match I've seen from Rhodes since his Wrestlemania 27 match with Rey Mysterio. With so many near falls and Rhodes throwing everything he had at Orton, you were sucked into the point, where you genuinely believed Rhodes had a shot at beating Orton.

I give Rhodes all the credit in the world for his emotional "farewell" promo backstage, because he put his heart and soul into it. But personally, I was already burnt out on the sobbing stuff by then. I believe Rhodes will come back somehow in the near future to help in the fight against the McMahons, because he's a victim of their wrath. Considering the reaction he got last night, and the high quality of the match with Orton and the promo, I wouldn't be surprised to see Rhodes surpass Damien Sandow soon enough. Right now, Rhodes has an edge over Sandow, because every time you turn around, Sandow is losing to someone.

I wasn't too happy about the outcome of the #1 contender's match. I believe AJ will retain at NOC, but ultimately, passing the Divas Championship to one of the Total Divas has to be the plan. AJ is the hottest prospect in the Divas division, but Total Divas has an audience, and WWE will do anything they can to promote the show.

For me the highlight of the show was CM Punk's passionate promo. He did a great job of firing up the crowd, and issuing his promise to cripple Heyman. After last night's show, I found myself looking forward to the handicap match more than Bryan VS Orton, because Punk's promo was just superb.

 

[LSN80]

Raw Hits and Misses:​

Raw Hits:​

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton: The highlight of the show. The match had me engaged in a way that had me truly believing that Rhodes could beat Orton, and the emotion displayed by Rhodes in the match was brilliant. He was outstanding in throwing everything he had at Orton, including the brilliant reversal reversal of the RKO into CrossRhodes for a great nearfall. The crowd delivered true emotion and passion in the nearfalls, delivering emotion I've never seen before in a Rhodes match. The stipulation added great drama to the show, and Rhodes brilliantly sold shock and despondency upon losing his job. I'm engaged to see how this storyline plays out, but if this is it for Rhodes, he went out on a great note, both in the match and his passionate promo as he was leaving. ***3/4.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback: If the goal was to make Ziggler look sympathetic and Ryback a bully, mission accomplished. Ambrose and the Shield have seemingly set in comfortably as henchman for the Corporation, and the attack on Ziggler before the match further cemented Ziggler as a face. Although the match was nothing major of note, Ziggler energized the crowd with a brief flurry of offense before being put away by Ryback. A nice job of establishing Ziggler as a big player in the main storyline, making him a sympathetic character that the fans can truly get behind. **1/2.

Opening Segment: I'll give them credit: They've done a great job of establishing Orton and HHH both as true heels, and have effectively established themselves as new characters. The "best for business" story is the overriding theme of the show, and it's been effectively established and has firmly established HHH and Orton as true heels. Bryan's interruption and subsequent promo was brilliant as he continued to refuse to back down, and defiantly proclaiming that he knows he can beat Orton for the WWE title. I wish Bryan would have acknowledged his past victories over Orton as a way of truly establishing he can beat Orton, but the opening segment was effective in putting heat on Orton and HHH, and building more sympathy for Daniel Bryan as an underdog.

CM Punk promo: This was almost lost in the shuffle in the overriding storyline that's dominating Raw, but this was an effective promo that likely sold some PPV's. Punk was once again passionate and defiant, and his 'promise' to destroy Heyman and Axel, all while wielding the Kendo stick, was a good one. It wasn't a typical CM Punk promo, but it was effective in establishing his fury over Heyman's betrayal of him and his desire to fight.

Big Show and Stephanie: Stephanie was at her disingenuous best here. It feels somewhat of a repeat of the HBK/JBL storyline from 2009, but it was effective due to Big Show's emotional response and Stephanie's explanation of Big Show's Ironclad contract and what violating it would do. It was an explanation with holes, but they attempted to rationalize it, with Big Show selling emotion brilliantly and Stephanie acting as if she was truly concerned with Big Show's welfare.

Prime Time Players vs. 3MB: The PTP's are slowly but surely being built as an solid tag team, as they're consistently getting air-time and wins week after week. They've done nothing to truly establish themselves as faces, but they've effectively gotten the crowd behind them, especially when they're on offense. Are they legitimate contenders for the Tag Titles? I'm not sure. But they're gaining momentum with wins week after week in both tag and singles action. **

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show: An excellent match/segment to end the show. Big Show's confliction in both fighting Bryan in the match and knocking him out after was a great display of emotion by Big Show. They haven't done enough to establish a Show/Bryan friendship since this storyline has begun, but Show's confliction and HHH and Stephanie's smugness sold this segment/match nicely. They've done a great job of putting heat on the heels, but they need to do something to establish Bryan as a threat, as he's being beaten down consistently with no end in sight. Will the fans stay behind him if he continues to be destroyed like he has? I'm not sure.

Raw Misses:​

Overall Show: The fact remains that one storyline is dominating the show, and the success or lack thereof depends completely on it. The 'best for business' line is the overarching theme, and while it was effective at times, it's dominating too much of the show. CM Punk was seemingly lost in the shuffle despite an excellent promo, and the show just dragged at times. This was one of the times where this would have been a good and effective two hour show, but it dragged as a three hour one. C.

The Miz vs. Fandango: What are they doing with the Fandangdo character? He debuted hotly with a win over Jericho at Wrestlemania, but since, he's become a character who either walks out on matches or takes the pinfall. Even attempts to get heat back by saying his name have fallen flat , and he tapped out cleanly to Miz here after making no effort to break the Figure Four. I give him credit for continuing the match after breaking his nose, but he's been relegated to jobber status in a major way. There's depth to his character that hasn't been explored, and certainly more then Miz has. The match itself had several botches as well, and was relatively meaningless. *1/2.

Damien Sandow vs. RVD: It's hard to take Sandow seriously as he never wins single matches, and RVD and Ricardo have been a terrible mix thusfar. My hope is that Ricardo turns on RVD and re-aligns with Del Rio, as they're a far better mix together. The match effectively sold the Del Rio/RVD match with Del Rio's interruption, but there was no doubt who was winning this match. Sandow either needs to drop the case or be built up in a major way, and continuing to lose match after match kills his credibility more and more by the show. *3/4.

Brie Bella vs. Natalya vs. Naomi: AJ's interruption was a welcome one, as this match was awful before she broke it up. I don't quite understand why the match was thrown out as there are no DQ's in a triple threat, but I'm not complaining. The match was sloppy and slowly paced, and even the beatdown on AJ at the end couldn't save this match/segment. AJ needs to retain the title here simply because she's miles ahead of the rest of the Divas in character development.

 

[The Eighties]

I enjoyed Smackdown, I think Triple H carried the opening segment as there wasn't much coming from the guys on the ramp, but it just increased tension and added to that smug asshole character Triple H is so good at.

RVD vs Orton was another very good match between these two, they've had good in-ring chemistry since they fought over the IC title in late 2003. The ruthless way Orton capitalized on RVD being momentarily distracted is exactly how I want to see him booked, as a strong heel champion.

Dolph vs Ryback was fun and Ambrose on commentary talking about respecting the business continues their little build to a US title match at NOC. Dolph vs Ryback is oddly something I hope they revisit in a more thorough way down the line.

The Divas stuff was a mess, I really don't think the fans know who they are supposed to be cheering for.

Kofi vs Axel was one of Axel's best matches to date, I thought they gelled well and I enjoyed how Heyman's post-match promo shifted the blame for the loss onto his shoulders.

The backstage segment with Triple H and Show was pretty funny and Show vs 3MB was a 5 star squash. I love 3MB, best jobbers in the business!

Bryan vs Rollins was a good (if a bit short) main event that gave Bryan a win in the war, I also like how these two have worked 3 TV matches now and they've all been different. Randy finishing the night standing over Bryan felt a bit unnecessary but it didn't hurt anything.

 

[The Eighties]

The opening segment established that Toronto, much like everywhere else, loves Daniel Bryan as Edge brought him out as his guest for The Cutting Edge, ignoring Triple H's wish that Edge interview Randy Orton, citing that his former Rated RKO partner was boring.

After Edge and Bryan had a chinwag out came Randles to have a pop at them, Edge dissed him and then set his sights on Triple H who decided to come out as well, Haitch and Edge exchanged some shooty barbs and Bryan vs Ambrose was booked as the main event. Then Triple H went all Mob boss, saying that while he can't put a hand on Edge he can hurt the people he loves, at which point The Shield dragged a beaten up Christian onto the stage and dumped him.

Edge confronting Triple H backstage while his enforcers blocked his route to Don Nostrils was gold, Triple H cut a promo about it being his City and then told Edge he had to leave the building, honestly all this needed was a voice-over with a world weary Edge narrating about Haitch's power grip on the city with his hoodlums and his dame with a set of headlights that were as hot as her heart was cold, and we were in 30's noir territory.

Curtis Axel vs Kofi was ok but served more as another step in the Punk/Heyman fed as Axel got DQ'd and lost his second match in a row. Meanwhile Heyman is growing in some scruffy stubble to emphasize his worry haha.

Dolph managed to have a good match with Bray Wyatt but this was out of nowhere, Bray's two cronies did a bit of interfering and Dolph did the job as usual. just very odd as Dolph had seemingly been on course to face Ambrose.

Heyman's live medical evaluation was pretty amusing but it tested the crowds patients, fortunately Punk's music hit and the crowd went nuts, Heyman was suddenly healed and hauled ass out of the ring and over the barricade as Punk whooped the fake Doctor with the Kendo stick after pretending he was gonna let him leave.

The 6 divas tag was just sort of there, the real show was AJ on commentary holding her own as JBL and Lawler acted like assholes.

Del Rio vs Truth was one of those matches where the crowd just don't give a shit about either guy and start chanting a bunch of random names.

I went out of the room as Coulter started cutting his promo, when I came back Santino was pinning Cesaro, what a waste.

Miz vs Sandow was an odd match, the crowd hated Miz and chanted for Sandow, Fandango's music hit to distract Miz and Sandow won with a roll up, Miz gave Fandango the stink eye as he said his name, but these two pretty much blew their feud off last week so I don't see the point.

Orton vs Goldust was a good slice of professional wrestling, good back and forth stuff with some believable near falls before Randy hits the RKO for the 3. I thought Goldust was gonna get a bit of payback as Orton cut a promo standing over him and was in perfect position for a punch to the nads.

Steph being mean spirited and bitchy to Goldust as he sobbed his way out of the arena cements her new gimmick of making guys feel like shit when they are down. Her "Say hi do your dad for me" line makes me hope we see Dusty next week.

RVD vs Ryback happening without a proper angle involving wrestling attire gimmick infringement was a disgrace! It was sloppy as hell as well.

Bryan vs Ambrose was a very good main event and gave Ambrose his first real chance to shine in a big singles match. Bryan picking the win up with a quick inside cradle was reminiscent of Bret Hart and did no harm to the US champion.

The aftermath with Triple H and then Orton trying to force Show to knock Bryan out went on quite a while and I started to wonder if it was enough time for Bryan to get up after the RKO, and thankfully it was. Orton was great here as he berated Big Show and then sold the hell out of the running knee from Bryan. Heading into NOC Bryan needed a little bit of momentum against Orton and the way this was done was perfect as the show went off air with him standing over Orton holding the title aloft as the crowd chanted YES!

As a go home show I felt it worked as the PPV only has two matches that anyone cares about and both those got a lot of screen time and development. It's just a shame that some of the best angle work on the show involved Edge, Big Show and The Rhodes family, none of whom are involved in matches this Sunday, and some of the other good talent on the roster are heading into the PPV with nothing to do.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Overall, I thought last night's Raw was pretty lackluster, especially for a go home show. I'd say it was, quite probably, the weakest go home Raw of the year thus far.

In no particular order, the highlights were:

The Cutting Edge
Edge confronting Triple H backstage
Paul Heyman's "injury" fiasco
CM Punk beating the crap out of Heyman's "doctor" with the kendo stick
Randy Orton vs. Goldust
Stephanie McMahon belittling Goldust
Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose
AJ Lee on commentary
Santino Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro

The Cutting Edge was well done. Edge looked good and it was nice to see him. If anything, however, I enjoyed Edge's heated confrontation with Triple H backstage more. When Triple H is being all passionate and an in your face kind of asshole, I think he's at his best. He does a great job as the sort of "laid back" arrogant executive, but he's definitely must watch when he's fully in "The Game" mode.

It was fun seeing Paul Heyman try to weasel his way out of his match with Punk. Of course, you knew it was all leading to some sort of set up with Punk confronting him. Punk is someone who, in my eyes, is revitalized since coming back and he's definitely not playing the role of a standard babyface. Punk as an intense, passionate madman is always a lot of fun.

Orton vs. Goldust & Bryan vs. Ambrose were both two strong 3-3.25 star matches. Orton vs. Goldust told a really nice story and featured several great near falls. Goldust looked like he hadn't missed a step. Stephanie was a stone cold bitch to Goldust and she's really excelled in her role thus far.

Bryan vs. Ambrose was another well wrestled match with another enthusiastic crowd eating up everything Bryan was doing. It also featured good storytelling with Bryan, again, as the role of an underdog having to deal with Ambrose while also having to look out for the other Shield members. Bryan scoring the win was, obviously, the right call and the crowd really popped when Orton came out & Bryan took the fight to him. After Orton & The Shield managed to get the upper hand, I thought Orton's interaction with Big Show was extremely well done. Randy Orton firing one threat after another into Big Show's face was a lot of fun and while the coldly methodical persona of Orton's "viper" character does work, I miss seeing him get all passionate & fired up like he did when he was in Show's face. Bryan coming out of nowhere and landing the big running knee on Orton popped the crowd and Bryan standing tall over a fallen Orton with the WWE Championship was the right way to end the show.

During a six Diva tag match, AJ was out there on guest commentary and, again, showed just how good of a talker she is in my eyes. Even though WWE keeps trying to kinda sorta spin things as if AJ is "jealous" she isn't on Total Divas, I don't think anyone is buying into it. AJ put over being Divas Champion and hyping it as what's really important rather than being on a reality show. In all honesty, part of me thinks WWE would have ultimately been better off by booking AJ as sort of a tweener with the cast of Total Divas behaving more like heels. AJ's been getting a positive response from fans because, frankly, they're agreeing with what she's saying.

As for Santino vs. Cesaro, I'm a little torn. On one hand, I don't like that Cesaro jobbed out to Antonio. On the other, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find their match entertaining. I think everybody had to know that Cesaro was jobbing out, but the man still looked brilliant in his match. The giant spin spot that took place was sweet and the live crowd really popped for it. Cesaro kept it going for at least 30 seconds, maybe longer. I'd have been puking so hard my Reeboks would've come up my gullet. I would have preferred Cesaro win but, again, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy the match.

The rest of the show felt mostly like filler. Night of Champions this year is definitely going to be all about Bryan vs. Orton and Punk vs. Axel & Heyman. All in all, I thought last night's show was about a C+ overall. What was good, was good but what wasn't felt boring and came off as little more than a means of taking up some air time.

 

[Mustang Sally]

If anything, however, I enjoyed Edge's heated confrontation with Triple H backstage more. When Triple H is being all passionate and an in your face kind of asshole, I think he's at his best.

Really, this was a segment that tested Paul Levesque's abilities as well as giving us the chance to see an old favorite. In past weeks, we've watched Triple H use the Pedigree to silence a "non-corporate" character as well as using Orton and Shield to punish people whom he wants to fall in line.

In this situation, Trips had a guy he couldn't use physical force against to get his way.....and that fact was verbally acknowledged by Trips, which added to the segment.

I thought Triple H did great. He used words to fight against his foe, showing he doesn't have to get physical to make his point. He's growing more effective in his executive role, and who would have ever believed that years ago?

Of course, it's always great to see Edge, and no one had to wonder what he was actually doing there, since both he and Triple H made reference to the notion that it was good business to bring him aboard. I'm glad Edge showed up; I'm sorry he's no longer under contract.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

The interaction between Trips and Edge was gold last night. Both hit the other hard with their smack talk and did a great job of drawing the audience in and making them care. Trips has made a seamless transition to being a heel. No surprise there as he was one of the top heels for a long time. It is refreshing seeing the heels being booed and the faces cheered. Lets me know that everyone is doing there job well.

If somehow Edge can get cleared to wrestle again, the foundation was laid for a Trips/Edge feud. They never really had a singles feud back in the day as their only interaction was during the DX/Rated RKO story line that ended once Trips got injured.

 

[strongbad]

Overall, I thought last night's Raw was pretty lackluster, especially for a go home show. I'd say it was, quite probably, the weakest go home Raw of the year thus far.

In no particular order, the highlights were:

The Cutting Edge
Edge confronting Triple H backstage
Paul Heyman's "injury" fiasco
CM Punk beating the crap out of Heyman's "doctor" with the kendo stick
Randy Orton vs. Goldust
Stephanie McMahon belittling Goldust
Daniel Bryan vs. Dean Ambrose
AJ Lee on commentary
Santino Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro

I too was left wondering why it felt lackluster. Then I reviewed your list and thought, yes, there were a lot of great moments. So what went wrong?

I think that the Daniel Bryan - Randy Orton championship match, took a distant 3rd place to two other angles on Raw tonight; the Rhodes angle, and the one with Edge. Both of them were great, but with Daniel Bryan so over, I thought he wasn't exposed enough, not even on the mic at the beginning of the show. He only said a couple of words and then let Edge say everything else. Did someone forget he was there? At the end of the night, the WWE title match wasn't built stronger IMO. And then having Ziggler job sat wrong with me.

It may also be that we've been spoiled with so many great Raws recently, that my expectations were higher.

 

[The Eighties]

I know I'll catch flack for this but I think this was one of the best booked Raw's ever. The booking was brilliant, simple, but brilliant. It felt like a heel night, from Triple H stripping Bryan of the WWE title, to the viscous vindictiveness of Stephanie towards Dusty, to Orton brutalizing The Miz in front of his parents, they just kept escalating and you figure Bryan is about to get the worst of it. Then they flip it with the faces emptying out the locker room and making the save, the place was going nuts.

The opening segment was intriguing, holding up the title makes me think there could be a WWE title tournament on the horizon, and anyone in doubt of why they are pushing Bryan just needs to hear that amazing ovation, the guy is over like rover.

Stephanie dressing down Orton and saying her and Triple H need the Orton that abused them in 2009 was a great callback to that very personal angle.

The wrestling action for the night got off to a great start with a very strong match between Ambrose and Ziggler, it was better than their decent PPV match last night and with Dolph picking up the win it gives an opening for them to fight again at Battleground.

I think Fandango wrestled R Truth next, the crowd didn't care and amused themselves with various chants. Fandango's entrance theme is over, he isn't.

The Steph and Dusty segment was a tough watch, Dusty cut a heartfelt promo and managed to flow over some idiots chanting "What?" at him. Then when Steph got out there and offered him the option of picking Cody or Goldust to have a job in WWE shit got real, there was a mean edge to the segment and when Dusty refused to choose out came The Shield but Steph stopped them and brought out Show, the weeping Giant once more put in an impossible position, either knock out Dusty or The Shield would do it, the way Show and Dusty pulled off the punch was great.

Steph gave a sexy-evil smile and Dusty was taken to an ambulance. This was as despicable a piece of heeling as we've seen in a long time.

I think this is where the 6 Diva tag match happened, AJ provided commentary and Nattie was there as well but her mic didn't work for most of the match. They talked about making each other tap out. Worryingly bimbo Bella got the win in the tag match and I fear she'll be the one to take the title off AJ.

Heyman was rolled out on the stage in a wheelchair and Ryback was with him. This was an odd segment, Heyman cut a good promo putting himself over for beating Punk and was practically delirious. Then Ryback gets on the mic and says he hates bullies and Punk is a bully, then he says he hates everything about Punk and will protect Paul from now on, then he knelt down next to him and Heyman kissed him on the cheek and beamed at him. Heyman got the Walrus chant but Ryback got What!?ed by an unfortunately larger but equally annoying portion of the audience than Dusty got.

RVD vs Sandow happened for a 3rd time, Sandow lost as usual, nice moment between RVD and a kid with Down Syndrome at ringside after the match.

Randy Orton vs The Miz was not so much a match as a brutal rebirth of the psychotic Orton, the way he pummeled Miz in front of his Mom and Dad before trying to break his neck with a chair really drove home the point that Randy isn't playing.

The #1 contender 3 team elimination match between The Usos, The Real Americans and Tonnes of Funk was pretty good with a hot finishing sequence as The Uso's earn another shot at Rollins & Reigns.

There's a Wyatt vignette, Bray is a good talker but I have no idea what he is talking about and it's hard to really invest in the group at this point.

I liked the scene of Bryan heading to the ring to face Reigns with all the faces patting him on the back and his Bella giving him a hug, it was a simple thing but appealed to my love of the oldschool where the faces stuck together.

Bryan vs Reigns was a really good main event, Bryan worked the leg of the big man and fired in stiff kicks, Reigns countered with some great power offense. The action was physical and back & Forth with an interfering Rollins continuing his quest for a concussion by taking a nasty head bump off a Bryan baseball slide. When Bryan locked in the Yes-Lock Orton, Rollins and Ambrose hit the ring and it looked like the weekly Bryan beating was coming as the crowd chanted for CM Punk who was never coming...

Then the faces came racing out the locker-room to make the save, the place erupted, Randy hauled ass, Ambrose tried to fight but got taken out by Ziggler and RVD, Reigns kept on beasting and even speared Kofi but succumbed to a double Superkick from The Usos. Then Bryan hit Rollins with the running knee as all the faces and the entire arena chanted YES! and thrust their hands in the air.

What looked like being a bleak night of heel domination ended on one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory as the locker-room rose up to defend their guy....although Miz has to be wondering where they were an hour earlier....but none the less the image of Bryan on the PTP's shoulders as everyone was YES'ing in unison was glorious! I admit, I marked out a little and it's still good to be able to do that at my age.

 

[LSN80]

A good Raw tonight that seems to be setting up Battleground nicely. With only three weeks in between PPV's, they needed to move quickly to set-up and continue feuds so they work for the PPV, and for the most part, they were successful.

Raw Hits and Misses 9/16/13​

Raw Hits:​

Stephanie McMahon confronts Randy Orton:If a McMahon power regime storyline does occur where there's dissension in the family, Stephanie is my choice to be the heel. He dressing down of Orton and demands he "be the man who handcuffed my husband and DDT'd me" were both surprising and well-delivered. This was a great night for the Stephanie McMahon heel character.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose: Ziggler appears to either be a placeholder feud, or the one who will take the U.S. title from Ambrose. Like at Night of Champions, these two had a good back and forth match that was paced well. I really enjoyed the ending sequence, with Ambrose's Bulldog Driver being countered into the Zig-Zag by Ziggler. No matter how many times I see Ziggler counter someone into the jumping DDT, I'm still impressed. Good stuff from these two and I look forward to their match at Battleground. This itself was slightly better then their match at Night of Champions. **3/4.

Dusty Rhodes/Stephanie McMahon angle:Dusty and Stephanie both were awesome here. Dusty, playing the father, refused to pick between his children, and Stephanie, the businesswoman, was cold and calculating. Dusty going personal with Stephanie by asking her to pick between her daughters was absolutely perfect here for how she and HHH have treated Cody and Golddust the past few weeks, and Stephanie's evasiveness about Dusty making it all about himself was great heel logic in a response.

Even better was Dusty's refusal to pick between his two sons, and then to also refuse to choose between the Shield and Big Show. Big Show himself played his role well here, if not overacting slightly, in knocking Dusty ouyet wht and then holding him and riding in the ambulance with him as they took him to the hospital. I'm not sure yet where they're going with this angle but it's been awesome so far and I'm enjoying being along for the ride.

Randy Orton vs. The Miz: It's only Miz, so it's hard to say how effective this was given that fact, but Orton did in fact look quite vicious. His decimation of Miz complete with the Pillmanizing of Miz' neck was perfect in establishing himself as cold and ruthless once again, just like Stephanie had demanded. This is the heel Randy Orton that people are going to pay to see get beat. No match here as Orton destroyed Miz before the bell.

Ryback joins Paul Heyman: Both Heyman and Ryback were money here, and this sets up Punk vs. Ryback nicely. Ryback's character seemed directionless for some time, but it makes sense now as pairing he and Heyman really works. We got a taste last night of what it was like for Punk to get his hands on Heyman, only for Ryback to ruin the moment. Heyman's gloating over the record book reading "Paul Heyman beat CM Punk" was great, as was Ryback's promo about Punk being a bully to Heyman, Ryback hating bullies, and his need to save Heyman as a result. Great job explaining their alliance, and Ryback presents another 'Paul Heyman Guy' for Punk to feud with until he finally gets his hands on Heyman or has a rematch with Brock. The kiss on the cheek from Heyman to Ryback was just....bizarre, but it worked here for reasons I can't really explain.

Tons of Funk vs. The Real Americans vs. The Usos: I was quite surprised they went away from the Prime Time Players as challengers for the Shield, but the Usos simply deliver better matches then the PTP's do. Moreso, the new #1 Contenders were an essential part of the attack on the Shield and Orton tonight, so we may get an actual feud over the Tag Belts. It was good that Clay and Tensai were eliminated early as the match really picked up following that, as both teams were really moving out there and the ending with the Samoan Drop, Superkick, blind tag and Superfly Splash were great. The last match between The Shield and The Usos was excellent, so I'm looking forward to the rematch. **1/2.

Bray Wyatt vignette: They're taking their time with the Wyatts, and while it may lose some, I like the fact that they're developing a backstory for them. The Sister Abigail stuff is intriguing, and I'm interested to see what Kane is like when he returns. It feels like they're stalling them until that happens, but the vignettes and promos are solid enough that they're worth the wait.

Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns: Unsurprisingly, this was the match of the night, with Bryan doing an excellent job of making Reigns look like a monster. I'm not sure that Reigns is ready for a match of this length, but he hung with Bryan very well, and the reversal from Bryan's large kick into the Samoan Drop was sweet. It says something about Reigns as well that while Bryan beat his Shield counterparts in Reigns and Ambrose in under ten minutes each, back to back weeks, and Reigns was protected by Orton getting DQ'd at the end. Good stuff from these two, and I wouldn't mind seeing Bryan vs. any of the Shield members in a major feud.***.

Closing brawl:I've mentioned in the past at length that the locker room has been completely emasculated by HHH, and that regardless of threat of firing, they needed to do the "right" thing and save Daniel Bryan from beatdown after beatdown. They did so in a major way tonight, and the roster putting Bryan on their shoulders to celebrate after clearing the ring of the Shield and Orton shows Bryan being positioned as the star.

Overall Show: While there were a few misses on the show of some importance, the overall show and beginning the build towards Battleground was very good. I didn't like HHH stripping Bryan of the championship without an announcement of what happens next, but Stephanie more then compensated with her interactions with Orton and Dusty Rhodes alike. Rhodes' segment was fantastic, and if you missed it, go out of your way to find it. The Heyman/Ryback segment establishing their alliance was very good as well. Add in three well-wrestled matches with Ambrose/Ziggler, Bryan/Reigns, and the triple threat #1 Contender Tag match, two of which directly affect Battleground, and it's hard to call this show anything but a success. Finally, the closing segment with the babyfaces finally saving Daniel Bryan was a great moment, and I look forward to the response/follow-up from HHH. B+

Raw Misses:​

Opening Segment: This started off well, and the reaction for Bryan was insanely good, but the segment was dragged down by HHH's interruption and the inclusion of referee Scott Armstrong. After failing to mention the fast count last night, it was made front and center tonight by HHH. Further, HHH was in complete heel mode tonight after behaving like a face last night, which made for confusing stuff. Him also not mentioning how they're going to determine the next WWE Champion was confusing as well, with Battleground being just 3 weeks away.

Further, I don't want to see an angle with a referee, because they're not wrestlers. Armstrong telling Bryan "They're on to us Daniel" likely re-ensures this angle will continue, with Armstrong being a big part of it. Joy.

Fandango vs R-Truth: As bad as his match was with Miz last night at Night of Champions, Fandango's match tonight was even worse. The problem right now for Fandango is it's been some time since he's been in an actual feud, so he's hard to care about despite being an awesome character, good wrestler, and paired with a great(see: Hot) dance partner in Summer Rae. But win or lose, his matches for the most part simply don't matter because he's wrestling low/mid-card wrestlers with whom he has no storylines with. *

The Funkadactyls and Brie Bella vs. Alicia, Layla and Aksana: My goodness what a mess. Outside of Natalya and AJ, there simply is no women's division. Both women are being presented as the "leaders" of their respective groups, at least, so hopefully they'll skip the rest and go straight to a Natalya/AJ feud. Even at less then 5 minutes, the match was pretty bad with Brie hitting the Bella Buster/X Factor for the pin on Aksana to end this awful match. 1/4*

Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow: While I understand that RVD is likely the next World Champion and Sandow holds Money In The Bank, this seemed like a mismatch of epic proportions from start to finish. A simple step-over kick and Rolling Thunder beat Sandow in an incredibly short match, which re-enforces that Sandow is not being presented as a serious challenger whatsoever. As a result, when he does cash in and likely win, it will be even harder to accept him as champion. 1/2*

Sandow won the briefcase by selling on the floor the entire MITB match, and waiting his turn. That's good strategy for anyone, especially a heel, but they haven't followed up by having Sandow win advantageously either. As a result, he's being buried so deep that unless he turns things around soon, it might be better he cash-in and lose the case rather then win the title. Right now, he simply looks like a chump as he hasn't won a match since he won the briefcase.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

WWE Raw
September 16, 2013
Cleveland, Ohio​

Thumbs Up​

Opening Segment - The opening segment worked for me primarily because it genuinely generated intense feelings of sympathy for Bryan and dislike or the heels. Maybe it's the idea that someone who is generally "normal" and comes off as so likeable who works his ass off getting screwed over by the system. Bryan looked so happy and enthusiastic over being champion, even had his own customized "YES" side plate, so I genuinely felt for the guy. I know it's all "fake" but this angle has generated legit feelings of mark level pissed off I haven't experienced in years. I'm not crazy about the hot potato thing they're doing with the WWE Championship, but I'd be lying if I said I couldn't wait to see what happens next. The passionate response of the Cleveland fans helped out a lot as well. The post segment stuff with Randy Orton backstage was nicely done as well. I was initially lukewarm on the idea of Stephanie's involvement but I honestly think she's doing the best work of her on-screen career right now. She's not playing the role of daddy's spoiled rotten little bitch princess. She's sleazy, vindictive, mean spirited and aggressive. She reminds me a lot of Vince's character, but without resorting to adding some level of comedic aspects or over the top displays of ego to things.

Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler - I thought this match was better than their match at the NOC ppv. Overall, the energy of the NOC ppv just wasn't there for the undercard matches. Ziggler & Ambrose worked a strong television match that told a good story. I really like watching Ambrose in the ring, especially his mannerisms and facial expressions. Ziggler still sells better than anyone in wrestling right now, that's just how it is. I suspected that Ziggler would come up with a win, which is really what he's needed for the past month or so. The match went a little past the 11 minute mark with Ziggler picking up the clean win via the Zig Zag. This is Ambrose's first pinfall loss I believe, at least since becoming champ, and this will probably keep Ziggler in the hunt for the US title. ***

Stephanie McMahon & Dusty Rhodes - Really, really great promo work from both these two. As I alluded to earlier, Stephanie comes off as a very cold hearted bitch and Dusty, while not his best work, still delivered what felt like a heartfelt promo. He also looks much slimmer and healthier than the last time I saw him. I'm hoping that he's just been on a diet and that he's not sick. I highly doubt he's sick, it was just surprising to see his clothes fitting so loosely. Say what you want about Big Show, but I think he's doing great in this role. He sold his emotions extremely well and the response of the fans, again, only helped to drive this angle home. It looked as though he was about to bust loose on The Shield and used some very un PG language in doing so. The "lesser of two evils" aspect seemed a bit over the top but, then again, that's part of the point. Show rather "knocking out" Dusty rather than have The Shield beat him down with chairs was effective and the fans know that the cork is ready to pop on Big Show any time now.

Randy Orton & The Miz - This was a great brawl and has me doing something that I haven't done since Miz's face turn: I'm rooting for and feel sympathy for him. Miz has been, in my eyes, a generally dislikeable babyface because he's been too much like his smarmy, cocky heel persona. As big of a fan as I've been of wrestling all my life, I'd probably forget my role watching my kid get "beaten up", which Miz's parents didn't do of course. I couldn't help but chuckle as I pictured myself in an excited state of mind watching it and enthusiastically screaming at Orton, "Kick his ass, Randy!!!! Make that little pissant bleed!!!" I honestly do think it would have added more realism if Miz's parents had gotten involved a bit. For instance, even though my mother knows it's all set up, she would've tried to slap the dirt Orton calls a beard off his face. I think Miz's mother should have at least tried to comfort her son. By he way, anybody else think that Miz's dad looked like he was a roadie for Def Leppard from the mid 80s? Anyhow, Orton was great here and the sprays of spittle you could see on his face really helped sell the aspect of him being this deranged, merciless beast.

Paul Heyman & Ryback - I thought this was a lotta fun and both Heyman & Ryback played their parts very well. Heyman comes across as a supreme slimeball and the big smile on Ryback's face when he called him a "beautiful man" was priceless. After all, it's nice to feel appreciated. The little kiss on the cheek at the end was great, though I couldn't help but laughing at the look on Heyman's face as he gazed up at Ryback. I got a call from my mother right when this segment was over and the first thing out of her mouth was, "I'd give $100 if somebody pushed at peckerhead off that stage." Few things are funnier than the sight and/or sound of an old southern gal watching wrestling whose really into it. I got $50 that says Heyman gets launched outta that wheelchair by Punk next week.

The Usos vs. Tons Of Funk vs. The Real Americans - A much better match than I was expecting. The live crowd got into it soon once they realized that they were going to get a real match out of it. There was good action throughout, though I wish the PTPs would have been in on this rather than Tons of Funk. Still, they played their part well. The action really picked up when it was down to The Usos vs. The Real Americans, really good action and great energy from all four wrestlers. You had to know that The Usos were going to pick up the win, but there was good storytelling and Swagger had the Patriot Lock on for so long that it looked like they were gonna pull it off. The ending comes with Swagger leaping up to the second turnbuckle while one of The Usos goes for the big splash and tosses him off with a modified belly to belly throw. Unbeknownst to Swagger, the other Uso had made the tag just before his brother was thrown. As Swagger is lying on the mat selling the effects of the move, the other Uso delivers the big splash for the win. The Usos are #1 contenders or the WWE Tag Team Championship. ***

Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns - A great main event and this might be one of the only times I've seen Reigns in singles action. Reigns looked like a beast in there and Bryan continues to be someone who puts together top notch matches. Great back & forth action with Bryan helping to make Reigns look like a real star, especially with Reigns able to come back and regain control just when it seemed that Bryan was really rallying. There were a couple of really nice near falls here & there and the enthusiastic crowds only add onto Bryan's matches. The end comes a bit past the 18 minute mark after Bryan successfully puts Reigns in the Yes Lock. At this time, Bryan has taken out Rollins & Ambrose with a couple of dropkicks, so Orton comes and gets Reigns disqualified. Bryan winds up putting Orton in the Yes Lock for a bit until The Shield rallies and they get the best of Bryan with stomps & kicks. Orton eventually goes outside and gets a chair and places it around Bryan's head as he'd done with The Miz earlier. As he's getting ready to deliver the knee drop, the locker room empties and the fans explode as The Usos, Kofi, The PTPs, RVD, Zack Ryder and other babyfaces rush to the ring. Orton takes off and leaves The Shield to be decimated. The babyfaces work over The Shield as Bryan recovers until it's only Seth Rollins left. The babyfaces part a Rollins staggers about and Bryan delivers the big running knee to Rollins, folding him up like a letter. The faces all celebrate and the entire arena looks to be in on the YES!!! chant as the PTPs hoist Bryan up on their shoulders. ***1/2

Thumbs Down​

R-Truth vs. Fandango - This wasn't a really bad match or anything, but it just felt like filler. There as some decent action going on but apart from the novelty of both guy's entrances, and the highly understandable interest in Summer Rae, the match just didn't click. At least Fandango did score the win via the big leg drop. *1/2

Brie Bella, Cameron & Naomi vs. Layla, Alicia Fox & Aksana - Not really horrible, but not good either. It felt like a tacked on Divas match that serve no real purpose other than having AJ out on commentary. The match didn't last long, but I'm digging listening to AJ talk. Crazy chick is nowhere to be seen these days and that's a good thing. I'm glad to see a deeper, more serious side to AJ. NA

Rob Van Dam vs. Damien Sandow - Sandow's losing streak continues, so it's just a matter of time before WWE has him cash in MITB, win the title and expect everyone to suddenly forget that Sandow has been jobbing out since winning the briefcase. This "tear them down to build them back up" strategy has been employed far too often as it pertains to MITB winners and I can only hope they don't use it next year. RVD wins via the Five Star Frog Splash about the 5 minute mark. *1/2

Final Thoughts​

Last night's Raw was a strong follow up to Night of Champions. NOC, as a whole, was a disappointment but I'd be lying if I expected otherwise. It seemed that the show MIGHT have been designed to be a lackluster cog in the wheel on the way to something bigger. Last night's show featured strong promo segments, three very good matches, a hot crowd and some very interesting storyline progression. It's good to see WWE pull the trigger on the locker room rebelling. It needed to happen and I think they waited until the right time. They've endured weeks of watching Bryan get screwed over and tonight was too much. They saw Bryan get stripped of the title via what I'm guessing will be revealed as some sort of plot between Armstrong & Triple H, a beloved legend in Dusty Rhodes was humiliated and "knocked out" due to Big Show being forced to choose "the lesser of two evils", Miz being "assaulted" viciously by Randy Orton in front of his parents so Orton could prove a point and they saw the same thing about to happen to Bryan. There was some filler on last night's show, it wasn't awful filler, but it didn't mean much. While I'm not crazy about the little hot potato going on with the WWE Championship, it's an interesting development and I'm anxious to see what the follow up will be as well as the fallout from the locker room rebelling.

Grade: A-​

 

[BigThunder]

Very simply, one of the three best RAWs of the year, each of which rank among the best RAWs ever. Good to great matches (the Usos vs. Real Americans was as good as any tag bout we've seen in the E in years) and a superb setup and payoff to the HHH regime forcing the locker room to watch DB's beatdowns --- and when was the last time an angle paid off this well? It looked like the crowd was going to combust on those "yes" chants at the end.

I've been waiting for months for a true solo test for Reigns. I wasn't all that impressed with his in-ring work at the end of his NXT run, but, even carried by the best in the business, it's obvious he's come a long way. Can he eventually take over as "face of the company"? It's not beyond the realm of possibility.

All without Cena, Shamus, Punk, and Del Rio. Fantastic. A.

Now let's get the Rhodes brothers with Bryan and the Big Show against the Shield and Orton in a wargames match at Battleground, and things will be perfect.

 

[XXJJ]

Raw was great last night. For the people that kept complaining about how they are "burying" all the babyfaces.. Last night proved that having them watch from the stage for all those weeks was well worth it. It was really well done. They saw what Orton did to Miz earlier and when he was going to do that again to Bryan they finally had enough and said fuck it... It became a very memorable moment that the live crowd ate up.

I like that they just didn't give the title back to Orton and made it vacant. It adds a little more suspense to it. They added some new wrinkles to the storyline like HHH accusing Bryan of setting up the fast count and Stephanie and Hunter wanting the ruthless Orton back.

 

[The Eighties]

The performance of The Shield on this past weeks SD was brilliant, the variety of their work through all those matches was really impressive and I especially liked the section of the Gauntlet with Ziggler. The 6 man main event was a really good match and capped off a great night's work.

I also thought the way Triple H handled the progression of the storyline by using manipulation over intimidation was great, especially the way there was some sort of negative coincidence every time he seemed to attempt to be fair.

The other big plus point of the show was the promo from Randy Orton, one of the best he has ever cut.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Last night was a solid show. Good opening segment followed by a quality match between Del Rio and Kofi really set the stage. Orton is continuing to grow back into his ruthless character from a few years back and Bryan continues to get stronger. This should set up nicely and add a needed new element for their rematch. Even though Shield lost, they were still booked smart and made to look really good. Especially Reigns. All 3 of those guys could have successful single careers.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Oh, and Punk's promo. It's promos like last night that just reinforce why he is not only one of the best wrestlers today, but the absolute best on the mic. Put that altogether, and that's why he's the best in the world.

Most of the time I get upset when wrestlers bring up professional sports, but it not only worked last night, but elevated not only his promo but his message.