By Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp)
I was a little late to start watching Raw due to my DirecTV receiver being a goon, but caught the end of the opening segment with The Shield taking out Evolution to continue their feud. I’m interested to see how they can top last month’s match, if they even do. I think three singles matches could also be effective for Payback, and also provide three marquee matches for the show.
I loved this opening, and wish backstage interactions that don’t involve the damn Raw interview set were used more.
– Zeb Coulter’s deportation list is hilarious, and he continues to be fantastic on the mic, and serves as an anchor for Jack Swagger’s career. Swagger took on RVD, but before the two could lock up, Adam Rose and the Exotic Express came to ringside and distracted Swagger, allowing RVD to kick and Frog Splash Swagger for the immediate win. This match was exactly what it should have been for all involved, and served to keep putting RVD over, and further the Adam Rose/Swagger feud, which hopefully helps out both guys.
– WWE gave Paige a video package, and are continuing to push her hard, as they should. There have been plenty of better female wrestlers than Paige, but she has a look and style unlike any other.
Even then, I guess Paige beating Alicia Fox three times on tv in under a month wasn’t enough, because she did it again on Raw, and drew resounding “CM Punk” chants in the process. The WWE is starving for a great heel diva, and unless Kharma or Beth Phoenix come back, they aren’t getting it.
Nonetheless, the match was good, but not as good as Alicia Fox throwing a post-match tantrum. I mean, it wasn’t anything momentous, but it was entertaining, and shows what kind of character can shine through when given a few minutes.
– I have a feeling Daniel Bryan’s corny promos will hinder him in the future. That being said, John Cena has cut corny promos for ten years, and is the biggest star in that timeframe, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Bryan announced he requires neck surgery and may miss some time.
– The Wyatt Family vs. John Cena and the Usos up next, hopefully leading into a Usos/Wyatts tag team title match soon. These guys had the crowd the entire match, but the action was nothing special, especially in comparison to the other great six man tag matches over the past 18 months.
The Usos had another scary dive to the outside, which really worries me about them doing it going forward. Cena won the match over Rowan with the Attitude Adjustment, and it seems that the Usos may be joining him in his feud with the Wyatts, at least in the short term.
– Shield/Evolution continued, and make no mistake, it is the top story and feud on the show. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside how tag team wrestling, especially six-man tag wrestling has came back.
Also, Evolution cut a good promo.
– Natalta vs. Brie Bella happened. They were good, the Total Divas cast sitting outside the ring “grading the match” were not. I’d like to see more of Nikki vs. Natalya honestly, they match up well, although Nikki is still coming along in the ring.
Really, this was just a way to promote Total Divas, but I liked the match.
– Shemus vs. Curtis Axel, with the hilarious Ryback at ringside. I think it’s a little funny that Ryback got over as a monster, got over as a bully, and is going to get over as a tag team wrestler, despite his blatant de-push. Why the WWE has slammed the breaks on him, I don’t know. He’s an entertaining guy.
Sheamus seems to have really good matches when he has an opponent willing to take (and dish) a beating. As myself and Steve (@YourAyatollah) mentioned on the Late Shift a few weeks ago, he’s quickly become the best brawler in the WWE. Curtis Axel was a willing participant, and had a good short match, which Sheamus won via Cloverleaf. Afterwards, Ryback attacked Sheamus, setting up another match.
I rarely use the term buried, because I don’t think it’s fair. Daniel Bryan wasn’t “buried” during his run last year, guys like Zack Ryder or Fandango who were once over, and then had their mic or tv time removed are buried. Ryback consistently getting his ass kicked on TV after main eventing a PPV in 2012 is being buried, too.
Needless to say, Sheamus won, although it was a back and forth match, and another good one, too. For those of you saying the U.S. title was going to be pointless, the champion got a fantastic 15 minute segment.
– Stephanie McMahon cut another good promo next, which concluded with Kane dragging Daniel Bryan’s limp body to the ramp. I’d assume that this would write Bryan off for the time being, but the guy didn’t take a Raw off when his father passed away, so who knows.
– Woah! Dolph Ziggler is booked on the show! And so is Fandango? What is this life? Unfortunately the crowd didn’t seem to care as much as I did. Dolph Ziggler won an ok match when Layla accidentally distracted Fandango.
Fandango got a little mic time after the match, but it was just cheesy crap for them to throw on Total Divas. Son of a bee.
– “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan came out to a great ovation, but that doesn’t matter. Lana came out, that’s what’s important. I think Rusev was there too, but who cares? Lana was on TV. Great segment.
Also, Big E saved Duggan from being attacked by Rusev, but got his ass kicked. Sad world.
– Damien Sandow came out, and actually cut a promo, well half of one. I’m telling you, these mid-carders absolutely need mic time to flourish, grow, and become bigger stars, even if it’s only for 30 seconds. Man, I really hope this leads to the midcard stable that I mentioned….RIGHT HERE.
Sandow took on Cody Rhodes, and was exhibit A in why these guys need promos, backstage segments, interviews, anything—nobody cared about this match. If it had been between Daniel Bryan and Batista, people would have cheered their asses off. Cody Rhodes won with the disaster kick, but here’s to some change in the mid-card practices.
– Main event time, and it saw Batista taking on Roman Reigns. This was an interesting matchup for a couple of reasons, most notably the fact that this could have been a major PPV match on it’s own, and WWE has been careful who they match Reigns up with in singles contests.
This match was kept to a brawl, and didn’t even have the crowd into it for the majority, which isn’t promising for Reigns’ future. The match was thrown out after Evolution jumped in. After that, the whole heel roster attacked the Shield, only to have their asses kicked with steel chairs to close the show. A very underwhelming main event and segment.
– Again, this week I feel as if this show is just lacking something, a presence so to say. CM Punk’s absence, and Brock Lesnar’s break, in addition to the disappearance of familiar faces like Big Show, Rey Mysterio or Alberto Del Rio seems to leave a big vacancy on the show. Not to say any one name makes or breaks the show, but it certainly feels as if something is missing.
I thought the best work of the night was done by the Divas, something I haven’t said about Raw in a long time. I enjoyed both Divas matches, and they really highlighted the show.
That’s it for this week folks. Again, I apologize for the delay. Be sure to share, retweet, like, anything you can. I truly appreciate the support.
The post Ultimate Writer’s WWE Raw Thoughts- 5/13/14 appeared first on Cage Passion.