The Usos take on Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt in our opening match. The match ends by DQ when Rowan and Harper get involved to stop the Usos from getting the win. Solid way to start the show! THIS is the future of WWE, and THIS is how you kick off Raw!
Bray Wyatt hits Dbry with the sister abigail after the match. Rowan and Harper pick up Dbry and carry him from the ring; he walks to the back with them on his own. You have to love the way Dbry presents himself as though he’s united with the group. Great acting and great character development.
John Cena defeats Damien Sandow in an excellent match. Sandow was given some close two counts on Cena, but Cena wins the match with an AA. This kind of match proves that Damien Sandow could carry the WWE World Title scene if in fact WWE goes that route in the future. The talent Sandow possesses is vastly underrated.
Kane and Brad Maddox argue backstage. Maddox suggests the Usos take on Bray Wyatt and Dbry in a steel cage for tonight’s main event. Kane suggests chaining the cage door shut so no one can get involved. You can see where this is headed.
Big Show defeats Jack Swagger with a chokeslam. Decent match, but too short to for me to remember it next week. Antonio Cesaro goes after Show but runs away when Show sees him coming in his direction. Big Show grabs Zeb Colter when he checks on Swagger and Cesaro tries to help. Cesaro gets tossed out and Colter gets hit with the former weapon of mass destruction(KO punch, currently). I’m sure many people enjoyed seeing the annoying heel Zeb getting slammed. Nice segment overall.
The New Age Outlaws and CM Punk are defeated by the Shield in a six man tag team match. The Outlaws turn on Punk and leave him high and dry so he has no one to tag. Reigns pins Punk after a spear. Lather, rinse, repeat. Reigns keeps getting wins, and it looks good for his character development. Punk is now pushing a feud with Triple H(the Outlaws being his former buddies), and I’m surprised we didn’t see that turn coming sooner. Good wrestling match, but even better storyline push.
The Shield gang up on Punk after the match and nail their infamous triple powerbomb. Not sure why it takes three of them to take out Punk when he’s down, but ouch regardless.
We have a backstage segment. Bray forgives Dbry, and tonight they will find redemption and absolution inside the steel cage. Interesting stuff, but most people can see what they’re doing here with the storyline.
Tamina and AJ Lee defeat Cameron and Naomi. AJ pins Cameron for the three count. Typical Divas stuff. I’m surprised AJ still has the belt and the lack of a heavy feud as champion.
Naomi gives AJ the rear view after the match once she takes care of Tamina. Perhaps this could be the next feud for AJ. I doubt she’ll drop the title now that she has the Maxim cover coming up. Too much good publicity for WWE.
Randy Orton is looking for the Authority. He whines to Kane about it. Kane puts him in a match with Kofi Kingston tonight. Should be excellent wrestling.
The Ultimate Warrior is the first inductee in the 2014 Hall of Fame class. Good for him. He was awful in the ring, but a legend as a character. It’s about time.
Renee Young interviews Paul Heyman backstage. Heyman says it was a boneheaded move for Big Show to pick a fight with Brock Lesnar and that Brock is the number one contender for the WWE World Title. I’m not sure what that means for storyline, but Brock challenging for the WWE World Title at WrestleMania 30 would not impress me in the slightest.
Kofi Kingston defeats Randy Orton in a non-title match with the SOS. I’m surprised he got the pin on the champion, but it was a solid performance from both men. Kofi continues to prove that in the ring, he can go with the very best of them. It reminds me of Christian almost; the guy has charisma but doesn’t get to show it, but then in the ring he out-performs nearly everyone on the roster. The chemistry of Orton and Kofi could make for an exciting feud if WWE chose to reignite it.
Orton attacks John Cena’s father(in the front row) after the match. Cena runs out to check on his dad as Orton goes to the back. Nice heat for Orton. Cena’s dad is taken away in an ambulance.
Goldust and Cody Rhodes defeat Ryback and Curtis Axel in a non-title match. Another solid match tonight! What a show so far! Rhodes nails cross-rhodes on Axel for the win in this one. Just some good back and forth tag team action set at a good pace. Goldust and Cody Rhodes have been a great thing to happen to the tag team division; I dare say they’re even more exciting than when the Shield had the titles. I hope the split doesn’t come too soon.
Alberto Del Rio defeats Rey Mysterio with the cross armbreaker. Del Rio says the same thing will happen to Batista if he shows up next week. First of all, Mysterio should never be anyone’s punching bag, but that’s what we got here. The match wasn’t bad, but I could’ve done with a few more minutes of wrestling. Del Rio’s feud with Batista has potential, but that all depends on duo’s chemistry once they get in the ring. I expect Batista to get the best of Del Rio next week.
CM Punk confronts Kane backstage. Punk wants Hunter to stop hiding behind his friends, but Kane says Hunter doesn’t need to hide behind anyone. He tells Punk that he’s an official entrant in the Royal Rumble. Punk says he has a problem with Kane, but he’s fine with being in the Rumble. I’m fine with it too, but he won’t win it.
The Usos escape the cage to defeat Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan. Good action for a main event on Raw, and I really hope this means WWE will open their eyes to just how talented the Usos are and give them a run with the tag team titles before the year is over.
Dbry turns on Bray after the match and Rowan and Harper can’t help him(because apparently they can’t climb the cage). Dbry ends up nailing Bray with the flying knee after taking off his mechanic suit and revealing his regular trunks. Dbry leads the crowd in a yes chant to end the show. Outstanding finish to the storyline, and thank goodness WWE didn’t drag it out for too long. It’s a refreshing setup for a probable Rumble match between Bray and Dbry. Great way to end the night with WWE’s TOP STAR coming out on top!
There’s literally not much to complain about from this episode. Del Rio was pretty boring, but aside from that we had tons of great wrestling and solid storyline advancement. I give the show an 8.5/10 for being top notch. I won’t give it a nine because I’m sick of Del Rio being put over in short matches, and I’m sick of matches happening multiple times on a show(Usos/Dbry-Wyatt) when the company has a loaded roster that could be featured in some of that time. Still, 8.5/10 is nothing to cry about. Great show!
Thanks for reading!
facebook.com/thunderstruck11 – add me!
