The Authority kick off Raw. They ramble. They call out Brad Maddox and want him punished for allowing the Shield to do commentary the prior week on Raw. They bring out Kane; Hunter punches Maddox. Kane chokeslams and tombstones Maddox. End of opening segment.
^Good riddance to Maddox. Waste of time and space. He’ll probably be kept around in a JTG-type role.
Cesaro defeats Rob Van Dam with a bridging German suplex. Sheamus comes down and brogue kicks Cesaro.
^Cesaro’s run as of late has been impressive, and he continued to look good here. I fully expect him to be the top contender for winning Money in the Bank this year(have I said that before?). Good back and forth action between Cesaro and RVD.
Eva Marie takes on Summer Rae. Fandango and Layla come out dancing and making out. Summer Rae is distracted and Eva Marie gets the quick rollup for the win. Summer Rae pitches a fit after the match.
^That was silly. Eva Marie has zero in ring ability. Anyone else want to see Fandango actually wrestle?
The Rhodes Brothers are looking for Triple H(they weren’t booked on the show) but they find Orton and Batista. They have words. Hunter comes into the scene and books the tag match for tonight. Hunter says Batista has big legs when Batista brings up Cody’s “skinny jeans sellout” comment.
^Could be a good tag team match with the four veterans.
El Torito defeats Drew McIntyre. Hornswoggle beats on Torito after the match and yanks off his tail.
^Just when it can’t get any sillier, they go and do this. It’s not entertaining; it’s pointless and over the top.
Bray Wyatt promo with JBL, Lawler, the Usos and John Cena.
^Great promo work from Bray as always. Great promo work from Cena. Nice to see the Usos make the save and nice to see JBL get smacked. Best segment of the show thus far.
Zack Ryder is squashed by Alexander Rusev. Big E comes down for the save after the match.
^Nice of WWE to give Ryder those few minutes on TV. I wish WWE would realize how redundant their booking feels for Rusev. The match with Big E does have potential for the pay per view.
The Brotherhood takes on Randy Orton and Batista. Orton pins Rhodes after two RKOs. Justin Roberts announces that this is an elimination match and now it’s a handicap, no holds barred match with Goldust against both members of Evolution. Batista and Orton destroy Goldust and Batista gets the win after he hits his finisher.
^So the authority has pissed off the Brotherhood, and we’re back to the same type of storyline we saw in 2013. I’m just happy that we got to the brotherhood in action on Raw. Good tag team match overall.
Bo Dallas defeats Sin Cara in a short match.
^Nothing different than what we saw on Smackdown last week. Thanks for the repeat match.
Stephanie McMahon comes out. She calls out Daniel Bryan and wants him to surrender his titles. He refuses. She says he will forfeit the titles at Payback or else she will fire Brie Bella for shoving her a few weeks ago.
^Stephanie was good here. This storyline feels dragged out but I do understand why WWE is going in this direction. Daniel Bryan’s return to the ring is so up in the air and they don’t want to just rip the title off him if he can return quickly. Decent segment.
Alicia Fox comes out to take on Emma. Emma gets the win with a rollup after Alicia misses a kick in the corner. Alicia is furious after the match and jumps Emma. She continues the beatdown of Emma in the ring with a backbreaker before tossing her to the floor. Alicia goes around ringside and starts ringing the bell like a psycho. She beats on some of the ringside crew and gives a guy a wedgie.
^Good heel heat for Alicia Fox. She still doesn’t impress me in the ring, but at least WWE is building her up as a crazy threat for Paige’s title.
Adam Rose takes on a Davey Crockett-gimmicked Damien Sandow. Jack Swagger comes out with Zeb Colter and the guy dressed as a lemon. Rose wins the match with the party foul and Swagger jumps Rose. Swagger beats him down but Rose counters and delivers a huge spinebuster.
^No one touches Adam Rose’s lemon. It’s still a strange gimmick, but Rose belongs in the ring and I’m happy to see him wrestling on Raw. It’s supposed to be a family show, after all.
Alberto Del Rio goes one on one with the US Champion, Sheamus. Sheamus wins a short back and forth match with the brogue kick to Del Rio. Paul Heyman gets on the mic after the match and taunts Sheamus. Cesaro jumps Sheamus while Heyman his him distracted and delivers the neutralizer.
^Cesaro looks strong here. Sheamus looked good in that match. Del Rio is just operating as an enhancement talent until his contract is up. Three very good talents in this segment of the show. The match at Payback should be exceptional.
Michael Cole is in the ring for the contract signing. The Shield come out. Rollins and Ambrose talk while Reigns tosses the chairs and table out of the ring. Evolution comes out and Hunter talks as they slowly walk to the ring. Hunter asks if they’re sure about signing the contract as it will be the last we ever see of the Shield after their match at Payback. The Shield each sign it and Reigns tosses it to the outside where Evolution is standing. They sign it as well. Hunter goes to say something and Reigns interrupts; he tells them to get in the ring and fight. They brawl. Reigns has the upper hand on Batista but Hunter gets a sledgehammer. Orton with an RKO on Rollins and Batista with a spear on Ambrose. Hunter knocks Reigns out of the ring with the hammer and they triple powerbomb Reigns through the announce table. Evolution stands tall to end the show.
^That felt like the same thing we’ve seen week in and week out with this rivalry, but Evolution using the Shield’s signature powerbomb intrigues me. I’m looking forward to the Elimination Match on Sunday.
This episode of Raw lacked wrestling and excitement. It’s a 3 out of 10 from me. Definitely not a quality go home show for wrestling. I do think the Payback card has been built nicely around some fresh talent, but this particular episode of Raw didn’t get me excited for it.
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