The Authority kicks off Raw with the roster at the top of the ramp. Hunter announces a battle royal tonight for a qualifying spot in the WWE World Title ladder ladder match at Money in the Bank. Hunter says John Cena, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are NOT allowed to compete. John Cena will face Kane in a stretcher match in our main event with the winner qualifying for Money in the Bank.
^I’ve never understood the reasoning for bringing all the wrestlers to the top of the stage for an announcement(don’t they hear it in the back?), but at least this entire segment was kept to a minimum. AND, we’ve got some potentially exciting matches for the rest of the show. Good start.
Seth Rollins takes on Dolph Ziggler. Rollins wins by DQ when Dean Ambrose interferes and attacks him. Ambrose cuts a promo when Rollins gets away and wants his “extremely punchable face.” Hunter pops up on the big screen and books Ambrose in a match with Bad News Barrett right now.
^These two already had a couple great matches recently, and so the angle finish here with Ambrose works just fine. And hey, we saw Ziggler on Raw! More good stuff here.
Barrett defeats Dean Ambrose by countout when Ambrose chases Seth Rollins into the crowd. Ambrose comes in after the match and nails his finisher on Barrett.
^Two of my favorites! Another awesome physical match that was just cut too short. Barrett is great in this upper mid-card role and Dean Ambrose has an incredible future with this gimmick.
Roman Reigns slips something in the authority’s coffee when he runs into Vickie Guerrero(as she’s getting it for them).
^Cheesy angles like this are obvious, but I’m enjoying this one because we get to see more of Reigns’ personality.
Bray Wyatt cuts a promo and then he goes one on one with Sheamus. The Usos come out during the match to even the odds. Sheamus wins by DQ when Rowan and Harper refuse to stay out of the match.
^Another good fight here on Raw. Nice to see all these men involved and good hype for the match on Sunday. I like the finish because it protects two of the top guys in WWE. Is it just me, or does Sheamus seem like a dark horse to win the WWE World Title ladder match? As for Bray, it would be a bit too soon but I would enjoy it just the same if he were THE WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Backstage, Hunter accidentally knocks his coffee all over Vickie but Stephanie drinks hers.
^And now we can see more of where this is headed…Hunter’s also very good at being an ass.
Stephanie McMahon is interviewed by Renee Young but has to leave in a hurry(must be the coffee). Paul Heyman comes into the scene and gives us a spoiler that Cesaro is going to win at Money in the Bank.
^Stephanie’s in trouble and Heyman enjoyed stirring things up for the IWC. I hope it’s true, but I don’t see WWE going that route just yet.
Rusev squashes the one man band, Heath Slater.
^RIP to McIntyre and Mahal, and goodbye to any chance of ever being relevant Mr. Slater. I predict this won’t be the last time he’s squashed by Rusev.
Stephanie pukes all over Vickie backstage after Hunter makes Vickie check on Steph in the bathroom.
^That was disgusting, as usual when WWE does a vomit scene. Gross, but at least we got the punchline for the whole joke. Reigns/HHH for Summerslam is looking more and more likely as the rivalry continues.
Roman Reigns convinces Vickie Guerrero to do “something positive” and let him in the battle royal tonight. She lets him in the match.
^Hmm…I wonder who will win that match.
Adam Rose/Kevin Hart/Renee Young backstage segment where Hart doesn’t want to be a rosebud.
^Rose cracks me up. I’ve honestly never seen any of Kevin Harty’s stuff.
Adam Rose and Summer Rae defeat Layla and Fandango in a short match. Rose wins with his “party foul” finisher. Kevin Hart ends up celebrating with the rosebuds after all.
^That was too short to matter, and it makes me wonder why some idiot gets paid to market these silly gimmicks when eventually they just get buried over time. Why can’t there be a better trend here?
Roman Reigns wins the battle royal to qualify for Money in the Bank when he last eliminates Bo Dallas and Rusev.
^Reigns looked AWESOME in this match. Excellent performance by the up and coming star; this guy has money written all over him especially when he delivers that kind of performance. Enjoyable battle royal.
John Cena cuts an amazing promo with Renee Young backstage.
^When Cena is on, he’s on. That was hilarious and entertaining and something I won’t soon forget. Can we get more of that specific type of Cena on the mic from now on?
Paige defeats Cameron in a short match with the PTO.
^That was hardly worth my time. Let Paige and that lovely accent speak more, please.
Goldust and Stardust(Cody Rhodes’ new gimmick) defeat RybAxel in a very short match. Stardust wins using his blockbuster finisher.
^Cody changes costumes and is all of a sudden a winner? It’s not very believable, but it’s WWE and we’re supposed to buy it. I like the gimmick personally, and I think they will be a fun pair to watch for the time being. Again, it was short, but it was pretty darn entertaining.
John Cena takes on Kane in our main event stretcher match. Seth Rollins and Randy Orton try to stop Cena from winning but Dean Ambrose makes the save. Cena nails an AA on Kane onto the stretcher and pushes him to the finish line for the win. Cena celebrates to end Raw.
^For a Cena/Kane match, this one was pretty damn good. Kane can still go with the best of them in Cena, and we were delivered a hard fought stretcher match. I liked the interference angle with Dean coming in as the crazy face to save the day; it adds to his stock. Great finish to a very solid Raw. Whether or not you believe John Cena can “wrestle”, there’s no denying that he can put on one helluva main event when called upon.
Final Thoughts: It’s an eight out of ten for me. I loved this episode of Raw. I love the young talent and I love the physicality involved in some of these matches. The roster is absolutely loaded with heavy hitters just waiting to make a name for themselves(Ambrose and Reigns on the mic, no?). Absolutely enjoyed almost every bit of this episode.
Thanks for reading!
