WWE Monday Night Raw: 20th January, 2014 - Superstar Ratings

Batista and Alberto Del Rio

The expectations of the WWE Universe were more than high when the WWE announced that Batista would be returning from a three year hiatus.

That proved to be the centre stage of this week’s Raw but one has to admit that the much hyped return didn’t live up to those expectations. However, the show produced some solid matches and interesting angles.

All the storylines got a well-placed final push ahead of the Royal Rumble while certain individuals built some great momentum.

Randy Orton was running more than wrestling; Bray Wyatt promised to make Bryan’s life a living hell, Brock Lesnar finally met his match while the tag team champions found out who was their latest challenger. There were a lot of talking points from the show but now let’s take a look at how the superstars faired at the latest edition of WWE’s flagship show.

Randy Orton- 5

Randy Orton

When Randy Orton won his grueling match against John Cena at TLC fair and square, most of the fans expected Orton to have a dominating evil title reign. But so far, Orton has been an utter failure as a champion.

He took a loss to Kofi Kingston, he was chased off by John Cena various times and many other embarrassing moments have affected the credibility of Orton’s reign.

Thus Orton head’s into the Rumble with a clear disadvantage with a need to prove himself to the fans and the Authority for that matter.

Rey Mysterio- 5.5

Rey Mysterio

A man who won the Royal Rumble, a man who headlined WrestleMania, a man who has held the prestigious title, the ultimate underdog.

At the moment, all the above mentioned merits in the resume don’t seem to be enough for Rey Mysterio to get a credible storyline. The three matches against Del Rio didn’t have any meaning to it other than being random booking. Losing two out of those three matches also hurt Mysterio as well.

The creative team should look into the situation very fast if they don’t want to waste a star like Mysterio without any angle.

The Rhodes Brothers- 6

Rhodes Brothers

There were no real surprises when the tag team champions ended up in the losing side of the six man tag team match. They’ve been booked similarly ever since they won the titles. The brothers are used to being defeated in the weekly TV shows and then resurrecting in the occasions.

At the Rumble the New Age Outlaws will be the latest threat for their titles, and the degenerates also comes with the backing of the authority which could end up in a screwy finish.

Brock Lesnar-6

Brock Lesnar

The Beast was once again made to look weak at the hands of Big Show and the fans might’ve started casting doubts over the “unbeatable” tag of Lesnar.

His return maybe on a downward spiral for an average viewer, but the fact is that the WWE might be diluting the fall into the storyline to make his eventual win in Royal Rumble more dominating. He is down but not out so expect Lesnar to destroy Show once he gets the chance to do so.

Big E Langston- 6

Big E Langston

Ever since his loss to Randy Orton, Langston has been on the end of inconsistent booking from the creative team.

He had a clear momentum for his reign but all that is coming to a waste now as he took the fall this week also. But at least he could be part of an entertaining six man tag team bout which gave him some relevance.

He heads into Rumble with the least momentum as everything that was built up some weeks ago went into the dustbin following the falls he took.

Kofi Kingston- 6

Kofi Kingston

Kofi was a standout star in last week’s Raw with his surprise win over Randy Orton. The Authority gave Orton a chance to rectify the loss with a rematch.

Instead of the rematch being a squash one, Kofi showed glimpses of last week throughout the match. The interference ending of the match also helped Kofi, who is all set for taking the centre stage with his athleticism at Royal Rumble.

John Cena- 6

John Cena

John Cena didn’t have the luxury of getting into the ring this week but the Cenation leader once again got the better of Randy Orton when he chased down the Unified champion.

The battle between the two has turned into a personal fight now which makes it a bit more interesting than it was in the previous clashes. Cena has a score to settle while Orton has everything to lose. It might not be the greatest match in the Rumble but it’s going to be a solid one.

Alberto Del Rio – 6.5

Alberto Del Rio

For the third time in the last couple of weeks, Alberto Del Rio was booked against Rey Mysterio. With the scores stalled at 1-1 the match seemed like a tiebreaker to decide who the better man was.

Del Rio clinched the match but the celebrations were spoiled by Batista who gave Del Rio some taste of the Batista bomb.

Despite the bad ending, everything else went right for Del Rio as the match was fast paced and exciting.

The Wyatt Family -6.5

Wyatt family

Bray made sure that Bryan knew what he would get in the future with a creepy captivating promo. The energy of Bryan coupled with the skills of Bray seemed to be explosive.

After that the other two members of the Wyatt Family went up against the Usos which proved to be the match of the night. It will be interesting to see what Bray plans to do to Bryan after all these weeks but for now, it was an average performance from the Wyatts by their standards.

The Big Show-6.5

Big Show

After a squash match last week, the giant came out this week and produced another good promo which made him look more dominating than Brock Lesnar.

The mocking of Paul Heyman was a funny part while man handling Lesnar was the highlight. Show heads into the Rumble with the upper hand but the chances of him winning aren’t very high despite his recent heroics.

The New Age Outlaws-7

The New Age Outlaws

The duo is bringing glimpses of the attitude era at Raw which is a great thing to start with. Their current run in the main roster is also set to continue which is much greater.

Heel or Face, they bring a lot into the table in terms of entertainment. The waves of nostalgia are also an integral part of their success.

In the loss also, Billy Gunn looked graceful and for a man of his age he still got many moves up his sleeve.

Daniel Bryan – 7.5

Daniel Bryan

The good news is that Bryan is cleared for Royal Rumble; the bad news is the Wyatt Family if going to make Bryan’s life a living hell.

The best news this week however was Bryan making an appearance despite the serious concussion that he suffered after the steel cage match. As always, he popped the crowd with some great microphone work and Bray Wyatt’s promo took the segment to whole new level.

It’s good to see Bryan back in his real form and its clearly making the crowd go wild.

The Shield- 7.5

The Shield

The trio seems to be free from their feud with CM Punk and has more options to explore now. They were pitted against the tag team champions and Intercontinental champion in a six man tag team match this week.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins looked particularly impressive. Reigns was protected as always while Rollins was a surprise package. The former NXT world Champion got a pin over Big E Langston which could serve as the first step for his singles career.

Shield will be among the headline makers at Rumble so watch out for the trio in between the chaotic battle Royal.

CM Punk- 8

CM Punk

The Straight Edge superstar is clearly heading for a match against Triple H in the future which makes his matches with The New Age Outlaws meaning full.

This week, Punk came up against Billy Gunn but Road Dogg also got his share of punishment from Punk. The win and the confrontation with Kane makes Punk one of the stand out performers of the week.

To add more drama, we now know who the first entrant in the Royal Rumble is going to be.

The Usos- 8

The Usos

The Usos had another solid weekend this time around with another clean win over the Wyatt Family. They are clearly the hottest team in the tag team division and the company seems to be booking them in order to build great momentum.

They might well be on their way to a tag title reign sooner or later as well. But for that they need to change their attention from the Wyatts as the two teams has already faced many times.

Batista- 8

Batista

It was good to see Batista back in the ring but his return didn’t live up to all the expectations. Batista made clear that he was going for the title through the Rumble.

Things would get interesting if Batista doesn’t win the Rumble which will leave the lights of Cena, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Brock Lesnar and one title.

The animal then went on to showcase his signature Batista bomb on Alberto Del Rio thus leaving that door open also. So to sum up it was definitely great to see him back in the ring, but that rating would’ve been much higher if he had made a bigger impact.