Following last week’s Raw, this week’s edition seemed intriguing enough with the return of John Cena and questions over what lay ahead for AJ Styles.
So with less than three weeks to the Money In The Bank PPV, what worked on this week’s Monday Night Raw and what failed to impress?
#1 Bad – Mis-McMahon-agement
Charlotte makes the ‘Bad List’ for the second week in a row, but this time through no fault of her own. Yet again Stephanie McMahon was demeaning top talent by verbally abusing them and leaving them standing there like a lost child, it happened to Seth Rollins last week and happened to the reigning Women’s Champion this week.
With seemingly no pay-off for the talents and no comeuppance for Stephanie, this is doing nothing for either of them. WWE has a habit of booking ‘The Authority’ figures as stronger than the in-ring performers and then they wonder why no new stars are breaking through.
If this leads to a match between Charlotte and Stephanie at Summerslam then fair enough but then again, aren’t they both heels? This was a big week for Charlotte after unceremoniously disposing of her father, Ric Flair, last Monday, but it felt like she took a step backward this week.
#2 Bad – Mind games or Mind-numbingly dull?
Seth Rollins made his triumphant return to Raw last week to a hero’s welcome and made his intentions clear, he wants his WWE World Heavyweight Title back.
We were told that the upcoming Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns match on June 19th is ‘WrestleMania worthy’, so how did they further this storyline after last week’s ‘blockbuster announcement’?
Well, they didn’t. Roman Reigns called out the No.1 Contender after spewing his typical shtick of being ‘The Guy’ and out came Rollins. He marched down the ramp to confront Reigns and then retreated back up the ramp… and then came down again… and then retreated again…and then ran down again…and then retreated again, he did this for around five minutes and then eventually left the arena without so much as a word being spoken.
This whole thing felt completely pointless and with so much history between the two former Shield members, surely WWE could have thought of something more to do than this wasteful segment.
#3 Bad – Fool’s Gold
Another week brings another chapter of the story nobody wants to read about The Golden Truth. To think this program has been running for four months already and is showing no sign of stopping is a scary thought, especially when you consider that the talents that are fighting for TV time and can’t seem to catch a break.
Calling themselves “the tag team that everyone wants to see” is delivered in a tongue-in-cheek way, with the joke being that they actually suck and nobody really wants to see them, which begs the question, why are WWE investing so much time in them anyway?
#4 Bad – Natalya Gets Fooled Again
Oh, Natalya.
Obviously the training in the Hart Dungeon didn’t teach you not to take your eyes off your opponent, although I suppose anyone can be fooled once right?
However, this isn’t the first time it’s happened, it’s happened at Roadblock, Extreme Rules and now on last night’s Raw. Underhanded tactics are great to get heat on the heel and garner sympathy for the face, but when the face falls for the exact same trick again and again then eventually, as is happening in the case of Natalya, they look stupid and lose a lot of credibility from the audience.
At the very least Charlotte should be using a different trick, she is the daughter of the dirtiest player in the game after all. Grab the tights, use an exposed turnbuckle, use a thumb to the eye, anything but the same old simple distraction in getting the desired result every time.
#5 Bad – Lazy Main Event
The six-man tag main event looked good on paper and featured a number of the WWE Universe’s favourite superstars, yet what played out was a boring, predictable match that left a lot to be desired.
While there was nothing wrong with the match itself, sitting through three hours of Raw to get to a main event that had a basic finish and did nothing to raise any questions about the current storyline was underwhelming to say the least.
If the plan is to just do a match to fill time and feature the Money In The Bank participants then why close the show with this? Surely the aim is to end the show with something that gets everyone talking the next day, which this week’s edition missed the mark on by some distance.
#1 Good – The New Era’s Dark Horse
While this was far from an exciting backstage promo, I’m struggling to find five good points from last night’s Raw, so congratulations Apollo, you’ve made the ‘Good List’.
Apollo Crews has failed to make an impact since being called up to the main roster, which has lead to people asking whether or not he was called up from NXT too soon. While I do believe he would have benefited from spending another year on the developmental roster, he is not a lost cause by any means and clearly has a lot of talent.
Having Big Show with him in a mentoring role could help establish his character with the WWE Universe while not having the pressure of the spotlight being all on him. Also, being in a feud with Sheamus, who is somewhat of a veteran on the current roster, could help Apollo transition into a solid hand on either Raw or Smackdown in the future.
#2 Good – Miz on set
The Miz has arguably done some of his best work over the last few months since he first arrived in WWE over 10 years ago.
He seems to have finally found the persona that fits him and it fits him perfectly. The wannabe A-lister gimmick is not much of a stretch for Mike Mizanin and the confidence he has gained since winning the Intercontinental Title has been evident for all to see, he has shared the ring with some very skilled in-ring workers recently and has more than held his own.
Although he didn’t appear live on this week’s Monday Night Raw, he did send a link in from the set of The Marine 5 and will continue to keep the WWE Universe updated on the film’s progress, something I’m sure everyone is keen to hear about. This is a great way for Miz to further establish his character and could lead to some entertaining segments on WWE television over the next few weeks.
#3 Good – “Fromunda Cheese”
Once again, Enzo & Cass came out to a great pop and cut an entertaining promo. It’s what they do best and is what everybody wants to see. Big Cass is often overshadowed by the ultra-charismatic Enzo Amore but he can certainly cut a smooth and witty promo as he showed on this week’s Raw with his list of cheeses, yes you read that correctly, that the audience responded to with a “How you doin’?” after every example.
Although they have only been on the roster a short while, they have a strong connection with the WWE Universe and have them in the palm of their hands from the moment their music hits. Obviously their exposure from their NXT run has helped them transition to the main roster but it’s hard to think of any act in recent memory that got this over in such a short amount of time.
Get used to seeing these guys on the ‘Good List’ as they are always a highlight for me on Monday Night Raw and that doesn’t look like changing any time soon.
#4 Good – ‘Heel’ Ziggler
It was short and sweet but the Baron Corbin vs Dolph Ziggler match, that I’m not sure many people were greatly anticipating, was one of the better segments of this week’s Raw. The ‘technical wrestling match’ that was promised last week did not transpire due to a low-blow from Dolph, returning the favour to the Lone Wolf from Extreme Rules by kicking him square in the family jewels in the beginning of their match.
It felt fresh and has given Dolph a bit of an edge to his character that he has been lacking for far too long. It’s also garnered some interest in this feud that has been lacklustre from the start and, although it shouldn’t continue for too much longer, it’s certainly got more people talking about them this week than in the previous couple of months.
#5 Good – Bullet Swerve
The undoubted highlight of this week was the confrontation between the returning John Cena and AJ Styles, a sight many wrestling fans never thought they’d see and the audience in Green Bay, Wisconsin loved every second of it.
Dueling chants of “Let’s go Cena/AJ Styles” went on for at least a couple of minutes and created an electric atmosphere which gave everybody watching a chance to absorb just exactly what they were witnessing – two of the biggest stars in professional wrestling over the last decade crossing paths for the first time – and it was truly a special moment.
Then, when The Club interrupted to set-up what looked like a 2-on-2 situation, AJ Styles swerved everyone by hitting Cena with a cheap shot from behind and reuniting with his partners in crime to savagely attack the ‘Face that runs the Place’.
With The Club also attacking The New Day earlier in the night to set-up a future feud with them, it looks as though the fans are finally getting what they wanted to see ever since the news broke of Gallows & Anderson signing with WWE. The Club has certainly put everyone on notice.
