WWE RAW, Jan 13: Review

WWE RAW, in Houston, celebrated its 20^th anniversary, a landmark that it needs to surely boast about. The show opened up showing all the different openings of RAW for the past 20 years and I must say it was quite impressive. To start off things, in came the ‘certified iconic genius’ (he called himself that for having reached the 20 year landmark) Vincent Kennedy McMahon. He began by announcing the matches scheduled for the night, which included Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena in a steel cage match.

The Big Show then interrupted the chairman and wanted the events of last week’s SmackDown addressed. Finally, after several unbearable rants from the former World Heavyweight Champion, Del Rio came out and showed that he was ready for a rematch, which was then scheduled for Royal Rumble. After this, Big Show was made to enjoy some confetti shower and an extremely impressive hurricanerana on Big Show by Del Rio ended the segment.

It was a decent way to start of the 20^th anniversary and the fact that Vince himself came down to open the show was a good appeal to the fans. Also, the fact that Big Show delivered a more than decent promo made this an even more interesting segment. This set the tone for things to come.

Wade Barrett vs Randy Orton

The first match was between the Barrett Barrage and the Viper. The match was good thanks to the surprise element that it had in the end. Wade Barrett hit the Bull Hammer to pick up the victory. It was indeed pleasant to see Barrett pick up the victory as it proved a huge point that WWE is ready to push Barrett forward. He defeating the nine-time champion does indicate WWE’s readiness to push this guy to the next level.

The fact that Barrett only scored victories against mid-carders in recent times didn’t really elevate him as the next best Intercontinental Champion. This victory will give him not only proper elevation, but also a lot of confidence on a personal level. Let’s hope we get to see Barrett pushed forward as the next big champion in WWE.

Next we see Eve Torres and Booker T along with Teddy Long having a conversation about Eve’s next match for the night. Booker warns Eve that if she got counted out or disqualified like before, this time she will be stripped off the title. Eve looked completely devastated by this and even tried a hand at seducing Booker, but to no avail. An angered Eve slaps a laughing Teddy and leaves the scene. Poor Teddy!

Dr. Shelby is back and he is here to meet Team Hell No. I do not know if many of you are his fans, but I liked their previous segments and thoroughly enjoyed this one too. This time Shelby had one question each for Bryan and Kane and it was what they liked most about each other.

As both were answering, Shelby brought in Team Rhodes Scholars. As usual, Rhodes Scholars hurled insults at Shelby which led to Team Hell No attacking them and chanting YES, with the doctor ending an extremely entertaining and hilarious segment.

Despite their good segments, it is time we saw Bryan and Kane split up. They have had their run with the title and need to start performing as individuals. Bryan, in particular, needs to move forward and start looking at World Title opportunities.

Kane Vs Damien Sandow

A short match between Kane and Sandow ended with Kane picking up the victory. The match seemed fairly decent with both the wrestlers getting an equal measure of chances. I would have preferred the match to be a little longer but leaving that aside, the match was fine.

The Rhodes Scholars, and Sandow in particular, seem quite ready for big matches and their feud with Team Hell No does seem quite interesting. Hopefully, we will get to see the Rhodes Scholars as champions soon.

Next is the induction to the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2013. Mick Foley walks into the arena and as he is about to talk, The Shield interrupts. The crowd in Houston is completely confused with this and did not know how to react. I expected a lot of heat but only found silence as The Shield walked close to the ring. Before The Shield could do anything, Ryback came out and saved Foley from damage. Does The Shield find injustice in Foley being inducted into the Hall of Fame?

The brawl between Ryback and Shield continued as Randy Orton and Sheamus came out to help. Ambrose got the Shell Shock and the segment ended. I loved JBL’s commentary in this segment. We all know how good a commentator he is but here he did a great job in making Ryback look a fearless wrestler.

So what next for the Shield? A six man tag match between The Shield and the trio of Ryback, Sheamus and Orton? While that might look interesting, a stipulation match will make it a cracker of a match. This feud can also give Orton the right platform to turn heel. Will he become a part of the Shield?

Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn: WWE Divas Championship

So, a new Champion? Kailtyn finally gets the WWE Divas Champion after a huge SPEAR. Now, hear me repeat that – SPEAR. It was a typical divas’ match, with slow movements all along. Despite offensive moves from both the Divas, the match was, in simple terms, boring.

Josh Matthews interviews Brodus Clay. Clay is about to face Punk next and he mentions to Matthews that Punk’s pipe bomb will backfire on him sooner or later. I never understood why the match was stipulated in the first place, leave alone the interview. So, is WWE planning to push Brodus Clay to a more serious role? I don’t think so.

CM Punk vs Brodus Clay

Clay seemed his sloppy self here too. The fact that he was with Punk made things look a lot better than it would have been with a wrestler lower to Punk’s skill. Punk seemed to handle the Clay really well and defeated Clay with the Anaconda Vice.

Punk then starts talking about last week. He mentions the fact that he still remains the best in the world, by holding on to the title for 421 days and that he will retain the title at Royal Rumble. Excellent promo from Punk which has now, become a sort of a habit for him.

Foley and Rock now meet up backstage. The Rock and Sock reconnection was disrupted by Vickie Gurrero, who didn’t seem impressed with the noise these two were making. The Rock and Foley had a good segment here and they seemed to carry over their Attitude Era chemistry.

Sheamus & 3MB: Over the Top Rope Challenge

Now this is a match we all didn’t want to see – Sheamus against all the three members of 3MB. While on paper this looks a tough match, Sheamus seemed quite comfortable, thanks to the 3MB being glorified jobbers .JBL mentioning them to be ‘The Sprit Squad with a guitar’ seemed quite hilarious.

However, surprisingly Heath Slater picks up the victory thanks to some 3MB help. Sheamus then beats the pulp out of the three, ending the match.

Josh Matthews is now with Cena. Cena says people should be talking about Austin, Taker, Hogan and the likes on this special event. For oncen I get to agree with Cena. Where are all these people? The 20^th Anniversary of RAW and we don’t get to see Taker, Michaels and Austin. Anyway, Cena, as always, is quite irritating to say the least but looked good on the mic. Let’s at least expect the match between Ziggler turns out to be interesting.

Miz TV time and Miz is on stage with The Nature Boy, Ric Flair. After an interesting WWE catchphrase video, Miz and Flair look back at some good catchphrases. Entertaining segment? Not really. Both Miz and Flair looked good at what they were doing but it never did seem too interesting. Anyway, their so-called fun time was interrupted by United States Champion. Cesaro, who seems to have a strong future in WWE as he is quite efficient on the mic. He starts complaining about USA and also mentions Ric Flair’s four ex-wives. Both Miz and Flair beat the hell out of Cesaro as Flair and Miz locked in the Figure-Four.

Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes

This was another short lived match. I don’t understand this. With the Rhodes Scholars being the top contender for the Tag Team Titles, why do they have to be put into matches that do not show their potential? I agree they got to win last week, but there wasn’t any point in this match at all. The match hardly lasted a few minutes, with Bryan picking up the victory by applying the NO lock.

Moments after this, Eve comes out and quits WWE after her heartbreaking loss to Kaitlyn earlier. On the whole, both the match and Eve’s quitting WWE wasn’t in anyway close to being interesting.

AJ Lee and Ziggler are backstage with AJ mentioning her wedding with Bryan to be her most memorable and favorite event. Ziggler vows to defeat Cena in the cage match. Both AJ and Ziggler looked solid, giving us a good promo.

The commentary box has another new entry for tonight and it is Jim Ross. We all know Jim Ross can make good moments memorable and you can bet he did just that on RAW.

John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler: Steel Cage Match

A match becomes interesting when both the wrestlers in it are given equal opportunity to win. The SUPER CENA that we all know and half the universe loves came out for the umpteenth time. Ziggler gave him all he had, including the ZigZag and a very skillfully executed DDT from the top rope. Ziggler also had Big E literally getting inside the ring to keep Cena from winning and after all the fiasco, there is one but only one result. Cena hits the AA and pins Ziggler. Are you kidding me? After all that, one move does it all? This was, without doubt, the only thing that irritated me at the end of this Super Cena match.

The ‘Let’s Go Cena-Cena Sucks’ chants were quite entertaining proving how polarizing Cena has become over the years. While the match seemed to be quite interesting, it is the end that mattered more. Is Cena unbeatable? Is Ziggler that weak? If so, then why is Cena fighting a weakling? I personally feel Ziggler needed to win this match. With Cena having won the past few encounters, it was indeed necessary for Ziggler to send out some kind of statement that he is a top draw wrestler today.

However, we have reached the end of the show and it is time for The Rock’s concert.

The Rock entered to a huge cheer and started his concert. The concert was, without doubt, the best segment of the night. His special mention about Paul Heyman’s floppy breasts was remarkably comic. Also, you don’t get away easy after interrupting The Rock and Vickie Gurrero understood that the harsh way. The Rock had a brilliantly tweaked version of Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’. Now that Vickie got what she deserved, it was time The Rock addressed Punk’s fact.

Rock called out Punk and made certain things clear to him. He mentioned that Punk was no god and he would defeat him in 13 days for the WWE Title at Royal Rumble. With this Pun,k charges at Rock and both get involved in a menacing brawl outside the ring that several officials come out to and try to break.

On the whole, I would consider this RAW a letdown. The matches were all fine and if Orton could lose to Barrett then, I guess Ziggler had every reason to win against Cena and the next time Rhodes Scholars take on Team Hell No, I would expect a longer match that can help cut down on some meaningless backstage interviews.

RAW Rating: 6/10.