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After a cracking Money in the Bank PPV, WWE headed to Brooklyn, New York for this week’s Monday Night RAW. This week’s episode kicked off with Brad Maddox coming down to the ring, and he tried to suck up to the New Yorkers in attendance. I love NY –NJ fans, as they’re some of the most entertaining bunch you can find. Maddox announced Ziggler vs Del Rio in a rematch, and was interrupted by the WWE champion, John Cena.
Cena came down to the ring, and Maddox tried sucking upto Cena. “Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been a fan of yours”. The scary part is, that might be true. Anyway, Maddox then told Cena he would give him the chance to pick his own opponent for Summerslam. Just then, Orton’s music hit as he came down to the ring. Orton confronted Cena and told him he will cash in the briefcase when the time is right and Cena wouldn’t see it coming. Fandango came down next as the NY crowd hummed his tune and danced in the aisles. Fandango and Orton then brawled, which set up their match.
Randy Orton defeated Fandango (With Summer Rae)
The match went for 14 minutes, and surprisingly saw Fandango matching Orton for the most part of the bout. Curtis needs more such bouts to make him look like a legitimate threat. Orton then went for the RKO and for the pinfall victory. A good way to kick off RAW.
Rating: ** ½
Ziggler was shown walking backstage, and AJ caught up with him. Ziggler said they need to move on, and AJ said she agreed. Ziggler then claimed AJ didn’t understand; he said they’re over and left. Wise decision by the WWE. This will lead to the rumoured Ziggler vs Big E match at Summerslam.
Mark Henry then came out and a cut a promo about how Cena was the better man on Sunday, and how he needed one more opportunity. The Shield interrupted to a thunderous ovation, and they delivered a huge triple powerbomb to Henry! That was very impressive; The Shield needs to be booked in a more dominant way than how they’ve been booked for the past couple of months.
Backstage, Maddox was interrupted by Jericho, and Maddox then announced a match between Jericho and Rob Van Dam! I like how Maddox’s first day went phenomenally well. Is that a good sign for things to come? I hope so.
Alberto Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler
In the rematch from Sunday, Del Rio and Ziggler put on yet another solid TV match that went for about 13 minutes. The match saw good back and forth action, and like Sunday, when Ziggler was on the verge of beating the World Heavyweight champion, AJ provided the distraction. This time, she was in the time keeper’s area and rung the bell, which distracted Dolph who was seconds away from pinning Del Rio. Del Rio then came back with a kick to the side of the head for the pinfall victory. Post match, AJ slapped Ziggler and went ballistic on him, only for Big E to blindside Ziggler with the Big Ending. This is the start of their feud, and I’m perfectly okay with it, unless WWE wants to put Big E over.
Rating: ***
R–Truth then made his entrance while rapping ‘What’s up?’. This led to the entrance of the Wyatt Family, as they took R–Truth apart. After nailing Truth with a modified version of swinging neckbreaker, Bray Wyatt said Kane should follow the buzzards. Another eerie segment by the Wyatt Family. They made a great impression on the WWE Universe, and I hope that continues.
The Usos defeated Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger (With Zeb Colter)
A short match to put The Usos over after they lost to The Shield this past Sunday. One of the Usos rolled up Cesaro to pick up the pinfall victory. Nothing much to say there.
Rating: *
Christian defeated Damien Sandow
It was obvious that Christian took a blow to his teeth. The match went for four minutes, and saw Christian and Sandow exchange blows. The end came when Sandow went for the elbow of disdain, but Christian countered and covered him for the pinfall victory. They could have done so much more if they received more air time, but I’m okay with it. Post match, Cody attacked Sandow before Sandow escaped through the crowd. This is the beginning of their feud, and I’m happy that WWE is finally acknowledging their talent.
Rating: * ½
Naomi (With Cameron) defeated Brie Bella (With Nikki)
A five minute match that saw Naomi exhibiting her athleticism, and picked up the victory after a huge cross body. I have the same question as every week; where is Natalya?
Rating: ½ *
Time for a promo by Punk. He called Heyman out, and Heyman obliged. Heyman talked about how Heyman made Punk. Heyman said Punk and Heyman did things together, but Punk threw it all away when he thought he was better than Heyman. Heyman said he took away the one thing that Punk wanted, the chance to win the WWE title. Punk said he’d take everything away from Heyman, till he got his hands on him. Heyman said Punk can never beat Lesnar, and this brought out the beast. Heyman blindsided Punk and Lesnar took advantage of this, and threw Punk around the ring like a ragdoll. Punk tried to make a comeback but Lesnar cut him off. Lesnar drilled Punk spine first to the ring post, and then threw him over the announcer’s desk to end the segment. Punk tried to get up on his own feet and managed to walk away with the trainers. As I always say, anything involving Punk and Heyman is gold! You involve Lesnar and you get one of the best segments of RAW in the past decade! Absolutely brilliant promo by Heyman and Punk. Loved every minute of it.
Rob Van Dam defeated Chris Jericho
You put two of the best workers in the industry together and you come out with an amazing TV match, and that’s what happened with Y2J and RVD. The crowd was hot for the entire match, and started ‘This is awesome’ chants multiple times during the bout. It went on for 22 minutes, and the end saw RVD giving Jericho the 5 star frog splash to pick up the victory. These two performers are on the wrong side of 40, but can still deliver better matches than most of the performers backstage. Simply amazing!
Rating: ****
All the superstars assembled on the ramp which led to the WWE champ coming out. He played with the fans and asked if Slater should face him at Summerslam, to which the crowd booed. Cena then said ‘Don’t hinder Jinder’ which I popped big for. He asked the fans about Orton, Sheamus, Khali and the rest of 3 MB, and the crowd booed. He asked about Y2J and the crowd popped, and then he asked about RVD and that received a bigger pop. The fans then started the ‘Yes’ and ‘Daniel Bryan’ chants, and then Cena picked Daniel Bryan, which almost blew the roof off! Bryan came down chanting ‘Yes’ and the whole arena followed him. That might just be the biggest reaction on RAW in the past decade! RAW faded with Bryan yelling ‘Yes’ in Cena’s face. That was an amazing end to this week’s episode! As I said, I love the NY–NJ fans!
RAW Rating: ****
I loved this week’s show. WWE finally listened to the fans and put Bryan in the main event scene. Will he be successful in winning the WWE title? I hope so, but my gut feeling says otherwise. Either way, the second biggest PPV of the year will see Daniel Bryan headlining it. Is this the rise of Daniel Bryan as a legitimate main eventer in the WWE? I suppose so. What an amazing episode of RAW! I can’t wait for the next episode to see how things play out, as we head on to Summerslam in a month’s time.
