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The ‘Go home’ RAW for the Night of Champions PPV came to us from the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario Canada, and what a show it was! It marked the return of the ‘Rated R Superstar’ Edge who had a verbal confrontation with Triple H. The opening segment featuring Edge, Daniel Bryan and Triple H (Let’s leave Orton out of the picture, who just looked on from the ramp) was one of the best opening segments in weeks. Edge showed that he was still miles ahead of most of the current superstars on the mic, and proved once again why he is a 11 time World champion! Goldust and Santino Marella too made their returns this week. So who were the superstars that stole the show? Let’s find out.
5. Punk/Paul Heyman
I cheated with the fifth pick, as I couldn’t just select one. Punk and Heyman only got about 15 minutes, and unlike previous weeks, Punk didn’t come at the top of the third hour. Heyman tried to weasel his way out of the match on Sunday, and faked an injury. Heyman then said he couldn’t face Punk due to the injury, but was made to undergo a medical examination by a WWE sanctioned doctor, who said Heyman wasn’t hurt. This brought out CM Punk, who annihilated Axel and Heyman’s “doctor” while Heyman hightailed from the ring and into the crowd. Punk then unleashed vicious shots with a kendo stick, taking his frustrations out on Heyman’s physiologist. Heyman’s fear of Axel losing to Punk was evident on this week’s episode, and if I’m right, he’ll be introducing another “Paul Heyman Guy” this Sunday at the PPV. Heyman and Punk were brilliant as always in their respective roles.
Rating: ** ½
4. Randy Orton
The WWE champion was once again involved in a solid match against Goldust on this week’s episode of RAW. After Cody put on a great match last week, it was his brother’s turn this time around, with the match getting around 15 minutes. Randy Orton defeated Goldust, thus closing the door for a possible return for the youngest member of the Rhodes family. Orton came out to end the show, but was greeted with a running knee to the face (or the Busaiku knee for the Japanese fans) and the show ended with Bryan standing tall over Orton with the WWE championship!
Rating: ** ¾
3. Goldust
Dustin returned to WWE TV this week, and put on a solid match with Orton. As the fans chanted “You still got it!”, Goldust proved to the fans that he wasn’t completely past his prime, and that he could still go toe to toe with current generation’s performers. Although Goldust put in a valiant effort, he lost to Orton in the end, which meant that Cody was still unemployed. Post match, Stephanie greeted Goldust, and told him he was a loser and let everybody down. I for one wouldn’t mind seeing Goldust back in the WWE if he can still perform like he did this week.
Rating: ***
2. Dean Ambrose
The United States Heavyweight champion faced Daniel Bryan this week in the main event of the show, and put on a solid 15 minute match. Although the members of The Shield haven’t been heavily featured in the past few weeks, Ambrose took the opportunity with both hands and put on a great TV match with Daniel Bryan. In the end, Daniel Bryan overcame the odds and defeated Dean Ambrose, and we can only hope that Ambrose will be featured on the NoC PPV card.
Rating: *** ½
1. Daniel Bryan
And the number one superstar on this show, to no one’s surprise is Daniel Bryan. Bryan was amazing as always, and put on a great match with Dean Ambrose in the main event. After Bryan defeated the United States champion, The Shield attacked him, and Orton came down and delivered the RKO to Bryan. But as the night ended, Bryan had the last laugh by delivering the Busaiku knee to Randy Orton, and ended the show by holding the WWE title. Although because of the WWE logic, this would mean that Orton will retain the title come Sunday, we can only hope that Bryan wins back the WWE championship at Night of Champions.
Rating: *** ¾
