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With yet another RAW done and dusted, the road to SummerSlam gets even more interesting. The few bouts which have already been announced for SummerSlam include three huge matches; one for the WWE championship between John Cena and Daniel Bryan, the Second City Saint CM Punk taking on the behemoth Brock Lesnar in a ‘Best vs Beast’ match, and the last but not the least, the bout for the World Heavyweight championship between ‘Captain Charisma’ Christian and the World Heavyweight champion, Alberto Del Rio.
Going back to this week’s RAW, who were the top 5 superstars coming out of the show? Let’s find out.
5. Kane
The big red monster made his in-ring return this past week against his former tag team partner and best friend, Daniel Bryan. Although Kane lost the encounter, he delivered a chokeslam to Bryan post match, but was then attacked by the Wyatt Family. Kane was dropped with a swinging spike DDT by Bray Wyatt, who then sent an ominous message to Kane.
This will likely lead to a match between the two at SummerSlam, which is the best way to go. Kane had a good match upon his return, and this sets up an interesting scenario going forward for the big red machine.
Rating: **
4. Alberto Del Rio
The World Heavyweight champion took on Christian this week on RAW in a non-title match, and lost the bout. Christian and Del Rio put on the match of the night to no one’s surprise, and the win over the world champion would put Christian in the contender’s list for the title.
With Christian set to face Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight championship at SummerSlam, it will be interesting to see if WWE shows enough faith in Del Rio to make him retain the title after a rather uneventful run as the World champion.
Rating: ** ½
3. John Cena
Surprisingly, John Cena makes our list this week (which also shows how average the show was), after facing Ryback in a Tables match in the main event of the show. Cena won the bout after driving Ryback through the table, and as the night ended, he was confronted by Daniel Bryan, who looked as if he would be handing over the title to Cena, but Cena had to forcefully take it out of his clutches.
Is that a sign for things to come? We will have to wait and find out as these two meet for the WWE championship in the main event of SummerSlam.
Rating: ***
2. Christian
Christian had a solid TV match against Alberto Del Rio, and he went on to beat the World Heavyweight champion, although it was in a non – title match.
With their match set for SummerSlam, will Captain Charisma be successful in winning the World Heavyweight championship for the third time in his career? We can only hope that the WWE shows faith in Christian and gives him the belt, and books him to have a long, successful run as the champion.
Rating: *** ¼
1. Daniel Bryan
Once again, to no one’s surprise, Daniel Bryan stole the show. He opened RAW with a fun segment against the chairman, was involved in a good TV match against Kane, winning the bout and later closed the show with John Cena. Daniel Bryan is arguably the best performer in the WWE at the moment, and it will be a good sign if WWE books him to win the WWE title at SummerSlam.
Rating: *** ½
