That's the theory anyway. The two RAWs we've had since
the Rumble have done very little to mark this out as a special or important
time of year. The highlight of last week's show were an in-ring confrontation
between Randy Orton, Batista and Brock Lesnar and a six man tag match putting
Sheamus, John Cena and Daniel Bryan against The Shield. It's not unfair to
expect more from the promotion at this time of year.
This week's episode was even less interesting. In
addition to the absence of CM Punk (which went unacknowledged for the second
week in a row) Brock Lesnar and John Cena were both absent. Lesnar's
appearances are being hoarded for later weeks while Cena was held off the show
because of an eye injury he suffered in a match with Randy Orton at a house show
on Saturday. These things are unavoidable but there's nothing to stop WWE using
the guys and girls they do have on the show better. The increased audiences
should be an incentive to do that anyway: perhaps a new viewer will take a
liking to a newly pushed act and continue watching to see them. Longer term new
acts are going to be needed because returning names like Batista and
part-timers like Lesnar and Undertaker are not going to be the answer forever.
 |
| Lengthy Randy Orton promos: always a popular way to start RAW |
RAW started with a Randy Orton promo. Chants for CM Punk
started up as soon as he opened his mouth, forcing him to speak quickly in a
attempt to drown them out. He didn't manage that but the audience did get bored
quickly and dropped the chant themselves. The mention of 'The Viper'
potentially losing his titles got cheers. The mention of Batista got boos. It
was a stumble-ridden, uncertain effort from the usually reliable, if
unimpressive, Orton.
The Authority strolled to the stage after Orty again
chose to speak out against them. Steph called the champ paranoid as the Punk
chants started up again briefly. Triple H said Orton says the same thing every
week. That's true but it's a bit rich coming from the man who said the same
thing every week during the his time as top heel from 1999 onwards. More importantly
'The Game' said they'd maybe have to consider selecting a new face of the
company because of Orton's excuses. That earned cheers and a halfhearted
attempt at a Daniel Bryan chant (give me an east coast audience for crowd
participation any day of the week). It was announced Randy will face his five
Elimination Chamber opponents in singles matches on RAW and SmackDown episodes
before the show and if any of them beat him they'll be in the running to be the
new face. The first man to face him would be Bryan. He seemed like an odd
choice. I'd have thought they'd want to save him until last and build up to
him. Then again a series like this can only really work if the two biggest
names open and close it. With Cena indisposed Bryan was the only realistic choice
to wrestle 'The Viper'.
After a steel cage tag title match was announced for
later in the show The Shield strolled to ringside. They were facing Rey
Mysterio, Big E Langston, and, outside of his natural hour two habitat, Kofi
Kingston. Notable commentary included JBL highlighting the fact that Ambrose
hasn't defended his US title in months and Michael Cole trying to force the
nicknames of 'The Architect' and 'The Lunatic Fringe' on Rollins and Ambrose (I
really hope neither catch on because they're about as nonsensical as wrestling
nicknames can get, and wrestling nicknames can get pretty nonsensical). It was
a decent opener, marred slightly by Big E recklessly busting Reigns open during
his running body tackle. It's not the first time that's happened. Langston
needs to take more care.
The dissolution of The Shield also continued to be hinted
at. Reigns dropped Big E with the Supermsn punch but Ambrose tagged himself in
before he could follow up with a spear. Ambrose then got the win with his
tumbling DDT. As Rollins tried to keep his teammates cool the Wyatt Family
appeared on the Titantron and did one of his strange promos, this one
mentioning The Shield waiting to serve their king. Harper added something about
Bray being that King and whistled. Erick Rowan's single line was to tell 'The
Hounds of Justice' to run.
Back at ringside Bad News Barrett perched atop his really
tall podium and said America had overeaten so much during the previous
evening's Superb Owl that most of them would be dead by next year's game (which
seemed a bit dark). Jerry Lawler stood up at commentary and said he had some
bad news himself: he hoped Barrett wouldn't be around the following week. Not
strictly news, 'King', but fine, whatevs.
Match two saw Christian defeat Jack Swagger with a roll
up. After the match Zeb and Swagger had words and Cesaro shook his head sadly.
It looks like Swagger's been lumbered with a variant of the losing streak
gimmick. Again.
 |
| I think Cody's about to get a face full of fence |
The tag team title cage match was on after that. Rules
vary in these sorts of matches. This week tags were being made and only pins
and submissions would win the bout. The match suffered from a slow pace and an
uninterested crowd. That changed, though not by as much as was deserved, when
Cody performed a moonsault from the top of the cage at the finish of the match.
It was nicely done and would have made a better match feel special. As it was
it felt a little incongruous doing something so extreme to end a decidedly
average bout. Rhodes hit Road Dogg but got pinned by a Fameasser, giving the
Outlaws the win.
Hour two continued with Zack Ryder falling to the newly
heel Titus O'Neil. The Miz stormed to the commentary desk during this and said
it was wrong that Ryder and O'Neil had a match on RAW but he didn't. Fandango v
Santino instead became a dance off between Summer Rae and Emma. The crowd did
not get into Emma's dancing. That wasn't surprising. They still picked her as
the winner though. I think that can be taken as Summer Rae being an effective
heel as anything else.
Sheamus v Curtis Axel was also in hour two. Six months
ago Axel looked like he was going somewhere. Now he looks like a no-hoper. His
team with Ryback, while enjoyable for its overwhelming naff factor, isn't going
to amount to anything. 'Great White' won with the Brogue kick and then shouted
at 'The Human Wrecking Ball'.
The crowd's earlier pro-CM Punk chants were shown to be
meaningless when they cheered Batista. I don't think Batista deserves all the
negativity he gets but he is a very clear target if fans want to send a message
to WWE that they don't like what's being put on TV. He's a shorthand for the
perceived lack of creative team support for the likes of Bryan and Punk. This
week 'The Animal' was wearing a jean jacket, shades and a tight blue V-neck
(because clothing is what people really care about with Batista segments).
Before 'The Animal' could speak Alberto Del Rio strolled out. Batista said he
didn't have a problem with ADR. ADR punched him in the mouth, showing he still
has a problem with Batista. A Batista bomb was attempted but Del Rio ran away
before he could take it. It was a pretty poor segment. Batista pulling shirt
off for no reason didn't help. Though it probably didn't hurt.
 |
| Note Bray Wyatt's boots |
Hour three began with Dolph Ziggler teaming with R-Truth
and Xavier Woods against the Wyatt Family. The Family won with a Sister Abigail
on Ziggler. It was not a surprising result. This match is a good example of
what I said above about WWE making better use of the guys they do have. The
Wyatt Family were always going to win but imagine if the match had been about
Truth or Woods being isolated and constantly trying to get the hot tag to
Ziggler. Teased enough it could have provoked a strong reaction and Ziggler
could have cleaned up on his opponents before being pinned after a double team
move and then Sister Abigail. That layout would have made Ziggler look more
like a star and kept him strong in defeat while further establishing Bray's
finisher and the Family's teamwork. Pairing 'The Show Off' with more credible
partners, such as Mysterio and Sin Cara wouldn't have hurt either.
The Shield returned the promo favour after the match.
Ambrose mentioned not living in a world of monsters and haunted rocking chairs,
which was funny. Rollins' few lines were delivered well. I think he's improved
at delivering wrestlespeak since joining WWE. He's worlds better than he was as
Tyler Black in ROH.
A promo for Alexander Rusev was shown. He spoke in
Bulgarian before Lana speared to say "Alexander Rusev crush." There
was no hint as to what the plan with Rusev is. There probably isn't one.
Naomi v Aksana followed that. It was inconsequential. AJ
Lee was on commentary. Naomi won with a split legged moonsault. The point of
the match seemed to be to give Naomi a win and Cole the chance to talk about
how she's pinned AJ twice. Presumably they'll face one another at Elimination
Chamber.
 |
| Sticking this guy in the main event was, ahem, best for business |
Randy Orton v Daniel Bryan was the evening's final match.
It was around the same level of quality as their PPV series last year. Not bad
but probably capable of being better. It's their June 24 street fight they
should be trying to emulate. That was great. Bryan targeted the knee of the
champ and the champ retaliated by targeting his arm. That was the story of the
match until Corporate Kane wandered out to start the finish. 'The Big Red
Machine' got knocked off the apron and drop toe held (holded?) into the ring
steps after Bryan had dived through the ropes on to him. Back in the ring Bryan
pushed out of the RKO and performed his running knee for the victory. After the
match Kane and Orton double teamed Bryan (not like that) and 'The Dazzler' was
put down with a choke slam. Kane then did his pyro. Yeah, he still does that.
That's what's great about him, the fact that he still does the magical and
supernatural stuff while wearing a suit. 'The Apex Predator' posed as the show
closed.
The result of this match would mean more if Orton went on
to defeat every other Elimination Chamber opponent in singles matches. Bryan's
victory would become more significant if nobody replicated the feat and it
would show that Orton's a skilled competitor and worthy champion. People will
pay more to see him lose if it happens less often. That's what I think anyway.
Once again I find myself ending a RAW recap hoping that
WWE can pull things together next week. Now is the time to impress people, not
put them off with loads of filler matches and a lack of ort for wrestlers that
are cared about.
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