Getting on for four years later and RAW was back in
Richmond. There were no Confederate uniforms and only a little R-Truth. What
there was was a very solid episode of WWE's flagship show. The kind of episode
that is all too rare.
The most notable part of the show was the first main
roster appearance from Kevin Owens, in which he shared a ring with John Cena.
Whether this was the beginning of a full-time call-up or, as seems more likely,
something designed to hype Takeover: Unstoppable and give Cena something to do
at Elimination Chamber isn't that important. It was NXT champion Kevin Owens on
RAW with his championship belt.
The segment started fairly innocuously with Cena issuing
his now standard open challenge for a United States title shot. Owens' music
didn't get much of a reaction, probably because it's a bit generic, but the
audience popped when he appeared. They popped more when he started speaking,
saying that he didn't need to introduce himself because Cena knew who he was,
as did everyone in the audience who mattered. This prompted Cena to cut in and
introduce Owens to the crowd. Owens responded to that with "Thank you.
That was nice", a very Owens ad-lib.
After giving Owens a telling off for saying the paying
customers don't matter and plugging Takeover: Unstoppable Cena went to offer
Owens some veteran advice. It was Owens' turn to cut Cena off with an emphatic
reminder that he'd been wrestling for fifteen years, longer than Cena. That
prompted Cena to change tack and offer a warning: he said he could tell Owens
was a scared kid and that if he wasn't careful Sami Zayn would beat him for the
NXT championship at Takeover.
 |
| The champ is here. |
Back on the US title open challenge Cena asked if Owens
wanted the shot. Owens said he'd a prize fighter but that he already had a
prize: his NXT championship. He promised Cena they'd face each other one day
but that it would be on his terms before going to leave and then surprising
Cena with a kick to the gut and a pop-up power bomb. The segment ended with the
onetime 'Mr Wrestling' stamping down his foot onto Cena's US title belt and
holding his NXT title belt aloft.
This was a great segment. It introduced Owens's character
and immediately positioned him as a big deal by having him hold his own
verbally with Cena. Having him power bomb 'Mr CeNation' underlined this, making
it clear that Owens is not just another prospect but someone who's destined for
big things. The final shot of Owens standing on the United States championship
and standing over Cena was symbolic of not just Owens' dominance over Cena but
of his perceived dominance of the brand he represents over WWE.
In the main event segment the Rollins v Ambrose feud was
revived to provide Network special Elimination Chamber with a world title main
event. Ambrose interrupted a shindig held in Rollins' honour, just as Triple H,
Stephanie, Kane and the New Stooges were putting him over as the greatest
wrestler ever. After being told he'd have to join Roman Reigns and Randy Orton
at the back of the line 'The Lunatic Fringe' attacked Rollins and they brawled
around ringside.
Over at the announce desk Ambrose revealed he'd pulled a
trick from Rollins' own play book and stashed a pile of cinder blocks at
ringside. With 'The Future's' head in danger of being caved in (which would
have put him out of action for a month, as Ambrose demonstrated last year)
Stephanie agreed to grant Ambrose a title match. The brawl then continued and Ambrose
wound up taking a Pedigree from the WWE champion. No paperwork was signed to
make his title match official but something tells me he'll wrestle Rollins
anyway.
 |
| These guys reviving their series is a good thing. |
This segment wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It's
one of WWE's standard approaches for setting up world title matches and gets a
lot of use in short notice situations like this one. The reason I mention it is
that it's good that we're getting a Rollins and Ambrose match again, and that
it was nice to see the continuity at play, both with the cinder blocks and
Rollins' continued use of the Pedigree. These things are simple to set up in a
wrestling environment but they're so rare in WWE and it's frustrating.
In addition to the WWE title match for Elimination
Chamber being set the entrants for both of the cage matches were announced too.
King Bad News Wade Barrett I, Sheamus, Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Rusev and, for
some reason, R-Truth will compete for the vacant Intercontinental title. I'd
have much preferred Adrian Neville in Truth's spot. It's still a possibility,
Sheamus or Barrett could wipe Truth out before the Chamber show for example,
but it probably won't happen. With or without Truth match quality should be
high and I'm interested to see how Rusev's handled. He's coming off three
straight big event losses. Would they do a fourth and give it to someone who
isn't Cena? I doubt it, but I also can't see them giving him the
Intercontinental title.
Meanwhile New Day will defend their tag straps against
Cesaro and Kidd, the Lucha Dragons, the Prime Time Players, Los Matadores and
The Ascension. It would have been nice to see the recently reunited Luke Harper
and Erick Rowan in the match in place of the one of the latter three teams and
I'm surprised (but relieved) WWE didn't go overboard and give the Meta Powers a
slot. Rowan and Harper would make this match more interesting for me, but I'm
fine with the Dragons, New Day and Cesaro and Kidd being in there. This is
another good-looking Chamber match.
Considering Elimination Chamber wasn't going to be a
thing until around a week ago a good job was done prepping it here. For the
first time in years there are enough teams in the tag division to make a six
team match feasible and the company's spoilt for choice when it comes to potential
IC champions (which, to be honest, makes the inclusion of R-Truth even more
puzzling. Ambrose and Rollins never have a bad match together and Cena v Owens,
while unlikely to be a classic encounter, feels like a genuinely important
moment: the NXT champ meeting the face of the company.
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