WWE SummerSlam 2015 preview

Probably the most interesting thing to note about this year's SummerSlam is that it's the first time in what feels like years that there's been a WWE pay-per-view involving what feels like a substantial mid-card. It's become the norm to toss non-main event names into matches for the Intercontinental and US championships or pit them against established top boys like John Cena and Randy Orton in a token effort at getting them over. It's an approach that has yielded success occasionally (Cena v Owens) but has failed more often than not (Cena v Rusev, Cena v Wyatt).

I picked Cena as an example there deliberately. Despite being the biggest star on the roster it's actually Cena that's been at the heart of this mid-card resurgence. The Owens versus Cesaro rivalry has spun off from the Owens versus Cena rivalry. During that Owens was able to defeat Cena once, in a non-title match. He lost subsequent matches in which the US championship was up for grabs. Meanwhile Cena also made spirited defences against 'The Swiss Superman', with Owens interfering in many of them as he became increasingly frustrated at his own inability to beat Cena for the gold. He didn't want to see Cesaro accomplish something he was unable to.

We could also attribute the Rusev and Ziggler feud to Cena too, although his involvement there is less direct. He was the man who not only took the United States championship from Rusev but also handed him his first loss. This embarrassed 'The Super Athlete', causing him to flip out at his manager and girlfriend Lana¹. She left him and became empowered by her newfound single status because that's what happens in the good ol' US of A. There is no oppression for women, only empowerment. Anyway, while Lana was getting said empowerment (by hooking up with a new hot guy, obvs) Rusev suffered further televised losses, highlighting how important Lana had been to his career prior to their split.

Deciding to show that he was totes over Lana, Rusev hooked up with Summer Rae and encouraged her to dress like Lana. Because he'd been cast as a psychology ex-boyfriend and that's totally what psycho ex-boyfriends do. Summer also proved willing to act more submissive to Rusev, a reversal of the Lana-Rusev relationship in which it was Lana who was the dominant force. All of which could have become a very interesting story exploring the nature of relationships, moving on, and getting hung up on exes. But it didn't. Not because wrestling is ill-equipped for this sort of thing (I actually think this type of story is something wrestling can excel at) but because it wasn't given enough thought towards the start and was later hampered by Dolph Ziggler, Lana's new beau, disappearing after a beating from big Ru².

Cena himself will be both defending his United States championship and challenging for the WWE world championship. He'll be in a title versus title match against Seth Rollins. The idea here is absolutely sound. Since becoming a four time US champ at WrestleMania Cena has, amazingly, made the title mean something with exciting weekly title defences against some of the best wrestlers on the roster. Meanwhile Rollins has been a cowardly world champion, relying on interference, favourable rules and other assorted cheating to keep hold of the belt.

The story essentially sees a worthy champion who takes pride in defending and retaining his prize the right way facing off with a champion who cares only about protecting his status. It's an interesting look at what it actually means to be a champion in wrestling, and is noteworthy because it is emphatically not the sort of thing WWE usually does. Despite the high chance of the match having a screwy finish (to avoid titles changing hands) I'm looking forward to this match, because another way of looking at the match is to see it as the natural culmination of Cena's streak of matches against The New School: he's facing the original NXT champion, Triple H's on-screen golden boy, Seth Rollins. It's basically the ultimate US Open Challenge without actually being part of that series.

Away from Cena-spurred plots there's been the issues between Stardust and Green Arrow star Stephen Amell. Stardust, believing himself to be a real life super villain, took exception to Amell being in attendance at an episode of RAW and attacked him. Amell leapt the barrier and fought back (which security allowed because WWE are marks for outside talent). 'Don't Call Him Adrian' Neville then got involved, because he wears a cape and performs a move called the Red Arrow, making him a natural Amell ally in Stardust's mind. Then King Bad News Wade Barrett I got involved too, because tag matches, playa³!

Summarised here it sounds entirely daft. It has been, but to be fair that's the point of it. Stardust is a deranged character and that's what's driven the story. It works and it's a nice change of pace from the stuff that usually makes it onto RAW.

The Sheamus versus Randy Orton rivalry has continued from last month. I failed to care about it then and I still feel the same way now. 'The Viper's' character is deathly dull right now and the most interesting thing about 'The Celtic Warrior' is that he has a Money in the Bank briefcase to cash in. I don't necessarily think it will happen on this show but if it did it would be the most interesting thing Sheamus did all evening.

Rounding out the non-tag mid-card action is a triple threat for the Intercontinental championship. Originally scheduled for last month's Battleground it had to be postponed because Ryback suffered some sort of super-gross hernia. That show gave us a brief altercation between Miz and Big Show, his scheduled opponents, that hinted at 'The World's Largest Athlete' turning face (again) with the match itself being postponed because it was too valuable to simply not do⁴. Ultimately Big Show would remain a heel, surprising the many of us who have become accustomed to frequent Show swerve turns.

In all honesty I quite like this triple threat. I don't mind Ryback and I can appreciate The Miz for the effective heel he is. Big Show isn't especially welcome but if he has to be on a card this is the sort of level he should be at. It's the kind of match that establishes 'The Big Guy' as a legitimate champ, beating two upper mid-card lads at once. It doesn't hurt the IC title either, and that's not something we've been getting to say much over the last several years.

Outside of the main event the rest of the card is comprised of tag matches. The natural culmination of the rejuvenated Divas division, a nine woman, three-way trios match, has been booked already. I understand why this was done: it gets everyone on the show. The trouble is that it's a match that fees like it should end the current era of the Divas division. As the current era only started on July 13 this feels premature.

Meanwhile the tag belts will be defended in a four-way match even more blatantly slung together to get more lads onto the card to kill time. If it gets long enough it should be fun but it will be too busy and spot-heavy to become something meaningful.

Which is something that can't be said for the Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose versus Wyatt Family match. This is a rivalry that started with Bray randomly attacking Roman and cutting enigmatic promos that seemed to hint at the involvement of the latter's kid. Family-stuff aside this shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone: all Bray Wyatt feuds begin with him attacking someone for literally no reason at all.

The end of their singles match at Battleground saw Luke Harper run-in and throw Reigns into a ring post, allowing 'The Eater of Worlds' to win. This signalled the reunion of the Wyatt Family, a faction which makes the already enjoyable Harper and Wyatt so much better. Wyatt is more eerie when he has vacant followers at his beck and call, while Harper benefits from being associated with someone who can provide him with things to do.

Reigns brought in backup against the Family in the form of his buddy and old Shield teammate Dean Ambrose. The original plan was apparently for Sting to join up with Ambrose and Reigns but when Erick Rowan was unable to rejoin the Wyatt flock (because he's not healed up from an injury yet) that was nixed. Frankly it feels like a bullet was dodged there. 'The Stinger' would almost certainly have looked out of place alongside Reigns and Ambrose and I can't imagine a match involving him in the Seth Rollins spot could have done justice to the enjoyable Shield-Wyatts showdowns we had in 2014.

Which just leaves the main event: Brock Lesnar versus The Undertaker. There's so much history to this that I doubt I can do it justice in a couple of paragraphs but I'll give it a go...

WrestleMania XXX saw Lesnar hand 'Taker his first ever defeat at in the series' history. This was a significant deal because 'The Dead Man' had appeared at twenty-one previous 'Mania's and it was the sort of record that nobody in wrestling ever gets close to. It's something that not even the greatest of bookers could have planned.

This victory shocked pretty much everyone and set Lesnar up as an unstoppable beast, to the point where his advocate Paul Heyman actually began referring to him as 'The Beast Incarnate'. Lesnar went on a tear, trouncing John Cena in a staggeringly one-sided match for the WWE championship at SummerSlam 2014 and holding the gold until WrestleMania 31 eight months later. Though he lost the title at 'Mania he was not pinned or submitted: Seth Rollins cashed in his magical get-a-title-match-whenever-you-like contract and pinned Lesnar's opponent, Roman Reigns, to become the champ.

Naturally this annoyed 'The Beast' and he went nuts the next night on RAW. This caused on-screen bosses The Authority to suspend indefinitely. Surprisingly that suspension didn't actually last too long and Lesnar was brought back for his contractually obligated rematch with Rollins at Battleground. There 'The Pain' seemed to be on course to win the title back... until the lights cut out and came back on to reveal The Undertaker.

'The Phenom' made short work of Lesnar at Battleground, giving him a choke slam, a pair of Tombstone piledrivers and a kick in the privates. Things would be different the next evening on RAW: Lesnar was prepared and they had an intense brawl that saw a large portion of the roster hit the ring to join security in holding the two powerhouses apart. Since then Undertaker has (glossed over his return earlier in the year to defeat Wyatt at WrestleMania and) revealed that the reason he attacked Lesnar was that he was tired of Heyman going on and on and on and on and on and on about The Streak being taken from him. On the one hand you can empathise with 'Taker on that: it was humiliating. But on the other Heyman was obviously going to talk it up because it will go down as one of the biggest moment's of his client's career.

Basically this is being built as a big deal of a rematch. It absolutely is but there are slight problems with the premise. Firstly, the conflict between the two centres around Undertaker's Streak, so having them face off at event that isn't WrestleMania feels peculiar. Secondly, it feels strange for 'Taker to be positioned as the heel. And he is being positioned as the heel, whether people are going to react to him as one or not. He's kicked Brock low twice. It's nice in that it plays up Undertaker's I-will-gain-vengeance-at-any-cost mentality but at this point in his career (very likely less than a year away from retiring after playing the same character for two and a half decades) it feels like Undie should be a babyface.

Which isn't to say the match won't be good. It will be. Undertaker suffered a concussion in their WM30 showdown and he'll want to prove all the doubters that say he can't have a cracking match anymore wrong. When they feuded in 2003 (admittedly twelve years and many injures ago) Lesnar and 'Taker had wild chemistry. There's no reason to think they don't still have it. They just need to avoid head trauma to get through this.

All of which brings me to predictions. Rollins v Cena seems like a shmoz waiting to happen. Ryback retaining seems like a safe assumption seeing as it's his first title reign in WWE and he's not really gotten to do much yet, while the time feels right for a title change with the tag straps. I'd like to say the Lucha Dragons will win but I think New Day could regain to set up a proper title chase for Sin Cara and Kalisto (which they totally deserve). In the same vein I think Paige, Becky and Charlotte could win their Divas triple threat to set them up as the top contenders for Nikki's championship.

I'll be surprised if the celebrity special tag bout doesn't end with Stephen Amell proving he can defeat fully trained and experienced professional wrestlers, because WWE, as stated above, love to make outside stars look strong (although admittedly this wouldn't be the worst decision in the world). I expect the other big tag match to be won by Reigns and Ambrose. A swerve turn by Ambrose seems likely at some point because it's the sort of feud that could stretch for a while and see Reigns through to December or January, when he can start focusing on winning the WWE title again. SummerSlam seems the wrong time for it though: if it happened the NYC crowd would favour Ambrose, making Reigns look like a heel and a chump. I can't believe WWE would want to put their next golden boy, who they've been handling with kid gloves, in that situation.

Orton v Sheamus, Cesaro v Owens and Ziggler v Rusev could each go either way. I'll pick Sheamus, because it's his turn, Owens, because the company has seemed higher on him lately than tey have Cesaro (and they can book him to cheat), and Ziggler because Lana shenanigans are Rusev's Achilles heel.

The main event is tough. I could see each guy going over. Undertaker "needs" his win back and further rebuilding for his last hurrah next year (assuming it's coming). Lesnar needs to remain the dominating, unstoppable force he's been for much of the past few years. The Streak ending stalled Undertaker and caused the final years of his career to lose steam, because without The Streak he's pretty much just an old lad with a phantastical gimmick who may or may not deliver once the bell ring. Having the suspense his Streak provided really helped him. It's not on the same scale but Lesnar's continued dominance helps him in a similar fashion. It's for that reason that I hope 'The Beast' wins, just as I hoped he'd lose on the night he became 'The Conqueror of The Streak'.

***

Predictions summary:

Brock Lesnar to defeat The Undertaker
John Cena v Seth Rollins to end in a draw
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to defeat The Wyatt Family
Paige, Becky Lynch and Charlotte to defeat BAD and Team Bella
Kevin Owens to defeat Cesaro
Adrian Neville and Stephen Amell to defeat Stardust and King Barrett
Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship against The Miz and Big Show
New Day to win the tag team championship
Dolph Ziggler to defeat Rusev
Sheamus to defeat Randy Orton

***

¹ Here I just want to pause and comment on the nature of the Rusev-Lana relationship. Between Rusev's debut and WrestleMania 31 the pair seemed to be nothing more than colleagues. Once Rusev went crazy and blamed Lana for his loss to Big Match Jern in an I Quit match this was retconned and we were informed that they'd basically been knocking boots all along.

Which would be fine if it weren't for the confusing wrinkle that Rusev and Lana are a real life couple who love together. When they were being presented as manager and client they were dating. Now they're separated on-screen but still dating. This is one of those times when the best thing to do is roll your eyes and say "Wrestling, eh?"

² In reality he was filming a probably terrible WWE Studios film.

³ Holla holla!

⁴ At least that's wat I'm assuming WWE thinks. Obviously Ryback versus The Miz versus Big Show is not an especially great match but at least assuming there's some value attached to it within the company gives it some logical reason for happening here.

French Connection

We haven't seen Sylvester LeFort for a while have we? Not since the September 25 episode of NXT in fact. On that show he was beaten up by his one time pal Marcus Louis and left a lifeless puddle in the ring, finally putting an end to the Legionnires pairing. And it's a shame we've not seen him since because Sylvester LeFort is great.

I probably need to clarify that. LeFort is not a great wrestler. He's, at best, competent and has never dazzled in the ring. He doesn't seem like someone who has the potential to dazzle either. But he does have a good look and an even better gimmick.

This look is money.

The thick beard, the greased back hair, and the hairy chest all help to make LeFort look like a sleazy Eurotrash-esque scumbag (which is surely the point). That's a good thing. Wrestling needs more sleazy Eurotrash-esque scumbags. It's a heel trope woefully underrepresented in the current business. There's so much potential in it and LeFort fits the part so well that I think WWE are foolish to not have him as a regular on TV.

I don't necessarily want to see him wrestle though. Personally I enjoyed LeFort when he was working as a vaguely ineffective heel manager. I liked him having his stable of Legionnaires, all of whom were a bit generic and not particularly impressive. I liked the fact that the only guy he brought into the stable who showed any promise, a lad called Alexander Rusev (maybe you've heard of him?), was fairly swiftly nabbed by a more efficient manager in Lana.

It was a simple, fun little role that felt real. Not every sports manager is going to be world class and it absolutely made sense that a guy who wasn't able to keep hold of any above average clients was operating in the developmental league. It played to LeFort's strengths (looking like an idiot in ridiculous shiny jackets and talking with a foreign accent to remind everyone he's a heel) and disguised his weaknesses (specifically that he's not a very good wrestler, as already established).

Bring LeFort back to NXT as a manager. There's mileage left in his storyline incompetence. He could reunite with his old Legionnaires client Scott Dawson. He could bring in a new team altogether. He could introduce a singles act to help him get reverence on Marcus Louis (not that anyone's begging for that rivalry t be reprised). With Hideo Itami, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens gone or about to go from NXT Triple H is going to need to become more inventive with the stories he tells and the stars he features if NXT is to remain the hot brand it currently is. I don't think Sly could be a major part of that but he could certainly contribute. 

Uncrushable

If you saw last Monday's RAW you saw The Rock's surprise return. Even if you didn’t watch the whole show there's a good chance you've gone out of your way to see that segment. I mean, it's The Rock. Everyone loves The Rock, right?

I'm a fan of The Rock, and if he's available for unannounced appearances I'm all for WWE using him. It helps make RAW feel less formulaic and monotonous than it is. It helps to propagate that old line that used to be very common: anything can happen in WWE! When he makes these appearances sticking him out there to interact with a heel who ca benefit from a rub is the right thing to do. Talking and being charismatic are things Rock’s best at, so putting him in situations where he can do that is good.

What's harder to get into is the nature of Rock's interactions. Rock was always going to look a bigger star than Rusev but Rusev didn’t need to be so marginalised in his treatment. The segment ended with Rock standing victorious in the middle of the ring and Rusev, the man who'll be on RAW next week while Rock's a film set somewhere, standing in the aisle humiliated. It took eleven punches (one admittedly doctored with Rock’s apparently potent saliva) to dispatch ‘The Bulgarian Brute’.

Rock gained nothing from this. All he did was humiliate a pair of mid-card heels. Rusev wasn't elevated, and this would have been a perfect chance to do so. WWE got some press attention from the stunt but it was nothing mind-blowing. The coverage made it clear to anyone not watching WWE every week that The Rock can breeze back in with no notice and effortlessly shut down guys who are below his station. It’s what they expect to hear and so it’s nothing to get excited about.

Imagine how different things would have been had Rusev flattened 'The Great One'. It would have enhanced the Russian's status as the unstoppable monster, especially if Rock had sold the beating when asked about it in interviews (and considering his history with willingly putting guys over we can assume he would have). It would have gotten people talking, even more than they already are, about a Rock versus Rusev match. Even if WWE had no intention of promoting that talk of it wouldn't have done 'The Super Athlete' any harm. They could have paid the beating off in a return skirmish in which Rock got the upper hand. Or hey, maybe they could have altered their plans and asked Rock if he’d be interested in an official ring to the ring to face Rusev. However things played out Rusev would have gotten some attention from non-WWE sources, and that would have helped to establish him as a force.

This short-sighted booking and obsession with protecting guys whose status is completely safe isn't going to get WWE anywhere. Hopefully next time The Rock returns or Rusev is confronted by one of the big boys things will turn out differently.

The United States of Alexander Rusev

I think we can all agree a large part of Rusev's success as a heel stems from taking the anti-America approach. Lana’s pro-Putin rhetoric has riled audiences across the United States. I imagine it will prove effective anywhere, especially in The West, and make Rusev a hero should WWE ever run a live event in Russia. Not that that's likely.

But I mentioned the United States specifically and I did that for a reason. WWE has the US championship knocking about and putting it on Rusev would be A Good Idea™. A foreign heel doing an anti-America gimmick winning the country's very own championship? That's been a tried and tested approach in pro wrestling for as long as there’s been pro wrestling. It’s also something WWE hasn't done in some time.

That's unless you count Cesaro's reign a couple of years ago, of course. Which I don't. Because it was a half-hearted thing WWE did to keep Cesaro busy and because he never really clicked in the foreign menace role. Certainly not like Rusev has anyway. Cesaro has his strengths but riling up feelings of national pride on the level Rusev and Lana operate on is not one of them.

The only man who could benefit from the United States championship.

Making Rusev the US champ would also make the title relevant, something it's not truly been for years. Sheamus has had the gold since May 5. I can’t remember a single one of his defences. With 'The Celtic Warrior' the title it meaningless and it will almost certainly continue to be meaningless for as long as he holds it. With Rusev it could gain meaning and enhance the Russian's already impressive 1980s cheap heat act.

Ideally WWE would book an interim champ to do title drop honours for 'The Super Athlete'. I'm not the world's biggest Shaymo fan but I think he and Rusev could churn out a good Big Lad encounter. But quality's not the concern. The concern is nationality. Sheamus is a perfectly functional WWE babyface but he was not born in America. While fans could rally behind him in a valiant defence against the evil foreigner it would be more sensible to place an American in a position to lose to Rusev. Someone who can talk about how the title means they’re defending the Statue of Liberty and apple pie and Barack Obama and the stars and stripes against the communist hive mind and convince us that they mean it. Sheamus talking about how the title represents a boyhood dream of the land of the free just wouldn’t be the same.

I think it's this or retire the US championship. The title’s been a pointless trinket for so long that beyond adding heat to the Rusev fire it has no use. Why not let it go out in a blaze of glory being won by Rusev and put into retirement? The heat Lana would get announcing that Rusev will not give any American the chance to regain the gold would be blistering. For a third tier championship it's not going to get much better than that.

NXTweet 24.07.14

I’ve said before that NXT is the best weekly wrestling show available to wrestling fans. It features a good blend of high quality matches, entertaining gimmicks, and promos. It doesn’t hurt that none of the regulars who appear on the show have been around long enough to feel stale, or for the writers to have lost interest in them.

It was the July 17 episode that made me want to revive NXTweet. It was a particularly strong episode, featuring almost every major act in the league in some form or other. The only one missing was Adrian Neville, and to be honest I can handle skipping him for a week. I’d recommend that episode to anyone who wants to get into NXT who isn’t a regular viewer (there have to be some people in that position reading this, right?).

But that’s last week. This week’s show was good too.  The only real disappointment was the Charlotte versus Summer Rae Women’s title match, and that was mostly a letdown because of how good both women have been over the last few months. They’ve shown they can do better work than they did here. Perhaps we’ll get a rematch that surpasses this. Hopefully they’ll have the metaphorical creases ironed out before NXT’s next special event rolls around. I suspect they’ll be in a three-way match also involving Sasha Banks there.

But as I say, everything else on this show was a good watch. I don’t know how any wrestling fan could watch The Vaudevillains, Tyler Breeze, Adrian Neville and Rusev and feel unfulfilled.

Intro

Tweet 1: Watching NXT. Prepare for some heavy tweet flow...

Tweet 2: Opening video on the BFFs was good. How is it that the NXT Divas are booked better, and are better in general, than the main roster Divas?

The Ascension v Jonny Vandal and Aaron Solow

Tweet 3: Best thing about the opener so far has been Konor's no-sell of a weak chop.

Selling? Nope.

Tweet 4: Within NXT The Ascension are magnificent. I'm not convinced they'll be treated so well on RAW.

Tweet 5: Also, more commentary team comparisons to The Eliminators and The Road Warriors wouldn't go amiss.

Tyler Breeze v Mojo Rawley

Tweet 6: Zoolander references during Breeze's intro. I approve.

Tweet 7: I'm less keen on the furry phone cover.
Tweet 8: And I'm even less keen on Breeze facing Mojo Rawley. He has the feel of a low card WCW guy from 1997.
Tweet 9: And and and... I'm also not keen on the Beauty Shot still being a spinning heel kick. It should be a DDT or something.
Tweet 10: But hey, Breeze won. So thumbs up, yeah?!

NXT Women’s championship – Charlotte (c) v Summer Rae

Tweet 11: Summer Rae wearing gold boots, Eddie G style.

Tweet 12: Not to be outdone Charlotte does a handstand cartwheel thing and then slides into the ring like heel Nigel McGuinness.
Tweet 13: That figure four headlock lasted foreeeeeeeeeeeever.

The never-ending figure four headlock.

Tweet 14: "I made you, Charlotte!" - Summer Rae, providing the requisite lols
Tweet 15: They're both long women apparently.
Tweet 16: The fans are bored so they're doing a Mexican wave. I feel their pain. This match is pretty poor.
Tweet 17: Is it called the women's championship because they're women but not full-fledged Divas? Knowing how WWE works, probably.
Tweet 18: Charlotte won. The wrestling they did wasn't bad but they did nothing to draw the crowd in.

The Vaudevillains v Sin Cara and Kalisto

Tweet 19: #Vaudevillainspop

Tweet 20: Kalisto teaming with Sin Cara. Prepare the botch klaxon...
Tweet 21: Renee Young chatting some nonsense about mask spikes there.
Tweet 22: Apparently Sin Cara and Kalisto want to be “the future of lucha libres." Not lucha libre or luchadors but lucha libres. C'mon, Renee.
Tweet 23: She pulled it back with a Giant Haystacks reference. That's my girl.
Tweet 24: The Vaudevillains are two guys with moustaches. Just like Basil and Manuel in Fawlty Towers. #justsaying
Tweet 25: There is something a little John Cleese about Aiden English as it goes.
Tweet 26: That was a solid tag match. Everyone was good. Even Sin Cara. Yes, really!

"Don't mention the war!"

Rusev v Adrian Neville

Tweet 27: Lana shrugging off the "What?" treatment like a boss.

Tweet 28: #Putinheat
Tweet 29: Now feels like an apt time to mention that Rusev was trained by Rikishi and Gangrel.
Tweet 30: "I am 'The Super Athlete'. Rusev!" - Rusev
Tweet 31: Is it the Eiffel Tower tattooed on Rusev's back or just a generic electricity pylon?
Tweet 32: Don't really get why Rusev didn't just beat Neville. He's a beast and main roster. Neville could stomach that loss.
Tweet 33: Didn't mind seeing Tyler Breeze again though. #mmmgorgeous

Post-match beating, just to remind us who the bigger star is.

Tweet 34: As ever NXT bests every other weekly wrestling show from any company.

Tweet 35: Yep, even with a DQ main event.

NXT Takeover review

Three months into the WWE Network Era and we already have our second live NXT special. Perhaps someone in WWE realised NXT is their most consistent and enjoyable weekly programme and decided to treat us. More likely it was simply felt that the NXT stars warranted another live airing. Whatever the reason it was certainly welcome.

The commentary team for the evening consisted of Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and William Regal. It was a relief not to have Alex Riley clogging things up with his insipid comments. And I wasn’t sad that Jason Albert (formerly gaijin warlord Tensai) was sitting things out either. He’s far easier to take in the role than A-Ry but he’s still not close to being amongst WWE’s verbal elite.

Before I talk about the wrestling I’d like to mention William Regal. He’s always entertaining and knowledgable when providing commentary but he was particularly good here. He continually and tirelessly put over the efforts of all performers on the card, enhancing everyone with his comments and pushing NXT as the important part of the WWE machine it is. Particularly good was his commentary during the main event, during which he discussed British wrestling and the difficulties of making a name for oneself in the US as a foreign star

And he danced to Rusev’s music. The guy can do it all!

The show opened with Adam Rose entering Full Sail through the front door with his Exotic Express in tow. He came through the crowd. That simple little difference and the reaction he got made him look like a star. It’s a pity he’s not been given anything better to do since turning up on RAW because the characters very enjoyable (and is also facing a struggle because it fits better in the smaller NXT Arena than in the cavernous lairs RAWs held in every week.

By contrast Camacho didn't even get to ride out on his tricycle. And he was called a party pooper by the fans. He looked like the bit part player he is.

"Is that a lollipop in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?"

Rose played around for the first minute before Camacho took control. He kept control until the end of their five minutes, at which point Rose hit a spinebuster, an Exotic Express (formerly the heat-magnet-when-performed-by-Sean-Waltman Bronco Buster) and his Ace Crusher DDT for the victory. In this environment Rose is tremendous.

A video package recapped Sami Zayn's feud with Cesaro and how hard he worked to get to WWE. Also mentioned was his personal dislike of Tyler Breeze. Personally I like both guys. It was an effective video package that demonstrated Zayn’s passion for wrestling, as well as the much-vaunted heart and desire that are an integral part of his appeal.

After that ring announcer announced 'Prince Pretty' had entered the building.

And then The Ascension came out. They were loudly cheered, as has become the fashion. It would be nice if WWE made an NXT tag division a priority. Konnor and Viktor are over but they can only go so far without any meaningful opposition. People like them squashing jobbers, but it won’t do them any favours in the long term.

Challengers Kalisto and EL Local (the masked identity of ring announcer extraordinaire Ricardo Rodriguez) jumped the champions before the bell, sending them to the outside of the ring. A pair of suicide dives were met with elbows. That put things in the champions' favour and things stayed that way for a few minutes. Kalisto was kept in the ring for a while. He mostly took clotheslines and punches but there was a fair bit of getting rammed into turnbuckles too.

The Legion of Ascension.

Eventually he tagged in El Ricardo. That sparked off a frenetic sequence involving all four. It didn't take long for The Ascension to isolate Local and drop him with Fall of Man for another successful title defence.

Tyler Breeze was shown in the back looking from a phone to a mirror and back again. Just in case it wasn’t clear from his general gimmick that he’s a narcissist, presumably. A video about him was shown. It was far more gimmicky than Zayn's, because Breeze is more of a wrestling character than an extension of a real life personality. That said they did have Breeze say that being pretty isn't all he can do. For the record Breeze is still doing his Zoolander voice all the time. And it's still fun.

Zayn v Breeze followed that. It was a number one contendership match. The winner would progress to a match against the winner of the NXT championship main event. ‘Prince Pretty’ debuted new music. It featured the line “Part man but all model” and was as great as that should imply.

They wrestled. For fifteen minutes. Non-stop. It was pretty great. After starting out with some counter wrestling they got the story underway: Breeze shoved Zayn off the top rope to the floor, which put Zayn on the back foot and played into his recent (storyline) concussion trouble. After Breeze had controlled the pace for a bit the pair broke into the big spots.

Zayn v Breeze: match of the night.

Highlights there included a sitdown moonsault to the outside by Zayn; Zayn's blue thunder bomb; a high power bomb from the corner by Breeze; an exploder suplex into a turnbuckle from Zayn; a perfect super kick from Breeze, which earned him a scintillating near fall; and a suplex into a blue thunder bomb from Zayn (which was a really convincing false finish). It was ‘The Gorgeous One’ who got the win when he gave Zayn a Beauty Shot after a low blow during a Helluva kick attempt. Regal claimed he was just getting his hands up to protect himself. Phillips didn't seem convinced.

Backstage we saw Bret Hart having a chat with Tyson Kidd and Natalya. I’d like to think he was praising Natty for wearing pink and black and encouraging Kidd to do the same.

Back at ringside Lana strutted out into the entranceway. She introduced Rusev, as she tends to, who came out waving a Russian flag very aggressively. Rusev has, according to Lana, expanded his power across RAW and SmackDown. Putin was shown on the big screen and got booed. That's a great little gimmick. Rusev spoke in Russian then waved his flag like a madman again.

Mojo Rawley, who I still don't see the appeal of, came out and reminded Rusev and 'The Ravishing Russian' they were in America. Babyfaces tend to assume foreigners forget where they are all the time. 'The Hype Man' rushed the ring, got knocked down, and placed in the Steiner Recliner (or, if you prefer, The Accolade). That didn’t satisfy ‘The Ravishing Russian. She had Rusev chuck Mojo out of the ring and placed in the hold on the entrance ramp. Afterwards Rusev did a lot of hilarious fist-shaking. I want that to become a regular part of his act.

The pro-Russian shtick can, in the context of WWE, be ended by only one man. I'll give you a hint: he sells a lot of merch. I still think that could be a significant match at SummerSlam.

Another backstage scene was shown. Charlotte was walking around with her dad. That segued into a video showing the Charlotte v Natalya feud. Natty said she wants to be the best Hart ever and how she's proud to be the first female wrestler of the family. Charlotte said she's improved and keeps improving. The whole thing was given a Harts versus Flairs vibe. That didn't help Charlotte, because she’s nowhere near as charismatic as 'The Nature Boy' and she never will be. It was also inaccurate because the Flairs are not a wrestling dynasty as the Harts are. Only one Flair has achieved anything of note in wrestling, and that’s ‘The Nature Boy’. You can’t get a one man family dynasty, not even if you’re Ric Flair.

Paige strode out to the ring before the women's championship match. She thanked the fans and said the next champion needed to exhibit strength, character and grace. Yes, the NXT women’s champion needs grace. Also, she made the point that holding the NXT belt can lead to bigger things and brought attention to her Divas championship. Talking's not her strong point but she didn’t do too badly. It helps that she’s basically playing a regular woman and so can more easily draw on her personal experience and beliefs.

Charlotte entered to an enjoyable techno ditty featuring samples of the Space Odyssey theme no wrestling fan can hear without thinking of her dad. Flair looked better than he had in years. Natalya got her regular boring music. Bret was wearing jeans. He looked like he’d been sleeping rough. His insistence on hanging on to his raggedy ponytail didn’t help there.

The two were presented as an even match for the most part. Charlotte was the first to enjoy an extended period of control, impressing with her figure four headlock. Natty came back with a snapmare and a dash across Charlotte's neck, which looked dangerous (an indication of how good Natalya is). Charlotte busted out a top rope moonsault. As was usually the case for her dad the move to the top didn't pay off as Natalya rolled out of the way. Still, it was a good move smoothly performed.

The first championship of sixteen?

Natalya locked in a Sharpshooter. Charlotte survived around thirty seconds before rolling through it and applying a figure four (woooooo!). Natty pushed up and reversed the pressure but Charlotte refused to break the hold. Then they slapped each other a bit. Finally Charlotte rolled to the outside and hung off the apron for extra leverage. That prompted referee and noted Flair enthusiast Charles Robinson to break the hold. As an insult to Bret, Charlotte applied the Sharpshooter to Natty, looking right at ‘The Hitman’ as she did so. Natalya promptly countered out of it but wasn't quick enough to avoid a Bow Down to the Queen. That gave ‘The Nature Girl’ the win and the title. It was a very good match. Charlotte in particular was impressive, though that may be because I didn't expect as much from her.

Flair went nuts at ringside (he kept his shoes on luckily) and then the two women hugged in the ring. Ric and Bret shook hands and then congratulated the other's charge. It was a nice moment for all involved and emphasised once again that NXT is the wrestling show, not a storyline show.

The final video of the evening was a look at the build-up to Tyson Kidd versus Adrian Neville for the latter’s NXT championship. Kidd talked about being hungry and wanting to get back to the big time. Neville discussed being undefeated in 2014 and facing a variety of opponents. It was an approach I'd like to see WWE use more: they used wrestling to create a story and made the men relatable through their aspirations within their field.

It was another match that started with counter wrestling. They put a twist on it by casting Tyson as the cocky veteran who was underestimating his foe. This was best shown when he decked Neville with a big elbow shot and ruffled his hair. They exchanged the advantage throughout the match but they never seemed to quite click with one another. It wasn't a bad match, it's just that they set a relatively sedate pace when you consider they're both known for being fast high-fliers.

Neville's still the champion. The belt's still ugly.

Highlights included a big power bomb by Neville; a Russian leg sweep countered from a second rope springboard by Kidd; Neville suplexing Kidd over the top rope and tumbling over with him; and Neville’s match-winning top rope hurricanrana and Red Arrow. One the subject of ‘The Jumping Geordie’s’ repertoire he could do with adding one or two key or setup moves. That would give fans more to react to beyond his (admittedly impressive) corkscrew shooting star.

Kidd hung around in the ring after the match. When Neville had finished celebrating (after about two minutes) he offered a handshake. Kidd barged passed him and walked out. Perhaps he felt irked that it took the champion so long to acknowledge him. If so that’s understandable. If they do a rematch, and I suspect they will, I hope the pair gel better than they did here.

There wasn’t a single duff performance on the show. The forgettable segments (Rose v Camacho and the Rusev beatdown) were inoffensive and there were two very good matches in Charlotte v Natalya and Zayn v Breeze. The main event was a tad siappointing but it was still a decent match. NXT Takeover is not going to go down as WWE’s finest show of the year but it will go down as an enjoyable one. I think that’s good result.

That RAW Recap 07.04.14

WrestleMania weekend ends not with WrestleMania but with the RAW after it. ‘Mania provides the hype, spectacle and closure while RAW sets things up for the future. It’s just as important, perhaps more important, than ‘The Granddaddy of Them All’ because it’s used as a tool to prepare new things as opposed to revelling in its own grandiose existence. It has developed into being amongst WWE’s most important annual shows by virtue of exploring the fallout from ‘Mania.

The post-‘Mania RAW has also become known for its rowdy crowds that react to things the way they like, not necessarily the way WWE desires. Which is important to note, because these crowds have been important in the ascent of Daniel Bryan over the last two years. It was such a crowd that firmly established the “Yes!” chants as a thing the night after WrestleMania XXVIII and, more than that, embraced Bryan as a star based on his ability and personality. Without those reactions he wouldn’t be on top now. Without those reactions it’s entirely possible Batista would be the WWE champion now.

Worth waiting for?

Daniel Bryan referred to this in his show opening speech on Monday’s RAW. Before that we were treated to the video package that had preceded his match with Triple H the previous evening, which was just as good a second time, and over a minute of “Yes!” chants from the crowd. After acknowledging that it’s harder to lift his arms to chant while holding two belts, something the audience ate up, Bryan heard “You deserve it!” chants. He told the crowd that he deserves it only a bit and that we’re the ones who really deserve it.

Then he was joined by Triple H, entering to his bad guy ‘King of Kings’ theme. Trips didn’t get into the ring because he didn’t want to hurt Bryan (ahhhh… the old “I’m scared what I’ll do to you” routine, it’s a classic), instead standing on the apron to inform Bryan that he still intended to destroy the Yes Movement. Bryan held his belts up in ‘The Game’s’ face and led a thunderous “Yes!” chant.

Tripper said Bryan’s moment would not last the night then booked himself into a title match in the main event. That was received well by the crowd: they wanted to see Bryan give Triple H another good kicking.

After the first break we got some more Triple H. He and Stephanie stood backstage discussing the end of Bryan’s Yes Movement. Then Batista walked in, followed seconds later by Randy Orton. They wanted title shots against Bryan for themselves. Batista said he’d earned a singles match for the title by winning the Rumble (which isn’t actually the case) and Orton reasoned that as the former champion he was entitled to a rematch. They were both peeved that Tripper had given himself first crack at Bryan. The boss soothed their egos and said he’d get them both world championship matches in the future, then booked them for a tag title match against the Usos.

No mention was made by any of the three that they’d been involved in a feud the week before, cheerfully overlooking Bryan and expecting to battle amongst themselves for the title. This was particularly incongruous considering the knocks Batista had sent Stephanie’s way. In fairness the rest of the show, this thread in particular, was pretty well put together, so a relatively minor aspect like this can be overlooked. The union did ultimately make sense, and that’s what counts.

The first match of the night was a six man tag pitting Big E, Sheamus and John Cena against The Wyatt Family. You know it’s a packed show when Cena’s in an opening six man tag. The bout was okay but nothing special. There was no real reason for it to be happening beyond Cena’s issues with Bray. Shaymo and E had had zero troubles with The Wyatt Family and none were created by this. Unless of course you think Bray pinning E after Sister Abigail was done to set up an Intercontinental title match, which I don’t. It was an excuse to get Cena and Wyatt together and Big E and ‘Great White’ on to the show.

Between the first two matches we got the first of two vignettes for Bo Dallas. They had a motivational speaker vibe to them, playing into his gimmick of acting like a 1980s babyface who thinks he’s adored but is actually hated. I hope this run goes better for Bo than the one he got last year did. So much can be done with his deluded character.

Match two was a mixed tag match pitting Emma and a bearded Santino against Summer Rae and Faaaaaan… daaaaaan… goooooo. WrestleMania and the RAW after it are the two nights of the year where Fandango is massively over (thanks to his entrance music) so I’m pleased he got something to do on the show. The match was very short. The ladies tagged in almost instantly and Emma submitted Summer with an Emma Lock. Santino and Emma celebrated awkwardly together afterwards.

Hour two started with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman sauntering to the ring to gloat about ending The Undertaker’s Streak the previous evening. Heyman spent several minutes hyping up ‘The Beast’ as someone truly remarkable within wrestling and sports in general for accomplishing things nobody else can. It was a necessary speech because the whole point of having Lesnar snap The Streak is to turn him into an unstoppable force of nature, but I zoned out halfway through. Heyman’s Lesnar-themed promos have all started to sound alike. Lesnar is an impressive athlete with a main event aura to him but I can only hear the same accomplishments reeled off so many times.

After the commercial break we got another vignette, this one the first of two for Adam Rose and his Erotic Express. I was surprised to see him getting promoted to RAW because the character only appeared on NXT a month or so ago. I’m pleased though. Adam Rose is a fun character, exactly the sort of thing RAW needs. Hopefully a call-up for Adam Rose is also a call-up for Bowler Hat Guy, Masked Bodysuit Guy, and The Spartan. The gimmick will only work if he keeps his beefy entourage.

The evening’s third match was the tag team title match. Orton and ‘The Animal’ got their own separate entrances. I was disappointed they didn’t wander out to the Evolution theme. For two guys who’d hated one another the night before they looked very chummy as they huddled in a corner chatting as the Usos shimmied their way down to ringside. Maybe they were griping about WWE’s recent ban on baby oil.

Poor Jimmy (that's Jimmy).

The match went to a double count out within a few minutes. Batista and ‘The Viper’ battered Jimmy and Jey at ringside, Orty hitting his draping DDT off a barrier and Batista hitting a Batista bomb onto some steel steps. The point was clearly to show how dangerous Orton and Batista are when working together and to hint at a permanent union as part of a reformed Evolution.

That match was followed by the return of Rob Van Dam. He faced Damien Sandow in what is best described as a typical RVD match. He did some of his popular spots. The crowd popped for them and chanted his name. It didn’t take long for ‘Mr Monday Night’ to hit a Five Star frog splash for the win. I’ve no idea what they’re going to do with him now he’s back. No obvious storylines present themselves. At least not featuring performers WWE wants us to care about.

After another break Rey Mysterio came to the ring. He got a polite reaction. At this point it’s pretty clear the memories of Mysterio’s good work have been erased by years of bad knee related subpar performers and lengthy layoffs. I still think he should conserve his energy for one short and final meaningful run culminating in a match at SummerSlam or WrestleMania. In 2014 throwaway matches on RAW do nothing for him, WWE, or fans.

Mysterio was wrestling Bad News Barrett, who entered wearing a luxurious cape. For the record this was the first televised match Barrett has wrestled under the Bad News moniker. He started by grabbing a microphone and telling Rey he had some bad news. The fans loved that but were less keen on Rey peppering him with punches before said news could be delivered.

Barrett's bad news was that Rey's knees are knackered.

Bad News soon regained control and worked the match as a babyface, a decision at least partly made because there were so many English fans in the crowd. They joined in with his “BOOM!” shouts and chanted both for Bad News Barrett himself and for Eng-ur-land. All of Rey’s moves were met with boos. Bad News got the massively popular win with a Bullhammer elbow. After the match he celebrated by shouting “BOOM!” and doing the overhead double clap that Scotty Riggs used to do. So that’s something.

Another break was followed by Lana coming out to the stage where she introduced Alexander Rusev for his debut. They’re very clearly doing a Cold War thing with these two, and an aspect of it that’s been overlooked is that Rusev’s name graphic is not just written in Cyrillic but has a grey, understated background and off centre placing on-screens. It’s a small touch but a great one.

Lana's legs. That is all.

‘The Bulgarian Brute’ beat Zack Ryder in a basic match with the camel clutch. Here the move was called the Accolade. The shoulders over the knees application variant Rusev used here used to be known as the Steiner Recliner.

The final hour kicked off with The Ultimate Warrior. He walked out wearing a suit with a gimmicked jacket over it (which had a painting of him on the back) and started by saying “Speak to me, war-yerrrrrrrrrrs!” and snorting. TThe fans ate his act up, bursting into an enthusiastic “Warrior!” chant. He said it was hard for him to find the words to speak so he pulled out a string Warrior mask and put it on. The crowd were less into that, regarding it as the strange act that it was.

“Well then, you shut up Warrior and let meeeeee do the talking,” were the next words out of Warrior’s mouth. Yes, WWE booked a schizophrenic breakdown for the RAW after WrestleMania. He talked, in a roundabout, Warrior-esque way, about the fans helping to make WWE stars what they are. The audience didn't seem to follow all the ins and outs of what Warrior said, but they got the gist and gave Warrior a rousing ovation as he left the arena.

Out next was AJ Lee. She continued her CM Punk tribute act by talking about having held the Divas championship for 295 days and referring to herself as the best Divas in the world. Yeah, AJ trolled the RAW crowd into giving her a CM Punk chant. Once that had died down some new music hit and Paige walked out, in her ring gear natch, and stepped into the ring. The audience chanted her name (I was a bit disappointed they didn’t go with a “Zebra Kid!” chant), demonstrating why WWE had chosen to have debut on this episode: she was a known quantity to the diehard fans in attendance and was ensured a good reaction. That made her RAW debut feel like an event.

Paige said she was just there to congratulate AJ on her win at WrestleMania. AJ told her she didn’t need congratulations and ordered her back to NXT. Then she challenged Paige to a match but Paige said she wasn’t ready. The champ gave her a slap and told her they were having a match and that as a “WrestleMania gift” she’d make it a title match. The crowd exploded at that. They could sense what was coming.

The match was short. AJ immediately attacked Paige, skipped around the ring, and applied the Black Widow. There was an awkward moment where it looked as though Paige was tapping out but in actuality she was just shifting AJ’s weight so she could reverse out of the move and perform her Paige Turner finisher. That got her the three count and the title.

The shot in the arm the Divas division needed.

The audience exploded again. AJ was left to seethe and shriek in the ring as Paige dashed up the aisle looking shocked. I think this was the closest thing on the show to Ziggler’s cash-in last year.

The penultimate segment of the evening saw Hulk Hogan hit the ring to formally present the Andre the Giant memorial trophy to battle royal winner Cesaro. ‘The Hulkster’ started off with a Superdome reference and then briefly chatted about his memories of Andre the Giant. The amount Hogan talks about Andre you’d think they’d been married.

The crowd gave Cesaro a huge reaction when Hogan introduced him, and he was treated to his (Real Americans) entrance theme being hummed. Zeb Colter was with him, which made sense: Cesaro’s association with The Real Americans faction needed to be addressed and Zeb needed to be there for that. In the ring Cesaro (who was sporting a natty black jacket from the Chris Jericho range) posed with the trophy and got congratulated by Hogan.

Before Cesaro could speak Zeb took the microphone and told him he’d take care of things. That got some heat, as did his “Let’s let a real American talk here” comment. Zeb said he’d hand the microphone back to Cesaro after he’d finished so Cesaro could tell the world what kind of guy he is. Then he talked about bringing Cesaro into the fold as a real American, even though he’s a foreigner, and making him a Zeb Colter guy.

Having heard enough Cesaro took the microphone and told him he wasn’t a Zeb Colter guy… he was a Paul Heyman guy. Heyman strode out to “Yes!” chants and proclaimed himself the new advocate for the ‘King of Swing’ Cesaro. Heyman informed Zeb that his services were no longer required and then headed to the commentary table to brief Cole and his crew on how he wanted Cesaro discussed. It took seconds for a ‘King of Swing’ chant to break out and a hashtag to trend on Twitter.

The inevitable Jack Swagger attack wasn't far behind. He not only knocked Cesaro out of the ring but also lobbed the (coveted) trophy to the floor, smashing it into pieces. A break followed and when we returned there was a match in progress between the two former teammates. After a few minutes of back and forth Cesaro went for a Swing on Swagger but Swagger slid under the bottom rope and took a count out loss.

The entire sequence was excellent. Cesaro received a great face reaction that only improved when he was paired up with Heyman. The split of The Real Americans was made to mean something and a match was teased, which is exactly what should happen when a double act splits. Any concerns of a babyface Cesaro being managed by a heel Heyman should be forgotten. WWE have been moving away from such clearly defined terms for a while now (as you can read here). Besides which Heyman is fully capable of working as a heel and a face in different segments of the same show, as he proved here. I already much prefer him with Cesaro than with Lesnar. The latter pairing stems from necessity, Lesnar being unable to articulate his own storylines. The Cesaro pairing comes from WWE actively trying to turn Cesaro into a name player.

Between the final two breaks of the night we saw The Shield backstage with Stephanie McMuffcakes. The Authority were still keen to make use of The Shield even though they’d officially turned face several weeks before and come to blows on various occasions with Director of Operations Corporate Kane. Speaking of Kane he was there too, arguing with ‘The Hounds of Justice’ and insisting that Steph couldn’t trust them. It all ended when Steph got everyone to agree that their goal was to see Triple H leave New Orleans as WWE champion.

Daniel Bryan entered first for the main event, to an explosion of “Yes!” chants. Before Triple H could appear Batista and Orton rocked up and attacked Bryan. Kane strode out and called them off. Bizarrely the commentary team acted as though Kane was going to be the voice of reason call Batista and Orton off in the name of sportsmanship and fair play. The backstage segment we’d just seen, plus the fact that he’s very clearly been allied to The Authority for months and shown no signs of turning on them, told us, and should’ve told Cole, that was not going to be the case. Anyway… ‘The Big Red Machine’ choke slammed Bryan and then Triple H came out for his scheduled match.

‘The Game’ smirked at the crowd when the match began. What he should have done was go for a cover while things were obviously going his way and Bryan was prone, but he’s a heel and heels don’t do that kind of thing. They gloat. At this point I was expecting Tripper to go to pick Bryan up and get caught with a small package for a swift Bryan victory, triggering a brawl in which The Shield would make the save. What we got was better.

The standoff.

Before H3 made a move against Bryan The Shield’s music hit and the trio stormed to the ring through the crowd. They lined up outside the ring on the commentary table side with Batista, Kane and Orton lined up on the aisle side. Triple H looked at the two opposing factions with concern, which only grew when The Shield stepped up on to the ring apron. On the opposite side of the ring The Authority boys responded in kind. Triple H barked for nobody to get into the ring so naturally that happened too, with the two sides staring one another down and Triple H caught in the middle.

Triple H told Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns to stand down and then backed up Kane, Orton and Batista, telling them he didn’t want a war. When he turned around to address The Shield again he got speared by Roman Reigns, triggering a fight between the two factions. Orton and Batista were sent tumbling to the floor then took a pair of dives from Rollins and Ambrose. Back in the ring Reigns powered out of a choke slam attempt and dropped Kane with a Superman punch.

Bryan and The Shield versus The Authority? Sounds good to me.

The Shield surrounded a prone Triple H in the ring. He slowly got to his feet, trying to talk his way out of a hiding and then turned around into Bryan’s running knee. Kane quickly grabbed the boss and pulled him out of the ring, leaving The Shield and Daniel Bryan standing tall as the show went off the air.

The ending was great. It sets up potentially interesting singles and tag matches involving Orton, Batista, Kane, Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns, as well as the obvious six man tag match. It kept the Bryan versus Triple H issue alive for another match there too. Longer term it keeps Orton and Batista around as challengers for Bryan (and potentially makes the tag division more interesting if they go for the belts again) and lines Triple H up for singles matches with each member of The Shield. Reigns versus Triple H could be big if teased long enough and held on a larger show. SummerSlam for example.

The rest of the show was great too. Yes there were some throwaway matches but there was nothing actively bad. Crucially even the throwaway material always featured someone over or new. It felt like a fresh start.

The absence of The Undertaker, CM Punk and Sting, all of whom had been talked of as potential surprises for the show, didn’t stop my enjoyment at all. In fact it probably added to it. The only return I would have liked to see was Vince McMahon, and the quality of the show we got without him made his involvement completely unnecessary. WWE was unconcerned with kisses to its past during this RAW. They were all about building for the future. And it looked bright.