It's been an awfy long time since I've just sat down and written words about WWE. I've thought of a new format to cover it but I won't start using that until next week. If I started using it this week, this entire thing I've written here would be made redundant, so for now, I thought I'd just give a brief recap of this past week's RAW. This isn't even in running order, because "Anarchy In The UK" and aw that. That was an SLC Punk! reference btw, only really works when ye say/read it in a pure sarcastic voice. But aye. A recap of Monday Night RAW. It gives you an idea of what's happening in terms of the main storyline and anything else I see fit to be a talking point, followed by a quick round-up of the remainder of the matches and their results.
Before I get properly into this week's RAW, I feel as if I should get something out the way. I thought the ending of Hell In A Cell was good. Great, even. At the time. Maybe it was the right move at that moment in time, as it kept Rollins relatively strong. Realistically, we'd have something to complain about if the seemingly next WWE World Heavyweight Champion was beaten clean in the main event of a PPV, if it was anyone else he was facing. Almost all of us expected Ambrose to go over, because we didn't want to see him beaten and ultimately start to slip down the ranks. With that being said, the fact that Rollins' win was cheap means not only that both men stay as strong as they were going into the match, it also leaves the door open for the two to continue their rivalry after their respective programs. Remember what I said, AT THE TIME. Bray Wyatt cost Dean Ambrose a match and we were going to see a dream feud unfold. In order to split Ambrose and Rollins up, this was perfect. The promos have been great so far, and no doubt when the time comes, the match they have together will be a masterclass in storytelling. So what have I got a gripe with? As much as I know this feud SHOULD be great, I'm just not feeling it yet. Much the same way as I felt with the Wyatt/Jericho thing, only this time Bray has come back a "stronger force" and even though his video messages still have me relatively interested, I can't seem to envisage a situation where the big reveal of what Wyatt "holds over Ambrose" makes any sense. In literal terms, these two hadn't been in the same ring since the Wyatt Family/Shield rivalry died down, so without a build, looking back now, the ending of HIAC just seems TOO random. Or maybe I'm just over-thinking it, and this'll turn out to be the most intriguing angle we'll ever see. It's looking likely that they'll meet at Survivor Series, so we'll see come then just what'll come of it.
Onto this week's show, and the focal point was of course the ongoing friction within The Authority. We kicked off with the triumphant return of Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon. The chairman of the board. Accompanied of course by Triple H and Steph. He gives a typically energetic speech about power, before making Survivor Series a little more interesting. He makes the stipulation that if Team Authority fails to beat Team Cena, then they will be stripped of their authoritative power. This results in Triple H and Steph spending the majority of the show trying to recruit people onto Team Authority, which will be "co-captained" by Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton.
The first major development of the night came when Dolph Ziggler was forced to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins, as punishment for insisting on staying in John Cena's Survivor Series team. Quick note on the match itself - it was top notch. What else can really be expected from a match between Rollins and Ziggler? Both looked really strong throughout, and yet again, it would be due to Rollins security team of Mercury and Noble that looked to play the vital part in the finish. Just when it looked as though Ziggler was going to retain clean, he was distracted by both Mercury and Noble, which resulted in Rollins hitting a Curb Stomp. However, just as he was going for the pin, Randy Orton ran interference and hit Rollins with an RKO, which got a massive pop. Obviously still incensed with Rollins' special treatment from The Authority, Orton stormed backstage, where Triple H agreed to give him Seth Rollins one-on-one later in the night, as long as they shook hands afterwards.
In the main event, Orton and Rollins went to war, in what turned into an all-out brawl. It looked as if Orton was going to get payback for that Curb Stomp two weeks ago, but as he went for an RKO to surely seal the win, Rollins reversed it into a backslide pin, picking up the lucky win. The match seemed to cure the animosity between the men, as Orton shook hands with Noble, Mercury, Kane, and then reluctantly Rollins, who apologized to Orton while doing so. Was never that simple though, as Orton muttered that he was sorry too, before finalizing his face turn with another emphatic RKO. His bond with The Authority was well and truly broken, as Triple H gave the orders for everyone to attack him, which resulted in Orton being Curb Stomped onto both the announce table and the ring steps. The reactions Orton got throughout the night is a good indicator as to how he'll be perceived as a face. His last good guy run became stale because there was nothing decent for him to work with (Christian's "One More Match" thing mainly, I mean c'mon tae fuck). It seems, going by reports, that the attack left Orton with a bad injury, so expect him to be a "mystery member" of Team Cena come Survivor Series. Hate to sound smarky but it really seems the obvious path to go down.
Other things. One thing that really pissed me off about this week is the deal with Rusev and Sheamus. Both men worked matches during RAW. Rusev went over Zack Ryder strong. Sheamus on the other hand picked up a rare defeat via count-out at the hands of Tyson Kidd. That's not the issue - the issue is scheduling a US Championship match between the two... AFTER RAW GOES OFF AIR. As if that wasn't a head-scratcher as it is, they actually have Rusev win the match, and the championship, clean. After RAW goes off air. Don't get me wrong, I think Rusev holding the US title is a perfect situation for him to be in, but why would they put the match on Backstage Pass? Exclusively on the Network? I think if there were to be a case of a double count-out or something in the match, leading to a rematch at Survivor Series, before having Rusev win, that would have been a bit better, but what the fuck do I know? Anyway, Rusev is the new US champ, and he'll likely make short work of Sheamus again come the rematch, so who is a credible challenger for him now?
THE BIG GUY.
That's right, I'd love to think that Ryback's new run as a face can put him right in line to beat Rusev, ending his unbeaten run. My logic is simple - they could just as easily have brought him and Curtis Axel back together and continue as heels, but they've specifically rejuvenated the "Feed Me More" gimmick and building Ryback as a strong face character again. What's the reason? Well, he won't go after the IC title, because Ziggler is pre-occupied with The Authority for the time being, so he goes after Rusev, and after perhaps an initial defeat in their first match, he eventually overcomes the big Russian and becomes the US champ. Pure speculation of course but it seems like a nice way to have Rusev beaten. So who was being fed to The Big Guy this week? Titus O'Neil. He calls for an open challenge, Big Guy enters, Big Guy wins. Nothing more to say really.
RAW opened with an absolute corker between Ambrose and Cesaro. Of course, Bray made an appearance in an attempt to distract Ambrose. The titty master was having none of it though, hitting his new look Dirty Deeds to seal the win, before making a beeline for Wyatt, who of course disappeared before Ambrose could get near him. In quite a surprising match announcement initially, there was the continuation of Big Show and Mark Henry's rivalry, when their singles match ended in DQ, after Henry began to brutally assault Show with the ring steps. The fact that the match ended in DQ seems to set it up for a huge encounter at Survivor Series. Nikki Bella defeated Emma, after which she sent Brie out to slap the Divas champ AJ, who was on commentary. AJ made a dive for the ring but Nikki got herself to safety. The developing situation with Brie being Nikki's assistant will likely come to a head during Nikki's title match, maybe with Brie costing Nikki the match? Elsewhere, Fernando of Los Matadores picked up a surprise win over Stardust, and The Miz claimed the win against former tag champ, Jimmy Uso. Mizdow, as always, was brilliant at ringside. It's been announced that Gold and Stardust will defend the tag titles on Smackdown, and I've heard there will be a rather interesting stipulation to the match... And finally, it seems as though there's clarity on the Wyatt Family members' positions on the roster. Harper had a vignette run of his eyes and a dark promo in the background. Erick Rowan was seen during a backstage segment playing with Renee Young's hair and simply saying the word "pretty". Poetry from the big man.
So there is a recap of RAW. Probably not the best thing you've ever read but it gives ye factual information in a less than organized manner, so hopefully that made it a bit fun. As I said, I'll be using a new format to review RAW (and Smackdown) from now on. Hope to start reviewing NXT regularly as well, so here's hoping I can stick to my guns on that. Other than that, nothing much else to say other than... cheerio...