WWE Raw #995: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

In this week’s Raw, the Bad outweighed the Good and the Ugly

The Good

AJ in Kane avatar!

How good is Paul Heyman with the mike? The guy just captivates us with his promos on every occasion. On Raw, it was just a simple in-ring segment to respond to Triple H’s challenge for a Summerslam match. There was no Brock Lesnar but Heyman didn’t disappoint. His presence in the lead up to Summerslam enables WWE to keep this storyline in relevance given that Brock Lesnar’s availability is limited.

AJ has definitely grown in stature in the last few months. She was a vital cog in the WWE championship storyline at No Way Out. On Raw, she came out in Kane’s attire with a mask on which was a surprise. She is playing her role to perfection while has spiced up proceedings in the Punk-Kane-Bryan feud.

The Bad

John Cena brutalized John Laurinaitis in his ‘farewell’ match

John Laurinaitis saying that he made Raw’s main event handicap match before getting fired sounded completely illogical. Does he mean he did not expect John Cena to lose to the Big Show?

Another bad thing about Raw was that it was filled with pointless matches and bad booking. Starting with the opening match, which had Sheamus who has got no current rivalry with Kane or Bryan. Yes, it had an outcome which is very much involving the storyline of AJ/Kane/Punk but what has Sheamus got to do with it?

Then, let’s talk about Santino vs Del Rio. Alberto Del Rio gets injured a few weeks ago and the explanation given was that he was injured by the Great Khali. They even took him out of the No Way Out World Heavyweight championship match at the last minute and replaced him with Dolph Ziggler. All of a sudden, he returns just a day after No Way Out! Are you kidding me? Alright, he returned. Logically, he should go against the man who injured him, which is Khali. But he faced Santino and for what reason, for ripping off his ring announcer’s tuxedo at No Way Out? This is seriously a bad move from the creative team of the WWE.

Also, splitting Vickie from Swagger was not a great idea in my opinion. I mean, Vickie was the only good thing going for Swagger. Now, he will just fade into obscurity like Drew McIntyre, Tyson Kidd etc. Tyson Kidd was relevant all the time he was with the Hart Dynasty. It was split and then Harry Smith got fired, Natalya became just another diva and Tyson Kidd became a jobber. In Swagger’s case, Dolph and Vickie have nothing to lose. It’s Swagger who has lost a heat magnet in the form of Vickie.

The Ugly

The Cyndi Lauper/Wendi Richter segment was one of the worst ones that I have ever seen on WWE television. Add that with Heath Slater’s singing which resulted in 15 minutes of total crap. Even the presence of Rowdy Roddy Piper didn’t help the cause.

Raw was in Long Island and no Zack Ryder on the show? Are you serious bro? Zack Ryder has all the right to be upset with the WWE because of this.