RAW Retort – An interesting Monday night

RAW this week might not have been the most exciting show of late, but does every episode of RAW have to be grandly exciting? Some episodes need to be building, or possibly looking back at where the WWE came from, and they did both with this episode of RAW.

The big opening segment in the ring was expected and cliché, because all the members of the All Stars MITBLM had to come out and talk smack about each other, but that Punk called everyone out for being so cliché made this segment something different and special.

Daniel Bryan and Kane have very interesting in-ring chemistry

Speaking of special, I love how they’re handing the relationship between Bryan and Kane. When things started changing with Team Hell No, I figured it was the end for them, and maybe they’d be brought back together at some point, like DX, because they have a similar wonderful chemistry; but no, their relationship is growing and changing as it would in the real world. It’s nice to see a relationship working so organically in the WWE, even though it’s the inorganic way that relationships work in pro wrestling that usually draw us all in.

Bryan and Kane continued to draw us in through the entire show with their friendship and fighting. Sometimes it’s really questionable whether Bryan is still Kane’s bestie, or if he’s playing all passive aggressive with Kane.

Is he helping Kane by getting that rematch, or trying to cause more troubles by being the Special Guest Ref? Is he really trying to help Kane win the match, or is he working harder to get under Kane’s skin by handing him the win by forcing the easy DQ when Orton barely touched him. Their relationship is going to make a lot of things more interesting to come, but especially the All Stars MITBLM.

The backstage storyline with Vickie dealing with the pressures of McMahon, Trip and Steph was pushed further in a beautiful way. They haven’t monopolized the storyline, but still managed to hit upon the biggest moments of the show. They did a solid job of it, and set up Vickie’s Performance Review in the ring next week. I’m interested in seeing what goes down with Steph, Trip and McMahon in the ring with Vickie and Maddox. Will Vickie snap on them?

I absolutely loved the way the WWE honoured the past Champions through the years. They didn’t just focus on one era, or one company, they went and hit upon the best of the best. I feel they skipped a few they should have hit upon, but they only had time for so many. Buddy Rogers, Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, Harley Race, Bob Backlund, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Sting, Triple H, and Booker T, but then I looked at the list and the only name on there that isn’t with the best standing with the company, part of the company, or someone they hope will come into the fold is Hogan.

It made sense adding Sting in, because they’re still hoping he will come over at some point. I would have liked to see something about Edge, and maybe HBK, but in reality I was shocked they didn’t show anything about either Bret Hart of Macho Man Randy Savage, but I guess there wasn’t time for them either.

Bryan might have held the fans in the palm of his hand, but Henry didn’t do as well this week. He didn’t do a terrible job of it, but he just wasn’t up to the level he was on that fantastic night he showed he has what it takes to take the WWE ‘Universe’ on the ride of our lives.

I know he cannot do that every night, but he seems to have slid back to old boring Henry this week. Hopefully this isn’t the path of things to come. If Henry’s going to be back to I’m big and mean!’ but not showing us that he’s big and mean, Henry will not be worthy of the WWE Championship, as he really hasn’t been worthy in the past. I’d hoped for the best with Henry, but we’re not getting it.

And going along with the boring booking of Henry, what were they thinking putting Ziggler in the ring with the likes of Jinder Mahal? At least Slater is interesting. At least McIntyre has some skills and really shouldn’t be jobbing the way he is, but Mahal is barely better than a first year wrestler who can barely run the ropes!

I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but he proves his lack of skill and creativity each time he’s in the ring. Yes, Ziggler looked creative and crafty, but he’s better than this silliness with 3MB, especially if he’s supposed to be facing ADR for the WHC at the MITB PPV. This whole match made no sense to me, and it’s a segment that I’d have expected to see a couple years ago, but not after all Ziggler has proven.

The only good part about this match was the love Ziggler was getting from the fans, and the way he revelled in it as he stood on announce.

The other match that I’d like to say didn’t make sense was Ryback versus Miz, but after thinking about it, I think it makes a lot of sense. They’re really pushing Ryback to look like a pathetic weenie, a total wimp, and someone who cannot take care of himself, even when facing Superstars who are not the biggest or meanest.

Ryback has stepped in it numerous times lately, most specifically trying to talk smack about Bryan’s ring skills after their match last month. One of the few people to not rip on the ring work of is Bryan! Bryan is the best wrestler in the WWE right now, and helping usher in an era of really solid ring work with the likes of Punk, Ambrose, Rollins, and a number of guys (and Paige) coming up through NXT, so he’s not the person to try to trash, especially while your stock is dropping.

So, my theory is that Ryback is being humbled by looking like a totally lame wimp who cannot even handle a match with Miz. I mean, when was the last time we saw a Superstars ask a ref to stop a match the way Ryback did there? I cannot recall it happening… ever!

Further, Ryback is the chief of losing at PPVs, and Jericho’s run this time hasn’t been the most impressive, so why not have Jericho go out with a bang, all the while humbling Ryback, the man whose ego has gotten in the way of his career.

Jack Swagger – does he deserve to get as many chances as he is?

Speaking of egos getting in the way of one’s career, I was extremely underwhelmed to see Swagger back on RAW. I was happy to see he didn’t say or do anything, but the fact that he’s back has made a lot of fans unhappy.

I have to admit that I’m not sure what’s going to happen with Cody and Sandow going forward. With all that talk of them remaining besties even though they have the same goal at MITB, Sandow didn’t look very happy to see how Cody lost his match to Cesaro so quickly. Is this going to be the beginning of the end for Sandow and Cody? Only time will tell, but I’d love to see a feud between the two, and possibly it could help elevate them both.

See, I was confused at first as to why Cody was facing Cesaro, as a heel facing a heel usually doesn’t work well; but it will work better if one of them is going to get turning face. It seems to be the direction Cody is going, and while I’m not sure he’ll be the best face, he’d be a better face than Sandow right now.

It was nice to see Fandango in the ring, especially against someone like Sheamus. Makes me think his stock might be on the rise again. Okay, it’s nice to see Fandango back from his concussion, and looking so strong. He spent some time while he was out back in his hometown, visiting family and friends, but when he headed back to Florida, I figured he’d be back on WWE TV soon, I just wasn’t expecting this soon. Even though there wasn’t a clean ending to this match, it was nice to see how they worked the ring together, and that the ring work was solid, as well as a bit fun.

But even better than Fandango’s return was The Shield in the ring with Christian and the Usos. While the Usos are not the best tag team there is, they could be groomed to be bigger and better than they’ve been shown to be.

Honestly, I don’t know what they’re capable of, and while I doubt they’re to the level of The Shield, they are Rikishi’s sons, and part of the whole Samoan wrestling family, but the WWE hasn’t given them the chance to show us what they’re capable of. The more we’ve seen of them, especially tagging with Christian, the better they’ve been looking. I’m hoping for good things for Jimmy and Jey, even though there’s no chance they will beat their cousin and Rollins at the MITB PPV.

I’m not sure about the Divas right now. Kaitlyn keeps going to the ring and looking physically strong, but the storylines are so blah! AJ is being nasty to Kaitlyn, okay, but this week’s nasty was just lame. There was nothing creative about showing Kaitlyn as she would be all large and luscious. It’s been done. The same with the Bellas being obnoxious and snotty to the other Divas.

Other than the Bellas living up to what so many of us think about them – they’re only back because of who they’re dating, and they’re just back to be fantastic heels and eye candy – I don’t see why anyone would care. Even the way they’re acting toward the other Divas is turning into a snooze-fest.

We’ve all see 80′s high school movies, and the Bellas aren’t even that good at being obnoxious. I’m bored with the Divas again, and I never thought I’d be bored with AJ. Time to shake up the Divas and actually let them wrestle and work the ring. Well, those who can actually wrestle should work the ring, the Bellas should go back to trying to look pretty, though their ugly is showing through in a big way.

Some might think that the Punk and Heyman storyline needs to be move ahead, but I liked that this week had tension without anything more being answered. The WWE needs to stretch things out a bit because Punk won’t be facing Brock until SummerSlam, and so Punk, Heyman and Axel need to work back and forth a bit before then.

I loved how Axel stepped up and took over the match after Punk said he’d handle it all. The tension between Punk and Heyman, between Punk and Axel, and the way Heyman acted like he had no hold over Axel, and Axel acted oblivious to it all. Axel was like a golden retriever bouncing around the ring, trying to do everything for everyone, even though you know there’s serious heel tendencies right under the surface. The tension in this whole storyline was a lovely part of this episode of RAW, a high point in an otherwise lower and stranger episode.

I’m known for abusing ADR at every turn, and honestly, I’ve never written anything that I wouldn’t say directly to the man’s face, because his character and his ring work has been greatly sub-par during almost his entire time in the WWE.

He’s had a few shining moments, but as a whole ADR has not lived up to what a WWE Superstar should be, and absolutely not what a WWE WHC should be! That Cena beat ADR without any real interference shows me that the WWE doesn’t believe in him as much as they have tried to appear.

I honestly don’t even know why he’s in the main event, never mind being Champ, but obviously they must have some plan of some sort. Hopefully it involves getting the strap off ADR at MITB and onto someone actually deserving of the belt.

Alberto Del Rio does not deserve to hold ant championship

All that being said, ADR hit a lovely bridging German suplex in his match with Cena. Just when I think ADR doesn’t have anything to offer the WWE, he does something like that. The problem is that he’s not able, or maybe not willing, to show that he’s capable of really holding his own in the WWE. I don’t know why ADR won’t show that he’s capable of doing more than phoning it in week in and week out, but he’s proven that he can’t, or won’t, almost his whole time in the WWE.

Some might say that this was a poor episode of RAW, but it did have a solid flow, and not every episode can be the best episode ever.

That the WWE has given us so many really solid episodes of RAW this spring and summer should be celebrated. They’ve made both RAW and Smackdown more interesting than it usually is this time of year, and making pro wrestling back into something worth watching year round, not just during the Road To WrestleMania, as it has been too many years recently.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think the WWE had some competition pushing them to be better again, the way WCW, and even ECW did during the Monday Night War. We all know TNA and ROH are not big enough to compete with the WWE yet, so this is the WWE doing it on their own, and because of that, I have to say – Bravo WWE!