Superstars of the show - RAW 21st October 2013

If the previous week’s edition of RAW climaxed with new champs being crowned, then this week’s RAW in a lot of ways was quite the anti-climax compared to last week.

Not only were there no new champs crowned, but holders of three of the five current titles in the WWE lost their matches on RAW.

AJ Lee got pinned in tag team action by her opponent at the upcoming pay-per-view ‘Hell in a Cell’, Brie Bella while Dean Ambrose, the US champion lost a competitive match to Daniel Bryan and Big E Langston pinned Curtis Axel, the IC champion.

As the go-home show for this Sunday’s HIAC pay-per-view, RAW definitely stoked up interest for the main-event which will see Daniel Bryan go up against Randy Orton for the WWE championship with HBK serving as the special guest referee.

But can the same be said for all the other matches on the card? Well, it depends on who you are asking.

The other world title up for grabs had a major presence on the show courtesy of the buzz surrounding the impending return of John Cena, though the reigning champion was nowhere to be seen.

Also, a couple of matches got added to the card for Hell in a Cell, on RAW.

The episode overall had a mix of exciting matches intertwined with your average fare, good promos and a throwback to the good ol’ times with a Giant driving down a giant truck into the arena.

Let’s take a look then at the superstars who made this episode of RAW memorable :

Randy Orton

The Viper had another great showing on this week’s RAW, heading into his biggest match this year.

In this day and age, it really is hard to play a heel that is truly despised and is unpredictable at the same time. And the closest thing to that barometer among the WWE’s performers is ‘The Viper’.

As good as he is in the ring, his actions & mannerisms have been compelling, and he has been able to get a reaction from the crowd every night.

This week, he was paired up in the ring with Dolph Ziggler, just the perfect guy to sell his vicious looking moves.

In a good competitive match between the two, Orton prevailed after he hit an RKO on Ziggler after he had run through his arsenal of moves.

Later on, in the closing moments of the show, he returned in a contract-signing segment where he shone as he made convincing threats at Bryan to begin with, but ended up eating a running knee for his efforts.

Big E Langston

When Big E first broke into the scene as the heavy to Dolph Ziggler, I remember noting how athletic he is for a guy who is built like him and despite his affiliation then, how he comes across as a ‘good guy’.

I for one am glad that he has turned face and on RAW, he might have just turned a major corner as far as his wrestling character is concerned.

Still seething from the comments made by Paul Heyman on last Friday’s Smackdown tapings, he got into the faces of both the Heyman guys and with the aid of CM Punk, ended up taking on them in a tag-team match.

Big E is a very agile big guy and his explosiveness was on good display as he dismantled Axel, the IC champ for the win.

Daniel Bryan

Bryan who has been on the receiving end of the authority storyline, had one of his better nights in recent memory.

A hot (now usual!) crowd behind him, he first took on Dean Ambrose in the match of the night and reminded us how lethal and dangerous he still is behind that easygoing and likeable veneer that he has put up as the company’s top babyface.

Reminiscent of what his mentor William Regal would do to his opponents, DB begun the match targeting the left arm & shoulder of Ambrose in a way that it seemed like Ambrose would end up a one-armed man.

After the momentum shifted back & forth a bit, Bryan got his opponent in the Yes-Lock and Dean had no choice but to tap out.

During the contract-signing segment at the close of the show, ‘Goatface’ again was badgered by Triple H over his size & looks, but came out looking strong in the company of his trainer Shawn Michaels backing him up.

The show closed with Bryan atop a rig celebrating with the crowd.