Superstars of the show - WWE RAW 12/08/13

The last RAW before SummerSlam gave the WWE audience exactly what we want before heading into an upcoming pay-per-view — something to look forward to in almost every match.

It was an eventful evening, just the way we like it and it gave us lots and lots to talk about and look forward to, come Sunday. Every feud was furthered quite well, and a wrinkle or 2 was added in some, which makes the fans want to buy the pay-per-view a lot more now.

The 3-hour show featured good in-ring action and excellent promo work by the guys involved in the main-events. It’s always exciting to have Brock Lesnar in the midst of all the action as he definitely adds a whole lot of edge to the product and backs up his claim of being able to legitimize the company.

Then the Big Show returned and thwarted The Shield’s attempt at blindsiding the team of RVD & Mark Henry, which was a cool surprise.

I am a huge fan of battle royals and the 20-man gig did me a world of good, as the eliminations were funny, crazy and innovative to watch. While the show featured the entire stacked card for SummerSlam, when choosing the superstars of the show, I went with the ones who made the most impact.

So, my picks for the Superstars of the show from Monday Night RAW are:

John Cena/Daniel Bryan

The main-event at Summerslam, this match has had a slow build-up but the pace and steam has picked up in the past couple of weeks and what started off as a rivalry out of respect has slowly become an intense feud to determine who really belongs at the top of the mountain in the WWE.

What’s interesting about the feud is the realism in the claims of both men and the logical point/counterpoint build-up as both the competitors are faces and have loyal following.

Bryan referred to himself as a ‘wrestler’ while questioning Cena’s credentials and attributing his success to him being fake and being a ‘style over substance’ performer that WWE prefers.

Bryan was coming off a screwjob loss at the hands of Brad Maddox using a fast-count and it showed in his demeanour as he was irate and his anger visibly showed through his nice-guy exterior. While it’s next to impossible to outshine Cena on the mic in a one-on-one segment, Bryan certainly didn’t make a fool of himself.

Cena on the other hand, was at his passionate best and gave props to Bryan for his work and the resulting popularity, but refused to put him in the same breath as the past greats that he has faced such as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Rock etc.

He brought up his outside the ring work with WWE and pledged his loyalty to ‘Cenation’ all through. It was a compelling segment, with both men at the top of their game and with Triple H being added as the guest referee for the match, this match promises to have huge ramifications.

Kofi Kingston

Just back last week after a 2-month hiatus, Kofi hasn’t taken that long to get into the swing of things. Alongwith RVD, he is the most exciting superstar on the show and his combo of athleticism and unorthodox moves were on full display on RAW.

He first faced off against Del Rio, who is on an incredible roll off late as a uber-aggressive champ with a pronounced mean streak. During the course of the match, Kingston took a scary-looking reverse body suplex off the top rope which looked like it had an effect on him for the rest of the match. But he showed off his arsenal of moves well before tapping out to the cross-armbreaker.

Later on, he featured in his speciality – a battle royal. True to his nature and past performances, Kofi pulled off another incredible close call from elimination before finally being eliminated.

The Usos

In the match of the night, the Usos defeated the Real Americans in fast-paced back and forth battle. I love the Usos as they are a throwback to the old tag-teams which aren’t a product of the management putting two random guys together to make a team.

Jimmy and Jay are real-life brothers and their chemistry as a team and their crisp athletic work is extremely entertaining.

Monday night, they capped off their trilogy with Cesaro and Swagger by picking up a smart win via their ingenious ways, much to the dismay of Zeb Coulter.

The match was what it had the potential to be, a stiff and fast-paced wrestling match with a cool-looking spot where the Usos did a tandem double-dive onto the Real Americans. The win was by a quick roll-up and leaves the room open for this feud to continue, which I am all for.