WWE RAW Retort – A night full of surprises

WWE had to start RAW with Cena. The ratings and everything had been lagging without Cena’s presence, and his return was absolutely needed.

I don’t think I was ever so happy to see Cena as I was when it was announced he’d be returning at Hell In A Cell. As much as many smarks are annoyed with Cena’s presence, he really is the face of the WWE, and he’s the leader of the company in many ways. Cena, as always, handled the pop and heat like the pro he is.

John Cena

Cashing In

I honestly didn’t expect Sandow to be cashing in his case this early in the year. It’s going to be strange than no one will be carrying around a case going into Survivor Series, then the Royal Rumble, then WrestleMania.

It seems strange, but at least we were able to see that fantastic match for that MITB case. It’s unusual that the cashing in of a MITB case leads to a real match, never mind a good match, and surely not a great match!

I have to say that this was the best match that I’ve seen from Sandow, ever. I’m blown away by his work in that match, and he really proved to me that he deserves to be in the running for the WHC.

Typical GM decision

Even though Teddy Long wasn’t on mic, it was his words we were hearing when Maddox made that six man tag match. It made perfect sense as I want to see Ambrose and Big E build a real program together before Big E wins the US Title.

It seems to me that Big E is destined to beat Ambrose for the US Title, but it was not the time at Hell In A Cell, and it was still too early on RAW, but it’s coming.

While I’m not happy that Axel is injured, I’d never wish that upon anyone, I think working against Ambrose for the US Title is a stronger feud for him, and will push him further in the WWE. Also, I think Ambrose is a much stronger wrestler, and of a better ilk, for Big E to be working against.

Adding the Usos to this match made perfect sense and made for a lovely match. I’d have liked to see Big E back into the match when it was tag, but it looked as though his cut under his eye was swelling from the less than two minutes he was working against Ambrose on his own. Big E’s cut from Hell In A Cell was very deep, and it’s going to take longer than 24 hours to heal up, no matter what condition Big E is in.

Daniel Bryan-HBK

HBShizzle goes off the hizzle!

I honestly didn’t think HBK would be able to manage a full on heel turn at this point in his career. His last heel turn wasn’t very strong, and I thought he was sealed in as an uber face, no matter what he did, like Taker.

There’s no way anyone will ever believe Taker as a heel again because he’s too beloved. I thought HBK was in the same boat, but it looks like his friendship with Trip has made it so HBK can turn.

I’m not sure if he’s a complete heel, but Bryan sure saw him that way, and wasn’t going to back down to his mentor. To me this was a pivotal segment for Bryan, and I cannot wait to see where things will go with him from here.

The Family that destroys together, stays together

Okay, let me say that we all know Bryan had his bum handed to him by The Wyatt Family, but I mean I want to see what happens with Bryan’s character and the direction he goes from his issues with HBK. Personally, I think it’s great that he could be feuding with Bray; it’s something that could help both of them in grand and interesting ways.

Laughter turning to tears

I understand what the WWE is trying to do with Los Matadores and El Torito, but I find the whole thing very 1980s, and not in a good way. I have no interest in this team and feel bad for 3MB being stuck working against them. The best I can say for these six men is that at least they’re getting show bonuses each week, and sadly that’s the best I can say.

Divas get stronger

Tamina is still green, and in the ring with the Bellas who are getting so much stronger, but compared to some of the other Divas on the roster, she’s quite strong. I’m specifically talking about Summer Rae.

I do not understand why WWE creative booked Summer Rae in a match that was almost twice as long that a match with four much stronger Divas. I know Nattie is the strongest Diva of the six, but she can only carry Summer Rae so much and for so long.

I want to see Nattie in the ring with other strong Divas, not having to work with the weakest. So while it was nice to see two Divas matches on RAW, it hurt that the revised the worst match from the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view for one of them.

Kane

Kane confuses the fans

Miz didn’t have chance against Kane here, and it made him look like a total mess. Makes me wonder how he was WWE Champ if he could get destroyed by anyone in one minute thirteen seconds. I know it was Kane, but still, it made Miz look bad.

On the other hand, Kane looked trimmer, slimmer, and more fit than I’ve seen him in years. I guess working on a movie set is good for Mr. Jacobs, because he came back looking much younger than his years.

What I don’t understand is the swerve he threw at us. I hope this doesn’t mean that Kane is again unmasked. He’s so much better as a masked monster, and emotes better than most from under there.

I don’t know why he’s aligned himself with Steph yet, but hopefully handing over his mask was symbolic and Steph holds his mask for when she needs him to do her dirty work, then he will come out masked? Only time will tell, but it was a shocking twist!

CM Punk-Ryback

Ryback goes out without a bang

Punk took out Heyman at Hell In A Cell, and took out Ryback on RAW. I would like to say that it’s sad how quickly Punk took out Ryback – under five minutes – but it wasn’t really shocking to me, as Ryback just doesn’t have the skills to be a top guy.

I will say that I cringed when Ryback slammed Punk down on the mat as hard as he did. Ryback worked more than stiff against Punk, and that was showing his bruised ego. That Punk got right back up and took Ryback out proved who is the top guy between the two, and why.

Not only did they finish blowing off Punk’s feud with Ryback, but they started his next one in one fell swoop! I love the thought of both Bryan and Punk working against The Wyatt Family. I don’t know who the third might be, and I’m worried it’s Miz, but beggars can’t be choosers. I’m so excited at the possibilities brought up by The Wyatt Family on RAW!

Rhodes lose?

I am shocked that Cody and Goldust lost a match, but we will have deal with them losing one now and then. It will happen at some point, and it wasn’t for the gold, so it’s not a real biggie. I was a bit bummed that Cesaro didn’t continue with his possible face turn, and didn’t hit the giant swing in this match. If Cesaro is going to hit 100 at WrestleMania, he needs to pick up the pace and start hitting it every week.

ADR flops

I don’t know if I’ve heard the crowd as dead as when ADR was on mic. Hopefully the powers that be in the WWE actually listened to the fans and do something about the fact that ADR is not drawing in any way.

Big Show again crashes the party

Trip, Steph and Orton all sold their too good for everyone else on the roster thing quite well, but it was Big Show who really brought the segment to a crashing halt, and made it so much more than it could have been on its own. The problem is that Big Show has crashed the end of RAW for how many weeks now?

They need to change things up in some way. I will say that this was the best episode of RAW the WWE has given us in quite a long time, but it ended on a low note. I can understand that they’re going somewhere with this Big Show thing, but the need to rework some of it so that it doesn’t drag down the end of the show.