WWE RAW retort - Bryan and Orton steal the show again

Speaking of slaps in the face, who did Ryback tick off? I know he stepped in some serious hot water when he tried to criticize Bryan after their match earlier this month, and in even more hot water when he implied that he was going to kill all the fans in attendance, and maybe he was only left in the 3 Stages of Hell Match because it was booked, but it appears that he’s dropped way, way down on the roster now.

And while I understand Ryback dropping down low, I think putting him in the ring with Khali was a bigger slap than he really deserved. But then they so quickly bounced Ryback back up to working against Jericho at MITB. I think that is a strange, and somewhat daft booking. Jericho might be back to elevate an up and coming superstar, but it sure isn’t Ryback!

Punk facing off against Young was also very confusing to me. I understand that they wanted to show that Punk was a bit out of sorts because of his relationship with Heyman, but that Young looked even half that solid against Punk was terribly wrong. I don’t know what the plan is, but I don’t get it. Yes, Punk is out of sorts because his bestie is messing with his head (maybe), and having Punk out of sorts in a match makes a lot of sense, especially after the wonderful and emotionally charged work between Punk and Heyman – much of it a worked shoot – but it didn’t work against Young.

Furthermore, O’Neil really blew his spot in the ring after the match. He was very obviously supposed to be set up for the GTS before Young attacked, yet O’Neil was sliding all over Punk’s back and made it look like what it was, a botched mess. So, while the relationship between Heyman and Punk is very emotionally charged, and they used Axel perfectly, the use of the Prime Time Players was a terrible idea and could have ruined it all if Punk and Heyman hadn’t been that fantastic.

I hate to admit this, but Jericho versus ADR wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was quite a good match. I’m not a fan of ADR and feel that he’s been phoning in most of his matches, and his mic work since he joined the WWE, but in the ring with Jericho this week he shone. I will admit that it could have been Jericho who brought ADR up to the level he worked this week, because Jericho is just that great (RAW really is Jericho), but ADR wouldn’t be able to work to that level if he didn’t already have the skills.

I’m hoping that ADR’s work in this match will continue and he will show his skills when he’s in the ring with Ziggler at MITB, and not just go back to hitting Ziggler in the head like he did at Payback. Ziggler is better than that, and deserves better than that. Then again, Ziggler deserves better than most of what he’s been given from the WWE, but that is a whole other article in itself.