WWE: RAW Review for 22nd July

After an exciting episode of RAW last week, this week’s show rolled out of Austin, Texas. The show opened with a recap of Lesnar’s attack on Punk last week, as well as John Cena choosing Daniel Bryan as his opponent for SummerSlam with the WWE championship on the line.

This week’s show opened with Brad Maddox in the ring for the contract signing, and he brought out the WWE champion, John Cena. Maddox asked Cena why he chose Bryan, and before Cena could answer that, Bryan came out to a loud ovation from the Austin crowd.

Maddox asked Cena why he chose a guy who was “small”, to which Cena replied that size doesn’t matter. Cena namedropped Eddie in Texas, which was smart. He also gave the examples of Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio.

Before Bryan could say anything, Maddox told Bryan he’d put him through a series of tests to see if Bryan deserved the opportunity. The opening segment ended with Maddox saying ‘No’ while Bryan and the fans yelled ‘Yes’. That was a fun segment, and made it clear that this show would be about Daniel Bryan.

Alberto Del Rio defeated Sheamus

The World Heavyweight champion took on Sheamus in a bout which lasted for just under 15 minutes. It was a solid TV match which also made a lot of sense. The Miz should learn about ‘working’ on someone’s leg from Del Rio, instead of just slapping the figure four out of nowhere.

Del Rio worked on Sheamus’s leg, and ended up rolling Sheamus for the pinfall victory. This might be the next feud for Sheamus and Del Rio, as they both need opponents going into SummerSlam.

Rating: ***

Backstage, Renee Young talked to Booker and Teddy, after they were fired and Vickie was appointed as the new GM of Smackdown! last week. They were both unhappy about it.

Christian defeated Titus O’Neil (With Darren Young)

WWE is sizing up Titus to see if he can have a strong singles run, and there is none better to bring out the best in a performer than Christian. The bout went on for four minutes, and ended when Christian hit the Killswitch on Titus for the pinfall victory.

Rating: *½

Backstage, Josh interviewed Ryback, which resulted in Ryback scaring him away.

Mark Henry came out and played up to the crowd, being a Texan himself. He called out The Shield for attacking him, and they came out to attack the big man again, but only this time, The Usos came out to even the odds.

The segment ended with Henry and Usos getting the upper hand while The Shield retreated.

In the locker room, Bryan told Cena to stay away, and that he would take care of things himself. He told Cena not to come out during his matches. That’s a good way of putting across the seriousness of Bryan.

Dolph Ziggler defeated Darren Young

The other member of PTP took on the show-off, in a bout which lasted for four minutes. Ziggler ended the match by giving Young a Zig Zag for the pinfall victory.

Post match, Big E and AJ tried to attack Ziggler, but Ziggler escaped before Big E could put his hands on him. That’s the smart babyface tactic, which Eddie used to perfection during his face run.

Rating: *½

It was time for MizTV segment, as he brought down the participants of the Total Divas show. The Bellas were present, along with Eva, Funkadactyles, Natalya and Jojo. The segment ended with Eva slapping Lawler to “make a statement”. This was WWE’s way to kill some time.

Backstage, Triple H confronted Maddox and told him he should follow him, rather than Vince. Triple H put Bryan over, saying he’s the best, and size doesn’t matter. Hunter putting talent over for a change? I do like the Maddox era!

Cody Rhodes defeated Fandango (With Summer Rae)

It’s sad to see Fandango losing all of his momentum and ending up as a jobber, after his initial success post WrestleMania. Cody finished Fandango off in under five minutes, even though Sandow tried to distract Cody. He hit the Cross Rhodes on Fandango to pick up the victory.

Rating: *

Time for CM Punk‘s promo, as he came out limping. He said Lesnar pushed him to the limit, but that he was still standing. He said Lesnar doesn’t intimidate him, and that he proved himself against the likes of Cena and the Undertaker.

Punk said he wanted to face Lesnar at SummerSlam. Heyman appeared on the tron via satellite and told Punk he has reduced himself to playing for the fans. Heyman accepted Punk’s challenge, and said Brock was the best, not Punk.

It was a great segment between two of the best talkers in the industry, which also confirms the Punk – Lesnar match at SummerSlam.

RVD defeated Wade Barrett

A squash match which went on for four minutes. RVD finished it off with a five star frog splash for the pinfall victory. Where will Barrett go from here? Sadly, no one cares.

Rating: *

Time for the gauntlet match, as Bryan first took on Swagger.

Daniel Bryan defeated Jack Swagger (With Cesaro and Colter)

Swagger took control early in the match, but was caught off guard as Bryan slapped on the LaBelle lock and Swagger tapped out in three minutes.

Rating: *

Daniel Bryan defeated Antonio Cesaro (With Colter)

You have two of the best former independent wrestlers, and you give them nearly 20 minutes, and this is what you get. An outstanding TV match which received ‘This is awesome’ chants from the crowd.

It was an excellent back and forth bout which saw Bryan pinning Cesaro with a roll up for the victory. Match of the night by a far distance.

Rating: ****¼

Daniel Bryan defeated Ryback by DQ

Daniel Bryan

The last bout of the gauntlet saw Ryback dominating Bryan. Ryback powerbombed Bryan through the table to get disqualified at the 11 minute mark, and Cena ran to the aid of Bryan.

Cena then challenged Ryback for a Tables’ match next week, while backstage, Vince suggested Bryan should take on Kane. Back in the arena, Bryan was in the ring as he stared at Cena to end the show.

Rating: **

RAW Rating: ***½

That was all Daniel Bryan this week. You don’t need more proof than this week’s show to see how great Bryan will be as the WWE champion.

He had an outstanding match with Cesaro, and wrestled for over 40 minutes, which he was used to doing during his independent days.

Punk-Heyman segment was amazing as always, and Punk-Lesnar match has been confirmed for SummerSlam. That does it for this week’s review, as we now wait for the biggest party of the summer, SummerSlam.