WWE: RAW Review for 22nd July

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.