WWE: RAW Review for 5th August

Welcome everyone to yet another RAW Review. Tonight, Monday Night RAW rolled out from Green Bay, Wisconsinnnnah (Mr. Kennedy style!), and going in, it felt like we had a great episode in store for us.

Daniel Bryan

We kicked things off with Stephanie McMahon in the ring! She said Vince wanted Bryan to be more ‘presentable’. She showed Bryan getting groomed.

Out came D-Bry in a suit, as the crowd chanted ‘No!’. He said this wasn’t the real Daniel Bryan. Bryan said WWE needs someone like Cena to be WWE champion, who sells things that no one really needs. He said he was a wrestler, and has crawled out of every imaginable hole. He called Cena an entertainer, and said he will go back to his mansion if he’s fired. He said he will beat Cena at SummerSlam because the fans want a wrestler as the WWE champion.

This brought out the chairman himself, Vince McMahon. Vince insulted Bryan, saying he looked like a gargoyle. Vince wanted Bryan to shave his beard off in order to become the WWE champion. Vince ordered the crew to bring a barber’s chair, and asked Wade Barrett to shave Bryan’s beard off. At least this way Barrett got some air time!

Barrett came down and tried to shave Bryan’s beard off, but Bryan retaliated and shaved off half of Barrett’s beard! Bryan threw Barrett into the crowd, as Vince looked as if he was about to explode in the ring! Bryan said he will be who he always was, and he showed the new “The beard is here” T – shirt! He said he will be the WWE champion.

It was an amazing opening segment as Bryan cut an almost Punk-esque promo about WWE wanting a specific type of champion. Yet another amazing promo by Daniel Bryan to kick off RAW.

Rob Van Dam vs Alberto Del Rio (With Ricardo)

ADR came out with a returning Ricardo to take on RVD. The match went for 7 minutes, and ended when Ricardo’s attempt to help ADR backfired, and ADR went head first into Ricardo’s sweat bucket, enabling RVD to roll him up for the victory.

Post match, ADR viciously attacked Ricardo, and rammed his head in between the steel steps and dropkicked them! An official split between the duo, and we have to see if this will affect ADR during his match against Christian at SummerSlam.

Winner: RVD

Rating: * ½

Cody Rhodes stood in the ring, and he recapped what happened in the past two weeks, with Cody throwing Sandow’s Money in the Bank briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico and Sandow attacking Cody last week.

Cody had a present for Sandow, and it was the damp Money in the Bank briefcase. Cody lured Sandow out, and pretended to give him the briefcase, but attacked him and sent him out of the ring. Cody opened the briefcase and showed Sandow the damp contract papers.

As I previously predicted, this might lead to a match at SummerSlam with the Money in the Bank contract up for grabs. I for one am excited about this feud, as these two are the future of the company.

Ryback vs Mark Henry

This was the rematch of their WrestleMania bout. Mark Henry went on the offence, but Ryback fought back. Henry got the upper hand once again, but Ryback slid out of the ring and gets counted out within 2 minutes! That was an odd ending, and The Shield didn’t even attack! That was a waste of 5 minutes.

Winner via count out: Mark Henry

Rating: Dud

Bellas were backstage with some more bad acting. They talked about who’s better, and finally reached a conclusion that they both make Total Divas the top rated show.

Eva Marie walked in and said Brie made Natalya look like a loser during their wood-chopping competition. Natalya showed up and slapped Brie. (Thank you Natalya! This might lead to their match on Smackdown!, which will likely end in Natalya losing to Brie. I should be a writer.)

The WWE champion, John Cena made his way out to a mixed reaction. Cena cut a promo about Bryan not being original. Cena said Bryan’s like thousands before him, underestimating Cena.

Cena said Bryan is more comfortable in the smaller leagues. Cena told Bryan that he doesn’t see the opportunity before him. Cena said he is an 11 time champion, as a ‘boring’ chant started. Cena said that his time is now, and the champ is here.

He was then interrupted by Orton, who told Cena he doesn’t see what’s right in front of him. Cue The Shield! They surrounded the ring, but Bryan ran down to even the odds. Maddox then announced a huge 6 man tag team match in the main event!

Cena started out with an intense promo, but it fell flat afterwards, becoming repetitive once again. A huge main event later in the show, as The Shield takes on the team of Cena, Orton and Daniel Bryan!

Tons of Funk (With Funkadactyles) vs The Wyatt Family (With Bray Wyatt)

The first match for The Wyatt Family on the main roster. They quickly beat the Tons of Funk, and Bray Wyatt slowly made his way into the ring. He dropped Clay with his swinging spike DDT, and cut a mystic promo, asking Kane to follow the buzzards.

The pyros went off, and Kane told Bray that he hurts people not to spread a message, but for his own amusement. Kane told him that at SummerSlam, he will witness first hand why he is the Devil’s favourite demon, and that no one can save him from the ring of fire!

The pyros went off around the turnbuckles, as Bray had a sick smile on his face. This confirms their match at SummerSlam, which will be very interesting. I absolutely love Bray Wyatt’s gimmick, as it is straight out of a horror movie.

Winner(s): Wyatt Family

Rating: *

Backstage, Josh interviewed Punk. Punk was set to face Axel later in the night. Punk said he respected Axel’s father, Mr. Perfect. Punk said at least when he was with Heenan, he still had a mind of his own. He then talked about Lesnar, and said he will see Axel tonight.

Layla vs Kaitlyn

Layla vs Kaitlyn

This was more of an angle than a match. Kaitlyn dominated for most of the match, but AJ came down and distracted Kaitlyn, as Layla took advantage with a kick to the head for the win, after nearly 3 minutes. Post match, AJ and Layla skipped around the ring and headed to the back.

Winner: Layla

Rating: *

Heath Slater (With Drew and Jinder) vs Christian

Slater dominated for most of the match, but Christian came back to pick up the win with a spear in just under 4 minutes. Christian escaped before the rest of 3MB could blindside him. It was surprising to see Slater getting so much offence in, but this portrays Christian as a guy who finds ways to win.

Winner: Christian

Rating: * ½

CM Punk vs Curtis Axel (With Paul Heyman)

CM Punk vs Axel

Punk tried to go after Heyman before the match began, but Axel stopped Punk and the action spilled into the ring. It was good back and forth action, with Punk dominating the first half of the bout.

Axel came back and got the upper hand, and this brought out Paul Heyman. The bout went for about 11 minutes, with the crowd chanting “This is awesome”.

Axel was disqualified when Heyman tried to interrupt, but Punk caught Heyman. This brought Lesnar out, but Punk got the upper hand over the beast, as the crowd erupted! Punk set his eyes on Heyman, which enabled Lesnar to recover and deliver an F5 to Punk to end the segment.

Winner via DQ: CM Punk

Rating: ** ½

Backstage, Heyman and Lesnar sent Punk a message, and Heyman challenged Punk to a match next week. This feud is everything we expected. Yet another amazing segment!

Fandango (With Summer Rae) vs Kofi Kingston

Kofi’s back on RAW, and he faced off against Fandango. The bout went for just over 3 minutes, and Kofi picked up the victory after the Trouble in Paradise. A short match which could’ve been better if they received over 10 minutes.

Winner: Kofi Kingston

Rating: *

Stephanie is shown crying backstage, and she told Triple H that Vince blew a gasket. Triple H then told her that he has had enough, and that he will stop whatever Vince is plotting against Daniel Bryan before Vince sinks the ship.

Real Americans (With Colter) vs The Usos

Zeb cut a heel promo before the bout. A good back and forth action which went for just over 5 minutes. Usos looked good, but the Real Americans picked up the victory after Cesaro nailed the Neutralizer on one of the Usos.

Winner (s): The Real Americans

Rating: * ½

Dolph Ziggler vs Big E Langston (With AJ Lee)

Yet another short match between Ziggler and Big E, which ended around the 5 minute mark. Ziggler was in control when Kaitlyn ran down to attack AJ, and their fight spilled inside the ring.

Ziggler tried to separate them, but Big E dropped Ziggler from behind, and finished him off with the Big Ending to pick up the victory.

Winner: Big E Langston

Rating: *

The Shield vs Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan and John Cena

The match was all about Bryan showing his athleticism. The action quickly got out of hand, and The Shield was disqualified when they tried to attack Daniel Bryan, and the bout lasted for 5 minutes.

Bryan unintentionally knocked Orton down during the bout, and post match, Orton repaid the favour by RKO-ing Bryan. He then RKO’d Cena, and thought about cashing-in his briefcase, but decided otherwise when The Shield came back again.

Reigns hit a spear on Cena, and they gave a triple power bomb to Daniel Bryan as Orton made his way to the back as the crowd booed to end the show. That was a good teaser, and a good way to remind the fans that Orton can cash-in at any time. It also builds the gradual Orton heel turn that we’ve been hoping for.

Winner (s) via DQ: Cena, Orton and Bryan

Rating: * ½

RAW Rating: *** ¼

That was just above average for me. The episode was less about Bryan and more about furthering all the storylines, and I understand that.

They need to further some feuds going into the PPV, and with just one more week, they had to do something this week itself.

The show felt stretched due to the lack of good TV matches, although the Punk-Axel bout went for over 10 minutes.

Anyway, that does it for this week’s review. Do check in next week to see what transpires before we head to SummerSlam.