WWE: RAW Review for 5th August

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.