We’re just days away from the Hell In A Cell PPV, and WWE came out with a good “Go home” show of Monday Night RAW this past week. Although there were a lot of nonsensical, unnecessary angles/segments, the show delivered with some solid TV matches and a cliffhanger of a conclusion. There are many possibilities of how the PPV could end, with the likes of Big Show, Shawn Michaels and Triple H having a motive to get involved in the main event bout. A couple of matches were also added to the Hell In A Cell PPV, and we will also witness the return of John Cena come Sunday at the PPV. But who were the stars that stole the show this past week? Let’s find out.
You just cannot keep Daniel Bryan away from the list, as he once again outperformed every other member on the show! Daniel Bryan’s hot streak might be losing momentum, but that hasn’t stopped the goat faced warrior from performing at his peak. He opened the show this week, as he faced the United States Heavyweight champion, Dean Ambrose and defeated the tacit leader of The Shield. The two put on yet another fantastic match to no one’s surprise, and Daniel Bryan made Ambrose tap out. Bryan has the opportunity to finally win the WWE championship this Sunday, and it is more than likely that Bryan will finally walk out of the PPV as the WWE champion!
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Rating: ****
Dean Ambrose/The Shield
I couldn’t pick just one out of the trio, as all the three members of The Shield put on a solid performance this past week. Although Ambrose lost to Daniel Bryan and Rollins/Reigns fought to no contest in the main event bout, the trio put up an impressive performance this past week. Rollins and Reigns will now face the tag team champions, along with The Usos at the Hell In A Cell PPV for the tag team gold, and although the faction has been underbooked in recent months, it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here.
Rating: *** ½
The “Show off” faced Randy Orton this past week, and after a valiant effort, lost the bout to the Viper. It is sad that Ziggler has been relegated to lower mid card level, and it is being reported that the WWE management isn’t impressed with the way Ziggler carries himself. All Ziggler can do now is outperform everyone on the roster, and the former World Heavyweight champion has been doing just that. Ziggler almost picked up the victory against Orton; in the end, we can only hope that Ziggler climbs the ladder once again and becomes the world champion.
Rating: ***
Randy Orton
The “Face of the WWE” according to the power couple took on Dolph Ziggler, and won the bout after delivering an RKO out of nowhere to pick up the victory. The former WWE champion was then involved in the main segment on the night, and was kicked in the head by Daniel Bryan. Although that would traditionally imply that Orton will win the WWE championship come Sunday, that would make little to no sense, as Daniel Bryan is the hottest star in the WWE, albeit his momentum being on a downward spiral thanks to the power couple and nonsensical booking on WWE’s part. Anyway, his impressive performance on RAW puts Orton in the list of top 5 superstars of the show.
Rating: ** ¾
Paul Heyman
And last but certainly not least, the fifth and final spot goes to none other than the most ingenious character in professional wrestling today, Paul Heyman. For those who didn’t catch Heyman’s promo – It was almost Warrior – esque, but Heyman made so much sense in the promo that he summed up the entire 3 odd month feud in 5 minutes! That shows the prowess of Paul Heyman, and earns him the final spot in our list.
Rating: ** ½