The August 19 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw came to us from Anaheim, Calif., and was the day after the second biggest pay-per-view of the year, Summerslam. I did not personally watch Summerslam, but it appears from many reviews that it was a great show. Now on to Raw..
The show opened up with the former WWE Champion, John Cena cutting a promo about his match against Daniel Bryan at Summerslam and also about how his blown up left elbow is going to cause him to get surgery and be out for four to six months. Cena calls out Bryan, but before he could say a word Stephanie McMahon comes out to interrupt. McMahon talks about how sorry she is for Bryan having his dream snatched away from him and discusses how her husband Triple H did what was best for business (having Randy Orton win the WWE Championship). Eventually, after a terrific segment McMahon calls out security and has Bryan escorted out of the arena.
My analysis: First off, the news about Cena is huge because now the WWE will be without its top star until 2014 likely. I would guess that the WWE will bring back Cena as soon as they can, maybe not to wrestle but to at least make an appearance, if Cena does take extended time off then I could see him coming back around the Royal Rumble. Now both Cena and Sheamus will be missing extended time due to significant injuries. Now with Cena gone someone has to step up and be the 'face' of the WWE and that may definitely be Bryan, especially how over he is with the crowd. I like what the WWE is doing here with Orton as the 'corporate champion' and have the underdog, Bryan, fighting to get back at the McMahon's, Orton and Triple H.
The first match of the evening was a rematch from Summerslam between Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. This feud continued on since the Money in the Bank pay-per-view where Sandow cost Rhodes the briefcase and grabbed it for himself. The match goes on for about 10 minutes and ends with Rhodes rolling up Sandow for the victory. This was the second straight win for Rhodes over Sandow.
My analysis: This feud will continue on until at least the next pay-per-view, Night of Champions, where I believe Sandow will put the Money in the bank briefcase on the line against Rhodes.
Paul Heyman cuts a promo where he discusses how he still loves CM Punk and will accept him back into the fold if he apologizes to Heyman. Now that Brock Lesnar is gone for quite a while, his contract is only good for three pay-per-views so Wrestlemania will probably be the third and final.
My analysis: Heyman and Punk will not reconcile their differences here, at least not yet. This feud between Punk and Lesnar/Heyman/Curtis Axel is definitely not over. It appears from later in the show that Punk and Axel will face off at Night of Champions and will begin their own feud.
The only divas match of the evening was between the Funkadactyles (Cameron and Naomi) and Divas champion, AJ Lee, and Layla. The quick match ends up with Naomi rolling up Layla for the three count and yet another loss for AJ Lee.
My analysis: I would like to know who is going to challenge AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. I am hoping that the feud between Kaitlyn is over for now at least so someone new can step up.
The next match was a three-on-one handicap match between The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) against Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler received punishment for his comments against Triple H and his actions at Summerslam. After a valiant effort by Ziggler, Reigns caught Ziggler in mid-air with a spear and the ensuing three count for the win. After the match, Ziggler was triple power-bombed by The Shield.
My analysis: I am biased here because I like The Shield very much so, but this was great to see. The Shield should be facing the top dogs of the WWE and Ziggler is definitely a top star in the company. I am interested to see where Ziggler goes from here and The Shield appear to be involved in the whole Triple H/Randy Orton saga so maybe they stay there or they continue on with their own feuds.
Alberto Del Rio against Sin Cara was the next match and the match ended after Sin Cara hurt his hand following a dive out of the ring. The referee had to call for the bell and end the match right there. Following the match, Ricardo Rodriguez makes his return and is now aligned himself with Rob Van Dam. It appears that Van Dam will be the new number one contender for Del Rio's World Heavyweight Championship.
My analysis: It is good to see Rodriguez back and aligned with someone other than Del Rio. The Rodriguez/Van Dam union is interesting and breathes new life into the World Heavyweight Championship. I believe that Van Dam will face Del Rio at Night of Champions and Van Dam will walk away wearing the gold following some sort of interference from Rodriguez.
The Real Americans take on the Primetime Players in the next match and the match ends with Darren Young hitting the gut check finisher on Antonio Cesaro for the victory. This was a great victory for the Primetime Players as it appears they will receive a push now after Young came out as openly gay in an interview with TMZ.
My analysis: The Primetime Players will probably receive a push now and they should after they have not really received anything in quite a while. Hopefully, this pushes the PTP towards the top of the food chain in becoming the new number one contender for the tag team titles.
The Shield have to wrestle another match, this time a three-on-one match against the Big Show. The Shield got to have all three members in the ring at the same time in this match though. After another valiant effort, The Shield hit the triple powerbomb and they all jumped on Big Show to get the pin.
My analysis: Another big win for The Shield, this time over Big Show. Show announced that he and Mark Henry will team up to challenge Reigns and Rollins for the tag team titles. I would really like to see a fatal four way or something for the tag titles at Night of Champions. The tag team division needs to be revitalized ASAP.
CM Punk came out next to cut a promo responding to Heyman, Punk ends up cutting a terrific promo, boy that guy has no filter which is great. This brings out Heyman and Axel and eventually Axel heads to the ring for an all out brawl with Punk. The fight ends with Punk hitting a GTS on Axel on the steps.
My analysis: With Lesnar gone for a while, this opens the door for Axel to swoop in and this feud will lead to a match at Night of Champions between Punk and Axel.
Bray Wyatt competes in a match against R-Truth and Wyatt gets a quick match victory with his weird finisher on Truth.
My analysis: An obvious squash match for Wyatt. I really do not know who Wyatt will target next for a feud, but I can tell already that I am not a fan of this group. To me, they are not as popular as The Shield was when they debuted at Survivor Series. We will see what happens in the future, I hope this leads to Kane and The Undertaker reuniting to battle the Wyatt Family at an upcoming pay-per-view.
The Uso's battled 3MB in a tag team battle in the next match which ended with the Uso's hitting the splash off the top rope onto Jinder Mahal and the three count victory. Another team that can be added to the aforementioned fatal four way could be the Uso's. They have faced The Shield before and have tested them previously so they could be a welcomed addition to the feud. How about The Shield vs. The Primetime Players vs. The Uso's vs. Mark Henry and Big Show?
Wade Barrett faced The Miz and the match ended with interference from Fandango when he hit his big leg drop off the top rope onto Miz. This feud will continue between Miz and Fandango going forward. Fandango and Summer Rae had a nice dance to end the segment.
My analysis: Well obviously this leads to a feud between Miz and Fandango, I would like to know what happens to Wade Barrett following this match. He seems to have lost direction, I wish he was in line for a mid-card championship or a world title, but it appears that is not happening at this time.
Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon and Randy Orton cut a long promo on why they screwed Daniel Bryan out of the WWE title. They all said that this was the right choice for business and discuss how Orton is the future and the face of the WWE now. The entire Raw locker room is out on the stage and The Shield stood at ringside to defend the ring. After a while, Triple H asks for Bryan to come out and Bryan eventually does, but is assaulted by The Shield. After Bryan gets in the ring, Orton hits an RKO and the new 'corporate champion' and the McMahon's/Triple H celebrate.
My analysis: This is just pure gold here, Bryan will probably get some backup here in his quest to take down the corporation and become the WWE Champion once again. There will be a match at Night of Champions between Bryan and Orton with the title on the line. Eventually, Bryan will get his revenge and he will defeat Orton for the gold. It is only a matter of time before Bryan wins the title back. Just stay tuned, because this storyline is fantastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment