WWE RAW: Results & Review (20.4.15)
We are a couple of weeks removed, now, from WrestleMania, and we are heading towards WWE’s next PPV, Extreme Rules. The WWE product hasn’t really changed a great deal since a month ago, except for Brock Lesnar no longer being WWE Champion and taking time-off, and different feuds being underway. Mostly though, on television, it’s the same players in many of the same set-ups. Let’s see how tonight plays out, shall we?
Match Results:
- Dean Ambrose & Luke Harper fought to a no-contest
- The New Day defeated The Lucha Dragons
- Fandango beat Curtis Axel
- Naomi downed Brie Bella
- Sheamus squashed Zack Ryder
- John Cena defeated Kane
- The Miz pinned Damien Mizdow
- Ryback crushed Adam Rose
- Seth Rollins pinned Dolph Ziggler
RAW opened with a segment involving Randy Orton who comes out, to a decent pop, and talks about Seth Rollins and how he is going to beat him in a cage match at Extreme Rules. Seth interrupts and Orton promises Seth that he will RKO him before the night is over. This happens at the end of the night as Kane laughs. Kane, earlier in the evening had been told that he will stand as “gate keeper” in the cage match at the PPV. It should be interesting to see what happens in the WWE World Title match between Orton and Rollins at Extreme Rules, it’s been built pretty well. Throughout this show, Orton his the RKO on various people, out of nowhere, including Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Heath Slater.
The New Day cheated to defeat the Lucha Dragons in a match to determine the number one contenders to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro for Extreme Rules. This is another step in the official heel turn of The New Day. Fans chanted “New Day Sucks” throughout the match, and Kalisto got a great response from the crowd. The Miz put his “Miz Brand” on the line against Mizdow in a match in which Summer Rae turned heel on Mizdow to allow Miz to pick up the win. I would imagine Mizdow will be known as Damien Sandow from now on, and I hope they do something with him, he has been very over for the last few months.
Triple H came to the ring to talk about the return of WWE Tough Enough, which will air in June with ten men and five women vying for a shot at a contract (one for a man, one for a woman). I like the Tough Enough concept and always enjoyed the show, so I hope they have a good host, some good trainers and some interesting contestants, because I’m looking forward to it.
Triple H attempted to stop the feud between Rollins and Kane from escalating further throughout the night. I’m not sure where this is going, but I’m hoping, if we are nearing the end of Kane’s in-ring career, that we see him have one last run as the big red monster, mask and all. We’ll see. Rollins has really upped his game as the snivelling weasel heel, he’s very good at being very annoying.
Roman Reigns came out to talk about Big Show beating him up last week, in which Show choke-slammed him on top of a car. Reigns talked about his upcoming match with Show at Extreme Rules before being interrupted by a returning Bo Dallas. Dallas cut a motivational-type promo before being knocked out by Reigns. One way to make me care LESS about Reigns? Put him in a feud with the bloody Big Show.
Another guy who seems to be loving playing a heel again is Sheamus. His new look is great, in my view, and I think he is doing a very good job as a violent thuggish heel who trash-talks his victims while kicking them in the head. He did this throughout his match with Zack Ryder and it was entertaining. I’m glad he’s a heel, his face run had tired itself out. Sheamus will take on Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules in what should be a good match.
John Cena continued his feud with Rusev over the WWE United States Championship. After his “open challenge” match which was answered by Kane, Cena did a backstage interview with Renee Young and was attacked from behind by Rusev who hit Cena with a steel chain and proceeded to wrap the chain around Cena’s face and put him in the camel clutch. It will be a shame to see Rusev lose again at Extreme Rules, which I imagine will be the outcome to their Russian Chain Match.
So, overall, this was a decent RAW in the ring. I enjoyed the main event between Ziggler and Rollins, and it was fun to see The Lucha Dragons on the big stage, showing what they can do. I feel like Kalisto is a sure-fire star if they book him well. Sheamus was a hoot in his squash against Ryder, and Triple H, Seth Rollins and Kane did a good job on the mic. Still, this was a difficult three hours that seemed to go on forever. There wasn’t enough happening, and too much of the same old thing. Bray Wyatt did another promo about being the “new face of fear” and it’s getting boring, even for me, as a fan of Wyatt both as a performer in the ring and on the stick. I would say it was another 50/50 show, with half of it being worth watching, and the other half just treading water. WWE can do better than this, but they seem to be okay with a show that is average.
Show Grade: 6 out of 10