wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 4.20.15
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As a reminder, this will not be another traditional recap, but instead it will be a mash up of the Rs, Instant Analysis and my usual Twitter ramblings I would do during the shows; completely uncensored and as the ideas flow unfiltered to the old keyboard. Remember, this is a review; and I am here to review the show. As always, I encourage discussion and even disagreement, just do so in a respectful manner. I will be doing the review for Raw and most PPVs and iPPVs going forward.
MONDAY NIGHT RAW 4.20.15
OFFICIAL RESULTS
~ Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper went to a no contest @ 2:00 [NR]
~ #1 Contenders Match: New Day defeated The Lucha Dragons @ 9:25 via countout [**¾]
~ Fandango defeated Curtis Axel @ 1:13 via pin [NR]
~ Naomi defeated Brie Bella @ 9:09 via pin [**½]
~ Sheamus defeated Zack Ryder @ 2:58 via pin [NR]
~ US Title Match: Champion John Cena defeated Kane @ 5:20 via pin [**]
~ Winner Gets The Miz Brand: The Miz defeated Damien Sandow @ 2:35 via pin [NR]
~ Ryback defeated Adam Rose @ 1:24 via pin [**]
~ Non-Title Match: Champion Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 11:41 via pin [**¾]
RANDY ORTON TALKS… INSIDE A CAGE: Randy Orton came out and informed Rollins that he was stupid for thinking that he had an advantage by banning the RKO. He then explained how he would beat Rollins’ ass at Extreme Rules. Seth “Curb Stomp Your Enthusiasm” Rollins made his way out to the ring and explained that Orton had anger issues. He then put over Orton but then explained how he can out wrestle and out think anyone because he’s the best. Orton them promised to RKO people tonight since he can’t on Sunday. It was shorter than usual, the mic work was solid (Rollins keeps improving) and it was set up for Sunday. This was not a bad opening segment, it was just the same opening segment we see on Raw and Smackdown every week. Someone comes out to talk, there is some sort of confrontation, they set up some sort of match and we move on. It’s usually never a bad opening; it’s just the same old shit every week and I’d just like to see something different to make it feel as if they weren’t booking with fill in the blank story sheets.
Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper: They started brawling right away, playing off of their recent history. The match got thrown out as they brawled into the crowd and into the stage. Harper would eventually run away, in what is an obvious set up for a match at Extreme Rules to settle the score. They kept it short, and a stipulation match at the PPV makes sense at this point.
* The Prime Time Players scared Rollins and crew as they walked backstage. They then met with Triple H, who joked that Rollins was afraid of random RKOs. They discussed Kane, and Triple H said that he’d deal with him when he arrived. Rollins asked for extra security to deal with Orton, but Triple H said it was only one guy.
#1 Contenders Match: Lucha Dragons vs. New Day (Kofi and Big E): Kidd & Cesaro watched on from the back. They worked a really basic, but clean match. They went through the commercial and got the heat on Cara, and then Kalisto got the hot tag. The Lucha Dragons then ran wild, and hit big dives to the floor. Woods hid under the ring, and then held Cara’s leg so that he couldn’t get into the ring, allowing his team to score the win via countout. I liked the finish, as it continued the attitude change for New Day, but also protected the Lucha Dragons, who had been on a run. I actually liked this whole thing, and then Randy Orton came out to hit RKOs on Woods and Kofi. They just couldn’t help themselves there, and made New Day look like geeks. The good news is that when Orton loses Sunday, he can just challenge for the tag team titles, since he already beat the champions by himself and made New Day his bitches. Seriously, have Orton find geeks backstage that are rarely on TV (Rose, Ryder, Slater, Swagger, ect) and have him lay them out, not the guys that are supposed to be the contenders for the tag titles. I really liked what they did until the Orton stuff.
* We get highlights of the epic Big Show vs. Roman Reigns feud.
Fandango vs. Curtis Axel: This was basically a squash for Fandango, to help solidify his face turn and to try and get people to care about him again. It was fine.
9PM TALKING TIME WITH TRIPLE H: 9PM, time to talk. Triple H did a five minuet commercial for Tough Enough, and then Kane came to the ring. Kane can’t do his job anymore, due to the fact that Rollins has disrespected him even though he helped him with the title. He seriously gave his two weeks notice. Rollins came out, they argued and then Rollins ran Kane down. Kane’s response was that Rollins was given everything, MITB, the title, everything and said if they wanted to they could have made El Torito champion. To smooth everything over, Triple H made Kane the “guardian of the gate” for the Extreme Rules cage match. Kane and Rollins shook hands to end an overall boring segment. This is either another one of those “elaborate Authority setups” or they just enjoy making Rollins look like a complete bitch. Maybe both.
* We get highlights of the Naomi heel turn from last wee.
* After the commercial, Kane and Rollins are backstage arguing. Triple H gave them a stern talking to, noting that Kane is a corporate guy now, and not the monster. Kane disagreed and left. Triple H then told Rollins that he had to prove that he was the man, and tonight Rollins will face Ziggler. Rollins said he was the man and would prove it tonight.
Naomi vs. Brie Bella w/Nikki: Naomi still has the old music, but doesn’t dance now. She then cuts a pre-taped promo, and you have to side with her. She beat the champion twice and was robbed of her title shot. Preach it. Nikki was on commentary and played complete babyface. She spoke about having no issue taking on all challengers, and even said she felt bad that Paige was injured. They worked through the commercial, and overall Naomi worked well as a heel. The fans took Brie as the face easily, and that gelled with Nikki’s commentary. Naomi won clean with the rear view. Unless they are turning the Bellas face, which is the feeling that I got here, this would mean a second heel vs. heel match at Extreme Rules. That was a solid little match that got time, which I appreciated. Naomi worked well as a heel and has the overall vibe down in how she carries herself in the role.
* Heath Slater talks to Rowan about John Cena’s US Title challenge. Randy Orton then runs in and RKOs him through the table See, that’s more like it!
Roman Reigns Talks: Reigns didn’t want to talk and called out Big Show, he got Bo Dallas instead. Dallas called Reigns the “Tim Tebow of the WWE because he gets chance after chance after chance”. Reigns hit the Superman punch and then speared Dallas. Reigns then said he brings the big fight to the Big Show, and he will be the last man standing. He then mocked Dallas by saying that “you can BO LIEVE” that. Good segment, they kept Reigns’ talking to a minimum and had him kick ass and promise to beat Show. This was short, sweet and it worked for me.
Sheamus vs. Zack Ryder: Sheamus held the mic and told the ref to ring the bell. He then hit the brogue kick and monologued for a bit and then kicked Ryder’s ass more as he talked. He ran down the little fellas, tossed Ryder to the floor and hit another brogue kick. Sheamus then went back to the ring and brought Ryder in but Ziggler attacked and hit him with the zigzag. Sheamus bailed as Ziggler checked on Ryder. I generally liked this, Sheamus is an asshole, Ryder is there to put people over and they tried to do something different than the garden-variety squash match. The only real issue here was the poor execution of the officiating. The ref needed to call for the bell and let people know that there was a DQ ending. Ziggler runs in and hits his move and then there was an awkward moment where fans weren’t sure what the deal was.
* On April 30th, Jericho interviews Stephanie McMahon on the WWE Network after Smackdown.
John Cena’s Open Challenge: Cena came out, hyped the match on Sunday with Rusev, and explained the ruled to the match again. The champ is here, America Fuck Yeah, some of you love and or hate me; it was a lot of the same old shit but he delivered it with passion and put over the title, those aspects were appreciated. Kane answered the challenge; that I did not appreciate. The deal here is that Kane wants to prove he is more than the corporate bitch that Rollins says he is. They had a John Cena vs. Kane match, it was kept short and basically fine. The crowd was actually into it, so they had that going for them. Again, these matches aren’t in doubt as to who the winner is, but no mystical weaving of magic was going to make you think that Kane was going to win here. Also, I will assume that this is part of the build to Kane snapping/getting kicked out of the Authority, leading to him wearing the mask again and having an epic feud with the Big Show….
* Post match Kane was not a happy camper. He passed by Triple H, they locked eyes and had a moment, and then parted ways like ships passing in the night.
* Renee was interviewing The Miz. He started to put himself over, but Renee said that Saxton had John Cena and they headed to that interview. This was to show Rusev attacking Cena with the chain. He put him in a chain-assisted accolade, which looked like it completely sucked.
Winner Gets The Miz Brand: The Miz vs. Damien Sandow w/Summer Rae: Man they buried this is the dead part of the show. So I figure that either A) Miz loses due to movie commitments or B) Summer turns in an elaborate ruse to screw Sandow. They didn’t even get three minutes, Summer turned on Sandow and cost him the match. As Miz celebrated, Orton came out and hit an RKO on him, because Miz won and thusly has to be treated like a complete geek; as if the booking of the match didn’t already do that. This is why people have trouble getting over and why fans have a hard time investing in performers.
* Commentary hyped Sunday’s PPV, and noted that Daniel Bryan’s health was questionable and may not be able to defend his title. The tag title match is also set for the PRE-SHOW. Again, if you want us not to care, good work WWE.
* Will this be Daniel Bryan on Sunday?
* Bray Wyatt cuts a well-delivered promo about his next victim. My best guess is that either Bray Wyatt, the Smoke Monster from Lost and Jem and the Holograms will run in on the cage match or he is going after Reigns. I just feel that they have no real clue what to do with Wyatt.
Ryback vs. Adam Rose: Complete filler of a match to give THE BIG GUY a win and kill some time. Ryback then hit the double shell shock on the banana and the hotdog. This was fine, and I like the BIG GUY.
* Renee Young informed Kane that J&J were making fun of him on social media. Kane went to the Authority’s locker room and confronted them about their mean words. Rollins apologized, (noting that he thought it was a private conversation , which had to be a rib on his leaked dick pics) kissed Kane’s ass and then said he was going to dedicate his match with Ziggler to Kane.
* Rusev faces Ryback on Smackdown this week.
Non-Title Match: Champion Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler: I guess we’ll put that report to the test to see if Rollins is actually banned from using the curb stomp. I really hope we go no contest here, as Rollins surely should not lose and Ziggler also has a PPV match and doesn’t need to lose here. The first 8-minutes (with the break) were slow and just fine, then the action picked up and thing got better and the crowd finally got involved. Sheamus then distracted Ziggler and Rollins hit the buckle bomb and a new faceplant deal for the win. So they replaced one move that plants the face into the mat for another? Ok. That was under whelming considering the talent involved. It could have been more, but was simply set up for the closing angle and Ziggler losing prior to the PPV does him no favors, even if it was due to Sheamus.
* Rollins cut a promo and then Triple H came out. Rollins vowed to win at Extreme Rules, and said Kane would be useless at Extreme Rules. Kane then came out, Triple H and J&J tried to stop him and the cage lowered. Orton then appeared in the cage and Rollins tried to run. Orton got his RKO on Rollins and posed with the title as Kane smiled.
* End scene.
* Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”
