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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.09.16

May 9, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.09.16  

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MONDAY NIGHT RAW 5.09.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Baron Corbin defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 8:36 via pin [**¼]
– R-Truth defeated Fandango @ 1:55 via pin [NR]
Non-Title Match: Paige defeated Champion Charlotte @ 7:48 via pin [**¾]
Non-Title Match: Sami Zayn defeated Champion The Miz @ 12:50 via pin [***¼]
– Sin Cara defeated Rusev @ 3:48 via pin [**]
Elimination Tag Match: Roman Reigns and The Usos defeated AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson @ 11:40 via DQ [**½]
– Kevin Owens defeated Zack Ryder @ 4:05 via pin [**½]
Non-Title Match: The Dudley Boyz defeated Champions New Day @ 5:07 via pin []


– We get out usual show opening video package.

Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel: Jericho claimed that Ambrose was going to be his guest this week, but he beat him so badly last week, he may never return. He then showed off the remains of Mitch the potted plant, and compared Ambrose to Mitch. Jericho can fuck off, that felon is on the loose after killing Mitch and Francesca in front of millions of witnesses. Jericho is pissed that people talked more about the plant…

Never Forget

He then said there was nothing funny about what he did to Ambrose. He did admit that Mitch was more interesting and worth more to WWE than Ambrose. He continued on about how Ambrose was the everyman, and he couldn’t relate to that because he was a legend. He gave us the gift of “Jericho” tonight, but then Big Cass interrupted. Cass was not impressed with the gift of Jericho, and claimed if Jericho gave him the gift he’d return it. He then basically said that Jericho was in his way and that he’d run through him, which led to Jericho mocking Enzo for being hurt. Cass held his own and didn’t take any shit here, it was risky to put him out there with Jericho, but I felt he did well. Jericho decided to walk away and Cass calling his SAWFT. Jericho ran at the ring, but ended up eating a big boot. I am not sure that what essentially boiled down to a memorial for a plant was the right way to kick off the show, because while I may joke about it, the verbiage focused on it for way too long. The good news is that we got to see a face stand up t a heel and not be castrated or made to look like an idiot.

– Jericho cried to Stephanie backstage and ran down Cass. He tried to blame it all on Shane and play into Stephanie’s ego, but she agrees with Shane. She then made Jericho vs. Cass, as the main event tonight. She right properly cut Jericho’s balls off; Cass getting a spot in the main event is cool, and I hope he can deliver.

– If you’re not watching the show, WWE is doing the thing where they discuss the “new era” about 10-times a minute. It feels completely forced.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin: Corbin lost to Jericho at Payback, which was a stupid decision. So we get a rematch here. Ziggler was fired up early, attacking Corbin and then going to the floor to continue the fight. Ziggler had the advantage, and then they went to the commercial break. Post match, Ziggler had control and then got cut off. Corbin worked the usual WWE heat these days, clubbing blows and yelling a lot. It didn’t last long as usual WWE undercard heat these days, clubbing blows and yelling a lot hit the fameasser for a near fall. Corbin countered the zigzag, and hit a sweet looking deep six for a good near fall. He then hit end of days to pick up the win. It was fine, about on par with their PPV pre-show effort. They’re 1-1 now, so we get to see a third match between them. The feud isn’t doing much for me overall, it just exists right now, but at least Corbin won this time.

– Charlotte and Ric meet with Shane McMahon, they kiss some ass and then wanted him to change Stephanie’s ruling about Ric being banned at Extreme Rules. Shane said “nope” and also said that Ric was banned from ringside tonight for Charlotte’s match against Paige.

– JoJo talks with AJ, Doc and Karl. AJ was not pleased that Reigns powerbombed him through a table last week, even though AJ took the high road and did not attack Reigns with a chair when he had the chance. Tonight he won’t hesitate if given the chance. AJ still plans to beat Roman Reigns on his own, but tonight, the Club is officially back together again.

Fandango vs. R-Truth: I am actually shocked that this got time on Raw again this week. I am glad they are getting time, but it wasn’t good last week. After some dancing shenanigans, Fandango worked the heat as Breeze played with his phone. Breeze and Goldust got on the apron, Breeze got knocked to the floor and Truth hit the lie detector to pick up the win. There’s just not any substance here to make me care, it’s a comedy feud with matches that get no time. On Smackdown, Fandango and Goldust will face Tyler Breeze and R-Truth. I guess this will end with Truth and Goldust finally teaming when Fandango goes heel and joins with Breeze.

– Owens, Cesaro, and Miz argued backstage, so Stephanie yelled at them all. She announced a triple threat for extreme Rules, and Sami Zayn arrived and made his case to Shane for a spot in the match. Zayn wanted to earn his spot, and offered to take on the Miz tonight, and if he wins, he gets a spot in the match. Shane and Stephanie agreed, and this angered Miz. Shane and Stephanie shared a moment; they are bonding again and look happy; it’s about to all fall apart!

– That was a rough first hour.

Non-Title Match: Women’s Champion Charlotte vs. Paige: Natalya is out on commentary. Paige controlled early, even sending Charlotte to the floor and mocking the Flair strut. This angered Charlotte, who slammed Paige to the apron and claimed that this was her house. Charlotte took the heat from there, trying to control Paige and keep her grounded. Paige eventually came back with a series of kicks and knees, and got a near fall off of a running knee strike. After some back and forth, Paige cut off Charlotte as she went for a moonsault and they battled in the corner, leading to Paige hitting a superplex for a near fall. Charlotte then went into desperation mode, trying several roll ups, but Paige kept escaping. Charlotte tried using the ropes; Natalya got up and distracted her, allowing Paige to hit a fall away slam for a near fall. Ric Flair arrived, yelled at Natalya and then Shane came out with refereed to take Ric away. With Charlotte distracted, Paige rolled up Charlotte for the win. Paige was working really hard, trying to make the most of her rare time on raw these days, and despite the shmozz at the end, it was enjoyable. The whole gimmick here was to show that without Ric, Charlotte is vulnerable and can lose to Natalya. Unfortunately, she didn’t lose because Ric was not at ringside; she lost because he was there and because she got distracted by a bunch of people pulling her father away. I completely get what they were going for, but I do not feel that it came off that way. Basically, this was the wrong execution of the right idea. Finally, the commentary was horrid, as it was mostly that bickering bullshit Vince and Dunn get off on.

Non-Title Match: IC Champion The Miz w/Maryse vs. Sami Zayn: Zayn tied for quick pins right away, showing that he was focused on winning to get that chance at the title. Good opening stretch with Zayn working a nice pace, and then Maryse saved Miz when Zayn went for a dive. They worked to the floor, where Zayn hit a moonsault off of the barricade. Zayn then tossed Miz around for a bit as they continued to work on the floor. Maryse yelled at Zayn as we went to commercial. Post break, Miz sent Zayn to the steps to cut him off. They teased the countout, and then Miz got aggressive and went to work on Zayn. Miz then got a near fall off of a DDT, and was showing frustration that he couldn’t put Zayn away. Zayn countered the figure four, and then hit a Michinoku driver for a near fall. Miz would clip the knee and then go to the figure four, this time getting it. Zayn fought and got the ropes, and Miz continued the attack. Miz then tried to use the ropes, and the ref saw it. This led to Zayn hitting the corner XPLODER and helluva kick for the win. That was a good match, Miz has been having some good TV matches. I wish that they had picked someone else, not involved in the match, for Zayn to face here. I don’t think that having two champions lose two matches in the row comes off that well or helps their momentum. At the very least, separate the segments so that it doesn’t come off as repetitive.

– Renee Young interviews Becky Lynch. Lynch discussed her loss to Emma last week, and plans to kick Emma’s ass. Emma arrived and claimed Lynch was inferior, and says Lynch needs eyes in the back of her head. Dana Brooke arrived and attacked Lynch, and she said playtime was over, and gave her the head pat of doom. Be careful Becky, past victims of the head pat have been released. I guess Emma and Dana are the replacements for the injured Team BAD.

– We get a Darren Young video package. Bob Backlund is now his life coach. Make Darren Young great again.

– We now get a video from Xavier Woods’ UpUpDownDown show, with Big E, Kofi, Ziggler and Sasha Banks, It’s a Pizza Hut product placement spot. Well, at least Sasha got on Raw.

– Zack Ryder talks with Shane McMahon. He wants to be a player, and Shane says that is what the new era is all about. Owens arrived, and ran down Shane for handing out title matches to undeserving people. Owens is not happy that Zayn is in the IC Title match. Ryder claims he beat Owens at Mania, and that he should be in the match and not Owens. Shane booked Owens vs. Ryder, with Owens’ spot in the IC Title match on the line.

– Roman Reigns meets with the Usos and discusses tonight’s match. Todd Philips arrives to interview them, and Reigns says this is about winning big and representing their bloodline. They are family, and if you attack one of them, you attack them all. They plan to take care of AJ, Doc and Karl.

Rusev w/Lana vs. Sin Cara w/Kalisto: Lana did the ring announcing for Rusev. Rusev took control right away, tossing around Cara and also talking shit to Kalisto. Cara hit a tornado DDT and managed to make a fun comeback, including a suicide dive to the floor. Cara then missed the senton and ate a superkick. Rusev… CRUSH! Kalisto and Lana got involved, causing distractions and Kalisto then connected with a kick to Rusev, and Cara pulled the upset victory. Another distraction finish, because they are lazy and uncreative; they also made the faces come off as heels here. Rusev getting a win, and over Kalisto’s tag team partner, would have been a perfectly good way to build the match for Extreme Rules without giving away Kalisto vs. Rusev early. Instead, Sin Cara picks up a win he didn’t need and Rusev loses momentum one week after winning the shot at the title. But hey, I am sure that Rusev will win on Smackdown in a rematch that shouldn’t have happened because he should have won here. It seems as if they are booking against giving people momentum tonight.

– We get another promo for the Colons. Puerto Rico, something, something, something… They arrive next week.

Elimination Tag Match: Roman Reigns and The Usos vs. AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson: This is the third time they have faced since last Monday, they are currently 1-1. Good energy early, with both teams getting chances to shine. Jey started to run wild and then Gallows scored with a cheap shot, and Karl rolled him up for the first elimination at 2:45. We looked to get Styles vs. Reigns, but Gallows tagged himself in and Reigns started to clean house. Jimmy tagged din and put a run together, but he got distracted by Karl and ate a big boot. Karl tagged in, talked shit, and was immediately rolled up a 4:50. Well that got real lame, real quick. Fucking roll ups, how do they work man? That shit is the most devastating finisher anymore. They took a commercial break, and when we came back, Jimmy as eliminated during the break, so it is Gallows and Styles vs. Reigns now. The Club worked the heat on Reigns, but he quickly overcame and hit the Superman punch on Gallows for the elimination at 9:20. Styles attacked Reigns right away, worked him over and connected with the PELE. Style shit the springboard forearm o the floor, and then took apart the announce table. Reigns fought back and then launched Styles over the table. Reigns threw chairs around and looked to punish Styles like he did last week, but Anderson and Gallows returned and attacked Reigns with the chair for the DQ. The Usos arrived and we got the big brawl. Anderson and Gallows took out the Usos, but then ate spears from Reigns. Styles returned and hit the PELE on Reigns, and tried for the clash, but Reigns fought it off. They faced off, with Styles on the apron and Reigns grabbed the chair, saying he didn’t need it and dropped it at Styles’ feet. The crowd was into this big time, chanting for both, as Styles kicked the char to Reigns. Reigns then avoided the forearm, and Styles rolled to the floor. The match was fine, but the post match worked as they actually got a great reaction and the crowd really cared about something for the first time tonight. I am really enjoying the dynamic they have created between the two. This was the best thing on the show so far.

– Kevin Owens will appear on ESPN tomorrow night.

Zack Ryder vs. Kevin Owens: If Owens loses, Zack Ryder gets his spot at Extreme Rules in the IC Title match. Owens was pissed of that he had this match, due to Shane McMahon’s anti-Canada agenda. He worked over Ryder and constantly berated him. They worked to the floor, and Ryder escaped the apron bomb. Ryder then put together a comeback, getting a near fall off of the missile dropkick and a roll up. Owens then missed the cannonball, rolled to the floor and Ryder followed and continued the attack. Ryder hit the elbro drop, which also got a near fall. Owens then countered the rough Ryder, hit a superkick and planted Ryder with the pop up powerbomb for the win. That was a fun little sprint, as they used the time well and gave Ryder some good near falls. While I hate that they did abandon Ryder so soon after his Mania moment, the right guy won here.

– Renee Young interviewed Big Cass. Cass put over the match with Jericho as the biggest of his career, new era, new era, Enzo, new era, and then hit on Renee.

– New Day came to the ring and hyped their match in two weeks with The Vaudevillains. The crowd loved them as they discussed the power of the BootyO! ALL HAIL THE BOOTYO! They were not pleased with The Vaudevillains lack of love for the BootyO. These New Day fellas are rather entertaining.

Non-Title Match: Tag Team Champions New Day w/Woods vs. The Dudley Boyz: JIP with the Dudleyz working the heat, and you guessed it; slow clubbing and Bubba yelling a lot. Kofi fought back and got the tag to Big E. he worked over Bubba for a bit, Kofi tagged back in and the Dudleyz took back over. My word they are sucking the energy out of the arena here, just nothing interesting after New Day got the building rocking. Big E tagged back in, New Day tried to get the crowd back into it as Big E worked over the Dudleyz. They worked the Unicorn stampede, and then The Vaudevillains attacked Woods on the floor. This allowed Devon to hit a clothesline and pin Kofi. The Vaudevillains then hit the whirling dervish on Kofi post match. The match wasn’t very good at all, and we got another distraction finish with more champions losing to try and create drama. Instead, it’s come across as repetitive and uninspired. The Dudleyz have been a complete non-factor as of late, and it feels as if they are trying to shoehorn them back into the picture where they aren’t wanted.

– Zayn and Cesaro vs. Miz and Owens is official for Smackdown. Also, Luke Gallows vs. Roman Reigns and Fandango and Goldust will face Tyler Breeze and R-Truth.

Not Chris Jericho vs. Big Cass, Because Dean Ambrose: Well, this is a big chance for Big Cass. There’s not much time left in the show, so lets see what they do here. Well, Dean Ambrose attacked Jericho during his entrance and stole his jacket. This shocked Jericho as Ambrose went to the ring, wearing the jacket and posing like Jericho. Cass disappeared during this as Ambrose destroyed Jericho’s jacket. Jericho kept yelling at Ambrose not to ruin his $15,00 jacket. They brawled, Jericho tried to leave, Cass then reappeared and Jericho slapped him. Cass beat on him, sent him back into he ring and Ambrose hit dirty deeds. This led to Ambrose cutting up Jericho’s jacket and destroying it even further. THIS IS FOR MITCH YOU ASSHOLE. And that was that. It was a fine segment to further their feud, but I have no idea why this ended the show and not the Styles and Reigns angle. This was a weak close to the show. Also, wouldn’t Cass be upset that Ambrose ruined his big chance to main event Raw?

– Shane and Stephanie were all friendly backstage, and they agreed that they co-existed well tonight. They joked about starring on an episode of Ride Along, and when Shane left, Stephanie looked at the picture of Shane and Vince and smiled.

– They then went back to the arena, where Jericho was still yelling at Ambrose.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

5.0
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
After a run of solid to good shows over the last four to five weeks, Raw came back down to earth tonight. Outside of the Reigns vs. Styles angle and the Miz vs. Zayn (best match), this show was filled with odd or poor booking decisions, champions losing left and right, people that didn’t need wins getting wins and a severe lack of energy.
legend

article topics :

RAW, Tremendous Tirades, WWE, Larry Csonka