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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.29.17

May 29, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Roman Reigns Royal Rumble Image Credit: WWE
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Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.29.17  

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.29.17

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– The Hardys & Ambrose defeated Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus @ 12:50 via pin [***]
– The Drifter defeated Zac Evans @ 2:39 via pin [NR]
– Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor & Samoa Joe @ 16:50 via pin [***¼]
– Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar @ 2:55 via pin [NR]
– Titus O’Neil defeated Kalisto @ 0:49 via pin [NR]
– Austin Aries & Jack Gallagher defeated Neville & TJP @ 12:40 via submission [**]
– Roman Reigns defeated Seth Rollins @ 18:25 via pin [***¾]

– John Cena narrates this year’s Memorial Day video package.

– Added to Extreme Rules…

MIZ TV: Miz feels good, because he will get his IC Title back at Extreme Rules on Sunday. He claims that Ambrose is a cheater, which is why he had Angle add the DQ stipulation to their match, where if Ambrose is DQ’d, Miz wins the title. So, I know they won’t, but they should have Maryse kick Miz in the balls once the bell rings so he can win via DQ. Cesaro & Sheamus are his guests this week. Miz puts them over for their hard work and says that they deserve the tag team titles. Sheamus claims the fans turned their backs on Cesaro when the Hardys arrived. Miz says that are all alike, misunderstood by the fans. Miz says he made the IC Title and Ambrose ruined it. Ambrose then arrived, and says he is there to shut their mouths. Ambrose then says he is not stupid because here come the Hardys. Miz bails as the brawl begins and the faces clear the ring. Typical opening segment, rehashing the established feuds, and setting up a match for later. It was fine.

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The Hardys & Ambrose vs. Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus: JIP with the faces in early control until Matt gets cut off and the heels lay the boots to him. Sheamus takes the heat on Matt, working the clubbing forearms in the ropes. Cesaro then tags in, taking control of things and grounding Matt. Cesaro tags out Jeff, but Matt tags in Ambrose who runs wild. Cesaro counters dirty deeds, Sheamus in but Ambrose dumps him to the floor. Cesaro trip shim up, but Jeff dropkicks Cesaro as Ambrose hits the neck breaker on Sheamus. Miz distracts him and Sheamus knees Ambrose to the floor. Post break, Miz is working over Ambrose with kicks, and scores a near fall. Ambrose fought for a tag, but the Miz pulled the Hardys to the floor. Sheamus hits white noise on Ambrose for 2. Ambrose and Sheamus battle up top, but Ambrose fights him off and knocks Sheamus to the mat and follows with the elbow drop press. Ambrose hits Cesaro with the jawbreaker lariat and tags in Jeff. Jeff runs wild, playing the hits but Miz counters the twist of fate. Matt tags in, poetry in motion and the side effect gets 2 but Sheamus makes the save, it breaks down and Ambrose hits a suicide dive. Matt hits Miz with the twist of fate, Jeff follows with a swanton and that’s that. The Hardys & Ambrose defeated Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus @ 12:50 via pin [***] Good opening match, with a really fun and energetic closing stretch. The biggest positive is that the first 30–minutes or so of the show were dedicated to hyping the IC & tag title matches. Both matches have a chance to be good on Sunday.

– Corey is on his phone, and then has to get up and leave the booth. Ok then…

– Tomorrow on Smackdown, Becky, Charlotte, Natalya, Carmella, & Tamina fight for a chance to face Naomi for the Smackdown women’s title.

– Corey talks with Angle, who was reading something that alleges that Angle is doing a bad job as GM and is a disgrace as an Olympic gold medallist. Looks like we’re kicking off a new story, which could lead to Angle being removed/Stephanie’s return.

– THE DRIFTER plays us a tune.

The Drifter vs. Zac Evans: The Drifter attacks Evans right away, overpowering him and no selling chops. The clothesline follows, and then the Drifter just beats on Evans in the ropes. The Drifter flings him to the corner and then beats on him on the apron, and then bends him around the post. The Drifter hits a knee strike and rights, and finishes him with a neck breaker. The Drifter defeated Zac Evans @ 2:39 via pin [NR] The Drifter destroyed a young jobber with great aggression to gain some momentum; it served its purpose.

– Corey returns to commentary.

– Samoa Joe watches video of Finn Balor, and is not impressed. He’s interrupted for an interview, noting that he knows his weaknesses and knows he can break his body; he’s done it before and will do it again. Wyatt then interrupts from an undisclosed location, saying he sees the future, and that he sees the monster, and a world where that monster screams, and he is the one that can defeat the beast. Joe looks on, not knowing what to make of this.

Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt: Wyatt bails to the floor, allowing Joe & Balor to fight it out. Wyatt claps for them, but Joe goes to the floor and tosses him into the ring. Balor then attacks, but Wyatt quickly cuts him off. Joe chills on the floor, but as soon as Balor starts to fight back, Joe returns and attacks. Wyatt & Balor battle once again as Joe takes a nap. Wyatt maintains control, working over Balor with strikes. Joe wakes up and tosses Wyatt to the floor. Joe and Balor battle up top, but Wyatt returns for a tower of doom; Joe locks in the clutch on Wyatt, but Balor breaks that up. Joe and Wyatt to the floor, and Balor wipes them out with a dive. Post break, Joe works over Balor with jabs and then Wyatt joins him in beating him down. Finn momentarily fires up, but Joe beats him down and he and Wyatt both hit sentons on Balor. Balor keeps fighting back, hitting an up kick to Wyatt and then back elbows. Joe returns, and attacks both men. Balor tosses him to the floor and Balor then hits the PK from the apron on Joe. He then dropkicks Wyatt into the barricade, and then hits Joe with one. Back in and Joe hits the STJoe to cut off Balor, looks to lock in the clutch but Balor escapes and hits a standing double stomp. Wyatt back in but Balor fights him off, and hits a standing double stomp on him. Joe counters the sling blade into a suplex, but Wyatt then does his wacky spider walk. Sister Abigail to Joe. Balor up top, drops back down and attacks Wyatt. He hits sling blade and the corner dropkick; Balor up top and hits the double stomp, but Joe returns, posts Balor and steals thee pin on Wyatt. Samoa Joe defeated Finn Balor & Samoa Joe @ 16:50 via pin [***¼] Good win for Joe, unexpected as it felt as if the focus was really on Balor & Wyatt. They largely worked well together until they got close to the end, where there were some positioning issues. It was also way too slavish to the three-way formula early on, with two in and one taking a nap on the floor. They did a great job with Balor here, he was protected and also looked great refusing to give up against the two bigger opponents.

– Seth Rollins is interviewed backstage, commenting on his match with Roman reigns tonight. Rollins says that they have history, they both want to be the best and that he owns Reigns. This won’t be personal; it is just him sending a message ahead of Sunday’s match.

Rich Swann vs. Noam Dar: Fox and Banks are at ringside. These four will face of in a tag match at Extreme Rules. Dar attacked as the bell rang, and then started to attack the arm of Swann. Dar then grounds Swann as he continues his work on the arm, he then takes him to the corner but Swann battles back with an elbow. Rights by Swann now, kicks as well; the somersault leg drop follows for 2. Swann up top, Fox distracts the ref but Banks takes her out allowing Swann to hit the Phoenix splash for the win. Rich Swann defeated Noam Dar @ 2:55 via pin [NR] Solid outing to add some heat to Sunday’s tag match, although I wish that they would book a match that would actually work to Swann’s skill set instead of grounding him for 80% of the match.

– Banks and Swann dance post match.

– We get an interview with the Revival, and they say they will be back soon enough. Charly asks then about Enzo’s attack last week, and they run the footage of them arriving last week during Sasha Banks’ interview prior to Enzo’s attack. Dawson says they are always here, because they work here. They are top guys and don’t waste their time with bottom feeders like Enzo. I do love that they made sure to follow up on that.

– We get highlights from Tozawa vs. Kendrick from last week’s 205 Live, it was a great match.

– Big Cass arrives and gets pissed that Graves may have insinuated that he attacked Enzo. That’s the second angle that Graves has been added into tonight. Interesting.

Titus O’Neil vs. Kalisto: Crews is out with O’Neil. O’Neil looks to toss Kalisto around, but Kalisto fights back with kicks and hits a spiked RANA. O’Neil fights off salida del sol, and then hits a sloppy sit-down counter into the pin and pulls the tights for the win. Titus O’Neil defeated Kalisto @ 0:49 via pin [NR] Titus celebrating like he accomplished something big as Crews called him out for pulling the tights was amusing and Kalisto showed good fire in his short burst, but O’Neil is really bad and needs not to wrestle. He’s awkward, lacks mobility and needs to just be a mouthpiece, because he’s great at that. Also, can we PLEASE get Kalisto on 205 Live to add some variety to the show. This may have been short, but it was also bad.

Alexa Bliss Presents “Bayley: This is Your Life”: Bliss has a table in the ring, filled with pictures of Bayley, stuffed animals and other items from Bayley’s life. Bliss knows that Bayley can’t get extreme, and will likely try to hug the kendo stick on Sunday. Bliss has dug into Bayley’s past to learn more about her. She mocks Bayley’s sportsmanship trophy, and says she still plays with her dolls. Bliss also has her high school yearbook, and Bayley was voted most likely to apologize. Bliss then introduces Bayley’s 4th grade teacher, and “Miss Flapper” says Bayley was a good girl, and always sat in the front row beside her father. Bayley couldn’t be away from him for long, because she would cry. Bliss then introduces Bayley’s childhood best friend. She says Bayley was always to nice, and no one really wanted to be her friend, but she did their homework. The friend says that they stopped being friends because Bayley always wanted to watch wrestling instead. This is dying. Bliss introduces Bayley’s ex-boyfriend. He says Bayley was nice, but says their dates were odd, because she always brought her father along. He only dated Bayley to get close to he friend, and they make out. Bayley makes her way out and Bliss attacks. They brawl, Bayley hits a Saito suplex and then tosses stuff from the table on Bliss. Bayley tries to get the kendo, but Bliss cuts her off and gets another one and hits Bayley. THIS WAS SO BAD. Bliss tried really hard to keep control of things but you can only do so much with really bad material, the crowd hated it, giving her DELETE chants. Who ever gave this the green light is an idiot. This was absolutely horrible in every way. This actually made me less interested in the match, and may have been one of the worst segments of the year.

photo VINCE_zpsr2q1et0h.png

– We see Enzo laid out again backstage. Cass is pissed and yells at Angle, but Angle says the Revival left the building and that it wasn’t them; Cass vows not to leave Enzo’s side again.

Austin Aries & Jack Gallagher vs. Neville & TJP: These four faced off on the May 15th edition of WWE Raw (Neville & TJP defeated Austin Aries & Jack Gallagher @ 9:45 via [**¾]). TJP and Aries to begin, Gallagher quickly tags in and quickly out wrestles TJP until Neville tags in and takes control. Gallagher cuts him off with a dropkick, tags in Aries and Neville bails to the floor. Post break, Neville takes the heat on Gallagher. Gallagher slowly fights back with head butts, but Neville cuts that off and lays the boots to Gallagher. TJP tags in, hits the slingshot senton, covering for 2. He dabs at Aries, and then grounds Gallagher with a chinlock. TJP hits a knee strike and then takes a cheap shot at Aries. TJP grounds Gallagher again, working another chinlock. Gallagher hits the head butt for the double down, and tags in Aries. Neville in as well, they trade strikes back and forth, Neville misses an enziguri, Aries hits the shin beaker into a suplex and covers for 2. Aries gets tripped up by TJP, but Gallagher pulls him to the floor as Aries tosses Neville to the floor. Suicide dive by Aries follows, tosses Neville back in and heads up top. Neville sidesteps the missile dropkick, and then Neville misses the Phoenix splash, last chancery by Aries and Neville taps. Austin Aries & Jack Gallagher defeated Neville & TJP @ 12:40 via submission [**] This was a completely flat match, that felt way longer than it was and featured a completely disinterested crowd. The finish shows that Aries can tap Neville, and allows him some revenge after weeks of TJP and Neville largely owning him.

– Reigns is interviewed about his match with Rollins, “I don’t care if we were best friends, if we were enemies, or if your name is Seth Freakin’ Rollins; no man on Earth owns me; I will prove that I am the big dog and that this is my yard.”

– We get footage of Goldust turning on R-Truth, leading to another old school “Hollywood Goldust” promo. He’s back in the director’s chair and the Golden age is back. I am still all for Summer Rae becoming his new Marlena.

– R-TRUTH THEN APPEARS AND PLAYS GOLDUST’S GAME!

– Sasha Banks will be on 205 Live tomorrow night.

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins: They work back and forth, with Rollins finally taking Reigns down and hitting a standing moonsault. Reigns takes a powder to the floor, he returns and after some back and forth, he takes Rollins down with a big right. To the floor and Reigns slams Rollins to the barricade, and the drive by kick sends Rollins into the post. Back in and Rollins counters the spear with a knee strike, sends Reigns to the floor and follows with a plancha. Post break, Reigns slams Rollins to the barricade and then rolls him back into he ring. Reigns takes the heat, just kicking the shit out of Rollins. But Rollins cuts off the superman punch, and the sling blade follows. Rollins hits a corner clothesline, the dropkick follows and then hits a suicide dive. Back in and Rollins goes springboard, but flies into a superman punch, Reigns covers for the near fall. Reigns then sets for the spear, but Rollins counters with a roll up and then a superkick for 2. Rollins up top, but Reigns cuts him off and follows him up top. Rollins slides out and hits the buckle bomb, but Reigns rebounds out and hits the superman punch for the double down. Rollins rolls to the floor, Reigns follows but Rollins sidesteps him and Reigns spears the steps. Back in and Rollins heads to the ropes, the blockbuster follows for 2. Rollins back up top and the high fly flow connects, and that gets a great near fall. Rollins takes time to talk trash, heads back up top again and Reigns avoids the Phoenix splash. They trade strikes, and Reigns finally hits the spear and picks up the win. Roman Reigns defeated Seth Rollins @ 18:25 via pin [***¾] I was surprised that they gave away the clean finish, as I expected Joe, Balor & Wyatt to get involved. Instead, they just worked a very good main event to close out the show.

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~GLORIOUS~

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
While the show featured some strong wrestling, but much of the show just felt flat and uninspired. It stared off well enough, but then sort of faded and then almost died with that Alexa/Bayley segment. Not a bad show, but I don’t think it was the hot show needed prior to a PPV.
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