Looking at The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly of WWE Raw (6.09.14)

WWE Raw felt like a roller coaster ride tonight. While Money in the Bank is still a few weeks away, I am already jacked for the pay-per-view. Whether it turns out to be amazing or terrible remains to be seen, but the show has peaked my interest so far away. Hopefully, that stays the same when June 29th arrives. Okay, no more blabbering about nothing. I think I wasted enough space. When finished with this, go read my latest “Who Was Better?” column. For now, bring on WWE Raw using my classic Good/Bad/Ugly format to recap!

The Good

Daniel Bryan Stripped Of The WWE World Championship – It had to be done. If Daniel Bryan was not cleared to compete, he can not just sit out for months on end without wrestling. Even the biggest diehard follower of his knows that. Sadly, the situation never improved despite WWE giving it multiple weeks. Daniel Bryan now joins John Cena, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, and other greats who had to vacate a title at one point in their careers. In some cases, it can make that individual even MORE popular upon returning. Luckily, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were there to rub in the fans’ faces, so as heels – they did their job. Now when Bryan is healthy, he can set his sights on The Authority…and reclaiming his title.

RUSEV CRUSH! – I could watch Zack Ryder lose over and over on a loop all day long. No better feeling that that. Maybe Sheamus defeating Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 28 in less than a minute, but we do not need to dig up that again. Rusev wins again crushing Ryder. Before the ball, Lana delivered a nice promo. All good stuff. Thankfully, there was no long drawn out ceremony after the match. Appreciate that.

Dean Ambrose And Roman Reigns Segment – The two beat down 3MB. In a rare WWE moment, the production truck actually missed Roman Reigns spearing Heath Slater. Bad error there. Really though, this was about Reigns and Dean Ambrose being amped up to get their hands on Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, and Triple H. Ambrose did a really good job, where I fully expect his fanbase to over rate the promo. Par the course, I suppose. Reigns did okay and went from smiling to intense in a hurry, which did not fit the tone. Regardless, the tease of a collision was simple (as Seth Rollins watched from the back) and to the point.

Cesaro VS. Rob Van Dam – Yeah, Paul Heyman teased a Brock Lesnar appearance. Yeah, I caught onto it right away being a fake out. Yeah…it was still excellent. Hook, line, and sinker! As for the match, Cesaro defeated Rob Van Dam to qualify for the WWE World Championship match at MITB. Right now, he has to be considered the favorite to win.

Seth Rollins Promo – So far, so good. Seth Rollins got the message across (he built The Shield; he can end The Shield), and the fans booed him. That is all I can ask for right now. The aftermath with Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and John Cena battling The Wyatts, as Rollins slipped away was predictable but decent enough.

Cody Rhodes/Goldust Story – Finally! Finally, we get move this forward. Who will be Goldust’s tag team partner next week? Dusty Rhodes, perhaps? Your guess is as good as mine. Enjoy the little tease going into next Monday night’s Raw.

John Cena/Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose VS. The Wyatts – About what you would expect here. Roman Reigns pinned Luke Harper after a spear. Solid main event but nothing note worthy from bell to bell.

The Bad

Sheamus VS. Bad News Barrett – I am a fan of Sheamus. I am a fan of Bad News Barrett. I am all for making the United States Championship important. I am all for making the IC Championship important. The problem is these two facing off in a Money in the Bank-WWE World Title ladder match qualifier does not do any of that. Unless WWE is going to make one of them the new WWE World Champion (long shot), then it just furthers that state of the mid-card titles just kind of being ‘there’ instead of getting elevating in 2014. Sheamus defeats Barrett (again), and life moves on.

The Usos VS. Damien Sandow/Fandango – Let me just break down this entire mess. Fandango needs a reset. Adding Layla to the act is not the answer, although her mini-feud with Summer Rae could be fun. Damien Sandow? There is no defense. The *rumor* is Vince McMahon loved his Magneto impersonation and wants him to do this kind of thing every week now. Poor guy. That is what he gets for being a great Magneto, huh? The Usos barely keep me entertained, with or without the tag titles, so whatever. Just nothing interesting going on here. Raw filler at its finest!

Paige VS. Alicia Fox – Yikes. This was…yeah. The less said the better.

Jack Swagger Pins Santino Marella! – Okay, Jack Swagger got fired up from Zeb Colter slapping him and defeated Santino Marella. Yay? Give me a reason to care WWE. Please.

The Ugly

Money In The Bank-WWE World Title Ladder Match – Am I the only person who has a problem with the description? I discussed this last week and will again. How can a MITB ladder match be for the WWE World Title? Make no sense. It is a WWE World Title ladder match AT the Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Small little nitpick, sorry.

Curtis Axel Wins A Match – Why?

Bo Dallas – Basically a repeat from every other show. There is “establishing an act.” Then there is “spinning its wheels.” We are reaching that point with Bo Dallas. Not like the live crowds care either…

Kevin Hart On Raw Next Week! – The least funniest, not funny, unfunny, non-funny man in the entire world is coming to RAW next week: Kevin Hart! I am telling you now. No matter what he does, I am not going to like it. Nothing he does. I can guarantee you right now he will not make me laugh and is going to wind up in the “Ugly” section of Raw.

TNA Impact Wrestling – Nothing to do with Raw…BUT I will be tuning into TNA Impact Wrestling this Thursday night. Also the following week! Maybe I will review it, maybe not. Either way, look forward to SOME kind of TNA column soon.

Summary: Good junk mixed in with the usual filler. Your standard episode of WWE RAW since moving to the yawn inducing three hour format. If this was crammed into two hours, it would be fine. Spread out over an extra hour, and it just becomes draining after awhile. Money in the Bank is one of the best events all year, so that will be entertaining.

Self-Promoting Finale

WRESTLING:

Top 5 Canadian Born Wrestlers Ever!
Top 5 WWE Attitude Era Mistakes
Click HERE to find out who won the 2013 WWE Superstar of the Year Award!
Feud Of The Year?
Best WWE Promo Of 2013
AJ Lee Or Bellas?
The Shield or The Wyatts?
Year End Awards: Best WWE Match of 2013
New WWE Superstars Shine On Raw From London
WWE Raw Review (5/26/2014)
Brie Bella Fired At WWE Payback?
Read my Jay’s Ways column as well over at NoDQ!
Email me feedback/thoughts at [email protected]

NON-WRESTLING:

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My Godzilla Review *Contains Movie Spoilers*
Donald Sterling Makes Bad Situation Even Worse With CNN AC360 Interview

Thanks for reading. What did YOU think of WWE Raw?