Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
Yeah, I think it's time to retire the Vince McMahon character. He's sounding more and more like your wacky , senile grandpa who keeps calling you by the wrong name. Maybe if Bryan wins the Title, he'll disappear and let HHH and Steph take over.
The 6-man tag was nice. I was half-expecting them to save that match for Summerslam, but you never know with WWE. I continue to be glad that Henry's still around.
Henry's still pretty impressive as a strong guy. I look forward to more from Henry vs. The Shield.
Ryback isn't playing around, huh? If I had been depushed as much as he has been, I wouldn't be either.
I liked the continuation of the Wyatts/Kane story. They're doing a good job building intrigue for their eventual clash.
RVD vs. Fandango was pretty well done. They showed that RVD is still a top act without hurting Fandango much. I really wonder where Fandango's headed in the months and years to come. It's clear that he's talented, but what will they do with him?
AJ continues to be a bizarrely entertaining character. I think there are a lot of interesting things they can do with her in the months to come. There's no reason to think of taking the Title off of her any time soon, but part of me really wants to see AJ vs. Paige. WWE pls. Before then, Natalya, Layla, and Tamina would all be good match-ups. There's no need to rush Paige's debut. For that matter, they don't need to go straight to Paige vs. AJ or Paige going for the Title.
AJ vs. Kaitlyn was solid once again. I don't see why they couldn't do a third PPV match, though I think that would really "scorch the earth" for a while and AJ winning 3 PPVs in a row would seem to really end the feud.
Dolph continues to be great on the mic. I'm a little surprised that they're not saving Dolph vs. Big E for Summerslam, but you can never tell what WWE's going to do.
Not a bad showing by Big E here. I know, I know; "just another big guy". You need some big guys interspersed with the high-flyers, etc.. Anyway, he's still young and fairly new. He's got time to improve. The ending was fine to presumably set up a rematch. It's almost always fun to see AJ flip out.
The post-match made sense. For once Ziggler gets some heat on an opponent.
Not a bad Bryan/Cena segment. It just sucks that a lot of this angle has to revolve around a cranky senior citizen. I'd even prefer them fighting about the Bella Twins to it being about Vince. The "Mr. McMahon" character has been around since, what? '97? I think it's really time to put it out to pasture. Maybe he can be a cameo here and there, but not a focal point.
Christian vs. Del Rio was pretty good. I'm not crazy about Del Rio losing clean. It feels like he hasn't been Champion long enough for a clean loss to mean what it should. In other words, it felt like it took Del Rio down a bit more than elevate Christian.
Rhodes vs. Barrett was pretty cool. Rhodes has done a great job transitioning into a babyface role. I wish Barrett was doing better and bigger things, but not everyone can be pushed at one time.
I really liked Damien's promo. This could be really good feud.
YYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! I was really worried that they were going to have Bryan lose or some kind of clustermess finish. I would have been ok with the Wyatts attacking Kane, but this elevated Bryan. Of course, he didn't make Kane tap or anything and it was something of a "fluke" win, but that could have gone a lot worse.
I guess they had to have Kane chokeslam Bryan so he wouldn't get involved in the Wyatt beat down? Something of a necessary evil. Hopefully Bryan rebounds.
I love that the Wyatt Family actually looked dominant against Kane. That's huge. It could be memories of when Kane first debuted or when he first unmasked that are messing with my judgment as to how dominant and protected he can be, but it still feels like a big deal that they're able to take him out.
I like that WWE put a "lighter" segment with the Divas in-between the two main events. It's that whole "roller coaster" mentality.
That wasn't a bad Divas' match until the silly ending.
Really good stuff with Heyman and Axel. I'm a sucker for heeling the crowd. Their arrogance was also good.
I was hoping for more from R-Truth vs. Axel, so maybe we'll get a rematch. I have no problems with them using the match to continue the Lesnar/Punk angle.
Maybe Bryan can make Vince and Stephanie tap at Summerslam? I understand what they're going for, and I suppose that they're effective as heels since I'm complaining about them. I'm just personally pretty tired of the two of them cutting talent down. HHH can do it, too, but I know that behind the scenes he's doing great stuff to get over the next generation.
Cena vs. Ryback was really impressive from a psychology standpoint. Cena knows how to put some really good matches together, and Ryback has shown that he has the tools to be a main eventer. A top star or long-term champion? Maybe not. But I think he can fit in some main event roles.
The Cena/Bryan stuff at the end of the show was kind of silly, but it certainly could have ended worse (involving the McMahons).
More wrestling coming up.
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