Raw Review: 4/21/14
This week's RAW was definitely a big one. Matches for Extreme Rules were made, storylines were furthered, and vicious beatdowns were delivered. This was one Raw that you had to watch. In this article, we'll look at some of the storylines from yesterday's show, as well as how they could be further developed. But before we go much further, I'd like to offer my condolences to Daniel Bryan, whose father passed away recently.
Speaking of Daniel Bryan, we learned his opponent at Extreme Rules: Kane. And this isn't the corporate, slack-wearing Kane we've seen in recent months. This is the masked, hell-raising Big Red Machine. He absolutely brutalized the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This was done to write Bryan off TV for some time due to his father's death. In fact, we many not see him until the Extreme Rules special event. Until then, Kane will probably be destroying competitors such as Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, and Dolph Ziggler. We may even see a match against Big Show, whom Kane attacked recently.
While the WWE World Heavyweight title match is official, the match for the tag team titles is not. It seems very likely however, that the Usos will take on RybAxel. They've engaged in a bit of a rivalry over the past number of weeks, and it will probably culminate at Extreme Rules. On Raw, Ryback and Curtis Axel sat at ringside while the Usos took on Cody Rhodes and Goldust. The match was alright, what really grabbed my attention was Ryback. He's been criticized in the past for his poor mic skills, but he was great on commentary during the match. If he ever gets back to the main event level, look for him to cut a noteworthy promo or two. Another interesting note: after the match, we saw noticeable tension between Cody Rhodes and Goldust. Is a breakup in the near future? As I wrote in my last article, Rhodes has huge potential, and becoming a singles wrestler again will help him achieve that.
It was revealed on Raw that Alexander Rusev will make his special event debut at Extreme Rules when he takes on the team of R-Truth and Xavier Woods. It's a virtually 100% guarantee that Rusev will win this match, it's basically a squash match. The only surprising thing is that it was announced this early on, or even at all. When Ryback beat Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins at Money in the Bank 2012, it was a surprise match.
Last but certainly not least, let's look at the match between John Cena and the Wyatt Family. The match itself was pretty good, and it looked like Cena actually had a chance of winning. Unfortunately for him, he was taken out by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan just as he was setting up Bray Wyatt for an Attitude Adjustment. To cap it all off, Wyatt gave him a nice kiss on the forehead and planted him with Sister Abigail. This was just another great installment in what has been a solid feud. But will it come to an end at Extreme Rules? Remember, when Wyatt beat Bryan at the Royal Rumble, the feud ended. If Wyatt beats Cena on May 4th, it looks like a third and deciding match will occur. If Cena wins, the feud will most likely be over. It wouldn't make sense to then have a third match, as Cena would already be up 2-0.
As you can see from this article, it was a great Raw. We didn't even get to cover The Shield facing off with Evolution, Paige's win over Aksana, or the great match between Sheamus and Bad News Barrett. If the WWE can continue to deliver like this over the next few months, it will definitely make for an exciting ride.
Speaking of Daniel Bryan, we learned his opponent at Extreme Rules: Kane. And this isn't the corporate, slack-wearing Kane we've seen in recent months. This is the masked, hell-raising Big Red Machine. He absolutely brutalized the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This was done to write Bryan off TV for some time due to his father's death. In fact, we many not see him until the Extreme Rules special event. Until then, Kane will probably be destroying competitors such as Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, and Dolph Ziggler. We may even see a match against Big Show, whom Kane attacked recently.
While the WWE World Heavyweight title match is official, the match for the tag team titles is not. It seems very likely however, that the Usos will take on RybAxel. They've engaged in a bit of a rivalry over the past number of weeks, and it will probably culminate at Extreme Rules. On Raw, Ryback and Curtis Axel sat at ringside while the Usos took on Cody Rhodes and Goldust. The match was alright, what really grabbed my attention was Ryback. He's been criticized in the past for his poor mic skills, but he was great on commentary during the match. If he ever gets back to the main event level, look for him to cut a noteworthy promo or two. Another interesting note: after the match, we saw noticeable tension between Cody Rhodes and Goldust. Is a breakup in the near future? As I wrote in my last article, Rhodes has huge potential, and becoming a singles wrestler again will help him achieve that.
It was revealed on Raw that Alexander Rusev will make his special event debut at Extreme Rules when he takes on the team of R-Truth and Xavier Woods. It's a virtually 100% guarantee that Rusev will win this match, it's basically a squash match. The only surprising thing is that it was announced this early on, or even at all. When Ryback beat Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins at Money in the Bank 2012, it was a surprise match.
Last but certainly not least, let's look at the match between John Cena and the Wyatt Family. The match itself was pretty good, and it looked like Cena actually had a chance of winning. Unfortunately for him, he was taken out by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan just as he was setting up Bray Wyatt for an Attitude Adjustment. To cap it all off, Wyatt gave him a nice kiss on the forehead and planted him with Sister Abigail. This was just another great installment in what has been a solid feud. But will it come to an end at Extreme Rules? Remember, when Wyatt beat Bryan at the Royal Rumble, the feud ended. If Wyatt beats Cena on May 4th, it looks like a third and deciding match will occur. If Cena wins, the feud will most likely be over. It wouldn't make sense to then have a third match, as Cena would already be up 2-0.
As you can see from this article, it was a great Raw. We didn't even get to cover The Shield facing off with Evolution, Paige's win over Aksana, or the great match between Sheamus and Bad News Barrett. If the WWE can continue to deliver like this over the next few months, it will definitely make for an exciting ride.
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