Raw Review: 5/26/14
First of all, sorry for the late post. I've been doing research for an article on my other blog (nowthatspopculture.blogspot.com) and I just got around to watching Raw yesterday. I was considering not doing this post at all, but I really wanted to talk about the show. I promise I will be more timely in the future.
People have complained that the quality of Raw is in decline recently, but this was a good episode. Its main focus was to promote the upcoming special event on Sunday, and it did that well. In this article, I want to highlight four things from the show. They weren't necessarily the best segments, but they were interesting.
The best segment of the night was with John Cena and Bray Wyatt. For once, Wyatt was not the star. That was Cena, who delivered one of his best promos in recent memory. No lame humor, no pandering to the crowd, just straight shooting. This is exactly what the WWE needed to do to promote the match on Sunday. Another thing the segment did was generate heel heat for the Wyatts. Attacking JBL and Jerry Lawler? That's a big no-no. Many have speculated the Family will turn face, but this showed that's not gonna happen anytime soon. With this segment, everyone is hyped for the Last Man Standing match. Oh, and if you watch the segment, there's definite proof that Jimmy and Jey Uso are very over.
The first match of the night was the one between Cesaro and Rob Van Dam, the two number one contenders for the midcard titles. Cesaro pinned RVD, something he's done multiple times before. RVD looked strong though, especially with the kick he used to take out Bad News Barrett. After the match, Sheamus came out to a great reception and took out Cesaro. The Swiss Superman may be one of the hottest superstars on the roster, but the United States Champion is still one of the top faces on the roster. Cesaro wasn't done though. After Sheamus's match with Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro delivered a VICIOUS beating to Sheamus. Their match at Payback should be a good one.
For the first time in probably years, there were two Diva matches on Raw. Seriously, when is the last time that's happened. The first match was between Eva Marie and Summer Rae. The match was average at best, with Summer Rae being the more impressive one. Fandango and Layla made an appearance, meaning we're probably going to have a rivalry between Layla and Summer. It should be as good as the rivalry between Cena and CM Punk. The second match was between Alicia Fox and Emma. Like the other match, it was okay, but what happened after was pretty entertaining. After losing, Alicia flipped out. She took out Emma and went crazy at ringside. It's kind of hard to picture this whole craziness thing continuing for very long, but you never know.
We saw two debuts on this episode: Adam Rose's in-ring debut and Bo Dallas's Raw debut. They both looked good, but I'm sure the WWE was disappointed with the lukewarm reaction that both of the former NXT competitors got. Both of those gimmicks are designed in order to get big reactions, especially Rose's. The Universe has sang his theme song (similar to Fandangoing). Dallas on the other hand didn't get much of a reaction at all, despite him asking repeatedly for the crowd to "Bo-Lieve". It'll be interesting to see if they can get over anytime soon.
This episode of Raw did a great job of leading up to the Payback special event, which should be great by the way. I hope to post my predictions by Sunday at the latest. Also, look for the next best of the week post to come around that time as well.
People have complained that the quality of Raw is in decline recently, but this was a good episode. Its main focus was to promote the upcoming special event on Sunday, and it did that well. In this article, I want to highlight four things from the show. They weren't necessarily the best segments, but they were interesting.
The best segment of the night was with John Cena and Bray Wyatt. For once, Wyatt was not the star. That was Cena, who delivered one of his best promos in recent memory. No lame humor, no pandering to the crowd, just straight shooting. This is exactly what the WWE needed to do to promote the match on Sunday. Another thing the segment did was generate heel heat for the Wyatts. Attacking JBL and Jerry Lawler? That's a big no-no. Many have speculated the Family will turn face, but this showed that's not gonna happen anytime soon. With this segment, everyone is hyped for the Last Man Standing match. Oh, and if you watch the segment, there's definite proof that Jimmy and Jey Uso are very over.
The first match of the night was the one between Cesaro and Rob Van Dam, the two number one contenders for the midcard titles. Cesaro pinned RVD, something he's done multiple times before. RVD looked strong though, especially with the kick he used to take out Bad News Barrett. After the match, Sheamus came out to a great reception and took out Cesaro. The Swiss Superman may be one of the hottest superstars on the roster, but the United States Champion is still one of the top faces on the roster. Cesaro wasn't done though. After Sheamus's match with Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro delivered a VICIOUS beating to Sheamus. Their match at Payback should be a good one.
For the first time in probably years, there were two Diva matches on Raw. Seriously, when is the last time that's happened. The first match was between Eva Marie and Summer Rae. The match was average at best, with Summer Rae being the more impressive one. Fandango and Layla made an appearance, meaning we're probably going to have a rivalry between Layla and Summer. It should be as good as the rivalry between Cena and CM Punk. The second match was between Alicia Fox and Emma. Like the other match, it was okay, but what happened after was pretty entertaining. After losing, Alicia flipped out. She took out Emma and went crazy at ringside. It's kind of hard to picture this whole craziness thing continuing for very long, but you never know.
We saw two debuts on this episode: Adam Rose's in-ring debut and Bo Dallas's Raw debut. They both looked good, but I'm sure the WWE was disappointed with the lukewarm reaction that both of the former NXT competitors got. Both of those gimmicks are designed in order to get big reactions, especially Rose's. The Universe has sang his theme song (similar to Fandangoing). Dallas on the other hand didn't get much of a reaction at all, despite him asking repeatedly for the crowd to "Bo-Lieve". It'll be interesting to see if they can get over anytime soon.
This episode of Raw did a great job of leading up to the Payback special event, which should be great by the way. I hope to post my predictions by Sunday at the latest. Also, look for the next best of the week post to come around that time as well.
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