Raw Review 10/6/14
The recent episodes of Raw have been okay, at best. In fact, they've gotten some historically bad ratings and horrible critical reception. It seems like the WWE is stuck in a creative rut. The last few episodes have seemed like carbon copies of each other. If you miss one episode, chances are you can just watch next week and not miss a thing. Has the WWE forgotten they have a WWE World Heavyweight Champion? Or that they have a pay-per-view in a few weeks that they need to build up to? In fact, up until this episode of Raw, a single match wasn't even announced for the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. This episode of Raw broke that streak of ordinary Raws. Who new all it would take to increase the ratings would be a guest appearance by one of the top superstars in WWE history? We'll take a look at that and some of the other big (relatively speaking) from this week's episode.
Let's start with the biggest segment of Raw: The Rock making a surprise return to confront Rusev and Lana. This was a huge and unexpected surprise (something not very common in this day and age of internet spoilers). This was apparently a last minute plan. The Rock was in New York for business and managed to pop in to Brooklyn to lay a smackdown on Rusev's candy ass. According to reports however, this was a one-time thing. Fans are already clamoring for a WrestleMania match between the two, but The Rock is apparently not even going to work at the Santa Clara event. Nonetheless, it was an awesome segment.
The best match of the night was a six-man tag match between Goldust, Stardust, and Cesaro against The Usos and Dolph Ziggler. This has been quite common in recent weeks. While the main event scene flounders, the midcard talents put on a great outing, sometimes in six-man tag matches, It seems like the WWE doesn't know what to do with them on a biweekly basis, so they stick them in whatever match variations they can think of. It would be nice if they could mix things up a little bit next week.
We also got to see the third match between Mark Henry and Bo Dallas. Dallas won the first match by pinfall, the second match by disqualification, and the third one by countout. None of these matches have been great, but it's the only thing keeping these two relevant. While Dallas is the heel and Henry is the face, Henry has been acting like a heel. Post-match beatdowns? Getting frustrated and agressive? Those are usually big no nos for faces. This mini-feud is somewhat like the one between Drew McIntyre and Trent Barreta in late 2010 (remember those guys?). McIntyre was the heel, but he acted more like a face than Barreta, who was a face. A heel turn for Henry has been teased in the last few weeks, but nothing as of yet. If Henry turns here, would that make Dallas a face? Probably not, as he doesn't seem to be very over with the crowd. This means Henry will probably turn on a face, most likely Big Show, but it could be Jack Swagger or Dolph Ziggler (leading to a feud for the IC title).
The main event was a handicap match between John Cena and Randy Orton, Kane, and Seth Rollins. Originally, Cena was supposed to team with Dean Ambrose, but Ambrose bailed before the match started. Cena won by disqualification after Kane (who wasn't the legal entry) hit him with a big boot. Ambrose then hits the ring and he and Cena send The Authority packing. It was then announced that Cena and Ambrose would face off at the HIAC pay-per-view with the winner getting to face Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match later in the evening. As soon as this was announced, Ambrose took out Cena with a double arm DDT. This went to further Ambrose's status as a lone rebel. The main event match wasn't great, but the real problem was the ending. Ever since Night of Champions, every main show (Raw, Smackdown, or PPV) has had their main event end in a conclusive finish. Needless to say, it's getting to be a little infuriating. Would it really kill the WWE to give us a decisive finish every now and then? Besides, it's the same guys (John Cena, Randy Orton, Kane, and Dean Ambrose) involved in these matches. If you don't want any of these guys to gain an upper hand, why not have them trade wins? It's not a foreign concept. This Raw's main event would have been perfect to have a decisive finish. It's totally believable if John Cena loses to three superstars. All I can say is, if Hell in a Cell doesn't end in a clear finish, the WWE will have blood on its hands.
Of all the Raws I've covered over the last few months, this was one of the weaker ones. Granted, I haven't covered every Raw episode. It won't be too difficult to get the company out of this creative rut. Maybe if the writers took some of my suggestions?
The best match of the night was a six-man tag match between Goldust, Stardust, and Cesaro against The Usos and Dolph Ziggler. This has been quite common in recent weeks. While the main event scene flounders, the midcard talents put on a great outing, sometimes in six-man tag matches, It seems like the WWE doesn't know what to do with them on a biweekly basis, so they stick them in whatever match variations they can think of. It would be nice if they could mix things up a little bit next week.
We also got to see the third match between Mark Henry and Bo Dallas. Dallas won the first match by pinfall, the second match by disqualification, and the third one by countout. None of these matches have been great, but it's the only thing keeping these two relevant. While Dallas is the heel and Henry is the face, Henry has been acting like a heel. Post-match beatdowns? Getting frustrated and agressive? Those are usually big no nos for faces. This mini-feud is somewhat like the one between Drew McIntyre and Trent Barreta in late 2010 (remember those guys?). McIntyre was the heel, but he acted more like a face than Barreta, who was a face. A heel turn for Henry has been teased in the last few weeks, but nothing as of yet. If Henry turns here, would that make Dallas a face? Probably not, as he doesn't seem to be very over with the crowd. This means Henry will probably turn on a face, most likely Big Show, but it could be Jack Swagger or Dolph Ziggler (leading to a feud for the IC title).
The main event was a handicap match between John Cena and Randy Orton, Kane, and Seth Rollins. Originally, Cena was supposed to team with Dean Ambrose, but Ambrose bailed before the match started. Cena won by disqualification after Kane (who wasn't the legal entry) hit him with a big boot. Ambrose then hits the ring and he and Cena send The Authority packing. It was then announced that Cena and Ambrose would face off at the HIAC pay-per-view with the winner getting to face Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match later in the evening. As soon as this was announced, Ambrose took out Cena with a double arm DDT. This went to further Ambrose's status as a lone rebel. The main event match wasn't great, but the real problem was the ending. Ever since Night of Champions, every main show (Raw, Smackdown, or PPV) has had their main event end in a conclusive finish. Needless to say, it's getting to be a little infuriating. Would it really kill the WWE to give us a decisive finish every now and then? Besides, it's the same guys (John Cena, Randy Orton, Kane, and Dean Ambrose) involved in these matches. If you don't want any of these guys to gain an upper hand, why not have them trade wins? It's not a foreign concept. This Raw's main event would have been perfect to have a decisive finish. It's totally believable if John Cena loses to three superstars. All I can say is, if Hell in a Cell doesn't end in a clear finish, the WWE will have blood on its hands.
Of all the Raws I've covered over the last few months, this was one of the weaker ones. Granted, I haven't covered every Raw episode. It won't be too difficult to get the company out of this creative rut. Maybe if the writers took some of my suggestions?
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