Monday Night Raw Review - August 24, 2015

John Cena confronts Jon Stewart.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Paul Heyman Addressed The Undertaker's Controversial SummerSlam Win; Brock Lesnar Attacked Bo Dallas

Even if you hated the finish to the SummerSlam main event, you have to admit that much like when Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak ended, the best thing to come out of it was the Heyman promo the night after. There really aren't any words to describe it that I haven't used before, so I'll just keep it simple by saying Heyman hit a home run. The crowd was hot for the challenge for a rematch with 'Taker, but you had to know he wasn't going to accept. I love how they did what I wanted them to weeks ago by having Lesnar get physical with someone that can take the beating instead of just standing there, and Dallas took that annihilation like a champ. A refreshing change of pace to open Raw.


The New Day def. The Lucha Dragons (Non-title)

Brooklyn loves their New Day, but despite their awesome promo before the bout, they managed to elicit a few boos after insulting the city. It leaves me wondering whether that will continue in other cities or if it's only in the "smarky" crowds. The match was fun while it lasted, but The Lucha Dragons need to be established more because they can't be taken seriously as a threat to the titles as of now. But the big moment came afterward when The Dudley Boyz shocked the world by making their long awaited return to WWE! What an f'n moment! I've been waiting for this forever and they couldn't have picked a better city to do it in than Brooklyn. The tag team scene just got ten times more interesting.

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The Dudley Boyz make their grand return to WWE!

Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose def. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper by Disqualification

Between this match and their encounter from SummerSlam, I don't know which I enjoyed more, but they were both pretty good. Ambrose and Reigns, no matter how much the crowd despises the latter, really work great together as a team and Wyatt and Harper have an untouchable chemistry about them as well. I thought it was odd they were doing yet a rematch less than 24 hours after the pay-per-view, but the non-finish made sense of it. I love the addition of a new Wyatt Family member and how it's someone we've never seen before. I recognize him from his days as a Rosebud, but that's about it. He fits the role perfectly and hopefully it helps the group get some of their heat back.


The Miz Hosted 'Miz TV' with Team PCB

I've been saying for a while now that this "Divas Revolution" needs more mic time in order to mean something, but I think I regret saying that now. Be careful what you wish for, I guess. The women aren't the issue; it's whoever is scripting their awful promos. Team PCB came off as unlikable during their talking segment and I found it hilarious when Paige said they wouldn't back down to any man yet they shut up when Miz told them to. Team Bella wasn't much better, and who can possibly boo them when they act like babyfaces every other week? This "Divas Revolution" is quickly backfiring.


Team Bella def. Team PCB

It's great the women are getting more time for their matches, but when the crowd attempts to hijack a match with chants, that shouldn't be seen as a sign that the "Divas Revolution" is going well. I don't blame the crowd (except for the ever-annoying "We Are Awesome" chant) as much as I do the writing team for not giving us reason to care about the match. The trading of wins doesn't help anyone and putting the heels over here doesn't establish a new No. 1 contender to the Divas Championship which is what this revolution should be all about.


Stardust Attacked King Barrett

Uhm, okay then. I was hoping they'd become a permanent team, but apparently not. Stardust is fine on his own and I get that Stardust would be mad about Barrett taking the pin at SummerSlam, but that alliance was extremely short-lived and Barrett is back to being a jobber it seems. As for the furthering of the feud between Neville and Stardust, it was decent but forgettable and I'm sure it left the crowd confused.


Jon Stewart Explained His Actions

For all the crap I give WWE's Creative Team, I absolutely love the logic of Stewart saying he was a wrestling fan and therefore he didn't want to see Ric Flair's record broken so he cost Cena the win at SummerSlam. I don't know how far out in advance they thought of that, but it was brilliant. The exchange between Stewart and Cena was very entertaining and major props to Stewart for taking the Attitude Adjustment bump. It was cool to see Flair get involved, but he hardly did anything. What purpose did he serve exactly?


Randy Orton, Cesaro, Intercontinental Champion Ryback and Dolph Ziggler def. Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Big Show and Rusev

I enjoy a good ol' multi-man tag team match every now and then, but when we just saw something similar days earlier on SmackDown, it doesn't feel as special. It was a solid match that ate up a chunk of TV time, but it was essentially Creative's way of telling viewers, "We have no idea what's next for any of these men, so in the meantime, here's this match." Perhaps my favorite part was when Big Show got teamed up by everyone afterward, faces and heels alike. I have no idea what that was supposed to entail, but it's hard to complain about seeing Show get decimated.


Sting Crashed WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins' Statue Ceremony

When John Cena was taken out in handcuffs right before this segment, it was a tell-tale sign someone was going to interrupt, and Sting was the first choice for many (myself included). It boggled my mind that WWE hadn't done anything with him since WrestleMania, but him vs. Rollins for the WWE title is a huge get for Night of Champions. Plus, Rollins can defend the U.S. title against John Cena that same night since all belts must be defended. The crowd popped huge for Sting and it closed off the night on a high note after the SummerSlam conclusion left fans disgruntled.


Overall Show

I can't call this a perfect show after the second hour featuring the lousy Divas segment fell flat, but everything else was excellent. You had a hot opening with Lesnar and Heyman, the return of The Dudley Boyz, the debut of a new Wyatt Family member, a solid eight-man tag and the returns of Flair and Sting. If that isn't a great show, I don't know what is. I'm hesitant to say we're in for an exciting fall because WWE always disappoints after SummerSlam, so time will tell. Even still, I really enjoyed this episode and would certainly call it the best Raw of 2015 to date.

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