WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact

Columnist Corner

Monday Night Raw Review - May 18, 2015

5/19/2015

0 Comments

 
PictureNXT Champion Kevin Owens taunts John Cena.
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Authority Addressed the Intercontinental Championship

I know The Authority in its original form of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon has been gone from Raw for a few weeks, but it clearly hasn't been long enough. You obviously don't need me tell you this, but having them kick off Raw almost every single week is beyond the point of formulaic. Thankfully, most of the segment was focused on the Intercontinental Championship being in a state of abeyance (yeah, I went there). It really made the title feel more meaningful in the process, and both Ryback and Sheamus played their roles well and made this a better opener to Raw than usual. It was also refreshing to see someone (Ryback) actually stand up to Stephanie for once. Why can't all of the roster have balls like he does?


Ryback def. Sheamus

We haven't much of this match over the years, so it felt fresh and they showed they work well together. It was a nicely paced matchup and it was impressive to seeing Ryback get in as much offense as he did considering he legitimately broke a rib during his match with Bray Wyatt at Payback the night prior. That said, the injury was his out for losing and this was another nice win for Sheamus, who is looking like the heavy candidate to become the new Intercontinental champion.

PictureBray Wyatt soundly defeats Dean Ambrose.
King Barrett def. Neville

All of the matches these two have had together have been a blast and this one was no exception. Did anyone else find it odd that we got the count-out finish on pay-per-view and the blow-off on Raw the next night? That aside, I liked the match and the end result of Barrett going over since he needed the win more in my opinion. What I liked even more was the apparent start of a program because it gives both guys something to do. Dallas mentioning how he lost the NXT Championship to him last year was a great touch and it's encouraging to see them finally doing something with Dallas after marginalizing him for so long.


Rusev Confronted Lana

I still maintain that Rusev will be dead in the water without the undefeated streak, Lana and a championship, but this was an excellent segment. The rage he showed toward Lana and the delivery of his lines was absolutely awesome. Maybe it was just me, but it sounded like both of them were losing their accents a bit the more they talked. A sign of things to come, perhaps? I may not like where this is going, but it's so far so good with these two.


Bray Wyatt def. Dean Ambrose

Honestly, I enjoyed this match more than any other encounter they had late last year and early this year. I don't know what it was, but they just clicked on this show. It might have been due to the lack of stipulation because all these guys need is time and they can knock it out of the park as they did here. It was a highly competitive, back-and-forth bout that saw the right person go over but only after The Authority cost Ambrose the win, furthering his feud with Seth Rollins.


Cesaro and Tyson Kidd def. WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day by Disqualification

I was surprised to see them go back to this match so early considering they already had three matches over the straps prior to this point. Of course, there was controversy at the end of their Payback match, but why not wait until Elimination Chamber to give them their rematch since they'll be involved in the tag title match anyway? Regardless, it was another enjoyable matchup between the two teams that didn't cease to amaze me, though the disqualification finish felt weak and unoriginal (unlike the night prior). At the very least, the brawl with all the tandems afterward was well-received by the live crowd and set the stage for the WWE Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match.


NXT Champion Kevin Owens Attacked United States Champion John Cena

Man, and I thought the Raw debut of Sami Zayn two weeks ago was perfect! I don't want to gush all over this segment, but it was pretty phenomenal. Owens came off like a total heel denying the match with Cena, hyped his title defense against Sami Zayn at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, and laid out the face of the company in his arrival on Raw. It's since been confirmed they'll be facing off at Elimination Chamber and I couldn't be any more excited. And most of all, Cena's U.S. Open (which has been the highlight of the show since the night after WrestleMania) continues to switch things up. One week he has a straight-up match, the next the match ends in a disqualification, and the next the match doesn't even happen at all. They just keep finding new ways to make things interesting with the U.S. Open, and I love it.


Dolph Ziggler def. Stardust

The two minute match was inconsequential and a further burial (and yes, I do understand the meaning of that term) of Stardust. I don't blame that on Ziggler, obviously, but rather WWE. How is this the same guy who took John Cena to the limit for the U.S. title a month ago on Raw? Unless they intend to kill off the Stardust gimmick soon, his recent losses make zero sense. As for the Lana-Ziggler stuff, I really liked that. Ziggler and Rusev need dance partners for the summer and it's a nice feud to do for the time being. I just hope Rusev doesn't come out of it looking weaker than he did going in. An Intercontinental title win might change that.


Luke Harper and Erick Rowan def. Zack Ryder and Fandango

I was initially angered by the fact that Harper and Rowan weren't included in the Elimination Chamber over Los Matadores of all people, but in retrospect, I understand why the move was done. If they aren't going to win, why have them get pinned so early into their reunion? That doesn't change the fact that I love how they're back together and it adds quite a bit to the tag team division. Their dominance was showcased very well here and it was good they went over strong.


Divas Champion Nikki Bella def. Naomi by Disqualification

It's a shame, really, that WWE doesn't put more effort into make feuds and storylines in the Divas division matter. Personally, I was looking forward to this match because I figured there was a legitimate chance Naomi could win the belt (especially with Brie banned from ringside), but the live crowd sat on their hands for most of it. I also wasn't a fan of the disqualification finish since we had just seen one in the tag title match. The return of Paige was expected (though welcomed) and I liked how she laid out Nikki as well. There was no reason for her to save her for everything they've done to each other in recent months.


WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins Attacked Dean Ambrose

While the segment dragged on a little longer than it should have, it succeeded in establishing Rollins vs. Ambrose for the title as the main event of Elimination Chamber which should be nothing short of stellar. I had a bad feeling Kane was going to cement his turn here and set himself up as the next contender, but thankfully, that didn't come to fruition. Speaking of Kane, how are fans supposed to feel about him these days? They've been teasing a split from The Authority for well over a month and have yet to deliver, and the longer they wait to pull the trigger the less the fans will care. Nevertheless, I didn't have a problem with Rollins closing the show as the last man standing because he was laid out on every Raw going into Payback, so he needed this more than Ambrose did.


Overall Show

As I've said several times over the last few weeks, the quality of the product has been consistently entertaining (for me, anyway) since the amazing WrestleMania 31 spectacular, and this show was a prime example of that. It wasn't a home run of an episode, but it definitely had more good than bad. The biggest highlight was undoubtedly Owens' WWE debut, but there was also a ton of strong build for Elimination Chamber. I'm thoroughly impressed with how they've managed to make everyone buzzing and excited about an event that takes place in two weeks, and with what's being advertised, it shaping up to be something special.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2023 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • WRR
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • About
    • Contact