RAW Review – 05/02/2016
Welcome to my, Kareem’s (@HomeOfWWE on IG’s), RAW review on thewrestlingclassic.com for this week.
RAW REVIEW 05/02/2016
(1/10) The Shane and Steph Opener:
Stephanie came out, ready to play nice with her brother Shane, even bringing him a gift of an old photo of his dad and himself. Before they were going to announce what would be happening tonight, Kevin Owens interrupted, demanding a rematch for the Intercontinental title. Then out came Cesaro, who discussed how unfair his loss at Payback was to him and how if KO did not do what he did with Zayn during the match, that Cesaro would be IC champ right now. Shane then booked Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens to determine the #1 contender for the IC title, next.
Pros and Cons (3-0):
Pros:
- It was great to see Stephanie try to play nice, not having her regular heel attributes showing, which made it interesting to see where her ace would lead up to.
- Pretty good way of starting the show.
- The segment clicked with the (mostly dead) crowd, and hyped up the next match.
Cons: N/A
Crowd Engagement:
The crowd overall for this segment were loud and energetic, unlike for most of the show. Kevin Owens came out to a good pop, and so did Cesaro. Shane McMahon was cheered, and of course, Stephanie being the wonderful heel that she is, being booed.
Rating: 8.75/10
(2/10) Cesaro VS Kevin Owens:
Very good match. These 2 men will never fail to entertain when put together. Result: no contest after Miz attacked Cesaro due to Cesaro uppercutting Miz, who was in commentary along with Maryse. Miz and KO then both beat down Cesaro, until when Sami came in for the save.
Pros and Cons (2-0):
Pros:
- It was a really good match and entertaining for the viewers.
- Interesting to see where this leads to, hopefully a fatal 4 way at Extreme Rules.
Cons: N/A
Crowd Engagement:
They were enjoying the match and were pretty loud to say the least. Half were with Cesaro, and half were with KO. Maybe Cesaro did have a bit more support than KO in this match, actually.
Rating: 9.25/10
(3/10) Goldust VS Tyler Breeze:
Nonsense but a little entertaining. R-Truth backing up Breeze, and Fandango backing up Goldust. Goldust lost via roll up due to the unintended distraction of R-Truth who was dancing…
Pros and Cons (1-2):
Pros:
Cons:
- It feels like Goldust and R-Truth will never pair up, and this felt like a waste of time.
Crowd Engagement:
Below average, or even poor.
Rating: 5.5/10
(4/10) Tag Team Division Going Insane:
New Day came out acknowledging Enzo’s injury and discussed the No. 1 contenders’ tournament final, as afterwards, the Vaudevillians came out. Aiden English started to sing, as Simon Gotch (who sounds just like Cody Rhodes haha) made a strong statement, which was that he claimed that he made Enzo the realest guy in the emergency room. Dudleyz then came out, followed by big Cass and this set up a following 8 man tag match.
Pros and Cons (2-1):
Pros:
- It was quite entertaining to watch.
- Tag Team division hype; solid.
- Keeping Big Cass relevant while Enzo is out with injury.
Cons:
- Should’ve been a shorter segment.
Crowd Engagement:
They were decent, but were loud when cheering for the New Day and for when Enzo & Cass’ theme hit.
Rating: 7.75/10
(5/10) 8 Man Tag Match:
Good match. The team of New Day and Cass picked up the win.
Pros and Cons (2-1):
Pros:
- Solid match
- Did the job of showcasing the tag team division and keeping Cass important without Enzo.
Cons:
Crowd Engagement:
Pretty engaged.
Rating: 8/10
(6/10) Becky Lynch VS Emma:
Emma defeated Becky in what was a decent match, pinning her after an eye poke and a Michinoku Driver.
Pros and Cons (2-0):
Pros:
- Nice, well-timed match.
- Good ending in my opinion, doing for the heel as she has cheated to win.
Cons: N/A
Crowd Engagement:
Not that engaged.
Rating: 6.75/10
(7/10) Ambrose Asylum With Stephanie:
Great segment. Ambrose tried to get on Stephanie’s nerves, but Stephanie controlled herself. Stephanie calmly announced that the Ambrose Asylum talk show segment is no longer a thing, announcing the return of the Highlight Reel. Stephanie then brought in Y2J, who later attacked Ambrose, and broke Ambrose’s plant, Mitch, on Ambrose’s head. Mitch, I must say is more over than most of the roster…well the proper word now would be “was”, since Mitch is no longer with us, unfortunately. RIP Mitch. Great heel work from Jericho.
Pros and Cons (2-0):
Pros:
- This segment was pretty fun to watch.
- Good way to continue their rivalry.
Cons: N/A
Crowd Engagement:
They were quite interested in this segment.
Rating: 9.15/10
(8/10) U.S Title #1 Contender’s Battle Royal:
My very favourite part of the night. A battle royal with superstars such as Sheamus, Del Rio, Rusev, Sin Cara, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil, Stardust and more, to name a new number one contender for the US Title. This battle royal felt more unique than other battle royals, as many rivalries were continued within this one battle royal itself, giving this whole match another layer in storytelling depth. It was also unpredictable, which made it a whole lot better.
We had Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, Sin Cara and Ryder as the last 5 in the match. It was so interesting to see who would win from those 5 guys. Sheamus, the one who seemed to be the one who was most likely to win out of all. Del Rio, who could continue his previous feud with Kalisto. Rusev, who would most need the victory out of all at this state, to possibly return to the beast he was before what happened to him against Cena. Sin Cara, who could have a very interesting rivalry with his tag partner. Or Ryder, the ultimate underdog in the match, who could have yet another shot at a singles title.
First eliminated out of the 5 was Sin Cara. Afterwards, the former League of Nations set their differences aside and worked together against Ryder. But then, we had Del Rio eliminate Sheamus, who then got eliminated by Ryder. Ryder and Rusev were the final two in the match, as Rusev was the one to pick up the victory. I marked out. I marked out hard.
Pros and Cons (5-1):
Pros:
- The fact that so many rivalries were put into this battle royal made this one a special.
- Rusev winning.
- That the 3 former LON members were in the final 4.
- That this was a very unpredictable and enjoyable battle royal.
- That they had Ryder seem like an actual threat, building up to his underdog-type character.
Cons:
- That Crews was eliminated too early; I mean they could’ve at least had him be one of the final 6.
Crowd Engagement:
The fans were into it, and were exploding as Ryder was in the final 2, all screaming WOO WOO WOO, as then when Rusev won, some were actually cheering which was awesome to know/hear.
Rating: 10/10
(9/10) Charlotte’s Promo:
Promo by Charlotte about her match at Payback against Natalya. “Lil Naitch” Charles Robinson then came down to inform that Natalya had screamed “stop it!” while being in a submission by Charlotte. Natalya then came out as problems were being discussed, and she ended up attacking Ric Flair, even going as far as putting him into the sharpshooter. The segment ended with Nat standing tall with Flairs HOF ring and watch. It was later announced backstage that the two of them will be facing each other in a Submission match at Extreme Rules.
Pros and Cons (4-1):
Pros:
- Fine for what it was. It served its purpose to continue the feud.
- The announcement of the women getting a stipulation match at Extreme Rules, with Flair not being allowed at ringside.
- The interaction between Flair and Natalya was great.
- Interesting, I guess.
Cons:
- Not really a good way of booking this rivalry, in my opinion.
Crowd Engagement:
So so.
Rating: 7.25/10
(10/10) The Bullet Club VS The Family:
Very good match. I would say that this is my second favourite part of RAW. Not a disappointing main event at all, but instead, effective and cool to watch.
Thankfully, AJ pinned Jimmy Uso to have his team pick up the win.
After that, Gallows and Anderson beat up Roman, as AJ was not so happy about that. They told him to hit Roman with that steel chair, as the crowd supported what they were asking Styles to do. Styles declined, but then the Usos attacked AJ, as AJ got hit with a chair. So AJ then got mad and returned the favour, but unfortunately for him, Roman witnessed it then attacked AJ, as he then stood tall with a loud chorus of boos to end the show.
Pros and Cons (4-1):
Pros:
- They did their job well once again.
- The plot thickens for the storyline involving AJ Styles, Gallows and Anderson.
- Roman Reigns and AJ Styles do have great chemistry.
- Awesome main event.
Cons:
- Made Gallows and Anderson look weaker than they should be looked as, as they were basically fed to Reigns.
Crowd Engagement:
They were into it, and showed their support for the team of Styles. They heavily booed Roman. However, most of the kids and women were with the Rock’s cousins.
Rating: 9.9/10
RAW Overall rating: 7.85/10.
Pretty good RAW, but a pretty lame crowd who were not really loud, thus killing the vibe of the show. As always, can’t wait for the next weeks RAW!
