RAW Review – 07/18/2016

Hello Misfits, it’s The Wrestling Classic here with this weeks Raw Review. This weeks Raw was highly anticipated as it was the night Shane and Stephanie McMahon were going to announce who would be the general managers of their respective shows. The main event was also Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship. Also, this was the last episode of Raw featuring the entire roster, as the draft was taking place the very next night. Also, one of the TWC Misfits from Instagram messaged me letting me know he was going to be front row for Raw and Smackdown and was taking a “The Wrestling Classic” sign. I could have been more excited. My social media blew up when people saw it. Now, lets get to the review.

1. Shane and Stephanie announce the new Raw and Smackdown GMs.
Raw kicks off with Stephanie McMahon making her way out to the ring. The Wrestling Classic sign was super visible, up front and centre. Stephanie tries introducing the fans to Raw, until she gets cut off by Shane O Mac. Shane and Stephanie have a little back and forth banter between each other and make fun of each other. Stephanie makes an announcement that since the CWC was such a success and because Raw is three hours, they’ll be introducing a Cruiserweight Division. This was followed by Stephanie introducing Mick Foley as her General Manager, Foley talks about his intentions as Raw GM. Shane claims he has someone who is even more popular than Foley, and introduces Daniel Bryan as his GM. The crowd erupted into “Yes Chants” at this point. Steph goes to shake Bryan’s hand, but Bryan doesn’t bite. Bryan thanks the crowd and says he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to come back because he loves wrestling too much. Then Shane called him and told him he wanted to make Smackdown about the Superstars and not the management. After that, Bryan realized he could come back. He needed to come back because Smackdown Live is the underdog in this fight. If they all join together, they will beat Raw every week. They have beaten The Authority before and they will do it again. Steph says underdogs have a losers’ mentality. She congratulates Shane for adding a B+ player for a B+ show. Shane looks at Steph and says no matter what, she will always be his little sister… and she had to marry a WWE Superstar to stay relevant.
My Thoughts:
The decision to kick off Raw with this announcement was great. This was one of the most anticipated segments of the show and to kick off with it, get viewers watching right away. It also keeps them wanting to watch the rest of the show to see if anything else comes from it. Stephanie and Shane have the weirdest chemistry with each other but I think its because they are brother and sister. Stephanie choosing Foley felt kind of weird, since Stephanie is supposed to be a heel. I would have suspected Stephanie to choose no one and then Vince picking a GM for her because she chose to do that and then it being Foley. However, I guess this will work further down the line when Foley and Stephanie begin to disagree on decisions. I think Foley is a great choice overall though. I’ve always been a Foley fan and he’ll bring some quality entertainment to Raw. Shane McMahon chooses someone the Authority knows very well and clearly is still very popular in Daniel Bryan. The first thing that bothered me was that Daniel Bryan was the GM on the show that wasnt featuring the Cruiserweight Division. I do think Bryan was good choice, but he wouldn’t have been my first. I don’t know why, but it just felt weird to me. Shane called Smackdown the underdog show, which it is and who better than the ultimate underdog to fight for Smackdown. I loved Shane’s final line to Stephanie having to marry a WWE Superstar to stay relevant. This was interesting to say the least but its still to early to see how this will all play out.

2. Sami Zayn & Cesaro def. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho
This was a match involving four of my favourites on the roster right now and it was exactly what you expected, one hell of a match. Zayn and Cesaro get the win when Zayn reverses a roll up from Jericho to roll up Jericho himself for the three count.
My Thoughts:
This was a fun match and when I originally watched it thinking that it would be a while before we ever see again because these guys would be separated on two different brands. However the next night we find out they’re all staying on Raw. Regardless I really enjoyed this match. All four of these guys are great and three our of four them are Canadian.

3. Stephane & Bryan
Backstage Stephanie finds Bryan and says he just won’t go away. Steph calls him a Chuckie doll. Bryan tells her he is happy that she spent the time he was away making up new names to call him and ruining Monday Night Raw. Bryan says thanks and walks away.
My Thoughts:
It was a little throwback to 2013-2014 here seeing Stephanie and Bryan interact. They’re still going at each other but now on a different level, as authority figures on their respective brands. I think it’ll be really interesting.

4. Darren Young w/ Bob Backlund def. Alberto Del Rio
Miz and Maryse were on commentary. The match ends when the Miz tries to get Young’s attention by getting on the apron. Young tries to take a shot at him, but he misses and Del Rio schoolboys him from behind. The referee is caught up trying to get Miz off the apron. Del Rio gets up and gets in Miz’s face. Young grabs him from behind and rolls him up for the win!
My Thoughts:
I get this for storyline progression but there was something that really bothered me about Young going over on Del Rio. I wish they used a jobber or like a lower mid card guy rather than Del Rio for this segment. It still hasn’t hit me that Young is the number one contender for the IC title over someone like Del Rio, but it is what it is.

5. John Cena, Enzo & Cass, The New Day & The Club
John Cena hits the ring and puts over the fact that Battleground is this Sunday. Enzo and Cass join Cena in the ring. Enzo calls The Club a bunch of herbs. Enzo runs down the entire Club. The only time The Club could be Enzo, Cass, and Cena is on the 35th of Neverwary. Cena stops Enzo and asks what he was doing? All he was doing was spitting out punchlines. Cass tells Cena that is Enzo. Cena tells them he has no idea what is happening right now. They need to get serious for the match Sunday. Cass says they like to entertain the crowd, but when it counts they get serious. Cass is about to call The Club SAWFT, but The Club interrupts.
Styles tells Cena that teaming up with Enzo and Cass is setting himself up for failure. Anderson says they have no chemistry. The Club has chemistry. Cena, Enzo, and Cass have no chance in hell of beating them. Anderson says tonight they have are not only going to beat up John Cena, but they get to beat up Enzo and Cass…AND The New Day! New Day interrupts. Styles asks why they are out here? Shouldn’t they be hiding from Bray Wyatt? Woods says any normal man would be afraid of The Wyatt Family. Good thing is they are not normal men. Kingston asks Cena if he really doesn’t understand Enzo and Cass. Woods proceeds to jack Enzo and Cass’ “how you doing bit”, but with naming Pokémon. The Wyatt Family appears and slowly walks to the ring.
My Thoughts:
 The promo made me feel like Cena forgot about his days as the Dr of Thuganomics. When I look at it from a different perspectives Enzo Amore’s promos before matches have similarities to when Cena would cut raps before his matches in his early days. It really shows the dynamic of how serious Cena has become compared to his old gimmick where he would have been doing similar stuff as Enzo and Cass. I like how the Club was trying to stir the pot between team Cena. I enjoyed the addition of the New Day and after going to the compound it seems like their fear of the Wyatt’s has gone although I thought it would have been worse. The “how you doing?” thing naming Pokemon was another way The New Day find a way to bring relevant current events in pop culture to the forefront on WWE television.

6. The Wyatt Family & The Club def. John Cena, The New Day, Enzo & Cass
The match was back and forth. It started like your typical slow paced tag match but then turned into a giant brawl. Everybody got in their signature or finishing moves. As Styles is setting up the Styles Clash, Enzo reversed it and clotheslined Cena accidentally. It was followed by Styles actually hitting the Styles Clash on Amore for the win.
My Thoughts:
The match was good, but I’m not a fan of multi man tag team matches. It was nice seeing Xavier being more aggressive towards the Wyatt’s, but I also noticed he’s growing a bit of beard. I thought it would be leading to something but they’re now on different brands so it doesn’t make sense that it will. It was also a great way of showing that the Club may be the stronger team in the match taking place at Battleground compared to the team of Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass.

7. Shane McMahon & Mick Foley
Backstage Mick Foley is talking to Breezango. Shane walks up to him and asks Foley why he would want to work with Steph. Shane says rumor has it Steph hired him for two reasons: Because of his connection with the crowd and because of his connection with the crowd. Foley says he knows all about Stephanie. No matter how terrible she seems when he looks at her he sees passion and drive. Foley tells Shane he has talents to scout and walks away.
My Thoughts:
Another good backstage that gave us an answer to one of the questions we were left with after the opening segment. Why? Why would Stephanie choose Foley for the Raw GM? Why did Foley oblige? I still see Foley being fired by Steph by the end of the year, I feel like its just bound to happen.

8. Baron Corbin def. Sin Cara
Sin Cara mounts very little offense before Baron Corbin hits the end of days for the win. Following the match Corbin continues the beat down and Kalisto comes in for the save but Corbin beats him down as well.
My Thoughts:
Meh.

9. Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch def. Charlotte & Dana Brooke
The match was back and forth for a bit. The match ended when all four girls ended up outside the ring and Natalya came to attack Lynch. The match was ruled a no contest. Charlotte and Dana continued the beat down on Sasha as Natalya continued the beat down Becky Lynch.
My Thoughts:
I like how they intertwined the two diva feuds but I wonder if it was because they didnt have time to give each one their own segment. This actually is the last time we see this five girls in the same segment for a while as Natalya and Becky are now on exclusive and Charlotte, Dana and Sasha are on Raw. Theres a few second treat for Sasha fans when Charlotte tosses her back in the ring that started trending on Social Media. I’m looking forward to both matches at Battleground. I still hope Sasha’s partner is Bayley but I have an itch it may be Nikki if she gets cleared or Paige. My TWC sign that a fan took was prominent during Sasha Banks entrance, however it was confiscated after this match by the security per request of the WWE. Not cool at all but I guess someone was bothered by it stealing the spotlight.

10. Sheamus & Rusev def. Dolph Ziggler & Zack Ryder
The team of Rusev & Sheamus win, when Rusev catches Ziggler in the back of the head with a kick and makes him tap out to the Accolade.
My Thoughts:
This was a good match for what it was, but nothing too special. Rusev continues on his path of dominance. If Zack Ryder is the one to dethrone Rusev, I would be shocked but then again he did win the ladder match at Wrestlemania and that was shocking. Poor Ziggler can never catch a break.

11. Daniel Bryan & Mick Foley
Backstage Bryan finds Foley. Bryan tells Foley that he wants to have a good working relationship. They talk about all the things they have in common such as being underdogs, the least expected to reach the top as WWE Champion and scoring wives out of their league. Bryan says he hopes Foley will be ok when Smackdown Live is better than Raw. Foley says he hopes Bryan will be ok when Raw is better than Smackdown Live. Bryan and Foley throw a few barbs at each other. They acknowledge that they are in each other’s way. Bryan says they never fought in the ring, but they are about enter into a war.
My Thoughts:
We finally see the two babyface GM’s get competitive with each other and it shows me more of the potential Bryan has to be a solid GM. I liked the comparisons between the two, they were kind of funny. I still don’t know how I feel about these choices as GM’s but its only the beginning. 

12. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Title ends in a draw
In the main event of this edition of Raw, it was Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Title. It was an amazing match, that went back and forth between the two former Shield mates. The match concludes after a superplex off the top rope. Rollins tries to float over, but Ambrose hooks his leg for a pin. The referee counts to three, but both Rollins and Ambrose’s shoulders were down. Steph gets into the ring and announces Rollins as the new WWE champion. Shane is arguing with Steph about whose shoulders were down. Steph gives Rollins the title and he leaves with it. The outcome continued on the WWE Network where the match was considered a draw which meant Ambrose remains champion.
My Thoughts:
This match was firkin awesome, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from these two. I had a feeling these two would end up on different brands following the draft and I ended up being correct. I liked how this ended is a screwy which means these two would meet again on Smackdown Live. This whole thing between Rollins and Ambrose has totally made me forget Reigns is even involved in the Triple Threat at Battleground. To be honest, I’ve completely forgot about Reigns this entire episode.

Final Thoughts
This was a fun Raw and the last of the pre brand extension era. I’m hoping next week, Raw comes back with  a new look and everything but I doubt it. I think I gave this Raw the rating I did, mainly because of that factor. It has it’s meh points and filler stuff, but I definitely see myself coming back to watch this Raw for nostalgic and historic reasons. Also, for the opening segment, the main event and the fact that The Wrestling Classic sign was on it. Dig It?!
Final TWC Rating – 8/10
Last Weeks RAW TWC Rating – 7.5/10