RAW Review 08/08/2016

Hello Misfits, it’s The Wrestling Classic here with this weeks Raw Review. It is week 3 of the brand extension and Raw of the New Era, we’ll see if Raw can keep up the momentum they’ve been on the last couple of weeks. Also, we’re two weeks away from Summerslam and that leaves only two more shows for each brand to build their matches on the card better than the other.

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WWE Raw comes to you live on the USA Network from the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California.

There was a recap of last weeks Raw events and then the show’s intro played. Pyro filled the arena while Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton welcomed us to the show.

1. Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Chris Jericho & Enzo Amore Opening Segment
Raw kicks off with Enzo Amore and Big Cass making their way out. Enzo talks about last week, how he came out to the ring like a G and how good his game was when he was flirting with Sasha Banks. Enzo then said his moment was ruined by Chris Jericho. Enzo and Big Cass continued to diss Jericho, which eventually forced Jericho to make his way out to the arena. Jericho makes fun of Enzo’s cheesy insults and say he can’t do anything without his big giant friend standing behind him, therefore he found someone who has his back. This brings out Kevin Owens and the two make their way to the ring. Owen’s makes comparisons between Big Cass and himself, claiming he actually used to like Cass when they we’re in NXT. The difference between the two of them is Owens got rid of his waste of space freeloading sidekick. Cass says let’s go right now. Jericho says they weren’t talking to Cass, they were talking to Enzo. This leads to a match between Enzo Amore and Chris Jericho.
My Thoughts:
It was a great way to kick off the show. Two weeks in a row now they had mid card level feud or feuds open the show that would lead into the opening match. I’m curious if that’s going to become their regular formula.  I loved all of Enzo’s music references. The singing of “Santeria” by Sublime for his promo, calling Jericho Jon Bon Jericho due to his resemblance to Bon Jovi, using song titles such as “Stairway to Heaven”, “Highway to Hell” and “Welcome to the Jungle” to insult Jericho. I love the union between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. Jericho and Owens are both the total package when it comes to being entertaining and talented in that ring. However, all four guys are entertaining as hell. The least charismatic person in the ring was Big Cass, but his size alone made up for it. When he was going face to face with Owen’s, you really noticed how god damn big he is.

2. Chris Jericho w/ Kevin Owens def. Enzo Amore w/ Big Cass
The match went two segments with a commercial break between. The finish comes when Enzo attempts a hurricanrana, but Jericho reverses it into the Walls of Jericho. Enzo barely makes it to the ropes but he does. Jericho argues with the referee and Enzo surprises Jericho with a top rope cross body for another two count. Owens grabs Enzo’s foot and Cass runs to the other side of the ring to break it up. Enzo turns around and eats a Codebreaker but before Jericho could go for the pin, Big Cass gets in the ring and lands a running big boot to Jericho. The referee has no choice but to DQ Enzo, thus naming Jericho the winner by DQ. Following the match Big Cass with Enzo challenges Owens’ & Jericho to a match at Summerslam.
My Thoughts:
This was great opening match. Two weeks straight they open the show with match featuring popular names to keep the viewers interested right off the bat. The main purpose of this match was to kill time, kick the show off and to book the match for Summerslam. It was decent match to open the show and gave us a taste of what we could expect at Summerslam.

3. Mick Foley backstage with Sasha Banks
Mick Foley is on the phone with Stephanie explaining why he invited Daniel Bryan to Raw, brining a stop of incidents like the Lesnar/Orton ones from last week from happening. Sasha Banks enters the room and Foley tells Stephanie he needs to get off the phone because the Boss walked in, leaving Steph confused. Sasha demands the match at Summerslam be made a handicap match because she already knows Dana is going to interfere. Foley sweetens the deal though and says tonight Sasha will face Dana and if Dana wins it’s a handicap match but if Sasha wins Dana is banned from ringside.
My Thoughts:
I don’t know about you but wouldn’t it had been smarter for Sasha to request Dana be banned from ringside rather than a handicap match. I get the whole theory of being a fighting champion and taking on all comers but thats just putting the odds against you by your own request, and thats just stupid. For example, if Sasha really wants a handicap match she could just DQ herself and have Charlotte win, so she could get that. Better yet Charlotte hits Dana and Sasha loses by DQ which makes it a handicap match. Whatever, it built a match for later tonight.

4. Braun Strowman def. Jorel Nelson
This week before the match when Byron tries to interview the local competitor who is going up against Strowman, he doesn’t say a word. Braun makes quick work of the Jarrel Nelson pinning him after a reverse chokeslam.
My Thoughts:
Similar to the last couple of weeks another local competitor suffers defeat at the hands of Strowman. Interestingly, the local competitor got a full televised entrance and makes you feel bad for guys like Titus and Darren Young who didn’t. There was nothing new here, and I suspect they’re building for something big. Hopefully, a local competitor who gives Braun more of a struggle. No one has yet to be as popular as James Ellsworth yet.

5. Mick Foley backstage with P.Diddy & The New Day
Diddy thanks Foley for having him as the special guest and talks about the upcoming tour where the whole Bad Boy Records family is getting together. The New Day join them seeming super excited to meet Diddy. Xavier Woods congratulates Puff Daddy on being the curator for WWE 2K17. Puff Daddy asks how Big E.’s nuts are doing and Foley and Woods tell Puff Daddy he can’t say that on TV.
My Thoughts:
Fun backstage segment. It was the only time we saw Diddy, which isn’t a bad thing because I can’t imagine him being involved in anything else. I guess he could have been the honorary New Day member of the night since Big E was out with an “injury”. Diddy got to promote his upcoming tour, as well about working on WWE2K17. The comments about Big E’s nuts made me laugh a little, mainly because the way everyone reacted to it. It’s almost as if it was off script or something.

6. Darren Young def. Titus O’ Neil
Darren Young picks up the victory by pinball when he rolls up Titus while pulling the tights.
My Thoughts:
It was just a filler match that I guess further promotes this rivalry between Darren Young and Titus O’ Neil.

– They show a video package and promote the Cruiserweight Division coming to Raw. They still give us any more information or tell us when its coming.

7. Seth Rollins Promo
Rollins said he has learned a lot over the past few weeks about Finn Balor. He thought he knew everything there was to know about Finn Bálor, but after last week he was forced to re-evaluate his position on Bálor. Rollins goes on to talk about how “Finn Bálor” isn’t even his real name. Rollins says he wants to know who Bálor really is and that so far Bálor has proven to be nothing but disrespectful. Bálor stood in his face and told him he was going to beat him for the Universal Title at SummerSlam. Bálor has no right to question him because Seth Rollins is the best. Rollins says he doesn’t need any make up, any pomp and circumstance, a fake name to be someone he isn’t. Rollins tells everyone that he is the myth, the legend and the man. At SummerSlam, Rollins will add to his legend by beating Bálor and becoming the first WWE Universal Champion.
My Thoughts:
I thought this was a great promo. Seth Rollins has totally improved with his promos as you’d expect he would over time and once he got more comfortable with who Seth Rollins really is. I was waiting for Rollins to bring up that Balor used to go by Prince Devitt and call himself the King. However, I assume their going a different route. I’m actually glad they didn’t go the way I was expecting because it kills Balor’s character and plus Seth Rollins wasnt Seth Rollins his entire wrestling career. I was hoping Seth was going to wrestle on this episode of Raw but at this point it did not seem like it was going to happen.

– We come back to the commentators area where they promote the new WWE/Scooby Doo DVD coming out. I swear Byron is like that kid you never wanted to invite to your birthday parties but would feel guilty or bad if you didn’t. He’s like that nice lame guy LOL.

8. Cesaro def. Sheamus
The finish comes when Sheamus finally hits White Noise, but Cesaro again kicks out. Sheamus goes up top, but Cesaro cuts him off with a European uppercut. Sheamus and Cesaro fight on the top rope but Sheamus shoves Cesaro down. Cesaro launches a dropkick that sends tumbling to the outside. Sheamus accidentally hits the referee in the back of the head. Sheamus rolls up Cesaro, but the referee is down. Sheamus let’s go of the pin. When the referee turns around, Cesaro rolls Sheamus up for the win.
My Thoughts:
These two put on great matches together but I still only feel like they are feuding because creative had nothing better for them to do. I still think Cesaro would have prospered more on Smackdown. This is the second week Cesaro defeated Sheamus, so I would assume the rivalry continues since Sheamus should be upset about it. It was a really good match tough. It’s crazy to think it was only the third match.

– An awesome Randy Orton/Brock Lesnar video package aired. It really hyped up both guys, their careers and this match. It’s announced that next week Lesnar returns to Raw live.

9 . Neville & Sin Cara def. The Dudley Boys
The finish comes when Sin Cara manages to tag in Neville for the hot tag. Neville cleans house. D-Von accidentally clotheslines Bubba Ray in a double team attempt. Neville gets D-Von down, and he hits the Red Arrow on D-Von for the pinfall.
My Thoughts:
Supposedly this match was booked because some sort of altercation Neville had with the Dudley’s on the Raw Pre-Show about the “New Era”. Neville’s partner was surprise and the surprise ended up being Sin Cara. It was nice to see the Dudley’s back Raw after a while. Neville is always a blast to watch and I can could buy into Neville and Sin Cara as a tag team. However, I do believe they’ll both be cornerstones to the Cruiserweight Division. At least, that’s what I want to believe because Neville would have been great on Smackdown too.

10. Lana & Rusev’s Wedding Celebration
There is a red carpet and wedding cakes in the ring. Rusev comes out first to his music and then some sappy wedding music plays as Lana makes her way out in a wedding dress. They talk about their wedding, how exclusive and expensive it all was. They shared some pictures of the wedding in Malibu. They claim they are going to reenact the event. Lana calls Rusev the greatest man alive. Roman Reigns interrupts the celebration.pts. Reigns grabs a mic and tells Rusev to relax. Reigns says he was watching the video in the back and he noticed Rusev didn’t have a best man. Reigns figured he would step up and come out to toast the bride and groom. Rusev tells Reigns he doesn’t need him. Reigns says if Rusev won’t accept his toast, then Rusev should accept Reigns challenge for a match at SummerSlam for the U.S. title. Rusev says no. Roman makes fun of Rusev and Lana. Reigns claims he is disappointed with Rusev because he was expecting more from him…just like Lana was expecting more from him on their wedding night. Rusev attacks Reigns and the two brawl. Reigns lays a punch at Rusev that has him accidentally knock Lana face first into one of the cakes. Roman takes off and Rusev cares to Lana.
My Thoughts:
This entire segment until Reigns came out felt awkward and seemed to go on too long. The fans were chanting boring for majority of the first half, and it was not hard to relate too. Lana’s accent is getting sloppy and she doesn’t even feel like the same old dominant Lana anymore. Reigns is so much more likeable in this mid card feud with Rusev and I don’t know why. He seems more comfortable and relaxed on the mic and almost as if he’s just having fun. Reigns was getting a louder reaction when he was getting booed out of the arena but I feel like a lot of fans are going to start digging Reigns while he’s out of the main event title picture. Following this segment Foley booked Rusev to face Reigns at Summerslam for the US Title against Rusev’s wishes.

11. Sasha Banks def. Dana Brooke w/ Charlotte
The rules for this match is that if Sasha Banks wins, Dana Brooke is banned from ringside at Summerslam. If Dana Brooke wins the match is handicap match, a match Sasha originally requested…weird, I know. Charlotte distracts Banks, which allows Brooke to attack Banks from behind. Banks surprises Brooke with a running double knee smash. Brooke misses a clothesline and Banks lands a clothesline.  Brooke explodes out of the corner with a clothesline. Charlotte tries to slap Banks, but she accidentally slaps Brooke. Banks kicks Charlotte in the face. Banks hits the jumping double knees in the corner on Brooke for the win.
My Thoughts:
I am a huge fan of both Charlotte and Saha Banks, and the past two weeks on Raw was great for the both of them. This week fell flat though. The reasoning behind booking this match was poorly focused on and the match was basically a squash on Dana. I’m not a huge Dana fan but if you want us to feel like this match was meaningful and Dana is a legitimate threat, let her make Sasha work for the victory. Looking at the bigger picture though, Dana won’t be at ringside at Summerslam, so I expect the match between Sasha and Charlotte for the Women’s Title to be an instant classic. Why should we expect anything less from two of the Four Horsewomen of the WWE?

– Nia Jax video package airs reminding us all that she is not like most girls.

12. Finn Balor Promo
A video promo is aired of Finn Balor is some dark smokey place. Balor explains his background, origin of his name and what he is capable of because of his background. Balor lets Rollins know that come Summerslam, he’ll meet the Demon.
My Thoughts:
This Finn Balor promo as fucking cool. I like how he described the origin of his name. It also made it seem like Balor was this monster who’s from a different dimension and been alive for 1000s of years. As if he was some sort of warrior from a bygone era. The hint that the Demon would be appearing at Summerslam at the end is enough to get casual fans who don’t watch NXT intrigued by him. There wasn’t much on his actual history wrestling around the world, but from my perception it seems like they’re building him more as a mythical god.

– The Club video package airs where they are dressed as doctors talking about “ringpostitis” which is an injury of losing your testicles after they get smashed in the ring post. It was actually quite witty and clever. The innuendos were hilarious. The use of wordplay of “nuts”, “balls out” and “testy” actually made me “LOL”. They claim Kofi Kingston is next to suffer from “ringpostitis”

13. Luke Gallows w/ Karl Anderson def. Kofi Kingston w/ Xavier Woods
In a quick match, the finish comes when Kingston dives over the top rope and takes out Gallows. Back in the squared circle, Kingston gets on the top rope, but Anderson distracts him. Gallows hits a flapjack for the win. Following the match Gallows and Anderson try to crush Kingston’s nuts by the ring post but Xavier stops them before they before Kofi caught ringpostitis. 
My Thoughts:
Quick match to progress this feud. I’m really pulling for Anderson and Gallows to be the team to dethrone The New Day.

– Backstage segment with Golden Truth and Scooby Doo.

14. Mick Foley/Daniel Bryan Segment.
Foley comes out first and calls Daniel Bryan to the ring. Bryan comes out to an amazing reaction. Bryan says Foley has been doing a great job running Monday Night Raw. Foley puts over Bryan’s work on Smackdown Live and the Cruiserweight Classic. Bryan attempts to plug Smackdown Live but Foley stops him. Foley says he understands why Bryan would want to promote their show on the flagship show but he invited Bryan to Raw to apologize for Lesnar invading Smackdown. Bryan says Smackdown fired the first shot so he apologized for Orton invading Raw. Foley tells Bryan to cut the crap and Foley shows a video of Bryan talking smack about the Universal Title and its silly name. Foley says this isn’t a game and Raw deserves a World Title. Rusev comes out and says he is true champion of Raw and they don’t need another one. Bryan mocks Rusev for kissing Foley’s ass because he wants out of his match with Reigns. Cesaro comes out and asks Foley for a title shot against Rusev claiming he’s proved that he deserves it the last two weeks. Bryan points out that he feels that Cesaro has been underutilized on Raw. Foley tells Bryan to stay out of it. Foley gives Cesaro a U.S. title match right now. 
My Thoughts:
At first I thought this was the final segment of the night and pretty pointless. I figured something had to happen, which it did with Rusev and Cesaro coming out but it wasn’t the something I was thinking about. I liked that the WWE used Bryan dissing the name of the Universal Title for this segment. To be honest, yeah Raw does deserve a World Title, but a different name rather than Universal Title would have been great. I got excited when the Swiss Superman came out thinking that Cesaro would be jumping to Smackdown Live while Stephanie was not there and Foley was running Raw alone. Imagine that scenerio, where next Stephanie comes back to Raw next week just fully angry and planning revenge. This was a pretty shocking and really random match, but I dig it.

15. US Championship Match
Rusev def. Cesaro
The end part of the match started when Rusev tries to lock in the Accolade, but Cesaro picks Rusev up on his shoulders. Cesaro drops Rusev with an electric chair drop. Cesaro hits a springboard corkscrew European uppercut and finally swings Rusev. Cesaro locks in the sharpshooter. Sheamus runs down to the ring. Cesaro knocks Sheamus off the apron. Rusev hits another head kick but Cesaro kicks out. Cesaro hits the Neutralizer, but the referee is down after a hit from Sheamus and Sheamus Brogue kicks Cesaro. Rusev hits another head kick to Cesaro for the win. Following the match Roman Reigns runs down the ramp and spears Rusev.
My Thoughts:
This was a highly competitive match between two agile strong men. I had a feeling right away that Sheamus was going to be involved in the outcome of this match and I wasn’t wrong. I also knew it was very unlikely that Rusev was going to lose the title when he was just booked in a match to defend the title against Reigns earlier in the night. Yet, I was still really rooting for Cesaro, hoping there would be a shocking Raw moment to keep up their momentum. The match was good but the finish was weak. The way Rusev sells the spear is amazing though.

Final Thoughts
Raw was good tonight, but defiantly not as good as last week or the week before. My rating for Raw has gone down a little every week since the first Raw of the New Era but I’m hoping that trend ends next week as it is the go home show to Summerslam. Brock Lesnar is confirmed to appear live next week and it was also promoted that Rollins would call out the Demon next week. Smackdown really has a chance of utilizing its two hours to the fullest potential tomorrow night to better than Raw this week. It really does seem like Raw used all its tricks in the first couple of weeks, and now are just trying to find ways to fill time whereas Smackdown is slowly progressing, finding out what works with this new roster and slowly getting better each week. This Raw was more talking dominated rather than wrestling dominated if that matters to anyone. It was weird that they had Jinder Mahal return last week just to be on Superstars losing a match against Jack Swagger. It was also weird not seeing Sami Zayn on Raw, I hope they have something planned for him at Summerslam. There was nothing in particular that I would come back and watch this Raw again for but that doesn’t mean it was bad, just nothing too memorable. Leave your thoughts and opinions of Raw below.
Final TWC Rating – 7.5/10
Last Weeks RAW TWC Rating – 8/10