2-3-14 WWE Monday Night Raw- The New Face of the WWE?
Hello everyone and welcome to my review of the February 3rd edition of WWE’s Monday Night Raw! Monday Night Raw is the only live show the WWE puts on TV every single week, and is the mos important show in WWE’s weeks. So without further to do, lets get started!
Opening Segment
Randy Orton (c) heads down to the ring to start of the show, by talking about the upcoming Elimination Chamber match for his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Orton complains about the match and questions how many times does he have to beat Cena, Bryan, Christian, Sheamus and Cesaro. He than goes on to say he will retain his title and than go on to defeat Batista at Wrestlemania, than The Authority (Triple H & Stephanie McMahon) comes down to the ring and points out that all Orton does is complain. They also state that Orton will be in a match tonight against one of his opponents of the Chamber, and if this man can defeat Orton, he will be considered to be the New Face of the WWE, and that man is none other than Daniel Bryan
The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, & Dean Ambrose (c) ) vs. Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston & Big E Langston (c)
Mysterio, Kingston and Langston are set to take on The Shield in our first match of the night. The match is what we have come to expect from The Shield, and there was really no question on who was going to win this one. The match itself was decent nothing incredibly special just a stander Six Man tag match. The only thing really worth pointing out in this match is how it ended. Roman Reigns was ready to take Rey out with his vicious spear, but Dean Ambrose tagging himself in, and hits the Headlock Drivers on Rey for the win. The only reason why I point this out is because it shows the dissension between The Shield and teases a Break Up between The Hounds of Justice! Afterwards The Wyatt’s showed up on the screen and hyped there match against The Shield at Elimination Chamber!
Winners: The Shield
Rating- 7/10: The match was honestly nothing to impressive. It wasn’t a bad match, but as I said nothing incredible. The only thing to really take note of in this match is the fact that The Shield is going to break up soon, possibly as soon as The Elimination Chamber
Bad News Barrett Promo
Wade Barrett tells the WWE Universe that they wasted there time stuffing there face watching The Super Bowl last night, and they won’t live to see next years Super Bowl, than Jerry “The King” Lawyer decided to stand up and tell Barrett some bad news. Honestly I’m not in love with Wade Barrett’s gimmick right now. This man should be in the Upper Mid Card area, but something went wrong. Now he is stuck with a character that gives him heat, but heat is only good when you use it to elevate your career. I hope something big happens for Barrett, because this man deserves it!
Christian vs. Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter & Antonio Cesaro
Christian returns to Monday Nights, and his first match back is a rematch from Friday Night Smackdown. Christian was able to defeat Jack to earn a spot into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Chamber match, but join Christian in that Chamber match is Swaggers Tag Team partner Antonio Cesaro. The match was decent. I’ve seen these two put on better match, but I’ve never seen them put on a bad match. This match did do its job and that is making Christian looking good for the chamber and further show the a split is on the way for The Real Americans, and the is something I don’t agree with at all. We have already seen the split of The Prime Time Players, its assumed Rhodes and Goldust are going to split soon, The New Age Outlaws aren’t going to be around forever, and its pretty much guaranteed The Shield is going to split soon. The WWE tag Division is looking good right now, but if The Real Americans split the only real teams we will have are The Usos, The Wyatt Family Rybaxel, Los Matadores and 3MB. The tag division is not looking good!
Winner: Christian
Rating- 6/10: The match was decent and showcased what it needed to, no matter how much I disagree with it.
Steel Cage Match for the Tag Team Championships- The New Age Outlaws ( Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn (c) ) vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes
Its not often we are treated to a title match on free TV, and its not often we are treated to a Steel Cage match on TV, so when i heard were going to get both in the same match I was excited, and I have to say I was not disappointed. Even though the match was slow at times, but still a great match. We saw Road Dogg question why they were in there adding more proof that the only reason they were given a tag title shot was because of the friendship with Triple H, and we even saw a death defying moonsault from Cody Rhodes for a top of the Steel Cage! It was honestly a great match, my only complaint is how it was handled. Why did they have to tag in and tag out? I’ve never seen that before and why were they not aloud to escape the steel cage?
Winner: The New Age Outlaws (c)
Rating- 7/10: A great match showing off that the Tag Division is not dead. As I said before the only thing I can complain about is they had dome weird rules. I can’t recall ever seeing a Tag Cage Match where you had to tag in and out, its usually a Tornado Tag Match, and I just don’t like it when you can’t escape from the cage, if you were to ask me that’s the point of a cage match, to escape! but either way a great match between these two teams. Still no sign if The Rhodes Brothers are going to split though.
Zack Ryder vs. Titus O’Neil
As I mentioned earlier The Prime Time Players are no more! Last Friday on Smackdown Titus O’Neil turned his back on Darren Young and brutally beat him down. Tonight he looks to do the same thing to Zack Ryder. That match itself was actually pretty good. I never have seen what the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) sees in Titus O’Neil, until tonight. Titus showed extreme aggression as he tossed Ryder around. At some point in the match The Miz walked down to the ring and got on the announce team and said that a guy who Barks and a guy who calls him self the Internet Champion can get a match on Raw, but he can’t so maybe were going to finally see something good out of The Miz, because he deserves it. Anyway the match itself was your basic jobber match that showed of That Titus O’Neil is really a Big Deal!
Winner: Titus O’Neil
Rating-5\10: This was a decent match for it being a jobber match. Its a shame to see Ryder fall further down the totem pole, but it did what it needed to do and that’s make Titus look good! and the added bonus of what seems to be a new character for The Miz defiantly caught my attention!
Dance off between Fandango & Santino Marella
Fandango and Santino were going to compete in a dance off, but Santino felt bad that he was going to destroy Fandango so he proposed a dance off between Summer Rae and a member of the crowd, and that member of the crowd just so happened NXT’s Emma. Emma and Summer danced. The crowd voted for Emma. I’m not sure if this counts as a debut, but I’ll accept it. I’m kinda nervous for Emma, because she is suck a great wrestler but I don’t think her dancing gimmick will get over. So here is to hoping Emma proves me wrong!
Sheamus vs. Curtis Axel w/Ryback
Ever since Sheamus returned at The Rumble he has looked great, and tonight was no exception. Sheamus battled the son of Curtis Axel in a pretty good match. Nothing really to add here in this one, the only thing it needed to accomplish was to make Sheamus look good, and that’s what it did! I will say it does say something about Sheamus that he was gone for so long and was able to come back and still remain popular with the WWE Universe!
Winner: Sheamus
Rating- 8/10: Sheamus has looked great since coming back, and is definitely looking like a threat in the chamber, I’m almost positive he won’t win which makes me wonder who he will face at Mania. Ryback?
Batista & Alberto Del Rio Segment
So Batista came down to the ring to cut what I’m going to assume to cut a promo on Randy Orton, but I will never know because Alberto Del Rio came down to the ring, and further told Batista that he doesn’t like him. This was actually not a bad segment. Batista was actually cheered, that caught me off guard. Del Rio cut a decent promo, but they way he always talks is just annoying. Batista tried explaining to Del Rio that he has no problem with him, but Del Rio seems to have a problem with Batista! Del Rio stiffed Batista and the two began to brawl, so it looks like at the Chamber were going to see Batista vs. Del Rio
Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth & Xavier Woods vs. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper & Eric Rowan)
So earlier in the night we saw the Shield in action, and now its time for there opponents to have a match. This match was honestly pretty quick and kinda one sided. The Wyatts dominated the entire time and Bray ended up picking up the win for his team after hitting Sister Abigail on Ziggler for the three, but it was happened after the match that caught my attention. Similar to how Bray and his family cut a promo on The Shield, The Shield does the same for the Wyatts and it was brilliant. Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns spoke about not living in Wyatts make believe world, and at the end when Wyatt laughed at The Shield made it even better! I’m excited for there match at Elimination Chamber.
Winner: The Wyatt Family
Rating- 6/10: The feud between The Shield and The Wyatts has heated up tonight! The match was decent, but the after match promo really helped further this feud, and I can’t wait for these 6 men to clash at the Chamber!
Alexander Rusev Video
A nice video package hyping the debut of Alexander Rusev, and let me be the first to say I’m excited for him. When he made a surprise appearance in the rumble match I marked out! He was defiantly the highlight entrant of the night, and I’ve seen what he can do on NXT and I feel he is going to become a big time start in the WWE, I just hope he doesn’t end up like most of WWE’s attempt at monster heels!
Naomi vs. Aksana
So it seems like Naomi may be next in line at shot at the Divas championship. Aj Lee (c) was on commentary for this match, and she was kind of distracting honestly. The match itself was decent, Aksana seems to have improved in the ring. So as long as the Divas get more time and improve in the ring, we may get a good Divas Division, and it may just start with Aj & Naomi
Winner: Naomi
Rating-5/10: It was a good match for the Divas, I just hope that if/when Aj defends against Naomi they actually get time, and not just a quick match because I believe if these two are giving a good amount of time they can be one of the matches of the night!
Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton (c)
The main event of the night is between two of the WWE’s best superstars! Bryan despite all the grief I give him is an amazing wrestler, as is Orton. They both may not be great on the mic, and Bryan may not look the part, but when you let these two go at it they can steal the show, and that’s what they did tonight! Back and forth action between the two, and I for one was really expecting Orton to walk away with the pin, but WWE gave it to Bryan. I don’t think this means he is going to win the title, but it defiantly makes you think. Bryan right now as of this review is being rumored for two different matches at Mania. One is a one on one match between himself and Triple H and the other is a triple threat match between Himself, Orton and Batista with the title on the line. After the match ended Kane and Orton beat up on Bryan, so who knows how things will turn out!
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating- 9/10: They stole the show here tonight as they tend to do. The WWE is making you think Bryan is walking out of the Chamber, and while I’m not buying it yet, I can see it happening. The beat down could go anyway, it could lead to the match between Triple or Orton so who knows.
Superstar of the Night: Daniel Bryan
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