Seth Rollins vs Dolph Ziggler was okay, but this their 3rd match and Rollins has won every time. From the technical side, these 2 guys work smoothly together. But there's no story here to be told, which is disappointing. IF a secondary title was involved, these 2 guys could put on a hell of a Best of 7 series.
Dean Ambrose comes out to chase off Rollins. It looks like Ambrose will be the only one coming after Rollins. Which isn't a bad approach to take. It's not very babyface to have 2 guys chasing just 1.
Ambrose is thrown into a match with Bad News Barrett. There's been a few times that last few weeks when it looked like BNB could be going towards a face turn, but now he seems like a lap-dog of the Authority (and that will probably be forgotten next week). The match was a waste of time. Rollins comes back out to jump Ambrose. BNB wins by countout (although the ref should have DQ'ed BNB since Rollins jumped Ambrose).
Goofy backstage interaction between Vickie Guerrero & Roman Reigns. Looks like they are rehashing the same spot they used earlier this year when Betty White was the guest star. (Side note: being in attendance for that was painful) I thought that Vickie was gone, but guess not. Still don't know why they didn't turn her face months ago.
Bray Wyatt cut another solid promo. He's figured out a way to incorporate hyping the next big match at PPV without it sounding like a complete shill.
Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt was an okay match. These days Sheamus tends to have the same match each week. So kudos to Bray for mixing it up a bit. This better be the start for a championship feud. I can't see either man winning the world title at MITB, and having Bray chasing a championship would be a new development for his character.
Lots of backstage hoo-ha. I hate it when they have these runs of multiple backstage skits.
Heath Slater vs. Rusev was odd. I'm convince that Rusev can't draw heat with crayons. I mean come on. The Undertaker can go choke slam a fucking baby and still get a big face pop. I think Lana is struggling to get the crowd hot as well, and is dependent upon plastering Vladimir Putin's picture on the tron. Slater was vaguely face before the match, but the match was a quickie squash.
Smarky fans respect Slater's in-ring hard work, but without the 3MB gimmick he's kind of lost now. Maybe he'll turn babyface or maybe he'll hold "auditions" for a new band.
Backstage and now Stephanie is sick. Hunter sends Vickie into the bathroom to check on her. As soon as the door opens Vickie is hit with projectile vomit. I'm sure that plenty of the kiddos in the audience got a good laugh out of that, but I hated it.
Fandango & Layla vs. Adam Rose & Summer Rae. Summer Rae chases off Layla. Adam Rose gets the win. Guest Kevin Hart celebrates with Rose in the win. Ugh
MITB qualifying battle royal. Roman Reigns comes out to a Shield remix theme. There's a bunch of midcard & lowcard guys in the ring that have zero chance of winning, but they are quickly disposed of. Eventually it comes down to Rusev & Reigns. The crowd pops (probably glad that the Miz didn't show up). Reigns gets the predictable win. But the match lacked any big spots from Kofi or Ziggler; those are 2 guys that always deliver in these sorts of matches.
Cameron vs. Paige in the cool down spot. Cameron is a wishy-washy heel now and Naomi adds nothing while standing by her partner. Paige gets the win. Paige has been given no time whatsoever to develop her character on Raw or SmackDown. She stands no chance of getting any big crowd support with this approach.
Rybaxel vs. Goldust & ? The lackluster different partner for Goldust bit is finally retired as his new partner is revealed... Stardust. Stardust was once a nickname of Dusty Rhodes. Cody mastered the Goldust gimmick a long time ago, so his take on the character is effortless. This is a curious twist for the Rhodes Bros.
John Cena vs. Kane in a stretcher match is the main event. Honestly, this match could have been saved for the dark show as it added little the rest of the show. Which is probably why it was declared that the winner would be in the MITB title match.
Overall:
*Middle of the road episode of Raw. I get the feeling that WWE is struggling to come up with a new direction with Daniel Bryan sidelined. But I'm impressed that they didn't just instantly throw the title to John Cena. It seems like they've finally received the message that the fans are sick of having the golden boy shoved down their throats.
*It's unclear whether or not Ambrose & Reigns are still aligned. If all the members of the Shield are separate then it's time for them to have new ring gear and seperate themes.
*There was a couple of really rough periods in the show when there were simply too damn many skits in a row. Having more than 2 skits just kills the crowd energy and the matches then go on in front of crickets.
*Midcard titles are still getting big TV time, but there's still more work that needs to be done. Aside from the TTC, the other titles lack a strong contender and the champions lack a solid angle. Alicia Fox could still be chasing Paige. There's plenty of guys that could be challenging Bad News Barrett. And Sheamus is the guy that should have the most competition. But at the moment, there's no main challenger to those titles.
*I'm expecting Vince to appear on TV anytime now & throw a big wrench into the Authority's plans. Maybe Vince could name a Commissioner, somebody that could have more power than the weak GMs of late. Like the old Commission role, have someone that's in charge of setting up the matches. This would give the Authority a new foil to go against. But I have feeling that Hulk Hogan is next in line to be an on-screen official.
Dean Ambrose comes out to chase off Rollins. It looks like Ambrose will be the only one coming after Rollins. Which isn't a bad approach to take. It's not very babyface to have 2 guys chasing just 1.
Ambrose is thrown into a match with Bad News Barrett. There's been a few times that last few weeks when it looked like BNB could be going towards a face turn, but now he seems like a lap-dog of the Authority (and that will probably be forgotten next week). The match was a waste of time. Rollins comes back out to jump Ambrose. BNB wins by countout (although the ref should have DQ'ed BNB since Rollins jumped Ambrose).
Goofy backstage interaction between Vickie Guerrero & Roman Reigns. Looks like they are rehashing the same spot they used earlier this year when Betty White was the guest star. (Side note: being in attendance for that was painful) I thought that Vickie was gone, but guess not. Still don't know why they didn't turn her face months ago.
Bray Wyatt cut another solid promo. He's figured out a way to incorporate hyping the next big match at PPV without it sounding like a complete shill.
Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt was an okay match. These days Sheamus tends to have the same match each week. So kudos to Bray for mixing it up a bit. This better be the start for a championship feud. I can't see either man winning the world title at MITB, and having Bray chasing a championship would be a new development for his character.
Lots of backstage hoo-ha. I hate it when they have these runs of multiple backstage skits.
Heath Slater vs. Rusev was odd. I'm convince that Rusev can't draw heat with crayons. I mean come on. The Undertaker can go choke slam a fucking baby and still get a big face pop. I think Lana is struggling to get the crowd hot as well, and is dependent upon plastering Vladimir Putin's picture on the tron. Slater was vaguely face before the match, but the match was a quickie squash.
Smarky fans respect Slater's in-ring hard work, but without the 3MB gimmick he's kind of lost now. Maybe he'll turn babyface or maybe he'll hold "auditions" for a new band.
Backstage and now Stephanie is sick. Hunter sends Vickie into the bathroom to check on her. As soon as the door opens Vickie is hit with projectile vomit. I'm sure that plenty of the kiddos in the audience got a good laugh out of that, but I hated it.
Fandango & Layla vs. Adam Rose & Summer Rae. Summer Rae chases off Layla. Adam Rose gets the win. Guest Kevin Hart celebrates with Rose in the win. Ugh
MITB qualifying battle royal. Roman Reigns comes out to a Shield remix theme. There's a bunch of midcard & lowcard guys in the ring that have zero chance of winning, but they are quickly disposed of. Eventually it comes down to Rusev & Reigns. The crowd pops (probably glad that the Miz didn't show up). Reigns gets the predictable win. But the match lacked any big spots from Kofi or Ziggler; those are 2 guys that always deliver in these sorts of matches.
Cameron vs. Paige in the cool down spot. Cameron is a wishy-washy heel now and Naomi adds nothing while standing by her partner. Paige gets the win. Paige has been given no time whatsoever to develop her character on Raw or SmackDown. She stands no chance of getting any big crowd support with this approach.
Rybaxel vs. Goldust & ? The lackluster different partner for Goldust bit is finally retired as his new partner is revealed... Stardust. Stardust was once a nickname of Dusty Rhodes. Cody mastered the Goldust gimmick a long time ago, so his take on the character is effortless. This is a curious twist for the Rhodes Bros.
John Cena vs. Kane in a stretcher match is the main event. Honestly, this match could have been saved for the dark show as it added little the rest of the show. Which is probably why it was declared that the winner would be in the MITB title match.
Overall:
*Middle of the road episode of Raw. I get the feeling that WWE is struggling to come up with a new direction with Daniel Bryan sidelined. But I'm impressed that they didn't just instantly throw the title to John Cena. It seems like they've finally received the message that the fans are sick of having the golden boy shoved down their throats.
*It's unclear whether or not Ambrose & Reigns are still aligned. If all the members of the Shield are separate then it's time for them to have new ring gear and seperate themes.
*There was a couple of really rough periods in the show when there were simply too damn many skits in a row. Having more than 2 skits just kills the crowd energy and the matches then go on in front of crickets.
*Midcard titles are still getting big TV time, but there's still more work that needs to be done. Aside from the TTC, the other titles lack a strong contender and the champions lack a solid angle. Alicia Fox could still be chasing Paige. There's plenty of guys that could be challenging Bad News Barrett. And Sheamus is the guy that should have the most competition. But at the moment, there's no main challenger to those titles.
*I'm expecting Vince to appear on TV anytime now & throw a big wrench into the Authority's plans. Maybe Vince could name a Commissioner, somebody that could have more power than the weak GMs of late. Like the old Commission role, have someone that's in charge of setting up the matches. This would give the Authority a new foil to go against. But I have feeling that Hulk Hogan is next in line to be an on-screen official.