WWE RAW: Results & Review – 9/6/14
It has been a strange time for WWE recently, with the excitement and positive reaction from WrestleMania faded due to poor booking decisions and injuries, the main one being that of the WWE World Champion, Daniel Bryan, who recently underwent neck surgery. We have been promised a big announcement for this episode of RAW, probably something to do with the future of the WWE World Title and Daniel Bryan as Champion.
I feel like most of the RAW shows that we’ve seen over the past month or two have been so similar that it is becoming very stale and uninteresting to watch. The matches and feuds are all the same as they were months ago, we are seeing matches between people that should be kept away from one another until the PPV and we aren’t really getting many surprises. I say many, because last week at the end of RAW we saw Seth Rollins split from The Shield, attacking Reigns and Ambrose and standing beside Triple H and Randy Orton with a smile on his face. We also saw Batista bow out of WWE so he can promote Guardians of the Galaxy, we will apparently see Dave back in WWE by the summer. So anyway, let’s look at this show, shall we?
The match results;
- Sheamus pinned Bad News Barrett to advance to the Money in the Bank Title Match
- Rusev crushed Zack Ryder
- Rybaxel beat Goldust & R Truth
- The Uso’s pinned Damien Sandow & Fandango
- Bo Dallas beat Xavier Woods
- Cesaro pinned RVD to advance to the Money in the Bank Title Match
- Paige beat Alicia Fox via submission
- Jack Swagger pinned Santino
- Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & John Cena beat The Wyatt Family
It was once again an episode of RAW that felt like the previous week’s show, and the week before that, and so on. It felt like an episode I have already seen and the matches, though some were decent, did little to excite or interest me. There were a couple of cool segments, but overall this was a poor show that didn’t deliver. WWE needs to change things up, reinvent a few people, turn a few people, begin some new feuds and push some guys who deserve better treatment. The good will and hope that was created during WrestleMania season has been thrown out back into a dumpster in less than two months.
The opening of the show saw Triple H and Stephanie McMahon (Levesque) come out, smiling, hugging and snogging, and they spoke about Daniel Bryan being a B+ Player (yeah, that again) and how he unable to defend his title because he isn’t good enough. They do the heel-gloating deal and insult the fans, Bryan and Brie a little before revealing that they have officially stripped Daniel of the WWE World Title and it will be on the line in a Money in the Bank ladder match at the PPV. So far, Cesaro, Sheamus, Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio have qualified for the match. I imagine Kane and Cena will be added, and I also feel like Cena will pick up the win.
The Sheamus/Barrett match was good but we’ve seen it numerous times recently and it is becoming flat and repetitive. Later in the show we saw RVD/Cesaro, Heyman cut a fun promo before the match in which he mentioned Brock Lesnar (the show was held in Brock’s home state of Minnesota) and how Cesaro would be the next WWE World Champion. The matches on a whole were either good but stale or not worth watching, there were too many silly squashes and tag matches here, with little happening to elevate of promote anyone involved.
We got promos from Reigns and Ambrose, who spoke about Rollins and Evolution, and threatened to beat the Hell out of all three men. Ambrose was the best on the mic this week and showed some real sparks of crazy energy that will hopefully allow him to have a successful heel run in the future. Seth Rollins cut a promo later in the show where he explained his decision to turn on his Shield partners. He got some good heat from the crowd and he has improved a lot on the stick since his debut. These were fine segments and actually did something to help the people involved, unlike most of the show.
The main event was good but sadly felt like the same old, same old. Cena being involved killed any curiosity of there possibly being a new Shield member brought in and he did his usual crap in the ring. Harper and Ambrose stole the match and provided plenty of great action, but overall this wasn’t a patch on the Shield/Wyatts or Shield/Evolution contests. Reigns got the pin for his team after spearing Harper. The show ended with Reigns, Ambrose and Cena celebrating in the ring.
Another pedestrian episode that only seemed to promote the usual cast of characters while the rest of the roster floundered without purpose. I am getting tired of this aimless booking from WWE, it’s tiresome and harmful to the massive and talented roster that are being ignored.
RAW: Best Match: The Wyatt Family vs. Reigns, Ambrose & Cena
RAW: Best Talker: Dean Ambrose
RAW: Dud of the Night: Commentary, Layla, Creative
RAW: Honourable Mentions: Cesaro, Rollins, Barrett
