Big E attempts to help out his pal Ziggler. Unsuccessfully. Photo credit: WWE.com
Vince McMahon appropriately kicked off the 20th anniversary of Raw, and thanked himself for the success of the show, proclaiming to be a "certifiable, iconic genius" (he hasn't mellowed with old age, eh?) and also thanked the fans. Big Show then joined the Chairman and asked him to address the "travesty" that occurred on SmackDown last week, that being Del Rio beating him for the World Title in a great Last Man Standing match. He asked that the new champion be stripped of the strap after accusing GM Booker T of being biased against him.
Alberto Del Rio then of course joined them and called Show a baby after the way he was complaining, and challenged him to a Title match that night to settle things. But the giant refused, instead choosing the Royal Rumble as a more suitable battleground. After some more banter Big Show then went for Ricardo Rodriguez, so Del Rio intervened and applied a hurricanrana and enzuigiri to send his future opponent packing. It was a fun segment to get the show started, and so far Del Rio's face turn has worked out nicely, he really needed a shake up with his previously stale persona.
Wade Barrett defeated Randy Orton in a decent contest. The action was largely solid, albeit a bit familiar perhaps. With these two having faced each other so many times the excitement and interest has been watered down, but it was still a worthy display from both men and worth a watch. The biggest note from the bout was the fact that Barrett beat Orton cleanly, yes you read that right. This is a very good sign for the fellow Brit, could he be a contender to win the Rumble match?
Before their check up with Doctor Shelby, Daniel Bryan and Kane agreed to just pretend that their anger management issues were behind them to pass the test. After answering a couple of questions, Shelby asked in Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow to try and antagonise the Tag Team Champions. After criticising his technique and ability, Shelby had enough of Team Rhodes Scholars and Bryan and Kane threw them out. It was as usual an amusing segment from Hell No, much like their earlier days.
Kane beat Damien Sandow in a quite forgettable and average affair. The wrestling was never bad, it was just too brief and uneventful to leave a lasting impression.
Mick Foley came out after being announced as the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame 2013, but shortly into his speech The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) made their way out to the ring. This then prompted Ryback, Sheamus and Orton to race out and gain some payback on the trio. I'm predicting a six-man between them all at the Royal Rumble, which should be quite enjoyable I think. Ryback then promised in an interview with Josh Matthews that he will have retribution on Shield after all they've taken from him.
Kaitlyn bested Eve (c) to obtain the Divas Title in a fair bout. I'll give them both credit, they put in pretty worthy efforts and tried to actually give us a decent and engaging Divas match up. Unfortunately it wasn't that special but certainly watchable, and it's a suitable time for Kaitlyn to win the strap I reckon.
CM Punk defeated Brodus Clay in a passable contest. Clay was a bit sluggish at parts, while Punk worked hard and pulled out a good display to up the overall quality of the bout. Afterwards the WWE Champion stated that it was "fact" that he was the "best in the world" and once again reiterated that he will topple The Rock at the Royal Rumble.
3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) bested Sheamus in a three on one over the tope rope challenge. It was about as entertaining as you'd expect, so not very. It wasn't terrible to be fair, but it just felt pretty worthless. I can't help but think something much more worthy could've had the spot. Slater managed to last eliminate Sheamus with the help of his two team mates who'd already been thrown out, so as payback the Irishman took out the entire band.
The Miz introduced Ric Flair as his special guest on 'Miz TV' and asked 'The Nature Boy' what his favourite ever memory of Raw was, so Flair said the night after he'd retired, which was an extremely memorable and fitting send off to the Hall of Famer (at the time). After a VT of famous catchphrases over the years, Flair was tearing into his classic one but Antonio Cesaro then interrupted him and accused 'Naitch' of spending so much money to keep up an illusion of a time long gone. In retaliation Flair and Miz then took out the US Champion, finishing up with Miz applying a Figure Four.
Daniel Bryan beat Cody Rhodes in a brief outing. Why couldn't they have cut the Sheamus 3MB match and allocated more time to these two talents? They could've had a much more worthwhile match. The action itself was decent enough, Bryan caught the win with his signature No Lock.
We were then shown footage from the WWE Active App where Eve announced that she'd had enough of the company and her poor treatment and quit. So now there's even less female talent on the main roster, time for the likes of Paige and others to enter the fray and freshen up the division I think.
John Cena defeated Dolph Ziggler in a Steel Cage match. It was the top match of the night (which doesn't say much I'll admit) and best televised bout of the year so far. The action was highly enjoyable from start to finish, with exciting moves from Ziggler and dramatic escape attempts. It's probably the best match these two men have had with each other.
For the finish AJ Lee started to climb the cage, allowing Big E Langston to enter the steel structure and be accidentally cracked in the head by Dolph with his Money in the Bank briefcase, with Cena then applying an AA for the one-two-three. The ending made Ziggler look goofy and stupid, just what you want for your MITB holder right? No. But aside from that my only major gripe with the match was with the victor, with the help of Big E Langston (who thwarted a few escape attempts by Cena) a win for Dolph here would not have hurt Cena, and he needed it a lot more. The day Cena retires will be a very positive one for any up and coming talent.
The Rock performed a rare Rock Concert for the fans in Texas. His first song was dedicated to Paul Heyman, mocking his weight and small, well, manhood. He then asked Vickie Guerrero to come on out and dedicated a cover to Eric Clapton's 'Wonderful Tonight' to her, or as he put it "No be-atch, you look horrible tonight." As childish as it was, I have to admit it was quite amusing.
After Vickie stormed off Rocky turned more serious and called out CM Punk, warning him that despite his promo last week he is not god and that he will take the title from him on the 27th. Punk then sprinted towards the ring and the two collided in a brawl until they were split up. It was a nicely executed and heated scrap between the two, and a nice progression seeing them get physical like that. Strong end to the show I thought.
For the most part it was an enjoyable Raw, with Barrett versus Orton, Team Hell No segment, promos from Punk and Rock and especially the cage match being the highlights. Unfortunately the rest of the bouts were quite forgettable and felt more like filler, which is poor enough for a normal broadcast never mind an anniversary show. I would've like to have seen some time cut from certain clips and contests and added to other areas (such as the Bryan versus Rhodes encounter). I don't want to complain too much though, overall a fun show.
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