The Dead Man takes it to Reigns. Photo credit: WWE.com
Paul Heyman kicked things off by revealing that after his client Brock Lesnar challenged Triple H on last week's Raw to a Steel Cage match, he'd since received an email from 'The Game' that explained that he'd answer the challenge on next week's show.
Heyman went on to call the COO gutless for not being in attendance for the show in London, but Triple H proved him wrong and joined him in the ring. After accepting Brock's offer for Extreme Rules, Triple H then pedigreed his manager, much to the excitement of the goofy Lawler on commentary.
R-Truth pinned Antonio Cesaro in a decent enough contest. While quite short they both made the most of their time and gave worthy efforts. I'm still worried by this slump Cesaro has taken as of late, loosing to the likes of Kofi and Truth is never a good sign. Why did his push suddenly suddenly come to a halt? He has the look and ability to make it in WWE.
Damien Sandow bested Brodus Clay in a pedestrian match up. It wasn't awful on any level, but there was just nothing particularly engaging about the action. The fans got so bored they began to entertain themselves with various chants during it, although they were pleased with the victor.
Dolph Ziggler defeated Chris Jericho in a largely stellar outing. While most of the wrestling was exciting and engaging, there were a few slightly sloppy moments here and there that let it down a bit, but I think that's probably just me being a bit picky. A good watch on the whole. The biggest reaction from the crowd (who did a few of the chants and Mexican waves that the New Jersey fans did a couple of weeks ago throughout) actually came when Fandango's music hit, which caused Y2J to become distracted and Zig Zagged by Ziggler for the one-two-three.
Tensai beat Cody Rhodes in a fair, if forgettable bout. To be honest I wasn't engaged by this tag feud to start with, and that hasn't changed.
In an amusing background segment Daniel Bryan tried to convince Kane to go over some plans for their match with 'Taker against Shield later on, which included diagrams and everything! So Kane explained that his brother would arrive when he arrived, and didn't take orders from anyone. The Shield then attacked the tag champs, although you never saw their faces.
Big E Langston toppled Zack Ryder in a brief squash match. Ryder managed to get in a bit of offense, but it was for nought. Obviously someone in the back is keen on Langston, which isn't shocking considering his look and build. I just hope he can improve himself in the ring a bit, although I'm not holding my breath.
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) bested The Undertaker, Kane and Daniel Bryan in a terrific six-man tag bout. From the opening bell it was a gripping contest containing a high standard of wrestling, with Rollins and Bryan being the top two performers for me. Here's hoping this isn't the last time we see these six lock horns.
Fandango pinned William Regal in a short but fun outing while it lasted. Regal understandably (and deservedly) received a tremendous ovation in London, England (I love our fans here) and gave a decent showing. Unfortunately the bout was kept brief and Fandango gained the winning pin with a swinging reverse STO. Afterwards Jericho then gained some payback by throwing Fandango off of the stage and dancing with his dance partner (who's now Summer Rae from NXT).
AJ Lee outdid Layla, Aksana, Tamina and Naomi in a Divas Battle Royal to become number one contender to the Divas Title. As tradition for these it was a forgettable match with mediocre wrestling, but it also showed off how awfully thin the roster of semi-capable female performers there are on the main roster, they seriously need to bring up more talent from developmental and NXT (such as Paige, who as a Diva that really stands out I could see becoming a big name).
Mick Foley called out Ryback and asked him what had changed so that he'd walk away and refuse to help Cena last week. Ryback retorted by stating that he loved watching Shield attack Cena last week, and called Foley a "pathetic" excuse of a man who just keeps coming back to plug something and shouldn't be around anymore. As he then went face to face with the Hall of Famer, Cena ran out and confronted his Extreme Rules foe.
The Shield then made their way out so Cena left Ryback to it as retribution for last Monday, but soon returned with a steel chair and chased off the trio (who bested 'Taker, Bryan and Kane earlier, remember?) and also AA'd Ryback for good measure. The Foley and Ryback segment was nicely executed, with some good intensity towards the end, but after that it felt a bit too familiar and hardly advanced anything in this feud.
Overall it was a decent Raw this week, with the Foley Ryback segment, crowd enthusiasm, Regal appearance, Ziggler versus Jericho and the great six-man bout being the highlights. Other than that it ranged from fair to average, which I can forgive for the stronger parts.
