From what I watched of Raw, most of the show wasn't that bad. When I wasn't watching I watched The Voice. For those that don't know, I keep the WWE timeline open via Twitter, and when it's something I'm interested in, I change the channel to USA to watch the promo or match. When I become uninterested I change the channel. I got that idea from a tweet I saw on Twitter, Never the less, I enjoyed most of what I saw. The show opened with Shane McMahon. That gimmick has a lot of people up and arms. Some are trying to make sense of Shane losing to Undertaker so why is he running Raw? It's all a work. Wrestling is a work. None of it is real. No matter how much we want it to be. There's a difference between reality, and wrestling reality. Sometimes, art and life intertwine, but most of the time, all the stuff that happens on TV is mostly a work. Some of us think way to hard when it comes to this sport. We forget that WWE is an entertainment company. It's not a wrestling company. Vince said it himself. "I'm not in the wrasslin business, I'm in the entertainment business." So most of us tend to forget that simple thought.
Maybe Vince figured that the Authority angle was running stale and something needed to change on the show. So Shane is probably part of that change. I personally expect a swerve to come along the way with all this. Maybe Stephanie McMahon and Triple H opening up the show and they make the statement, "Didn't Shane lose at WrestleMania? Why has he been running Raw?" And all that. I truly believe all the questions we have, WWE will try to answer them in the coming weeks, and it'll all come together, or apart, at SummerSlam, which is the next "big" PPV or Live Special.
We need to stop watching RAW expecting the same booking we see on NXT. Even though they're under the same umbrella known as WWE, Raw and NXT are two different shows. Raw is coming around to NXT's style of booking little by little, but still two different shows.
Then we had Kevin Owens vs Cesaro. What a clinic that match was. If Cesaro hasn't grabbed that "brass ring" by now, I don't know what Vince is smoking or sniffing. Cesaro is one of the best athletes on the roster. The surprising thing about this match was that it was a clean finish. Cesaro won clean. Another thing this match showed that getting heat and selling is not a lost art that some of the old timers like to think it is. Cesaro sold that shoulder injury, and Kevin Owens had heat most of the match. He blocks people on Twitter. If that's not heat, I don't know what is.
The WWE Tag Team tournament. Who ever came up with that idea seems to have come with a good one. One match was the Dudley Boys vs the Lucha Dragons. Dudley Boys won and team of Enzo and Cass came out. The back and forth between them and the Dudley Boyz was a money segment to me. I missed their appearance on the Raw after Mania, and I missed their stuff on NXT, but they seem to be over with the crowd. They also seem to have the gift of talking on the microphone. I have to look up some matches on the WWE Network to see their ring work. But I'm already a fan of them because of that back and forth with the Dudleys.
The Women's Division gets better and better regarding match quality. But there's an old turd that still seems to have to get his stuff in, and that turd's name is Ric Flair. Ric was great for his time, but Ric Flair, it's time to go home. Charlotte is a grown woman. She can't grow as a character if you keep handcuffing her. Look I understand being a heel, and all that but Flair interfering in Charlotte's matches is not good heat to me. That's cheap heat. I said on Twitter after Flair interfered at WrestleMania that Flair needs to be put in a home. Flair, your time is up. Go away. The women's division doesn't need your old tired self to make it relevant. Other than the old timer, and the ending of the match, Natayla and Charlotte had a good match. Again, Flair needs to go away or at least get away from his daughter.
Dr Phil was on the show and that's all I'm going to say about that.
The Bullet Club. Luke Gallows made his return to the WWE and Anderson made his debut, I think. They saved what was a lack luster match between the Usos and The Social Outcasts. It was expected for them to make an appearance but it wasn't really known in what capacity they were going to show up. So after Usos pick up the W, Gallows and Anderson showed up and beat up the Usos. It was tremendous. I was at home holding up the too sweet. Hopefully WWE doesn't drive Gallows away, again.
AJ Styles vs Sami Zayn. Another match that was a straight clinic. I'm so glad the higher ups and in the WWE let these two wrestlers do their job. It was a great match. They woke up what was a dead crowd. They should've main evented the show, but of course they didn't.
I didn't watch what was the main event, because Reigns' character is not getting over at all, and it all seemed threw together randomly. Roman, in my opinion, is a great worker. His character has just become stale. But he does get a response from the crowd, so I guess that's all Vince cares about. Roman's character needs some upgrading. If Hogan of all people do upgrade his character, why can't Roman upgrade his?
And that's about all I got to say about RAW. From what I watched, it was an ok show. Thanks for reading. I don't claim to know everything, but I'm just stating my thoughts on the product.
~Daniel Richerson
