WWE RAW Coverage: Too Little, Too Late to Go-Home

Poorly booked and slow-paced, this week’s RAW was an undeniable disaster. The go-home show before Hell in a Cell, the WWE did nothing to entice a Pay Per View buy or even a click of a button to the WWE Network.

Even if you have the promotion’s app and your bill is paid, there’s little reason to tune in this weekend. With no WWE World Heavyweight title match and the buzz being around the Paige/AJ Lee and Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins encounters, the WWE missed a huge opportunity to build intrigue for the rest of the card.

Instead, they just relied on an old money maker in Randy Orton and John Cena that no one cares about and ruined the United States and Tag Team title matches by throwing all of the competitors together a mishmash match that did nothing.

If it wasn’t for Paul Heyman, the first half of RAW would have been a joke. At least making sure that WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar tries to stay relevant, even Heyman couldn’t build buzz. While an Orton face turn feels almost inevitable, he still has some legs as a heel if used properly.

The same thing goes for Mick Foley’s appearance later in the show. While it provided some pop, it was far from a deal breaker.

Simply put, the WWE is lucky to have a dominant champion the likes of Lesnar, but they continue to squander opportunities to carve him a legacy by keeping him out of the ring for months on end.

For probably the first time in WWE history, the company would probably be more entertaining if they booked Lesnar like TNA has Lashley dominating all comers on Impact Wrestling.

Matches:

WWE Tag Team Champions Stardust and Goldust and Damien Sandow w/The Miz vs. United States Champion Sheamus and Jimmy and Jey Uso: A sloppy match with a bunch of spots designed to get the crowd excited. Although Sheamus nailed Stardust with the Brogue Kick, Sandow, the legal man, got the win with the Rollup and a handful of trunks.

Divas Champion AJ Lee vs. Alicia Fox w/Paige: Fox was in control until Lee made a trademark comeback. Interference from Paige however stopped Lee in her tracks and allowed Fox, who Piage just threw back in the ring, to win with a Rollup and a grab of the trunks.

Big E. Langston vs. Alexander Rusev w/Lana: Langston hit some offense, but Rusev got the win with The Accolade. After the match, Rusev talk smack about Big Show and then beat on an American soldier, which opened the door for a Big Show save and promo of his own.

Brie Bella vs. Summer Rae: A boring match that saw Bella win following the Missile Dropkick and X-Factor.

Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Antonio Cesaro: A decent match with a lackluster finish as Cesaro got the win in the non-title match with a standard Eurpoean Uppercut. After the match Cesaro nailed Ziggler with the Neutralizer.

Handicap Street Fight: John Cena and Dean Ambrose vs. Kane, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins: Ambrose did the majority of selling throughout the match until Cena got tagged in and made the trademark save following the hot tag. After he took out Rollins with the Belly-to-Back Suplex, Cena hit Kane with the Attitude Adjustment, but Rollins was a step ahead, throwing Cena into the corner and a chair. After Kane and Orton took out Ambrose with the ring steps on the outside, Rollins hit the Flipping Neckbreaker but couldn’t put Cena away. Kane then worked on Cena on the outside and then put him through a chair. With Cena in trouble , the steel cage came down and Ambrose went to work. Kendo stick in hand, Ambrose beat on Orton and then went for the chair and hit Orton from the second rope with it. Ambrose then took the beating to Kane and Orton before hitting Rollins with a Suicide Dive. Kane eventually got the upper hand however and took out Cena with a Chokeslam and Ambrose fought back with the Dirty Deeds on Kane, but Orton got the win following an RKO on Ambrose. After the bell , Rollins hit Orton with the Curb Stomp.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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