WWE RAW Coverage: If You Do This…Then, Not Again

WWE Champion CM Punk stated again this week that he has no intentions on fighting John Cena at Hell in a Cell. Just like last week, it was more of the same weasel-heel antics from Punk. He picked on Jim Ross this week and again just like last week, Ryback came to the rescue, with no resolution.

With a few weeks left until the pay per view, whom will the WWE champ defend the belt against then? Ryback? Dolph Ziggler? Rather than focus on the belt, the AJ Lee saga has taken over the show.

Nothing against the sultry Lee, but this angle is a mess. Rather than fueled by semantic storyline, WWE needs great in-ring work with storyline that makes the drama in squared circle that much worthwhile.

That simply isn’t the case now.

Lets not even get started on the World Championship debate. A complete waste of time, even The Big Show said the thing was ridiculous. A way to build heat for an angle that has no steam, the debate segment did nothing. Sheamus’ meandering to the crowd didn’t help. This will be a decent match and to prep the audience, the WWE needs Show and Sheamus to work over other opponents over the next few weeks and gain momentum, and not make body odor jokes and show appreciation for Jim Ross.

Matches:

#1 Contenders Tag Team Tournament: Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. Primo and Epico w/ Rosa Mendez: Mysterio and Cara’s outfits made it difficult to tell who was who. Even Jim Ross fumbled on the play-by-play. Cara’s tilt-a-whirl DDT was the main bright spot in an otherwise routine, but enjoyable cruiserweight encounter. Mysterio won the match with a top-rope splash. The Primetime Players watched the match from the entrance ramp.

United States Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. Brodus Clay: The challenger went through his offense in a hurry and Cesaro nailed The Neutralizer on the 350-pound Clay in a win that cements his spot in the company for the time being.

Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Zack Ryder: The champion was vicious. The kicks alone were enough to earn a wince, but Ryder battled back. After he nailed The Miz with the Broski Boot, Ryder missed the Rough Ryder and Miz hit the Skull-Crushing Finale for the win.

Ryback vs. Tensai: Terrible match. All botched high impact. Ryback couldn’t hit his marching finisher, so he hit two clotheslines instead.

Divas Champion Eve vs. Beth Phoenix: The champion made the most of every opportunity. She sneaked and clawed her way to a victory after her signature neckbreaker.

Santino Marella vs. Heath Slater w/ Jinder Mahal and Drew MacIntyre: Does anyone care who won this match? Slater was in control but Marella stuck in it. After the former United States Champion hit the Cobra on Slater, Mahal and MacIntyre jumped in, ending the match in a DQ. After the bell, the trio beat up on Marella some more.

World Champion Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow w/ Cody Rhodes: This was a surprisingly good match, easily the best on the program in months. So much so that it was obvious by the bell that Sandow more than stood his ground with the World Champion. Sandow kept Sheamus on the ground and was deliberate in his attack, with no wasted motion. He was actually in control for the majority of this match. If nothing else, this proved Sandow, although in tag team action now, is a singles competitor worth keeping an eye on. The finish wasn’t as impressive as the actual match though, as Sheamus won with a Double Brogue kick to both Rhodes and Sandow.

Alberto Del Rio w/ Ricardo Rodriguez vs. Kofi Kingston w/R-Truth: Del Rio won a routine encounter with the arm-breaker.

WWE Champion CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler w/ Paul Heyman and Vikki Guerrero vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Kane and Daniel Bryan: AJ Lee served as special guest referee. This was a by the numbers fight. Ziggler and Punk went through their shtick; Hell No had their usual problems communicating. The only cool segment was when Lee ejected both Heyman and Guerrero, which caused Ziggler to follow and leave Punk all alone. Kane capitalized on Ziggler’s betrayal, hitting his signature chokeslam for the win.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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