WWE RAW Coverage: No Drama? No Problem

The drama on this week’s episode of RAW was lackluster.

After a week hiatus, John Cena confronted Ryback and made their pay per view encounter a Three Stages of Hell match.

Aside from that an update on Triple H’s status did nothing to entertain, but Paul Heyman’s spot on Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel was cool. After Y2J told the world Heyman still owes him money from his days in ECW, Jericho brought up CM Punk, who has been off RAW for six weeks.

Heyman had no answers. Punk is sorely missed and even though Heyman’s spot this week didn’t do much either than get some quick heat, Jericho took over and planted a seed for a match between he and Punk.

This could be fun.

Except it’s been done before and it wasn’t done right before.

What makes the WWE think it’ll be done right this time?

The matches however, were stellar. Another Hell No/The Shield encounter absolutely stole the show. Daniel Bryan continues to be the best performer in the company. The fans went bananas and for good reason. Even though his value as a tag team performer is huge, at this point, he’s ready for a real run at the WWE title.

Nothing against the uber talented Curtis Axel who had a nice match with John Cena this week, but he’s not ready for the bouts he’s been put in over the past two weeks. He should have been fed some mid-carders first before being thrown into the fire like this. It’s just not fair to him.

Give Bryan that shot instead. Make him the Heyman guy.

Matches:

Alberto Del Rio w/Ricardo Rodriguez vs. Big E. Langston w/AJ Lee: Quite a different match from last week as Del Rio was in control throughout. Langston fought back with a Belly-to-Belly Suplex, but when Lee removed the turnbuckle pad, Del Rio used it to his advantage, slamming Langston into it and then rolling up the big man for the win.

United States Champion Dean Ambrose w/Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs. Kofi Kingston: These guys have chemistry. The back and forth near-falls were fun to watch. Things got spicy after Ambrose kicked out of the SOS, but Ambrose fought back with his sick Front Diving Bulldog finisher.

Hell No vs. The Shield: Daniel Bryan is amazing. For the millionth time, he carried the match, but couldn’t get a pin fall. Bryan threw everything but the kitchen sink at both Rollins and Reigns. A top-rope Belly to Back Suplex was the highlight of the night for Bryan. Kane was no slouch either, hitting his signature offense after a hot tag. But as the case usually, Reigns and Rollins simply worked together better. Reigns made sure to break up a three-count and after Bryan took out Reigns, he couldn’t get back his corner. This took Kane’s focus out of the match and allowed Rollins to hit the Jumping Knee for the win.

The Miz Guest Referee: Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs. Fandango w/Summer Rae: Miz changed the tone of the match with a Skull Crushing Finale on Barrett, which allowed Fandango to win the match. After the bell, Miz landed a kick to Fandango’s skull as well.

The Great Khali, Tensai and Brodus Clay w/Hornswoggle, Natalia Neidhart, Naomi and Cameron vs. Jinder Mahal, Drew MacIntyre and Heath Slater: A quick stinker. Tensai and Clay hit all their signature offense and 3MB sold, a lot. Clay won with the splash. After the match Khali sang Neidhart happy birthday. A mess.

The Bella Twins vs. Divas Champion Kaitlyn and Natalia Neidhart: Kaitlyn accidently Speared Neidhart, which allowed Brie to steal a win. Talk about a crappy birthday.

Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes: Both teams went through their signature offense, a bunch of near-falls, but no drama or storyline to tie it all together. This was filler, but at least it was a good match, even if it dragged at times. Sheamus won with the Brogue Kick.

WWE Champion John Cena vs. Curtis Axel w/Paul Heyman: Axel ironically faired better against Cena than he did against Triple H last week. After nearly being counted out, Cena got beat on by Axel in the corner. Axel furthered the offense with a series of submissions and strikes. All of a sudden, this kid looked dominant. But naturally, Cena made his typical Boy Scout comeback. Axel made it interesting with a beautiful Dropkick and The Perfect Plex, but Cena kicked out. Soon enough, Ryback hit the ring and spoiled the whole damn thing.