Worthwhile matches, enough swerves to drive Vince Russo batty and solid promo made this week’s Monday Night RAW one of the better ones this year. There was so much action in and out of the ring this week that WWE and World Heavyweight Champions John Cena and Alberto Del Rio couldn’t even crack the top five on our weekly RAW Power Rankings. Not even the returning CM Punk, although solid in his return to the show, was sharp enough. Continue reading to see who made this week’s RAW worth watching.
5: Christian: After nearly a year on the shelf with a shoulder injury, Christian made quick work of Wade Barrett. One of the best workers in the industry, Captain Charisma adds even more depth to the Intercontinental and United States title pictures. After some time back and a decent push, who knows, perhaps he’ll get another shot at the World Title.
4: AJ Lee: After she cut a fun promo and mixed it up verbally with Stephanie McMahon, Lee continued to develop her feud with Kaitlyn. Is it sad that this angle makes the most sense creatively? With two promising and beautiful divas, this angle is one of compelling on the show.
3: The Shield: Vince McMahon loves them and you should too. The storyline with McMahon and the group continues to intrigue. Could the chairman actually support these guys when Triple H wants them put under control? This may lead into a larger Triple H/McMahon storyline in the future, with The Shield playing a central role. That would be awesome.
2: Daniel Bryan: This wasn’t in the same vein as some Bryan’s recent epics, but his conversation with Kane earlier in the night confirms that Bryan will be in the World Heavyweight title picture. Garnering praise from fans and retired performers every day via social media, Bryan continues to be one of the consistent bright spots on the show.
1: Mark Henry: A nice swerve. The tears, the promo, all beautifully done. The climax was special too. Henry still has plenty in his tank and John Cena should be worried.
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.
Worthwhile matches, enough swerves to drive Vince Russo batty and solid promo made this week’s Monday Night RAW one of the better ones this year. There was so much action in and out of the ring this week that WWE and World Heavyweight Champions John Cena and Alberto Del Rio couldn’t even crack the top five on our weekly RAW Power Rankings. Not even the returning CM Punk, although solid in his return to the show, was sharp enough. Continue reading to see who made this week’s RAW worth watching.
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