On a slow and plodding episode of RAW, the storyline was front and center. While the in-ring action was sound, the developments in several angles were what made the show memorable. Check out our weekly RAW Power Rankings to see what superstars performed well in the ring and took the most advantage of the extra time on the microphone.
5: The Big Show: Stephanie McMahon’s tirade on RAW, where she said the seven-footer was broke and scared to die made Show more endearing and relevant than he has been in years. His match with Daniel Bryan this week on RAW was enjoyable from an emotional point of view, but Show looks to be in the best shape of his recent career. All tears aside, Show can use this to his advantage moving forward.
4: Cody Rhodes: You have to give the youngster some credit for sticking up to Orton and Triple H and his match with Orton proves he’s a top-tier superstar. For a second, it appeared that Rhodes might actually win. With his engagement later this week, it’s obvious Rhodes isn’t exactly fired. With some time off, Rhodes will come back stronger and with some momentum.
3: CM Punk: “The Best in the World” is on the verge of breaking bad. He said he wanted to fight this week and promised he was going to stop talking, but that didn’t stop him from yammering for a 10-minute cheap-pop-filled segment on RAW that tried way to hard to sell his match at Night of Champions. Regardless, the angle between Punk/Heyman and Curtis Axel is one of the best in the company right now and will be one of the better bouts on the card.
2: Randy Orton: “The Face of the WWE” had a fantastic match with Cody Rhodes this week and made sure he was in the ring when Triple H laid down another verbal smack down to Daniel Bryan. Playing the heel better than many would have thought, Orton’s upcoming match with Bryan at Night of Champions is going to be a classic.
1: Daniel Bryan: Not only did Bryan continue with his solid mic work this week on RAW, he had a solid match with Big Show. The most dynamic performer in the company today, Bryan can have a great match with anyone. His head-first attack and willingness to work makes him the brightest star in the wrestling world today.
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.
On a slow and plodding episode of RAW, the storyline was front and center. While the in-ring action was sound, the developments in several angles were what made the show memorable. Check out our weekly RAW Power Rankings to see what superstars performed well in the ring and took the most advantage of the extra time on the microphone.
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