The last RAW before Battleground was anything but a great prelude to a pay per view.
Between filler matches, the “weird” debut of Los Matadores and the announcement of the Tag Team title match at the Pay Per View between Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, it’s easy to say RAW was mediocre. How this show was supposed to fuel a potential purchase of Battleground is puzzling. If anything, it confirmed this month’s show will be a stinker.
Away from the hilarious but genius moment between Ryback and Paul Heyman (is he now a Heyman guy?), RAW was entirely passable.
Not even the RKO through a table that ended the show could save it.
Matches:
CM Punk vs. Big E. Langston: Punk was in trouble in the early going as the hungry Langston hit a splash on a downed Punk and administered a nice Single Leg Crab in addition to an explosive avalanche. A Belly-to-Belly Suplex and more power moves kept Langston in charge, but Punk fought back with kicks, a Neckbreaker and his signature high knee in the corner. After the top rope Elbow, Punk finished off Langston with the GTS.
Fandango w/Summer Rae vs. Kofi Kingston: A high energy match filled with counters. It ended quickly though after Kingston hit The Trouble in Paradise. After the match, The Wyatt Family soon hit the ring, but did nothing.
Los Matadores Fernando and Diego (Primo and Epico) vs. Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal: Their entrance was comparable to “Oz” and “The Shockmaster,” as the new duo was joined by a midget in a bull costume. Away from the new attires and cool Double Shellshock Finisher, this was your average Primo/Epico match. Nothing special.
R-Truth vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel w/Paul Heyman: This was plain boring. CM Punk’s music hit and distracted Axel, allowing Truth to hit his Little Jimmy finisher for the win.
Alicia Foxx vs. Brie Bella w/Nikki Bella: It’s obvious Brie is now a face, as the drama with Randy Orton and her engagement with Daniel Bryan have made her much less of a heel. Foxx was a leg ahead due to some fancy foot work, but Bella got the win with the Facebuster after a typical face comeback.
Zack Ryder vs. World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio: The champ decimated Ryder on the inside and outside of the ring. Ryder nearly won with the Broski Boot, but Del RIo kicked out and after a German Suplex, latched on the Arm Breaker for the win.
Dolph Ziggler, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns and WWE United States Champion Dean Ambrose: The crowd dug the match and all six guys worked hard. After all six competitors went for signature and finisher maneuvers a smart tag from Rollins allowed Reigns to hit the Spear on Ziggler for the win.
Antonio Cesaro w/Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter vs. Santino Marella w/The Great Khali and Hornswoggle: Santino got swung around like the chick from “50 Shades of Grey,” but after a weird cradle variation, he somehow beat Cesaro.
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