WWE RAW Coverage: Batista Quits, Rollins Joins Evolution

Seth Rollins sold out and joined Evolution. Talk about unexpected. Is it the right move? Who knows, especially after The Shield took down Evolution at Payback. Regardless, this conclusion to this week’s RAW was a shocking one. When was the last time you could say that?

Overall, it was a RAW filled with good news and bad news following Payback, the developments following the pay per view made this week’s show one of the better ones in months.

The action and drama began early when Batista quit both Evolution and the company and continued later on when WWE Principle Owner Stephanie McMahon said that the Money in the Bank ladder match could determine a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion if Daniel Bryan cannot compete.

Add in the drama between Sheamus and Antonio Cesaro, as well as the tag team war between the Usos and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan and for the first time in a month, RAW managed to get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Matches:

United States Champion Sheamus and Rob Van Dam vs. Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett and Antonio Cesaro w/Paul Heyman: A physical encounter that saw the opponents from Payback square off against each other for the most part. Although Sheamus hit a ton of strikes on Cesaro, Barrett nailed RVD with a Bullhammer Elbow that sent him out of the ring. Cesaro continued the onslaught on RVD, but neither could put the former ECW star away. After a step-through Spinning Wheel Kick, RVD tagged in Sheamus, who beat on Barrett and Cesaro, nailing a Tilt-a-Whirl Sideslam on each of them. But Sheamus was unable to hit the Brogue Kick on Cesaro, which allowed Barrett to hit the Winds of Change. Unable to get the pin, Barrett was shocked to see Heyman walk Cesaro out of the match. Within seconds, Barrett was nailed with the Brogue Kick and a Five-Star Frog Splash in the loss.

Kofi Kingston vs. Bo Dallas: After some back and forth that included plenty of strikes from Kingston and a Missile Dropkick, Dallas took control and won with the Running Bo-Dog.

John Cena vs. Kane: The match didn’t last long as Kane was DQed for striking Cena after the referee told him to stop. After the bell, Kane went for the Tombstone on the ring steps, but Cena escaped and then threw the steps in Kane’s face.

Los Matadores w/ El Torito vs. Drew MacIntyre and Heath Slater w/Jinder Mahal and Hornswoggle: After Hornsoggle got his afro wig stolen, a preoccupied Slater got Rolled Up for the loss.

Nikki Bella vs. Aksana and Alicia Fox: Bella started off strong, but she had no chance after a Fox Scissor Kick. After the bell, Akasana and Fox beat on Bella further.

Adam Rose vs. Jack Swagger w/Zeb Colter: Swagger dominated early with strikes and a variety of suplexes, including a nice Urinage variation, but Rose won out of nowhere with the Party Foul.

WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan: The Family dominated until the Usos went on a stereotypical face hot tag allowed Jey to hit some signature offense on Harper. Always moving forward, Harper fought back with Big Boot, but Jey countered with a Samoan Drop before he took out Rowan on the outside with a Top Rope Splash. With Jey on the outside, Harper hit the Suicide Dive on Jey, before Jimmy went airborne as well. Back in the ring, Jey went for the Splash, but Harper countered with his knees to keep things even. After a few more near-falls, Rowan tagged himself in and won with a unique sit-out Urinage for the win.

Money in the Bank Qualifier: Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio: The WWE Universe has seen this match before, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a decent one. Energetic as always, Ziggler got the fans into the match withe his signature offense. After nearly winning with the Fame-Asser, Ziggler was almost pinned by Del Rio following a Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker. Del Rio then went to the top and Ziggler earned the near-fall following a Top Rope Face Jam. Although he missed The Super Kick, Del Rio countered the DDT and wrapped up Ziggler in his Arm-Bar for the submission win.

Sin Cara and Goldust vs. Ryback and Curtis Axel: Goldust’s new tag team partner couldn’t get it done either. After he missed the Senton Bomb, Cara was the victim of Axel’s signature Neckbreaker for the Rybaxel win.

Randy Orton w/Triple H vs. Roman Reigns w/Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose: A no-contest after Rollins turned on Ambrose and Reigns and joined Evolution.

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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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