This week’s Monday Night RAW would have been solid if they didn’t mention how much the WWE Network was- at least 100 times during the course of the three-hour show.
It was the equivalent of Bart and Lisa Simpson asking Homer, “Are We There Yet?†but without the patriarch of the Simpson clan putting his hands around his son’s neck.
It was blatant overkill and a sad moment in sports entertainment history.
Between that and Adam Rose trying to sell WWE’s latest straight to DVD horror flick, the show shot itself in the foot.
Sure, they got the goddamn network to trend on Twitter, but in the long run, the WWE needs more than virtual panhandling to make their Network work. They need more quality content.
Away from Kane giving his mask to Stephanie McMahon and Dean Ambrose’s antics, this show wasn’t memorable at all.
When the show ends with a pair of Steph Pedigrees on the Bella twins, you know something went wrong.
Luckily for the WWE, with a week and half left before Summerslam, there’s been plenty of build up for what appears to be an awesome card. If they’d only sell that more and not the network, then they’d be just fine.
Matches:
Last Man Standing: Kane vs. Roman Reigns: These guys battled hard in the show’s opening match, one that was impromptu after The Authority’s annoying initial promo. Reigns was resilient as always, managing to get up after a Chokeslam through a table and fight back with a DDT on a steel chair. A Superman Punch left Kane reeling and a Spear finished him off for the ten count.
Mark Henry vs. Damien Sandow: Henry quickly won after a Clothesline and a Word’s Strongest Slam.
Beat the Clock: Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio: The Mexican Aristocrat was in charge for most of the match, an unusually long one that at times felt like filler, until Ambrose won with the Dirty Deeds at 15:42. Fighting the entire time, Ambrose took everything Del Rio had, including a ton of strikes and Arm Breaker variations.
Alexander Rusev w/Lana vs. Sin Cara:Â Rusev won with the Super Kick, Accolade combination.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Antonio Cesaro: Ziggler got the win with the Zig-Zag after he caught Cesaro showboating his strength during a Delayed Vertical Suplex.
Stardust and Goldust vs. Ryback and Curtis Axel: In a pretty standard match, things got spicy when Stardust won with his unique DDT/STO variation.
Chris Jericho vs. Luke Harper w/Erick Rowan: This match probably had the best flow of the night as Harper laid into Jericho with strikes and more unorthodox offense. Y2J fought back though and had things going his way with Harper in the Walls of Jericho until Bray Wyatt hit the ring and got the match thrown out. With the win Jericho will have a one-on-match with Wyatt.
Diego w/ El Torito, Summer Rae and Layla vs. Fandango w/ Hornswoggle: Diego won with the Back Cracker after Fandango took out Hornswoggle accidentally.
Bo Dallas vs. R-Truth: Dallas got the win with a fistful of tights. After the bell, Truth beat on Dallas on the outside, but Dallas quickly got the upper hand and continued his celebration.
Beat the Clock: Seth Rollins vs. Rob Van Dam…Heath Slater: The original match never happened as Slater was subbed in by The Authority. Although Slater more than held his own, the appearance of Dean Ambrose on the outside (Ambrose ripped up Rollins’ Money in the Bank contract and poured soda and popcorn in the briefcase. He even wore JBL’s hat and put that in the case.) made things easier for him as well. It eventually got to the point where Rollins couldn’t concentrate on the match and Slater took advantage and won with a Rollup. As a result, Ambrose gets to pick the type of match he and Rollins will have at Summerslam.
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