It was teased last week, but it’s now a reality- Daniel Bryan has been stripped of the WWE World Heavyweight title and a new champion will be crowned at the Money in the Bank Ladder match.
With no Bryan in the ring for over a month and the continued “retiring†of CM Punk, the WWE World Heavyweight title picture has been lackluster to say the least. Seth Rollins’ departure from The Shield to Evolution, as well as the ongoing Money in the Bank tournament have provided some intrigue, but with no real angle with the main title, RAW has felt lost over the past few weeks.
This week was no different. Between a stale promo from Rollins and an awkward segment between Alicia Fox and Aksana and RAW was lacking in structure and pace.
Matches:
Money in the Bank Qualifier: United States Champion Sheamus vs. Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett: Both competitors got near-falls with their Signature maneuvers and used strikes to maintain control. After a Tilt-a-Whirl Powerslam, Sheamus missed the Brogue Kick and Barrett, after sending Sheamus to the outside, nearly won with the Wasteland. Going for the Bullhammer Elbow, Barrett instead was hit with the White Noise as the battle continued. After a Head Butt and more strikes, Barrett appeared to have the advantage until Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick out of nowhere for the win.
Alexander Rusev w/Lana vs. Zack Ryder: Another squash match as Rusev hit his Super Kick on Ryder and finished hymn off with The Accolade.
Ryback and Curtis Axel vs. Goldust and R-Truth: Axel got the win with a Rollup on the unsuspecting Goldust, who, up until that point, was dominant.
WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. Fandango w/Layla and Damien Sandow: While Sandow provided some comic relief with his dancing routine, The Usos finished him off with a Super Kick and Splashrather quickly.
Xavier Woods vs. Bo Dallas: Woods didn’t put up much of a fight as Dallas won easily with the Running Bo-Dog.
Money in the Bank Qualifier: Cesaro w/Paul Heyman vs. Rob Van Dam: RVD was in control throughout and nearly won with a Split-Legged Moonsault. Cesaro got back in the match with forearms and a European Uppercut. With things evened up, RVD hit the Rolling Thunder, but still couldn’t put the Swiss Superman away. After RVD went to the top again for more offense, Cesaro countered and took out his opponents legs. Soon enough, Cesaro hit the Neutralizer for the win.
Divas Champion Paige vs. Alicia Fox w/ Aksana: Very similar to their other matches, Paige bumped and sold the entire match before a flurry of strikes and the PTO gave her the submission victory. After the match, Fox beat on Aksana and pelted her with water and popcorn. Weird.
Jack Swagger w/Zeb Colter vs. Santino Marella: Swagger made short work of Marella with the Diving Powerbomb.
Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan vs. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and John Cena:Â Reigns and Ambrose sold for most of the match until Cena got the hot tag and went on his usual flurry. After taking out Harper and Wyatt, Cena got caught with a Shoulder Block by Rowan and then a few moves and strikes by Wyatt and eventually Harper, who nearly won with a modified TKO Neckbreaker and a Michinoku Driver. Soon Rowan was in the match again and he wasted no time with strikes a Fallaway Slam before Wyatt came back in and continued the onslaught. Just like Ambrose before him, Cena eventually made the tag to Reigns and that changed the flow of the match. Hitting signature moves while Ambrose fought on the outside, Reigns nearly won with a version of the Blue Thunder. After Wyatt hit the Sister Abigail on Cena, Reigns hit the Superman Punch on Wyatt and then managed to kick out from a massive boot from Harper. After another exchange, Reigns won with the Spear.
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