“Unlike some people who come to the ring, I have a pointâ€- Roman Reigns
A night with a massive card, this week’s Monday Night RAW began to sew together the plot lines for Battleground in grand fashion.
Sure, there were a few snags along the way the likes of filler matches and a meaningless segment from Bret “Hitman†Hart, but, for the most part, the show’s pace has improved dramatically over the last month. With more action in-ring and less talking out of it, RAW continues to pick up steam.
Even if Battleground isn’t the pay per view it should be, the seeds have began to bloom creatively, making it only a matter of time before the show becomes the consistently solid show it could be.
Matches:
WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy and Jey Uso vs. Erik Rowan and Luke Harper: These guys continue to tear the house down. Between the uniqueness of Harper and Rowan to the Usos wild high-flying moves, these guys haven’t had a bad match yet. After Jey kicked out of Harper’s Sit-out Powerbomb, the Usos hit some signature offense, but couldn’t put him away. After Rowan tripped up one of the Usos, Harper hit the Discus Lariat for the win, despite the fact that he may have pinned the Uso who wasn’t legally in the ring. That’s what you get for being twins guys.
Arm Behind the Back Match: Nikki Bella vs. Alicia Fox: Bella never had a chance as Fox never put her arm behind her back. Spilling and throwing five-hour energy on Bella, the match was thrown out. Weird is not the word for the this one.
Alexander Rusev w/Lana vs. Rob Van Dam: RVD fought vigilantly, but Rusev, using more Suplex variations and strikes, countered the Rolling Thunder with his Standing Side Kick and eventually won with the Accolade.
Dean Ambrose vs. Randy Orton: A few botches aside, this was a damn solid brawl. After the two traded strikes and signature offense most of the match, Ambrose threw a steel chairs in the ring, but got carried away enough to allow Orton to work Ambrose’s already injured shoulder on the outside. Nearly counted out, Ambrose got back in the ring and nearly won twice, before Orton hit the RKO for the win.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio: An athletic encounter until Fandango, sitting ringside, distracted Ziggler with his dancing, allowing Del Rio to hit the Super Kick for the win. United States Champion
Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow: While Sandow got in a few strikes early, Sheamus quickly won with the Brogue Kick.
Chris Jericho vs. The Miz: Although the Miz managed to lock on the Figure-Four at one point, Jericho got the win with The Walls of Jericho. After the match, Bray Wyatt showed up and talked smack, setting up what appears to be a match at Battleground.
Divas Champion AJ Lee and Paige vs. Cameron and Naomi Knight: Cameron refused to tag in for most of the match and when she finally did, Paige quickly beat her with the Page-Turner.After the match, Naomi and Cameron beat on each other, effectively ending their days as a tag team.
Antonio Cesaro w/Paul Heyman vs. Kofi Kingston: For the second week in a row, Kingston got the win over Cesaro, but for the second week in a row, Kingston has gotten destroyed after the match. This week however, Big E. Langston made the save.
Bo Dallas vs. El Torito w/Diego: Dallas quickly won with the Running Bo Dog.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs. Seth Rollins: With solid counters, Rollins proved a few times during this match that he belonged in the ring with Cena. Although Rollins got out of The Attitude Adjustment, Cena had him locked in the STFU until Kane and Randy Orton joined the party. With Cena down, Roman Reigns made the save and for the second time in the night, hit Kane with the Superman Punch. With Cena still down, it appeared Rollins was going to cash in his Money in the Bank again, but Dean Ambrose, again, made sure that didn’t happen. As Ambrose and Rollins headed to the back, Cena hit the AA on Orton, while Reigns polished off Kane with the Spear.
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