WWE RAW Coverage: Lesnar and Owens Hungry for Gold

More Brock Lesnar on RAW is always a good thing and this week’s RAW certainly delivered on that end. Simply put, seeing Lesnar destroy J & J security’s caddy was one of the coolest moments on RAW in 2015.

However with the unveiling of Stone Cold Steve Austin as the cover athlete of ‘WWE 2K16,’  on Monday, some fans were expecting an appearance from the rattlesnake himself.

Regardless of any lack of surprises, this was plenty of polish in the card as the return of Randy Orton and a healthy Rusev sets up another big pair of matches for Battleground. With just two weeks left to go before the event and more drama between Kevin Owens and John Cena, as well as a match of the year candidate main event with Cena and Cesaro and there wasn’t much more than you can ask for.

Matches:

The Big Show vs. Intercontinental Champion Ryback: Both guys beat on each other and Show nearly got the win after a Chokeslam and a second rope Elbow, but The Miz, who was heckling both Ryback and Show ringside, interfered to get the match thrown out. After the bell, both Ryback and Show hit their finishers on Miz, but Ryback got the last laugh after he took out Big Show.

Brie Bella w/Alicia Foxx and Divas Champion Nikki Bella vs. Paige: Brie got the win with the Facebuster after Paige took out Foxx and Nikki on the apron. After the match, Nikki hit the Rack Attack for the win.

Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus: Reigns appeared to have the win in hand after the Superman Punch, but more mind games from Bray Wyatt, or at least someone that looked like him, derailed the match and earned Sheamus the win via count-out.

Bo Dallas vs. Dean Ambrose: A quick encounter that saw Ambrose get the win with The Dirty Deeds in a match essentially just put together to keep Ambrose on TV.

R-Truth vs. Wade Barrett: It took a lot longer than most people expected, but Barrett eventually got the win with the Bullhammer Elbow.

Kalisto and Sin Cara vs. Big E. Langston and Kofi Kingston w/Xavier Woods: The Lucha Dragons were awesome, but the numbers game and the power game of Langston did them in as Langston and Kingston hit the Big Ending/Facebuster combination.

United States Champion John Cena vs. Antonio Cesaro: After Kevin Owens wanted his shot at the title, Cesaro demanded a rematch and forced Owns out of the ring to start the match. Just like the last time these two battled, Cesaro was on his game, delivered strikes and Suplex variations, but Cena was always a signature move away from evening things up. After Cesaro and Cena traded submissions Cesaro continued to marvel with three Gordbusters in a row, but again, Cena kicked out. Climbing up and countering the Swing into a DDT, Cena worked his tail off in this match too. After the Frankensteiner, Cena hit his Swinging Facebuster, but Cesaro still has some fight left in him.

Quickly fighting back, Cesaro hit a beautiful Spinning European Uppercut for a near-fall. The action then spilled to the outside before Cena countered a Superplex into his signature Rocker Dropper from the top, but Cesaro again kicked out. Cesar then hit his Pop-Up European Uppercut but didn’t hit Cena flush and Cena kicked out. Xena then hit the Attitude Adjustment out of nowhere, but Cesaro surprisingly kicked out. Just like their last match, Cesaro hit the Giant Swing and then transitioned flawlessly into the Sharpshooter and then the Crossface, but Cena then lock in the STF, but Cesaro countered that into a Suplex for a near-fall. After Cena missed the Stunner, Cesaro nailed the Neutralizer, but Cena kicked out, again. As the crowd chanted Cesaro’s name he hit his no-leverage Superplex to continue the onslaught.

But again, Cena fought back, this time with the Photobomb, but couldn’t get a decent cover on Cesaro and the match continued. After Cesaro went for a top rope Neutralizer, Cena countered and finally for the win with the second rope Attitude Adjustment. After the bell, Owens hit the ring, but Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on him as well to end the show.