GIVING IT TO YOU RAW…What Happened Last Night (Oct. 20th, 2014)

Well, it’s Hell in a Cell that’s got everyone hot and bothered at the moment and seeing how I only really start to focus on PPVs come Wrestlemania, I can’t honestly say I’m excited but I am intrigued.  I suppose the Creative Team for RAW is feeling a little pressure from SmackDown and is trying to up its game in kind.  Whether it is actually doing that or not remains to be seen but the attempt to add some sort of “depth” could be and was noted.

This was a very verbal RAW.  I felt there was a lot of talking and not so much action all around so, I suppose this was a “character driven” episode as we lead into Hell in a Cell.  We open with the Cell hovering over the ring and Triple H illustrating the perilous and arduous task it is to perform at Hell in a Cell. The Authority crew in Randy Orton, Dad/Kane and Seth Rollins hang back as H describes how doing this battle makes men of boys and separates the best from the amateurs and all sorts of stuff like that there.  He was actually somewhat poetic in his delivery and the tone of Sunday’s event is respectably set.  Then Rollins somewhat sullies the moment by getting on his stilted high horse to self-aggrandize and promote his awesomeness to the eye rolls of all.  Then Orton talks up his beef with John Cena and how he’s the real deal and deserves his due.  He also gets in Rollins’ face basically telling him to step back while the big kids do the real work/talking.  Triple H, being the open-minded overseer that he is, says that both Orton vs. Cena and Rollins vs. Ambrose will be main events at HIAC and that winner gets a shot at Brock Lesnar for the Heavyweight Title whenever they decide to fly him back in.  The grumble-mumbling subsides and we segue into our first match of the evening in another 6-Man Tag.

And so, once again we have Sheamus and The Usos up against Damien Mizdow and The Dust Brothers with The Miz on commentary. And true to form, the match was fun and entertaining but suffers mainly from being overdone.  Though there were more twists and reversals than previous matches it was still predictable.  Seeing how one team can’t win them all, the Heels get it this time by Damien Mizdow getting the distracted pin on Sheamus, stunning our heroes in a marginally disappointing defeat.  Just keep doing what you’re doing guys.  You can’t help what you’re told to do.

Next up, we have some Divas action as AJ Lee and Alicia Fox go at it for a rematch. Naturally Paige is on the sidelines for added tension. This wasn’t a bad match.  It seemed like the ladies got to play with their choreography a bit and varied up the moves.  Yet, being Divas, some sort of slight of hand/tom-foolery had to be brought out and in playing up some false dissension, Alicia and Paige get the jump on AJ and Alicia gets the win...simple as that.

After that, the pushing of HIAC feuds continues when Orton decides now is the perfect time to let the crowd know just how he feels about his up-coming match with John Cena.  He’s danced with Cena before and has got his number so HIAC should be relative cake.  Since RAW was in Kansas City, MO Royals chants began, seeing how nothing else was really going on and Orton responds in stellar Heel fashion by blasting their silly baseball team and tells them they suck and need to shut-up and listen to him blather on.  So, as he was saying – Cena’s music comes on and Mr. Johnathan Cena makes his entrance to the mixed reaction that I’m sure he’s used to.  He gets the crowd on board by chiding Orton’s derision and encourages the Royals to do their best come go time at the World Series.  That aside, if Orton has shit to say about Cena, he can certainly take up his grievance at HIAC where Cena will gladly hear him out as he puts a foot up his ass so he can get his third crack at Brock Lesnar.  Suddenly Mr. Paul Heyman, having heard his client’s name, makes his entrance on cue.  All this talk about Brock Lesnar may just get someone a match with him, says Heyman and he also suggests that is not a scenario that Orton wants to find himself in.  Heyman gloats and chortles fiendishly until Cena decides to shut him up by hoisting him on his shoulders ready to adjust his attitude but decides the fear of it is enough and sets Heyman down. Orton though, sees no reason not to RKO Cena and lays him out.  Heyman resumes chortling only to get RKO’d himself.  Orton dusts off his hands and heads backstage.

Following that, we go into a “Big Man” match with Rusev and Big E. Langston.  For 2 extra-large gentlemen, this was a well-executed match.  Both showed that they can do more than just lumber about and with Patriotism being the theme, both came out with something to prove.  This match was the closest thing to a nail-biter all night.  I actually kinda wanted Langston to win.  Firstly, because I haven’t seen him in a while, heard he’s been playing dark matches though, and secondly because I gotta root for the Home Team.   I’ll be kind and say Langston took one for the proverbial team in his outing by going down via submission to the Accolade but it all seems to set the scene for hyping up the showdown at HIAC.  When Rusev awaits the drop of the Russian flag, we have our man Big Show appear on the big screen to giggle and allude to the prank that falls down in the form of the American flag instead.  Rusev is livid and in his blind rage tears down the flag and an attending “military serviceman” attempts to get into the ring to avenge this ill-doing.  The intruder is subdued but not before Rusev plants a foot on his face.  Big Show hurries himself out there and helps the medics attend to the fallen soldier.  Well, that is the line!  After that, Big Show takes a good, long time to collect himself because he is so riled by Rusev's offense he can’t see straight. But he can see clearly enough to kick his ass right now.  Big Show storms back stage, looking for Rusev.  Stage hands direct him to a door and he kicks it open and Rusev is nowhere to be found.

Elsewhere, Dean Ambrose gives Dad a plug by watching scenes from See No Evil 2 in the Green Room or wherever he perched himself.  A “recovered” Cena enters going WTF and Ambrose responds basically by going chill, I got it all under control. Cena goes whatever and Ambrose goes back to supporting Dad.

We then go into Brie Bella’s match I suppose to counter Nikki’s showing on last week’s SmackDown.  Well, though Brie’s execution was pretty clean, Nikki is definitely selling it better than Brie is right now.  Brie still comes off a little forced when she does her so-called war call and just by looking at her, I kinda put her in the same category as AJ Lee in terms of intimidation factor.  I don’t mind Brie remaining Face, you can be both badass and a goodie-goodie but the key tends to be best illustrated by Dragonball Z logic or Kung-fu or Anime logic to put it simply.  In those genres, the protagonist needs to be pushed to the point of winning by principle.  The antagonist has to be so bad, such a complete asshole or bitch that he or she has to get his or her ass kicked on principle alone.  The antagonist needs to dick themselves into a beating basically.  Now, with her opponent being Summer Rae, there’s not much story to go on besides Summer Rae being a leggy brat and so, I can understand her motivation being lackluster.  Nevertheless, Brie holds her own in quick style, to on-looking Nikki’s chagrin, and I guess we’ll see if anything comes up at SmackDown before going into HIAC.

Moving on, we have Dean Ambrose looking…not so much unhinged but…determined maybe? Focused?  He’s carrying a cumbersome bag and lugs it up to the ring where he proceeds to remove a Seth Rollins mannequin. Now, in my humble opinion, this bit was a little weird.  Bordered on being “sus”, as I’ve come to understand the euphemism.   We all want to kick Rollins’ ass but proceeding to demonstrate just what carnage may ensue on a dummy of his likeness hints at deeper issues, generally speaking.  I kinda want to know whose idea this was, actually.  Because if it’s Creative, I wonder what exactly they’re getting at and if it’s Dean Ambrose, I really do wonder what’s going on in there because…there are healthier ways to deal with those sorts of feelings (^_-)  All kidding aside, they do need to be careful where they go with Ambrose’s character.  I don’t mind him being batshit crazy but at the same time, there has to be a method to the madness.  He can go on long-winded diatribes as long as he makes a point in the end that has something to do with kicking someone’s ass.  Torturing a mannequin just seems a bit misplaced.  It’d be good for Dad’s movie probably, but not so much for watching wrassling on TV.  Just saying, it was a bit awkward.  Not sure that’s the response anyone was going for.

In any case, Seth Rollins does eventually make his way out to the ring to comment on this spectacle.  Ambrose double-dog dares him to get in the ring with his psycho ass only to hear music once used to announce Mick Foley.  And wouldn’t you know it, good ol’ManKind comes out to tell us a bit about his “old friend” the Cell and the Hell that would transpire within it come Sunday.  Seeing Foley was great.  Instead of the “lose my mind” type frenzy that The Rock sparked on his surprise appearance, I got more of the bittersweet nostalgia of a by-gone era.  I remember growing to like Mick Foley during the Attitude Era.  When I first saw him, I didn’t know what to make of him really but, his gutsy-sloppy performances drew me in and before I knew it, I was a fan.   He’s a true underdog.  Yeah, he wasn’t your typical wrestler but that was his charm.  He was just this crazy dude with a high threshold for pain but also a will to “win” so-to-speak, as he demonstrated in his spot last night.  Though I wouldn’t expect anything physical from him, he did a great job of remembering when he’d get real down and dirty and really sell this shit.  And sadly, it kinda put these new kids to shame, in a way.  It is a new era, it is but I don’t expect Ambrose and Rollins to put on a show half as interesting as a card with Mick Foley on it back in the day.  Again, it comes down to the slight identity crisis that the WWE is having right now as a brand.  What is it going to stand for really?  I feel it’s the modern day conundrum of selling out versus keeping it real. “Keeping it real” seemed to make money before.  Not to say that they’re not but it appears to be more a matter of quantity rather than quality.  Can’t hurt to try leaning for the latter.  They may be trying to do that but may have lost touch with how.  The veterans may be able to set a standard for these whippersnappers to shape up to but, only time will tell. 

Next up, we have Cesaro and Ziggler go back at it to settle that score from their last match where Cesaro got robbed of the win.  This was a solid match.  I get the feeling that both of these guys are taking advantage of these “up in the air” times and giving it a real go of it and I feel it’s paying off.  I’ve been reading about how Ziggler has been losing all his televised matches of late and given how everything is staged, I don’t really know if that’s a big problem in the long-run.  They seem to do a good job of trading off.  Last time out, he was up against Randy Orton and so, naturally he wasn’t going to get the win but he gets on-screen time with Randy Orton, something I don’t think I would have fathomed a year or 2 ago.  Ziggler I think is just doing his time.  Not that he’s new to this but, I think this is his chance to put up or shut-up and he’s been putting up.  Cesaro has too and in this instance, he’s just tagging Ziggler back.  I’m sure Ziggler will get some notches in the Win column either on SmackDown or Hell in a Cell.  Good job guys!

After that, Triple H has a little trouble keeping his “drogues” in order and so he hands the reins to Dad/Korporate Kane who promptly takes the knuckleheads of Rollins and Orton by the scruff and knocks them together so they can go and take care of business.  Thoroughly intimidated, they abide and go wait for their entrance music.  And that brings us to the second installment of a 3-on-2 Handicap match with Dad, Orton and Rollins vs. Cena and Ambrose.  This time around, I think we really got to see what Dad does best.  We got some of that on SmackDown but last night I liked how Dad was merciless.  He just wasn’t having it and I loved it. I swear, he’s the only Heel I thoroughly enjoy.  I think he’s going the way of his “brother” and just becoming an icon unto himself, labels no longer apply.  He did a good job “conducting” this match more or less.  Everyone got their shots in this Street Fight.  Everybody went for whatever was under the mat more than once.  Dad puts Cena through a table towards the end and calls for the cage to come down.  Ambrose goes ape-shit in a last ditch effort but Orton comes in an RKO’s him, no Vine needed, but before he could adequately pose in triumph the Benedict Arnold of this faction, Seth Rollins, Curb Stomps him to show that he’s the dip-shittiest of them all.  After all that, I can’t say it was a better showing but RAW seems to be trying to meet us half-way only thing is…I’m not sure they know where we are anymore. *shrug* Perhaps it’s best to keep a light on…I think we’ll find each other again eventually.