GIVING IT TO YOU RAW…What Happened Last Night (Apr. 20th, 2015)

I could be wrong, Enthusiasts, but it seems that there are changes afoot and they may in fact be for the better.  It’s hard to say but for 2 weeks in a row, RAW and SmackDown have been solid.   Not great but…way more watchable than usual.  It’s beginning to get suspicious and I hope not in a bad way but it does set off my Spider Sense.  There have been internal changes within the WWE over the past 6 months or so but, it's always hard to say whether these changes will actually be beneficial or just a general reshuffling that doesn’t show in the basic product but, it would appear that an attempt at establishing a general baseline of tolerable action is being implemented and I for one am in favor of this development…if that is what is happening.

We open in Albany, New York after the WWE’s annual European Tour and I wouldn't say it’s good to have them back but I have to say that I look forward to getting back on the stateside schedule.   In any case, with Extreme Rules this Sunday, all the action is geared towards selling that evening’s matches and to begin, we have Randy Orton in the ring with some grievances.  He can’t use the RKO, so…he’s gonna come up with other ways to beat Rollins’ ass.  You think I need the RKO to beat Seth Rollins?  I don’t need much of anything to beat him.  As long as he’s not running away, I can beat his ass.  And beat his ass I will.  I’ll pick him up by his lame excuse for a hair trend and do whatever the hell I damn well please!  As long as it leaves him in a broken heap in the middle of the ring.   Whoa-whoa-whoa!  Rollins saunters down the ramp with J&J following.  Randy, what is all this vitriol?  I can understand an un-titled fellow such as yourself being a bit irate from time to time but this is out of control.  You may have to start seeing someone about it, Randy.  Seriously.  As public figures, we can’t allow our reputation to be tainted with questionable behavior now, can we.    Oh, I don’t have any problems besides a Seth Rollins problem, bro-sef.  Orton responds.   Oh, Randy. I’m sorry if my very presence vexes you so, but this, like many facts of life, is simply something you have to deal with.   A former champion such as yourself can surely understand the need for being gracious and maintaining decorum.  That’s what a future Hall of Famer, such as yourself, is made of.  Yet, when we get in that cage on Sunday, I’m going to have to do what all champions must do and make sure that you don’t get out and I can assure you, I’ll do everything in my power to keep you down.  Yeah-yeah-yeah, grandstand all you want. Orton retorts.  I’m going to teach you a lesson tonight, Seth.  A guy like me, doesn’t like to be held back.   You may have got my hands tied for Extreme Rules, but not tonight.   I’m RKO-ing everybody tonight!  And you, will definitely not be excluded.   So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen.  RKOs for all so…stay out of the way (^_-)

The first match of the evening comes off a little slapdash but given the participants, it’s not much of a surprise.  We have Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper continue their loosely built feud.  To be honest, Ambrose isn’t the best in the ring but his persona resonates and is likable in its instability so, he doesn’t have to be the greatest “wrestler” per se, but I think it should be noted that his skills are kinda so-so, especially in comparison to Harper who’s actually pretty solid in the ring.  I like Harper as a wrestler and I’m getting used to his evolution.  He begins the bout on the mic, which is a definite change-up because we all know that the only one who rocks the mic more than Ambrose is Bray Wyatt.  Nevertheless, Harper keeps his statement short.  By the end of the night, Ambrose will fear him.  All-righty.  The bell rings and they box.   They do that more than they actually wrestle.  Fists and clotheslines fly and the 2 proceed to beat each other senseless in the ring, around the ring and in the stands.  The referees are intent on calling a "wrestling match" and the 2 get a Double Count-out for refusing to return to the ring and fight like professionals.

The next match is a tag team affair between Big E. Langston and Kofi Kingston of The New Day up against The Lucha Dragons for a shot at the Tag Team Title for Extreme Rules.  The Lucha Dragons continue to charm me and the crowd it would seem and The New Day continue to be corralled down the heel path.  Though I find the progression of the New Day somewhat disheartening, this heel-turn may actually work if they keep a South Park “Professor Chaos” / Butters sensibility.  This is another case where I don’t buy the bad.  I like these guys individually but I never thought throwing them together was a good idea, for obvious reasons.  Nevertheless, if they’re going around “thinking” they’re bad and really doing stuff that’s annoying at best, they could enter through the back door in terms of crowd appeal by being more funny than malicious.  I just think I would buy that more.  Anyway, a­­­­s for the match itself, it’s fairly flamboyant and keeps a good rhythm.  With high-flyers on both sides, there’s certainly no lack of acrobatics.  Yet, it is Xavier Woods’ hijinks of holding Sin Cara’s legs from under the ring that prompts the Countout and enables The New Day to shine at Extreme Rules. 

As they start to celebrate, Randy Orton appears!  He said he was gonna RKO the place and he meant it.  He proceeds to RKO Kingston, Langston, Woods and anyone else in RKO-ing distance before slinking off. 

To follow, we have some fluff in the form of Fandango and Curtis Axel.  Axel is another guy that seems whole-heartedly resigned to his mid-card fate and I can’t really blame him.  He looks like just some guy.  Like he could just as easily work at Best Buy or something.  We can’t all be on top and I appreciate how he embraces his hand in life.   With no more AxelMania, he proceeds to mock Fandango’s laughable “dancing” and Fandango proceeds to promptly squash Axel and dances to celebrate, unfortunately.

We then go to some Diva’s action with Naomi and Brie Bella colliding for a shot at the Divas Title at Extreme Rules.  Naomi continues to sport her new heel attitude and I suppose it’s working.  I’m not sure if they’re going to keep this going when Jey Uso recovers from shoulder surgery and The Usos are back in action but, I guess this’ll do for now.  Naomi has been doing her part and so, I certainly am all for her getting more respect and on-air time but the manner in which it is done is important.  I’m not sure I believe her as a heel either but if they transition her out cleanly enough or evolve her story adequately, I can’t complain.  As for the match, it’s okay.  I’m not really sold on Brie’s wrestling but she does appear to be improving.  Her war call is sounding more like one finally but at the same time, I feel like I can take her.  The Divas in general are kinda slight so, when they box I’m already half not buying it but if the girls sell it, they sell it.  These girls present a nice piece of window shopping but nothing I would actually buy.  Naomi gets the win via pin in the end and that’s fine by me.

Up next, since on SmackDown Big Show came out to explain his disdain for Roman Reigns, we get Reigns’ rebuttal on RAW.  In both cases, I kinda tune out because the lot of us don't really even care for this feud.  It’s no fault of the parties involved but, Creative have purposely given themselves an uphill battle in this scenario and I’m still not sure why.  I swear they put on earmuffs when it comes to certain angles.  Yet, in Reigns’ case, they at least know that it's best to keep to the point and Reigns basically comes out and says he doesn’t want to talk, he’s ready to fight and Big Show needs to get his ass out there to get beat!   We wait and soon after, an almost forgotten Bo Dallas appears.  I said on the Twitters how I liked this juxtaposition and I do because it’s something I wouldn’t think the WWE would do.  It makes me think they have something up their sleeve and part of me wants to believe that but, I fear they do this just because they can.  I doubt it leads to anything other than a blatant move to throw us off or contrast catch-phrases.  Regardless, Dallas has some disparaging remarks.  We all know it’s been rough for you.  All these hopes and dreams of Heavyweight Championship glory all down the drain. It’s too bad, really.  You seem like you’d be shoe-in but unfortunately, you’re a bit of a bust.  You’re like the Tim Tebow of the WWE, right?  Am I right?  Well, Reigns responds to this as you would think, with a Superman Punch and a Spear and then continues to demand Big Show’s blood.  They’re going to have their Last Man Standing match and Reigns is gonna take the fight to him and we can all “Bo-lieve” that.  This is something I think Reigns should do more of, actually.  He should allow for humor.  I think this would add a semblance of a 3rd dimension to his character, which is sorely needed.  I get the distinct impression that Creative is being very hands off when it comes to Reigns’ character development but, I think that's fair.  How Reigns is presented is a personal decision.  I think the character is mostly down but is currently reading as generic.  I dig him being a bad-ass of few words but he still needs a discernable personality that one can like and can somewhat relate to.  Creative needs to set up the “sitches” so that Reigns can knock ‘em down…and not just Spear them…unless it’s done in a personalized manner.

After that, we have Sheamus vs. Zack Ryder so, we know how this is gonna go.  It has been a while since we’ve seen Ryder, as well.  I remember he was also recovering from shoulder surgery.  Well, with Sheamus big and mean now, he comes out and says, hey, it’s been a long time! *Brogue Kick* And that’s all it takes to lay Ryder out.  Aw, now that can’t be all you got. Come on there, lad.  We barely see ya.  Why don’t we make the most of this time, huh.  Sheamus proceeds to prop Ryder up and assails him while talking him through it on the mic.  He lines up to do 1 of 3 Brogue Kicks he deals to Ryder when Dolph Ziggler rushes in to land a ZigZag to Sheamus and goes to the aid of his fellow cheesy douche.   If Creative decides to use more of Ryder, he’s perfectly set up to become a dead weight to Ziggler in the future, if they care to go there.

Moving along, we come to a better match than I anticipated in Dad (Kane) up against John Cena.  There’s been some promo drama this evening.  Earlier, Dad expresses his disapproval of Rollins to a returned Triple H and was so agitated that he submitted his 2 Week Notice to resign from being “Director of Operations”.  Triple H tells him to chill.  They’ve both seen punks like Rollins over the years.  They know how to handle it.  And to keep good feelings, H anoints Dad as “Guardian of the Gate” for the cage match at Extreme Rules between Orton and Rollins.  This appeases Dad.  Yet, he’s still got a bee buzzing around in his bonnet and when John Cena drums up the interest in tonight’s open challenge, Dad’s the one who comes down the ramp.  They’re both solid in this one and Dad did a great job of selling his side of the current story.  You all know I love Dad.  I want Dad to get out there and break his foot off up in everyone’s ass, because we all know he can do it.  I love that he can do the campy promos and get the kids over but he should first and foremost, kick ass…and maybe see about the Operations or whatever (^_~)  I think that should be his real job.  Kids forget their place, be they with The Authority or Faces, he comes out and sets them straight.  He needs to be intimidating again.  We should do a collective “Uh-oh...” when they bring Dad out.  Hold him out like Brock Lesnar.  Not that long, of course but he shouldn’t be fighting every week, probably the week before PPVs if someone’s acting up and he should win more often than he loses.  I don’t mind disqualifications but whomever he’s set to “learn” needs to get their ass beat more often than not.  This is what creates drama and tension.  Creative should do themselves the favor on this one.  Leave the mask but bring the pain.  Yet, as for the match, though Dad gives it a good effort, Cena takes it after an Attitude Adjustment that just sets Dad to “disagreeable”.  It’s all right, though.  Rusev has a surprise for Cena backstage.

After that, The Miz and Damien Sandow continue to feud with Summer Rae in tow.  They do their pissy dance with The Miz managing to execute a Skull Crushing Finale.  Before he can take it all in, Randy Orton slides in and continues his rampage of RKOs.  This RKO-athon is actually pretty amazing.  Orton is hilarious with this bit.  He even takes out Heath Slater backstage in a Client Service scene.  I loved this.  I have no problem at all with the WWE taking advantage of Social Media crazes.  The WWE has to.  Social Media and the WWE are inadvertently intertwined.  Most of my news comes from the Twitters and blog posts.  We are a chatty, gossipy bunch.  I’m not proud of it but I do have my moments where I fall into this and wrestling is the best outlet because the bulk of it doesn’t really matter anyway.  I like how the WWE just goes along with this one.  Might as well, half the works already done for them.

We then have Ryback do a brief dance with Adam Rose and as you’d expect, it’s a beating.  Ryback doesn’t take long to “Finish it!” and after a Meat Hook, Rose takes a ShellShock and the loss.  Some Rosebuds feel a little cocky and try to take a shot at Ryback but you’ve seen him, Enthusiasts.  He makes a ShellShock sandwich with them.

           

That brings us to the main event, Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins.  This is a solid pairing though there’s no real impetus to put the 2 together this evening.  The match is strong, as it should be, and these 2 have another engaging back and forth that keeps us riveted. But it’s Sheamus that comes out to throw the wrench in the works.  He distracts Ziggler just enough for Rollins to execute his new finisher that I’m hearing is called a “Buckle Bomb” or a variation of a DDT. As I'm sure you've heard, the CurbStomp was deemed too dangerous by WWE officials and so, with it being lawsuit season and all, they opted to restrict the maneuver.  In any case, since Rollins has been the subject matter quite a bit this evening, Triple H decides to congratulate him personally.  Rollins greets his boss happily.  Geese, so glad to see you!  You know, I’ve been thinking and I have been a little disrespectful.  Not to Kane of course, but I respect The Authority and want to show I can be a great face of the future.  Dad hears that little dig and makes his way out to the ring.  Rollins says he was just kidding but calls for the cage to drop anyway but, while his back is turned Orton slithers into the ring and he gets in one more RKO before Sunday.  Sure some will drop on SmackDown if Orton shows but for now, that’s the last RKO until next Monday.  Have to say, Enthusiasts.  I like the new leaf the WWE is possibly turning over.  I’ve thought I saw hints of revolution before but it’s not the violent uprising.  If true progress is in effect, it’s of the innovative kind.  Someone may actually be trying to make this work.

Guess I better keep the faith.

See You Thursday,

-Nicole Alexis.