Spoilers follow for the September 22nd episode of Raw.
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Dean Ambrose kicks off Raw this week. He's not dead, evidently, and isn't happy with how he was taken out. He's not leaving the ring until the Authority comes out. So, of course, John Cena comes down to the ring.
Cena tells Ambrose that they have the same agenda. Cena is taking Rollins out tonight. Triple H comes out with the rest of The Authority and says nobody's fighting Rollins tonight. Everyone starts brawling. eventually The Authority escapes. After the commercial, Triple H announces Kane vs. Ambrose and Orton vs. Cena.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: The Miz (with Damien Sandow) vs. Dolph Ziggler (with R-Truth)
Admittedly, I missed the match. I hear it was pretty good. I'll probably go back and watch it later. Here's what I know: Ziggler won with a roll up. He is your new Intercontinental champion.
Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter)
The rubber match between the two. Swagger won on Raw last week, while Dallas got a win on Smackdown. This one is pretty decent, as was the Raw match last week. Swagger dominates most of it, and what little offense Dallas gets in doesn't seem to phaze him. This pleases me. Swagger wins with the Patriot Lock.
Match Rating: **1/2
Colter taunts Dallas after the match. It was also pretty great.
Summer Rae (with Layla) vs. Natalya (with Rosa Mendes)
Your obligatory Total Divas battle. But no Eva Marie. Summer Rae gets a mic before the match. Why? She shouldn't get to talk. She cuts a heel promo. Kind of.
So, last night we got a great Divas match. Tonight ... we get this. Natalya is a good wrestler, but Summer Rae is not. Summer dominates at the beginning and does a couple of slow submission moves. Natalya picks up the pace, hits about five moves, locks in the Sharpshooter, and picks up the win.
Match Rating: **
Dean Ambrose vs. Kane
Ambrose dominates the early portion. It's so good to see him back. After trying to get some weapons, Kane takes control. Kane continues to work over that shoulder, which I guess we're supposed to remember was hurt, even though it's no longer taped and presumably is 100%.
Ambrose eventually hits an awful Dirty Deeds, but then he's jumped by Seth Rollins, who apparently didn't actually run away earlier. Rollins gets a steel chair, but Ambrose counters him. Kane eventually gets a chokeslam on Ambrose, letting Rollins escape.
Match Rating: **1/2
We see Triple H, Kane, and Seth Rollins backstage. Triple H tells Rollins to stop setting fires, but then Ambrose attacks both Rollins and Kane. Eventually, Ambrose is restrained by security. He's eventually placed inside a locker room.
Sheamus and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. Cesaro, Goldust, and Stardust
We had this match last week. Nothing has happened to give us a different result, except there are new Tag Team champions -- but, then, nothing changed to have that happen, either.
I don't have a lot of interest in this match. I feel like, more times than not, six men are too many. I mean, the tension comes from the rivals squaring off, but you don't get that as much with this sort of match. More men means more chances for poor chemistry, too, and the results are often slower and less interesting.
Everyone does basically what you'd expect in a match that lasts far longer than it deserved to. It ends, mercifully, after an Uso hits a splash on Goldust.
Match Rating: **1/2
Randy Orton and Seth Rollins have a talk backstage. Rollins wants to express appreciation to Orton for fighting Cena tonight. Rollins might have a little surprise at ringside, too. And Kane and Rollins will be at ringside.
Mark Henry is out after the commercial break to address the WWE Universe. He lost to Rusev the night before. Henry apologizes for letting America down. Then Rusev and Lana come out. Lana offers him a third chance at being an American hero. Henry accepts. We're getting another match.
Mark Henry vs. Rusev (with Lana)
This match wasn't good last night, and it's not good now. Rusev works over Henry's back, and essentially just squashes Henry.
Henry gets offense in near the end. He slams Rusev and hits a couple of clotheslines. He throws him into the steel steps. He goes for a splash but is knocked off the rope. Rusev then locks in The Accolade. Mark Henry passes out. This match went on way too long and was so boring.
Match Rating: **
Slater Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil) vs. Adam Rose and The Bunny
As you might expect, the match is built around a hot tag to the Bunny. Rose spends the match getting beaten up, and then the Bunny comes in and dominates. The Bunny cleans house and then tags Rose in for the victory.
Match Rating: *1/2
Nikki Bella, star of Night of Champions, is out next to address her sister. She says that while lots of people are making excuses as to why they didn't win at the PPV, but Nikki's is legitimate. She says the words Brie said were in her head and cost her the victory. She then calls out Brie.
Brie comes out. They spar with words a little bit, but since Brie sucks on the mic, it's less sparring and more "Nikki teeing off on her sister." Nikki wants the "Bella" name to herself. Nikki insults Daniel Bryan so then Brie attacks Nikki. Nikki gets thrown out of the ring. Then AJ Lee comes out. Apparently Nikki and AJ are going to have a match.
Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee
Paige is on commentary. Paige lets us know that she and AJ are no longer friends.
AJ and Nikki wrestle a clean, entertaining, back-and-forth match. It's amazing how much Nikki has improved in the ring. She's one of the top Divas in the WWE right now. After a pretty entertaining bout, AJ locks in the Black Widow and makes Nikki tap out.
Match Rating: ***
Randy Orton (with Seth Rollins and Kane) vs. John Cena
Rollins and Kane come out first. With each other. Before Orton. I figured you'd want to know that.
Cena and Orton have had approximately a trillion matches together (a rough estimate) so you know they can work well together. They've had boring matches and great matches, and a whole host of mediocre matches, but I'd say they average out to be pretty good.
It is this. It is pretty good. It is nothing exceptional, and it's a little less interesting as we wait for the "surprise" to be shown -- it's teased that more cinderblocks are at ringside -- but it's basically what you can expect out of a Cena/Orton match.
Eventually, Cena locks in an STF, and Rollins and Kane interfere and give Cena a DQ victory.
Match Rating: ***
They're going to do the cinderblock spot again, but Ambrose is in the box. He helps Cena by attacking all of the heels. The heels eventually run and Raw ends with Cena and Ambrose standing tall in the ring.
The Good: Nikki vs. AJ. Cena vs. Orton.
The Bad: Rose/Bunny vs. Slater/O'Neil.
Match of the Night: Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee.
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Dean Ambrose kicks off Raw this week. He's not dead, evidently, and isn't happy with how he was taken out. He's not leaving the ring until the Authority comes out. So, of course, John Cena comes down to the ring.
Cena tells Ambrose that they have the same agenda. Cena is taking Rollins out tonight. Triple H comes out with the rest of The Authority and says nobody's fighting Rollins tonight. Everyone starts brawling. eventually The Authority escapes. After the commercial, Triple H announces Kane vs. Ambrose and Orton vs. Cena.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: The Miz (with Damien Sandow) vs. Dolph Ziggler (with R-Truth)
Admittedly, I missed the match. I hear it was pretty good. I'll probably go back and watch it later. Here's what I know: Ziggler won with a roll up. He is your new Intercontinental champion.
Bo Dallas vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter)
The rubber match between the two. Swagger won on Raw last week, while Dallas got a win on Smackdown. This one is pretty decent, as was the Raw match last week. Swagger dominates most of it, and what little offense Dallas gets in doesn't seem to phaze him. This pleases me. Swagger wins with the Patriot Lock.
Match Rating: **1/2
Colter taunts Dallas after the match. It was also pretty great.
Summer Rae (with Layla) vs. Natalya (with Rosa Mendes)
Your obligatory Total Divas battle. But no Eva Marie. Summer Rae gets a mic before the match. Why? She shouldn't get to talk. She cuts a heel promo. Kind of.
So, last night we got a great Divas match. Tonight ... we get this. Natalya is a good wrestler, but Summer Rae is not. Summer dominates at the beginning and does a couple of slow submission moves. Natalya picks up the pace, hits about five moves, locks in the Sharpshooter, and picks up the win.
Match Rating: **
Dean Ambrose vs. Kane
Ambrose dominates the early portion. It's so good to see him back. After trying to get some weapons, Kane takes control. Kane continues to work over that shoulder, which I guess we're supposed to remember was hurt, even though it's no longer taped and presumably is 100%.
Ambrose eventually hits an awful Dirty Deeds, but then he's jumped by Seth Rollins, who apparently didn't actually run away earlier. Rollins gets a steel chair, but Ambrose counters him. Kane eventually gets a chokeslam on Ambrose, letting Rollins escape.
Match Rating: **1/2
We see Triple H, Kane, and Seth Rollins backstage. Triple H tells Rollins to stop setting fires, but then Ambrose attacks both Rollins and Kane. Eventually, Ambrose is restrained by security. He's eventually placed inside a locker room.
Sheamus and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) vs. Cesaro, Goldust, and Stardust
We had this match last week. Nothing has happened to give us a different result, except there are new Tag Team champions -- but, then, nothing changed to have that happen, either.
I don't have a lot of interest in this match. I feel like, more times than not, six men are too many. I mean, the tension comes from the rivals squaring off, but you don't get that as much with this sort of match. More men means more chances for poor chemistry, too, and the results are often slower and less interesting.
Everyone does basically what you'd expect in a match that lasts far longer than it deserved to. It ends, mercifully, after an Uso hits a splash on Goldust.
Match Rating: **1/2
Randy Orton and Seth Rollins have a talk backstage. Rollins wants to express appreciation to Orton for fighting Cena tonight. Rollins might have a little surprise at ringside, too. And Kane and Rollins will be at ringside.
Mark Henry is out after the commercial break to address the WWE Universe. He lost to Rusev the night before. Henry apologizes for letting America down. Then Rusev and Lana come out. Lana offers him a third chance at being an American hero. Henry accepts. We're getting another match.
Mark Henry vs. Rusev (with Lana)
This match wasn't good last night, and it's not good now. Rusev works over Henry's back, and essentially just squashes Henry.
Henry gets offense in near the end. He slams Rusev and hits a couple of clotheslines. He throws him into the steel steps. He goes for a splash but is knocked off the rope. Rusev then locks in The Accolade. Mark Henry passes out. This match went on way too long and was so boring.
Match Rating: **
Slater Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil) vs. Adam Rose and The Bunny
As you might expect, the match is built around a hot tag to the Bunny. Rose spends the match getting beaten up, and then the Bunny comes in and dominates. The Bunny cleans house and then tags Rose in for the victory.
Match Rating: *1/2
Nikki Bella, star of Night of Champions, is out next to address her sister. She says that while lots of people are making excuses as to why they didn't win at the PPV, but Nikki's is legitimate. She says the words Brie said were in her head and cost her the victory. She then calls out Brie.
Brie comes out. They spar with words a little bit, but since Brie sucks on the mic, it's less sparring and more "Nikki teeing off on her sister." Nikki wants the "Bella" name to herself. Nikki insults Daniel Bryan so then Brie attacks Nikki. Nikki gets thrown out of the ring. Then AJ Lee comes out. Apparently Nikki and AJ are going to have a match.
Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee
Paige is on commentary. Paige lets us know that she and AJ are no longer friends.
AJ and Nikki wrestle a clean, entertaining, back-and-forth match. It's amazing how much Nikki has improved in the ring. She's one of the top Divas in the WWE right now. After a pretty entertaining bout, AJ locks in the Black Widow and makes Nikki tap out.
Match Rating: ***
Randy Orton (with Seth Rollins and Kane) vs. John Cena
Rollins and Kane come out first. With each other. Before Orton. I figured you'd want to know that.
Cena and Orton have had approximately a trillion matches together (a rough estimate) so you know they can work well together. They've had boring matches and great matches, and a whole host of mediocre matches, but I'd say they average out to be pretty good.
It is this. It is pretty good. It is nothing exceptional, and it's a little less interesting as we wait for the "surprise" to be shown -- it's teased that more cinderblocks are at ringside -- but it's basically what you can expect out of a Cena/Orton match.
Eventually, Cena locks in an STF, and Rollins and Kane interfere and give Cena a DQ victory.
Match Rating: ***
They're going to do the cinderblock spot again, but Ambrose is in the box. He helps Cena by attacking all of the heels. The heels eventually run and Raw ends with Cena and Ambrose standing tall in the ring.
The Good: Nikki vs. AJ. Cena vs. Orton.
The Bad: Rose/Bunny vs. Slater/O'Neil.
Match of the Night: Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee.
<color=D6D9DA>_________________________________________________________________________________
If you wish to be notified whenever I post something new, please join this <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews>user group.
For an archive of all my previous WWE reviews, please go <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.846764-Marters-WWE-Reviews-Archive>here.
Talk to me on the Twitter, <url=https://twitter.com/martertweet>@martertweet.
