RAW Review 03/08/2015

Amidst the heart-felt tributes to Roddy Piper, the incessant talk about Ronda Rousey and JBL's new tactic of holding cards up with the price of the network on as saying it repeatedly is apparently not to enough, a pretty good RAW occurred in San Jose, CA. The WWE World Heavyweight Champion threw down an open challenge in the absence of John Cena which resulted in the match of the night, Miz ran a fun Miz TV dedicated to Roddy Piper, Cesaro's fans made their support known with whole sections of the arena dubbing themselves the 'C Section', Paul Heyman further sold the WrestleMania rematch too big for WrestleMania between Lesnar/Undertaker at SummerSlam and Brock Lesnar got paid a shit load of money to stand silently on top of some steel steps.

Here is my three point RAW review:

Seth Rollins challenges John Cena at SummerSlam 

The WWE World Heavyweight Champion made his way to the ring to open the show. Wearing a fantastic new t shirt, Seth Rollins told the fans it is his fault Cena is absent to which they responded with a "thank you, Rollins" chant before Rollins began lamenting how he is too sympathetic for his own good. Last week, Rollins wanted the match with John Cena to end due to Cena's broken nose but the referee officiating the match did not share the same humanitarian beliefs as the champion thus forcing him to tap out for the sake of Cena's well being. Rollins proposes that he and John Cena meet again at SummerSlam in a title for title match, winner takes all scenario before offering an open challenge for the WWE WHC with two caveats; firstly, the opponent must be under 6ft and secondly the opponent must be under 200 pounds.

The man that gravity  creative forgot answered the open challenge much to the disappointment of Seth Rollins who seemed to have his hopes set on El Torito. Instead, the first ever NXT Champion Seth Rollins faces the first WWE Network NXT Champion Neville for the richest prize in sports entertainment. As expected, the match did not fail to deliver. Both men worked a fast pace more associated with PWG than WWE with Neville delivering a hurricanrana to the champion followed by a springboard corkscrew moonsault to the outside. Rollins regained control only for a few seconds before Neville hit a beautiful reverse frankensteiner to turn the tide followed by a dead lift German. Neville positions himself to deliver the Red Arrow but the champ rolls out of the way before hitting a huge lariat that sends Neville spinning. A pedigree attempt by the champion is reversed into a roll up for a 2.999999 count. Rollins heads to the top but Neville sends him back to the ground with a hurricanrana. Neville heads to the top rope again and successfully lands the Red Arrow for what should have been the match but, in his excitement , the challenger over hooks Rollins' leg placing them on the ropes causing a rope break before the referee reaches three. Animated by the fan's encouragement, Neville heads to the top rope to attempt a Red Arrow again-this time Rollins rolls out the way before taking advantage of Neville's momentary loss of balance to hit the Pedigree to pick up the three count.

This was a really fun match to begin RAW which showcased a side to Rollins we don't get to see too often and probably should have closed the show instead of the insipid six man tag match. Rollins cowardice is an easy way to solicit boos from the crowd but last night Rollins was booked a lot stronger against the smaller man. What was most impressive in this match, a match everyone was expecting Rollins to win, was that Neville and Rollins contrived such a close pin fall attempt after Neville hit Rollins with the Red Arrow only for the challenger to accidentally hook the champion's leg on the rope for a rope break.

In a more surprising move, it was the cowardly champion who challenged John Cena to a match at SummerSlam despite the only victory he holds over Cena coming from Brock Lesnar interfering in a cage match. As I have previously stated, I don't think Cena will beat Rollins to hold both the US Title and WWE WHC. Conversely, I can't see Rollins holding both titles and besides, as great as Rollins has been, he should not win the US Title as other people need the rub much more than he does. Unfortunately, this leaves us with shenanigans, a recurring motif through Rollins' reign, as the only option. Perhaps Sheamus tries and fails to cash in a la Seth Rollins at Night of Champions last year, i just don't see WWE unifying both championships so soon after they unified the World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship.

WWE continue to push John Cena's broken nose pretty hard in his absence. Perhaps this is Vince McMahon's response to UFC boss Dana White's "fake" comments regarding WWE or perhaps it is just a reminder of how great John Cena really is. Either way, I'm still confident Rollins wins and leaves SummerSlam still WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Lesnar gets paid a lot for doing very little

Paul Heyman did what Paul Heyman does best by delivering a scathing promo on The Undertaker. Heyman reminds fans it is The Undertaker who picked a fight with Lesnar by costing him the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Battleground. Heyman claims that The Undertaker is desperate, as evidenced by the low blow at Battleground, to defeat Lesnar, a man he has never been able to defeat in his accomplished career. The Undertaker, Heyman continues, will never rest in peace until he beats Lesnar and that will never happen because every time The Undertaker faces Brock Lesnar 'Taker acts like a little bitch.

Out comes the magician's assistant Lesnar who, on his last visit to this stadium, ended up wrecking the place before delivering an F5 to Michael Cole. Alas, there was no such luck tonight as Lesnar's night's work consisted of throwing the steel steps into the ring and looking menacing. According to Heyman, The Undertaker, after suffering defeat at WrestleMania XXX by the hands of Brock Lesnar, called Vince McMahon and begged for a rematch against Lesnar the following year which McMahon declined. After exhausting all his options, Heyman continues, Taker had to force the matter by costing Brock Lesnar the title at Battleground. In a rematch apparently too big for WrestleMania, Paul Heyman promises that The Undertaker will be taking a vacation to Suplex City where he will rest in pieces.

Paul Heyman's presence on RAW is always appreciated as it guarantees at least one good segment and tonight was no different. I'm certain Paul Heyman could sell you on unanesthetized open heart surgery performed by Brock Lesnar if he so desired and he certainly further sold the prospect of Lesnar vs The Undertaker II. My head says Lesnar will win to not waste the streak but the 10 year old in me that fell in love with the necromancing undead dead man says The Undertaker will pick up the win. Whatever happens, I don't think that SummerSlam will resolve the issues between Lesnar/The Undertaker and the rivalry will, more than likely, be resolved at WrestleMania, the place where it all began.

More three on three tag team action

In the night's main event, Sheamus teamed up with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper to take on Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Randy Orton once again confirming logic is unimportant in a throw away six man tag main event. Now Orton is a good guy, he can inexplicably act like friends with other good guys despite the fact that the first clip in his titantron is of him delivering an RKO to Dean Ambrose.

Logic is not defeated by the reasons for Sheamus' temporary alliance with the Wyatt Family with Wyatt simply stating that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Reigniting a rivalry that culminated in a hardcore match at Extreme Rules, Ambrose and Harper get things under way in the ring as Ambrose sends Harper to the outside before heading to the top rope to drop a big elbow to the outside of the ring which takes out Harper, Wyatt and Sheamus. Ambrose tags in Roman but Wyatt does not want to get in the ring with Roman Reigns. To be fair, he has good reasons not too. I don't think anyone can argue Roman works best in multi-man tag matches in which he can remain anonymous until close to the end where he can come in, hits his big power moves and saves the day.

As the match progresses, the Wyatt Family and Sheamus are firmly in control, working over the arms Dean Ambrose before he makes a tag to Randy Orton. Harper tags in Wyatt at the same time but Orton has the momentum delivering a powerslam followed by a back beaker. Michael Cole reminds everyone it is "vintage Orton" as he hits the assisted ddt. Orton looks to be setting Wyatt up for an RKO but Harper lands a big boot to send Orton to the mat. Ambrose comes in to make the save, sending Harper to the outside of the ring before Harper connects with a big knee to the face after Ambrose dives to the outside. Roman Reigns flies through the air to hit a huge clothesline taking Harper down before following it up by delivering the drive by to Sheamus and Wyatt. Reigns and Sheamus, the two legal men, trade blows in the centre of the ring as Reigns spots Wyatt's attempted interference and stops it with a superman punch then follows it up with one for Sheamus too. Ambrose takes care of Harper hitting a suicide dive to the outskirts, Wyatt looks to help Sheamus but Randy Orton delivers a huge RKO to Wyatt. Sheamus attempts a Brogue Kick on Orton but misses before Roman Reigns delivers a spear to Sheamus for the three count.

Reigns looked comfortable in a return to the role he had in The Shield; a hot tag guy that spends the majority of the match encouraging his team mates before coming in to pick up the victory at the end. With all the rumours circulating that a Wyatt, Harper and a third member vs Reigns, Ambrose and a third member is being considered for SummerSlam, I was a little surprised to  see a match so similar take place on TV a couple of weeks before hand. Having said that, WWE loves their three on three main events that ostensibly serve to shoehorn two feuds together in one match but really is just lazy writing. Considering WWE's formula for these matches, it looks like the Sheamus/ Randy Orton feud is going to be continuing for literally no reason which will probably culminate in another match at SummerSlam. Where does this match leave the Wyatt/Reigns feud? Who knows but it would certainly help if Heyman was selling this rematch.

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