With WWE on their annual UK tour, Monday Night Raw came to us live from London. Despite the Authority continuing their three week vacation (must be nice), the show must go on. Let’s take a look at what went down on a Raw that saw some real, entertaining WRESTLING. Seriously, not storylines, but great wrestling.
The Viper and The Champ Show Their Cards
The most dominant storyline of the night belonged to none other than Randy Orton and the Authority. It’s announced that both Orton and Seth Rollins will be competing in singles matches tonight, and if they win, they will be allowed to pick a stipulation for their WWE World Heavyweight title match at Extreme Rules. So at least something new is being added to this rivalry.
First up is Orton, facing one half of the Tag Team champs in Cesaro. Standard match between the two that has some good back and forth spots. Eventually, Tyson Kidd interferes, causing the DQ and giving Orton the opportunity to pick a stipulation. Not so fast though. Kane makes his way out and says that he can’t allow that to stand, so he’s restarting the match and it will be Orton against the Brass Ring Club in a handicap bout!
The match restarts and the champs quickly take control, stomping Orton down before getting into their flow. Orton eventually makes a comeback and tries to RKO Kidd, but Cesaro pulls Kidd out of the ring, so Orton follows and hits him with a suplex on the outside. This just gives Kidd room to hit a running kick to Orton and the champs are back in control.
Back in the ring, Orton fights back and hits a powerslam on Cesaro to get some momentum. Kidd tries to hit a crossbody off the top rope but the Viper is ready for him and…
RKO!
1-2-3 and the Viper has his chance to finally pick a stipulation later on tonight.
Backstage we see Rollins talking to Kane and he says that he doesn’t want to face Dolph Ziggler tonight, instead he wants to fight Jamie Noble, who will lay down and let him win. Noble says that he shouldn’t have to do it, Kane should since Rollins is facing Orton at Extreme Rules because of him. Rollins says it’s best for business for him to get an opponent he can beat, and he implies that Kane should be the one to do the job, otherwise he’ll have to go to Triple H about this.
Later, we see Big Show telling Kane that he’s in a tough situation, but he has to do what’s best for business. Show says he did that by knocking out John Cena because the Authority are winners and Kane has to bite the bullet. Kane looks annoyed and even later we see Daniel Bryan backstage asking what happened to the Big Red Monster? Bryan says if Kane has any pride and is any kind of man he won’t lay down for Rollins.
Out to the ring we see Rollins smiling as Kane makes his way out. Hesitantly, Kane lays down for Rollins to make the cover. 1…2… KANE KICKS OUT! Rollins is in shock as Kane has decided not to just lay down and embarrass himself. J&J Security hit the ring but Kane tosses them both out of the ring (by their throats) and smacks Rollins after the Champ starts yelling at him to lay down. Kane sets up for a chokeslam but Rollins begs him not to and tells him he has to lay down and get pinned because it’s best for business.
Rollins starts yelling at Kane that this is his WWE and the Monster will do what he tells him to do, so Kane decides he’s had enough.
Kane hits a massive chokeslam on Rollins and begins to call for a Tombstone… but then lays down and rolls the champs prone body on him for the 1-2-3. Rollins will have his chance to pick a stipulation in the title match at Extreme Rules as well.
Rollins eventually wakes up and celebrates exactly how you would expect someone to when they realize they took a chokeslam from the Demon and still won.
Seriously, Rollins is such a great heel. All hail our Champion!
Later, Rollins comes out and says he has an amazing stipulation for Extreme Rules, but he wants to tell Orton to his face so out comes the Viper. Rollins says that at Extreme Rules, he is going to take away Orton’s greatest weapon because the RKO is banned from the title match! Great choice by Rollins, WWE has been playing up how lethal the RKO is the past couple of weeks and this is a great idea to add some intrigue to the match.
For his part, Orton doesn’t have much of a reaction to the news. He gets on the mic and says he likes Rollins idea about taking away his greatest weapon. Orton says that he had a similar idea, and he wants to take the Authority away from Rollins. How is he going to do that? By having the title match in a steel cage of course! Orton says nobody will be able to help Rollins when he’s locked in the cage.
Rollins tells the Viper he isn’t scared, Orton is just going to be his first victim. Orton says that if the RKO is banned, he’ll just have to give fans their money’s worth now. He tips over Rollins chair and attacks J&J before setting his sights on the Champ. He tries to hit a hanging DDT on Rollins but J&J pull him off, so Orton hits Noble with an RKO as Rollins runs up the ramp. We end the show with Orton standing tall and Rollins clutching his title on the stage.
Interesting additions to the main event, WWE is doing a good job of adding some new elements to what could become a stale rivalry if not handled correctly.
Other Results:
Ziggler Steals the Show… With Some Help from a Hometown Boy: Dolph Ziggler makes his way out and says that since Kane stopped his match with Rollins, he’s going to have an open challenge the same way John Cena does. The lights go dark and out comes England’s own Neville. This match was entertaining as hell, with both guys putting on an absolute show. Let the GIF’s guide you through this excellence.
First Ziggler got us started with this awesome DDT on the rookie.
Not to be outdone, Neville took things to the outside and hit this ridiculous somersault onto Ziggler… From. The. Barricade.
I really don’t understand how the hell that is even physically possible. I don’t know how this next move in the ring is even possible either.
Alas, it was all for naught as Ziggler hit a Zig Zag for the 1-2-3 and the win.
John Cena’s U.S. Title Open Challenge, Part 3 – Out comes John Cena to kick off the show and for the third straight Raw, he’s going to have an open challenge for his United States title. To the delight of the crowd, out comes another England hometown boy, Bad News Barrett. Give Cena credit, for the third week in a row, he put on a great match with a new opponent.
Barrett played up the crowd and paid homage to Mick Foley with a running elbow off of the apron onto Cena on the outside.
Barrett calls for a Bull Hammer but Cena counters with an Attitude Adjustment for the 1…2.. AND BARRETT KICKS OUT! Barrett takes the opportunity to absolutely level Cena with a Bull Hammer.
1…2… NOW CENA KICKS OUT!
Barrett throws Cena into the ropes, but the Champ responds with his new favorite move, the spring board stunner. Cena follows it up with another AA for the 1-2-3 and the win.
Out comes Lana to trash talk Cena and announce the stipulation for Cena’s match with Rusev at Extreme Rules… and then Rusev attacks Cena from behind with a chain and knocks the Champ out! At Extreme Rules it will be Cena-Rusev 3… in a Russian Chain Match!
Oh God, this means Cena is bringing back his chain and gangster attitude isn’t he? Yay.
Big Show Destroys Roman Reigns – Roman Reigns comes out for an interview and says that he made Brock Lesnar bleed and should be Champ but Seth Rollins stole his title. Reigns says he will be Champ and calls Big Show Seth Rollins… rhymes with snitch. So of course Show pops up on the Jumbotron and says that Reigns is a waste of talent so Reigns heads to the back and is attacked by Big Show. The Giant throws him into a car on the stage repeatedly and dents the doors with the force of his toss.
Show then puts Reigns on top of the car and delivers a vicious chokeslam that collapses the roof of the vehicle.
My only question here is… where can I buy a car that can withstand the weight of the Big Show and Roman Reigns on its roof?
Lucha! Lucha! Lucha! – The Lucha Dragons continue their impressive run into the Tag Team title picture with a win against the Ascension, who WWE apparently forgot was incredibly dominant in NXT. By the way, Kalisto is freaking awesome.
Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper Don’t Like Each Other – Dean Ambrose beat Adam Rose in a pointless match and Luke Harper lost to Ryback by DQ in a match of his own. The story here is that Ambrose ran out and attacked Harper after his match, continuing their feud from Wrestlemania.
Stardust defeats Fandango… Yawn – Filler match here with Stardust picking up the win on Fandango pretty quickly. After the match, Fandango dumps Rosa and says that he shouldn’t be dancing with her, he should be dancing with everyone… DA NA DA DA DA DA DAAAAAA DA NA NA THE MUSIC IS BACK!
Fandango jams with the crowd and maybe now he’ll get back on TV. Probably not though.
Mizdow Steals One From the Miz – Unfortunately for all of us, this rivalry continues in short two-minute matches on Raw. What a waste of a potentially great feud.
Paige Earns a Shot at the Diva’s Title – Paige wins a Divas battle royal in her homeland to earn a shot at Nikki Bella and the Divas title. Afterwards, Naomi snaps and beats the hell out of her so apparently she’s a heel now and this is probably going to be a triple threat match at Extreme Rules.
