Reviews

The John Report: The WWE Raw Deal 05/29/17 Review

TJR Wrestling

This week’s Memorial Day edition of Raw is the last one before Extreme Rules this Sunday. Two of the announced matches for this week’s show are Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe.

Live from Greenville, South Carolina this is the Raw Deal for episode #1251. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Thanks Melo Man for the creative banner up top that I’m sure all Power Rangers fans will appreciate.

A video package aired in honor of Memorial Day. The video was narrated by John Cena and it lasted about three minutes. It ended with this: “Today we say…thank you.” There was a shot of the live crowd in the arena chanting “USA” at the end of the video. Well done.

The Raw intro video aired.

The pyro went off and the crowd in Greenville was loud. The announcers shilled the upcoming big matches.

Miz TV

The Miz and his lovely wife Maryse made their entrance for their Miz TV segment. The carpet was in the ring with chairs. Miz is in his ring gear, so he’ll probably be put in a match.

Miz talked about how they are feeling good because this Sunday he gets his hands on Dean Ambrose in the IC Title match. Miz complained about how Ambrose stole his Intercontinental Title and then two weeks ago, Ambrose disqualified himself. A clip aired of last week when Miz hit Elias Samson with a double axe to the back causing Ambrose to get disqualified as a way to tease what might happen at Extreme Rules.

Miz said that if a disqualification happens then he’ll become the IC Champion for the seventh time. Miz introduced Cesaro and Sheamus. They are also in their ring gear.

Cesaro and Sheamus sat on chairs in the ring. Miz said that nobody in WWE worked harder than them and they deserved to be champions. Miz complained about the Hardys stealing their spotlight. Cesaro said it really is a “shameful thing” (wink, wink) and Sheamus took over noting that the people turned their back on Cesaro when the Hardys showed up. There was a mild “Delete” chant. Sheamus said they’ll win back their Raw Tag Titles at Extreme Rules.

Miz noted that Cesaro/Sheamus have been victimized by the fans because they don’t see their greatness. Miz continued ranting about how he’s going to win back the IC Title.

Dean Ambrose, the Intercontinental Champion, showed up and received a nice ovation. Ambrose said he see three “buttheads” like them out there and thought that somebody needs to shut their mouths. Miz pointed out there’s three of them and only one of him. Ambrose said he’s not stupid and the Hardys music started. The Hardys ran down to the ring.

The Hardys and Ambrose went into the ring to start the fight. Miz bailed to the floor. Hardys dumped Sheamus and Ambrose sent Cesaro out of the ring. The show went to break.

Analysis: It was the standard promo we get every week to set up a match. It’s so repetitive, but as I say all the time Vince McMahon is set in his ways and loves this format to start the show. If they started with a match right away it would be a refreshing change. Sadly, current WWE isn’t very good at change. The promos were fine, but nothing special. Good thing they were all in their ring gear.

(Commercial)

The obvious six man tag was made during the break by GM Kurt Angle. It’s the Teddy Long tag match special.

Dean Ambrose, Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs. Sheamus, Cesaro & The Miz (w/Maryse)

There was an uppercut by Cesaro on Matt after a distraction by Sheamus, which led to the heel trio seizing control. Sheamus hit a clothesline on Matt for a two count. When Matt tried to get going, Sheamus hit a knee to the gut to slow him down. Cesaro tagged in with an elbow smash off the middle rope for two. Matt with a back body drop to Cesaro. Ambrose got the tag with a clothesline on Cesaro and a slingshot attack over the top on Miz to the floor. Cesaro avoided the Dirty Deeds attempt, Sheamus got the tag and Ambrose sent him over the top with a clothesline. Neckbreaker by Ambrose on Sheamus. Ambrose up top, Miz distracted, Sheamus hit a knee to the face of Ambrose and Ambrose went to the floor for the commercial break spot.

(Commercial)

Back from break, the heels were still in control with Miz hitting the “yes” kicks to the chest of Ambrose. Boot to the face by Miz earned a two count. I like Miz, but when he does strikes they don’t look impressive at all. Cesaro missed a corner attack on Ambrose and he went over the top to the floor. Miz tripped up Jeff on the apron and got Matt off the apron as well. Sheamus tagged in, hit White Noise on Ambrose with an assist from Cesaro and that earned a two count. Ambrose fought back against Sheamus with an elbow smash off the top. Ambrose hit Cesaro with a clothesline and tag to Jeff, who got some offense in on Miz. Matt tagged in with a Side Effect on Miz. Everybody else was hitting big spots. Matt hit a neckbreaker on Miz that they called a Twist of Fate even though it didn’t look like it. Jeff tagged in and hit a Swanton Bomb on Miz for the pinfall win after 13 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Dean Ambrose, Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy

Analysis: ***1/4 Pretty good tag match that was the usual match you’d expect in that amount of time. Build to the hot tag, get a nearfall, do the spot where the guys not involved in the pin hit their big moves, get them out of the ring and go to the finish. It’s the standard formula tag match we see all the time. I’d love to see something innovative and different, but that’s all we ever get now. The Hardys continue to roll. I don’t think they’ve been beaten since their WWE return.

The announce team of Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Booker T were shown on camera. Cole talked to Graves, but Graves was looking at his phone and then he left.

Still to come: An Alexa Bliss segment with Bayley with a “This is Your Life” theme to it.

(Commercial)

There was a commercial for the 5-Way women’s elimination match on Smackdown this week.

Kurt Angle was shown in his offense reading something on a phone. Corey Graves was in the office with him. Angle read some of it that said “a disgrace and an embarrassment to the WWE” and was shocked by it. Graves said he wanted to help Angle in any way possible. Angle said, “if this is true, it could ruin me.” It ended there.

Analysis: No idea where this is going with Angle. Your guess is as good as mine at this point. It’s nice to have some sort of mystery story, though.

Elias Samson aka The Drifter was in the ring playing his guitar and singing about what happened last week. The ring was dark with a spotlight on him.

Elias Samson vs. Zac Evans

Samson with a knee to the gut. Evans with chops that Samson didn’t sell, Samson with a headbutt and clothesline. Samson sent Evans into the turnbuckle leading to an upside down bump. Samson slammed Evans’ chest against the apron and stretched Evans’ body against the ring post. Running kick to the face followed by forearms by Samson. Swinging reverse neckbreaker by Samson led to the victory after three minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Elias Samson

Analysis: 1/2* It was a squash win to put over Samson. Not much else to it. The announcers talk about how impressive he is, but he’s really basic at this point. He hasn’t done anything to stand out to me and that goes back to his NXT days too. I hope it works out for him. I just need to see more.

Graves returned to the announce table to join Cole and Booker.

Up next is Balor vs. Wyatt vs. Joe.

(Commercial)

A clip of Finn Balor was on the screen. Samoa Joe was watching on a monitor and Charly Caruso showed up to interview him. Joe said tonight is about the devil you know against the devil you don’t know. Joe talked about how he’s broken Balor’s body before and he will break it up. When Joe talked about Bray Wyatt, the Wyatt logo appeared.

Wyatt appeared in a darkened room and said he’s the devil you don’t know. Wyatt said he sees the future and sees The Beast (Brock Lesnar). Wyatt noted that only one can defeat The Beast and he is the Eater of Worlds. Wyatt said he will not turn away from this fight. Wyatt said the others will give in to their fear and…run. That ended the promo.

Analysis: Solid promos from both guys although Wyatt has lost a lot of credibility since he loses so often.

Finn Balor made his entrance. Big ovation for him as usual. The show went to break after Balor got into the ring.

(Commercial)

Samoa Joe made his entrance. Bray Wyatt made his entrance.

Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt

Joe opened up with chops to Balor’s chest. Balor came back with a leaping kick to the head while Wyatt was out on the floor. Joe rolled Wyatt back in the ring. Wyatt got a boot to the face, but Balor nailed a leaping kick to knock him down for a two count as Joe made the save. Wyatt dumped Balor out of the ring and pointed at Joe. Balor came back in with stomps on Wyatt in the corner. Balor with a kick to the mouth of Joe. Wyatt ran the ropes and hit a running cross body block on Balor. Joe got back in the ring, teased a superplex and Wyatt showed up with the Powerbomb on Joe for the Tower of Doom spot, which happens in nearly every multi-man match on WWE. Joe got the Coquina Clutch on Wyatt, but Wyatt kicked Joe to break it up. Both heels were on the floor, so Balor hit a somersault dive over the top to knock them both down on the floor.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Joe and Wyatt hit a double shoulder tackle on Balor. The heels worked together for a few minutes with spots like Joe hitting a running splash in the corner on Balor and Wyatt hit a running corner splash on Balor as well. Joe hit an atomic drop, boot to the face and a senton splash. Wyatt hit a running senton splash of his own for two. Joe bounced off the ropes and Wyatt hit Joe with a clothesline to end that alliance. Balor ducked a clothesline and hit an overhead back kick on Wyatt. Balor continued on offense with forearms as well as a running dropkick. Joe tagged in with a clothesline on Balor, corner splash on Wyatt and leaping kick by Joe on Wyatt. Balor sent both heels out of the ring. Dropkick by Balor to Joe and a running knee to the face on the apron. Balor hit a running dropkick on Wyatt that sent him into the barricade. Balor hit a running dropkick on Joe as well. Back in the ring, Balor hit chops on Joe, but Joe came back with a one arm uranage slam. Balor broke free of a Coquina Clutch attempt and hit a double stomp. Balor with a double stomp to Wyatt as well. Joe countered Slingblade with a belly to belly suplex. Wyatt came back with a Sister Abigail on Joe. Balor hit Slingblade on Wyatt followed by a corner dropkick and Wyatt rolled to the right spot. Balor up top and he hit the Coup de Grace double foot attack on Wyatt. Joe slid back into the ring, he sent Balor into the ring post and Joe covered Wyatt to win after 17 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Samoa Joe

Post match, Joe celebrated the win while the announcers put over how smart he was for that finish.

Analysis: ***1/4 Good match that was given a lot of time. It didn’t reach the point where I would say it was an amazing match that blew me away, but I liked it quite a bit. There weren’t a lot of believable nearfalls, but the finish was done well. That doesn’t mean it was a unique finish because we’ve seen that ending so many times before with the heel clearing the ring after somebody else hit a finishing move. The result doesn’t really matter that much, but I’m fine with Joe winning. I’m picking Balor to win at Extreme Rules most likely.

Seth Rollins was interviewed by Mike Rome. Rollins noted that they (Rollins and Reigns) had great times as partners in The Shield and some not so great times as well. Rollins said he knows that they both want the same thing. Rollins talked about how he owns Reigns as well. Rollins spoke about how he’s going to take that right knee and hit Reigns with it to send a message that he’s healthy. Rollins talked about how he’s ready for Extreme Rules.

Analysis: Basic promo from Rollins. His heel promos were better, but this was fine.

Sasha Banks and Rich Swann were shown talking backstage with Swann in a match up next.

(Commercial)

Noam Dar had Alicia Fox with him. Rich Swann had Sasha Banks with him. This is a tag match at Extreme Rules.

Analysis: Dar and Fox don’t have good chemistry. I don’t think they’re going for a romantic thing with Swann and Banks. It’s more about having common opponents. Banks’ husband works backstage in WWE. He helps design ring gear. They wrestled on the indies together.

Rich Swann (w/Sasha Banks) vs. Noam Dar (w/Alicia Fox)

Dar took control by slamming him down after an arm wringer. Dar grounded Swann with an armbar. Dar continued to work on the left arm of Swann. Back elbow by Swann, drop toe hold, punches, running clothesline and a kick to the gut. Swann hit a somersault leg drop to the back of the head for two. Swann went on the apron, Fox tried to distract, Banks tripped her up and Banks sent Fox into the side of the ring apron. Swann was on the top rope and Swann hit a Phoenix Splash for the pinfall win after three minutes. The broadcast missed it live and it took two replays to actually show the move.

Winner by pinfall: Rich Swann

Post match, Swann and Banks danced together in the ring.

Analysis: * Easy win for Swann ahead of their tag match on Sunday. Banks prevented the cheating and Swann got the win with a cool finisher. Crowd only cared about the last twenty seconds.

Later: Rollins vs. Reigns.

(Commercial)

The tag team of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder, the Revival, were interviewed by Charly Caruso. Dash had wires in his mouth because he had a broken jaw. Caruso mentioned Enzo & Cass, which got Dawson upset and said they have not been in action. Caruso aired the video from last week when they were in the background during a Banks interview with Caruso. Dawson said they’ve been there every week since Dash’s injury and they’re not going to waste their time with Enzo Amore. “Top guys out” ended it for Dawson.

Analysis: It will be a few more weeks until Wilder will be cleared for action, so it’s smart to have them cutting promos.

The announcers talked about Akira Tozawa beating Brian Kendrick on 205 Live last week in a Street Fight.

Big Cass showed up to the announce table to talk to Corey Graves. Cass got in Graves’ face about how he apparently accused him of attacking Enzo Amore. Graves said he was just giving Angle information. Cass seemed satisfied and shook his hand. Cass left.

Analysis: Last week on Raw, Graves said he wanted to shake the hand of the guy that attacked Enzo because he doesn’t like him. Cass shook his hand here. Interesting moment there. Thanks to astute reader @Slogotob1804 on Twitter for pointing it out because I didn’t pick up on it live. He said he only remembered it because I mentioned the Graves comment last week. Good teamwork!

Another mention of Reigns vs. Rollins later. We know.

(Commercial)

Kalisto made his entrance. There was a pre-match promo from Titus O’Neil telling Apollo Crews to watch what he does and do what he says. Last week Kalisto beat Crews, so now he gets to face O’Neil.

Titus O’Neil (w/Apollo Crews) vs. Kalisto

Kalisto with a dropkick to the back, dropkick to the knee and a headscissors by Kalisto took the big man down. O’Neil countered a move, covered, held the tights and won the match after one minute.

Winner by pinfall: Titus O’Neil

Analysis: 1/4* Match of the year! A rare win for O’Neil. I don’t have much else to say.

Post match, O’Neil celebrated the win while Crews pointed out that O’Neil pulled the tights. They did a selfie after the match.

Analysis: In order to build that pairing as credible, they need wins, so this is better booking than a loss.

Alexa Bliss was shown walking backstage.

(Commercial)

“This Is Your Life” Bayley Segment Featuring Alexa Bliss

Alexa Bliss, the Raw Women’s Champion, made her entrance. There was a kendo stick on a pole in the ring. Also in the ring was a table with Bayley related items and three guests in the ring as well.

Bliss spoke about how the first person to get the kendo stick in the match can use it against the opponent. Bliss pointed out last week Bayley had the kendo stick in her hands and did nothing with it. Bliss mentioned she dug up stuff from Bayley’s past for the “This is Your Life” segment.

Bliss grabbed some doll that she claimed was Bayley’s favorite doll and tossed it down. Bliss had a Bayley trophy that said “best in sportsmanship” and mocked it. Bliss looked at Bayley’s yearbook and said that Bayley was “most likely to apologize.” This is pretty bad at this point.

Bliss pointed out Bayley’s “4th grade teacher” named Mrs. Flapper in the ring. The teacher said that Bayley was a nice girl with perfect attendance and sat in the front row right next to her father. The teacher said Bayley cried.

There was a girl named Tracy in the ring. She talked about how she was Bayley’s best friend. Tracy mentioned she was inseparable with Bayley until something happened. The fans were rejecting this. Tracy complained about how Bayley wanted to stay in to watch Raw and Smackdown instead of hang out with her.

Bliss talked to a guy named Phil Johnson that was Bayley’s ex-boyfriend. Phil said that Bayley was a really nice girl. Phil said their first date was when Bayley brought her father along to movies. Fans chanted “Delete” during the segment. Phil said he was gonna kiss Bayley, but her father was there instead. Phil said he only dated Bayley because he wanted to get close to Tracy. Phil kissed Tracy in the ring and Bliss called it disgusting. Bliss: “Bayley. This is your life!”

Bayley walked down to the ring with a purpose. Bayley went into the ring. The women brawled with Bayley hitting a belly to back suplex. Bayley pointed to the kendo stick that was on the pole. She took way too long to get it, so Bliss tripped her up. Bliss got a kendo stick under the table in the ring. Bliss hit Bayley in the back with the kendo stick. Bayley bumped to the floor and Bliss celebrated in the ring to end it.

Analysis: Awful segment. One of the worst segments in a long time. Bliss is a good talker – one of the better ones among the girls, but holy shit nobody was going to save that mess. The jokes were bad, the actors were poor and the crowd absolutely hated on it. There were a lot of boos as well, but not as loud as you might think. If it was a louder crowd they would have completely shut it down. These fans were nicer. I would have booed much louder with how bad this was. I’m surprised Bayley didn’t get her heat back after that mess. Bayley also should have done a promo saying what Bliss said was all a lie, but there was no microphone time for Bayley. I can’t believe that segment made television. So bad. It didn’t help Bliss or Bayley at all. Am I supposed to care about their match on Sunday? I don’t. This didn’t help at all.

The announcers shilled WWE Network and Rollins vs. Reigns still to come.

(Commercial)

A commercial aired for Table for 3 with Jim Cornette, Eric Bischoff and Michael Hayes.

There was a shot of Enzo Amore face first on the ground again. The EMTs and a referee were there to check on him. Big Cass was there. Kurt Angle was there too. Angle told Cass that The Revival already left and Cass said it could have been them coming back to the arena. Angle told Cass to leave, but Cass said that he’s not leaving Enzo’s side.

Analysis: Last week after noticing the Revival in the background I thought it was them. Now it’s more likely that it will be Cass with the heel turn on his partner.

Jack Gallagher & Austin Aries vs. Neville & TJP

This is a tag match they’ve done recently and here we go again because WWE loves repeating matches.

Gallagher took it to Neville early on. When Aries tagged in, Neville bailed to the floor and the show went to break one minute into the match.

(Commercial)

Back from break, the heels were in control with Neville hitting a dropkick to the back of Gallagher. Neville prevented Gallagher from tagging out by slamming him head first into the mat. TJP worked over Gallagher a bit for the heel side. The heels continued to work over Gallagher while Aries was frustrated. Gallagher finally broke free and hit a headbutt on TJP. Hot tag to Aries against Neville with Aries hitting a series of strikes, clothesline, Neville came back with a kick to the gut and a kick missed. Aries came back with a shinbreaker followed by an overhead suplex. Neville hit a jawbreaker on Aries and Aries came back with a lefty punch. TJP tripped Aries, Gallagher went after TJP and Aries gave Neville a back body drop over the top to the floor. Aries hit a suicide dive on both heels. Back in the ring, Aries went up top with a missile dropkick, but Neville moved. Neville missed a twisting attack off the middle rope and Aries applied the Last Chancery submission for the win. It went 12 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Austin Aries & Jack Gallagher

Analysis: **1/2 It was a solid tag match to show that Aries can make Neville tap out heading into their submission match on Sunday. The heels worked over Gallagher, Aries got the hot tag, cleaned house, capitalized when Neville missed a big move and that’s it. The crowd didn’t care about most of it, but they got into it by the end.

Roman Reigns was interviewed in the locker room. He said the only thing he cares about is why he’s the big dog and why it’s his yard.

Analysis: A quick promo reciting catchphrases. Not much to it.

(Commercial)

Neville was shown walking backstage looking angry with Charly Caruso there to interview him. She pointed out he lost by submission for the first time since he was in the cruiserweight division. She asked a question and he just left angrily.

There was a clip of Goldust attacking R-Truth two weeks ago.

Goldust did a “Shattered Dream Productions” promo. He quoted the movie Psycho early on. Goldust said he’s back in the director’s chair where he’s always belonged. Goldust said that R-Truth knew the truth that a star like Goldust was way too big for just a supporting role. Goldust said Truth held him back and claimed he wanted the spotlight all to himself. Goldust said that soon he’ll put an end to it. Goldust said their ending won’t be happy, it won’t be sad – it will be golden. “The Golden age is back.” Goldust did a chomp.

Analysis: Good to see Goldust doing promos like that again. He’s great at it.

R-Truth did “A Truth Be Told” production. He was seated in a chair similar to Goldust. He even quoted Pulp Fiction. Truth talked about how he’s a “bad motha…shut your mouth” like Shaft. He went back to a Pulp Fiction quote quoting Sam Jackson’s Jules Winnfield character and ended it by saying “you gonna get got.” That ended it.

Analysis: That was weird, but a decent counter to what Goldust did. I figured one of them would mention a match at Extreme Rules. Neither one did it, though.

Seth Rollins made his entrance to a good ovation.

(Commercial)

There was an advertisement that Sasha Banks will be on 205 Live this week to hype up her Extreme Rules match.

Roman Reigns made his entrance. Mixed reaction for him like usual. No more tape on the upper body for Reigns.

Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns

The match started at 10:45pmET, so they should get plenty of time. Slow pace early on. Rollins hit a standing moonsault that was impressive for a two count. Reigns hit an uppercut. Reigns set up Rollins against the ring post and Reigns hit a Drive By dropkick that sent Rollins rib first into the post. Rollins came back with a clothesline followed by an attack over the top rope to knock down Reigns on the floor. There’s the vintage floor to commercial break.

(Commercial)

Back from break, Reigns sent Rollins into the barricade when they were outside the ring. Reigns with a hard whip that sent Rollins into the turnbuckle. Reigns continued his offense with ten clotheslines in the corner followed by a big boot to the face. Rollins came back with a kick to the ribs, Rollins sent him face first into the turnbuckle and Rollins hit the Slingblade neckbreaker. Rollins hit a running forearm in the corner, he went for a suplex, couldn’t do it and Rollins hit a dropkick that sent Reigns out of the ring. Rollins hit a suicide dive onto Reigns on the floor. Back in the ring, Rollins did a springboard attack and was met with a Superman Punch by Reigns. That was timed perfectly as Reigns covered for a two count. Good nearfall. Reigns went for Spear, Rollins avoided it, Rollins got a rollup for two and a standing side kick also got two. Rollins up top, Reigns hit him with a punch to slow him down and Reigns wanted a Samoan Drop off the top, but Rollins came out of the corner with a Buckle Bomb. Reigns bounced out of the corner and hit a Superman Punch. That drew a big reaction from the crowd. Loud ovation for that. Rollins rolled to the floor. Reigns ran around the ring, Rollins moved and sent Reigns into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Rollins hit the Blockbuster neckbreaker for a two count. The crowd was really getting into it. Rollins up top and he connected with a Frog Splash for two. Rollins was frustrated that he couldn’t win with it. Rollins climbed up top and went for a Phoenix Splash, but Reigns moved. They exchanged strikes. Reigns avoided a knee attack and Reigns bounced off the ropes with a Spear for the pinfall after 19 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Roman Reigns

There was a shot of some upset fans in the crowd.

Analysis: ***3/4 That was a great match. Nearly four stars out of five. The first half of it was slow and the crowd wasn’t into it that much, but by the end they really bought into it. All of the nearfalls in the last few minutes drew good reactions. I liked some of the big spots like when Reigns hit a Superman Punch on Rollins after Rollins jumped off the top. An even better spot was the Buckle Bomb by Rollins into the Superman Punch. The story of the finish was about how Rollins hit a Frog Splash, that didn’t connect and Rollins failed to connect with the Phoenix Splash. That led to the finish with Reigns winning clean.

Reigns celebrated the win. The graphic reminded us of the Fatal 5-Way at Extreme Rules on Sunday.

Reigns posed in the ring while Rollins looked dejected about the loss. More posing for Reigns ended Raw at 11:06pmET.

Analysis: Even though Reigns won this match, I think there’s a 0% chance that he wins at Extreme Rules because he’s not getting the Lesnar match so early at Great Balls of Fire in July. That’s coming next year at WrestleMania assuming WWE wants to wait out for it.

I thought the ending of the show could have been better with Joe, Wyatt and Balor coming out to brawl with the other two guys. There isn’t a lot of interest in the story of the match. It’s just a match.

Three Stars of the Show

1. Seth Rollins

2. Roman Reigns

3. (tie) Samoa Joe

3. (tie) Bray Wyatt

3. (tie) Finn Balor

I cheated and picked five.

The Scoreboard

5.5 out of 10

Last week: 6

2017 Average: 5.80

Average since brand split starting July 25/16: 5.854 (Smackdown is 6.72)

Last 5 Weeks: 7, 5, 7.5, 4.5, 7.5

2017 High: 8 (April 3)

2017 Low: 4 (Jan. 9 & Feb. 27)

Final Thoughts

I give it a 5.5 out of 10.

If it wasn’t for the great main event I would have gone with about 4 out of 10 this week.

It’s a tough show to rate because I really liked some of the in-ring action (six-man tag, three way and main event), but it wasn’t an exciting show at all. The results of the matches really didn’t mean much either.

That Bliss segment about Bayley was atrocious. I don’t see how somebody could have approved that segment thinking it was a great idea, but they did.

Raw has lacked freshness for months now. It’s not an exciting or must-see show. Is the in-ring action good? Sure, but I don’t think any of it is going to keep the average viewer that interested.

Here’s the lineup for Raw’s Extreme Rules show this Sunday, June 4.

Fatal 5-Way Extreme Rules Match to Determine #1 Contender for the Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe

Raw Tag Team Championships – Steel Cage Match: The Hardy Boyz vs. Sheamus & Cesaro

Raw Women’s Championship – Kendo Stick on a Pole: Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley

Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz – The title can change hands on a disqualification.

Cruiserweight Championship – Submission Match: Neville vs. Austin Aries

Sasha Banks & Rich Swann vs. Alicia Fox & Noam Dar

I assume Goldust vs. R-Truth may be added, but it’s not on there yet.

That’s all for now. See ya next time for the Smackdown review.

You can contact me using any of the methods below. Thanks for reading.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport

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