5 Best WWE Raw Moments 5/23/16: Enzo Returns! by Mitch Nickelson

It’s the day after WWE Extreme Rules and it’s time to shift focus to the next special event, Money in the Bank. Raw was filled with qualifying matches to see which competitors would take 5 out of 7 of the spots in the popular briefcase ladder match.

Seth Rollins made his Raw return after returning at the end of Sunday’s Pay-Per-View. The ovation he got was great and I was more than willing to place the appearance on this edition of this article…but then he went heel. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a fine heel and did well in turning the crowd against him. But it all felt too soon. I don’t really want to boo him any more than the majority of crowds want to cheer for Roman Reigns. Maybe I’m being too harsh, but the miscast here didn’t sit well with me.

That’s enough of the negativity from me. Even if I don’t like the roles they’re in, Reigns vs. Rollins is still a match that excites me. They should put on something special and I’m glad it was announced as the MITB headliner. As for the rest of Raw, here are the 5 moments that I identified as the best of the night.

5. An Independent Woman

Not all of this felt like a total winner of a segment, but I did appreciate Charlotte’s ability to get the heat from the crowd. I guess having to win her match at Extreme Rules without Daddy nearby reminded her of the 30 years of her life that he wasn’t there anyways, so she decided to give him the boot on this night.

The WWE Women’s Champion told The Nature Boy that he abandoned her as tears poured down his face. The crowd viciously jeered her to which she turned it all back onto Ric, saying that he might be immortal to them but he was dead to her. Ouch. Some of those Flair waterworks might’ve been authentic after those comments.

It’s hard to figure out how Dana Brooke factors into whatever’s the next direction for Charlotte. I was hoping in the moment that she might defend Ric’s honor and turn on his daughter, but that obviously didn’t happen. Still, if she’s allied with her now then certainly there will be a turn at some point in the future. I’ll cross my fingers that I don’t have to wait forever to get to that point.

4. No Longer Brothers

"If we didn't drop everyone who mocked your haircut @AJStylesOrg you wouldn't be here," – @LukeGallowsWWE #RAWTonight

— WWE Creative Humor (a sub of TKO Creative Humor) (@WWECreative_ish) May 24, 2016

Before AJ Styles competed in the ring, he grabbed a mic and tried to explain his loss at Extreme Rules. He did put over Roman as one of the best talents he’s ever wrestled but also put some blame on the involvement of The Usos as well as his own buddies, Gallows & Anderson. This prompted an appearance by the Good Brothers.

Both Luke & Karl took offense to the AJ blame. The allegiance between these three came to a close during this time in the ring. The falling out ended with Anderson saying that not only are they not brothers anymore, but they’re not friends either.

I expected Gallows & Anderson to come out a little later in the night and cost AJ his match, but that didn’t happen. That’s probably for the better because there’s no real hurry to rush the next steps in the dissolution of The Club – especially if the next step is the appearance of Finn Balor. They can wait until after his cage match against Samoa Joe to make that happen.

3. Owens’ Brilliant Banter

The main event Money in the Bank qualifier between Kevin Owens and AJ Styles was a fine TV contest and easily the best match of the night, but that’s not what I’m wanting to highlight here. Kevin Owens knows how to be funny as well as snarky and brought those factors several times during this contest. There are technically three moments in this entry, but I’ll cheat a little and group them all together.

First, there was the dropkick attempt from AJ that missed. Kevin Owens simply clapped at his opponents’ misstep, giving him a sarcastic bravo. Check that one out above in .gif form.

Second, Styles was outside of the ring when Owens got a running start off of the ropes. The announcers gasped at the thought of Kevin possibly performing a tope or a suicide dive, but Kevin had a different attack in mind. He simply rolled under the rope and gave AJ a clothesline.

Finally, there was this glorious line: “Shut up Cole, I can hear you from here!” THAT’S why Kevin Owens is a hero to so many.

2. An Owens Upset

Is it fair to call Kevin Owens’ win over AJ Styles an upset? It might not be a huge upset, but AJ did just come off of two months of feuding with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He was at least a little bit higher up the card than KO. This was the best match of the night, highlighted with a 45o Splash by Styles and a Powerbomb onto steel steps by Owens. They both brought their A game and it was a match more than worth going back and seeing if you missed the show.

When looking at all of the qualifiers (so far) for the MITB ladder match in a few weeks, the talent pool is deep. Owens joins Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, and Dean Ambrose in the battle for the briefcase. I’d be happy with any of those guys winning it. There are still two more spots left in the match and I can only hope that it’s a talent as exciting as what’s already involved in this contest.

1. Enzo Amore Returned!

Big Cass began making his entrance, then signaled that he wasn’t alone. Enzo Amore came out to join him to a huge pop and oh boy was he wired! While in the ring he recited a slew of wise cracks that I didn’t completely follow but still found myself entertained by. His energy was through the roof. Like, Robin Williams in the 1980s through the roof.

The funniest moment of the bit was when Big Cass talked about how he was going to kick off a Dudley head into a swimming pool. When he said that he was not going to miss, Enzo went ballistic reciting “not gonna miss” over and over. Seriously, he came across as psychotic here and it was great.

WWE has tested the waters with a Big Cass singles run and you know that Vince is more than ready to push him hard. It’s good that they’re not pulling that trigger just yet because there’s still so much potential in this tag team.

Thanks

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