TV Show Review 013 WWE Raw Recap & Review 110915

WWE RAW in Manchester, UK (with WWE Heavyweight Tournament) 110915 [1993->] 4/5

} In Ring 

+ Triple H came out to the ring to the admiration of the English audiences as he offered his condolences to the injured Champion, Seth Rollins who injured his right knee in Dublin, Ireland. With the Championship vacated, the already number one contender for the title got called out to hear the proposition from the Authority, that was before he methodically laid out the Samoan's career before giving him the ultimatum to be the next sellout wrestler and play to their rules or rather got thrown back to the back of the line again. Roman Reigns instead chose expectedly the latter, refusing the handout but had to fight for it all over again. (+1 for the Hunter's manipulation skills & +1 for Roman's stance)

> Running Thread: WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament

1. Roman Reigns vs Big Show [1st Match of the 1st Round]

+ It was a mountain to climb figuratively and physically for Roman Reigns to get the better of the Big Show, considering the history between them and the difference of build. The opening exchange proved exactly that as the World's Largest Athlete dominating the smaller Samoan with his superior strength and Roman needed to use his athleticism to just keep himself in the running. But when he tried to match his strength, it took him at least a few tries to at last picked the giant up for a Samoan Drop after elbowing out of a Bear Hug. A lot out of Reigns' arsenal were used to keep him at bay and after a couple of Drive-Byes, a Superman Punch was ready to be launched but Big Show countered it with a Choke Slam but it wasn't enough to burst the Samoan's bubble. As he lined up for a Knockout Punch, the surging Roman countered it with his own Punch and he followed it with a Spear on the woozy giant.
(Roman Reigns won by pin fall [Spear], Rating = 4/5, Duration = 8m 24s, +1 to Roman's form & willingness to earn back his title shot)

2. Kevin Owens /Intercontinental Champion\ vs Titus O'neal [2nd Match of the 1st Round]

+ An opening speech made by Kevin Owens that met with cheers from the UK audiences when he criticize WWE's "stale product" but then met with jeers when he turned the table on them by criticizing their nation. Titus O'neal started the match leading the exchange but Kevin's ring awareness allowed him to take the control back after the break, which then again changed hand because of the Primetime Player's resilience who landed a number of hard finishes. When he tried to execute a Powerbomb, the Champion countered it with his own Pump-Up Powerbomb, rendering him the winner.
(Kevin Owens won by p/f [PuP], R = 3.5/5, D = 3m 29s, +1 to Kevin's form)

} Backstage + A nice and quick interview of  the number one contender for the Divas Champion, Paige, by Renee. (+1 to Paige's charisma)

3. Becky Lynch vs Paige

+ A relevant match for the ongoing storyline in the Women Division and also a treat for the home crowd, clearly behind the feisty Paige who got a hold of the opening exchange by doing everything that bordered on breaking the rules. Her every moves were matched by the resilient Becky Lynch who showcased her wrestling abilities and forced the British to use every move in her arsenal to keep up.  A number of finishes were exchanged and a slew of near falls were made but when Paige were able to execute her Ram-Paige, it was too close to the ropes for her to make a clean pin. Another attempt to finish the match were made but it wasn't in the middle of the ring enough and when they were at it again, a quick roll-up were made by Paige with a pull of the pants but when it was countered by Becky, she did the same to Paige and it was successful this time around. The loser then blindsided the winner and proceeded to execute her PTO on top of the announcer's table before her Survivor Series opponent rushed out to save her comrade.

(Becky Lynch won by p/f [Roll-up], R = 4/5, D = 05m 00s, +1 to both form & +1 to the storyline)

4. the Miz vs Dolph Ziggler [3rd Match of the 1st Round]

+ The early exchange was quite even between the two wrestlers but Dolph Ziggler looked always with the edge over the Miz, that was until the latter decided to focus his attack on the left knee. The attack proved dividend as he grounded the Showoff but he just couldn't snuff out his burning resilience. Tried as he might, Dolph just couldn't be put down even after a Figure Four Leg Lock and out of nowhere a Superkick was landed on the Miz's face, surprising everybody and maybe even him himself.
(Dolph Ziggler won by p/f [Superkick] - R = 3.5/5 - D = 5m, +1 to the Showoff's form)

} At the Entrance + The US Champion and his alliance Zep Colter came out to address the British audience while selling their 'agenda'. (+1 to the Mex-America)

5. Natalya vs Naomi

+ A challenge was made by Natalya after the sneak attack by Sasha Banks from the previous week and Naomi took to herself accept it, making it an interesting dynamic in the ring. As far as that potentially could go, it only amounted to a rather short match with the higher skilled veteran triumphed over the BAD member despite a number of heel attempts to disrupt the match but unsuccessfully in the end. The Boss blindsided Natalya to the cheers of the crowd but got countered with a Sharpshooter instead, that was until Tamina stepped in and allowed the leader to apply her Bank Statement.

(Natalya won by p/f,  R=4/5, +1 to Natalya's form, +1 to the BAD's heel run & the shade at the end & -1 for the poor Natalya costume)

6. Sheamus with King Barrett vs Cesaro [4th Match of the 1st Round]

+ The Money in the Bank winner was almost at an equal footing with the crowd-favourite Cesaro but with the Swiss at the form of his life, Sheamus needed to do more than the usual and he did just that by sneaking in an Irish Curse Backbreaker. He dominated the exchange by powering over the smaller wrestler but every opportunity he got Cesaro countered with superior wrestling skills and athletic prowess, highlighted when he countered the Irish's Breakbreaker with a modified Body Drop. The flow after that kept changing hand with both of them able to showcase their finishes but it was a surprise for everybody when the Swiss Superman kicked out of the Mohawk's White Noise and even the Irish's Brogue Kick was countered by him into a Sharpshooter. They later then exchanged uppercuts but the uppercut maestro Cesaro would always came out on top and it moved towards the ringside as he launched a running uppercut on Sheamus, celebrating it with the MU footballers in the crowd. With the distraction of the accompanying King Barrett, the Irish landed a clothesline on the Swiss, annoyed with the latter's interaction with Wayne Rooney, a celebrity attendee, and when King Barrett stepped in to belittling him, he rightfully got smacked instead. With Sheamus fuming over the incident, he only came to when Cesaro landed another running uppercut and couldn't recover in time to kick out of the Swiss's wonderfully technical roll up who pinned for the win.

(Cesaro won by p/f [Modified Roll-up], R = 4.5/5, D = 12m 26s, +1 to Cesaro's form & +1 for the entertaining side story)

} Backstage + An unpleasant interview for Renee as she tried to be professional around Prince Pretty and his companion Summer Rae. (+1 to Tyler Breeze's character)

7. Dean Ambrose  vs Tyler Breeze with Summer Rae [5th Match of the 1st Round]

+ As confident as he appeared to be, when it came down to it, Tyler Breeze looked really nervous when he had to perform in his RAW debut and it would be more challenging when the opponent was Dean Ambrose, the resident Lunatic Fringe. The senior definitely had the upper hand in the opening exchange and even got the chance to mock his shtick in the only way he can but a swift kick to the head allowed Prince Pretty to turn the tide and he followed it rather well to keep the Lunatic down. When a surge of energy got Dean going again, they later exchanged close pin falls and even he kicked out of Tyler's pin with a leverage off the middle rope, followed it with his signature spring-off-the-rope clothesline which turned the latter inside out. As he went off the top rope to land a double-footed kick, that high risk maneuver got Ambrose injured and the opportunist Breeze took advantage of it by throwing him into the steel posts thrice, further making that left shoulder worse. As he continuing the assault on the injury, the always constant support of the crowd got the Lunatic Fringe going and even with the referee's concern, he was able to throw the persistent debutante out long enough to recover and caught him in a surprise roll-up.
(Dean Ambrose won by p/f [Roll-up], R = 4/5, D = 07m 35s, +1 to Dean's form & +1 for the debutante's form)

8. the New Day /Tag Team Champion\ vs Neville & the Usos

+ The Tag Team Champion trio came out to address their lack of inclusion in the WWE Heavyweight Tournament while entertainingly listed out their accomplishments, a commemorative 'Unicorn Horn' out for the fallen leader, Seth Rollins, and then finishing it by needlessly taking a jab on the home crowd. The only logical opponents for these love-to-hate heels were the locally homegrown Neville and the returning Samoans the Usos that the crowd definitely happy to see. With almost a shot-for-shot replay experience for Xavier Woods, he quickly evaded the same move that caught him last week but returning from the break, we were in the in middle of the 'Unicorn Stampede' that was the result of Big E's Belly to Belly Suplex. With the de-ja-vu going in favor of them, the trio kept going up in their confidence and dolling out their 'positive' moves, the legal New Day member got caught up in the moment and Jimmy Uso sneaked in a Samoan Drop to hit a stalemate. The Man that Gravity Forgot got tagged in and subsequently laid his finishes down on Woods to the cheers of the home crowd but when the other two to break the count, the Usos came to his aid and side kicked them out, followed it by their signature Uso dives off the top rope. With the crowd behind him, Neville could never let them all the fun to themselves and rewarded them with his own signature turn on the air and fell down on the others, even his own teammates. He then tried to follow it with his finishing move in the ring but the other New Day members did just enough at the ringside for the British to set it up again the second time. When he was at the top, Kofi Kingston sneaked in a trombone to distract the referee long enough for Big E to make Neville lose his footing off the turnbuckle and Xavier to finished it up with a pin using the rope.
(the New Day won by p/f [assisted pin], R = 4/5, D = 5m 26s, +1 to the New Day's form & +1 to the Usos' and Neville's form)

> Running Thread: The Wyatt Family versus the Brothers of Destruction

} Backstage + The leader of  the Wyatt Family came out to the ring to 'pay respect' to the Brothers of Destruction but it was just a front for him to further punctuating his claim on the duo's 'souls' and his one and true power. When he knelt down to 'start the apocalypse', the screen lit up with an outward vortex that followed with last week's video package of the two legends hand in hand in their formative years together in WWE, culminating with the signature thunders and fires being lit up together but not surprisingly by the now shocked Bray Wyatt. His fear was answered with the famous bell sounds of the Dead Man rang across the arena, with the entrance covered with his infamous fog and the Demon's fire and the Brothers of Destruction came out together to the cheers of the crowd and the shell shock of the Eater of Worlds. With the crowd at their feet, the leader brought in his backup of the Family members to the ring and after a few moment of standoff, Bray Wyatt started to gain confidence in numbers and tried to initiate the fight first but to no avail. The Brothers then turned away Harper and Rowan the first time and when the Black Sheep came into the ring, the duo had to dispose of the rushing Luke and Eric with a Chokeslam each but got blindsided with a double clothesline by Strawman. Kane and the Undertaker then simultaneously rose up and together sent the biggest of the Family member out of the ring and over the announcer's table. They then came into the ring to dispose of the one who started to mess with their legacy in the first place: Bray Wyatt and a Double Chokeslam by the Brothers of Destruction seemed to be the perfect way to end this encounter and punctuated their return to the WWE Universe.
(+1 for the return of the Brothers of Destruction, +1 to the storyline & +1 to amazing crowd's reaction)

"An interesting opportunity arises out of an unfortunate situation that give a unique opportunity for all the wrestlers to show their mettle while the return of the Brothers of Destruction gave an awesome ending to an amazing show."

(WWE Channel, Rating - TV-PG, Founded 02211980, Episodes >>, Founders Vince & Linda McMahon, Duration - 2 hrs 15+ mnts, Genre - Wrestling, Action, Drama, Comedy, WWE Universe, Violence)