WWE returned to the USA network for Monday Night Raw last night (April 20, 2015) from Albany, New York with all the latest build to the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for this coming Sunday night in Chicago. They didn't do a whole lot of building to it but that doesn't mean there wasn't fun to be had.
Click here to get full results with the live blog. Let's get to reacting to all the night's events.
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If you're 555 then I'm ...
How is it that so many wrestlers win the WWE world heavyweight championship and immediately end up feuding with Kane?
The ongoing saga of Seth Rollins getting a little too big for his britches and Kane continuosly attempting to knock him down a peg has reached critical mass. Something has to give. Either Kane is actually turning babyface and he can work a program proper, or they get on the same page and focus on what they've been doing with Randy "Tag Team Killer" Orton.
It's led to endless backstage bickering segments that are always more annoying than entertaining and never seem to accomplish anything meaningful that simply going ahead with what comes out of said bickering wouldn't have done anyway.
That said, I largely enjoyed the rest of it.
Kane's fired up promo telling Rollins they could have put the title on El Torito was the most entertaining thing he's done since he face-planted on Raw last year.
Triple H is exceedingly good in his role as the dad with two kids battling it out.
Orton was a lot of fun in his opening promo then even more fun randomly showing up in hitting RKO's on anyone and everyone. That he showed up and smashed Heath Slater in catering is a smark dream come true.
I'm not sure how the closing angle is supposed to help sell me on the match between Orton and Rollins at Extreme Rules, but that was a fun RKO off the cage and there's no reason to get any more up in arms about how they've built to a match that shouldn't be happening in the first place.
It was good enough.
Oh but that new finisher Rollins debuted is AWFUL. The Curb Stomp wasn't exactly the best finish in town but at least it was unique. This new finish is generic and is far too similar to Dean Ambrose's Dirty Deeds.
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All the best to all the rest
Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose: These two were booked for a Chicago Street Fight at the PPV and while it's probably going to steal the show, they were given all of three minutes to work a lame brawl that ended so abruptly it was confusing to the viewer. It's criminal how underutilised both of these two are.
The New Day vs. Lucha Dragons: This was a lovely match for a number of reasons, mostly that it felt like a fresh showcase between a babyface team on the rise against a heel team everyone is really, really starting to hate in the best way possible with an interesting dynamic (power vs. speed and athleticism) that saw a super satisfying finish. I was genuinely upset when the Dragons lost the way they did, and that's damn fine heeling. Great finish to a fun match between two fun tag teams. There are still issues with The New Day but WWE is slowly getting it right.
Fandango vs. Curtis Axel: AxelMania can do a million jobs and it won't matter, so using him to get Fandango over sounds all well and good. The problem is no one cares about Fandango and the failure to capitalize on his WrestleMania hit likely doomed him to a career of apathy, at least as this character.
Brie Bella vs. Naomi: Great to see the ladies get more time to work but these two had no chemistry in this match. Heel Naomi should absolutely be more physical but not at the expense of what makes her great to begin with. Also, if they're going to turn the Bellas can we at least get an angle for it first?
BOLIEVE: In hindsight, they always should have had Roman Reigns playing off someone like Bo Dallas. Reigns works best when he doesn't say much and he kicks ass. Having Bo crack on him and Reigns deliver the strong "BOLIEVE THAT" to close out a short but sweet segment was the best way to play it. It won't do anything to save how awful this Big Show-Reigns match at the PPV will be, but at least it made for a good segment here.
Fella: Sheamus beat on Zack Ryder while talking about being a real man and the whole thing felt uncomfortable, and not in a "my god, he's killing him" way but a "this is awkward, can this be over now" way.
John Cena vs. Kane: The streak of fun matches in the US championship open challenge run continues. Yes, this despite the fact that it was the 768th meeting between Cena and Kane. If you disagree, I would love to hear why. Rusev using the Russian chain to mash Cena's face in a little later was also a fun visual but badly exposed how silly it is to have a match like this when current WWE doesn't allow choking.
Damien Mizdow vs. The Miz: Summer Rae turning on Mizdow was the obvious play here and you know what? I'm glad it worked out that way. Summer was the sexy lamp, yes, but what's worse is she was only rolling with Mizdow after he kissed her without her consent. I like to imagine this was her revenge.
Bray Wyatt says words: Words. More words. Even more words.
Ryback vs. Adam Rose: Dumb fun is dumb fun.
Considering this was a go home show that didn't do a whole hell of a lot to get me excited about the show it was going home to, I can't speak too highly of it but this was generally fun.
Grade: C+
That's it from me, Cagesiders. Now it's your turn to sound off in the comments section below with all your thoughts on last night's show. How did you like it, if you liked it at all?