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| MOOD LIGHTING capped off a strong episode Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Our first match of the evening was Naomi vs. Summer Rae with Layla accompanying her to the ring. You really have to love the state of women’s wrestling in the E right now, and I feel it can only get better. Here we have to women who can actually wrestle. Who cares what their background was? They can go, and WWE is letting them go. AWESOME. I could have done without the distractions from Layla, but other than that and a few weird looking moves, I really liked this match. Naomi won with a roll up to a bridging pin after taking advantage of a distraction from Layla on the apron.
More, please.
Second match of the evening was a rematch from last week. Sin Cara took on Justin Gabriel. I wasn’t really about the match from last week. I had some high hopes for that one and it was kind of lame. This week’s was much better. The story they told in the match was great. Gabriel spent the match either trying to out power Sin Cara or to match him with the high flying they are both so good at. Gabriel tried to keep Sin Cara grounded for the beginning of the match, but Sin Cara fought out of it and got his offense going.
This match flowed better than last week. They had the feel of each other, and it just clicked. Gabriel got the win after a 450 splash. Sin Cara was crazy far from Gabriel’s corner, but somehow Gabriel still managed to get there. I was really impressed. Good stuff. Bravo on the matches this week, Superstars. All I could have used was maybe a little back stage scene. Everything else was great.
The Magician's Recaps
Like I said above, RAW was pretty great this week. Seriously, effort is a good thing. WWE should put some effort in every week. Which you think it would, because if you’re putting on great shows every week, you’re getting those precious casual fans watching again. Then again, what the hell do I know?
Anyway, the recaps this week started out with Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt in a steel cage. The shrug before Jericho jumps from the top of the cage makes me love him all the more. I think that speaks to why people are totally cool with Jericho coming back for these runs. When the Rock and Batista came back, there’s no where they were going to do something like that for our entertainment. Jericho does it for the love of the game, and that’s why he’s great. I just hope he didn’t destroy his knee on the way down.
We then segue into the Bella Twins with that Jerry Springer business. Does the WWE’s target audience of children even know who Jerry Springer is? How pointless was he here? And where the hell was Steve Wilkos? I’m fine with this feud, but Springer added nothing to it.
But you want to talk about adding something to a feud, that Paul Heyman and John Cena promo was outstanding. It’s that "embrace the hate" angle done right, because Heyman is basically the Emperor. This works coming from Heyman rather than Kane because Heyman’s got some credibility as an advocate. What he does works. He’s the one behind the 21-and-one. Heyman knows how to win. Cena spelling out his case works here too. He likes who he is, so why should he change? I appreciate that. Giving Cena’s character some depth is never going to be a bad thing. I did think Cena was going to clock Heyman at the end, so it was pleasantly surprising when he didn’t . Not that Heyman shouldn’t get decked once in a while, but that shouldn’t be the goal. Incidental contact works fine, thanks.
Our final recap of the night was the Randy Orton/Roman Reigns match. The most memorable thing from this was Seth Rollins almost being impaled on live, national television. This was terrifying. Please don’t get impaled, Rollins. That would not be best for business. Reigns showed signs here of being a normal babyface and not the hulking, Cena-like, impossible-to-beat WWE hero that we all fear he will become. He showed some smarts by tossing Rollins and Kane out before the cage came down so he could have Orton all to himself. More importantly, he caught a beating here and looks human and vulnerable. EVERYBODY takes a beating sometimes, and Roman took it like a champ here. Vulnerability isn’t a bad thing. It lets the audience identify with him, and allows the heels to look like they can actual do something without getting murked. Keep showing Reigns’ vulnerability, and you won’t have people turning against him like they did with Cena.
Random Thoughts
- How was Sin Cara here and winning the tag titles on NXT on the same night? HE'S A WITCH!!!
- During the Sin Cara/Gabriel match, the commentators kept saying that Sin Cara was a veteran over Gabriel when Gabriel's been in the company longer. Weird.
- I didn't realize Rollins almost died until after the show. That was WAY TOO CLOSE!
- I'm hoping that WWE keeps up the momentum with another solid show this week to combat Monday Night Football. I'm feeling a bit done with the league, but I always watch wrestling over football anyway. I would appreciate Raws where they are actively trying to pull eyes from the NFL, though. They stand no chance against it, but the effort would be appreciated.