5 Things To Expect on WWE Monday Night Raw 7/13/15

Welcome to this week's WWE Raw preview article brought to you by Condo On The Moon. Last week's Raw took placed in the loudest city in the WWE Universe, Chicago, and this week's Raw takes place from one of the quietest crowds in the WWE Universe in Atlanta, Georgia.We're six days away from the WWE Battleground PPV! The Beast Brock Lesnar will be on tonight's show. There's alot to get to and in the fifth point in this piece I will reveal my full match card for the Battleground show.

1.) Team Bella vs. Paige 

I'm starting off with the divas this week because if nobody is going to pay any attention to it? I will. I feel that Nikki Bella has had a stellar Diva's title reign which came at the wrong time. What I mean by that is that Nikki won the Divas Championship from AJ Lee at Survivor Series and has held onto the title to the point AJ left the company and that left a bitter taste in the WWE fans mouth. Next the back and forth character changes between Nikki and her sister Brie. What side of the fence are they on? Are they really inspiring young women with they do in the ring? Or is this a spin off from their presentation on Total Divas when Nikki and Brie change moods in every other episode. I think this feud with Paige is really working with the current storyline on Total Divas with The Bellas supposedly leaving the WWE and the younger Divas on the roster are trying to position themselves into their spots once they leave. We have Team Bella which now includes Alicia Fox. Paige is all on her own and she lost to Brie Bella last week on Raw. Tonight on Raw I think Paige will take on Alicia Fox or she'll take on both Alicia and Brie in a Handicap Match in order to get an opportunity at Nikki's Divas Championship at Battleground. I think tonight the Tough Enough judge and Total Diva's gorgeous challenger will one up Team Bella.

2.) Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns

In this week's Michael Cole WWE.com interview ^^ he sat down with Roman Reigns and talked about the crazy year he's had in the WWE. Roman talked about he in a way conquers everything that comes his way and he talked about how he got to where he is today. In the mean time Cole was indirectly mentioning Bray Wyatt and what happen at Money in the Bank, but Reigns continue to ignore the subject. Cole finally brought up Wyatt and Reigns said that he's a weird cat and he honestly doesn't understand why Wyatt is attacking him and what does "Anyone but You" mean. Reigns continues to say that Wyatt is not in his head, but obviously that's not the case especially with the most recent matches Reigns has been having. I think this something out of the box and once again we got the I can't handle a long feud wrestling fan-base chiming already and saying "Oh I'm tired of this feud" and there's hasn't been one match yet. I think tonight Roman should come out and call out Bray Wyatt to the ring not the smoking backstage area call him out to the ring and they brawl tonight. If that doesn't happen I think we'll see Roman Reigns & Ryback vs. Big Show & Bray Wyatt.

3.) WWE United States Championship Title Scene

The feud with John Cena and Kevin Owens has been alot of fun for not only WWE programming, but also the WWE United States Championship. John Cena and Cesaro have engage in two fantastic bouts in the past two Raw's. I was there for last week's Cena/Cesaro main event match and that's one of the best Raw matches I've ever seen in person. Also after the show where Cena put over remember folks put over Cesaro in a very emotional and motivational speech. I don't know what's going to happen with Cesaro, but it would be cool to see him added to this US Championship Match at Battleground. I think tonight Kevin Owens will fight Cesaro. I think John Cena will have US Open Challenge and once again Owens will interrupt and then Cena will be on commentary during the Owens/Cesaro match. I think for tonight it's important for once again Cena getting the best of Owens sneak attacks or if like I mention earlier if Cesaro's added to this match he needs to lay out both Owens and Cena.

4.) The Beast Invades The Dirty South

The Beast comes to Atlanta for tonight's Raw. What final statement will the former WWE Champion make before Battleground? The match is already known, but you never know with the WWE they can have a Contract Signing in the final segment of the go-home show to add more steam to a big time match like this one. How will Triple H react to Lesnar causing chaos on last week's Raw? How will Rollins convince the WWE Universe that he can beat Brock Lesnar? I think tonight Seth Rollins will fight against Neville or we'll get a rematch between him and Ryback from last week's SmackDown which I thought it was good match. Would be upset if Rollins got the best of Lesnar tonight? Or you finish with Raw with Rollins taking a little tour in Suplex City? Lot's of questions, but I think they need to hit a home run with this feud tonight.

5.) WWE Battleground 2015 Official Match Card

1.) Battleground Kickoff Match
Neville vs. Rusev

2.) WWE Tag Team Championship Match
The Prime Time Players (c) vs. The New Day

3.) Triple Threat Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Ryback (c) vs. The Miz vs. Big Show

4.) Dean Ambrose vs. Kane

5.) No DQ Match
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt

6.) WWE United States Championship Match
John Cena (c) vs. Kevin Owens

7.) WWE Divas Championship Match
Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige

8.) Randy Orton vs. Sheamus

9.) WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Brock Lesnar

Hope you guys enjoy this week's Raw preview and enjoy Raw and Battleground

Check out my radio show the Pro Wrestling Experience every Wednesday from 10am-1pm CT on ChicagoLand Sports Radio on TuneIn Radio

Follow me on Twitter @JoshLopezCSR

5 Things To Expect on WWE Monday Night Raw 6/22/15

Welcome to this week's WWE Monday Night Raw preview brought to you by Condo On The Moon. The road to WWE Battleground makes a pit stop in Indianapolis, Indiana for Monday Night Raw at the Bankers Life Field House. Last week in WWE programming we found out that Seth Rollins will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Title against Brock Lesnar at Battleground, Kevin Owens destroy MGK, and Bray Wyatt begins the mind games with Roman Reigns. We're just about 4 weeks away from the third annual Battleground PPV in St. Louis, Missiouri. Here's five things you can expect to see on tonight's edition of WWE Monday Night Raw.

1.) Is Seth Rollins title reign coming to an end?  

The future of the WWE Seth Rollins, current WWE World Heavyweight Champion, has had a big chip on his shoulder since the disbanding of The Shield. Rollins was "Plan B" for The Authority and now Rollins is on his own. In a promo segment with The Authority last week on Raw, Triple H stated that its time to put the pressure on Rollins and at the upcoming Battleground PPV, Rollins will be putting his world title on the line against a raging "Beast" Brock Lesnar who made his return to WWE Programming last week. As it seems like the entire world is against Seth Rollins. How will Rollins carry himself over these next couple of weeks as he prepares for the biggest match of his career? In the video above you'll see a promo from SmackDown where Rollins states that this is the match he wants. There's no doubt Seth Rollins is a confident World Champion and I encourage that, but how can anybody believe that Rollins can dethrone the Beast? Rollins stole the WWE World Title at WrestleMania and has squeezed out victories over the past three months. It seems like the Authority are in good graces with Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar after Stephanie suspended Brock on the Raw after Mania. I think for tonight we'll see the first of a few promo battles between Rollins and Heyman. Rollins will subtly convince the authority to be on his side. If Rollins wrestling tonight I think he has a match with Kane.

2.) Owens vs. Cena III?

I put a question mark next to the title of this point because what would you do with the John Cena and Kevin Owens feud? Owens is on a roll and it doesn't matter what show he's on, Kevin Owens is seemingly un beatable at this point. Owens on Monday destroyed Dolph Ziggler and MGK and declared that he want's a rematch with John Cena and not just any type of rematch, this time he wants the United States Championship on the line. On NXT Owens gets in a massive brawl with Samoa Joe. Owens defeated Cesaro in a good back and forth match on SmackDown. In a couple of weeks Owens will be defending the NXT Championship against Finn Balor on the July 4th Special on the WWE Network from Tokyo, Japan. For tonight's Raw I think we'll see John Cena return after taking a week of television off. I think Owens and Cena will have another promo segment which will lead to Owens laying out Cena to the point he'll won't be able to compete at Battleground or we'll see the Authority suspend Owens for a month due to his actions to not only John Cena, MGK, but maybe Owens lays out an announcer on Raw tonight.

3.) Raw Matches 

I'm going to put out a list of matches that we'll possibly see in this three hour Raw from Indianapolis.

1.) Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

2.) Ryback vs. The Miz w/Big Show on Commentary

3.) Darren Young w/Titus O'Neil vs. Kofi Kingston w/The New Day

4.) Dolph Ziggler vs. Bo Dallas

5.) Sheamus & Kane vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose

6.) King Barrett vs. Neville w/R-Truth on Commentary

7.) Alicia Fox vs. Paige

8.) Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton


4.) WWE Battleground Mid-Card Feuds 

I think as the weeks go by it would be good to take a big picture aspect approach in setting up the card for Battleground in four weeks. I think we can see Randy Orton and Sheamus pairing up at Battleground. I wouldn't be surprised if Dean Ambrose and Kane will meet at up at the show. Prime Time Players defend their tag team titles against The New Day. Finally in a three way match Ryback defends the IC Championship against Miz and Big Show.


5.) Roman Reigns & Bray Wyatt Feud 

I'll keep this short and sweet because I want this story to play out because it's this feud has the potential to be something we haven't seen in a longtime or ever. I love this pairing of Reigns and Wyatt because we can see major character developments with both characters over the next couple of weeks. I think for tonight we'll continue to play mind games with Reigns and continue to bring up Roman's past and his family. Reigns will be upset and I just can't wait to see what they do with Roman and Bray on Raw tonight.

Hope you guys enjoy this week's Raw preview article.

You can follow me on Twitter @JoshLopezCSR and I'll follow you back just let me know that you seen this piece.

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5 Talking Points Coming Out Of Raw In Denver

It was back to normal for the gang in the WWE as they hit Denver, Colorado for last night’s Monday Night Raw. It was a very interesting show followed by a Stone Cold Podcast with Triple H. This show had a couple of great matches and a lot of interesting moments giving us lots of talking points coming out of last night’s Raw. Some horrible stuff was mixed in but as Triple H admitted to Stone Cold, writing 3 hours of television is not an easy thing to do. So let us dive in with what most people would be talking about around the water cooler. If they ever get past, why Seattle didn’t just run the damn ball on Sunday?

1. Rehabilitation of Roman Reigns Continues: It was a mixed bagged night for the man the WWE want to crown the next king of the company in Roman Reigns. He finished strong I suppose that is the main thing. In the opening segment, he is forced into conceding his Wrestlemania title shot to have a match with the winner between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan for that right. This ended up being the big announcement that Triple H had promised on the Live Smackdown on Thursday. This to me made Reigns look foolish and dumb not how I want to feel about my babyface making a run at the championship. WWE was going for more of this guy is not afraid to fight but it didn’t work for me.

The night seemed to continue to go down hill for Reigns as he yet again had to face the Big Show and worse yet he got screwed by Rollins and lost the match. Why you have your top guy or the guy you want to be the top guy losing to Big Show in 2015 is a mystery to me regardless of the circumstances. Later in the night, Daniel Bryan came to talk with Reigns and hoped he would not let his anger for Seth Rollins get in the way of Bryan's match with him later that night. He also informed Reigns that is was not going to be Rollins he would face at fast lane as Bryan stated he was going to win and move on to face him. A less than amused Reigns was rather dismissive of Bryan and told him to get out of his locker room. All making him look very much like a heel. Having his own locker room even gave the impression of being a heel.

At the end of the night everything would come full circle as Reigns come out and Spear the Big Show take out one half of J&J security and when Noble was caught trying to nail Bryan with Rollins briefcase Reigns would Superman Punch Rollins and Bryan would hit the running knee for the 1-2-3. Reigns in effect helped Daniel Bryan win and thus the two will square off at Fast Lane. A good night for Reigns but the real question will be what happens when he beats Bryan and retains his shot? That is what is going to happen, for any of you holding out hope for Daniel Bryan. I can say with full certainty he is not going to win this match. His job is to get a great match out of Roman Reigns and get him ready to battle the Beast Brock Lesnar. If fans accept, Reigns after that WWE will have pulled one over on them. I don’t sense fans not being smart enough to see through this whole charade.

2. Bray Wyatt Calling Out Taker?: It has been widely speculated that Bray Wyatt has been being build strong with the hopes for a match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 31.  Bray after another big win in which he pretty much no sold on Dolph Ziggler to hit his own finisher. He later would cut a promo that seemed to be geared at the Undertaker. It could be in reference to others if Taker isn’t the guy but the tease is clearly implied at Taker. Bray is asking a man who was once feared and now is a shadow of himself to come find him. If this ends up being true, it will be two huge names for Bray Wyatt in back to back Wrestlemanias. He lost to John Cena last year it would seem likely he would lose to Taker if he does in fact show himself this year. Still it is yet another big match potentially for Bray on the largest stage of them all. 

3. Mizdow vs. Miz starting to come to a head? Miz last night fired Mizdow as his stunt double and re-hired him as his personal assistant. Miz has been growing more and more frustrated with Mizdow stealing the attention that he feels he deserves. Give WWE credit on this one they took a character that most of their audience felt had X-Pac type of heat and have used that to make a star out of Damien Sandow. They also have been patient building this mid-card angle slowly with more care than almost any other mid-card angle you can name in the last 6 months. It has been a good job and should land the two a singles match at Wrestlemania. Sadly in might be on the pre-show but will see it has been a great feud and Mizdow is insanely over with the people. I hate to admit this but it is not just of his own doing but the great work of the Miz in his role. I will never like the Miz and if he left WWE T.V, tomorrow I would never miss him. He has done a remarkable job in this angle and really, in the end the person who will get the most out of this isn’t himself. So good for him for acting like heel and getting someone over that is rare today in wrestling. Someone has to do it, as it is clear the people on commentary on Raw can’t get anyone or anything over. I would complain about the horrible job they do but we can do that every week. Booker traded out for Lawler has fixed nothing and things are status quo.

4. Randy Orton Return Teased: Seth Rollins and Triple H made mention of Randy Orton who since making his movie has been in MIA from the WWE. Triple H referenced him in stating that Seth needed to step up and make the most of his opportunities unlike how Randy Orton never did. Referring to his failed title run at this time last year at this time Rollins also reminded us all how he was the one that took Orton out of action by curb stomping him on the announce table. This is likely going to be Seth’s Mania program with Randy Orton and I have it as my earlier favorite for match of the night at Wrestlemania. I do this with full realization we could have a Daniel Bryan against Dolph Ziggler match. I still give the nod to Seth and Randy. They have a better story and more reason to be invested in their match. Bryan vs. Ziggler would be a great match but I am not sure what  exactly I am suppose to be rooting for in that match other than that. Faces against face matches are tough under any circumstances but without a belt or reason for them to fight it become even tougher.

5. Triple H talks with Stone Cold: It was an interesting chat between the two. I would not consider it even half as compelling as the McMahon and Austin interview. Triple H gave what I expected, which were very politically correct answers and even on topics that were designed to get a reaction and Austin got none. Triple H stated the choices Chyna has made since leaving the WWE are why she would never get into the WWE Hall of Fame when asked if she was worthy. Triple H did put her over and say based on her resume of work she deserved to be inducted. In terms of C.M Punk, it was pretty much nothing topic. Triple H referred to Punk being distant and odd at times. When he heard rumors of Punk’s discontent, he would go to him only to be told by Punk that everything was fine. When asked If Punk were to ever-return, Triple H said, he would not be opposed to it and claims to have no beef with him at all. In talking about the current product and the fallout of the Royal Rumble and his work at NXT Triple H made it fairly clear where to direct your blame. It wasn’t at it him, it was at Vince McMahon. He didn’t say it in such a direct fashion but when you contrast his talk about current main roster issues and NXT it was fairly obvious that as he stated the buck still stops with Vince McMahon. It was a friendly chat that never seemed to get the least bit hostile which if you had listened to first time Triple H was on with Austin should not have shocked you. Both freely admit to being friends and the interview always stayed in that tone. This was an interesting interview but not the compelling must see T.V that Vince’s sit-down with Stone Cold was. Speculation on who is next to sit in Austin’s chair? My guess would be Stephanie McMahon. Not sure, how that one would go as Stephanie tends to be the most guarded of the three family members active in the company.

Therefore, the road to Wrestlemania marches on as we hit a little off-ramp heading towards Fast Lane. While it promises to add some stakes to Wrestlemania, it will merely confirm the directions we were already heading. Keeping in mind the network is free for new subscribers and here in Canada free all month as well they needed to make this special event before Mania mean something beyond just being a throw-a-way show and they have attempted to do that. I am much more excited to see Triple H’s latest vision in NXT with their special coming up on February 11 being headlined by Kevin Owens challenging Sami Zayn for the NXT Championship. In any case, the WWE seems to have steered the ship out of troubled waters for now as they hope for clear sailing the rest of the way to Wrestlemania. Something tells me the water will get really choppy when Daniel Bryan losses to Roman Reigns. This might have been a very bad idea or a brilliant idea time will tell. My guess is this like the Rumble will end badly if the goal is to get Roman Reigns over as a babyface heading to Mania.

Summerslam: Dolph vs Miz

Next up in no real order of importance we have the match-up between The Miz and Dolph Ziggler. This is for the Greater Ohio State Title, but it is only that the Intercontinental Championship feels about as important that I can make that joke. This match does feature Cleveland’s contribution to the WWE roster however with these two. Can we say this is also a match-up of one the internet fan base’s favourite wrestlers and one of their most hated in this match? I think it is a fair assessment when you consider how despite being consistently buried time after time Ziggler still receives cheers. While in contrast, The Miz is given opportunity after opportunity that he blows consistently. If there is any justice in this crazy world of wrestling, Dolph Ziggler should win this match. However, there is no real justice in the WWE as we all live in a communist universe that is ruled not by Putin but Vincent K. McMahon. I am sure will have lots of Putin talk in the Rusev vs. Swagger preview. For now let us focus in on these polar opposites at least as they appear to a large portion of the WWE fans.

The Miz is in a new gimmick that some people actually like which I can hardly believe. How anyone is buying  The Miz getting to live out what no doubt is his dream do be doing The Rock’s old Hollywood movie star gimmick. I can’t buy The Miz as a wrestler and you are going to try to sell me he is movie star based on appearances in WWE Studios movies the Marine 3 & 4. Oh and he was in some made for T.V Disney flick that I can’t remember. Kind of, like how Miz can’t remember the moment many fans despise him most for in Main Eventing Wrestlemania with John Cena.

Now if I could forget The Miz existing that would be something I would welcome. Sadly, I do not see the budget cuts leading to The Miz being on the unemployment line. The fact he currently holds the title that Randy Savage held and is considered by many the greatest to hold that title. That contrast between The Miz and Randy Savage explains all you need to know about why the Intercontinental Title has been rendered meaningless.

The WWE in their latest attempt to restore the title has been using Dolph bringing up this titles great history and the fact The Miz treats it like a prop as his motivation to win the title. This honestly is not a bad reason to have for some kind of motivation to this feud. They have also tried to play up the fact that Ziggler and The Miz have been friends for years. I have no idea if this is factual beyond the two meeting in the WWE. Real or not it also is not a bad little side bar to add to this feud.

When you think there was a time that Miz once held, the WWE Title and Dolph held the World Championship it makes this feud over the Intercontinental Title seem somewhat sad on many levels.

Dolph’s story is one of his own self-inflicted wounds along with some of the worst luck perhaps in the history of wrestling to some degree.

Let’s begin with Dolph’s self inflicted wounds first of all that involve him doing what he actually does best and that is run his mouth. He has been very vocal about how he has not been given chances over the years rubbing the WWE management types to be angry with him. In addition, they are frustrated with him not listening to them in regards to his in-ring style, which they have wanted him to do. When you consider his history with concussions that cost him his big run with the World Heavyweight Title it makes sense.  Taking a kick to the head from Jack Swagger that put him on the shelf for over a month.

Talk is the WWE sees pushing Ziggler as a main event talent is not worth it given his injury history. In addition, his unwilling nature to listen to reason in regards to his in-ring style. I like Dolph and this might be a B.S excuse on the part of WWE but it is a legitimate concern. In any case, Dolph future has been very much in question for sometime. It seems of late Dolph might be out of the doghouse finally. Likely wishful thinking and I am not sure if he won the Intercontinental title that would convince me he is out of the woods.   

Safe to say if he fails to win and The Miz retains the crowd will hate it. Some will say this will just be helping The Miz get over his new heel character. I would suggest that the Miz has become the new version of what we referenced as X-Pac heat. This is a reference to someone just simply being hated and not wanted to be involved in the show at all. In other words, just go away and get off my television screen. I proclaim that for 2014 we need to modernize the term to Miz heat.

In reality, these guys are legitimately friends from all I have seen outside of the WWE bubble. Which usually is a good recipe for two guys looking to pull off a good match? Ziggler is capable of pulling anyone into having a good match, even The Miz. I seriously doubt this match will get a lot of time. Dolph will always do whatever he can with whatever he is given to show off his stuff.

There has not been a ton of build to this feud but more than you would think for a match that is likely so far down the card. There is only one outcome that will be acceptable to for most fans watching live and in the viewing audience. If Dolph doesn’t win, the match I am sure Triple H will be happy to take your angry tweets and chuckle at them.

It should be a decent match given all the factors in play. Will see if it actually turns out that way or it just flops. 

 

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Raw Notebook: Best Raw In Recent Memory

It didn’t start out as a Raw to remember, but by the end of the night it might have been one of the best Raw’s in the past 5 years. I wanted a night of sleep to consider it and not just scream out this is the best Raw ever, when I know it would be just said in excitement. It really was a good show and one of the best in a long time. That has little to do with the opening segment in which John Cena tried to play babyface to The Authority with Stephanie and Triple H. It was revealed as part of the segment that Cena will appear on the cover of WWE 2k15. Rather than give a whole rundown of the show I will speak more to some general themes that made it great.

Surprise Returns:

This show featured three big returns and two of them came within the same segment of Raw. The other was the new wife of one C.M Punk the lovely and talented A.J Lee. I went into great detail about her return last night and what it all means which is up on site for you to check out if you missed it.

The WWE promised a returning Champion that was a social media star and basically a global icon. The word on the street was The Miz was in waiting to return and the description fit him well. He would come out to basically crickets and this looked like a case of the WWE over hyping something and failing to deliver. Some had speculated close to Raw hitting the air it would be Chris Jericho returning, so when the Miz showed up it was underwhelming to say the least. Yet Chris Jericho would come out and interrupt the Miz’s horrible promo on how he was this big star that he clearly isn’t. Jericho before saying a word would eventually hit a code breaker on Miz and lay him out and start a promo of his own. That alone seemed like a fantastic segment for Raw. Jericho would be cut off by the famous noise that means the Wyatt’s are coming and the lights went out which is the name of the new Fozzy track ironically and Wyatt’s were all in the ring when the lights came back on. They attacked Jericho and laid him out. It was perhaps one of the best segments of Raw in quite some time and really had a feel of the much beloved attitude era.

It was brilliant and had twitter exploding through out it. A.J Lee did return later and interrupt Paige as the two flipped roles with A.J as the baby face and Paige as the heel and A.J would skip away as your new Diva’s Champion. That might have been the most significant women’s match in some time. It was very short but what it lacked in length and over skill it made up for in shock value.

More Character Development beyond the Main Event Angles:

We saw a few examples of some honest to good story building for guys that are not in the top angles. Fandango and Dolph Ziggler have been paired together as Summer Rae came out and laid a lip lock on Dolph in the middle of his match with Fandango. He seemed to like it and when all was said and done he had a win over Fandango and Summer Rae’s gum in his mouth.

Naomi and Cameron’s break-up is now on as the two were booked in a handicap match against Nikki Bella as she was put in there by Stephanie McMahon as a form of punishment for her sister Bri’s appearance on Money in the Bank and insulting her.

Bo Dallas came out and cut a promo complete with Tebowing and asking for the Crowd to be silent for injured superstars Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett as a way to honor them.

Damien Sandow was in the Role of Vince McMahon. This led to Stephanie coming on screen furious with him and booking him in a match with Khali he ended him with one chop. You may see this as a poor Sandow moment and it might be but the fact Stephanie was involved might actually be something that will advance his storyline of goofy gimmicks.

A Wild Final Segment:

The Main Event was booked as Cena and Reigns vs. Orton and Kane. Cena would get laid out while Reigns and Orton ended up brawling to the back. Kane would lay out Cena and Seth Rollins would come from the back with briefcase in hand ready to cash in on Cena. This was all being directed by Triple H who was at ringside for the match. Before the cash in could go down Ambrose came storming in and he and Rollins would brawl out into the crowd. Triple H upset his plan had backfired order Kane to get a chair and as he waited poised to lay out Cena, Roman Reigns would return and spear Kane saving Cena. Talk about a role reversal their not often Batman saves Superman’s butt. After that, he would lock eyes with Triple H who had made his way up to the apron. This will be in the package when Reigns and Triple H meet at Summerslam which is almost a lock at this point.

All in all it was a show that still had its low moments like Adam Rose and Santino doing a terrible obvious ad segment for Twisted Ice Tea. It still was a vast improvement from what Raw has been giving up definitely since Wrestlemania and honestly maybe even beyond that. The elements I focused on are a big reason why that was the case.

Some notes from my colleges at Between the Ropes:

Emma was arrested

Cesaro injured his eye (Cesaro laid a vicious beat down on Kofi Kingston that I failed to mention on Raw)

Wade Barrett is out and requires Surgery on his shoulder.  




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Past Is Not Going To Help WWE`s Future

Has the WWE finally come to realize that they can’t count of the past to be the solution for their present? It is a question that one could ask after Batista’s return for a variety of reasons failed. Nostalgia will always have a place in wrestling as it does in pro sports. That place is not at the top of your card as the main event though.

The goal of bringing back a big former star is to attract fans from the past to come back home to some extent. That clearly happened when the Rock returned to some extent. When The Rock left so did they as the current stars were not able to grab the attention of those former fans to stick around.

The three years The Rock was around what did he really accomplish in helping the current roster get over? If anything his presence only helped to divide fans more about John Cena. He did get him a sweet endorsement deal for “Fruity Pebbles” but aside from that Cena is even more divisive a force than he was before he came.

The Miz who was part of that first main event in which the Rock’s interference led to him retaining the WWE Title did him little favours. In a main event that many questioned why The Miz was even in it, he was overshadowed by two larger than life stars. He now is nothing more than an after thought in WWE. They can point to him being in WWE Films all they like, he is nothing as far as an in ring competitor in the eyes of the audience.

The most vocal about “The Miz” being in that main event and about big stars returning has been CM Punk. Who has given up being that “Voice of the Voiceless“ for marriage and retirement for the moment. Punk‘s historic 434 day title reign ended at the hands of the Rock. Instead of this match going down at Wrestlemania it took place at the Royal Rumble. Instead of going for a re-match at Wrestlemania between the two it would lead to a re-match of John Cena and The Rock that had been billed a year earlier “Once in a Lifetime” but it ended up being “once again” at the next Wrestlemania.

When we look back on it now what honestly did John Cena gain from that win over the Rock and yet another run as WWE Champion? Not much really, but imagine what that win could have been for CM Punk? One of the view goals Punk has left on his wrestling resume is to “Main Event” a Wrestlemania. Why this has never happened is a source of frustration for Punk.

Who were past fans more likely to be intrigued by to comeback to the product John Cena or CM Punk? It seems like a pretty obvious answer given most of these lost fans come from the WWE’s most successful period the “Attitude Era” where Punk seems more of a fit.

One of the few dream matches left out there for WWE is a CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin match. That is the one exception that I could see to the WWE moving away from this idea of bring back stars from that past for a big match. The irony that Punk would get his Wrestlemania main event by being in a type of match he has been so opposed to would be something.

In the end though, these are just band-aid solutions and illustrate the WWE not doing their job in making stars. You can argue that fans made both Punk and Bryan long before the WWE every considered making them as such. The time has come to look to the future and take the lumps that come with building new stars.

Even Brock Lesnar who does post ratings and attention on pay-per-views is only having a limited impact as it is widely known of his equally limited schedule in the WWE. When you consider the type of money it takes to have a guy like Brock or bring back The Rock is it really worth it? It isn’t, if they are not getting anyone over that is in need of it. Brock’s matches against legends like Triple H, Undertaker and the current face of the company John Cena do little to move the needle for the long haul. If we do indeed see Brock work with Cesaro, Daniel Bryan or others like a Roman Reigns that has a more lasting impact.

Just how cost effective it is to bring back these major stars without a long term return off those returns makes you question if that is truly “Best for Business” for the WWE.

Batista’s failure was the latest attempt at some kind of nostalgia getting to draw in past fans and it failed to do that and served to anger the core loyal fan base, to a point we really may not have ever seen. I don’t blame Dave Batista for that, I blame the WWE for putting him in the positions they did.

The WWE fans have been crying and begging for change dating back to CM Punk’s famous promo in Las Vegas. It connected with an audience that was fed up with the standard stuff from the WWE. Since that time the WWE has only tried to “calm the natives” rather than truly embrace a change in philosophy or direction. You got a long Punk title run, but it was seldom featured as the true main event. You eventually got, despite fighting it most of the way, a Daniel Bryan Wrestlemania main event.

You wonder what it will take for WWE to finally understand that drawing back on the past is not helping their present and more importantly their future, by drawing on a drying up pool of former stars. Maybe they are slowly getting it, as the use of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin and The Rock is what fans want in terms of nostalgia.  Dream matches fail more often than they succeed in the end. Besides, let’s face it, the pool of realistic matches of that kind is drying up fast.

Give the young and hungry performers you have the chance to become the legends for a new generation is perhaps the best thing the WWE could do. It is different from in the past, as there is no competition that is going to force your hand to make you do it like WCW did in the days of the “Monday Night Wars” where they had no choice.

If they continue to react to every little blip on radar to the negative and get cold feet that is only going to delay the enviable need for change.