I generally post my Raw Report, live as the show happens on TV. I had every intention of doing so tonight as well, but after reading these spoilers I feel I’m just going to save myself the hassle. I’ll be posting spoilers for the show below along with my personal thoughts on each segment in a condensed version of my usual Raw Report…
Thanks to Sierra, Ben and Niall Thomas for the following WWE RAW spoilers from today’s tapings in Liverpool, England. I’ve also added in some missing promos and such.
* Lilian Garcia kicks off RAW with God Save the Queen. There are “where’s our Network” chants. (My thoughts: LOL)
* John Cena comes out to a rowdy reaction. Cena announces Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler for Team Cena at Survivor Series. Swagger will face Seth Rollins tonight. Cena then calls Ryback to the ring to discuss tonight’s main event. The Authority interrupts with Triple H leading the way. Mark Henry is also with them. Stephanie McMahon announces Henry vs. Ziggler for tonight. Both teams want Ryback but he ends up attacking Cena and joining Team Authority. (My thoughts… Well, either they’ve already killed Ryback’s heat… AGAIN… ORRR this is a set up to get Ryback more over as a babyface. Unfortunately, this being WWE I assume it’s the former, but I hope it’s the latter. We shall se. Also, Jack Swagger on Team Cena??? I guess every team needs a Tito Santana to do that early job.)
* Seth Rollins defeated Jack Swagger with a Curb Stomp. This was a good back and forth match. Rollins hit a second Curb Stomp after the match. (My thoughts: Well, Swagger certainly looks prepared for Series. Then again, the way they’re acting on Raw, these Curb Stomps will take Swagger out for weeks for some reason, so we may still have to wait for this spot to be filled “again”.)
* Promo from Dean Ambrose on the big screen. He’s not afraid of demons and will drag Bray Wyatt to hell at Survivor Series. (My thoughts: That’s great and all, but we need more from these two IN THE RING. Good promo though.)
* Segment with Kane and Ryback. Kane tries to rally Ryback, but Ryback says he has his own back and isn’t worried. (My thoughts: Hmmm. Well, I can’t blame Ryback because Kane sucks.)
* Paige defeated Alicia Fox. Huge pop for Paige. (No thoughts)
* Stephanie McMahon points out to Rusev and Lana that The Authority gave him a title shot last week.
* Lana and Rusev come out for his United States Title victory celebration. Sheamus interrupts after the Russian national anthem begins.
* Sheamus vs. Rusev for the title is next. Rusev retains after a rather dull match. They brawl to the floor after the match and The Authority makes the assist for Rusev. Stephanie congratulates Rusev and asks if he’s joining the team, which he does. (My thoughts: Even reading this I’m dying from boredom, we’ll call this the bathroom break. Rusev joining Team Authority is pretty interesting though.)
* The Miz and Damien Sandow defeated Los Matadores. (My thoughts: A match with Sandow? Sure, I’ll watch. Loved the spot with Sandow “bouncing off the ropes” on the apron.)
* John Cena and Dolph Ziggler are backstage. It’s confirmed, Jack Swagger is OUT. Triple H interrupts and bans Cena from ringside during Ziggler’s match against Henry. (My thoughts: The plot thickens… Dun Dun Dunnnn)
* Luke Harper eyeball promo while Dolph Ziggler is in the ring for the next match. It would appear Harper is coming for Dolph.
* Dolph Ziggler defeated Mark Henry by DQ when Henry uses a steel chair. Henry beats Ziggler after the match until Big Show makes the save. Show announces he’s on Team Cena. (My thoughts: This was a little more interesting than the Sheamus/Rusev match, which isn’t saying much.)
* “A New Day” Promo, this time the focus is Kofi Kingston, so that should answer the question on if it’s a faction. Will we get preacher Big E next week?
* A backstage segment welcomes Sheamus to Team Cena. (My thoughts: Ugh. Yawn. Why? No thank you.) So now we’re up to Cena, Ziggler, Show, and Sheamus, with Swagger removed. So the fifth man is a mystery for now…
* Divas Champion AJ Lee defeated Brie Bella in another dull match. Nikki Bella attacked AJ after the match and posed over her with the Divas Title. (No thoughts again. On second thought, why even groom Divas in NXT to work great matches when we get the same half dozen women on WWE programming working the same 2 minute match week after week.)
* Backstage segment with Ryback and Mark Henry talking about their WrestleMania match. Mark teases Ryback about the loss. Henry welcomes Ryback to Team Authority. (My thoughts: Umm, okay. Ryback didn’t seem to like that very much.)
* Tyson Kidd defeated Adam Rose when The Bunny distracted Rose. Rose attacked The Bunny after the match. Erick Rowan appeared at ringside for no apparent reason during the match but stated “she’s not here”, so I’m not sure if he’s going to be a woman stalker or what the deal is. (My thoughts: There’s WTF written all over this mess of cow poo. Rose goes heel on his bunny friend, even though the bunny deserved it. Does this make him Adam Lemon? Tyson Kidd’s current “push” is based on him being on Total Divas, oh, and it’s lame too. Just let Kidd wrestle. Erick Rowan gets set free, when clearly he wasn’t ready. I don’t get the point of keeping someone as talented as Harper off TV for this long. Obviously they have no direction for a lot of these guys, and that’s just pathetic. What is “creative” being paid for.)
* Bray Wyatt promo on Dean Ambrose. He compares himself to Ambrose once again, but continues to exposes Dean’s past issues with his father. Bray gives Dean a choice, to walk with him, or walk away and burn forever. Good promo.
* John Cena defeated Ryback by disqualification when Kane came in the ring. Kane and Ryback had words and Seth Rollins got in between them. Ryback nailed Rollins, Kane nailed Ryback. Team Authority beat down Cena. The rest of Team Cena came down but they got taken out also. Ryback came back in the ring and cleaned house of The Authority. Ryback left on his own to a big pop as RAW ended. Cena looked on confused, as did HHH and Stephanie from backstage. THEN, as the show is about to end, a bettered Dolph Ziggler is thrown into the Authority’s Office. The camera pans out to show LUKE HARPER standing over Ziggler. Luke informs the Authority that HE IS A TEAM PLAYER….. END SHOW…
(My thoughts… Well, that was cool… Sort of. Having Ryback join Team Authority in the first place sort of makes the average fan wonder whether to cheer for Ryback or not. Clearly, Ryback is playing the rogue character, but I thought we already had Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton for that, now Ryback too? Had it been me booking, I would have simply had Ryback swerve the Authority and join Team Cena, or stay face, or whatever. Instead, we have a guy who went heel, but turned face again because somebody pissed him off. Still, thank God they didn’t have him go full on heel, that would have been the second career homicide of Ryback. Interesting to see what happens from here, will Ryback join Team Cena? Then Luke Harper shows up to try and fill the final spot on Team Authority… Even more surprising. Certainly sounds like the best thing on Raw.)
