Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 5/12
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 7.0

WWE as a whole is continuing to lose momentum from WrestleMania XXX. Tonight, while I thought it was an entertaining show, didn't instill in me confidence that WWE is planning to right that ship any time soon. There's a lot of good things going on throughout the program, but WWE needs more high-impact angles to capture the audience's attention. Instead, the company is trotting out several halfway there moments.

- The Shield's brawl with Evolution was an effective way to open the show, but it seemed unimportant by the end of Raw. Why? Shield destroyed Evolution twice more before the night was out. I love putting juice on the young guys, but at this point it's almost too much. The Shield are nearing John Cena levels of power, taking out the entire heel mid-card in one fell swoop. Several impressive visuals, no doubt, but vaguely concerning.

Verdict: Skip.

- Adam Rose isn't connecting with the crowd yet, and they're quickly running out of time for him to do so before he's treated as old news. RVD's match against Jack Swagger was nothing more than a way to get Rose onto Raw to be rejected by the quiet crowd in attendance. As in, the match consisted of Adam Rose and two moves.

Verdict: Skip.

- Alicia Fox's attack on Paige wasn't expected, but it was nice to see the Divas receive anything resembling close to mic time or character development. The match wasn't memorable in the least, though and Paige's title reign is quickly becoming lost in the shuffle.

Verdict: Skip.

- Daniel Bryan's promo about his injury was heartfelt and tough to watch. It's been an unbelievable month for Bryan, whose first month as champion has featured more road blocks than perhaps any other WWE champion in history. It is good to see that WWE isn't planning on stripping him of the belt (for now), and Bryan will be given a proper amount of time to grieve the loss of his father. His promo tonight, while somewhat thrown out there, was very humble and well done.

Verdict: Watch it.

- The Wyatt Family six-man tag was easily the match of the night, though I do admit that I'm beginning to wary of six-man tag matches. I still enjoy them a lot; this match was no exception. It does, though, get harder and harder for me to invest in one of these matches. That said, the chaos at the end of the match flowed well and protected the Wyatt Family pretty nicely.

Verdict: Watch it.

- The second Evolution-Shield portion of the show felt unnecessary and a bit tacked onto the show, especially with The Shield getting the advantage over the old guard yet again. Yeesh, stop picking on the old guys.

Verdict: Skip.

- Natalya vs. Nikki Bella was an entertaining Divas match that was destroyed to no end by the ridiculous Total Divas storylines going on outside the ring. Everything was a mess here, from the schizophrenic editing to shoddy commentator work. Keep my Total Divas out of my Raw, please. Especially when there's no context given for what you're doing.

Verdict: Skip.

- Sheamus's pairs of matches against Curtis Axel and Ryback were nothing special, but they did serve to build up Sheamus more, something that was desperately needed after being marginalized so terribly since his return in January. Ryback has developed incredibly as a heel, and it's a shame that no one seems to be paying attention to what he's doing anymore.

Verdict: Skip.

- Stephanie's portion of the show on Bryan was very well done, hinting at a possible situation that would strip Bryan of the title, and Kane dragging Bryan out from backstage was a nice visual. Though, this means that (a) Bryan-Kane is not done and (b) Bryan is stretchered out of the arena way too much. This is, what, the fourth or fifth stretcher he's been on since mid-March? This is getting ridiculous. On a serious note, I hope that Bryan's neck surgery will make him think twice about using his diving headbutt maneuver in the future. Is that one move really worth it?

Verdict: Watch it.

- Dolph Ziggler vs. Fandango is worth watching for the incredible Fandango-Layla liplock at the end of the segment. You could melt the polar ice caps with heat that intense. I mean, where was Ron Simmons when those two were going at it, am I right?! There was an all right match too. Eh.

Verdict: Dat kiss.

- The Jim Duggan-Rusev exchange featured the best use of Rusev yet. The crowd wanted to see Rusev get his comeuppance, showing that Duggan was used as a prop well. Big E. being beaten down by the Bulgarian was a bit of a surprise, but this was a legit heat-builder for the rookie and it made him more engaging than he's been his entire time on the main roster.

Verdict: Watch it.

- The crowd hardly reacted for it, but I am loving Cody Rhodes's slow turn to the dark side. It makes sense, features oodles of foreshadowing, is subtle (oh come on, it was just a rake to the eyes), and is simply being told well. It's like WWE's very own little supervillain origin story.

Verdict: Watch it.

- The main event was more brawling with The Shield and Evolution, but it was more fun brawling. The Shield are fun to watch when they're decimating opponents. The only issue is the question of what happens when their well of credible opponents shrinks up like it did when they were heels. The match itself was an okay contest that won't be remembered by the morning.

- Overall, there was nothing outright awful about Raw. I thought the three hours moved by at a steady clip, and while few matches were memorable, almost everything (sans Divas) felt like it had a purpose. Now, can WWE get some momentum rolling...

Any questions or comments? Message me on Twitter @BTuckertorch!

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