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TUCKER ON RAW 6/17: DVR Guide & Instant Reaction to Shield, vomiting, Stardust, MITB hype, more

Jun 17, 2014 - 11:18:43 AM
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Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 6/17
By Benjamin Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist


Overall Score - 7.5

Monday's Raw was a paint-by-the-numbers good show. The first hour of the show was red hot, compelling, and filled with entertaining wrestling. While the second hour cooled off, if was followed up by a newsworthy third hour that continued to elevate Roman Reigns into the main event scene. WWE's refusal to create a compelling mid-card feud (outside of the "Stardust" storyline) continues to hamper the three-hour program, but Monday was entertaining enough as it was.

- Watch: Opening promo, Rollins vs. Ziggler:

The frenetic pace set from the opening of the show was fantastic. The Authority's promo was concise, played to the crowd perfectly and set up a clear story arch for the show. Immediately following this up with a Ziggler-Rollins match was a great idea. While it was the third contest the two have had in two weeks, it did maintain a fast pace and contained multiple close near falls that made what should have been a simple squash extremely entertaining. Dean Ambrose's run-in was well executed in its own right...

- Watch: Ambrose vs. Barrett:

...which fed into the Ambrose-Barrett match perfectly, continuing a narrative for the show that went unbroken for nearly 40 minutes. Ambrose sells like a star, and Wade Barrett held up his own end of the bargain as well, despite feeling overshadowed by the other events on the program by the show's end.With all of the fresh mid-card talent waiting to rise into the main event scene right now, it amazes me that WWE isn't adding a second Money in the Bank ladder match to the show with an actual briefcase up for grabs. Guys like Barrett and Cesaro are almost main event ready. They just need a star-making moment like Money in the Bank to cement them as a player.

- Watch: Wyatt Family promo, Wyatt vs. Sheamus

The Wyatt Family portion of the program was also well done, expressing how the Wyatts could leave Money in the Bank with the WWE and Tag Team Championships. While not Bray Wyatt's strongest performance, he still managed to get everything that needed to be expressed across in an entertaining manner. His follow-up contest with Sheamus was strong down the stretch after a lull in the middle, and even though it provided the third cheap finish to a match on the show, there was at least a storyline purpose to it. The ladder was used minimally to advertise the chaos of Money in the Bank, the Usos look strong (even though they could really use character development instead), and the Wyatts have a master plan to accomplish. Well done.

- Watch: Battle Royal:

While the second hour of Raw did little, business picked up in the battle royal that became excellent once the field was whittled down to six men. Bo Dallas was fantastic in getting his character across during the match and almost winning before receiving the wrong end of a Roman Reigns spear, and the live crowd ate up the Reigns-Rusev showdown. No one looked bad in this match; if anything, Rusev was boosted after barely getting eliminated by a guy who pinned Triple H two weeks ago. WWE has learned the art of battle royals in 2014, and this one did not flinch from that path.

Watch: Cena vs. Kane
- The stretcher match main event, while certainly gimmicky and featuring two wrestlers who have never worked well together, managed to include enough from the bag of tricks to keep me entertained while not turning the affair into a schmoz. Both Cena and Kane looked strong (not that Cena needs it), and Ambrose got a bit more rub before the show's end. The Money in the Bank field does worry me, though. The vast majority of wrestlers in the match (Orton, Wyatt, Cena, etc.) rarely perform well unless they're paired with another strong wrestler, and many of their characters feel stale (as is the case with Del Rio, Orton, Sheamus, and Cena).

The rest of the show was simply middling filler, with the exception of a few awful "off-camera projectile vomiting" segments featuring Vickie Guerrero and Stephanie McMahon and the introduction of Cody Rhodes's "Stardust" alter ego, a gimmick that can only work if it's a part of a short-term story. Six months of being a golden Star Man from "Pro Wrestling" on the NES and Cody Rhodes will turn into another Damien Sandow.

In the end, Raw was both entertaining and somewhat newsworthy. The Money in the Bank card still needs to be filled out and WWE isn't doing enough to inject life in the product, but that doesn't mean that tonight's show wasn't a winner.

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


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