Instant Reaction - WWE Raw 7/28
By Ben Tucker, PWTorch TV specialist

Overall Score - 7.5

It's the calm before the Summerslam storm. Just like WWE TV in July last year, the quality of Raw has certainly increased with Summerslam fast approaching. Feuds are reaching their boiling point simultaneously, the mid-card feels alive with stories to tell, and the Divas have received a greatly renewed emphasis on television, with three feuds involving women playing out at once.

Raw was one of the few shows in company history that actually ended with a female rivalry in the spotlight, a far cry from the dire situation the division was in... three months ago. Tonight, despite its faults, generated a lot of momentum for both Summerslam and the product as a whole going forward. But, the underlying question remains: will there be follow-up, or will Raw sink to Randy Orton vs. Big Show levels of tedium once again?

What to Watch Later:

- Q1-Q3: The entire first 35 minutes of Raw was fantastic and set the bar high for the rest of the program. John Cena gave one of the best promos of his career; no poopy jokes, no over-the-top preacher voice; he presented Brock Lesnar as an unstoppable beast and vowed to defeat him, all the while getting his never-say-die character over and endearing himself to the crowd.

At the same time, Paul Heyman delivered a speech that I thought nearly rivaled the quality of his verbal exchange with C.M. Punk before Summerslam last year. And, before devolving into a talk-heavy program, Cesaro competed with Cena in a fantastic 15-minute match that made the Swiss Superstar look incredible while also building up Cena for his eventual title defense. Simple, entertaining, and a hot way to start off Raw. The first portion of the show was by far the best of the night's offerings.

- Q11-Q12: Chris Jericho and Seth Rollins had another strong match that suffered a bit due to the crowd. Both Jericho and Rollins work well together (no surprise), and both looked strong. Jericho has been presented much stronger in his current run than he was last year (you know, with that whole "losing to Fandango" thing), and it's nice to see him continuing to help the younger talents. Another Wyatt Family beat down wasn't necessary, but with a lot of stories moving in one show, it's understandable that a promo or two were held back.

- Q12-over-run: Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella delivered a memorable finale to Raw. Stephanie carried the bulk of the work herself, a good thing considering Brie's lacking promo abilities. McMahon's work throughout this entire rivalry has been phenomenal, possibly topping the output of her original work in the early 2000s.

The big question to this storyline revolves around Brie; what will be next for her? Can she sustain this sort of momentum? Either way, it was a great sight to see two females close Raw, and the spot was well deserved. Even on a card that seems to be packed with high-stakes matches, WWE has successfully made this one stand out.

Other Tidbits:

- A.J. Lee and Paige were entertaining in their short in-ring discourse. A.J. is one of the few Divas in the division who can actually cut a promo, and her work carried this feud nicely this week. The A.J.-Paige saga is the first notable feud over the Divas Title since A.J. and Kaitlyn fought over it last year. Yes, a year of nothingness in an entire division.

- Chris Jericho's promo exchange with the Authority served as a fun diversion down memory lane. I did find it odd that WWE has been pushing the PG boundary more often as of late. As it stands, Brie Bella's new catchphrase is apparently "b----," not that I'm complaining. The main problem is that Chris Jericho, for as great as he is, doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on his character. In this segment he went from joking about Stephanie getting arrested to vowing to destroy Bray Wyatt in a span of seconds.

- While not the star of the show, the six-man tag match was a very fun addition to Raw. The extra additions to The Miz's gimmick, from his white entrance outfit to his new intro video, are all fantastic. The Miz seems to be embracing his first opportunity in the spotlight, and Dolph Ziggler is serving as a perfect foil for him. It would be nice for the Usos to find a new threat to their titles, though. Before long, the team will have lost the momentum they had built from their fantastic matches against the Wyatts.

- Another partial hit, the Rusev-Swagger exchange was a serviceable (and somewhat repetitive) segment that was made much better due to the loud crowd.

- Randy Orton's beat down on Roman Reigns was exactly what it should have been, and yet still not very impactful. The Randy Orton "Viper" character is the stalest in wrestling. John Cena has at least evolved his character enough to acknowledge that his character never changes (ironic, I know). Orton has been exactly the same since 2008, and shows no signs of changing. Six months off would do wonders to refresh his character.

- Just because there were a lot of Divas segments on the show, it doesn't mean that they were all good. The Divas tag team match felt like an afterthought, as did the random Fandango match. What do Summer Rae and Layla even want with Fandango at this point? Are they faces? Heels? What are they?

- The pacing of the show is what knocked the program down a notch. The middle portion of Raw began to drag badly, and putting the long Jericho-Rollins match after a bevy of filler made matters worse.

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

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