Raw Results 23/06/14

Taken from The Independent.

The opening segment sees Stephanie Mcmahon confront Vickie Guerrero about her placing Roman Reigns in the WWE World Heavyweight Title ladder match. Stephanie makes her own match with Vicki as punishment for her actions last week, saying Vickie’s job will be on the line. There’s some decent back and forth, with Vickie getting in a line about how Guerrero is the one family name more respected than Mcmahon. She then does her ‘Excuse Me’ bit before storming off to squeeze into her leotard.

A prelude to their encounter on Sunday, the first match of the night has one half of the tag champs, Jimmy Uso, and one half of the Wyatt Family, Luke Harper, do battle. A distraction by Erick Rowan costs Jimmy the win, prompting his brother Jey to immediately challenge the other Wyatt. Turnabout is fair play as Jey picks up the victory, and subsequently both Uso’s get beaten down for their troubles. Bray Wyatt appears on the Titantron and puts over himself and his family to win gold at the PPV.

The Divas are in action next as Naomi takes on the newly unstable Alicia Fox. Much of the attention, however, is focused on Paige and Cameron on commentary. They bicker over what is actually quite a competitive match, which has one half of the Funkadactyls pull out a modified DDT for the win. Still not sure who’s facing who on Sunday, though.

It’s BO time, as the inspirational Bo Dallas is the challenge for former Prime Time Player Titus O’ Neil. In a relatively short encounter, Bo gets the 1, 2, 3 after hitting the Bo-dog. I believe that makes him ‘9 and BO’. Is that enough Bo for you?

Triple H makes an appearance to talk about the respective Money in the Bank ladder matches at the PPV. In addition to the championship bout, they’ll also be a traditional briefcase up for grabs. He announces the participants in this match as Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler, Bad News Barrett, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger and Rob Van Dam. The COO tips Rollins as the guy to get the contract, which brings the former ‘architect’ of The Shield out to the ring. He talks about how he’ll be calling himself ‘Mr Money in the Bank’ after Sunday.

RVD apparently takes exception to this and makes his way to the ring. Triple H makes the match. Some interesting acrobatics ensue as they trade blows. Rollins eventually hits his ‘kerb-stomp’ finisher and is about to pick up the win when he’s attacked by former Shield cohort Dean Ambrose. The ‘Lunatic Fringe’ demands to be put into the Money in the Bank match as he’s going to show up anyway and get Rollins. After much pleading from Rollins, Triple H obliges.

2 of the participants in the traditional Money in the Bank face off now as Bad News Barrett puts his Intercontinental Title on the line against Dolph Ziggler. The pair show fantastic chemistry in this epic encounter. High spots and false finishes abound in what is a very close to call match. The finish comes when the ‘Show-off’ gets hit in mid-air with the bull-hammer, which he sells like death. Fantastic stuff.

In a different vein, we’re then treated to the previously hyped face-off between Stephanie and Vickie. A large pool of brown liquid is revealed and a group of the Heel divas attack Vickie and try to put her in it. However, Vickie gets the upper hand and eventually throws Stephanie into the pool. There’re a couple of amusing moments; when she starts a ‘Yes’ chant and does her late husband Eddie’s  ‘Latino Heat’ taunt. She then blows Stephanie a kiss and waves goodbye. Not really a match, but fun nonetheless.

It’s an old favourite next, as The All American American American American, Jack Swagger faces Kofi Kingston for what must be the 1, 035 time. They go through the motions well, with the ‘Jamaican’ sensation hitting his usual high flying offence. Swagger grinds him down and hooks in the Patriot Lock for the tap out. Moving on, Big E takes on Damien ‘dress-up’ Sandow in his latest get-up; he makes quite a fetching Abraham Lincoln this time around. After squashing our ‘intellectual saviour’ into the ground, Big E calls out Rusev. Lana appears on the ramp and the Bulgarian Brute attacks him from behind. A clash between these 2 could be quite tasty at the PPV.

The main event brings together the same match-up as Smackdown last week. Roman Reigns, Sheamus and John Cena take on Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt in a 3-on-4 handicap match. Signature moves and finishers fly amongst a bunch of good spots. The finish comes when the Celtic Warrior hits Cesaro with the Brogue Kick for the pin. Kane appears and begins taking out everyone. Triple H pops up to announce his inclusion in the Money in the Bank title match. Roman Reigns then hits a surprise spear and stares down the game to close the show.

Some decent action going into Money in the Bank; Ziggler and Barrett is worth the time on its own. But it had the feeling of treading water before the PPV, adding not very much before what will undoubtedly be one of the best shows of the year.
Catch up: Last week's Raw results

Results:

Luke Harper Def. Jimmy Uso by pinfall

Jey Uso Def. Erick Rowan by pinfall

Naomi Def. Alicia Fox by pinfall

Bo Dallas Def. Titus O’ Neil by pinfall

Seth Rollins Def. Rob Van Dam by disqualification

Bad News Barrett Def. Dolph Ziggler by pinfall

Jack Swagger Def. Kofi Kingston by submission

Big E Def. Damien Sandow by pinfall

Roman Reigns, Sheamus & John Cena Def. Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton & Bray Wyatt by pinfall

-------

A mixed bag for Raw. Pretty nice send off for Vickie, never thought I'd see the day Vickie would get a face pop. Well done to the WWE for pulling that off, Stephanie's heel work was excellent as usual.

BNB and Ziggler once again stealing the show with a fantastic match between the two. Would love to see Barrett involved in a proper feud if the standard of his matches are to this standard.

Anyone else more excited by the MITB ladder match more than the WWE title match?

#ThankyouVickie

has vickie retired then?

end of her contract i guess

Shows like this are indicative of the WWE's over-stretched but somehow under-utilized roster. They really, REALLY need to ditch the 3 hour format. It kills everything by the end of the show.

What the hell was Big E's promo all about,  he sounded like he was trying to do a Triple H impression while having an asthma attack

Classy send off for Vick too, she must have been very well thought of backstage

Yeah it was a mixed bag this week.

Good send off for Vickie.

Rollins saying RVD hasn't been relevant since 2005 made me laugh.

Ambrose was brilliant, threatening to ruin thePPV if he wasn't added to the contract ladder match.

Best part of the night goes to Ziggler vs Barrett. Woke up a dying crowd to the point that they were going crazy. Proper formal ring introductions which is rare, especially on Raw. That Bullhammer at the end!!!!! I saw a tooth fly!

They've really sold the 2 ladder matches. No idea who will win! Tempted to order it but refuse to pay £15 for a 'B' PPV. I remember when Money in the Bank was one of the free ones. Can't wait for the network to be available in the UK.

I really liked how they presented Vickie, but then they killed it. The Viva la Rasta shake looks stupid when you're covered in crap. She should have escaped, dumped Stephanie in it then quit.

Thought the Vickie segment was brilliant, you can't have her pleading for her job the quitting adter getting the upper hand, fitted in perfectly with her character then when she had nothing to lose she took matters into her own hands, Stephanie done her proud - not seen many send offs like that since Gorilla kicked Bobby Heenan out of the WWF

I do agree, but I just feel like the moment is a bit lost when someone cant open one of their eyes because there is s*** in it. Killed it was strong as I actually liked the segment, just feels a little wrong. The whole thing but without a pool of brown liquid might have been good.

Did anyone else feel a bit emotional when Eddies music came on and Vicki said "I love you"?

Thought it was a nice touch. Bit gutted at the lack of a pop his music got. Shows how younger the crowd is now.

Thought it was a nice touch for Vickie to get one over Steph. She deserved that.

As for RAW, some good bits (HHH promo, Rollins/RVD, Ziggler/BNB, Ambrose) and some not so good (too much TV time for Steph, Sandow, Bo). Also, what's with repeating matches from Smackdown? This has been happening since I started watching all the shows again from December. It just makes Smackdown not worth the watch as I'll see it a few days later on RAW.

No-one else got an opinion on the car cras that was Big E?

I fwd through his bit, but did he make a hash of his promo or something? If so, that's kinda what happens when you show no faith in someone's mic skills.

Watch it, its hard to articulate how freaking terrible it is

I felt he was trying to replicate a speech of some sort. There are lines in there I recognise and his tone is similar to someone I've heard deliver a speech. It also felt like a man who knew he was about to get squashed again.

It was very evangelical black preacher esque. Like Reverand D-Von.

I thought it sounded quite like a Y2D2 variation of a HHH promo.

I watched it 3 timea because I couldn't believe it was that bad, I'm not sure if he was just completely blown up, was having a hard time remembering his lines and was trying to buy himself some time or was genuinely trying to replicate someone else.

Whatever it was - it stunk the joint out.

It didnt work. But I suppose at least he tried something rather than just a bland delivery.

I found the focus of the end of the show very interesting. Reigns vs the Authority. Cena barely thought about as the show closed.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

I found the focus of the end of the show very interesting. Reigns vs the Authority. Cena barely thought about as the show closed.

I thought the same. I was fairly sure they'd put the title on Cena but it would be a strange move given that ending. Leaning towards Orton or Kane now.

I'll be amazed if they stick it on Kane, I dont think you'll be far wrong with the Cena shouts to be honest, I think Roman Reigns will be the focal point of the storyline though, he either wins it or it'll be glorious failure for him.

Problem I have with Cena winning it is he'll officially tie up with Flair, I'd have thought there would have been a big deal made of this opportunity so if he does get it some fans might either not get the significance of it or just forget about it - thats the one thing thats swaying me away from Cena.

I'd like a heel to win it though, Reigns could be in danger of getting the Superman treatment if he wins it this early, I'd not mind seeing Reigns chase Orton for it until SummerSlam where he could beat him perhaps dropping it immediately to Seth Rollins and it'll allow Reigns to build sympathy on top of his pop

It all depends on whether they want Lesnar to challenge for and, then surely, win the title. Lesnar is maybe the only person they have who could be a bit of a tweener for a feud and it not kill him in the next feud. But I don't see Orton/Lesnar. Lesnar/Cena I could see.

Cena  is a14-time champ no? 2 off Flair.

I really hope Reigns is a while off the title. Too early for him plus that sounds to familiar to last years Summerslam to me KF.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:I really liked how they presented Vickie, but then they killed it. The Viva la Rasta shake looks stupid when you're covered in crap. She should have escaped, dumped Stephanie in it then quit.

Agreed.

Other things i enjoyed

Rollins/RVD
Ambrose as a whole
Ziggler vs Barrett.

Really hope Kane wins the title, just to keep it off Cena. Reigns is not ready yet, Bray might be ready but he doesn't have much credibility after being buried by Cena. Kane deserves one last run and he can drop it to Bryan when he comes back. Bryan is gonna go for Kane when he comes back which is gonna be a waste of time so the title may as well be involved.

Wouldn't rule out Kane winning it tbh. Beat Cena at Battleground, drop it to a returning Bryan at Summer Slam.