WWE Raw Results - Spoilers Ahead

Raw starts with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. He welcomes everyone to Raw and introduces himself and makes fun of John Cena in the process. He says he challenged John Cena and both titles are on the line, but has not heard from John Cena at all. He wants to know what he has been doing, saying he may be revitalizing his rap career, if he ever had one. He says Cena is “Straight Outta Action.” He says John Cena can come to Brooklyn and surrender the title to him if he does not want to fight him like a man. He says he wishes he would show up here and be a man. He looks over to the timetable and they tell him John Cena is here via satellite. Instead, we get a shot of John Cena’s still face and Seth Rollins’ lip syncing.

The face and picture says “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect now “Surgery, Recovery and Rehab.” Rollins asks if he is giving up, and the face says yes he looks like he got a nose job from Picasso. He talks about being a fighting champion and beating Neville. He says to be the man, he has to defeat every single… out comes Cesaro. Cesaro says he is going on and on and on and on and on and on and on until he gets into the ring. He says he wants a shot to challenge him tonight. Seth Rollins says he never said a thing about an open challenge tonight. Kevin Owens makes his way to the ramp and says Cesaro has done nothing to earn a championship match. Owens says he has beaten John Cena and something that neither of the two men can say. Seth Rollins says he said nothing about defending his championship. Randy Orton comes out and says that if anyone deserves a title shot tonight, it is him. He cracks a Tom Brady joke and says these idiots should get the hell out of his ring.

Triple H makes his way to the ramp and says he finds it to be an interesting choice, “not caring what The Authority thinks.” Triple H says they are two weeks away from SummerSlam and says John Cena is 50/50 at best to make it at SummerSlam. He books a Triple Threat Match with Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton tonight. He says the winner will compete in the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tonight as well.

Team Bad vs. Team Bella

Team BCP are on commentary during the match. Naomi and Alicia Fox start things, off with Fox applying a headlock. Naomi hits some forearm shots and then runs the ropes. Fox hits a backbreaker and gets a quick two count. Brie kicks her down and applies an arm bar. Naomi tags in Sasha, much to the delight of the crowd. Quick double team maneuver and Naomi gets back into the ring. Brie hits a spinebuster and then whips Naomi to the corner. She connects with a nice kick from the middle rope as we head to a commercial.

Back from break and Sasha is applying a headlock onto Nikki. She hits a clothesline and gets a two count. Sasha hits a cheap shot and then Tamina kicks Nikki in the head. Banks is on her back and slugs away with elbows. Brie gets the tag and hits some dropkicks and kicks to Banks in the chest. Brie hits another dropkick and misses into the corner. She connects with a Missile dropkick and Tamina comes in with a massive clothesline. She misses a kick and Brie rolls her up for the win. Team B.A.D attacks afterwards and Team PCB get into the mix. All hell breaks loose and Team PCB stand tall. Charlotte spears Brie and B.A.D and PCB face off in the ring.

Winners: Team Bella

Los Matadores vs. The New Day

Kofi jumps and then gets flipped over and lands on his feet. Dropkick and hurricanranna on Kingston, but Big E slams him down and he tags Kofi in and they go back and forth with tags and more kicks in the corner. Reversals back and forth and Diego trying to tag in Fernando. He gets in and unleashes spinning heel kicks and then chops Kofi in the chest. He tells Kofi to stop and yells Ole! He kicks BIg E and Woods moves Kofi. He catches El Torito and then Big E blind tags in and hits the Big Ending double team for the win.

Winners: The New Day

Backstage, New Day cheers and separates them from the pretenders. Renee Young announces The New Day vs. Prime Time Players vs. Los Matadores vs. Lucha Dragons in a Fatal Four Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam.

Seth Rollins is backstage and says Triple H is still making him defend the WWE World Heavyweight Champion again. Triple H says he opened that door with the open challenge and asks him if he wants to be the man. Triple H says he has to do it every single night.

We see highlights of Roman Reigns challenging Wyatt Family to a tag team match at from Smackdown on Thursday night. They hype up Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper and the Triple Threat Match, which is next.

Randy Orton vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens

Orton and Cesaro start things off fast, with Orton hitting a clothesline onto Owens on the outside. Cesaro clubs Randy Orton from behing. Cesaro hits an uppercut on Owens, but Orton hits a T-Bone suplex for two. Orton hits the same move to Kevin Owens and then tries a hanging DDT. Cesaro gets out and Owens grabs his leg. He throws Cesaro into the ring post. Owens rings up Randy on the rope and hits a plunge for two. He chokes him with his big boot and then poses to mock Orton. Randy hits a clothesline and then poses to the crowd. Cesaro gets back into the ring, but Orton hits a spinebuster onto the barricade. Owens does the same to Cesaro and he gets into the ring. All three men are in the ring, slugging back and forth. KO throws Cesaro to the outside and gets a knee to the back, thanks to The Viper. Cesaro hits a crossbody onto Orton for two. Orton and Cesaro exchange uppercuts.

Orton tries an RKO, but Cesaro locks in the crossface. Owens hits a moonsault onto Orton and Cesaro on the outside and stands tall heading to a commercial break. Owens and Cesaro exchange blows and Owens hits his splash in the corner. He goes up top, but Orton catches him on top. Cesaro hits a dropkick and then both men hit a double backbreaker onto Owens. Cesaro catches Orton with a Cesaro Swing and then applies a Sharpshooter. Kevin Owens comes in and tries to get a pinfall, but Orton hits a body slam onto Owens. He hits a double DDT. Kevin hits a fallaway slam into the barricade, but Cesaro flies to the outside and takes out both men. Cesaro hits a spinning elbow from the middle rope, getting a two count. Kevin Owens hits a Swanton and then a superkick. Orton comes in and hits an RKO on both men and pins Cesaro to pick up the win.

Winner: Randy Orton

Video package of superstars talking about Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker.

Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper

Hard hitting. Ambrose and Harper exchanged blows and then Ambrose unloads with punches. Harper catches him with a side slam for two. He hits a body slam and then another one for emphasis. He rakes his eyes and then Ambrose hits a few elbows. He connects with a baseball slide and then a clothesline from the apron. Raw heads to a break.

Luke Harper is in control with a head lock and Ambrose strikes with rights and lefts. Harper launches Ambrose into the second turnbuckle. Harper throws Ambrose like a rag doll and then applied another submission hold. Ambrose gets up and throws him head first, followed by a boot and a Tornado DDT. Dean hits multiple shots to the face and chest, sunset flips and gets a two count. Harper hits a boot to the stomach and Ambrose reverses him with a body slam. Luke gets caught up in the top rope and then both men are on the outside. He throws Wyatt on the table and hits a clothesline to Harper. Back in the ring, he rolls up Harper and gets two. Bray tries to attack, but Reigns punches him. He gets kicked by Harper and then Dean hits a suicide dive. Dean gets rung up on the rope and Harper hits the big clothesline for the win.

Winner: Luke Harper

Daniel Bryan on MizTv

Daniel Bryan is introduced to his home crowd in Washington. The crowd erupts and chants his name. Miz gets the crowd to quiet down and Bryan thanks Miz for having him on his show. Daniel Bryan said he did not come here to be on MizTV. He said he was never going to miss Raw in his homeland of Washington state. Seahawks chant happens and Miz says he is a Browns fan. Daniel Bryan says he likes to take credit for his success and then talks about his Christmas movie coming out. Bryan says his accomplishments are because of his hard word and the fans around the world that have supported him. He says Bryan’s medical status and that he is not cleared to return to the ring and he is on the shelf. He asks how it feels to be a broken toy on the shelf.

Daniel says it is tough and is busy with writing a book, which he plugs. He also talks about Tough Enough. Miz talks about his wisdom and good looks being on Tough Enough. They focus on the injury and brings up Ryback doing the right thing, to vacate the championship and give the title to him. Big Show’s music hits and out comes the giant. Big Show says there is crap coming out of his mouth and he still has white teeth. Ryback’s music hits and out comes the champ. He stands off with Ryback, as Miz ducks out. Daniel Bryan throws The Miz in the ring, between both men. They attack him and Show goes to work. Ryback hits a spear and a clothesline. He and Daniel Bryan are in the ring with Miz. Ryback hits a clothesline on Miz and stands tall.

Rusev vs. Mark Henry

Mark Henry comes out with an American flag, as apparently he is back to a face after being a heel and then a face and then a heel. Rusev hits Henry with a boot and Lana drops Summer Rae on the apron. She throws Lana in the ring to Rusev and Summer Rae attacks her. He takes out Henry on the outside and Summer Rae throws Lana on the mat over and over again. Rusev tells Summer to crush and she locks in The Accolade on Lana.

Video package of Neville losing to Seth Rollins with Stardust interacting and calling out Stephen Amell.

Neville vs. King Barrett

Barrett hits some knees to Neville’s stomach and then to his spine. He hits a few more elbows and then throws Neville into the ring post. Barrett misses a knee and then Neville kicks him in the face. He goes up top and hits a Red Arrow for the win. Stardust comes out and attacks Neville. He stares at Amell in the crowd and then goes over to him. Amell gets hit in the face and he punches Stardust a few times. Security comes in and holds him back as the segment ends.

Winner: Neville

Triple H yells at Stephen Amell being a guest here tonight. Neville tries to talk to Triple H and Amell says he wants to deal with Stardust. He says he will never be one of “us.” He says he is going to fight back and Neville says Red and Green Arrow vs. Stardust and King Barrett at SummerSlam. Amell says he will sign whatever needs to be signed, but make the match.

Backstage, Sheamus speaks with JoJo and cuts a promo on Orton and Rollins. He says he will cash it in at the exact right time.

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Both men circle and Rollins ducks to the outside quickly. Rollins kicks Orton down and then punches away in the corner. He throws some shoulders into Orton and then attacks in the corner once again. Orton almost hits an RKO, but Rollins ducks to the outside.

Back from break and Seth Rollins applies a headlock. Orton tries to get out of it and breaks free, finally. Rollins hits a neckbreaker. Orton strikes with an elbow, a clothesline, another and then a Rollins gets rolled into a small package for two. He hits a powerslam and then another two count. Orton hits Rollins spine first on the announce table and drags him back into the ring. Seth is able to hit some elbows and then roll Orton up for a two count. Seth kicks Orton in the face. Seth heads to the top rope, but gets rung up and split legged. Randy Orton hits a superplex.

Seth kicks him in the mid section and counters Seth into a hanging DDT, but reverses it. He hits Orton’s DDT on him. He panders to the crowd and then sets up Randy Orton for a Pedigree. Seth flies from the top and gets an RKO. Sheamus comes out and attacks Orton to break up the pin. He throws Orton in the crowd and then looks at Seth Rollins. He hits a Brogue Kick and then looks to cash in. He yells to cash in, but Randy Orton hits an RKO to end the night.

Winner: Randy Orton via disqualification

I'll be interested to see the viewing figures for this week.

Raw remains for me a show of 2 halves. Within the confines of a TV show promoting an upcoming PPV the actual matches are relatively good. But, the angles and how the roster is used just do nothing for me.

On the face of it, Cesaro and Owens who both offer some relative freshness to WWE being beaten by Orton is a knock back for both of them. And we get what seems like the 10th Orton / Rollins match this year. As a fan there is just nothing about that which is going to excite me.

Prometheus wrote:
On the face of it, Cesaro and Owens who both offer some relative freshness to WWE being beaten by Orton is a knock back for both of them.  And we get what seems like the 10th Orton / Rollins match this year.  As a fan there is just nothing about that which is going to excite me.  

Thats my biggest gripe about RAW. They could have easily given us Cesaro vs Rollins, have another match like the one with Neville last week we're you almost believe Cesaro is about to win before Owens costs him the match, then you could have had Sheamus come down before Orton takes him out. There was no need for Orton to win that Triple Threat - as good as it was - and it left a sour note in my mouth for the rest of the show.

Interesting that we didnt get a proper medical update from Daniel Bryan, seems he was just there to plug the book and Tough Enough. Shame he got lost in the mix of the IC title picture, he should have had a stand alone segment. Glad to see Ryback is fit again, that infection looked nasty.

Bella's were faces again. The whole booking of them is a mess, and the three team elimination match at SS has come too soon, thats the match you build up to, not the first big match of the new division.

Stardust was excellent, and I liked the mini vignette they aired of Neville from last week, making it seem like Stardust was in his head and thats why he lost. Simple things like that make a big difference. Shame they've had to shoehorn in Armell and BNB because I think these two would have a really entertaining, comic book style feud.

To bring up Cesaro again, how over was he? Vince HAS to notice he has a top star in the making. Credit to John Cena because it was his matches with him that helped get him as over as he is.

Decent RAW but was a couple of misses away from being excellent.

Yesterday Adam asked the question "what's your biggest annoyance in wrestling?"  And if he'd replaced wrestling with WWE then my answer would have been an inability to promote talent.

While it is true that Rollins is the champion and we've seen new names like Ambrose, Owens, Rusev and Wyatt in main event or at least high-profile matches, they are not protected and their rises have also been affected by significant dips.  They may be upper mid-carders, but I don't imagine any of them headlining Mania or even SummerSlam next year.  I'm not even going to mention Reigns any more, he has fallen so far down the card.  

I understand that not every wrestler can main event, but I'd argue that is why you have multiple belts.  KotR, Andre's Memorial Battle Royale, even the IC belt are all woefully underused opportunities to establish and get new talent over.  Indeed, would the European Championship be as prominent if it wasn't around the waist of one of only 2 wrestlers WWE seems to protect?  

And I get that people point the finger back at wrestling fans, saying that when Reigns got his push the backlash made WWE do an about turn.  But, this is still a product that is planned by WWE, so they must take ultimate responsibility of either not sticking to their plans or being able to tweak them slightly to make them effective.  

The Cesaro question that Samo poses will be interesting.  Because the answer may be the same, is Cesaro over with Vince?  And I think that Vince still doesn't know how to position Cesaro as anything other than a good wrestler, which is not enough for him.

Its funny, I think they did the best thing possible making it Orton/Rollins. Didnt throw away Owens or Cesaro vs Rollins, put the MITB cash in in the picture and kept Orton floating above water.