Each week WWE serves up three hours and 15 minutes of sports entertainment live on USA Network, and Sky Sports in the UK. As part of our section The Beat Down we’ll be taking a look back at the top-rope highs and wrestling mat lows each and every week. So grab a foam finger and enjoy our Raw Reaction.
Regardless of your thoughts on this weeks Raw there is one thing you can’t deny, opening a show with a Ricardo Rodriguez, Big. E Langston, Zeb Coulter triple threat match is brave. The aim of the match was to determine who would choose the stipulation for the triple-threat World Heavyweight Title match between Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger at Extreme Rules.
Quite correctly the match looked to be a squash for Langston before outside interference caused him, Swagger, Ziggler and Del Rio to take the action outside leaving Coulter and Rodriguez to ‘fight’ it out. Rodriguez got the win as the horrendously beautiful AJ Lee’s attempts to break up a pin attempt by Coulter resulted in Rodriguez rolling up the bearded xenophobe.
Later in the show Heavyweight Champion Ziggler faced US Champ Kofi Kingston in a non-title, Champion Vs. Champion match which was fast, frenetic and excellent. Ziggler got the win with the Zig-Zag but only after putting Kingston over by selling his impressive aerial attacks with gusto. The commentators did their bit as well for Kingston who seems set for a big push.
The second of the trifecta of combatants at Extreme Rules Jack Swagger then had his chance to shine in a match against perennial jobber Zack Ryder. Fortunately agents and bookers saw sense and gave Ryder a good amount of offense in a losing effort. Ryder is an in-ring talent who seems to have been sidetracked by his now defunct You Tube show in recent years. With this out the way don’t be surprised to see Ryder used more and more on TV.
Completing the trio was Del Rio who took part in the match of the night with Antonio Cesaro. It has been a rough couple of weeks for Cesaro who was left off Wrestlemania, lost his title to Kofi Kingston, and last week jobbed to R-Truth, of all people, in under three minutes. Fortunately the powers that be (Hi Vince) saw sense this week and gave Cesaro a platform to show his talents, and he delivered. In the last five-six months Alberto Del Rio has become one of WWE’s most consistent performers managing good matches with Big Show, and a tremendous Wrestlemania showing with Swagger so it was no surprise to see him get the best out of Cesaro. Back and forth the match went before a submission victory by Del Rio but the crowd, commentators and Cesaro himself will ensure this match belonged to the Swiss superstar. Expect big things following his US title rematch with Kingston.
In a show full of decent matches Randy Orton taking on Cody Rhodes was fast-paced and enjoyable. Sure there was the inevitable RKO out of nowhere for the win but Cody put on a damn good show, whilst Orton continues to impress in helping talent along the way.
Whilst match quality was high on Raw the core of the show belonged to the Ryback/John Cena feud. Cena injured his achilles in Nottingham last week and as a result was deemed unfit for the the Ryback & Cena Vs. The Shield handicap match, instead Ryback was offered the chance to team with Team Hell No but chose to leave the arena in a leather jacket – classic heel tactics. Of course Super-Cena managed to make the match a six-man tag with Team Hell No but they were unable to overcome the ever-impressive Shield who look certain for HUGE things.
The show ended with a stricken Cena clutching his ankle in the ring as Ryback appeared on the stage to stare him down. Considering the nature of both of these performers –physical and limited – there is a lot of intrigue going into their title match in three weeks time thanks to a solid build so far.
Special mention this week for John Cena – the man, not the wrestler. For those not aware John Cena has granted over 300 wishes through the Make-A-Wish foundation, so on Wish day he granted a few more by bringing three children with life-threatening illnesses to the stage and making them honorary WWE Superstars. The crowd reaction was superb for Cena and the three children and this was a fantastic act by Cena and the whole of WWE on live TV.
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