WWE Raw Results - Spoilers ahead

Tonight's WWE RAW opens up from the Bell Centre in Montreal with Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T on commentary.

- We go right to the ring and out comes Randy Orton as Eden does the introduction. Orton takes the mic under a spotlight and talks about the Payback pay-per-view. Orton says it's a fitting name because he's going to be getting payback on Seth Rollins. Orton brings up fans voting for Roman Reigns to be in the match and the crowd boos. Orton says Reigns will be disappointed on Sunday but that's not his problem because Orton says he's walking out with the title and there's not a damn thing either of them can do about it. The music hits and out comes Roman Reigns through the crowd. Fans boo as Reigns takes a mic. Reigns says it's not going down like Orton said it is. Reigns says if anyone is getting payback, it's him. A huge RKO chant starts up as Orton encourages it. Reigns says the fans don't fight for Orton. They have words and Orton brags about how much gold he's held compared to Reigns. Orton says Reigns has some catching up to do. Reigns brings up his win over Orton at SummerSlam. Reigns says he wants nothing more but payback on Rollins but he doesn't mind breaking Orton in half one more time for the title. They argue some more and out comes WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day to the stage. Xavier Woods says all the negativity has to stop and a "New Day sucks" chant starts. Woods says nobody cares about Reigns and Orton's Montreal Boo-job. Kofi Kingston gets cut off by the chants and says New Day rocks, not sucks. Big E takes the mic next and taunts them. Big E says they have the chance to do something positive and extraordinary tonight... to clap with The New Day. Fans chant "New Day sucks" instead. They announce that Orton and Reigns will be facing all three of them tonight, as ordered by Kane.

Handicap Match: The New Day vs. Roman Reigns and Randy Orton

The New Day heads to the ring as we go to commercial. Back from the break and Orton starts out with Kofi. Kofi unloads in the corner but Orton hits a big clothesline. Orton slams Kofi on the top rope and tags in Roman Reigns. Reigns suplexes Kofi in from the apron. Reigns keeps control and runs over Woods with a shoulder when he comes in. Reigns blocks a leap frog and hits a Samoan Drop on Woods. Orton comes in for a bit of double teaming. Orton with a suplex for a 2 count. Orton keeps control and goes for another pin attempt. Reigns tags back in for some more double teaming. Orton with another shot on Woods before he leaves the ring. Reigns drops Woods and kicks him in the face. Orton comes back in and continues to work well with Reigns. The New Day ends up taking control after Big E comes in and drops Orton. We go to commercial.

Back from the break and Kofi is in control of Reigns. Big E comes back in and keeps Reigns down as fans chant. Big E hits a big suplex for a close 2 count. Woods tags in with an elbow over the top for a 2 count. Woods with more offense and another pin attempt. Kofi comes in off the top and fans start chanting for CM Punk. Kofi slams Reigns by his head and tags in Woods. Fans chant for Orton to come in. Reigns pushes Woods off and hits a big clothesline. Orton finally gets the hot tag and hits a big powerslam on Woods for 2 count. Reigns with a Superman punch on Reigns. Woods with a kick to Reigns. Orton takes Woods out and hits the second rope draping DDT on Kofi. Fans pop as Orton calls for the RKO. Wood comes from behind and Orton hits him with a RKO. Reigns goes to spear Kofi but accidentally spears Orton. Kofi covers Orton for the win.

Winners: The New Day

- After the match, The New Day celebrates as we go to replays with Reigns looking upset. Orton is down on the mat still as Reigns paces the ring. Kane makes his way out to the stage and asks for their undivided attention. Kane says there is no shame in losing to the WWE Tag Team Champions but their evening is not done yet. Kane says they have a growing dislike and he wants to exploit that. Kane announces Orton vs. Reigns for tonight's main event and says that's best for business. Kane's music hits as he makes his exit and Reigns looks down at Orton, who is still recovering from the spear.

- We see Kane backstage and he walks past The New Day going wild about their win. Kane walks up on WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins with Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble. Rollins says what Kane just did wasn't good enough. He says it was great but The Authority is coming back and they're going to punish Kane for what he's been doing to Rollins. Kane makes Rollins vs. Ambrose with J&J Security banned from ringside for tonight. Rollins argues that there's no point in having this match but Kane doesn't budge and shuts him up. Rollins storms off and we go back to commercial.

- Back from the break and Renee Young is in the ring. She introduces Ryback and out he comes to a pop. Renee asks if Ryback knows why Bray Wyatt attacked him. Ryback doesn't but says it was very stupid. Ryback says he's no stranger to fear. A huge Goldberg chant has broken out. Ryback looks nervous and says he loves them too. He says if you ignore it they will just keep doing it. A "feed me more" chant starts now. Ryback talks about his injuries and says he's glad to wake up everyday hungry. Ryback gets another "feed me more" chant going and says this is why he does what he does. He goes on and says if Wyatt wanted his attention, he's got it. Ryback says Wyatt never scared him and never will. Ryback says Wyatt woke him up and it's feeding time. The lights go out and Wyatt appears on the big screen. Wyatt says Ryback paints himself as an untouchable force but deep down he's a scared little boy. Wyatt talks about fear and says everything Ryback loves will fade away and in time, so will he. Wyatt tells Ryback to run and we cut to commercial.

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The Ascension

Back from the break and out comes Cesaro and Tyson Kidd with Natalya. The Ascension are out next. We get a sidebar video from earlier with The Ascension ripping on the Hart name. Konnor and Viktor ambush Kidd to start the match. Viktor unloads and whips him into a clothesline from Konnor. Viktor covers for a 2 count. Konnor tags in for more double teaming and a 2 count. Viktor tags back in with more offense and an elbow drop for a 2 count. Viktor with a headlock now as Natalya cheers Kidd on. Konnor tags back in and hits a big suplex for a 2 count. Viktor comes back in and Konnor whips Kidd into a dropkick for another 2 count as Cesaro breaks the pin up. Konnor comes back in and slams Kidd. Kidd dodges an elbow drop but Viktor tags back in and stops him from tagging. Kidd counters and in comes Cesaro. Cesaro unloads on Viktor and Konnor, sending him off the apron. Cesaro whips Viktor from corner to corner and hits a bunch of European uppercuts as fans go along with him. Cesaro follows it up with a big clothesline for a big 2 count. Cesaro drops Viktor again as fans pop. He calls for the Cesaro Swing but in comes Konnor. Cesaro takes him out but turns around to a big shot from Viktor. Kidd runs the ring and leaps out onto Konnor. Cesaro drops Viktor and tags in Kidd. Cesaro hits the Cesaro Swing and Kidd hits the dropkick for the win.

Winners: Cesaro and Tyson Kidd

- After the match, Natalya comes in to celebrate as we go to replays. The Ascension looks on from the ramp as Cesaro and Kidd taunt them from the ring.

- We see Rollins walking backstage. Renee Young stops him for comment on his match against Dean Ambrose tonight. Rollins says there's no point in having the match and Kane is a moron. He walks off and we go to commercial.

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins

Back from the break and out comes Dean Ambrose to a pop. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins is out next for this non-title match. Before they start, Kane comes out and announces that if Ambrose wins, he will be added to the Payback main event, making it a Fatal 4 Way. Rollins takes the mic and throws a fit. Ambrose asks the fans if they mind that he's added to the match and Rollins snatches the mic back. Kane cuts him off and says the match and stipulation are on. He calls for the bell. Ambrose rolls Rollins up for 2. Ambrose keeps control and takes the fight to the floor but Rollins turns it around. Ambrose hits a big clothesline in front of the announcers after coming back off the apron. They come back in the ring with Ambrose in control. The referee warns Ambrose and Ambrose shakes his hand as some fans laugh. Ambrose with a suplex for a 2 count. Rollins turns it around in the corner and works Ambrose over. Rollins keeps control and mounts Ambrose with right hands. Ambrose turns it around and mounts Rollins with a bunch of right hands of his own. Ambrose drops Rollins with a big chop for a 2 count. Rollins fights back and hits a big knee to the gut. Rollins slams Ambrose and drops a knee for a 2 count. More back and forth. Ambrose dumps Rollins to the floor as we go to commercial.

Back from the break and Rollins has Ambrose grounded. Rollins misses a springboard and runs into a boot. Ambrose nails a tornado DDT out of the corner. Rollins fights back but Ambrose hits the bulldog. Ambrose lands on his feet from the top. Rollins goes to the floor but Ambrose dives out and sends him into the barricade. A "holy Poopie" chant breaks out. They come back in and Rollins ducks a clothesline but Ambrose ducks a kick. Ambrose drops Rollins for another close 2 count as fans chant "this is awesome." Rollins counters but Ambrose backdrops him. Rollins misses a splash in the corner. Ambrose goes to the top and hit the elbow drop while Rollins is standing for a 2 count. Ambrose gets up first as a big "ole" chant breaks out. They trade shots and Rollins springboards in with a knee for a 2 count. Rollins taunts Ambrose and slaps him around. They trade shots and Rollins hits a big kick to the face while Ambrose is on his knees for a close 2 count. More back and forth as Ambrose clotheslines them both over the top. Rollins ducks a clothesline on the floor. Rollins powerbombs Ambrose into the barrier and he lands hard. Another "holy Poopie" chant breaks out after another "this is awesome" chant. Rollins goes in the ring as the referee counts. Ambrose makes it back in at the 9 count. Rollins realizes and stomps away as fans boo. Ambrose comes back but runs into a big kick. Ambrose bounces back with a huge clothesline. J&J Security hit the ring as fans boo. Ambrose fights them off. Rollins comes from behind but Ambrose counters and gets the roll up win.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

- After the match, Ambrose realizes he's going to Payback and celebrates as we go to replays.

- We go to the announcers and see what happened earlier with The New Day, Orton and Reigns. Still to come, Orton vs. Reigns in the main event.

- Back from the break and Rollins is upset backstage with Kane. Kane tells Rollins he has a plan but Rollins doesn't believe him.

- Byron Saxton is backstage with Lana as fans pop. Saxton asks her how it feels to receive positive reactions from the WWE Universe lately. She doesn't know what Saxton is talking about and says her position here is only for the betterment of... Fandango walks up and takes the mic. He says the WWE Universe accepting her is euphoric and she just needs to let go. He tells her to watch this and walks off. Rusev walks up and he's upset. We go to commercial.

Rusev vs. Fandango

Back from the break and Fandango has made his way out. Rusev is out next with Lana, who gets a pop as she walks out after him. They go at it to start. Fandango drops Rusev with a right and goes to the floor. Fandango walks up on Lana as fans cheer. He gets her to do the Fandango dance to a big pop. Rusev runs over and decks Fandango from behind. He yells at Lana and orders her to the back. Fandango attacks from behind and brings it back in the ring. Fandango with a pair of dropkicks. Fandango with right hands in the corner. Rusev cuts him off with a big kick to the face. Rusev with several stomps to the back and The Accolade for the win.

Winner: Rusev

- The announcers hype John Cena's US Open challenge and Tough Enough. Back to commercial.

- Back from the break and we get a look at ESPN's E:60 special and some Tough Enough submission videos.

Stardust vs. R-Truth

We go to the ring and out comes Stardust. R-Truth looks on from the ring and we get a sidebar video of Stardust earlier talking about getting revenge on Truth. The match starts with a quick pin attempt by Truth. After some back and forth, Truth gets curious about what is in Stardust's bag that he brought to ringside. He takes a peak and gets scared, allowing Stardust to roll him up for the win.

Winner: Stardust

- After the match, we see that fake spiders were in the bag. Truth runs away as Stardust looks on.

- Still to come, John Cena will defend his title. We get a preview for the WWE 24 special on Roman Reigns that airs tonight on the WWE Network.

- Back from the break and out comes WWE United States Champion John Cena as fans sing "John Cena sucks" with his theme. Cena hits the ring and the heat continues. Cena says, "I quit" and fans cheer. The "ole" chants start up. Cena talks about how he doesn't give up and says he will fight Rusev for the last time at Payback, whether he's champion or not. The "ole" chants start again as fans really want hometown star Sami Zayn. Cena goes on about Payback but fans start chanting for Sami. Cena turns the promo back around and declares the champ will still be here after Payback. Cena says the champ is here tonight and judging by the noise, Montreal is the place to be. Cena says he's the man to beat and they boo. Cena kicks off his US Open Challenge and starts running the ropes. The music hits and out comes Bret Hart to a huge pop. Bret says he's here for one reason... to introduce a great wrestler that... the music interrupts and out comes Heath Slater. Slater cuts a promo but gets booed. Slater insults the people as he walks to the ring. Slater enters the ring and says he's so tired of getting attacked out of nowhere... Bret decks him and he goes down. Bret says he's here to introduce a hometown star, one of NXT's hottest... out comes Sami Zayn to a huge pop.

WWE United States Title Match: Sami Zayn vs. John Cena

Cena gets ready as Sami comes out to a big pop. Bret looks on and shakes Sami's hand as he enters the ring. We go to commercial. Back from the break and they're going at it. Cena gets sent to the floor. Sami runs the ropes but Cena moves out of the way. Cena comes back in and slams Sami for a 2 count. Cena with a headlock now. Cena with more offense and anther 2 count. A doctor comes in to check on Sami's shoulder as the match is stopped. We get replay and Sami was dropped on his shoulder by Cena before the last pin attempt. The match resumes as fans cheer Sami on. Cena backs Sami into the corner and kicks the leg. Fans boo as Cena works Sami over. Cena keeps control and slams Sami again. Cena calls for the Five Knuckle Shuffle but Sami rolls him up for a 2 count. Cena runs into an elbow. Sami comes off the top with a crossbody for a 2 count. Cena rolls to the floor for a breather. Sami runs the ropes and leaps out onto Cena for a pop. They come back in the ring and Cena puts Sami in the STF. Sami makes it to the bottom rope and breaks the hold. The referee checks on Sami's shoulder. Sami catches Cena with the Koji Clutch out of nowhere. More back and forth and another 2 count by Sami. We see Rusev and Lana watching backstage. The "ole" chants start again but Cena runs over Sami with a clothesline. Cena goes for the Attitude Adjustment but Sami pops right back up and they both go down after colliding. Cena rolls to the floor as does Sami. Sami runs and dives through the bottom rope, nailing a tornado DDT on the floor, how he did with Cesaro a while back. Sami brings Cena back in the ring but Cena immediately hits the AA for a close 2 count. Cena argues with the referee. Sami comes back with a Blue Thunderbomb for a close 2 count. Fans chant "this is awesome" as they both get up and trade strikes. Cena gets the upperhand and hits the springboard Stunner. Cena follows up with an Attitude Adjustment for the win.

Winner: John Cena

- After the match, Sami crawls to the corner selling the shoulder injury and Cena walks over to him. Cena extends his hand and helps Zayn up. Cena raises Sami's arm in the middle of the ring as fans cheer. Cena leaves the ring clapping for Sami as his music plays. Sami gets hype with the Montreal crowd before making his exit as Cole plugs NXT Takeover: Unstoppable on the WWE Network.

- We get a look at what happened with Orton, Reigns and The New Day earlier. Still to come, Reigns vs. Orton in the main event.

- We see The Bella Twins walking backstage. They walk past The New Day, who are still celebrating. Back to commercial.

- Back from the break and Renee Young is waiting on comments from Sami Zayn. The New Day walk up and interrupt her, wondering why she's not trying to interview them. They're still celebrating their win from earlier. They start clapping but fans chant "New Day sucks" and in walks Cesaro, Kidd and Natalya. Natalya says the only reason they won is because Reigns and Orton hate each other. The two sides have words and they get the "New Day sucks" chant going again.

Nikki Bella vs. Naomi

We go to the ring and out comes WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella with Brie Bella for a non-title match. They make it to ringside but are attacked by Naomi and the returning Tamina Snuka. They beat up The Bella Twins and Naomi cuts a promo saying Nikki's reign over the division is over.

- We go to the ring and King Bad News Barrett comes out in his crown. He cuts a promo and makes his way to the ring. He tells us to get used to these four words: "All hail King Barrett!" We go to commercial. Back from the break and Sheamus is out to join Barrett. Neville is out next to a pop. Dolph Ziggler is out next, also to a pop. We get a sidebar video from earlier with Ziggler knocking Barrett and Sheamus, calling them bullies.

Sheamus and King Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler and Neville

Barrett and Ziggler start the match off. Sheamus distracts Ziggler, allowing Barrett to strike first and drop Ziggler. Barrett works Ziggler over in the corner now. Barrett with big forearm shots to the back and a high knee for a 2 count. Ziggler turns it around and drops Barrett for a close 2 count. Barrett ends up on the floor. Sheamus talks trash to Ziggler as we go to commercial.

Back from the break and Sheamus has Ziggler down with a headlock. Ziggler fights back but Sheamus catches him in the Irish Cure backbreaker. Sheamus talks trash and bullies Ziggler around. Ziggler responds with a big superkick to the face. Ziggler crawls to the corner and Neville gets the hot tag. Barrett also comes in. They go at it and Neville hits a hurricanrana. Barrett ends up on the floor and Neville leaps out onto him. Neville brings it back in and hits a missile dropkick. Neville with a standing moonsault for a 2 count. Barrett counters and hits a big kick to the gut. Barrett misses a Bullhammer and eats an enziguri. Neville with a suplex for a 2 count. Sheamus comes in but Ziggler counters and tackles the two out to the floor. They brawl and Sheamus dumps Ziggler over into the timekeeper's area. Neville drops Barrett and goes up for Red Arrow but has to stop and dropkick Sheamus. Barrett gets up and Neville springboards in instead but a Bullhammer knocks him out of the air for the win.

Winners: King Barrett and Sheamus

- After the match, Barrett grabs his crown and scepter and celebrates with Sheamus as we go to replays.

- We get a plug for WWE 24 on Roman Reigns.

Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton

It's time for the main event as Roman Reigns makes his way out through the crowd. Randy Orton is out next to a big pop. We go to commercial. Back from the break and before the match can get started, out comes Kane ready to fight it looks like. Seth Rollins and J&J Security are right behind him. Jamie Noble stands on the announce table and introduces himself as the special guest ring announcer, Joey Mercury as the guest timekeeper, Kane as the special ringside enforcer and Rollins as the special guest commentator. The bell rings and here we go. Orton goes for a RKO right away but Reigns pushes him off. Reigns goes to work and they trade shots. Orton drops Reigns with an elbow. Reigns beats Orton into the corner but Orton comes back with a big clothesline. More back and forth. Reigns tosses Orton to the floor and follows. Orton cuts him off and back drops him on top of the barrier. Reigns with right hands. Noble comes over and Reigns drops him also. Reigns turns back around to a big shot from Orton. Orton comes back in the ring and stops the count before going back and slamming Reigns into the barrier. Orton with an uppercut on the floor before rolling Reigns back in. Orton has a staredown with Mercury and Kane. He comes back in and Reigns takes control.

More back and forth with trading shots. Orton blocks a Samoan Drop. Orton with a neckbreaker now. Reigns comes back and drops Orton on the bottom rope before running around the ring and hitting the big dropkick. Reigns taunts Rollins. Reigns goes for a Superman punch but Orton moves out of the way. Orton with a powerslam. Orton with the second rope draping DDT. Orton readies for the RKO but Reigns blocks it and nails a Superman punch. Orton goes to the floor. Reigns runs the ropes but Kane holds his ankle. Reigns and Kane go at it. Mercury and Noble jump Orton on the other side of the ring. Rollins and Mane join them in beating on Orton. Reigns goes back in and runs the ropes, diving out onto everyone else. Rollins sends Reigns into the ring post and he goes down. They bring Orton back in and he fights them off. The numbers catch up and they beat Orton down. Reigns comes in fighting but he gets beatdown also. Dean Ambrose's music hits and out he comes for the save. Rollins is left in the ring with Ambrose, Orton and Reigns. Reigns nails a spear and Rollins is out of the ring. Orton drops Reigns with a RKO. Ambrose stalks Orton and drops him with Dirty Deeds. Ambrose celebrates as his music hits. RAW goes off the air with Ambrose standing tall while Orton and Reigns recover.

Reads like a pretty good episode, Ambrose in the title match is probably there to take the pinfall, but still good for him to be there. Sami Zayn v John Cena looks well worth a watch, and plenty of decent build towards Payback.

That was a pretty excellent episode of RAW, and justifies my reasons for avoiding spoilers until I've seen the show.

I thought that New Day would end up getting beat, but im glad that they won. I would have focused more on Orton and Reigns not getting on rather than an accidental mix up, but you cant get everything.

Team Uppercat vs The Ascension was a bloody good match, and will do alot for Konnor and Victor.

Ambrose vs Rollins was excellent as always. Im a bit upset they're giving it away on RAW, and it wasnt the best match these two have had, but that doesnt do it an injustice, it was still brilliant. I actually marked out when Ambrose won as I was sure it was just a man sausage-tease stipulation. Im was already looking forward to the Triple Threat but now I cant wait for the Fatal Four Way.

When the crowd wouldnt shut up with the Ole chants, I was trying my best to convince myself that Zayn wasnt actually coming out, because I would just end up disappointed. Another huge markout moment when Bret Hart came out. The roof blew off the place when Zayn finally came out. In Montreal - it HAD to be him. The only down side to this match was the silly injury angle that totally knocked the pace of. The highlight is that Zayn never looked out of place against Cena, he WILL be a main event star one day.

I had forgot about Tamina Snuka completely. It makes sense that they team these two up, family vs family. But Naomi's boots were not lighting up, so she can go Frak herself, dont care anymore.

The tag match was a decent affair, but the crowd were starting to wain at this point. Makes sense that Barrett picks up the win. Neville continues to impress.

The main event was exactly what it should have been, a way to get the main event of Payback over. Good to see Ambrose standing tall, makes a change from the norm.

All in all, a very good episode of RAW, and for the first time in a long time, it didnt feel like it was three hours long.

Sami Zayn is legit injured and having an MRI scan today - wasn't an angle and was probably why Cena applauded him at the end of the match

DrDeath wrote:Sami Zayn is legit injured and having an MRI scan today - wasn't an angle and was probably why Cena applauded him at the end of the match

Really? I thought it was a work. If he was then fair play to him because he put on a hell of a show.

Tonight, Vince made a special appearance here in Montreal for the Pat Patterson appreciation night thing they were doing and I noticed something quite odd. Vince needed to follow a spot light to the ring in order to know where he was going. I didn't think anything of it at first and thought it was just a lighting effect for his entrance. So he follows the spotlight and then there's a crew a member who's directing him to the ring from a distance, making hand motions and pointing to various things so Vince doesn't bump into stuff I guess. Once again I thought nothing of it and figured maybe he's just making sure Vince doesn't trip over any camera cords.

So Vince is done with his speech and he exits the ring. He stands there then slowly paces towards the stage and looks over his shoulder for a crew member. Two of them rush towards him and began to beam pocket flashlights to the floor for Vince to follow. Once again they cautiously guide him to gorilla using the floor beams from their flashlights. He then ducks under the right platform of the Raw stage and goes to the back still with assistance. One thing though, Vince carries himself as if nothing is wrong. His demeanor and stance would make you think otherwise but it was clear that he's going blind or has limited vision at this point in his life. No one else needed assistance. Ambrose took the same exist and did fine on his own and so did Sami. Various other crew members took the exist with no problem/assistance and plus Vince was the only one with a spotlight during his entrance.

He looks very tired in person and you can tell he's a very very hard working guy both physically and mentally.

This was the first time I'd watch Raw without looking at the spoilers since the first hour of the post WrestleMania show, and really enjoyed it.

With the exception of the Stardust/R-Truth match there was nothing exceptionally bad on the show.

Pretty much every segment advanced storylines, and there were some strong matches, particularly Ambrose/Rollins and the US title match.

I thought it was a good show, paced well, at the moment there is just a lack of talent that I personally want to get behind, I love Rollins and Ambrose and delighted they're on Top Billing for Payback, I love Cesaro too, this guy should be Main Event,  everything about him screams Main Event - I see him in the same mould as Brock Lesnar, Lesnar is in a League of his own but I feel Cesaro has that aura around him that screams Badass and genuine tough guy, whether he is or isn't is irrelevant for me, the fact that he comes across as such is everything, I genuinely believe he is money in the bank if booked and promoted properly.

thought it was great to see Sami Zayn on RAW in such a good match with Cena,  Cena had a good match, this tends to be a bit of a habit with John boy in the past few years, his selling is still rotten but he's a very decent worker these days.

Feel Ryberg deserves a special mention here, for a guy that isn't renowned for his ability on the stick I thought he handled a pretry hostile crowd with relative ease last night and he eventually won them over to the point they were cheering him and chanting his catchphrase, thats impressive in anyones book, even the biggest Goldback detracter couldn't knock that, the promo itself was crap, doctors said I had to quit blah blah blah but thats just scripted mince, when he was interacting with the crowd is when he started to show that he might just have charisma in that huge big ball of muscle he calls a body

Ryback seems to have a natural talent at being able to work a crowd. He knows how to react and how to get them involved, which is the biggest hallmarks for making a star.

Thats why you don't read a wrestling show, you watch it. Thats probably as good an episode as they can put on.

Big props to New Day - they played their part perfect for a long time and its starting to pay off as three very talented guys are getting spotlight.

It's like WWE had this amazing new idea of taking good wrestlers, putting them in matches that make sense and to a large extent having them wrestler 10min gimmick free, interference free matches. I'm sure Vince hated it, maybe they let VKM have the spiders idea.

Two things that stood out for me. 1) It seemed that JBL had less to say, which was good. 2) Cole called a lot of moves and mostly correctly, which again is a good thing.

I think we can see now why Ambrose got a win at the last PPV. But I'd watch him just stand in a ring for 20 minutes, so no complaints here.

It appears that WWE has learned from its mistake of bringing up talent from NXT and burying them. Zayn had a great intro and they started to rebuild the Ascension.

Orton & Reigns / New Day was really slow, maybe the mismatched tag pairing were saving themselves. Can someone explain the Freebirds rule to Booker. 2*

I agree that Ryback did really well to turn the crowd around. I tuned out when Bray Wyatt spoke, he's beyond boring to me now.

Ascension / Cesaro & Kidd. How can Vince say Cesaro doesn't connect, he always does. 3* and the best Ascension outing to date.

Ambrose / Rollins. I really got into this. 4*

Fandango / Rusev. A few months ago I thought Rusev could be built to wrestle Lesnar. Now he's wrestling, not squashing, Fandango. I actually think Fandango is okay, but in a terrible gimmick, but why kill all interest in a monster heel wrestler for the blonde who can't wrestle? *

Stardust / R-Truth. Break time. *

Heath Slater - Awesome.

Cena / Zayn. Zayn injured himself coming to the ring. I shouldn't laugh, but how much worse can a debut go? Fair dues to him gutsing it out for the match and diving over the top rope with one arm, wonder if he misses the NXT special now. That springboard stunner looked awful. 3*

I skipped the women's match.

Barrett & Sheamus / Ziggler & Neville. Neville played the defibrillator, bringing this match to life. Bull hammer to a diving Neville was a cool spot and Sheamus dumping Ziggler is exactly what is needed to a guy who split him open last time they met. 2*

Orton / Reigns. Neville is a difficult act to follow. I find it hard to adjust to the hard hitting brawl. I don't understand why the Authority mug Orton and leave Reigns. And I don't understand why Ambrose would be an Equalizer. This was what it was. 2*

Overly harsh on the ME and Stardust/Truth if you ask me.

Actually quite enjoyed the spiders bit. Made me laugh and I liked Stardust throughout. Cody Rhodes is brilliant.

Thought it was a very good Raw for characters. Wrestling was good, but the characters were generally very good.

Prometheus wrote:
Fandango / Rusev.  A few months ago I thought Rusev could be built to wrestle Lesnar.  Now he's wrestling, not squashing, Fandango.  I actually think Fandango is okay, but in a terrible gimmick, but why kill all interest in a monster heel wrestler for the blonde who can't wrestle? *  

You clearly just dont get it, 2/10.

All kidding aside Im actually starting to like this new Rusev thing. He's gone from Hero of the Soviet Federation, only interested in making the supreme leader Putin proud, to getting to be too big for his boots, getting an ego, and becoming all about Rusev.

Or, really, all about Cena. I think they need to play up on that, combined with Lana getting an ego too, to push what is hopefully a Rusev mega-heel moment by hurting Lana to make John quit.

Do you see potentially Rusev threatening to hurt Lana forcing Cena to quit before Lana swerves it and confirms it was all a ploy and since Cena can't get a re-match it becomes the perfect crime?


Or have they just had a bazinga moment and realised Lana like Sable is far more valuable to the company than the guy shes promoting

The latter is what the dirtsheets are suggesting, not sure what I prefer in all honesty. I think Lana is gold, and I like Rusev, but their partnership has been very good. How long before they go stale is the question.

Will Lana work as a face? She's said to be very athletic, but that doesn't always translate. Its taken Nikki Bella a LONG time to get any good in the ring. And the crowd will urine all over her if she shows herself up in the ring.

More rumours suggest her and Eva Marie, who as we know has been training with The Brian Kendrick, are meant to be a huge part of their plans in the women's roles. Seems odd, they have arguably their most talented female roster all over yet want to force two non-natural wrestlers into the spotlight. Lana arguably is the most talented mic worker they've had with a uterus for years and I really hope they use her to be the voice of the division.

Its very up in the air with both of them as to their potential, the timelines they need to follow and where they fit further along those timelines. Can Rusev survive the 0-3 to Cena? (technically 1-3 but no one remembers it) Intriguing, and a corner they needn't booked themselves into in many ways, but I think the Rusev desperation to crush Cena, to put it all on the line, makes perfect sense.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Overly harsh on the ME and Stardust/Truth if you ask me.

Actually quite enjoyed the spiders bit. Made me laugh and I liked Stardust throughout. Cody Rhodes is brilliant.

Thought it was a very good Raw for characters. Wrestling was good, but the characters were generally very good.

Stardust/Truth well its midcard filler, I wont argue with someone who enjoys it more than me and rates Cody Rhodes higher.

The ME. My problem is that forever when there is a multi-man PPV they will have to do a mis-matched tag pairing. And the main event will end is a schmozz with everyone in the ring. I understand why WWE do this to tease that if you want to see a conclusion you pay money, but it just feels so old and predictable. And I did want more Neville, it felt that ran a bit short (Cena ran over?) the pace went down a few gears when Orton and Reigns came out.

WRT Lana. I think it was considered that at Mania when she came off the ringside that was a big bump for her. So, I'm interested to see in the PG WWE how much beating up on a lady there is.

US viewing figures down again for Raw. So, post-Mania show drew 5.36M viewers and that has tumbled to 3.57M.

Obviously this is nothing new. Figures tend to go down over the year, but I think there might be a few alarm bells that start to ring when it goes south of 3.5M. I could well be wrong, but I'm finding it quite hard to believe that the Network will he holding close to its 1.3M subscribers if people just aren't watching Raw.

I think one of the problems is that there has been no Road from Wrestlemania. WWE had a number of wrestlers who appeared there (Sting, HHH, Undertaker, Lesnar) who all but disappeared as soon as the lights were turned off on that show. And it kind of feels that Rollins as champ and Kane setting up all kinds of odd events around that belt, just isn't something that is drawing viewers in right now.

A good episode, a shame about zayns injury but they still put ona good match.

As far as Stardust and the spiders go i was dreadfully disappointed, as i thought for a brief second it may be the thumbtacks, they would tie in as looking like little pieces of stars, but the main reason for this is i think it couldve been a very cool character trait for Stardust to be a hardcore extreme guy who still acts like a comic boook villian. In the same way the Joker has these childish prop like weapons which can actually cause serious damagew ould be something id like stardust to do to give him an edge.

Yeah I enjoyed that Raw. 

Highlights
Dean Ambrose added to the match
Ambrose vs Rollins
Brett hart segment
Cena vs Zayn
The tag matches

Lowlights
Naomi has changed her hair, don't like it
R Truth vs Stardust again

Seems that as the ratings are dropping at an alarming rate HHH and Steph will be back for this week's Raw.