OO Column: Online Onslaught by Rick Scaia (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWE, WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Trish Stratus, Lita, Stacy Keibler, Divas, RAW, SmackDown, WrestleMania

OO RAW RECAP
Believe in Kane! No, Seriously: Somebody Believe in Kane.... anybody?
October 12, 2015

by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OOWrestling.com

I failed to welcome in October last Monday... partly due to forgetfulness, but mostly because it didn't feel like October. No surprise, it came after a September that spent a whole month feeling more like early August.

But October is usually my most favorite month, as it marks the return of really just delightfully perfect weather -- mostly dry, highs in the 60s, lows around 50, shorts still OK during the day, a light jacket optional at night, and so forth. Also, it usually means playoff baseball.

For about 15 years straight, I didn't have to worry, as the Yankees were always in. Then, just when the Yankees became mortal, the Reds got good and went to the playoffs 3 years out of 4. Well, this year, the Yankees barely made it into the one-and-done play-in game (and lost) and the Reds were the second worst team in all of baseball. So yeah, no playoff baseball to keep The Rick occupied.

But I still welcome October with open arms. Due to my Texas Relocation from last December through May, I didn't really have my usual Seasonal Weather Pattern... I got down to Texas, and it was basically already Spring. Before I left, it was full-on summer for the last month. I got back to Ohio, for a few weeks reverting back to Spring before it was Summer again. I can't tell you how nice it is to have real Autumnal Weather for the first time in a long time.

What I can tell is that you're getting sick of me waxing poetic about weather that doesn't cause one to start making one's own gravy due to heat, humidity, or both.... so I'll shut that down, and tell you what happened on tonight's just-completed edition of RAW:

Cold Open: Kane is backstage, on speakerphone, and Stephanie and Triple H are on the other end, saying that they just got on the plane, and they are running SUPER late, and just hope they can make it to the building before the end of the show.... in the meantime, they wanted to sneak in one last phone call before the pilot gave the "phone's off"order, and make sure Kane wasn't gonna do anything crazy.

He's just supposed to hold down the fort until they get there. And they will be in touch in 30 minutes or so, when they can turn their cellphones back on, to check in. In the meantime, JUST DON'T DO ANYTHING WACKY.

Kane assures them all is well, and he will be totally professional. But then, as soon as they hang up, Kane calls for a stagehand, and tells her to go inform Seth Rollins that he's got a match tonight.... and it's a lumberjack match, and it's against him (Korporate Kane).

Opening Theme/Pyro/Etc., and we're live from Chicago, IL, at the No Longer The Rosemont Horizon, and the house is packed, even though a few miles away, Wrigleyville is rocking for what is shaping up to be a Cubs' playoff win. Cole & The Gang offer a perfunctory welcome, because Dean Ambrose is on his way to the ring....

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS THEATRE

Ambrose gets to the ring and grabs a mic. He says that if the Authority are running late, that means the inmates are running the asylum. And when it comes to excelling in a crazy-house, Dean figures he's uniquely qualified. So he's itching for a fight, and anybody'll do.

With that, out comes Randy Orton, who admits that he may be from St. Louis, but he's always been a huge fan of Chicago. In other news, the Cubs are playing the Cards over at Wrigley, and Orton is a ham-fisted panderer who is clearly lying. But Chicago appears to fall for it. Oy.

From there, Orton takes the long cut, as he awkwardly reveals that Dean Ambrose has a match at Hell in a Cell, and it's against Luke Harper and Braun Strowmann. Ambrose seems OK with this, which is when Orton gets around to the "punchline," which is that Ambrose's partner is the Viper himself, Randy Orton.

Ambrose is neither happy nor miffed, he just shrugs his shoulders, and says that he's been fighting the Wyatts for years, and he's gotten really good at it, so it really doesn't matter who his partner is. That partner can just step behind Dean, and take notes, and follow Dean's lead, and all will be well.

Orton opts to take umbrage at this, and plays the "while you were just dreaming of becoming a WWE superstar when you grew up, I was already kicking ass" card. Ambrose is all "cool your jets, I'm happy to have a partner, but I just don't take instruction very well." Orton is all "OK, I hear you, but I don't exactly play well with others; hell, sometimes *I* don't trust me." And they go back and forth a few times, trying to one-up each other in terms of being an anti-heel, but the crowd is mostly not buying it.... instead of two guys one-upping each other, it's coming off as two guys confusing the crowd.

Luckily, the New Day hit the scene to break it up. They brag on last Monday, where they dominating Cena, the Dudleys, and Ziggler, and they'd like to bask in the glory.... so they invite Orton and Ambrose do make like Derrick Rose (of the Chicago Bulls), and HIT THE PINE! OMG CHEAP HEAT~!

Orton and Ambrose have no desire to depart, so Korporate Kane eventually pops up on the TitanTron, and makes the obvious tag match....

DEAN AMBROSE & RANDY ORTON vs. THE NEW DAY (w/ Eggsavier Woods)

Usual configuration for the New Day -- Big E and Kofi -- which means the widely-anticipated "third chapter" of Cena mini-arc with the New Day (a singles match against Kofi) isn't happening.

Fast start for the good guys, and 30 seconds into the match, E and Kofi bail out to regroup with Eggsavier. Ergo, we break for....

[ads]

Back, and Ambrose is still in control. A brief hiccup when Orton tags in, and Big E comes in on the corresponding move.... but Orton is able to tag Ambrose back in, and the faces keep on controlling things, even trading a series of frequent tags (punctuated by frequent skunk-eyes).

It turns into another game of one-upsmanship, where the pair stop frequent tagging, and start frequent BLIND tagging to duplicate whatever the last guy just did. It builds up to Ambrose blind tagging himself in so he can do the Garvin Stomp that Orton just did.

Orton steps in and registers his annoyance. Big E is able to tag in Kofi. Kofi jumps in and thinks he's gonna blindside the two as they argue.

Instead, Orton and Ambrose both turn around at the same time and blast Kofi with stereo elbows. Kofi bailsout, and Orton/Ambrose return to arguing, as we break for more....

[ads]

Back, and the New Day have gained control. A little picture in picture reveals that Eggsavier was the difference maker, and he distracted Orton with some Trombone Work during the ad break. Now, Orton is the face in peril. Big E and Kofi put Orton on the Merry Go Round of Pain, ending with the corner dropkick by Kofi.

Then, Big E rattles off a few of his clap-assisted offense, including the Abdominal Clap. For as much as "smart" crowds (including OO) have come to love the New Day, they're doing all the right things to get heel heat, even in Chicago. Ambrose is pulling his share, too, cheerleading like a son of a gun on the apron.

Orton powers out of the Abdominal Clap, and Woods tries to interfere to turn things back in Big E's favor. It backfires. Orton is able to get to the corner for the hot tag to Ambrose. E cannot make a tag to Kofi. So Ambrose goes to town on Big E for a bit. But it's only a segue.

Woods interferes again, and this time, it works.... Big E flattens Ambrose with a slam, and makes a tag to Kofi. After a grapple, Ambrose gets separation, though, and tags Orton back into the match (just 90 seconds Orton tagged out)..

Orton gets off to a good start, but as soon as it breaks down into a four-way brawl, the New Day take advantage. Orton goes for an RKO on Kofi (the legal man), but Kofi shoves him off, and Orton collides with Ambrose. Ambrose tumbles out of the ring, and Kofi hits the Trouble in Paradise on Orton.

Your Winners: the New Day, via pinfall, in about 12 minutes. Not too shabby. The overlong opening segment led to some noticeably awkward ad placement (30 seconds of match, 3 minutes of ads, 2 minutes of match, 3 mintues of ads, and then the last 4 mintues or so of match). But while they had our attention, they delivered some pretty good stuff, and definitely advanced the Ambrose/Orton frenemy status while making sure the New Day looked golden.

[ads]

NAOMI (w/ Sasha and Tamina) vs. NIKKI BELLA (w/ Brie and Alicia)

Before the match, a video package from last Wednesday's NXT Takeover (where Sasha and Bayley headlined the show with an awesome IronMan Match), and pparently, it played in the arena, too.... because as soon as the bell rings, the crowd couldn't give a shit about Nikki and Naomi, and are chanting "We Want Sasha."

Nikki controls the opening moments, pretty much instant time compression to the heel beatdown, I guess... and she does turn to taunt Sasha from time to time, clearly not pleased about the attention being elsewhere.

About 3-4 minutes in, and Naomi finally breaks up the onslaught of chinlocks and armbars with a lovely dropkick, and then she sides steps a charge. Nikki tumbles out of the ring. Naomi follows up with a plancha, and then tosses Nikki back into the ring.

But that's when Brie grabs a mic and gets up on the announcers table, to start chanting "We Want Sasha" over the house mic, building on the "JBL Narrative" that all women are hateful bitches who can't get along, and so this is a ploy to annoy Naomi by pointing out that the fans like Sasha more than anyone else on Team BAD.

It doesn't exactly ANNOY Naomi, but it does distract her. Although Sasha comes over and yanks Brie off the table, the brief distraction is enough to allow Nikki to recover and hit the Rack Attack.

Your Winner: Nikki Bella, via pinfall, in 5 minutes. I'm hopeful that this indicates WWE realizes what they have in Sasha, and that we're ever closer to a world in which women's wrestling on WWE TV is closer to what it is on NXT TV, and in which the only place "divas" exist is over on the E! Network. But in and of itself, this match was nothing.

[ads]

US OPEN CHALLENGE

Just two weeks until John Cena's widely publicized "vacation" for "personal" reasons, and he still doesn't have a PPV caliber feud for HiaC.... is tonight the night we get some clarity on the likely next US Champion?

Chicago welcomes Cena with a sing-songy "JOHN CENA SUUUUUUUUUCKS" chant, which initially has a tone of companionalbe respect. But Cena figures out just the wrong way to play it so that it turns into decided unfriendly booing. Then, Cena tries to undo his doing by kissing up to the fans.... he says that other buildings claim to be the World's Most Famous Arena, but to John Cena, the All-State Arena is The Place to Be.

Cena notes that he had his very first WWE match in this building, and then fate just so happened to put him in history making match after history making match in this building. But even saying that, Cena knows it's not the building that's special, it's the people who keep filling it. And for that, Cena is grateful. So tonight, why not give these great fans one more chance for history.

The US Open Challenge is here by..... open!

JOHN CENA vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (US Title Match)

As Ziggler hits the ring for the title shot that he did NOT get last week (he was attacked backstage by the New Day), Cole tells us that there's been a major development in Ziggler's relationship with Lana, and we'll discuss it later tonight..... huh, I guess that means WWE is going to acknowledge real life because TMZ "broke" the "story" that Rusev and Lana got for-real engaged recently.

Full boxing-style ring introductions by Not Lilian, and we're off. And then, we slow the roll, as the fans become distracted by something happening off to the right side of the screen. Ziggler opts to powder out, and Cena grabs a house mic.... apparently, we just had a live marriage proposal, and the girl said yes. Cena explains for the TV audience, and congratulates the couple. It's engagements everywhere Ziggler goes!

Then, we resume the match, proper, and when Ziggler is able to dodge a charge, and Cena flies out of the ring, we break for....

[ads]

Back, and Ziggler's working a sleeper hold.... but only for about 30 seconds, and then Cena begins his fire-up. Cena makes the full comeback, including most of the Moves of Doom, including the Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Then, the SSTF is cinched in, and Ziggler is dead-center of the ring, so he quickly gives up on a rope break. Instead, Ziggler works a reversal by controling Cena's arm and getting behind him for another go at the sleeperhold.

Cena starts to fade, and also realizes that he's dead-center of the ring, so a rope break isn't happening.... instead, chooses for the Power Escape. Cena stands up, with Ziggler still on his back, and turns it into a Flash F-U. Ziggler rolls all the way out of the ring, though, so no pinfall.

Cena finally corals Ziggler, and they have a quick bit of double-reversey in the ring. Cena realizes heneeds to go big, so he sets Ziggler up for the Top Rope F-U.

But Ziggler counters it into a top rope Implant DDT. Whoa. Impressive bump. Ziggler makes the cover, but only gets 2. Ziggler's turn to feel the pressure, so he steps back, and "tunes up the band." Yep, tonight, he's not just using the Superkick, he's stealing HBK's full build-up spot!

But Cena catches his foot, after being tipped off by the stomping, and we do another round of double reversey.... it ends with Cena going for the F-U again.... but while on Cena's shoulders, Ziggler flips through and somehow turns it into Fameasser out of mid-air. Whoa, again!

Only gets a two count, though, and when Ziggler steps back to re-assess the situation, Cena uses the opening to pick the ankle again. It's another SSTF, but this time, off-center. Ziggler gets a rope break.

Cena goes big again, setting up for a Superplex. Ziggler headbutts out, sending Cena tumbling. Ziggler follows up with a high crossbody, but Cena rolls through and hoists Ziggler up for another F-U attempt. But with the ref out of position, Ziggler rakes the eyes.

Cena drops him, and Ziggler hits a superkick. Cena kicks out at 2.... both men are spent, and are slow to get to their feet. When they do, they start trading fisticuffs. The crowd plays YAY!/BOO!, with Ziggler getting the YAYs, despite the eyerake. Ziggler wins it, and hits a flash Zig Zag.... but Cena kicks out at 2.

Ziggler sells the frustration, to the point of being a bit of a whiny bitch. And he pays the price, because when he finally turns back to Cena, Cena hits an F-U and gets the three count.

Your Winner: John Cena, via pinfall, in 16 minutes. Very good match, with the action not undercut by any pacing/ad-placement issues (like with the opener). Just a really entertaining wrestling match, and presented cleanly and effectively. And if there's a story to take away, it COULD be that Ziggler was so close to winning the US Title, but he lost focus at the last second, and he won't let that happen if he can finagle a rematch.

[ads]

THE DUDLEY BOYZ vs. THE ASCENSION

No Stardust, so I guess his little segment on last Thursday's SD (in which he hinted at the arrival of a "Cosmic Queen") wasn't about turning his faction into a four-person.... it was about dumping the Ascension for a chick.

Welcome to the Jobberlands, Ascension.

Your Winners: the Dudleys, via pinfall, in less than 2 minutes. I can state, with authority, that this is a thing that happened.

[ads]

NEVILLE & CESARO vs. KING BARRETT & SHEAMUS

Feel the Europeaness! Or feel the "four guys with nothing better to do-ness." Either way.

Cesaro is definitely the rock star of the match, in terms of fan response... but in any random-partner tag match, singles agendas always trump the team aspect. And in this case, Sheamus is Mr. Money in the Bank, and Barrett is KotR.... while Neville is an undersized underdog, and Cesaro hasn't even been on TV in a few weeks.

Advantage: heels.

Your Winners: Sheamus and King Barrett, via pinfall, in 3 minutes. Cesaro had a nice run, but in the end, Sheamus pins Neville without much drama.

[ads]

ROMAN REIGNS vs. BRAUN STROWMANN (w/ Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper)

Before the match, Reigns grabs a mic... he opens by repeating Bray Wyatt's mantra "Anyone Buy You" a few times. Because that cuts to the core of the issue. This started because Reigns wanted to be WWE Champion, and at MitB, Wyatt prevented Reigns from gaining his chance to do so. The WWE Title is what binds the two together.

The crowd starts WHAT'ing Reigns, and he tries to defuse is by getting a big grin on his face and asking "You can't hear me? Turn up the mic!" But instead of cheering his chuzpah, Chicago boos and grumbles. Reigns keeps going, but he's visibly shaken, and loses focus. Chicago smells blood, so they stop WHAT'ing, and start chanting "BOOOOOOOOOOORING" at the poor guy. D'oh.

Reigns opts to acknowledge that, too, saying "Nah, this ain't boring, it's just real life." But as much as he does a noble job of booting and rallying, he dug himself too deep a hole, so the Powers That Be bail Roman out by hitting Bray Wyatt's music.

The Wyatt Family come out on the stage, and Bray says some random crap about finishing the job at HiaC.... and that allows Roman to regroup and hit his scripted punchline: "One they close that cell door, you're right Bray.... you'll be wishing it was Anyone But Me." Whee.

[ads]

ROMAN REIGNS vs. BRAUN STROWMANN (For Real This Time)

They waited until we got back to start the match. Lucky us. Bray and Harper do linger at ringside, FWIW.

Opening moments are Tests of Strength, all of which are won by Strowmann.... so Reigns regroups, and adopts the unfamiliar role as the speed guy. He gets a few spots where he out-quicks Strowmann, but then power wins out again, and we FF to the "mid-match" heel beatdown.

NOW would be the right time for a "BOOOOOOOOORRRING" chant. Just old school sloth offense, even including the never-exciting SpockLock neverhold. But at least the Spocklock gives Reigns a terrible resthold out of which to fire up. Which he does.

Crickets can be heard as Reigns mounts his comeback. Strowmann's sheer size and mass means there's a hiccupt when Reigns tries for a Samoan Drop, but he gets back on track with the Driveby. Reigns starts setting up for an Announce Table Assisted move, and that's when Harper and Bray get involved.

But they only distract, they do not ACT, so there is no bell until Reigns notices the ref's count.... Reigns dives back into the ring at the last instant, leaving all three Wyatts around the announce table.

Your Winner: Roman Reigns, via count-out, in 6 minutes. Bleh. Strowmann may one day figure out how to be an effective giant, but for now, he's pretty useless once the bell rings. And the fact that the match wasn't any good just makes Reigns' inability to get a REAL win all the more unsatisfying and pointless.... if Reigns can really BEAT the boring giant, that's something, but getting a count-out against that load services nobody and nothing.

Backstage: Kane takes a call from Triple H. The plane has landed, and he and Steph are headed toward the arena..... but they'd like to know: what did Kane come up with as a main event. Kane reveals that he's booked himself against Seth Rollins, but thanks to cellphone-signal-related "comedy," the message doesn't make it through, and Kane knows it. He keeps admitting "it's me," but HHH is asking "Who is Rollins facing?" and Kane is timing it so that HHH thinks it's Kane saying "I'm here, it's me." This whole little B-story has the stink of trying-too-hard, and getting away from valid pro wrestling storytelling (which is always best if it's the simple, straightforward stuff that plays out in front of a live audience, and does not reek of writeriness).

Takeaway: no matter how sillily it was handled, the Authority weren't here before, but they're on the way.

[ads]

RYBACK vs. RUSEV (w/ Summer Rae)

This is a rematch of a surprisingly decent match from last Thursday.... but in this case, it's also just background noise for the announcers to acknolwedge the TMZ report that Rusev and Lana are now for-real engaged, and then make fun of Summer for still being out here with Rusev, despite that knowledge.

ANd then the other shoe drops, and Rusev eats the Shellshock.

Your Winner: Ryback, via pinfall, 2 minutes flat. Squash city, baby. Because all that matters is WWE trying to own that TMZ report. As if anything ever done by the human dumpster fire that is TMZ requires a self-respecting person to acknowledge it.

After the Match: Rusev is humbled by his shameful loss, and then Summer grabs a mic, and makes it worse, by revealing that she's totally aware of the TMZ report. But instead of dealing with it backstage, she wanted to wait and do this in public. So she breaks up with Rusev, calling him all kinds of bad names for being pussy-whipped and a cheating bastard, and then she slaps and leaves.

I don't know who the face is in all this, because as presented, it's two people being equally horrible. But I do think the foundation now exists for Rusev to execute his half of a double-turn with Ziggler. And that ain't all bad.

[ads]

KEVIN OWENS vs. KALISTO (Non-TItle Match)

Last week, Owens beat Sin Cara. So this week, he's going for the matched set. Kalisto's a lot more flashy and dynamic than Sin Cara, but we're still all adults here. So let's not pretend this is something it wasn't.

Your Winner: Kevin Owens, via pinfall, in about 4 minutes. It was a bit more than a squash. Not by much. But it was about as much fun as you can have with a match that short and that one-sided. The finish was never really in doubt, but Kalisto put up a noble fight, and Owens snuck in enough little easter eggs so that he won a bit more than just-a-squash.

[ads]

CHARLOTTE & BECKY LYNCH (w/ Nattie) vs. BRIE & ALICIA (w/ Nikki)

In addition to Nattie and Nikki at ringside, Paige is sitting in on commentary. Paige's main talking point is that Team PCB is still A Thing, and the group is just going through some private issues, but they're all still besties. They might be calling themselves Team NCB, but it's just a phase, and Paige will sort it out soon enough.

Pretty much as soon as Paige gets that exposition out of the way, Charlotte cuts Brie in half with a spear, and sets up for the Figure Four.... but then Nikki creates one distraction and Nattie comes to the rescue... and Paige gets up from commentary to attack Nattie, which distracts both Charlotte and Becky.... so Brie gets a cheap roll-up on Charlotte in the chaos.

Your Winners: Brie and Alicia, via pinfall, in 3 minutes. Nothing as a match, but in terms of laying the foundation for a post-Bella women's division, we really are getting everything lined up pretty nicely. On the heels of Sasha being the "winner" of the earlier match, this was a match where Paige vs. Nattie was the primary issue, even if neither was technically in the match.

Backstage: Kane fields another final phone call as he's preparing for his match.... the Authority now say that they AREN'T gonna make it to the arena in time, but they want to check in and confirm the main event. Kane tells them, point blank this time, that he (Kane) is facing Seth Rollins.

The Authority lose it, and Steph says this is not acceptable, and HHH orders Kane to change the match. His exact words, "I don't care who. But you're going to pick someone else who isn't.... you." Ahhhhh, wait a convenient time to be a schizophrenic, eh, Kane?

As HHH/Steph yell at Kane to not screw this up, Kane assures them he'll follow their orders to a T.

[ads]

Backstage: Seth Rollins is on his way to the ring, and he finds Big Show, who is one of the lumberjacks.... Rollins tries to suck up to him, but Big Show is having none of it, and laughs in Rollins face when Seth suggests that Big Show cover his back.

Then, Kane walks in and informs Rollins that the Authority just called, and changed the main event. Rollins is (foolishly) relieved when Kane informs him that he (Kane) is no longer his opponent. But he's (rightly) less than relieved when Kane promises to find a "suitable replacement."

[ads]

SETH ROLLINS vs. DEMON KANE (Non-Title Lumberjack Match)

We return from ads, with the lumberjacks in place (no real surprises, other than the fact that Jack Swagger still has a job).... then Rollins enters, and at exactly 11pm (eastern), which pretty much telegraphs that this will be a worthless "match," his opponent is revealed.

Yep, it's Demon Kane. Pretend to be surprised.

Rollins does, indeed, pretend to be surprised, and tries to bail out of the ring. The face sides (Dudleys, et al) take glee in immediately returning him to the ring. The heel sides (New Day, et al) grudgingly do their job. Then, Rollins manages one flurry and dumps Kane out of the ring, and NObody wants to do their job.

So Kane just takes his time and gets back in the ring. Rollins "self-deports" rather than face Kane, but Cesaro (perhaps taking a note from his old mentor Zeb Colter) hunts him down before he can cross "the border" (the barricade), and hurls him back into the ring.

Forced back into the ring, Rollins does a quick exchange with Kane, and actually wins it, sending Kane out of the ring. This time, Kane lands near Big Show, and given their history, the two have a staredown. Despite laughing off Rollins earlier, Big Show defends his turf, and when Kane steps to him, Big Show drops him with the WMD.

Show walks out of the match at this point, but the rest of the heel side team up to roll Kane back into the ring. Rollins makes a cover, but Kane kicks out at 2. For about 2-3 minutes, Rollins dominates, but Kane keeps kicking out. Rollins goes up top, and Kane joins him.... they trade fists, and Kane wins it.

It turns into a superplex.

But before Kane can go for a cover, the heel lumberjacks (the New Day are front and center) yank Kane out of the ring. It turns into a giant heel beatdown, with the New Day clearly directing traffic.... then the face lumberjacks join in, and it's a Pier 16 brawl.

The 'jacks wind up powdering out, and out of the chaos, Kane isolates on Rollins and lands a Tombstone.

Your Winner: Kane, via pinfall, in 7 minutes. So WWE's answer to fans not really believing that Kane is a credible WWE Title contender is to have him pin the champ on live TV. Sadly, that's not how it works, WWE... I know, in your heads, you're thinking if you show it to us, we'll believe it, but this ain't a math problem, it's an "understanding the audience" problem. And the way you turn someone into a compelling/convincing challenger is to get the fans to genuinely dread (if the challenger is a heel) or crave (if the challenger is a face) a title change.

Fans dreading a face win (a la Roman Reigns earlier this year) or craving a heel win (a few Cena defenses over the years) means you're doing it wrong. BUt in the case of Kane, the bigger problem is that nobody really cares one way or the other.... him pinning Rollins after a schmozzy finish doesn't change that. Luckily, the HiaC PPV has that big shiny Lesnar/Taker match that will be the REAL main event, so the tepid foregone conclusion of a title match shouldn't be a huge problem.

Rollins powders out, so Kane is standing alone in the ring. Our final visual is Kane blowing the corner pyro before we fade to black...

And so ends the show... a show that fits right in with the past month and a half of RAWs. Not aggressively terrible, but almost completely devoid of anything you can really sink your teeth into. No in-ring action with rewatch value, no storyline elements with water cooler value.... just three hours of TV that was THERE.

The RAW after SummerSlam was the last episode that stuck out in any way (and that night, it was in a good way)... ever since, it's been a non-stop parade of already-forgotten mediocrity. In six weeks, I think I doled out one B-minus, one D-plus, and then spent the other weeks doing variations on C grades.

More of the same tonight... the show peaked with a solid Cena/Ziggler match that had the slightest whiff of heelishness from Ziggler. After that, you could make a case that Kevin Owens' squash was the second most entertainining segment of the night; the opening tag match was OK, too, but victimized by distractingly bad time management.

Beyond that, nothing of note. All the Kane/Rollins stuff was pretty floptastic, cuz fans are mostly just waiting till after Rollins dispatches Kane and gets a real challenger again. A month with Sting, then another with Kane, neither of whom is a WWE Champion here in the Year of Our Lord 2015... Rollins is good, but he could use a bit more to work with, and use it soon. Same thing goes in the women's division, where you got the palpable sense that fans are just waiting out this one last thing with Nikki's title shot, and then they'll be ready for Paige/Nattie/Sasha to jockey for the next shot at Charlotte's title.

Reigns seemed to fumble his lines during his promo, and then had a pretty lame match against Strowmann, so no value was added to his Wyatt feud. Can't say spinning Ambrose and Orton off into a tag match against Strowmann/Harper does much to excite me, either... it's another thing that "makes sense" if you go by the numbers, but it's just a giant waste of time if you look at it from a perspective of "understanding the fans."

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the sudden aboutface with Rusev/Summer.... the vast majority of savvy fans already knew Rusev and Lana were a real-life item, and were happy to look the other way, because hey, it's pro wrestling. Just because TMZ "reported" it doesn't change a damn thing.... but WWE acted like it does, and now, no matter how random and stupid is feels, the upside is that we might finally be nearing the end of this hot mess of a soap opera, possibly with a double turn. Still: "tacked-on" and "random" are not labels that one generally applies to quality television, so no points to WWE for yet another case of a segment tonight that wasn't really much, in and of itself, but which may lay the foundation for something better down the line.

Seemed like a LOT of video packages/replays/filler, too. It's not like I put a stopwatch on it, but I did watch a bit of the Cubs/Cards game to build up some time shift and I ran out of it LOTS sooner than I expected too.

All in all, Cena/Ziggler stops it from spiralling too far down the quality continuum.... but honestly, a C-minus is about the best I can do, and still respect myself.

RAW's bringing a loaded, stunt-casting, "go home" show next Monday, so hopefully things'll be better then. See you in seven!

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Bonding Exercises

RAW RECAP: The New Guy Blows It

PPV RECAP: WWE Night of Champions 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: 18 Seconds? NO! NO! NO!

RAW RECAP: The Show Must Go On

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Boot Gets the Boot

RAW RECAP: Heyman Lands an Expansion Franchise

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Losing is the new Winning

RAW RECAP: Say My Name

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Deja Vu All Over Again

RAW RECAP: Dignity Before Gold?

PPV RECAP: SummerSlam 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Backfired!

RAW RECAP: Bigger IS Better

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Hitting with Two Strikes

RAW RECAP: Heel, or Tweener?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Destiny Do-Over

RAW RECAP: CM Punk is Not a Fan of Dwayne

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Returnening

RAW RECAP: Countdown to 1000

PPV RECAP: WWE Money in the Bank 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Friday Night ZackDown

RAW RECAP: Closure's a Bitch

SMACKDOWN RECAP: In-BRO-pendence Day

RAW RECAP: Crazy Gets What Crazy Wants

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Five Surprising MitB Deposits

RAW RECAP: Weeeellll, It's a Big MitB

SMACKDOWN RECAP: #striketwo

RAW RECAP: Johnny B. Gone

PPV RECAP: WWE No Way Out 2012

RAW RECAP: Crazy Go Nuts

SMACKDOWN RECAP: You're Welcome

RAW RECAP: Be a Star, My Ass

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Needs More Kane?

RAW RECAP: You Can't See Him

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Lady Power

RAW RECAP: Big Johnny Still in Charge

PPV RECAP: WWE Over the Limit 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: One Gullible Fella

RAW RECAP: Anvil, or Red Herring?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Everybody Hates Berto

RAW RECAP: Look Who's Back

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Care to go Best of Five?

RAW RECAP: An Ace Up His Sleeve

PPV RECAP: WWE Extreme Rules 2012

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Sh-Sh-Sheamus and the nOObs

RAW RECAP: Edge, the Motivational Speaker?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: AJ is Angry, Jilted

RAW RECAP: Maybe Cena DOES Suck?

SMACKDOWN RECAP: No! No! No!

RAW RECAP: Brock's a Jerk

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Back with a Bang

RAW RECAP: Yes! Yes! Yes!

PPV RECAP: WWE WrestleMania 28

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
BROWSE THE OO ARCHIVES

Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH. He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.