WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 5/27/13 Review (Memorial/Filler Day)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 5/27/13. How was this Memorial Day episode of Raw? Let's find out and start the review. 

People like change…right?

We open up the show with John Cena. The man cracks a couple of jokes that not even a class of fifth-graders would find funny. In other words, Cena's doing his normal routine until he suggests a Three Stages of Hell match. Cena explains the concept of this match since he read the script. Three Stages of Hell is just another way of saying Two out of Three Falls, so it's apparent WWE is playing it up bigger than it is. Cena added a Lumberjack and Tables match to the Ambulance match Ryback pitched a week ago. It does make you wonder why tweak the match when it will most likely end with the Ambulance match. I guess they are using this match as an excuse to not add more depth to the PPV card, but who really knows. I'm okay with a Three Stages of Hell match, but I'm honestly not digging the other two falls for this match. Most Lumberjack matches are played up for laughs, so the idea of making this a stage of hell is a little ridiculous. I would buy Lumberjack match if it had somebody like Team Hell No in it, but not Ryback/Cena. A Tables match is a little better, but something about it doesn't feel right. Here's another way of looking at it. The first two gimmick matches don't even matter at the end of the day since it will come down to who wins the Ambulance match. Think of it as padding, but it could be good padding. That's at least what I'm hoping for. Once Ryback came out to give a glorified 'yes' to this idea, Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel come out to gloat about taking out Triple H. I guess bragging about a guy acting out head trauma is the way to build yourself. Curtis wants to go up against Cena tonight, so we have a match set for later. 

Big E mad!!! Big E smash!!!

A sure-fire ratings-grabber is to show matches that you put on the air last week….

The Del Rio/Big E match was actually pretty entertaining this time around. Due to AJ screwing up, Del Rio steals this match. I think AJ has screwed up more matches than helped. Big E was pissed off at AJ for the screw up. She really is the Yoko Ono of the WWE. I can see this being a small enough of a wedge to start the Dolph/Big E separation. At this point, Big E doesn't need to be attached to Dolph. Hard to say what he could do flying solo, but he deserves a chance to be his own man. 

It's Shield Time

Why is it that Bret Hart can say the exact same thing as you and get away with it? Because you're just Kane…

Is that anyway to treat a seven-foot-tall fruit rollup? I think not! Before the WWE Tag title match, there was a US Championship match between Dean Ambrose and Kofi Kingston. Dean defeats Kofi cleanly. The match was similar to their match at Extreme Rules. It was short, but worked decently with the time given to them. After the title defense, the WWE tag match begins immediately. I love how during the tag team match, the WWE App…

…shows the Prime Time Players saying they will not allow for the Shield to take over the tag division. That's right, playa! We will not stand for this! But since we are reduce to cameo appearances, let's get drunk and forget we have a purpose on this show. Once again, we get a really good match between these two teams. This might've been better than their match at ER. Daniel Bryan continues to go bat s*** insane since he wants to prove he isn't weak. He actually starts to bang his head in the corner. The man has lost his damn mind….and it kicks ass! I can't wait to see where this is all headed. Rollins and REIGNS pick up the victory once Bryan and Kane start to argue, thus leading to their downfall. Even during the break-up process, Team Hell No is still one of the most intriguing things to watch. This pairing has just been pure gold. I know people will wonder who will be the next set of challengers for the Shield's tag titles. Later on in the night we saw Randy Orton and Sheamus vs Rhodes Scholars. The match goes….

yeeeeeeaaaaaaaah, that sounds about right. Anyway, I think the pairing of Orton/Sheamus could be the next team to challenge Rollins and REIGNS. As of right now, both Orton and Sheamus are doing nothing, so I honestly don't see the problem of pairing them up to go up against the Shield. Plus, Orton and Sheamus already have tension with the Shield, so I think it practically writes itself. The only thing worth mentioning about the Drunken Snakes/Rhodes Scholars is that it was pretty fun. Even if they are the jokes of the WWE, you gotta give them credit for trying. 

You make the matches?

Yes, go on the WWE App and vote for what you want the Miz to do. Your choices are 'Stupid Choice #1', 'Stupid Choice #2', or the 'Pick This One, You Moron' choice. If you picked Guest Referee as your choice, NO F***ING S***!!! This is why I hate the whole voting thing since they make these polls idiot proof. You are controlling the show? I think they're exaggerating a bit there if you ask me. Regardless, Miz is the official for the Fandango/Wade Barrett match. The match didn't last long due to Miz being involved. He hits the Skull Crushing Finale on Wade for Fandango to steal the match. Why? The better question is 'who gives a crap?'. While Fandango and Summer Rae dance, Miz kicks Fandango in the face and proceeds to do a joke, three-count. As phony as this looked (Summer had to put herself in the perfect position instead of making it look natural), that was actually pretty funny. 

CM Punk and Wyatt family? What is happening!

We got a very interesting Highlight Reel this time around. Chris Jericho confronted Pauly about the whereabouts of CM Punk. Pauly kept quiet about the whole thing, but Jericho kept egging him on to give us an answer on what Punk is currently doing. Jericho challenges Punk to a match at Payback and for the time being, Pauly has accept the invitation. I have mixed views on this. Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of CM Punk as much as the next guy…

….Okay, well maybe not THAT guy. Regardless, I don't think bringing him back for Payback is the best way to go. I have a feeling WWE is only bringing him back because the PPV is in Chicago, but this is too soon for Punk. I honestly think he should stayed off television until SummerSlam season. Let me rephrase that before the marks slam me. I'm a fan of CM Punk and enjoy what the man brings to the table every single week, but I think storyline-wise that keeping him out of this PPV is the better way to go. There's always a chance that bringing him back now could be a great storyline, but Punk's return should be saved up for something bigger than one of the lower-end PPVs. At the same time, Punk's return could be a good thing. I guess we have to wait and see where this is headed. I'll be optimistic about it, but I've expressed my concerns. 

I guess this is the part of the review where I talk about the Wyatt family promo that played. I've made it very apparent that I don't watch NXT and don't really care what goes on that show. I've heard good things about it, but there's simply too much on my plate (I have a life outside this page) to even consider reviewing this show. With that said, I can at least give my thoughts on the video. One way to summarize is saying 'mindf***'. My God was it disturbing….but it's very appealing at the same time. Seriously, that video scare the s*** out of you, but that's what makes it interesting. I'm definitely curious to see what these individuals can do. That's how you make a vignette mean something. 

Axel C

John Cena vs Curtis Axel was not a bad match. Compared to a week ago, Curtis showed a lot more in the ring. So far, I'd say he's very skilled inside the ring. Curtis picks up the countout victory when Cena gets distracted by an ambulance. Oooooooooooooohh…..shiny lights!!! I love how Cena took the bait. John Cena: WWE Champion and gullible idiot. I know people will argue what's the purpose of Curtis picking up all these cheap victories, but these type of victories can make a young rookie very arrogant. You boost his 'confidence' so high that he and Pauly brag about these victories like a wise-cracking jackass. The idea is to MAKE him stand out based on what Curtis or Pauly can use in order to develop their characters. I know Curtis struggles in the promo department, but that's where you utilize a guy like Heyman. He can do all the hyping and building up for this guy. I'm not saying Curtis is gonna succeed. In fact, he can very well be a bust….For the second time in his career, but we won't know until we see this play out. I think people are being way too critical, way too fast and need to be more patient with this storyline. 

Overall Impression:

I wasn't expecting much with this episode. It's a Memorial Day episode, so it's custom to get a filler-esque evening due to the holidays. If you were expecting something big, you honestly are setting your expectations way too high. With that said, I thought there was quite a bit going on with this episode. There was a number of entertaining matches and I felt they progressed things well. However, you aren't missing a whole lot if you skipped this episode. Like I said, this is what you would call a filler evening, but this is filler done right. I can at least appreciate the nice distraction. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one.