WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 7/8/13 Review (They're coming)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 7/8/13. With Money in the Bank set for this Sunday, how can the WWE hype up the PPV? Let's find out and begin.

Vickie breaks 400 sound barriers

We open up the show with Vickie Guerrero explaining why she should be named the Raw GM after tonight. I'm sure this scene won't come back to bite her in the ass and act like a 5-year old who just lost his/her favorite toy, but we shall wait and see. After she announces a couple of matches for the evening, Jerry Lawler announces that the good, great, awesome, outstanding, amazing, WWE App will determine Vickie's job status after tonight. My God, there's so much WWE App whoring on this show that the opening theme song should go like this…

Tonight's the n---download the WWE App so John Cena can afford a new car this week!!! Download it NOOOOOOOOW!!!

1-800-BEARD

We'll check in later in the review if the shriek-bat keeps her job or not, but now it's time to get the action started. Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus was a solid start to the show. This was a fun match that was given a lot of time to flesh out. It was very engaging to say the least. Bryan picks up the rollup victory, thus showing more signs that Bryan is the favorite to win the MITB match. I have more to add on the MITB match, but I'll save that for later in the review. 

John Cena's commercial

After the Shield defeated Clogged Arteries, John Cena has a face-to-face with Mark Henry. This whole scene consisted of Cena plugging a Snickers commercial while Henry wants his career to mean something…

Henry needs to eat a Snickers in order to not be as dramatic. I especially love the spot where Henry talks down to Cena doing the same routine for 10 years. Hell, Cena is using one of his older speeches right now. You know, where he tells the one guy to put up or shut up and how he doesn't care what the fans think. Being the face of the company means you get to use more cliches than anybody else throughout a year, but I digress. The two start to fight, but Cena is unable to lift up Henry since he didn't take his Flintstone Vitamins this morning. Seriously, you miss one day of that stuff and you're f***ed. I know this is the point where the IWC whines about how stupid this is since we've seen Cena lift Big Show before, but you have to remember that this is pro wrestling and they're simply telling a story. If men in tights acting soap opera segments isn't cheesy, than what the hell am I watching? The segment did its job to build up the anticipation for their title match this Sunday. Overall, the build for this rivalry has been done very well from the beginning to now. Henry has done an excellent job with this feud and---

What was that? Oh, I'm sure it was nothing…

Faaaaaaa*ouch*

Paul Heyman may manage Curtis Axel, but it's very clear that he doesn't manage his speeches. Yeah… Axel is pretty bad at this department, but it doesn't matter since Heyman is there to do 90% of his talking. Thanks to the Miz's shirt, Chris Jericho picks up a victory on Curtis Axel. I haven't really said much on the Curtis/Miz rivalry since it just feels it's kinda there. It isn't a bad feud, but definitely not the most engaging feud when you're competing with stuff like the Wyatt family, Mark Henry, and CM Punk. I honestly would like to see this rivalry get a rematch at SummerSlam in order to give them more time to progress things. I did like the interaction for the WHC MITB competitors. I find the best way to give a prediction for this match is to ask the question, 'which of the seven is closest to a world title'. Between the seven competitors, only Jack Swagger can make the claim of being a former world champion. Based on all his off-field antics, he's definitely there for skill rather than winning. As of right now, Wade Barrett seems to be the guy that's closest to winning a world title. Wade's stock has dropped off significantly the last few months, but a win like this can easily erase that blemish. That's why I think Wade will win the Villains' MITB match. Runner-ups would be Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes, and Antonio Cesaro, since any of these guys, if built properly, can make for world champions in the next year… Well, sort of. We'll cross that bridge another day if it happens. 

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech

Sin Cara can't seem to buy himself a victory these days. Oh well, I guess no contest is the next best thing. We get to Vickie's job evaluation. Vince McMahon thinks Vickie needs a prrrrrrrrrrrromotion while Triple H thinks Vickie should be fired since she's gonna start chewing up the scenery for the next 5-minutes. Since Trips and Vince put the pressure on Stephanie to make the decision, she decides to let the WWE App decide Vickie's fate. As you would've guessed, Vickie gets canned and proceeds to scream. Oh no, she's only been fired from this job 3-4 different times. What will she do now? Yeah, so it seems WWE was using VIckie as a means of building up the tension between the McMahons. In fact, things get so chaotic that Brad Maddox is named the general manager of Raw. That's right, Brad Maddox goes from crooked referee, sniveling worm, and bumbling talker, to the GM of Raw. I'm not sure what to make of this since this could lead to some entertaining segments. After all, Brad's character is the equivalent of an idiot, so I think this can make for some funny segments for the next few months. 

They're here

So, did WWE hire a mime to conduct an interview with the Wyatt family? Seriously, that person never talks. Some dialogue between the two parties would've been nice, but my guess is WWE filmed this last Wednesday in about 10 minutes so they could get to the 4-day weekend sooner. I love how one of the Wyatt members tells the reporter to follow him. You're out in the middle of nowhere where a guy is waving an pickaxe! At what point does common sense start taking over? Run, dammit, run!!! We have to presume he's dead. Noooooo, not random wrestling reporter #5630!!! He was my favorite! The next match for the evening was Kane vs the WWE's latest signing, Christian McGillicutty. If you've done your research, you will hear he's the latest internet darling. Unfortunately, this man was sent out there only to lose on the first night… He's been fired as far as I know. Anyway, Bray Wyatt appears on the titantron and announces they're here. As soon as the lights come back on, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan attack Kane while Bray is sitting on a rocking chair. Once Kane has been taken out, Bray walks over to Kane to make sure you're aware that they're here. There's definitely some positives and negatives with the whole scene. First of all, I thought the Wyatt family targeting Kane isn't a bad idea. The Wyatt family is this group of creepy figures who embrace negativity, so going up against Kane has a couple of options. Are the Wyatts against Kane because they see him as a threat or do they want to convert him back to his monster ways, thus creating more chaos on the show? These are questions that I think a lot of people are overlooking after tonight. Also, Kane can do a lot of good to help these guys get over due to his veteran status. I also liked the transition from Bray's speech to the actual attack. They kept that creepy atmosphere that's been established with the vignettes, so I thought it was very well-done. My only gripe with this scene was no promo or follow-up from Bray after the Kane attack. They simply take him out and that's the last you see them this evening. I would've loved to hear Bray explain himself, but this is also a positive. By not explaining their agenda and keeping their presences short also makes their segment for next week or later in the week mean so much more. I definitely want to see more of the Wyatt family and get more answers as to who they are and their goals. Overall, a solid debut for the young guns. 

Punk vs Orton

Did Ryback just hug Vickie? I swear that week after week, Ryback is looking more and more pathetic. He's almost on the verge of dancing and saying 'I'm a real tough guy'. Yeah, cuz that's what I think of when I see a muscle-bound, light-pole. We're skipping past the diva segment and jumping right into the CM Punk/Randy Orton match because… Hell, do you need a reason? This was the other match that was up there with the Daniel/Sheamus match to kick off the show. I personally liked the Daniel/Sheamus match more, but this was still damn good. Punk picks up the victory after hitting the GTS on Randy. After the match, Daniel comes out to attack Punk and Bryan in order to make a claim at the MITB. The show ends with Bryan holding the briefcase. I still think Bryan is the favorite at MITB, but part of me feels like this ending is showing the likelihood of Bryan not winning MITB. There's the chance that Randy could win in order to make his heel turn and Punk could always hold onto the MITB after his feud with Brock Lesnar, but I'm sticking with Bryan as the favorite. Kane might not even make it to MITB, which could result in a plot-twist if they felt like doing it, while Christian is mostly there to eat up a spot. RVD's presence is a little harder to figure out since WWE is making a big deal out of his return. I can see him winning, but I also can see him losing this match… If that makes any sense. 

Overall Impression:

I wasn't expecting much in the action department for tonight's show since MITB is this week, but WWE went out there and put on a couple of good matches. The segments for most of the evening were setting up the events for MITB and I think they did that decently. I would've liked to see more build/showcase with the other MITB match, but that's what Smackdown is for. MITB looks like it could be a very entertaining PPV that could lead to some interesting events for down the road. The Wyatt family's debut was done well and I look forward to see what else they have in-store for the future of WWE. I think this is an episode worth checking out. That's gonna do 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.