WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 9/16/13 Review (Rebellion)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 9/16/13. After the events of Night of Champions, what happens next? Let's find out and begin. 

Here lies Daniel Bryan's hopes and dreams

We open up the show with Daniel Bryan. As you would guess, Bryan is talking about his WWE Championship victory. Wow, what a moment for the man! So, where's the part of the show where the man with the big nose crushes his dreams? Oh, there he is! Right on time! After a replay system that makes you question the NFL replay system, Scott Armstrong admits that he made a fast count and claims he and DB were working together in order to ensure Bryan's championship victory. Bryan denies these claims, but Trips has heard more than enough to strip DB of the WWE Championship. Bryan refuses, but he eventually has no choice but to fork it over…

Randy Orton arrives and the two are about to fight, but it's revealed that Orton ISN'T the WWE Champion and things will get figured out at a later time. I should note that by the end of the night, we still don't know the fate of the WWE Championship, so we currently have no world champion at the moment…

Very intriguing backstage scene where Orton was acting like a crybaby for not getting his championship back, but Stephanie puts him in his place and claims Orton deserved to lose since he's not the same, vicious, Randy Orton who made their lives a living hell. That was definitely something. Looks like Randy is gonna have to look himself in the mirror and find that sadistic snake. This is definitely an interesting turn of events, so definitely a positive start to the show. Although, it's kinda sad that this opening might've been more engaging than the entire NoC PPV. I should note that much later in the evening, Armstrong would get fired for his actions at the PPV. Armstrong didn't seem thrilled about the news, but Trips insures that Armstrong will be taken care of. So, how much did Armstrong sell his soul to the Game? I would like to know. 

Yay, filler time!

The rematch between Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose might've been better than their match from last night. I liked their match from last night, but this felt like it was given more time and thus, felt more fleshed out. Dolph defeats Ambrose with the Zig Zag in this non-title match. Well, that evens the score so far in the rivalry. I look forward to the rematch. Did King just say 'Paul-rus'? Ugggggggggggh… who's keeps writing King and Cole's jokes, Chuggaaconroy? Later on in the show, the diva match didn't feature AJ or Natalya in the ring, but they were on commentary. Yeah, it's one of those matches were listening to the banter is more entertaining than the actual match. Seriously, name one thing that happened in the match from the top of your head? I bet you can't do it since nobody remembers it. I don't even know who was in the match. I think that should sum it up right there. Although, I will admit that the interaction between AJ and Natalya was fun, but it felt like Natalya came off as a spoiled child. I can't really explain it, but that's just how I felt. 

Unleash bitch-mode

After fast-forwarding through the Fandango/R-Truth match, the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes arrives with something to say. Dusty pretty much wants the opportunity for Cody Rhodes to get his job back. Stephanie says Cody does have the opportunity to get his job back, but he can also give the job to Goldust. It's up to Dusty to decide who gets their job, Cody or Dustin. Wow, what a bitch! Dusty decides he will not do such a thing and tells Steph to go to hell. After the Shield and Big Show arrive to the party, Steph orders Show to knock out Dusty. Once Show starts to shed the tears, he apologizes to Dusty and knocks him out, but not before catching him. As you would understand, Show only did the attack since he knew the Shield would've done something much, MUCH worse to the Hall of Famer, so he took the bullet once again. I know people don't like the sniveling, Big Show, but I personally don't mind it since he plays his part very well. Still, this does ask the question at what point does Show start to rebel against the corporation? By the way, has anyone noticed that anything involving the people wanting to rebel, Booker T is somewhere in the scene? Just something I wanted to point out since its become a regular thing. So the Rhodes/McMahon family dilemma continues to grow. Just like the DB/corporation deal, this is another feud that could turn into a potential Survivor Series match, but not sure about that. The merits are there, but I'm sure something along the lines of a war can get the green light. 

Yay, more filler!

RVD hits the Frog Splash on Damien Sandow and the winner is Damien Sandow…what? Sorry, the entrance music said otherwise. Somebody hit the wrong button in the back. That dude better be care. Trips has already fired two people in his ego trip and can definitely get ride of somebody else in the process. In other filler performances, the Usos defeated Tons of Saturated Fat and Almost Real Americans to become the #1 Contender to the tag titles. Where were the Prime Time Players? Well, my guess is they forgot to set their alarm clock. While it seems the WWE wants to do something with the tag division, but it isn't clear as to what exactly. They were going with the Usos for a while, but then they went with the PTP, but now they're back to the Usos. It's usually the championships that get the hot potato treatment, not the #1 Contendership. It just feels a little odd to say the least. 

Randy's anger

Randy got an opportunity to unleash that evvvvvvvil persona once more and he does it by attacking Miz before the match. In fact, he would pretty much kill the Miz right in front of the Miz's parents. I know this is pro wrestling and everything for the most part is staged, but it would've been a nice touch to see his parents jump the guardrail and get held back by security as they try to help their son. I mean, if your child was getting the crapped kicked out of him, wouldn't you go in there and do something about it or just stand there and watch? This is a minor complaint and the scene still gets its point across, but I would've appreciated the extra effort. Like I said, the scene did its job to set up the fact that Randy Orton has mega evolved in Mega Orton, king of jackasses. Hmmm, perhaps Trips told Armstrong to do the fast count in order to not only kick DB in the balls once more, but to unleash the evil side of Orton? It's not a bad theory if you think about it. 

Kiss of death

Paul Heyman comes out to gloat about the fact he defeated CM Punk in a match, while Ryback claims he attacked Punk because he doesn't like bullies. Yeah, the bully doesn't like bullies. Try to figure that one out. To add to the creepy atmosphere, Pauly kisses Ryback on the forehead and Ryback really seemed to get off on it. I haven't seen him this happy since he forced somebody to take a shower. Yeah, we're learning a lot today. As for Curtis Axel, I almost forgot he was there. Maybe he can go make Ryback and Pauly a couple of sandwiches. He's gotta do something, right? Anyway, I still like the progress of this storyline and I think the edition of Ryback will be a great plus since Axel is still young and Brock Lesnar isn't always available. 

And now, chaos!

The final match of the night was Daniel Bryan vs Roman Reigns. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but I was surprised. The match was pretty damn good. Check it out if you're curious. The finish comes when Randy interferes, thus resulting in a no contest. After the match, Shield and Randy take down Bryan and it seems Bryan is about to get the Miz treatment, but some talents in the WWE have grown tired of the corporation's treatment. The rebellion consisted of RVD, Dolph, PTP (they finally woke up), Usos, Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth. The show ends with the rebels taking out the Shield and celebrating with DB. Oh boy, the evvvvvvil, big, bad, corporation is gonna be furious. Well, Trips technically didn't put any repercussions if you helped Bryan so he can't fire them, but you can bet some 'punishment' will be on the way. You had to figure at some point, people would be willing to risk their careers to do the right thing. If anything, I expect to see some type of punishment on this upcoming Smackdown. If that's the case, it could be something to check out later in the week. 

Overall Impression:

This was a major improvement over Night of Champions. If you checked my review on the PPV, you would know that I was overall disappointed with the event and just something I don't want to go back and watch. Thankfully, WWE realized the error of their ways and put together a pretty entertaining episode of Raw. Not an episode I would put in my top five of 2013, but still an episode that the majority of wrestling fans will get an enjoyment out of. Check it out and judge for yourself. 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. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Night of Champions 2013 Review

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Night of Champions 2013. Would this evening be able to offer something to the table? Let's find out and begin. 

Is there still an Intercontinental title? 

We open up the show with Triple H's ego. Once the guy pretty much mentions everything that's happened to Daniel Bryan, Paul Heyman tries to bargain with Trips since he announced his match against CM Punk would be a No DQ match. You have to love how heels freak out over the fact the match is now No DQ. They're actually giving you the option to cheat. You can probably use a hand grenade as a weapon. Hey, it's no DQ, right? Since Curtis Axel didn't have the IC title on the line and Punk would use the championship as toilet paper, it's decided to give the title match to the first person Trips runs into. I think Kofi Kingston lucked out in that department since it was originally gonna be cameraman #9087234, but my guess is Trips gave Kofi the match since he washed his car over the weekend. Just because the corporation's evil doesn't mean they can have dirty cars. The match was given a decent amount of time and it ended when Curtis hits the most unconvincing finisher ever. I'm sorry if you like this finisher, but it looks like the person who receives this move is intentionally taking a dive. The rest of his in-ring skills are fine, but get rid of the… Un-neckbreaker. Congratulations to Axel for keeping the IC…

My guess is he kept the belt since nobody else wanted to hold onto it for the remainder of this month. I mentioned a few months ago that Axel would most likely hold onto the IC title and do nothing with it until it comes time to give it to the next guy, and that's exactly what's happened thus far. I know it's prestigious and historic, but if you aren't gonna do anything with it, you might as well retire the title. I want to see more done with the mid-card championships and I know the WWE is capable of writing storylines for these belts, but it seems like they really don't want to. I know it seems harsh saying something like that, but it might be better to get rid of one of these titles. I want to see things change with this division, but it's more of an afterthought in the current era of the WWE. 

Crazy divas

Layla and AJ were a 'team' a few weeks ago, but now it's like it never happened? My guess is Layla got amnesia last week and is still in the recovery process. In all fairness, it makes sense for AJ to fly solo in this storyline, so I don't mind the abrupt change. The Fatal 4-Way diva match wasn't too shabby. Not something I would watch again, but it was decent under the circumstances. AJ made Natalya tap out to the Black Widow. You think that the Total Divas would work together to make sure AJ lost the match, but not even their egos and attention spans would allow such a thi--hey, a housefly! It made sense for AJ to keep the championship since she's still the best thing going in the divas division and that's all I got on this scene. Okay, next match. Let's go! Let's go! Next one! GO!!!

There's some matches here and stuff

RVD defeated Alberto Del Rio and became the new WHC. Ricardo then turned on him after the match to his new client, Damien Saaaaaaaaaaaandooooooooooow. The two celebrated with a mojito… De nada!!!

No, that's not what happened. It would've been more exciting if this was the story, but all that occurred was RVD winning the match via DQ since Alberto refused to listen to the referee's orders, thus Del Rio is still the WHC. RVD did hit the Van Terminator…

The match was okay to sit through, but it was the lack of a storyline that really kept me for getting into this contest. I almost forgot the match even happened. That's how little of an impact it made in my book. In fact, the Miz/Fandango match also falls in the same category. I almost forgot this happened. Miz won the match with the Figure Four in case you were curious. Were you? Probably not…

Hey look, the PPV wants to do something…

It's now time for the handicap match between Punk, Axel, and Heyman. So, why is this called a handicap match? Based on what I saw and the rules to the match, it sounded like Punk would get a match with Heyman if he beat Axel. Isn't this more of a Gauntlet match rather than a handicap contest? I get what they're trying to do here, but what crack did you smoke to end up with these rules? It's like they took a bunch of rules, threw them against a wall and *BAM*, instant match. While the IC champ is good enough to defeat Kofi, he stood no chance against Punk, proving that this storyline has nothing to do with Axel and is more of a pawn in this entire thing. It really shouldn't be that surprising since all Axel's done for 4-5 months is shine Heyman's shoes. Punk finally gets Heyman! He's gonna get you, Paul! Run, chubby run!!! Look at him go!!! The chase scene was almost like watching a nature special, but instead of a cheetah eating a gazelle, it was a wrestler beating up a balding man. Still, it was very entertaining. After a few rounds of smacking the Heyman Pinata, the match ends when Ryback arrives and sends Punk through a table. Thanks to the attack, Heyman was able to pick the bones and Pauly defeated Punk. Waaaaaaaaa? Yeah, so Ryback attacking Punk was a bit of a surprise. In fact, it was at this moment where the PPV started to wake up for a bit. It was about time something different occurred, but better later than never. Ryback being the latest edition of 'Paul Heyman guys' is a welcome edition. Since Ryback has pretty much regressed to the role of Biff Tannen on a weekly basis, teaming up with Heyman will offer him a lot more. I actually like Ryback getting in the middle of this rivalry and I don't mind the Punk/Heyman feud continuing since I felt it would've been somewhat disappointing to see this rivalry end at NoC. Don't get me wrong, I can understand as to why the feud would end, but it just feels like Punk and Heyman can do a lot more. The match was investing enough to be intriguing and the ending continues to get me coming back to check out this rivalry, so I think this was a positive for NoC…That's one thus far…

Shield antics

I was a bit surprised to see Dean Ambrose defeat Dolph Ziggler in clean fashion. A win like this is gonna put Ambrose's stock on the rise. When it eventually comes time to break up the Shield, Ambrose will most definitely have a place on the active roster. Unfortunately, this win does come at a cost to the Ziggler fans. I know this is gonna make the 'Dolph's jobbing' comments more loud, but I'm still optimistic that Dolph still has a decent place in the future of this company and this minor setback is only for the time being. I know it's kinda odd that I personally see challenging the US title more rewarding than the WHC since the WHC has dropped so much value and the US title is being held by one of the corporation members, but that's just how I see it at the moment. I will say the US title match between Ambrose and Dolph was about what I expected, but part of me felt a bit of a letdown when it wasn't given as much time as I would've liked. It was still a good match, but I felt it could've been better if given a few more minutes. Speaking of the Shield, the tag team match between Rollins/REIGNS and the Prime Time Players was next on the schedule. I should note that the PTP won the Tag Team Turmoil match in the pre-show. The fact this was regulated to the pre-show was puzzling. It was a good match and it was a shame it was subjected to pre-show status. In fact, why wasn't Miz/Fandango given the pre-show treatment? Mr. Pre-Show must've slipped a $20 and got himself on the PPV. Anyway, the tag team match was okay and it ended with the Shield retaining the title. If you're keeping score at home, we have one match to go and there's been no championship changes thus far. To be honest, I expected that to be the case since none of the titles were being built to change hands, but surely we gotta get one, right…right…right?

Corporation not too sure of themselves? 

The final match of the night was Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. Just like the Punk match, this was one of the few moments where it felt like the PPV was actually trying to do something. The match between Randy and Bryan was good and I would say it was the best match of the night, but it didn't have a ton of competition so I would consider this a small reward. Bryan hits the running knee and has finally defeated Randy…

Yeah, we have a new WWE Champion… Surprised? I would have to say so… but we obviously aren't addressing the giant elephant in the room in all of this. The referee made a fast count for Bryan, thus this is gonna be the basis for Raw. In fact, it's almost a guarantee for Bryan to get stripped of his championship on Raw and possibly end up in the hands of Orton. I should note that at the time I'm writing this, I have NOT watched Raw and this is all speculation at the moment. We'll talk about Raw in the Raw review for this week, but I'm just sticking to what occurred at NoC and only NoC for this review. Just wanted to get that out there in case somebody wanted to be the 'know-it-all' smark. I actually do like the ending to this show since that fast count is gonna keep you guessing as to what's gonna happen on Raw. It's nice to stir the pot a bit, but it does make you question why the corporation didn't realize sooner if Randy's deserving of special treatment or not. I'm guessing if you have two McMahons yelling in your ears, you will start going insane and make rash decisions. Hey, it would explain a lot of things. 

Overall Impression:

I don't hate this PPV because it didn't feature title changes. In fact, I don't hate this PPV at all. Let me explain myself. None of the titles were really being built up to change hands, so I don't see that as the problem of NoC. The real problem we have on our hands is how this PPV just feels like it's there. Seriously, why did this need to be here? Outside of the fast count and the Ryback interference, what else did you really get out of this? The answer, not a whole lot. This is a PPV that I wouldn't classify it as 'bad', but mostly what I would consider disappointing. In the last few months, we've seen WWE put some really good PPVs out there and I felt they really went out there for their SummerSlam PPV and put one of the best shows in a really long time. To see THIS being the follow-up to that PPV is very unfulfilling. This PPV doesn't do anything for me and I cannot express how disappointed I am with this PPV. In fact, 'disappointing' is the best way to describe this PPV. It isn't terrible or horrible, but the routine route really doesn't make the replay value for this event stick out. In fact, I almost forgot this was a PPV since this felt nothing like a PPV, thus showing how this event really didn't need to exist at the end of the day. This PPV almost has nothing going for it. In conclusion, I'm still interested in the corporation storyline and I still like what WWE is doing at the moment. I may not like everything they're doing, but I'm satisfied with what I'm seeing on a weekly basis. I still have interest to see what will happen tomorrow night, but this event didn't do the best job to engage you and it just leaves you with an empty feeling. If I had to give this PPV a score between 1-10 and 5 considered average, the best score I can give this event is a 5 out of 10. This is a very average showing at the end of the day and while the matches are good, there's not enough going on to really make this event stick out. I apologize to all of those that got a kick out of Night of Champions. If you like it, there's nothing wrong with that. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and I'm just expressing my thoughts on the matter. Well, I think it's time to wrap this up. 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. 

WrestlingNerd's Official score for WWE Night of Champions 2013: 5 out of 10

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 9/9/13 Review (Edge must save him...later...)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 9/9/13. What happens this week? Let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with an apology from me. Sorry there was no Smackdown or Impact reviews last week. I'm in the middle of recovering from a cold and just taking it easy until I'm healthy once more. I should also note that the likelihood of SD and Impact reviews this week probably won't happen due to the fact that I'll be out of town once more due to personal reasons. Again, I apologize for the choppy schedule, but hopefully I'll figure out some type of system to get this a little more consistent. I know it bothers people and it honestly bothers me, but just be patient and things should hopefully get back to normal real soon. 

Show up... plug a show... leave

Anyway, Edge opens up the show with the Cutting Edge. He basically says Randy Orton is a little bitch due to the fact he's the corporate puppet, so he's gonna have a different guest in Daniel Bryan. After some talk from the hopeful underdog, Edge pretty much calls out all of Triple H's garbage and how he sucks at picking talent. Trips says while he admits to being wrong about talent, but thinks Edge was never that great of a talent and was overrated. I know the line was used in the show, but Trips really puts the 'dick' in 'dictator'. And it's nice to see Trips living up to his new persona by having Christian beaten up off-screen. Of course, it was reported that Christian did have a concussion, but I thought it was a clever touch to write him off in this fashion. I especially love this scene where Trips is telling Edge this is 'his' town and wants him out, but I mostly love it because of Dean Ambrose. He just has that look where he isn't paying attention to what's being spoken and is thinking to himself. Hmmm… Did I leave the oven on his morning?… Well, that's gonna be a problem when I get back. So, how does Edge get his revenge? By doing absolutely nothing! I know the man is limited in what he can do, but it would've been a nice touch to see him run out there and screw over the corporation to some degree. Eh, oh well…

Dr. Punk

Curtis Axel's anger gets the best of him and it gives Kofi Kingston a DQ victory. Well, that was nice of him. Let's celebrate by offering him a plate of d--kick to the face… Well, that plan backfired, what do you want from me!? To continue with this storyline, Paul Heyman 'trips' on water backstage and wants to have his own doctor take a look at him…

As you would guess, Heyman uses this 'injury' as a means of getting himself out of the match against CM Punk this Sunday. In order for this to work, Heyman has to allow the WWE medical team to evaluate his condition. That's right folks, we have a medical evaluation going on in the ring right now. I think some would like to call bulls*** on this, but this is also the same show that had a paternity test as well so anything can happen on here. Next week, we get to see a bully intervention for Ryback. YAY!!! After Heyman calls the doctor a quack, Punk arrives to give him a third opinion. While not as strong as last week's segment, this was still entertaining enough to keep me invested. It was campy and over-the-top, but very enjoyable from my perspective. 

Divas segment

During the Total Divas vs other divas match, AJ continues to be outspoken on the ladies and their reality TV show status. I like the new AJ. She has more fire with her words and it seems more natural for her. It was almost a good fit for her to go down this direction. I'm gonna ask an honest question… Did you even watch the diva match or were you listening more to AJ's words? I honestly don't remember a thing from the diva match. Let's see… there's a couple of women fighting… I think a Sharpshooter showed up…somebody wore blue… that's all I remember. Once again, we get mixed messages since one week the actions in the ring showed you were supposed to be concerned with AJ, but this week, Cole and Lawler were basically attacking her while on commentary and she even insulted them in the process. We're getting some mixed signals with who's playing face/heel for this rivalry, but I think it's for the best. Leave it up to the audience to determine who's in the right/wrong here. I'm personally pulling for AJ, but that's just me. 

Goldie vs Golden Boy

One of the main themes of tonight's show was Goldust trying to avenge his brother's firing by fighting to get his job back. In order for Cody Rhodes to be hired once again, Goldust would have to defeat Randy Orton in a singles match. I've always enjoyed Goldust's work throughout his career. Sure, the man's character is very odd and can seem a little bizarre, but I've always felt he went out there and gave his best and found a way to be enjoyable. Goldie gives it his best shot to defeat Randy, but it wasn't enough. Due to the defeat, Goldust has to…Umm…He…Ummmmmm…Hmmm…What exactly is the punishment if Goldust lost the match? Does he have to pay? Does he have to give up his wardrobe? Does he have to wash Trips' car? What's the punishment? Oh well, I guess the punishment of Stephanie unleashing bitch-mode on you for disappointing the Rhodes family is punishment enough. Speaking of which, right on time, Steph! Aww, poor Goldust. I haven't seen him this down since breaking up with Booker T. I really liked how this came across. Makes me wonder what the Rhodes family will do in order to get one over on the McMahons. 

WrestlingNerd's ADD moment(s) of the night

Bray Wyatt defeated Dolph Ziggler due to all the help from the Wyatt family. Hmmm, I wonder if Dolph is missing AJ and Big E at this point? Hey look, it's RVD and Alberto Del Rio building up something… or someone…I got nothing. Although, I thought it was funny to have RVD vs Ryback. Turns out the loser of the match would have to get a new artist for their attire. Antonio Cesaro went up against Santino this evening. It's been awhile since we've seen Santino and it was great to finally seem him back. The best part of the match was seeing the spinning Santino. It's the WWE Game Show: Spin the Santino… WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I want to play! I know it would've been dangerous, but part of me wanted to see him fly into the audience. How far can he go? Nobody knows!!! Why did I talk about any of this? I don't know!!!

DB lives?

The final match of the night was Daniel Bryan vs Dean Ambrose. Big Show was forced to watch on the outside since Show's contract states he must cry at least once a week. After all, the man's 'broke'. I also find it funny when it breaks things backstage since I imagine he has to pay for that. Instead of feeding the family, I must break or blow up stuff. Blow s*** up! Anyway, DB defeats Ambrose despite some Shield assistance. After the match, Shield attacks while Sad Show continues to be tortured. Randy Orton comes out and hits and RKO. This seems to be the end of the show, meaning that the IWC can bitch about the show ending the same yet again….BUT WAIT!!! Trips comes out and wants Show to deliver a KO punch to DB. Show continues to question him while Randy is getting in his face to follow orders. After some more bitching from the substitute golden boy, DB gets back up and hits Randy in the face with a Captain Falcon knee. It's like a rising knee to the face! Yeah, so the show ends with Bryan standing tall for once. I know it's gonna be common for the corporation to stand tall in future episodes, but you gotta mix it up once in a while. I know the likelihood of Bryan actually winning this Sunday is 0-1%, but I just hope to see an entertaining match until it comes time to perform the shenanigans. 

Overall Impression:

This episode wasn't too bad. I really liked the opening, but it does leave you with an empty feeling and it did bother me a bit. I realize Edge is very limited in what he can do, but interference by waiving his arms in the air would've been appreciated. Outside of that, I thought this was a decent episode to go into Night of Champions. I know it looks like NoC can be one of those filler PPVs since there most likely won't be a WWE title change, but something can happen in the WHC department since that guy in the robe is still lurking. Yeah, I really don't have much to say about this episode. It wasn't bad or anything since it was still pretty good episode, but it doesn't hold up against some of the other episodes as of late. Like those episodes have been so good that even a decent episode can be look at as average. Does that make any sense? Well, I think I need to wrap this up. Thanks for checking out the review and tell me what you thought of the show or the review. I will see you guys and girls in the next one. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 9/2/13 Review (Emo Show)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 9/2/13. What happens on this Labor Day edition of Raw? Let's find out and begin. 

Intro time

We open up the show with Triple H and Randy Orton. Randy basically tells you that you have to respect him. If you don't, you can screw your family, friends, career, well-being, pet goldfish, 3rd grade teacher, and die. Yeah, that's a good representation of Randy's words. As Triple H continues to piss off the IWC with all this Cruiserweight talk, Daniel Bryan interrupts. After a little more pushing and shoving, Trips books DB vs Big Show for later this evening…

To add to his douchebaggery, Trips and his bitch run into Cody Rhodes. Cody starts to speak his mind about the corporation's ego trip, so this leads to Cody's career being on the line against Randy later this evening. Wow, so a lot going on in this episode and we're barely 20 minutes into the show. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting this due to the fact it's a holiday, but I like this approach. If the train is still going, why slow it down? 

Dolph's spot

After a quick match between Miz and Fandango, Booker T tells Bryan to get with the program since he's fighting a war he can't win. Since Bryan is the lone wolf, he turns down his offer. Hey, it's Booker T's new job, the un-motivational speaker. He does his job well. Dolph Ziggler is getting ready for a match against Ryback, but Dean Ambrose attacks Dolph before the match. You think the referee would call off the match, but he's probably forced to not question it if he still wants a weekly check. Thanks to the attack, Ryback has an easy time defeating Dolph. One of the things I wanted to bring up is Dolph's placement since it seems a lot of people feel that Dolph has regressed a bit since losing the WHC. First of all, he's being used in the main storyline of the show. To me, that's higher on the pecking order than the WHC. In fact, the WHC has dipped quite a bit during that time since it feels more like a mid-card title than a world title. I just feel Dolph has more to gain by being apart of the heroes vs corporation storyline, so I don't think it's a big deal if Dolph's completely done with the WHC. It's just something I wanted to bring up since since it seems people think you're getting mistreated if you don't have something shiny on your shoulder and/or lose a few matches. Besides, the matches he's losing are being used to build the storyline and not as a use of punishment… Well, kayfabe punishment, not real-life punishment… massive punishment?…NEXT SCENE!

CM Punk follow-up

I like how Paul Heyman complains about the match at Night of Champions and Trips basically says 'F*** you, you're doing the match'. How will Paul get out of this one? Will he be punked? Tune in next week to find out. CM Punk does go out there to cut another good promo on this storyline. Once again, I really enjoy seeing how Punk and Pauly can work off of each other and see how the other can 1-up the other. Good segment that's worth checking out if you're curious. 

Common family vs corporate family

While there's not a whole lot to discuss with the Prime Time Players/3MB match, it was a nice distraction and it's at least worth a viewing. The next match was Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes. This is what I would consider to be the best match of the night. It was given a decent amount of time and the match meant more when the audience showed so much support for Cody. While Cody did everything he could to win, it still wasn't enough and Randy wins with the RKO. After the match, Trips fires Cody Rhodes… For probably a few weeks since I highly doubt the man is truly fired. If anything, this is to add another individual to this gigantic storyline and we'll see Cody in the near future. Not sure how he'll get brought back and how it'll connect to the main storyline, but I await his return. I've enjoyed what he's done since the funeral of Rhodes Scholars, so I'll await his return with patience. Later on in the evening, Cody explains the Rhodes/McMahon family dilemma and how the McMahons have always made the Rhodes nothing but sideshow attractions. Considering Dusty Rhodes was the originator of every dancing character in professional wrestling and Goldust is the originator of every gender, confused, character in pro wrestling, I can see how there has to be something there from a real-life perspective. It was a good shoot by Rhodes and can't wait to see him return after the honeymoon. 

A diva segment with a switch-a-roo? 

There was a #1 Contender match to determine who gets a Divas title match. As the Total Divas beat the crap out of each other to determine who's deserves the opportunity, Harley Quinn's adopted sister joins us for commentary. It seems Naomi is about to win the match, but AJ interrupts the match since she feels none of them deserve this opportunity. All of the sudden, the Total Divas take out AJ…Huh? I don't know why since this is how the body language in the ring sold it, but why does it seem the roles for this match just flipped sides? The Total Divas taking her out as a team seems more like a heel move while you're given this scene where you're supposed to feel sorry for AJ. Yeah, I wouldn't blame you if your feelings are all over the place on this one. I need to see more with this storyline to see where it's headed, but it still has my interest because of the events of last week and tonight. I should also note that at NoC, it will be a Fatal 4-Way for the Divas title. Like I said before, this makes things rather complex to say the least. 

WHC or US Championship? 

You know what? I'm convinced they put Ricardo Rodriguez with RVD because they wanted Ricardo to still roll his 'r's'. So far, that has been the only proof available for pairing these two up. I know Ricardo has some beef with Alberto Del Rio, but teaming up with RVD? Oh well, let's just move on. RVD defeats Damien Sandow, Del Rio looks on, and this sets things up for their upcoming Intercon--er, I mean World Heavyweight Championship match. Yeah, that's totally what I meant to say… Totally…

Big Show tears

Okay, so it's now time I finally talk about the Big Show conundrum. I saved this segment for last due to obvious reasons you will read about in a few moments. Before I do that, let's address a few things that made me laugh. I like how Show throws a temper tantrum backstage after Steph forces him to do her bidding. No, Big Show!!! You can't break those things! You can't afford it!!! I also love how minutes after an emotional segment, the commentators jump from tears of sadness to the WWE App. Wow, Show's really having a moment here…Hey, the WWE App! Stephanie explained to us that Show is in no position to fight the corporation since he's broke. They explain that Show made some terrible decisions that made him broke but they probably could've dived deeper into the problem. I thought it would've been funny if they explained Show had a gambling problem or spent his wealth on robotic hookers, but I guess they were trying to do something a little more realistic. The reason this was brought up is Show doesn't want to fight Bryan because he considers him a friend…Even though there's been NO indication of this on the show. It isn't like you see Show and Bryan talking with one another all the time and hang out all the time. You're just supposed to accept that they're friends and nothing more. Yeah, I'll admit that was a bit of lazy writing on their part considering Kane would've been a better option in all of this since Kane and Bryan HAD that interaction on the show, but it would feel a bit strange to see Kane having to shed tears of sadness. You can see why that idea would be scraped, but let's get back to the Show/Bryan deal. Like I said, I understand the reasoning for picking Show to be in this storyline since the man plays his part very well, but it would've been nice if they showed more interaction that they're friends other than just saying 'They're friends' and nothing more. Due to Stephanie naming off Show's secrets, Show is basically forced in a corner to do the corporation's evil deeds while being very emotional about it. To be honest, there was really no point to bring up the fact that Show's broke. It would've been fine if you showed Show and Bryan being friends and then blackmail the giant to do your evil deeds. By doing that, you would've achieved the same result as what you saw tonight. I know you can argue that Show's financial issues can add more to it, but I still find it unnecessary. So, let's break it down. You're either gonna enjoy the idea that Show's broke or you're gonna hate this idea. For me, it's too early to say if I'll like it or not since I'm pretty neutral about this new information. With that said, I really liked the interaction between Bryan and Show on tonight's episode. From the beginning of the night all the way to their match where Show was forced to hit the KO punch on Bryan, it was persuading due to the fact that Show sold his emotions rather well. In fact, Show has sold his emotions very well during this entire storyline. I know people are complaining due to the fact that the program has ended the same way for three straight weeks, but you have to give these things time and learn to be patient with some of these things. It's another thing I wanted to bring up since people tend to want the payoff way sooner than it should happen and I think you just have to give it more time before you start waiving the flag. Yeah, I may have some hangups with Show having money issues or the sudden grasp of Show/Bryan's…Ummm, Twitter friendship, but the acting/storytelling can usually be the saving grace for things like this and I think it has. 

Overall Impression:

I went into tonight's show not expecting a whole lot due to the fact it was a holiday and most people would be away from their television sets this week, but I would suggest checking this one out if you did miss the telecast. I personally think WWE has done a great job in the last few weeks in the storytelling department. Of course, there's gonna be a few head-scratching moments or things you aren't gonna like about it, but no storyline/segment is perfect and I think the positives cancel out most of the negatives. This has been one of the more intriguing storylines for quite some time and the storyline itself is too interesting for me to really spend a large amount of time harping over some of the little things… Even though some of those little things could at least use a polish here and there. Again, this is personal preference at the end of the day and I totally understand why some people aren't really enjoying the major storyline. It's only my opinion at the end of the day and if you don't enjoy this storyline or totally disagree with me, that's totally fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and there's nothing wrong with that at the end of the day. I liked tonight's episode and I think it's worth checking out, but take of that whatever you will. That does it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of tonight's episode or the review. I will see you guys and girls in the next one.