RAW Deal: Take a shot every time someone says ‘season premiere’

BALTIMORE—Hey, show of hands: who knew, prior to last week, that this week would mark a new season of WWE RAW?

No one? Not a single one? Great, us neither.

The problem is, though, as you watch the show, everyone in it is incessantly going to remind you of it all night, in true WWE fashion. Michael Cole and the Announce Team will take every opportunity to say it’s the season premiere. Triple H establishes it in a segment backstage. Renee Young sneaks it into her interview with Roman Reigns. Randy Orton viciously (and inexplicably) attacks Chris Jericho in the medical area and chalks it up to tonight being the season premiere. “Se” IS “Season Premiere” is this week’s “$9.99.”

The good thing about all this season premiere insanity is that the WWE seems to be using it as fuel to put out a solid episode of RAW. The show was firing on all cylinders from the jerk of the curtain, and the creative team seems to have learned from last week’s main mistake; everyone who was clumped together on the main event of the previous RAW (and by extension, last Friday’s SmackDown) had now staked out their own places on this card. Getting to the main event was, for tonight, not a marathon viewers had to endure.

This is one of the better nights of the current “book-a-show-without-the-champion” exercise the WWE’s currently running; for most of the three hours, the absence of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar wasn’t glaring. 

It wasn’t perfect, but it was solid. There was action—some of it great, some of it a bit forgettable, but you definitely can’t say we were left wanting for action. Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt settled their lukewarm feud by opening the show with a cage match that should’ve happened much earlier in the rivalry. John Cena and Paul Heyman sufficiently advanced the Cena/Lesnar storyline after both men, Heyman especially (although there’s no surprise there), delivered masterful promos that would make a smart fan reflect a little bit on the way Cena operates. (Not action, but definitely noteworthy.) Roman Reigns and Randy Orton put out a serviceable TV main event with an entertaining aftermath. 

And as a nifty little bonus, NXT’s Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd, and Tyler Breeze—the four competitors for the NXT Championship on this Thursday’s big NXT Takeover 2 event (what a mouthful)—got to show the rest of the WWE Universe what the young yellow brand is made of in a wonderful tag team match to promote the event.

Last week’s RAW and the WWE’s general bumbling with their storytelling makes the road to Night of Champions seem painfully long, and we still have another week to go. The season premiere booking smack-dab in the middle of two pay-per-views is definitely jarring, but it’s thankfully managed to reset some of the hype for the event and the Cena/Lesnar rematch, among other things. 

If you’re looking for a sign on whether you should watch this episode, this is it. Just make sure you’re willing to enjoy most of it.

High spots:

• As mentioned, the Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho cage match to open the show was the best match of their feud and should’ve happened a lot earlier. The icing on the cake? The finish saw (spoiler alert) Wyatt winning via escape, a win he really needs.

• It might not be for all tastes, but Dolph Ziggler’s reveal of the Miz’s little iCloud scandal was hilarious. Damien Sandow, not Maryse, spray tans Miz’s backside while wearing the goofy white coat!

• Paige and AJ just gets weirder and weirder… in a good way, trust me. In a good way.

• Again, as mentioned, Cena and Heyman move their storyline along in a huge way. The words I write will do no justice to their segment, but let’s just say it involves (spoiler alert) Heyman literally begging Cena to turn heel, because it’s the only way to beat Lesnar at Night of Champions. Cena, in a move not a lot of people understand or even like, rightfully refuses to do so. Somebody has to be the hero around these parts, and I’m glad that not only does the WWE understand this, but it actually has Cena address it onscreen. It’s easier to justify it when it’s said out loud.

• This deserves another item on its own: while Heyman might just be the best talker of all time, Cena’s promo further establishes him as the greatest of all time. He’s one of the best, if not the best-written, face characters when they actually go address his motivations.

• Cesaro finally gets some momentum going into his United States Championship match at Night of Champions as he costs Sheamus his match against Seth Rollins.

• If you don’t already watch NXT, the tag team match between Nevile/Zayn and Kidd/Breeze should convince you to go start watching.  

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• Another thing that might not be for all tastes: the Reigns vs. Orton match wasn’t the fastest or the most exciting, but it was surprisingly well-put together. Some people might find it boring, but it’s worth trying to get into.

• Low blows:

• Randy Orton attacks Chris Jericho backstage after the cage match, and Orton says that it’s because it’s the season premiere. WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN, RANDY?

• Sheamus bumps horribly for Seth Rollins’s Curb Stomp, falling to the mat a beat later than he should. That’s me nitpicking, but it’s a glaring botch.

• I still don’t understand why Natalya has to get dragged down by the rest of the Total Divas.

• Nothing was truly accomplished with the Jerry Springer-Bellas segment, other than revealing where the Bellas got their bad acting genes. Thankfully, all things Bella-related were contained in that single segment instead of being spread out in short little video packages throughout the show.

• Seth Rollins almost gets impaled by the descending steel cage.

Next week: Brock Lesnar is back on RAW, because if he doesn’t come back, Paul Heyman will have to face John Cena in a match! – Rappler.com