RAW Deal: Teenage dirtbag

LONG ISLAND, NY—Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins deserve better.

You’ve got two bitter rivals who started fighting before there was even a championship at stake, but I don’t feel the fire burning. It doesn’t matter that they had a prolonged feud in the middle of last year; with history like that, you can cool the flames and turn the heat back up at the flick of a wrist. 

But it isn’t happening right now. Dean Ambrose’s chase for the title feels less like a renewed attempt to ruin everything great that’s going for Rollins (as he originally vowed) and more like a Flavor of the Month thing. Part of it has something to do with the two-week turnover to Elimination Chamber this Monday. Yeah, it’s exciting, but it leaves little space for the organic story to breathe. 

What’s slightly worse is that Roman Reigns’ slightly awkward interjection into this little feud is serving as pretty obvious foreshadowing that he’ll be turning on Ambrose. (For what reason, we’ll have to wait to see what Creative will magically pull out of their asses.) A guy—even if they’re best bros—doesn’t just hang around and help out the same friend who was in the same championship opportunity. A guy doesn’t just let another guy hijack his way into a title shot like that. That’s not how things happen in pro wrestling. 

Again, it’s exciting, but like an overeager first date, it’s all moving too fast.

The trajectory of a Dean Ambrose-centric storyline is simple: first, his Rival of the Now does him wrong. Backstabbing, lantern ghost hologram, powerbomb into a ladder, anything goes. Then Ambrose vows revenge. This consists of a two-to-3 week span of nothing but hijinks ranging from silly to pretty badass; when it starts to get badass, you know it’s kicking into high gear. That’s when things start getting serious, and Ambrose starts to wear the big boy pants and establishes true motivation for being in this feud.

In this case, they’re stuck in the middle of silly and badass hijinks, when it should be on the badass side. Especially because we all know Ambrose isn’t going to win on Sunday. It doesn’t make Ambrose look like a legitimate contender for a prestigious championship; he’s still being treated as a problem teenager who needs tough love from authority figures surrounding him. Rollins said so himself in this episode: Ambrose doesn’t pose a threat to him. Even if the strength lies in the unassuming underdog status, how is this a high-octane rivalry (beyond their history, of course)?

Their match will be good, no doubt. It’s just that I don’t buy it as a strong title story.

High spots: 

• The opening tag match was pretty hot. The Shield chemistry remains, and Ambrose can really go as a face. He’s got that Daniel Bryan energy and intensity that drew the majority of the WWE Universe in to Bryan in the first place. I really just wish the rebound lariat was placed more logically. It’s getting more and more stupid to watch.
• Rusev’s great at his job right now. If you absolutely, truly hate him, then he’s working well. In fact, he’s so good that you might have forgotten he lost everything he had going for him thanks to John Cena. 

• I think Stardust’s interaction with Stephen Amell was not a one-time, throwaway thing. Amell’s been trying to rally for a WWE spot for so long that they can’t just leave it there. As an Arrow fan, I’m so excited for what he could do with them. 

• Sheamus and Ziggler pull out another wonderful match, as they always do. If anything, I’m glad that they’re not lumping the faces and the heels of the Intercontinental title Elimination Chamber against each other.
• It only went four minutes, but Zack Ryder stepped up big-time in answering the open challenge. If that doesn’t net him at least a “reboot” run down at NXT… 

• I sure have missed Paige. The main roster Divas division needs all the help it can get.

Low blows:

• I just wish it didn’t take the opening segment as long as it did to get down to business. To be fair, though, the usual Authority opening promo lasted only around 10 minutes before getting right into the business, but it still feels too tedious. Yes, I’m aware that’s how they’re drawing heat, but heel heat toward the Authority is starting to become heel heat toward the show itself. That’s not good.
• That said, the less said about this arrest angle, the better. They did try to fill in any possible logic holes by way of the fake YouTube video, but on the whole, the angle—or its execution—felt lazy. 

• I don’t approve of the way they’re treating King Barrett. You brought back King of the Ring just so you could give this guy a win back, so treat him like the King you made him.
• Tamina sure is rusty. She looked tentative and not very confident about what to do in there, but it’s probably just a matter of practice. She’s usually better and assertive than that.
• I don’t understand why Kane, the heel authority figure, is punishing the New Day. Shouldn’t he be punishing at least the Prime Time Players for being annoying? I know I’ve written so many words on Kane’s potential face turn, but since they put that on pause by having him help Rollins out at Payback, they should at least stick with that decision. You either keep the slow burn happening or you don’t.

– Rappler.com