Raw 4/7/15 Review

After the excitement of Brock Lesnar opening Raw last week, we are back to the Authority. That damn status quo. At least it wasn't Triple H and Stephanie, who were on "vacation" and we get Seth Rollins and the rest of the gang. He talks about their successful WrestleMania, but kind of shits on Kane for just being there. Randy Orton interrupts and badmouths everyone, while also getting on Kane. Kane gets pissed and says that tonight, there will be a Triple Threat match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Title between Orton, Roman Reigns and Ryback. Fresh idea, but wasn't Orton just named the top contender on Smackdown? Also, those three guys will have singles matches tonight, starting with Kane vs. Orton. Ugh. The match it kept short and Orton wins by DQ as Kane uses a chair. If you want him weakened for the main event, then why did you book it? The Authority should want Seth to face the easiest competition possible or, if Kane was pissed about getting dissed, he should have just wrestled Orton normally. Weird stuff to open. We are told that tonight Ryback faces Luke Harper and Roman Reigns takes on Big Show. Seriously? Couldn't give us Ryback vs. Show, which, while not ideal, they at least had a decent match at NXT in Columbus and Reigns/Harper, which could be a fun, hard hitting match.

Michael Cole is out and Byron Saxton is in. He's kind of dull and shouldn't be a lead, but I didn't miss Cole. They discuss AJ Lee's retirement and are nice about it. After a random Brad Maddox appearance, Seth gives Kane more grief backstage so he books him against a surprise opponent. It's Adrian Neville and the internet basically orgasmed. This is a big deal for Neville's second Raw match as two of the best NXT Champions go at it. Seth plays it as if he's not serious, so Neville kicks him. I thought the match was good but not great. Like there is a lot more they can do together. He was set up for the Red Arrow until J&J Security got involved and Seth was able to win with a sick Curb Stomp. The idea here was really good as Neville gave the Champion a run for his money. However, if the match was a bit better and Neville got a few more near falls, it could have been even better. Also, commentary didn't hype up his close calls either. That hurt things as they should have popped for them and made people believe the upset could happen. Despite being awful, at least Michael Cole would have sold the near falls well. He still sucks though.

The John Cena United States Title Open Challenge is back and will be weekly. I think this is the best place for John Cena to be right now. Keeps him out of the main event, elevates the title and allows him to put on good matches. Stardust surprisingly answered the challenge and this was the match of the night. Despite being booked poorly at times, Stardust was given a lot here. Kudos to Cena for giving him offense and even kicking out of the Cross Rhodes. Cena busts out the springboard stunner again, which is a nice idea but is strangely executed. He nails the Attitude Adjustment and picks up the win. The outcome was never in doubt here, especially with Rusev/Cena booked for Extreme Rules, but it was a very enjoyable match and my favorite thing on the show so far.

Time for the Divas as the Bella Twins take on Paige and Naomi. With AJ Lee leaving and Naomi pinning Nikki Bella last week, this was wise. Paige does most of the work here before Naomi gets the tag and the win. She pins Nikki after a Bella miscue but I'm not a fan of that. The champion should not eat all of the pinfalls. Last week is alright but it should have been Brie here. There are other ways to build challengers than to have the champ lose constantly. Then, later in the show, Cameron, Alicia, Natalya and Summer convince Kane to book a Divas battle royal to determine a number one contender next week. So why has Naomi been pinning Nikki? She should just get the shot. Whatever. We also get a backstage promo from the Prime Time Players where they diss New Day and the Ascension. It was funny and I look forward to more from them. Ryback and Luke Harper wrestle next and it was short. Ryback beats him in quick fashion which is fine for Ryback but awful for Harper. I mean, he just took out Dean Ambrose on Smackdown, but Ryback handles him easily. How am I supposed to take Harper or Ambrose seriously now? Poor decision. Even more so considering the fact that I think Harper and Ryback could have had a pretty solid match. We also see a promo from New Day, who are disappointed by the reaction of the fans lately. I guess it's building towards a heel turn but it's hard for the fans to care. They face the Lucha Dragons in a decent match but nothing on the Dragons' debut last week. It was a bit sloppier but we see Tyson Kidd and Cesaro watching on a monitor, so I hope we get them against the Dragons at Extreme Rules. In a Ladder match perhaps?

As Roman Reigns and Big Show get ready to compete, I flip to watch the NCAA Title game. Their match is paint by numbers and I'm appalled to hear that it is their 12th television match since the start of the year. It's only April dammit. That's embarrassing. Show pretty much dominates until Reigns makes the "Cena" comeback and wins. Reigns shouldn't be booked that way to be honest. I've said it before and I'll said it again, Reigns should DEMOLISH Big Show in 2015. Ugh. Next, Sheamus comes out to cut the same promo that Batista did last year about being a big guy working with little guys. We are also told that Bad News Barrett is using his rematch clause to face Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules. Sheamus meets Mark Henry and beats him in a match that was just there. I assume we'll see Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler or something at Extreme Rules.

Bray Wyatt cuts one of his usual promos and seems to be directing it at someone but we don't know who. Don't call someone out Bray, it didn't work for you at WrestleMania. Anyway, we surprisingly get Damien Mizdow vs. Miz next. I expected it to be saved for PPV since it has some actual build and we've seen much worse on PPV. I mean, we've had matches with no build on PPV in the past year. Miz wins with a handful of tights while commentary destroys Mizdow for leaving Miz and losing everything. I guess there goes the Mizdow run. Our main event is next and only gets about five minutes. The Authority come out to watch and get involved near the end. Ryback looked really good here, while Roman Reigns looked sloppy. He took the Meat Hook clothesline pretty terribly. Big Show knocks out Roman Reigns outside, which makes me cringe at the thought of a PPV match between the two. Inside, Orton is attacking Seth until J&J stop him. Ryback takes them both out, but is turned around into the RKO. Orton wins and that's the right call because they had a really good match at WrestleMania and with an added stipulation it can be even better. Plus, he has a win over Seth and it just makes the most sense possible. Seth hits the Curb Stomp and stands tall to close Raw, which is always a welcome sight. I thought Raw wasn't terrible, but it was strange. There was no Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler or Dean Ambrose, but you have Reigns, Ryback and Orton work twice? Odd. However, it was at least enjoyable for the most part and not a chore to watch. 6/10.