WWE RAW Results: April 6, 2015
Tonight’s episode of Raw was held in Austin, Texas, and featured the fallout from last week’s epic post-WrestleMania show. Fans saw a new number one contender crowned, John Cena issue another open challenge, and Sheamus solidify himself as a heel. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s Raw.
Pros
The Authority opening segment is something we’ve all seen a million times before, but it actually worked out well this time around. Rollins gloated about his win at WrestleMania, while Big Show put over the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Randy Orton quickly interrupted the segment, declaring his RKO at WrestleMania to be the “most spectacular RKO of my career.” Damn straight, it was. This also set up the first meaningful main event on Raw in what feels like ages, as it was announced that Orton, Ryback, and Reigns would compete in a triple threat match to determine the number one contender at Extreme Rules. (Although wasn’t it already announced that Orton and Rollins would compete in the main event this past week?)
Seth Rollins was scheduled to face an unnamed opponent. As soon as Neville’s music hit, this was pretty much guaranteed to be match of the night. This was fought at a frantic pace for the most part, with both superstars gaining the upper hand at times. Neville utilized a number of aerial maneuvers during the match, including an awesome dive to the floor that saw him land on his feet. Rollins was equally impressive and showed why he’s the champ, as he worked over the NXT newcomer while hitting all of his signature moves. It was funny to hear JBL slip up and say Adrian Neville before quickly correctly himself. (Sorry JBL, they don’t do first names in the WWE anymore.) This had a few amazing sequences near the end including a rollup from Neville and Rollins countering into a powerbomb into the corner in a match that made both guys look good.
There was nobody in the company in more need of a face/heel change than Sheamus. He was as stale as a year-old loaf of bread as a face and cheesy af. His promo tonight was good and he was definitely over with the crowd. He was talking smack and listing off his measurements (he almost made it to his shoe size) before being interrupted by the World’s Strongest Man. The contest itself was pretty entertaining – with Henry tossing Sheamus around to the delight of his hometown crowd during the opening moments of the match. Sheamus countered the World’s Strongest Slam into a stiff Brogue Kick to end an entertaining segment.
The Prime Time Players were humorous during their Ascension parody promo.
This week’s main event was a triple threat match featuring Orton, Reigns, and Ryback. All three superstars were victorious earlier in the night and the winner of the main event would have a chance to challenge Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules. Orton was the star of the show early, hitting powerslams on both Ryback and Reigns. Ryback then took over for a little while and nailed Reigns with a Meat Hook before countering an RKO into a spinebuster. His momentum was brought to a screeching halt after taking a spear from Reigns, however. The Authority approached the ring and Reigns leapt over the top rope to take everyone out. Big Show would make him pay for his actions by hitting him with the knockout punch. The Authority then focused their efforts on taking out the Viper, and Ryback would get rid of J&J before taking an RKO from outta nowhere and losing the match. Orton wouldn’t have any time to celebrate though, as Rollins quickly delivered a Curb Stomp and stood over Orton to end the show. Even if the outcome was never really in doubt, it was nice to see a main event that had some kind of implications on the storyline, and it did something to further the feud between Orton and Rollins, so this has to be considered a positive.
Finally, say what you will about John Cena, but I think putting the United States Championship around his waist was a great idea. We got a quality match with Dean Ambrose last week, and this week was no different with Stardust rolling out to answer the open challenge. These two went together like beer and peanuts and put on an entertaining match. Cena dominated the match for the most part, but Stardust had his moments, such as when he countered an Alabama Slam into a sunset flip early in the contest. Cena showed his strength on multiple occasions by countering Cross Rhodes into a big power slam. In the end, Cena retained by hitting the springboard stunner he’s been using lately and following it up with an AA. Overall, it was a good match and it’s nice to seeing the title being defended on a weekly basis.
