Campuses around the country are infested with returning college students this week. In honor of all the alcohol that will be consumed and the knowledge that will hopefully be absorbed, it’s time to take the WWE to school, and I’ll be the one doling out the grades.
Welcome to the first ever WWE Raw Report Card. Matches will be graded based on usual factors such as workrate, in-ring psychology, move variety, crowd reaction, and overall impact on the storyline. Important in-ring promos will also be graded based on factors such as originality, believability, and importance. Without further ado, here are this week’s grades.
Hall of Fame Forum
This week’s Raw started with a roundtable discussion regarding the upcoming rematch between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. First off, I never thought I’d see the day where Shawn Michaels was the worst dressed man in the ring, but his combination of cowboy hat, jacket, and Remington t-shirt didn’t do him any favors.
Overall, it was nice seeing the legends together, even if it did feel a bit scripted at times and offered little insight. One hilarious moment was when Michaels said everyone loves Cena, eliciting massive boos from the audience. Speaking of Cena, his promo was surprisingly compelling, and it was nice to see him own up to the beating he took at SummerSlam.
Grade: B-
Rusev vs. Jack Swagger
This was likely the last contest between Rusev and Swagger, and all I can say is, “Good riddance.” This match featured a lot of downtime that resulted in a poor workrate, and a lot of the match was spent outside of the ring with nothing going on.
The in-ring psychology was pretty good (Swagger sold the rib injury well) and the crowd was into it, so that raised the grade a bit, but it was ultimately a fitting ending to a rather pointless program that saw Swagger dominated at nearly every stage of the feud.
Grade: C
Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro
This was a rather short match, but both superstars worked well together during the time they were given. One criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed. One moment Cesaro was rolling outside of the ring to avoid the Five Star Frog Splash and only a few seconds later he was hitting the Neutralizer for the win in a sequence that felt a bit off.
The match also served its purpose by building a championship match between Cesaro and Sheamus – a program that looks like it could be entertaining with two of the company’s better workers.
Grade: C+
