RAW this week emanates from Ye Olde London in the midst of WWE’s annual post-Mania European tour. Since it’s such a rare event, it’s highly likely the company will try their best to make it memorable. This time around an international audience gets their turn to see if they can best the raucous New Jersey crowd from a few weeks ago. In other news, will HHH accept Brock and Heyman’s challenge? Did CM Punk really walk out? How exactly will Undertaker figure into the 6 man tag against The Shield? How will Creative continue to build up new heel Ryback? Is this The Year of The Dolph(in)? Will Santino have another in-ring tea segment? More importantly, will there be a William Regal sighting?
The Best
Paul Heyman: There are many reasons why Heyman is awesome, but one that’s often overlooked is his pronunciation of ‘Brock Lesnar’. The gravelly, drawn out way he says it just makes the name sound more intimidating. Not that Brock needs to be made more intimidating, but you get the point. It’s not just Brock’s name, but various other words that Heyman enunciates which make them so much more impactful.
Dolph(in): Seriously, is it even possible for Dolph and Jericho to have a bad match together? Even their average matches are better then most others. They both have great mat skills and know how to work a match. The rivalry has been ongoing since last summer and the way Creative keeps it fresh by having periodic confrontations gives it longevity. The added stipulation of Jericho being added to the WHC match at Extreme Rules made this installment a bit more interesting. Dolph does end up winning, but it appears AJ has taken from Heyman the ‘clutch and caress a World title like it’s their precious’ mantle.
Fandangoing: The craze is alive and well on the other side of the pond. The crowd burst into a rendition of his theme music as he made his way to the ring for his match against…William Regal!?!?!? He gets the appropriate hometown response before getting squashed by Fandango in like 2 minutes. Perhaps more shocking was the man getting a new dance partner! She figured into the post match when Jericho attacked ‘Dango, tossed him off the stage and did a flashback to his Dancing With The Stars days by doing a little dance with her. The crowd sang along to Fandango’s music throughout that entire sequence.
The Worst
Waste Management: With the way Creative books some of the wrestlers, you’d think they have more talent then they know what to do with, but it’s sadly not the case. For example, the Rhodes Scholars and Tons Of Funk ‘fued’ as both Sandow and Rhodes should be competing for championships. Cody’s mustache has him way over with the crowds, so why not turn him face? It’s not like they’re doing much with him as a heel, while Sandow has upper mid card potential in the role. Speaking of waste, having the immensely talented Antonio Cesaro lose to R-Truth is yet another example.
Earth Day: Not only is RAW in London today, but it also happens to be Earth Day. It’s unlikely the fact is mentioned on the air, but as big of a company as WWE is, they’ll probably do something on the corporate side. One way they can help during the show is to conserve water by not making Mark Henry look like his beard is sweating buckets or wet all the time. Whatever they do, he’ll still be inducting people into his Hall of Pain because THAT’S WHAT HE DOES!
Undertaken: It almost seems like blasphemy to put Taker in The Worst, but with WWE promoting tonight’s appearance as his first RAW match in 3 years, you’d figure something bigger would happen. The match was solid with Bryan took the pin to protect The Phenom who never had any real big spots you’d expect from a ‘rare’ appearance. On the other hand, The Shield picks up another win over an all star team, but its starting to become repetitive. Their novelty could start to wear off if they keep doing the same ambush tactic over and over again. Luckily it appears they’re headed towards a Tag Title match.
