2. Roman Reigns opens RAW on his own. Wow. Quite a feather in his cap. Will his promo deliver? Is he ready for this? Whatever the case, at least we'll be spared the vacationing Hunter and Steffi.
3. Not bad for his first step into the very top tier. And he sounded even better when Kane came out, calling Kane "Triple H's lapdog" and "Randy's bitch."
4. Kane walks toward ringside, and Reigns comes out to meet him. Kane throws Reigns into a ring post as the crowd chants "Randy's bitch!" Refs and backstage agents come out to separate the two. Reigns throws Jamie Noble aside, spears Fit Finlay, and then hits Kane with the Superman Punch. Good physical confrontation.
5. Harper and Rowan v. the Usos. I like the rivalry and the physicality this matchup always brings, but they need to have these teams fight other teams or this will go stale before it needs to. Predicting a Junior Wyatt win tonight to set up another PPV match for the titles at Battleground.
6. Another good match between these teams, much deserving of the "This is awesome" chants. Harper hits one of the twins with a massive clothesline for the pinfall victory, but there's some question about whether or not the right Uso got pinned. And I'll be honest: I don't know the difference at a glance either.
7. Backstage with Kane and Orton, and Orton says he has Kane's back. Rollins comes in and says he'll think twice about cashing in if either of them wins. Orton says he hates Rollins, and Kane says, "Not as much as I'm starting to hate you." Nice. That's what Kane continues to bring to the WWE.
8. Rusev v. RVD. RVD is here to have good matches and put over the kids, and that's what he'll do again tonight. Rusev will win a quality match. (People complain about Cena's "Five moves of doom," but Rusev ain't much better.)
9. Nice quick box promo against Rusev and Lana from Zeb Coulter during the match. I like this babyface turn.
10. Rusev dodges Rolling Thunder an then gets RVD to tap to the Accolade.
11. Orton v. Dean Ambrose. This will be an exciting match with more brawling than wrestling, an Orton wins tonight. He's not contractually allowed to lose too many consecutive matches.
12. JBL said Ambrose used the Figure Four to honor Bret Hart? Umm...wouldn't he have used the Sharpshooter instead?
13. Ambrose certainly is doing his best to appear to be a lunatic. It's a good look for him.
14. Orton hits the RKO for a clean victory. But it was much more a brawl than wrestling, and it was fun to watch. I honestly expected sone sort of DQ with an interruption from Kane or Rollins.
15. Cena gives a backstage promo about handling business, and Reigns interrupts to wish Cena luck in his match with Rollins. Cena says he doesn't need luck, and Reigns says he will at Battleground. Nice interaction.
16. Lawler is in the ring to introduce "the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be," Bret "the Hit Man" Hart. Bret looks ancient. Still awesome though.
17. And then Sandow comes out dressed as Bret Sandhart! Awesome!!! He calls Canada a third-world country. Hart hits him with a straight right and knocks him out of the ring! Good stuff!
18. Renee tries to interview the Miz, but the Miz interrupts her to read a letter "from a fan." Miz vows to give Jericho a close-up with his fist. I liked Miz better as a face. As a face he's an underdog, and his losing is understandable. He's just not good enough to succeed as a heel.
19. Y2J v. the Miz. Y2J should win, of course. I don't expect him to have to put the Miz over.
20. Two Figure Fours in one night? Miz uses it on Y2J, but Jericho reaches the ropes.
21. Jericho gets the submission wins with Walls of Jericho. Very good match.
22. Wyatt interrupts the celebration with a great promo from the stage. Jericho plans to come up and beat his ass, but the Junior Wyatts appear "from nowhere." This will have a great payoff.
23. Paige and AJ v. the Funkadactyls. Expecting a victory from AJ and Paige. Is tonight going to be the breakup of the Funkadactyls? Are Paige and AJ going to stop playing nice?
24. Cameron refuses a tag from Naomi. (Considering Naomi is the talented one, this conflict between the Funkadactyls is not a good thing for Cameron.)
25. Cameron tags in, and Paige immediately hits the Paige Turner. AJ and Paige play nice on the way out while the Stankadactyls explode in the ring. Not a great match, but it was worth it to see the end of this team.
26. Quality confrontation between Rollins and Cena in the locker room. Cena's right: it's obvious what everyone sees in Rollins. Cena may not always be the best at putting over his opponents, but he knows the future when he sees it.
27. The crowd barely gives Cena any love. Cole gives him way too much.
28. Cena v Rollins in a non-title match...for now. I don't see Rollins winning, but he might try to cash in after the match. He won't succeed with that either. But the match will be very good.
29. Rollins is a lot of fun to watch, and I think he's bringing up Cena's level of competition. I can't remember the last time I saw a powerbomb from Cena.
30. Cena has the STF locked in when Kane's pyro hits. Orton attacks from behind and then Kane attacks. They work Cena over until Reigns comes out. Kane charges and gets Superman-ed for his trouble. Orton takes Superman too, and the Rollins hits Reigns with the briefcase. He then hits Cena and tries to cash in, only to get ambushed by Ambrose! They go to the back. Orton stalks Cena, only to take an AA. Kane tries to chokeslam Cena, and he takes a spear from Reigns! Reigns raises Cena's arm, and the crowd boos. Cena raises Reigns's arm, and the crowd cheers. Reigns raises Cena's arm again, and the crowd boos as we go off the air.
Not on hulu:
1. No Alicia Fox v. Nikki Bella. Thank you, producers!
2. No Dolph Ziggler v. AdR. Would have liked to have seen Ziggler, but I can live without AdR.
3. No Goldust/Stardust promo. CURSE YOU, PRODUCERS!!!
4. No Layla/Fandango/Summer Rae segment. I'm okay with that.
5. No Sheamus v. Sandow. Apparently it was too short to do anything for either wrestler.
6. No Cesaro v. Kingston. I would have loved to have seen that match. I'll have to catch it next month when the show appears on the WWE Network.
7. No Torito v. Bo(ut of Nausea) Dallas. Again, thank you, producers.
Overall, I really liked what I saw tonight. Good mic work from Reigns, good physical encounters throughout the show, above average matches, great promos, and good builds for the Battleground PPV. Good stuff.
(By the way, there was no aired retirement announcement from Santino, but that could be something they didn't want to do in Montreal, since he's not a French Canadian. They'll be in Ottawa for Smackdown, so that might be where we get to see it.)
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