RAW Review: Hartford — 25th April 2016

Last week the WWE managed their third straight week of good quality programming, but unfortunately were unable to follow up this week in Hartford, Connecticut.

It was good while it lasted right? Ever since WWE finished their calender year with an overall lacklustre Wrestlemania card they have managed to provide us with some intriguing programming. To our disappointment however, WWE weren't able to continue that this week, which is a shame because this is the final RAW before a much anticipated WWE Payback event. The entire show wasn't bad, but there were many things that felt disjointed and the pace of the show felt a little off. Combine that with the fact that the crowd sounded quieter than a Church Sermon and the atmosphere just felt wrong. So what happened this week?

Back to the Status Quo?

Image: WWE

This week started off with Shane McMahon opening the show, good start right? Yes, that is until Stephanie showed up and honestly this segment just fell flat from that point. I have literally lost count of how long The Authority has been on WWE TV but can tell you it is far too long. Having Shane McMahon as General Manager, while it makes absolutely no logical sense in terms of storytelling, feels fresh and the right way to with this new direction of programming. I admit that if The Authority are to ever leave our TV screens for good they will need to be written off but surely the better plan would be to let Shane establish himself as General Manager first? After a few months of good WWE TV with Shane in charge, then have The Authority come back? This allows Injured superstars to make their way back and adds more intrigue to the rumoured Brand Split storyline that we could be seeing.

AJ Styles can work well with anyone

Image: WWE

This week AJ Styles worked against Sheamus, which is an interesting choice to say the least. Sheamus is one of those guys who isn't good but isn't bad either. He's a solid mid card Heel but he realistically shouldn't be near the top of the card. Having said that, his match with Styles on the latest episode of RAW was pretty good, those are not words I thought I would talking about with Sheamus. Yes, AJ Styles is a major part of this. He is one of the best in-ring workers in the world but the fact is you are only as good as the person you're working against. It doesn't matter if you're the best in-ring worker in the world if you are working against someone who is abysmal in the ring. Sheamus showed in this match that while is not a top class performer, he is more than capable of holding his own.

The Tag Team division continues to intrigue

Image: WWE

It was an interesting decision not to have any of the three teams pictured above actually wrestle a match this week. Instead they all worked this segment together which was OK. Enzo and Cass did their usual routine of being awesome as did New Day and The Vaudevillians showed they can hold their own the microphone. What's interesting is where does this go from here? It's well documented that The Dudleyz have a problem with Enzo and Cass. Will they cost them the chance for the titles? The Vaudevillians reaction from the crowd was a little worrying for me. yes, they're Heels. This means they should be booed. When they came to the ring this week, they got barely any reaction whatsoever.

A Strange debut

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This week on RAW, Doc/Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson made their debuts against The Usos. This was great but the match was a little strange. It felt a little longer than it should've been. Gallows and Anderson completely dismantling The Usos in quick fashion would've made sense. Instead they did beat them emphatically but not spectacularly, almost as if there is more there that could be brought out by a certain leader. Of course Roman had to get involved in this and land a few hits on them but you know what I'll save that for later.

Rusev and Zayn work well together

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All three of the League Of Nations members were in action this week. The second match saw Rusev face Sami Zayn. This match was really good. It wasn't anywhere near the five star classic Zayn had with Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: Dallas but it was more than adequate for an episode of RAW. The video package between Zayn and Owens that was shown before this match was excellent. Zayn and Owens have excellent chemistry and a great rivalry. Both men have the potential to be main event stars in the WWE and this feud together could be their shot at reaching the top of the mountain. This rivalry won't end at Payback. Hopefully this will go on for many months as this could be one of the most entertaining rivalries we've seen in WWE for a long time.

Who is Apollo Crews?

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Relax, I know exactly who Apollo Crews is. What I mean by this question is why on earth should casual fans who have never seen him before like him? Crews proved on NXT that he's undoubtedly talented in the ring. What he also proved is that he has a tremendously shallow character depth. There is nothing about him. He smiles and wrestles people. That's it. People have no reason to get emotionally invested in his character. Couple that with the fact that for three weeks he has simple beaten up "Jobbers" and we find ourselves with some who doesn't really have anything to do. Compare this with Baron Corbin. Corbin has already establishing himself as a no nonsense dominating bad guy who doesn't take any crap from anybody. He has also already set his sights on Dolph Ziggler. In just three weeks on RAW, Corbin's character has grown immensely.

Women struggle for air-time again

Image: WWE

For a "Women's Revolution" the women have really had a tough time getting on TV the past couple of weeks. All we got of the women's division this week was a short four minute match with Natalya and Emma. Given more time these two would've put on an excellent match. I'm not saying that WWE are already reverting back to their old way of thinking but they need to re-examine. Right now there are some feuds that are getting attention that no one really cares about. They should instead give this time to the women. Becky Lynch and Emma have been doing good work with the limited time they've had recently. Give them some time on screen to heat up their issues with each other.

Roman can look strong without beating people up you know...

Image: WWE

And as expected the issues boil down to one man yet again. Roman Reigns. Before I start this I want to state that I am not the biggest Reigns admirer. Even when The Shield was a dominant force he wasn't really my guy. Personally I prefer guys like Rollins but anyway, moving on. Before the match Roman shook the hand of a make a wish child that he'd been working with recently. This was nice, but many people just saw through as WWE's attempt at getting some cheap cheers for Roman. It didn't work. He proceeded to face Alberto Del Rio. This match was the least entertaining out of the three involving the League of Nations members all night which is telling as Del Rio is probably the best worker from the LoN. The fact that the lacklustre crowd also saved most of their energy to boo Reigns is also very telling. You will probably say to yourself that "Roman gets the loudest reaction than anybody". This is true, but it's the wrong kind of reaction. Roman isn't getting 'Heel' heat, he is getting 'We just don't like you or your character' heat.

The simple fact of the matter is that Roman is not ready for the main event. He is where he is because he fits the look of Vince McMahon. It's fine to have Roman in the main event if you're going to put him in interesting story lines but they aren't doing that. WWE Creative can't come up with any original story lines right now so the emphasis is on ability in the ring. That is why the likes of Styles, Owens and Zayn are so popular. They are accomplished in-ring competitors. Reigns on the other hand has a less diverse move-set than John Cena which is a very worrying as John Cena's move-set has been christened 'the five moves of doom'. WWE, and Vince McMahon need to realise that their audience is evolving constantly. People no longer particularly care for big guys with great physiques. People love guys like AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn because they are excellent in the ring. The reason that companies such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling continue to grow is because they have fantastic workers that consistently put on entertaining matches. Roman seems incapable of doing that right now.

Personally I think WWE need to take a step back with Roman. Give him a run with a secondary title. A lot of the animosity he gets is because he was promoted straight to the main event before even holding a secondary title. Look at other guys. Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock both held the Intercontinental title before making it to the main event. Even John Cena had an entertaining run as US Champion. If WWE were to move Roman towards the US title it would make sense. He will still have his loyal fans and it would help him gain credibility. To sum it up simply. Roman needs something, anything to help him grow.

Other observations:
— Cesaro's James Bond style entrance was excellent. His character (the one flaw McMahon seems to find with him) continues to grow. Good things are on the horizon for Cesaro.
— Zack Ryder hasn't been seen for a while now. Shame. Ryder is one the most miss used talents WWE have had in a long time.
— Seriously, I think Primo and Epico's new gimmick is already dead in the water and they haven't even competed on RAW yet.
— Sami Zayn appeared to give Lana the bird last night. He was actually holding up three fingers.
— Locking someone in a submission move on the announce table apparently makes it hurt more. And who said Kayfabe was dead.