The wrestling world lost a legend this week, as Douglas “Ox” Baker passed away at the age of 80. Having competed in the ring with many greats such as Harley Race, Macho Man Randy Savage, Dusty Rhodes, and Hulk Hogan. A big brute with an unforgettable facial hair, outside the ring was a caring, compassionate individual who was considered a gentle giant. Aside from wrestling, he was famous for his appearance on the Price is Right as well as facing off against Kurt Russell in Escape from New York.
2015 Hall of Fame anyone?
We start RAW with The Authority out in full force as the Hell in the Cell structure floats above the ring. Seth Rollins promises victory and wants to be called “The Undisputed Future” which seems to make Randy Orton unhappy. The descendant of Cowboy Bob takes offense to being upstaged by a “hot cup of coffee,” a phrase I never understood. Triple H informs Orton his match at Hell in the Cell is a Number One Contender’s match, winner faces Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.
Basically a heel segment where they all gloat and The Game hawks the WWE Network. Kane’s pyro for some reason goes off. Rollins felt forced, Orton bored, Kane stared around, and Triple H was Triple H. Not a good start to RAW’s go-home show.
Long Wyatt Family promo. Apparently Luke Harper and Erick Rowan have been “set free” and something or someone new is coming into the fold. Very creepy, but confusing. Are Harper and Rowan still around or demoted back to NXT? They had a good thing going, sad if that is the case. I hope the Wyatt Family gimmick can be resurrected.
Thankfully we pick up with a six-man tag between Sheamus and The Usos up against Damien Mizdow and The Dusts. The live Kansas City crowd pops huge for Sandow. I love it. Miz was supposed to join the match, but allowed his stunt double to stand in. Solid back-and-forth, but a bit too short. Fantastic finish following the obligatory dive-spots. Cody misses a top rope Disaster Kick and eats a Brough Kick. Sandow sneaks up from behind, rolling up the United States Champion for the three-count. Miz pisses himself with glee at the announce table. The live audience erupted with cheers while I nearly fell out of my chair. Best. Finish. Ever. I call it now, somehow Sandow pulls a “stand-in” and wins the United States Championship.
Backstage: Triple H reveals to Orton it was Seth Rollins who had the idea for the Number One Contender stipulation at Hell in the Cell. Suddenly Orton is not happy anymore. I am shocked they have not played up Orton and his internet meme fame. I guess they want to keep him heel for a little bit longer.
Alicia Fox pins AJ Lee after a faux betrayal by Paige. In addition to chants for CM Punk, we also heard some “Let’s Go Royals” chants.
Randy Orton comes out to talk about the feud between him and Cena dates back to their debuts in 2002. Orton then forgets the whole TV-PG thing by telling Cena to shove a number of clichés up his ass. Cena then comes out and cuts a killer comedy on Orton, saying how 2002 was the last time he was relevant. Just then, we are graced by The Rabbi of Wrestling, Paul Heyman who reminds us how in 2002, his client, Brock Lesnar defeated The Rock to become WWE Champion. Heyman cuts a great promo about how Brock was already champion while they were still finding the right gimmick. Cena gets mad and threatens to toss Heyman with an Attitude Adjustment, but puts him down, only to get hit with the OUTTA NOWHERE, aka, The RKO from Randy Orton. Heyman laughs, but then is put down by one also.
OUTTA NOWHERE. Orton better thank the internet.
Add Big E. Langston to the list of people who don’t have to furiously wave a flag or wear red, white, and blue when facing Alexander Rusev. He taps out, again. Who doesn’t see Mark Henry turning heel, costing Big Show the match at Hell in the Cell? Suddenly, Big Show trolls the segment and instead of the Russian flag dropping down, the American flag drops and the Old Glory plays. However, the segment takes an odd turn. Rusev moves to rip it down, but an American Soldier tries to jump into the ring. What appears to be security tries to stop the guy, but Rusev then plants him with a superkick. Cameraman gets too close and you can see the guy blade his mouth. During commercial, Big Show comes out to help the guy to the back. Uh, I think American soldiers are trained to take punishment like that. Back live, Big Show gives an “emotional” speech about how you never disrespect an American soldier, and for that, Rusev is going to pay.
Isn’t assaulting a U.S. soldier illegal? Just checking.
Backstage: Dean Ambrose chowing down on popcorn while watching See No Evil 2, is startled by the sudden appearance of a confused John Cena. Thankfully, Ambrose explains he is doing research on Kane. Cena thinks he is nuts. Ambrose then compares themselves to Superman and Batman, apparently, Ambrose occasionally wears a black cape and cowl. While they are on the same page, Cena prefers to liken Ambrose to The Joker. “Why so serious?”
Ambrose is genius.
Promos for Hulk Hogan on the WWE Network following RAW.
Dean Ambrose comes down to the ring what looks like a body bag. Close, he pulls out a mannequin resembling Seth Rollins. Seating it in a chair, Ambrose then pulls out a screwdriver, a hacksaw, and tongs. Ripping off the arm, slapping it in the face, and then grabs some nuts with the tongs, after stabbing it in the face with the screwdriver. Talk about forgetting this is supposed to be a PG rated show, Ambrose is killing the segment. The crazy is flowing. He then completely goes bonkers, and spikes the mannequin with a PILEDRIVER! Yes! Piledriver! How I miss that move. Rollins comes out to confront the crazy, with Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury in tow. Mercury looks like an idiot, checking an earpiece which he is not wearing. Rollins blathers on too long, and they are interrupted by…
… Mick Foley! The Herald of Hardcore comes out to visit his “old friend” and dispense some sage sermon to Ambrose and Rollins. I have to say, Foley cut a promo of epic levels. He talks about what his experience in Hell in the Cell did to him and his career. Foley mixes fantasy and reality, being honest about his injuries and the crazy stunts he did during his time. Granted, I highly doubt Ambrose or Rollins will endure what he did. Pulling out Mick Foley to hype this match, wow. Big move WWE, well played. Nice to see Foley give the rub to both Rollins and Ambrose for Hell in the Cell. I anticipate
Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro, a match we are going to see in six days at Hell in the Cell, is given to us tonight. Again, why WWE? In any case, we get a solid match where the announce team go bonkers every time Ziggler hits a dropkick. Never have they popped so hard for a dropkick since the days of Hardcore Holly. Ziggler has such draw and fan-power, but due to being so injury-prone he won’t ever make it back to World Title status. You have Cesaro who should be main eventing, but is kept to mid-carding due to what I have been saying for months, a severly overcrowded roster. Cesaro wins via spinning uppercut. Michael Cole says this match earns Cesaro a match with Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship at Hell in the Cell, even though it was already mentioned last week.
Backstage, Triple H names Kane as the “general” for the 3-on-2 Handicap Match tonight as Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, and Kane go against John Cena and Dean Ambrose. This one was a street fight, and street fight we got. Chairs, stairs, kendo sticks, and more. Ambrose and Rollins took most of the match for themselves, with some alternating exchanges with Cena, Orton, and Kane. Cena took a table bump while Kane called for the Cell to be lowered around the ring. Ambrose opts to fling himself at it mid-match and also blasting Rollins with a big dropkick into the cell wall. End of the match comes when Ambrose goes for his Slingshot Lariat but winds up eating an RKO for it. What made the end most interesting was not how Orton gets the pinfall win, but when Seth Rollins makes face putty by Curb Stomping the Viper to close the show.
Overall, the show was not great, but not terrible either. Way too many promos and backstage segments for a “go-home” show. The wrestling was average at best. I really feel as though Hell in the Cell has been downplayed by WWE, and at this stage it would not shock me if Cena/Orton is the show-closer. I hope in the next six days WWE decides to allow Ambrose/Rollins to be the true main event of the pay-per-view.
