Welcome to another exciting edition of “The Highlight of the Night,” the blog that breaks down Monday Night Raw, sorting the best from the boring, and delivering you the crГЁme de la crГЁme of each week’s episode. This week was sort of a slow build to an exciting main event feature, but there were some definite high spots along the way. If I could only pick five moments to tune in, they would be be:
5. Ding Ding You Son of a…
The list has to kick off somewhere and this week it’s with the quickest moment on the countdown. Rusev is a dominant figure in the WWE, but it has to be hard to book him from week-to-week; we know he isn’t going to lose on Raw or Smackdown anytime soon, especially on his way to his most high profile appearance since debuting. So how does the WWE creative team decide to shake up the slightly predictable winning streak? Shake up the competition of course! And that’s where we get the “One-Man Southern-Rock Band” baby! Heath Slater’s All American tribute to Xavier Woods’ former TNA character ‘Consequences Creed’ was almost enough to keep me tuned in to see what was bound to go down. But my interest peaked and curiosity turned to enjoyment the moment Slater dropped his PG-persona, in favor of some much needed RUTHLESS AGGRESSION! Heath cut a rousing promo en route to the ring, but the exclamation point was when I was sold on Slater: “Ding, ding, you son of a b*tch!” Now, out of context, that sounds strange, but Slater was of course referring to ringing the bell, thus beginning his fight with Rusev. Oh, Slater lost though–did I need to tell you that? Dropping a swear word here and there isn’t something to start shouting, “Attitude!” from the rooftops over, but allowing someone barely at mid card status such as Heath to be so brash might possibly, hopefully, tentatively mean a slight shift in the products edge as we enter 2015.
4. Ambrose Uses His Buddy’s Phone
I’ve said for weeks that I’m thoroughly satisfied and even impressed with the way this program has been unfolding. I wasn’t very keen on how they were allowed to get physical still six days out from the ‘Series, but Bray’s haunting soliloquy in the middle of the ring was yet another example of what young talent can do when they ditch the script and speak from the heart. A good segment overall. A few things however: I would be sorely lacking in my due diligence as a wrestling reporter if I didn’t mention Dean Ambrose’s ridiculous promo. Dean explained that he was recording on his “buddy’s phone,” and that he was actually in the arena, not in the back. What was that about? Why couldn’t he just be recording earlier with a WWE camera man? Because my first thought was, “Hmm, his buddy has a really good camera on his phone.” I’m not sure what’s worse, Dean Ambrose not having his own phone, or Bray’s reaction to Dean being in the crowd. Windham Rotunda has always played Bray Wyatt as a man who fears nothing. Yet hearing Dean Ambrose is a mere 100 feet closer than anticipated really seemed to frighten the ‘Eater of Worlds’. What will happen this week on Smackdown, and what will become of these two forces when they collide at the Survivor Series? I doubt it’s the end of the road for this rivalry, so what might occur once the bell sounds at the Scottrade Center? We will find out on Sunday.
3. Three Sets of Brothers & Mizdow
This week had it’s share of high points, but it retained many of the same story-driven variety show elements that the WWE has become known for. Not many matches on the card, and similar to weeks prior, contests mostly seem to end by some sort of nefarious intervention. But the tag division strikes back with an exhilarating eight-man tag team competition gearing up for the 4-corners tag match on Sunday. I love a good 4-corners tag match. Especially when the rules allow for the superstars to tag out to anyone, even their opponent’s owns partner. I think that could be the case for a certain Hollywood A-Lister and his dopey doppelgänger. The match on Monday was no 5-star Lucha Libre trios bout by any means. But shuffled into a deck consisting solely of swerves and squashes, it was nice to have a fun competitive tag team match thrown in.
2. Dolph Loses the Belt… Not on a Flight
Wow, is all you can really say. As I’ve made known on many occasions, I’m an intercontinental championship aficionado and I yearn for a day when the title is once again associated with pride and awarded only to those who truly process the finest of ring prowess. As a former fan of Brodie Lee, I’m happy to see Luke Harper win his first singles title in the big league. I hope being catapulted into the main event picture can help Harper, and the white strap of leather he carries, in getting over with the current WWE Universe. The match with Dolph was your every day, every week Dolph Ziggler match. The only difference this time, is the ‘Show Off’ wasn’t able to FEND OFF his ferocious challenger. I like Dolph, but his attitude behind the scenes is rather cavalier for a superstar who’s yet to make it into the true winner’s circle of the WWE. If Harper can keep from losing it on an airline, I’m sure he’ll be in possession of the Intercontinental Championship for some time to come.
1. The Contract Signing
This week was rather redundant, but the final fifteen minutes of Raw managed to turn a one-star sleeper into a better-than-not show that turned out to be about average. The climax came at the end when Team Authority was set to face Team Cena for the contract signing. It wouldn’t be fair to pick one moment from the overall presentation because everyone involved was at the top of their game. Including The Game for that matter, whose constant mockery of Cena made for a hearty round of chuckles amidst an otherwise serious segment. I for one was immediately ejected from my seat in a fit of pure “mark-out” euphoria, only to be slighted by that dastardly Triple H when Cesaro was teased to be the savior of Team Cena. The finale had everything in terms of entertainment, but if I had to widdle it all the way down to one moment to call number one of the week, it would be the arrival of RyBack. Even though we all knew it would be coming, when the music hit and it became official, I was just as excited as anyone to see The Big Guy stand beside John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, and The Big Show. The icing on the cake was seeing the King of Kings drilled through the table. No contract will be signed tonight, but a message has been sent to The Authority.
We are now just five days away from the second longest-running WWE pay per view spectacular in history, and I couldn’t be happier to see the biggest wrestling company on earth revert to the old school style Survivor Series match for the main event. The ‘Series has always hosted it’s share of 10-man eliminations’ over the last several years, but for the first time in a long time it feels as though there’s more on the line than just brand supremacy or some sort of family feud; the future of the WWE hangs in the balance. We’ll all know more of what to expect following this Friday’s Smackdown. Until then I’m Mark Haggerty, if you don’t have the time or desire to sit through Raw, you can always rely on me to tell you what’s worth watching.
