Monday Night Raw – June 8, 2015: Half A Billion Ways To Get On My Nerves
Monday Night Raw
Date: June 8, 2015
Location: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton
It’s the go home show for Money in the Bank and the ladder match is set with all seven of its competitors. As announced on WWE.com, six of the participants will be in singles matches tonight, including a rematch from last week with Orton vs. Sheamus. Hopefully we get more solid mic work from Ambrose and Rollins as well. Let’s get to it.
Before we get started, on a completely unrelated note: thanks for everything Unc. I’ll always remember you.
Here’s Cena, with a broken nose, to open things up. Cena talks about some of the biggest events in WWE: Hogan vs. Rock, the Streak and the Money in the Bank ladder match. That’s uh, quite the collection. Those in the ladder match are fighting for an opportunity on the same night two people will be fighting in the same ring with one getting an opportunity of his own.
Kevin Owens thinks Cena’s time is up and his time is now but this Sunday Cena will be fighting for everyone that believes in him as well as those people who think he sucks. This Sunday he proves that he is still the face that runs this place because he is John Cena. Cue Owens who says that Cena is just proving his point. Cena is delusional if he thinks he’s winning on Sunday or if the fans are interested in seeing an open challenge for the US Title.
People have been watching Cena come out to open Raw for ten years now and some people must be sick of it. Instead, let’s have an NXT Title Open Challenge instead. Cena loves the idea and says he accepts. Owens says no because Cena is already facing him on Sunday so no match tonight. They accuse each other of being delusional and Cena issues his own Open Challenge and looks right at Owens as he says come get some.
Owens has another idea: whoever comes down the ramp next gets to pick which title they want to fight for. Cue Neville, who says he would love to fight John Cena…..one day. Owens is a prize fighter, but Neville knows what it takes to hold that prize. Therefore, Neville will take that NXT Title shot right now.
NXT Title: Kevin Owens vs. Neville
Owens is defending of course and John Cena is making a rare appearance on commentary. The champ goes right to the floor but Neville follows him out for some kicks to the ribs. Back in and a nice running hurricanrana sends Owens back to the floor for the big moonsault dive. They get back in again and Owens just slugs Neville down and hits a wicked Cannonball for two.
We hit the chinlock and Cena gets in a great line by saying no one talks about the minor league home run champion because they’d rather talk about Babe Ruth. A backsplash gets two for Kevin and a belly to back gets the same as Cena is coming off as one of the most polished commentators I’ve ever heard. Back with Neville countering an AA into a DDT to get a breather.
The big Asai moonsault barely grazes Kevin’s arm (it wasn’t clear who screwed up) so Neville has to settle for a middle rope dropkick for two. Back up and Owens ducks a kick and grabs the arm, lifting Neville up into something like a brainbuster onto the knee. Owens doesn’t use that one often but it looked great. Neville comes back with the delayed German but Owens crotches him to break up the Red Arrow. The Pop Up Powerbomb retains the title at 14:00.
Rating: B. This was as good as you would have expected and I’m looking forward to seeing Cena and Owens tear the house down again on Sunday. Owens plays a great power brawler and we’ve been lacking a good powerbomb for a long time now. Fun match here and it’s awesome to see the NXT guys getting their shot on the main roster.
Video on Rollins vs. Neville at Elimination Chamber and the resulting aftermath that set up Sunday’s ladder match.
WWE praises itself for having a half billion social media followers because that means they’re awesome and TOTALLY EQUAL TO EVERY OTHER MAJOR ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY EVER.
Rollins comes up to the Authority and implies they’re all in trouble on Sunday but Stephanie brings up what Rollins said last week about not needing the two of them. They’ll be there on Sunday but not at ringside. However, tonight Seth can pick his own opponent.
We recap Paige getting screwed by Twin Magic last week and her ensuing promo ripping into the Bellas dominating the Divas division for way too long. She’s promised to change the division forever.
Nikki Bella says Paige is projecting her frustration onto the twins and is sure the Bellas have never held anyone back. Maybe this is Paige’s house, but it’s the Bellas’ world.
Summer Rae vs. Nikki Bella
Non-title. A quick rollup gets two for Nikki but it’s time for some pushups. Summer comes back with a cobra clutch for a bit before Nikki fights up and hits the Rack Attack for the pin at 2:19.
We recap Reigns having to win three times last week to retain his Money in the Bank spot.
Here’s Reigns with something to say. He talks about hating that briefcase for so long because of who it was attached to. Now it doesn’t sound so bad though because he’s going to pull it down and cash in against Dean Ambrose some day down the line. Cue Kane who says he’s in the ladder match on Sunday to protect the Authority’s interests. Reigns offers Kane a chance to come in right now for a demonstration in breaking jaws but here’s Dolph Ziggler to interrupt.
Kane isn’t getting in the ring right now because the Authority hasn’t pulled his strings. After taking forever to call Kane a tool, Ziggler says he’s going to win on Sunday. Kane reminds Dolph about the dangers of certain tools and reminds him that everyone is in singles matches against each other tonight. Well minus Neville of course. This brings out R-Truth for some reason but a confused Kane tells him that he isn’t in the match. R-Truth: “Are you sure?” Kane: “Yeah.” Truth: “My bad.” And he’s gone.
Kane tries to continue but gets cut off by New Day. They promise that Kofi will pull the briefcase down using the power of positivity, making all of them Mr. Money in the Bank because NEW DAY ROCKS! This brings out Sheamus, who laughs at the idea of anyone else winning this Sunday. He’ll be one Brogue Kick away from becoming champion all over again. Kane finally gets to introduce Orton, who comes out as scheduled. This was basically just a way to remind us of who is in on Sunday.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Rematch from last week where Sheamus was disqualified. Orton quickly takes it to the floor for some shots tot he ribs before hitting the Stomp back inside. Sheamus bails outside again and is whipped hard into the barricade for his efforts. Back in and a neck snap across the top rope gives Sheamus control so he slaps on an armbar. Quite the power brawler indeed. Orton fights back but gets knocked to the floor as we take a break.
Back with Sheamus driving a knee into the ribs and slapping on a chinlock to slow things down again. Sheamus slowly walks around so Orton slugs away and hits the t-bone suplex. The elevated DDT connects but both guys miss finishers. Instead it’s a clothesline to send Sheamus outside, only to have Sheamus throw him over the table. Just like last week, Sheamus busts out a chair but eats a right hand to the ribs. Orton throws the chair at Sheamus’ ribs and that’s a DQ at 13:13.
Rating: C-. Bleh. I still cannot find a way to care about these two having a match. They’re two of my favorites but they’re just not a pairing I want to see. It didn’t help that the ending was the same thing they did last week to cap off doing almost the entire same match from last week. Was there no one else you could put in there? Like, Ziggler vs. Orton perhaps?
Post match Orton stomps Sheamus’ head on the steps (insert your own Curb Stomp joke here) and hits an RKO.
The Stooges annoy Rollins as they ask to be in his corner on Sunday. They’re huge morons and he doesn’t need them on Sunday, so Jamie says screw you. They’re Shield 2.0 with Mercury as an upgrade over Reigns and Noble being better than Ambrose. Rollins is a son of a gun and would be nothing without the Authority. That’s enough to earn the Stooges a match against the champ tonight. Jamie and Rollins slap each other and Mercury has to break it up before threatening Rollins for later.
Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler
Neither guy gets an entrance and it’s Ziggler starting fast, only to be uppercut out of the air. With Lana looking on we hit the chinlock to slow the match down again. Kane slugs him down in the corner as the crowd gets even quieter with every Kane right hand. A side slam gets two and we stop to look at Lana again. Kane boots Dolph’s head off for two and we take a break. Back with Ziggler fighting out of a bearhug and nailing a superkick to put both guys down. Lana applauds and here’s Rusev to distract her, causing Lana to fall off the ramp and hurt her ankle. The distraction lets Kane nail a chokeslam for the pin at 9:46.
Rating: D. I had forgotten how much I hated these singles matches leading up to a big multi-man match, even though it was driving me crazy just a few weeks back. It doesn’t help that it’s more of Rusev getting on my nerves with the whole broken man thing. At least he didn’t seem upset when he hurt Lana.
Lana gets her ankle checked and is prescribed ice.
It’s time for MizTV, starting with a clip of Ryback and Big Show getting into it last week. Naturally Ryback and Big Show are the guests tonight, starting with Ryback who interrupts Miz’s introduction. Miz lists off his resume and Ryback cuts him off again because he’s sick of hearing all these lines over and over again. They argue a bit until Big Show cuts them off as only he can.
Show talks about how he can take everything he wants anytime he wants so Ryback says come get this title. They stare each other down and Big Show yells at Miz, who jumps the giant. Miz is thrown down so Ryback Shell Shocks Show. Why they didn’t SAVE THAT FOR THE FREAKING MATCH is beyond me but then again Big Show and Kane are featured in big matches in 2015 so I shouldn’t be that surprised.
We recap the makings of the handicap match.
Luke Harper/Erick Rowan vs. Los Matadores
Rowan throws Diego around to start and brings in Harper to run over Fernando. Back to Rowan to knock Torito off the apron, meaning there’s no one for Fernando to tag. A 3D (The Way) ends Fernando at 2:15.
Harper gets a mic and says tick tock tick tock because the time to pay for your sins is coming. The judgment is waiting at your door. Rowan says it’s ok to be afraid because you should be.
Kane comes in to see Rollins and laughs about the Instagram photos Ambrose has been posting of himself with the title all around New Orleans. Yeah I’ve ignored these stupid things all night but they’re little more than WWE saying HEY! DID YOU KNOW WE HAVE A LOT OF FOLLOWES ON SOCIAL MEDIA??? BECAUSE WE TOTALLY DO! Kane threatens to cash in on Sunday and they bicker. Again.
More social media stats and another Ambrose picture. These are now being used to announce that Dean will be here tonight. Ignore that the ticket in the picture clearly says COMP.
Trailer for Ted 2.
Big E. vs. Titus O’Neil
Woods calls Big E. the Minister of Mass. E. gets a quick two off a belly to belly and hammers away at the bald head. An abdominal stretch lets Big E. slap Titus’ stomach for the NEW DAY ROCKS clap. Titus fights back with some chops in the corner and an old Pounce ala Monty Brown, only to have the partners get in a fight on the floor. That distraction lets Big E. hit the Big Ending for the pin at 3:13.
Rating: D. This show has drained me of any interest in any more mini versions of matches I’m going to see on Sunday. Also, nice job of having the challenger lose to make sure I buy into his team having a chance going into their title match on Sunday. It’s already not a great match in the first place and this didn’t help.
Roman Reigns vs. Kofi Kingston
Kofi’s wristlock doesn’t work very well and Reigns wristlocks him to the floor. The other New Day members offer a distraction to let Kofi take over but Reigns fights back again and sends Kofi outside one more time. The apron kick looks to set up Reigns’ big dive but he has to settle for a running clothesline off the steps to take out Woods. Kofi slides back in for a nice baseball slide and we take a break.
Back with Reigns fighting out of a chinlock so it’s right back to another chinlock. Kofi goes up for a nice top rope ax handle as Woods will not shut up (in a good way). Reigns makes his comeback with a bunch of clotheslines and a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. The SOS is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two more but he has to take out Woods and Big E. A rollup gets two for Kofi but he dives into the Superman Punch for the pin at 12:07.
Rating: C+. I liked this more than I thought I would as Kofi is more than capable of making a match like this look good. Reigns fighting off the trio works fine as they’re not losing in a tag match so it’s no real loss. Fun match here, even though the ending wasn’t ever really in any doubt.
Reigns grabs a chair and Ambrose comes to sit down, carrying popcorn and a Pepsi.
Jamie Noble/Joey Mercury vs. Seth Rollins
Kane is out with the Stooges. Mercury spins out of a wristlock to start but Seth does the same thing and sends Joey into the mat. The Stooges take a breather on the floor but Kane offers a distraction to let them get in some double teaming. Ambrose pours popcorn on Seth’s head, allowing Joey to nail a nice dropkick for one, followed by an armdrag into an armbar. Seth throws him outside and laughs at Dean a bit before putting on a chinlock at 11:08pm.
Rollins misses a charge in the corner and the hot tag brings in Noble to clean house, completel with his little dance. The swinging neckbreaker gets two and the Stooges try the Rick Rude Wrestlemania V pin for a VERY close two, but Jamie eats a low superkick to change control again. Mercury gets buckle bombed into his partner and Seth loads up the Pedigree, only for Dean to get up and throw the title in. The distraction lets Joey get a rollup for the pin at 9:00. Yes, this match that started in the overrun got NINE MINUTES.
Rating: D+. Yeah the match was entertaining enough and I get the point but maybe they could have been done with this earlier if they hadn’t had to spend half an hour patting themselves on the back for their win. Not a bad match here but it just kept going when it could have been done in about half the time.
Dean hits Dirty Deeds to take the title back and climbs a ladder to end the show.
Overall Rating: D. This show wasn’t great but unlike the disaster of two weeks ago, there isn’t one (or two) major problems bringing it down. Instead this was like death by 1000 stab wounds as so much of the show was about the stupid Instagram/social media stats and most of the people in Money in the Bank having singles matches that mean nothing. That’s the big problem with matches like these: there’s nothing important and you know the ladder match is down to at most two people. Cut the thing down and make it more interesting instead of having this big of a mess. Not a good show this week but it did have some fun parts.
Results
Kevin Owens b. Neville – Pop Up Powerbomb
Nikki Bella b. Summer Rae – Rack Attack
Sheamus b. Randy Orton via DQ when Orton threw a chair
Kane b. Dolph Ziggler – Chokeslam
Luke Harper/Erick Rowan b. Los Matadores – The Way to Fernando
Big E. b. Titus O’Neil – Big Ending
Roman Reigns b. Kofi Kingston – Superman Punch
Jamie Noble/Joey Mercury b. Seth Rollins – Rollup
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Ok that R-truth bit was the funniest thing I’ve seen on raw this year.
New day were great again, I’m definetely routing for Kofi to win the MITB, just imagine the celebration and the promo’s with all three.
Also think Ryback has become pretty good on the mic, his interactions with the crowd were well done.
Unlike you KB, I’m hoping the Wyatt family do get back together. It’s a better fit for all and I feel it’s the only way Wyatt can get anywhere near close to the main event scene. Either that or Bray should turn face and try “bring down the machine” by targetting the Authority.
RAW was ok this week as it did have its moments but it did start to drag toward the end a little bit. Owens/Neville was good,Miz TV was entertaining even if they did the Shell Shock spot before Sunday,Reigns/Kofi,and Dean Ambrose’s stuff. I also liked the 3D Harper & Rowan used as well.
I think it is true at least they have more followers on Twitter than anyone else. Don’t know about any of the other social media outlets though.
And cue a certain someone to tell us how awful everything was.
your obsession is sad bruh
As much as I don’t like James Gracie, I also feel like you really should get over him; he’s just a troll who doesn’t deserve the attention.
thing is, duse is like 95% right most of the time
Right about what? Part of me thinks he might be a troll but the other half thinks he is serious. Like when he said last week that WWE had a kid fake cancer during the Cena/Owens promo. Who the hell says or even thinks something like that.
My advice to him if he really dislikes everything they do then maybe he should find something else to watch. I still seem to remember him saying January 5th was it for him. Well its now June and he’s still here. Tell me thats not being a hypocrite.
To me. it seems that he’s part of the worst bunch of smarks; the #3s. The ones who complain about everything and say that they’re never going to watch again, but are seen on forums and look up the latest spoilers so they can stay “up-to-date” with the promotion.
Admittedly James Gracie has a point once in a blue moon, but pretty much 95% of the time; he makes over-generalizations and brash statements and when I tried to talk to him about them, he just buzzed me off. Seems to me that he can’t handle opinions very well either; and from what I saw last week, he’s an all-around asshole.
He also has this feeling that the New York Mets have “lost their way” and has gotten sick and tired of their “horrible management”. While i’ll admit that the Mets have had some off years as of late, their records have actually gotten better from 2009-2013, last year the Mets actually got 2nd place in their division. Yes they did have more losses than wins but that was a major improvement considering what happened in 2009. And from what i’ve heard The Mets have been doing pretty well for themseleves going 1st place for the first time in a long while, I certainly hope that the Mets do make the playoffs this year; but you never know what happens during baseball.
Looking into all of this; I believe that James Gracie is an jaded, disgruntled person who at one time in his life was probably happy for himself, but now takes his frustrations out on all those who dare question him.
My advice to him is this; Consider watching alternatives to WWE and TNA, ROH has proven to be one of the best indy promotions in recent memory and Lucha Underground is quickly being noticed for it’s unique way of telling stories and matches. As for your problem with the Mets, put yourself in the manager’s shoes, You run a baseball; you haven’t had a winning record in seven years, fans are not pleased with you, you’re not as popular or loved (or at some cases reviled) like your brother the Yankees, now think to yourself; there are others out there that are facing problems like The Mets are right now, The Phillies were once a powerful team who would consistently make a playoff bid; not anymore. The Orioles were almost always last place for every year, and only recently have they gotten back on their feet. As for The Cubs? Man, they haven’t won a world series in years; The Mets are not alone.
But as much as James is a problem and not a very nice guy, I think we’re just as much to blame for goading him onward: I admit it, i’ve done it myself; multiple times at that. I think that because of this, he thought to himself; “hmmm, this is a place for me to show people what I think”. Soon people started to take notice of him; i’m pretty sure even KB took notice to him and he started getting reviled for his controversial opinions.
And that’s just it when it all boils down to it, they’re just opinions, and when we (being you in this case) attacked him for these opinions, it only made him grow stronger; like he was being fed the hate.
We’re free to agree or disagree with what person has to say about something; if you do disagree though, try no to do it in a way that makes you sound smug and condesending. Like Thomas Jefferson said. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal”
In conclusion; I think the best course of action is not to attack him, but to pity and ignore him; doing so, he may realize that we’re not going to bother him and we’re not going to make him stronger by giving in and throw spite to him, it’s a simple case of two wrongs not making a right. And hopefully; when he realizes this, he’ll probably come to accept that not everything is going to go the way you want it to go and who knows? He’ll probably grow to accept us and our opinions too.
How do you know all that about him? Do you follow him on Twitter cause he’s on there. He follows KB
Half and half; I don’t follow him on Twitter because I don’t have a twitter account. But I have seem his Twitter account. I guess you can say i’m a Jamesologist *chuckles*…….Ok, ok; bad pun; I get it.
no fuk that i aint reading that essay.
but i bet you said something like if you dont like dont watch no?
thats bs. i watch raw and hate it because with the talent theres no excuse to have a show rated anything less than C+ by KB. i will say this tho thanks to wwe my passion for CMLL/AAA has risen once more
tell me tho, what was wrong with what he said in this review?
Let me sum it up in the best way I can Dookie. If James wants to express his opinion, let him express his opinion. Just try not to attack him if it’s different from ours. That’s only making him stronger.
But here’s what I have been trying to figure out is if you are that upset with it then why bother watching it? Are you really that miserable to keep subjecting yourself to something you don’t like. I know WWE is not perfect all the time but its not as bad as he or some others make it out to be. I just watch the Shows and try to enjoy them without thinking too much about every little thing that happens.
Jacob however I think I will just try and ignore him because he’s just an ignorant fool and is looking for attention.
and are you that miserable you have to always respond to him? you always say youll ignore him but you always reply or mention him before he even comments.
No I am not that miserable Dookie. Sometimes I don’t respond to him or mention him because he’s not worth it. Like I said I am going to do a better job of not bothering with him.
KB do u think da Wyatt’s should just reform?
Not really. Maybe a new version.
How is their reformation going n yo eyes now?
Well enough but Bray still needs to win something.
Tuned in after the first hour. Man it is so much easier to get through even a dull Raw when it only last 2:15.