WWE Power Rankings, RAW 7/14/2014

Coming at you from Richmond, and yet again I’m crazy busy this week.  Luckily this week’s show was a bit of a dud so I’m happy not to struggle writing a 5,000 word dissertation.  Instead of complaining, I’ll chalk RAW up to being a placeholder for this weekend’s Battleground PPV.  

Oddly, the two main events of Battleground are my least anticipated matches of the PPV.  The Fatal-4-Way of Cena, RKO, Kane and Reigns couldn’t intrigue me less.  I’m only interested in seeing if we see a Plan B or Plan C at the end of the match which Cena is almost guaranteed to win.  

I’ve stated before that the Royal Rumble is the greatest of all matches but Battle Royals are some of the worst.  The only interesting part of this IC Battle Royal is that there’s no clear frontrunner.  All the mid-carders are involved.  As Fred and I have discussed on the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com or on iTunes) it seems that Kofi, Ziggler or Cesaro are the most likely to win the IC belt but a dark horse winner is just as likely.   

The individual matches this Sunday are the most anticipated part of the PPV.  It wasn’t surprising that RAW was mostly filler matches to get us ready for Battleground.  

So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 7/14/2014…

1. John Cena (2) – Still screwing up the “fifteen” hand sign.  It’s been two weeks running and he’s still throwing up 5-1 instead of 1-5.  Does someone in the WWE have the ability to tell Cena that he’s doing this wrong and it’s embarrassing?  Even the dumbest wannabe gang-banger gets this process down.  I suppose when Cena is charged with so much to accomplish in the show opener, making sure he gets his hand signals are the least of his concerns.  Not only was he responsible for a huge chunk of exposition for Battleground but he had to pump up the crowd and shill for the WWE Network.  You have to admire all that is asked of Cena and that he delivers on 99% of it.  Having said that, he could get the “1-5” fixed. 
   
2. Roman Reigns (1) – Normally, it’s unlucky to be the closing shot on the RAW leading up to a PPV.  It didn’t do him any good before last month’s MitB PPV.  But look at this guy.  I can picture Vince McMahon orgasming over Reigns being one of the top Superstars in the WWE over the next ten years.  
   
3. RKO / Kane / Rollins (4/HM/3) – These three have what the French call, that certain “I don’t know what”.  They should remake Three Men and a Little Lady (only an insane person would remake the masterpiece that is, Three Men and a Baby).  Let’s cut to the chase.  It seemed as though Rollins seriously injured his knee.  I leave the dirt sheets to Fred, so listen to the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com or on iTunes) to get details.  I hope that Rollins knee injury is just a “work” because I’m so excited for the upcoming Rollins / Ambrose feud but the injury seemed legit.  Also, a fake injury angle doesn’t seem to fit in the current storytelling, but with the state of recent WWE storytelling, I wouldn’t put it past the WWE creative to do something incredibly strange.  What throws me off more is that the rest of the 6-man tag match participants played it off so well which makes them the greatest performers or the injury was a work.  I guess we’ll find out at Sunday’s Battleground.
   
4. Dean Ambrose (5) – Maybe not a good sign that the most coherent person in the opener is Ambrose?  Batshit crazy Ambrose gave the best part of the opening promo from the back, which of course meant he was going to get jumped by his three opponents.  Haven’t we learned anything, ‘You’re always safer in the ring.’  It’s one of these unwritten laws in the wrestling handbook, like big men shouldn’t go to the top rope. The Ambrose beat-down surely meant that he was going to make an appearance at the end of the show.  Whether it was actually planned for him not to return or due to a possible real injury to Rollins, check into the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com) and Fred “The Oracle” will give us the inside gossip.  I’m sure I’m repeating myself but if Rollins was truly hurt, it will be a shame because we all want to see the Ambrose / Rollins feud.   
   
5. Harper and Rowan (6) – Is their new version of a double choke-slam going to win them the Tag belts?  Probably.  Am I done doing my own Q&A with the Wyatts and Usos?  Not yet…
6. The Usos (7) – At Battleground, it will be a best 2 of 3 match against Harper and Rowan.  Should we expect a good match?  YES.  Am I concerned that this might get tiresome considering you would think the WWE is going to string this out for a conclusion at SummerSlam?  YES.
7. HHH and Stephanie (N/A) – Clearly still in heat from their romantic vacation.  I’m not against love or even some healthy porn but what was the deal with the HHH / Steph PDA?  As WWE fashion expert, I can’t sign off on the green semi camouflage dress, C-minus.  Back to the show; for the love of baby Jesus, just come out and say Plan B is Brock Lesnar.  There might be an interesting twist to all this… Heyman hinted that if HHH’s “Plan B” didn’t work, come see him for “Plan C”.  1) Does that mean HHH’s Plan B isn’t Brock and if so, what could it be?  2) Does “Plan C” refer, in any way, to Cesaro and a push for him (highly unlikely but stranger things have happened lately)?  There could be an additional twist but I wouldn’t bank on it.
   
    
8. Cesaro vs Big E w/ Kofi (8&N/A&9) – Cesaro was Paul Heyman-less?  Interesting.  He’s put on great matches with Kofi of late and this week put on a killer match with Big E.  To pull off two different type of matches is incredible.  Side note; I’m glad to Cesaro has finally given in and started wearing knee pads.  It should be industry standard for all whores and wrestlers to wear knee pads.  #OccupationalHazards  
9. Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt (10/6) – With his jacket at full power, Y2J gets almost too much respect from the crowd.  The audience is eerily quite when Jericho speaks, which seems like it is a dead crowd or that Y2J isn’t over but given the chance, they’ll chant whatever he wants.  Wyatt got his first “boring” chant???  I can’t really defend Wyatt this week because it was, well, kinda boring.  I think we all just want to get to, what should be a great match, Jericho vs Wyatt at Battleground.  Besides, the shoots don’t makes sense with this feud.  It’s a classic, “We just want to see it” match.  BTW, what's the deal with Bray's shiner? 
   
   
   
   
10. Rusev / Lana vs Swagger / Zeb (12&N/A) – A detente?  Sometimes it feels like the WWE writers learned a new word and simply want to work it into the show.  Maybe they’re afraid to offend the Indian fans (feather not dot) by not calling this a Pow-Wow.  At least Lana has established who and what is stupid.  I’m no history major but I don’t think Lana and Rusev’s geopolitical lesson is 100% accurate.  I’m still in shock on how in the blink of an eye, Zeb and Swagger went from being a tired and slightly offensive gimmick to actual Real American heroes.  Zeb, America’s favorite terrier, came out swinging.  You know he was speaking truth when his usually flawless delivery was thrown off by real passion and truth about his military service.  Swagger hasn’t gotten a face (or heel) pop like that in years.  It would certainly push the heel of Rusev if he won at Battleground but the standard m.o. for the WWE is to have the USA (Swagger / Zeb) win these matches.  But by winning, Swagger’s face heat might go away.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out at Battleground and the weeks to come.
    
    
    
    
11. Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam (12/18) – ADR vs RVD in the battle of acronyms.  ADR pulled another variation of the “ring apron” trick.  They’re an odd pairing and don’t really do anything for each other except put on solid matches.  Fifteen years ago, this would have been an ECW main event!  Neither are winning the IC belt Battle Royal, just thought you should know.  
12. Dolph Ziggler (13) – If last week’s dip into the Summer pool wasn’t good enough, how about another win, huge fan pop and took home both Summer and Layla.  Plus, the internets feel like finally Ziggler is going to get his long deserved push.  Life is good for Ziggler these days.  Fingers crossed! 
    
13. AJ Lee vs Eva Marie (20) – Paige was at ringside for commentary.  This is a matchup where only an injury can occur.  Eva isn’t even in the same universe as AJ.  Luckily AJ made it out without injury and Paige wasn’t bad on the mic.  At first, the ending came off weird but upon a second viewing, it all came together for me.  I enjoyed it and can’t remember a Divas match I’m more excited for.  
    
14. The Dust Brothers (16) – I can’t pretend to tell you what’s going on, but I can tell you I love it.  I caught a bit of SmackDown last week.  Goldust w/ Stardust in his corner, demolished Axel w/ Ryback ringside in a great match.  A match that was followed by a great Bo Dallas match.  That 20 minutes of SmackDown might have been the best 20 minutes of WWE product last week.
    
15. The Miz (11) – I’m still enamored with Miz’s revamped opening.  I also loved his “moneymaker” being up on the jumbo-tron during the whole match.  Personally, I always love the heel who pimps himself and calls out to “his fans” and the response from the crowd consists of 4 people.  RKO was great at that.  
    
16. Sheamus (14) – A match so thrilling that they cut away to a video montage of the entrants of the IC Battle Royal.  I’ll give this Sheamus match a pass because he’s been doing great lately and it wasn’t his fault that they throw a commercial and a clip package to breakup the flow of his match.  I am shocked that Sheamus is being thrown into the IC Battle Royal (someone correct me if I’m wrong) since he’s already the US Champion but I suppose it gives him something to do at Battleground.  Suffers a cheap loss to The Miz.  Is this a preview of the next feud for Sheamus?  I wouldn’t have pitted Sheamus against Miz but there could be worse feuds for both wrestlers.   
17. Bo Dallas vs Khali (19&N/A) – Bo was just trying to lift the spirits of Khali and what does he get?  A chop across the face.  Very disrespectful. Obviously Khali does not Bo-lieve in himself nor the inspiration that is Bo Dallas.  What’s funny is that Dallas could be the first eliminated from the IC Battle Royal or in the final group and the crowd will love it. 
    
18. Fandango (HM) – As much as I want to bury Fandango and the silliness of the Summer / Layla feud, you can’t forget that he can wrestle which he showed for a minute until his match with Ziggler was interrupted by said silliness.  Here’s a pic of a guy who knows his gimmick is going down faster than Laker’s fans hopes for a solid team in the coming years. 
    
19. Damien Sandow / Adam Rose (15&N/A) – Fred called it last week on the BEARcast -WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes), Sandow is taking Santino’s place for character to do the live commercials (which I guess these commercials are a permanent thing now?).  Who gives a shit about Rose?  I’m more concerned that Sandow looks too comfortable in that Sonic outfit.  
    
20. Diva Match: N-Bella vs Cameron & Alicia Fox (HM) – In yet another handicap match… excuse me while I check my emails…

Honorable Mentions

Ric Flair – WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  That wasn’t a whoooo for the Nature Boy but for the fact that he didn’t say or do anything too inappropriate.  Thankfully Renee Young handled the situation well.  At this point, a Flair cameo has the same awkward tension as when your drunk uncle starts to give a speech before Thanksgiving dinner. 

CM Punk – I rarely do this but I implore you to watch the CM Punk special, Best in the World, on the WWE Network.  It’s great.  Also, I can’t help but think this is another sign that the lines of communication between Punk and the WWE are open.  Hopefully we’ll see Punk back sooner than later.

STING – Maybe the best / most exciting / meaningful promo in wrestling history?  We now have official acknowledgment of Sting working with the WWE by having Sting as a playable character in this year’s WWE video game 2k15.  It’s safe to say that it is only a matter of time before we see Sting in a WWE ring.  How or when, listen to the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com and subscribe on iTunes) when Fred gives us the latest rumors.  

Side Note(s)

Look, I want the WWE Network to be a success but for god’s sake, The King is begging, literally begging, people to subscribe.  Have some respect for yourself WWE.

Is it just me or the new TMNT movie look really good?  Keep in mind, I was tricked already once this summer with the Transformers / Dinobots debacle, which was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, but maybe this time we’ll be pleasantly surprised?  

Until next time…

BEARcast - WrestleCast 7/09/2014

BEARcast - WrestleCast 2014-07-09 with Fred "The Oracle"

You knew the BEARcast - WrestleCast was going to be good when news that Fred’s favorite wrestler Bret Hart made an appearance on this week’s RAW.  While RAW might have been a bit of a let down, the WrestleCast was not.  We each took our fair share of shots and excitement ensued.  Enjoy.

Please check us out at www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-of-bear/id828777439?mt=2 and don't forget to Subscribe!  Also, don't forget to spread the word to friends, family and fans.

Thanks,
WK
@wkbear on Twitter or email the show at WorldOfBearBC@gmail.com to send in ideas and comments.
Contact Fred on Twitter @FreddyD15

WWE Power Rankings, RAW 7/07/2014

Coming at you from Montreal, and it’s another week of busy schedules so I’ll try to keep the yakety yak to a minimum.  It’s a shame because last week’s RAW was a blast!  Fred and I went into detail on the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com and subscribe on iTunes) which was a lot of fun last week.  

I can’t wait until this week’s WrestleCast because Fred’s favorite wrestler, no, dare I say, favorites MAN ALIVE is Bret Hart and I’ve already gotten the Bat-signal that we should expect a Hart sighting in Canada for this Monday’s RAW.  There was hot debate on weather Fred should be allowed to watch alone or if he needed supervision.  Check out the BEARcast - WrestleCast later this week to see how he survived.  It should be great.

We must remember that not every RAW will have the abundance of returning stars and surprises that last week’s RAW had but what we should expect is the same level of matchmaking and at least the quality of wrestling those matches should produce.  That’s a very long winded way to say, I like the match ups and the wrestlers are all performing really well.  

We found out on this week’s RAW, when the parents are away the kids will play.  There’s always a bit of unknown truth when it’s announced that HHH and Stephanie are not at a show due to “vacation” (or whatever) but with the drastic change of tone and quality from last week, you’d have to think the WWE creative staff were on their own.  Going through the rankings, there are a lot of great performers but the writing, lineup and ideas were so sloppy.  The show was only saved by the wrestlers’ skill in-ring and on mic.  There was no clear number one just as there was no clear number 20 (This is thanks to El Torito, Kane and Fandango not cracking the top 20.  Sorry, spoilers…).

So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 7/07/2014…

1. Roman Reigns (3) – “Roman is RAW” doesn’t quite have the same ring that “RAW is Jericho” does.  You’re seeing the start of Reigns’ big push.  Early rumors are next WrestleMania will feature Lesnar vs Reigns for the WHC.  I supposed if that’s your main even at the next WM, you need to start building them up now, especially Reigns.  Nice jabs at Cena.  It’s good to see Reigns being able to improvise with the crowd and continually get better on the mic.  He needs to burn through (I suppose the pun’s intended) KANE and get to RKO.  Reigns vs RKO at SummerSlam should be a very good match.  
   
2. John Cena (2) – Peddling a new green cum rag and he’s got the 1-5 backwards.  If you wanted two easy reasons to why mark wrestling fans don’t like Cena, there you go.  
   
3. Seth Rollins (4) – Did some good mic work when it was Kane, RKO and Rollins backstage.  Watching Rollins vs Cena, I can’t help but make the Rollins / CM Punk comparisons.  Ambrose caught Rollins again this week.  Rollins has the chance, especially with Ambrose constantly chasing him, to turn his golden MitB case into a Lord of the Rings / “My Precious” situation.  He’s best served acting like that golden case contains his soul.  
   
4. Randy Orton (3) – Had a decent promo with Kane and Rollins.  I’m pretty sure I’ve got this down: Kane hates RKO and RKO hates Rollins all under the umbrella of one of these three winning the WHC to bring it back to the authority?  Can we get to HHH’s plan B-rock Lesnar already?  RKO got the win over Ambrose but it’s one of those wins that truly means nothing and the match wasn’t anything to remember.
   
5. Dean Ambrose (5) – I love Ambrose but he does have a different style that not every wrestler can work seamlessly with.  Both RKO and Ambrose are great workers but the match was just off.  Clearly they need time together to get on the same page in-ring but I have no doubt if they were to go on a long feud they could have great matches.  Sadly, they’re not so we won’t know how good an Ambrose vs RKO run could be.  Only in Canada would you get cheers from the crowd for a figure four or arm bar submission. 
6. Harper and Rowan w/ Bray (6) – For the second Monday in a row, the crowd is giving us a solid Let’s go Wyatts / Let’s go Usos chant.  How many times, whether the right Uso was pinned or not, have the Usos lost to the Wyatts again without loosing the tag champs?  URRGGGHHHHHH!!!  Expect at least a small fight between Fred and I on this week’s BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com or on iTunes) regarding this.  Good match regardless.  
   
7. The Usos (7) – Again, showing the lack of depth in the tag division, they fight some version of Harper and Rowan.  The second half of their match was non-stop until the 1-2-3 by Harper.  
8. Cesaro w/ advocate Heyman (8) – Cesaro was great at showing his international mic skills.  I don’t know what he said but I know I liked it.  Not to mention he and Kofi put on fantastic matches.  
   
9. Kofi Kingston (9) – Kofi and Cesaro need a full-length match on a PPV.  They’ve teased us with some great matches on RAW but we need a once and final 15-20 minute spectacular between these two.  I don’t even care who wins.  Having said that, Big E runs in to steal Kofi’s shine and leads me to believe we’re set for a Cesaro / Big E match.  If Big E takes Kofi’s push, can we categorize it as a black on black crime?
10. Chris Jericho (17) – Where does Y2J go when his jacket lights go out?  Do you take it to a tailor or a mechanic?  Jericho did well in his return match.  He got the win to establish some “street cred" before eventually losing to Bray Wyatt.  
11. The Miz (18) – Soon-to-be Oscar winning Miz for his role in The Marine 4 and backstage interviews.  Great new addition to the beginning of The Miz’s intro.  If the Miz can stay healthy, linger around the Bray / Y2J feud and take on the winner (or even loser) he’ll be well served in the next coming months.  Asshole Miz, I’ve missed you.  
    
12. Alberto Del Rio (N/A) – ADR performed the greatest intentional use of the ring apron.  Why hasn’t anyone used that counter to a leg slide before?  What can you really take away from a win cause by Fandango distracting your opponent with some hip action?  Add this match to my theory of a leaderless creative staff this week. 
13. Dolph Ziggler (14) – Yet another sign of Ziggler’s burring being over.  When Lawler is making near death jokes on air and that Ziggler almost killed him the last time he was in Montreal, you have to imagine Ziggler has finished that shit sandwich.  Fingers crossed Ziggler is in the mix for the vacant IC belt or at least set to feud with whomever wins the strap. 
14. Sheamus (7) – It was good that Sheamus took the match with Sand-hart serious because that could have been a mess.  Unfortunately for the Montreal fans, they never see anyone wearing the pink and black win a match.  Sheamus gets the win and continues his solid work.  Here’s the $64,000, what’s he doing?  He’s the US champ but I can’t tell you who he’s feuding with?  Maybe it was supposed to be Bray Wyatt until Jericho made a sooner-than-expected return last week?  Again, where does that leave Sheamus?  I never thought I’d care but he’s earned my attention.
15. Damien Sand-hart (20) – The real “best there was, best there is and best there ever will be” was not Bret Hart, it was Damien Sandow.  He’s been so spot on and creative with every joke gimmick they have him doing, down to touches of a slight Canadian accent.  There was even HBK shots being fired. 
    
16. The Dust Brothers (11) – It’s like watching a Jack Kirby comic come to life.  Goldust and Stardust feel as if they were born in Kirby’s 4th world.  I LOVE IT!!!
    
17. Rusev w/ Lana (12) – Ironically, Swagger and Zeb got held up trying to cross the boarder into Canada.  Rusev’s match with RVD showed that he still has a way to go before we can all jump on the Rusev is unstoppable train.  They should have had him demolish RVD but by letting the match play out, it revealed some cracks in the Rusev wall.  We have to remember, it’s still his first year in the WWE.
    
18. Rob Van Dam (10) – I will always hate to see RVD jobbing to anyone.  He’s one of my favorite wrestlers of all time and carried ECW for a time.  At least he’s embraced his elder statesman role, similar to Y2J, and does what’s truly best for business which is to put these younger guys over.  
19. Bo Dallas (19) – Bo destroying El Torito was all I needed to cement me as a Bo-liever.  The victory lap that knocked over the bull was what sealed the deal. 
    
20. Paige and AJ Lee vs Funadactyls  (15/16/HM) – This was one of the strangest matches.  You’d have thought Paige and AJ would be fighting but now they seem to be besties.  Naomi and Cameron were the ones who couldn’t get along.  It’s no secret that I’m a Cameron hater but if she sticks with the “princess” role, she might have a chance because it’s surely not her wrestling skills that are going to put her over.  The biggest takeaway from this match was that I want an AJ vs Naomi match ASAP!  Those two can work.

Honorable Mentions

Bret Hart – I almost want to rank him but now we can all listen to Fred blast me on the podcast.  I’ll leave him at the top of the Honorable Mentions and let Fred talk about him on this week’s BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com or subscribe on iTunes).  I love Fred but it’s always amazed me that his favorite wrestler has the personality of a turnip.  This picture was the most enthusiastic he was the whole time.

Kane – It’s gotten so bad that I almost forgot to add him.  He’ll go down as an amazing character.  Is there another character so often forgotten and underutilized but it has never hurt his ability to be a monster and garner heat from the crowd?

Fandango – Another sign that the inmates were running the madhouse was Fandango’s commentating during the Ziggler / ADR match.  Halfway through, he decided to drop the silly accent but then brought it back at the end.  Happy Days and Nick-at-Night references are so old, that even I wouldn’t try to make them work.  Fandango’s real dilemma is that both Layla and Summer are “butter-faces” and picking one of the other is going to be a challenge which is why I suppose he can’t make up his mind.  There is one person who has made a decision on this… this… whatever you call it, that’s ME.  I’ve decided that I don’t give a shit.  

Divas Match: N-Bella vs Alicia Fox – In what must have been some writer’s S&M fantasy, N-Bella got her arm tied around her back.  This is just one of the items that seemed to get slipped in while HHH and Stephanie were away (I hope).  This match was a mess from beginning to end.  Alicia was running around screaming at the fans and pouring soda out.  It’s a shame because Fox can wrestle but you would never know  by watching RAW.

Jerry “The King” Lawler – Who’s idea was it to let Jerry go out and give a personal shout out, like some Power 106 call-in show, to the Montreal medical staff?  Look, I’m glad he didn't keel over on live TV but does Lawler need his own segment to let the fans know how close he was to calling Montreal his final resting place?  I guarantee Lawler isn’t complaining about Canada’s socialized medical system.  

Side Note(s) 

One bit of sad news this week was the in-ring retirement of my personal favorite, The Great Santino.  SAN-TIN-OOOOOOOOOOOOO was awesome.  He never got the run or push of a great wrestler, which he was tremendously underrated.  He was given some of the dumbest gimmicks.  He was given one of the worst finishing moves (this viper with the sock).  But never did he give less than 100%.  From the moment he stepped into the WWE, he never dropped his fake Italian accent.  He took every lame gimmick and owned it.  He sold every stupid move and kiss.  The whole time he did it with a smile on his face.  You never heard of anyone having issues with Santino or that he was a problem backstage.  He always seemed like a team player.  And again, he could wrestle!  The few times he was given the chance to have a “real” match, I was always impressed.  Santino stated that he wasn’t leaving the WWE or the world of wrestling but due to injuries he would be retiring from in-ring action.  I wish him the best.  I hope we see a lot more of him.  I’m sure he’ll transition to this new chapter in his career with the enthusiasm and joy that he’s always had.  I just wanted to say Thank You to Mr. Anthony Carelli aka Santino Marella.    

Until next time…

BEARcast - WrestleCast 7/02/2014

BEARcast - WrestleCast 2014-07-02 with Fred "The Oracle"

A super fun, really good RAW deserved a longer than normal BEARcast - WrestleCast.  Fred and I discuss all that was Money in the Bank and one of the best RAW’s of the year.  There’s nothing like title changes, good matches, great shoots and returning SuperStars to make an A+ show!

Please check us out at www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/world-of-bear/id828777439?mt=2 and don't forget to Subscribe!  Also, don't forget to spread the word to friends, family and fans.

Thanks,
WK
@wkbear on Twitter or email the show at WorldOfBearBC@gmail.com to send in ideas and comments.
Contact Fred on Twitter @FreddyD15
Contact Dustin on Twitter @Peabody3030

WWE Power Rankings, RAW 6/30/2014

Coming at you from Hartford, and one of the beauties of the WWE is how they can surprise you when you least expect it.  It seemed like just days ago I was complaining about the WWE creative staff.  While I still won’t give them a complete pass nor forget the pass messes we’ve had to suffer through, Monday’s RAW was a great show.  Surprising because MitB came in slightly below high expectations.  

Money in the Bank was a good PPV.  My time is short this week, therefore I won’t pontificate on the previous debacles that has led up to the current moments in the WWE.  In short, MitB got a B-plus.  As predicted, the Traditional MitB match was the Best of Show.  While the WWE did a horrible job promoting the MitB card, by the end of the night it was packed and they barely fit the show into their three hour window (which makes no sense now considering the majority of us are watching the show on the Network so they could go as long as they want / need to).

While my time for the rankings is short this week, check out the BEARcast - WrestleCast (visit www.worldofbear.com or subscribe on iTunes) for a full show and breakdown of MitB and a great RAW.

The worst kept secret was that Cena was, and did, win the WHC match.  This just proves you can aways trust an Amazon advertising leak to be the most reliable source of WWE info, unlike constant internet rumors concerning AJ Lee’s pregnancy and need for time off.

It was a great hometown crowd for the WWE.  They were on fire which only added to the fantastic lineup and well executed show.  47 minutes into the show, I was saying to myself, “Am I really on SuperCena’s side and cheering for Jack Swagger w/ Zeb and missing Vickie Guerrero?”  I had to check outside to see if the apocalypse was upon us.

Because the show was so good, and I’m the HHH of this shit, we’re going top 21 this week!

So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 6/30/2014…

1. HHH and Stephanie McMahon (2&14) – Stephanie getting a B-plus in a nice rayon pantsuit.  It takes a special type of performer to spit hot fire and shoot her own hometown.  As far as mic workers, there’s Heyman, Stephanie, then a third tier of the HHH’s / Cena’s / Sandow’s and then everybody else.  I loved Stephanie dancing to Cena’s music.  HHH showed his own quality when battling Thug-a-nomic Cena on the mic, let’s not forget to give him his due.  I equate what HHH and Stephanie are doing to the Donald Sterling Clippers the last two years.  You love the players but are faced with heel owner(s) that are only looking out for what’s Best for Business.  Great job by both of them throughout the night.
   
2. John Cena (5) – I can’t believe I’m saying this but this current iteration of Cena services the mark fans that boo him and the regular fans that cheer him.  This might be the closest thing to a Cena heel turn that we get.  He’s the champ for a hands-on heel owner.  He can stay face but while he holds the belts and The Authority supports him, Cena inadvertently becomes heel.  This is all just a hollow championship feel if rumors are to be believed that Brock Lesnar will be Cena’s opponent at SummerSlam.  As we discussed on last week’s BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com) Lesnar is beating whomever he fights next.  In the meantime, Battleground will feature Cena vs RKO (greatness but not getting the belt anytime soon) / Kane (who cares) / Reigns (wildcard but probably too soon to win).  Early prediction is Cena retains the title, The Authority strikes a deal with Heyman and Brock comes in to take the WHC away from Cena.  Having said all this, Cena had to push things too far by diving feet first into the “pool of crap” nonsense.  You couldn’t just walked away with the victory?  You lost me at the last moment.  That’s Cena for you.
   
3. RKO / KANE / REIGNS (5) – AKA the other contestants next month’s fatal-4-way.  Everyone forgets how badass RKO is.  He has staples in his head and was BUSTED open at MitB.  Is Reigns’ shooting star getting snuffed out by being thrown in the WHC mix?  Rollins and Ambrose are off to a great feud while Reigns is just in the mix at the top with no direction.  Maybe a feud with RKO will work?  HHH and Kane set up to take out Cena for Rollins was great and it served Rollins’ feud and will pay off with Cena in the upcoming weeks.  The only negative I had was the crowd give a “This is awesome” for the Reigns / HHH standoff.  REALLY?  Pump the breaks.  That might be taking things a little too far.  I am interested in what HHH has in store.  I was set for HHH to give Reigns the MitB case at the end as his Plan B but I’m pretty confident that his next Plan B stands for BROCK Lesnar.  
   
4. Seth Rollins (6) – Rollins is now if full X-men gear and I suspect his alter ego name is Plan B aka The Abortion.  Clearly Rollins wasn’t performing at 100% but was understandable after participating in the best match of the night on Sunday, the traditional MitB match.  Surprisingly RVD and Rollins put on a solid match after they got warmed up.  Even though the camera caught some talk between the two, Rollins’ leg whip in the ropes was tight.  Rollins even put in work with a good shoot after the match.  It would have been great to have Rollins win the WHC but I’d rather have this Rollins / Ambrose feud.
   
5. Dean Ambrose (8) – “From one scumbag to another,” should be the title to their feud.  Nice shoot.  There’s not another current feud I’m more excited for than Rollins vs Ambrose.  And the however Reigns is dropped in doesn’t matter because it could work both ways.
   
6. Bray and The Wyatt Family (5&10) – Absolutely destroying their entrances with help of willing crowds.  It was so fun to hear that the “Let’s go Usos" vs “Let’s go Wyatts" has the same decibel change at the split Cena chants.  Harper finished off an Uso with a devastating clothesline.  If that was all the Wyatt Family did, it would have been fine but then they showed up to take out a return Y2J setting up a possible Bray / Jericho feud?  I’d have to say I’m excited with any direction the Wyatts go in right now.
7. Sheamus and The Usos (9) – With the way Sheamus has been on fire of late and with the emergence of Rowan and Harper, this 6-man tag was great.  Sheamus is on fire.  A month ago, a Sheamus vs Wyatt would have felt like a huge demotion for Bray but now it seems like they’re a good match.  Little did we know that a returning superstar would / will be an even better opponent for Bray which puts Sheamus on a bit of an island.  The biggest surprise of MitB was that The Usos retained their titles.  It still remains to be seen how long that lasts.
8. Cesaro w/ Heyman (5) – Heyman = greatness.  (See, I told you I was in a rush.)  You’ll not find a better Hugh Hefner-esque robe nor a better catch into a backbreaker move that what Cesaro sported on RAW.  Fantastic match with Kofi.  If Cesaro isn’t in the mix for WHC then I’d assume he’s got to be the favorite for Barrett’s vacant IC belt.
   
9. Kofi Kingston (17) – Philosophical question: If Kofi only does two or three amazing spots in a MitB match but sits on the sideline for 90% of the time, is he a wrestler or a glorified stuntman?  This isn’t to take away from Kofi, it’s just a question of usage.  I’d give up a few mind-blowing stunts if it meant that Kofi can put on more matches like he did with Cesaro.  During the MitB match, Kofi was offscreen so long that I though he was making an exoskeleton out of ladders and was going to then “Ripley from Aliens” take everyone out.  Make fun of me but that’s more plausible than Kofi winning a match of any consequence.  
10. Rob Van Damn (7) – RVD vs Rollins would have been a great headliner for ECW back in the day.  The two put on a great opening match.  It’s great to see RVD back putting on solid matches, even if it’s only to put over the young up and comers.
    
     
11. Jack Swagger w/ Zeb (18) – “If it’d been a snake, it would have bit me.”  Right in front of our face was sitting the perfect feud with the perfect managers and two very capable wrestlers and NO ONE saw it coming.  In one night, Swagger and Zeb became instant crowd favorites.  Give credit to an admirable heel persona for Rusev which allowed Swagger and Zeb to step in and finally act like Real Americans.  Sure, once this is over, they’ll go back to the semi-racist / underachieving duo (who need’s a third leg to the Real American gimmick) but for now, I’m super pumped for a little Rusev vs Swagger feud in-ring and a Lana vs Zeb feud on mic.  Add in a minimalistic cool t-shirt, I might have to be a Swagger fan for the next few weeks.
    
12. Rusev and Lana (15) – Can we keep someone’s full name for at least a year until we know their character is going to catch on?  Rusev not only migrated to Russia but also dropped his name.  It’s one thing for Cena or RKO or HHH to go by one name or an acronym.  Even the Zigglers, Cesaros and Barretts have put in enough time to go by one name (which they don’t exclusively).  I can’t sign off on the Big E and Rusev’s of the world going by the singular name when I barely know them.  Maybe I’m being too picky.  I’ll shut up and allow myself to be distracted by the ample breast action going on with Lana this week.  It’s was like a Carl’s Jr. commercial for their super-mega-chicken-breast-sandwich.  I got my Big E vs Rusev match at MitB.  It was good, not great.  I’m not feeling the hammerlock.  I’m sorry, when all you have to do is slip your arms out to get free, I can’t suspend reality that this move is so devastating instead of the opponent just being incompetent.  Maybe one of the biggest shocks of the night, on a night filled with surprises and returns, was that I instantly loved the Rusev / Swagger feud.  Let’s see where this goes! 
    
13. The Dust Brothers (11) – Only the greatest tag team ever!  Ryb-Axel should be grateful that they’re allowed to job to Goldust and Stardust.  I love seeing Stardust’s little legs running back and forth during the match.  I wish I had the time, I would write poetry about these two.  I love it!!!!
    
14. Dolph Ziggler (4) – If he’s gotta start with Fandango to get the push he needs, so be it.  He got to make out with Summer and get the win.  Not a bad night.  My only concern is that Ziggler falls in with this Fandango / Summer / Layla feud.  Hopefully as friend of the BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com or on iTunes) texted me, Ziggler is his pick for the next IC champ.
    
15. AJ Lee (N/A) – She’s back and rumors of her being preggers were slightly exaggerated.  In fact the time off looks like she’s done her good.  She looks GREAT.  CM Punk must have her on his strict vegan diet.  The ultimate move would be fore Punk to come back only as her manager.  Tease the crowd for a year would be a total Punk move.  He’s a Chicago kid and is doing his best Jordan ’93 bit.  He’ll eventually return to in-ring work.  No one fights in the indies and up through the ranks to become WWE champ and just quits in their mid 30’s.  Let him be not just a great heel manager but terrorize the fans with the possibilities of his return and only showing up during Diva functions.  
    
16. Paige (HM) – She wasn’t joking about being a woman of few words.  Hey, she’s 21.  Give her a break.  I can’t complain about the silly way she dropped the belt back to AJ since Paige got the Divas Championship in the same silly fashion.  I guess “your house” only lasts as long as AJ allows it?  Finally some character development to Paige.  If she goes off the deep end and get’s vengeful and obsessed at beating AJ to regain the title, that could be awesome.  
17. Chris Jericho (N/A) – Y2J has returned.  The Ayatollah-of-Rock-n-Rolla is back!  I run hot and cold with Y2J but it’s always fun when he comes back (and back and back and back and back).  He’s the king of returns, so much so that they should name him Costco - BANG, you don’t get comedy like that anywhere else folks.  How long is Jericho back?  Who knows?  But when the Wyatts came out, I dumped the Sheamus / Bray idea like the Chicago Bulls dumping Boozer to sign Melo.  Bray vs Y2J is a perfect feud for both men.  Well played WWE.
18. The Miz (N/A) – If I didn’t secretly love The Miz, I’d be annoyed by his constant disappearances and below average matches and forgettable feuds.  But then he comes back and give a great shoot and is such a good prick.  Being married to Maryse doesn’t hurt him at all.  There’s an alternate reality where the Miz is still working MTV Challenges and CT is staring in the Marine 4 and fighting his way back up the WWE ranks.  BTW, if you’ve seen The Challenge lately, the only question I have is; Why hasn’t the WWE signed CT to be The Miz’s bodyguard?
    
19. Bo Dallas (12) – 60 seconds of silence.  Just wait until it’s 480 seconds of silence and it lasts a whole segment.  Then the heel push will be complete.  Hell, the WWE has wasted 8 minutes on dumber ideas.  Again, my fear is how long and far can he push this.  Who’s Bo’s next real opponent or feud going to be with? 
    
20. Mr. McMahon-dow aka Damien Sandow (13) – He does it again!  Sunday night it was Paul Revere and on Monday, the most powerful man in Connecticut.  The masses ARE to ignorant to appreciate Sandow!  The only question is where do you hide a 7 foot tall Khali?  I guess Big Show was too tired from his massive workload of late?
    
21. Divas match: N-Bella vs Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi) (20) – All good things must come to an end.  We had a great opening segment and two excellent matches but then the crap end of the Divas spectrum had to rear its reality show head.  Naomi’s got talent and hopefully this break will allow her to do work with the AJ / Paige end of the Divas spectrum.  

Honorable Mentions

Wade Barrett – This poor bastard can’t stay healthy.  Just as he was getting a huge push and taking off in and out of the ring with his #BadNewsBarrett gimmick.  Goes to show, the idea that they can’t give Ziggler a push because he’s injury prone is the same risk with all the wrestlers and any of them can get hurt.  Barrett got hurt on a simple throw against the wall.  Shit happens in this business.  You can’t book on fear.  Barrett and Bryan get hurt and life will go on even if the transition of the belt is sloppy.

Fandango w/ Layla – Really, what’s going on here?  Weren’t we over with this at MitB?

SAN-TIN-OOOOOOO and Adam Rose – doing a live plug for an alcoholic beverage?  On a PG show?  Iced-T with a kick and no mention of alcohol?  The behind the scenes on this is way more fascinating to me.  I guess they feel if the major sports leagues can have alcoholic sponsors, so can they?  I assume this “hard” lemonade and iced-T they’re pushing is like Zima.  For all you kids out there, Zima was 7-up with alcohol.  It’s what turned me into the degenerate you see before you.  

Michael Cole – Monday’s RAW was so crazy even Cole got injured.  What’s going on this week?

Until next time…