Well we have our first surprise in a long time: Raw kicks off with Vince McMahon strutting down to the ring flanked by his daughter Stephanie and his son-in-law Triple H.  Vince decides to raise the stakes of the Survivor Series team Cena vs. team Authority match. If team Authority looses, they will no longer be in charge.

Singles Match: Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro-

Good back and forth match. Cesaro appears to get busted open the hard way, then the lights go out and Bray Wyatt appears on the stage. Cesaro and Ambrose match up well together. This is the second match they have had in the past two weeks. Michael Cole mentioned that during the commercial break the ringside doctor stopped the bleeding on Cesaro’s head. You know, because blood isn’t PG. Ambrose gets the win after reversing Cesaro’s backslide attempt into Dirty Deeds. 

Dean Ambrose defeated Cesaro via pin fall.

Backstage Triple H and Steph argue about having Randy Orton on team Authority at Survivor Series. It’s about time we have seen some dissention between Steph and Triple H. It adds a bit of depth to there dynamic. You can’t always agree.

Singles Match: Jimmy Uso w/Jey vs. The Miz w/Damien Mizdow-

Jimmy starts off hot, but Miz eventually gets the upper hand after a huge boot to the face. Miz gets a two count after a top rope clothesline. Mizdow is up to his old tricks mimicking everything Miz does. Jimmy gets distracted by Mizdow and walks right into the Skull Crushing Finale.

The Miz defeated Jimmy Uso via pin fall.

So is this a thing? Are Miz and Mizdow a tag team now? Why are they feuding with the Usos? Well lets see where this goes. 

Singles Match: U.S. Champion Sheamus vs. Tyson Kidd w/Natalya… Holy crap, its Tyson Kidd w/Natalya!!!

It’s great to see Kidd on Raw. Not sure why he has been toiling away at NXT, but at the same time he is seemingly better for it. Kidd needed to develop a character and he has come leaps and bounds since his first match in the WWE. All that said this isn’t going to end well for Kidd. Side note: does anyone else hate the fact that the announcers are using this match as a means to further a storyline on Total Divas, which if you didn’t know is a reality show and not a wrestling show. Totally illogical. Since we are on the topic of things that are illogical, anyone else find it funny that an Irish wrestler and a Bulgarian wrestler are fighting for the U.S. title?  As Sheamus and Kidd battle outside the ring, Sheamus charges Kidd, but Kidd pulls Natty in front of him as a shield. Kidd rolled back into the ring, beating the ten count and getting the win. Who saw that coming? 

Tyson Kidd defeated Sheamus via count out.

That was totally out of left field. Kidd going over implies that Sheamus will somehow retain when he faces Rusev tonight after Raw.

Dolph Ziggler is out for his match, but before we see who is opponent is the entire Authority comes out and tells Ziggler the smart thing would be for him to join their cause. Triple H tells Ziggler the preverbal glass ceiling that Ziggler can’t break thru is John Cena, not the Authority. Whelp, that wasn’t exactly a lie, now was it? Ziggler tells the Authority to kick rocks. Triple H tells Ziggler he is going to have to defend the IC title against Seth Rollins, right now.

Singles Match IC Champion Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins-

The match started off with some standard chain wrestling by both superstars. The Authority’s goons are on the outside of the ring waiting to pounce. It seems Ziggler doesn’t have a chance here. Ziggler regains control after high dropkick to Rollins face. Ziggler tries a splash in the corner, but he ends up jumping right into a face buster into the turnbuckle. Rollins went for a top rope Curb Stomp, but Ziggler moved out of the way. Ziggler hits the famasser. Rollins kicks out at two. Rollins hits the Curb Stomp but before he could pin Ziggler Orton appeared and RKO’d Rollins out of nowhere!

No contest.

After the match Rollins has no idea what just happened. What does this mean for team Authority?

Backstage Orton asks Steph and Triple H for a match with Rollins tonight. Orton threatens to join team Cena if he doesn’t get what he wants. Triple H tells Orton that if he burns, they all burn. There is no forgive and forget. Triple H gives Orton what he wants. Orton and Rollins tonight, but once the match is over it is over. They will pick each other up and be a team.

Singles Match: Ryback vs. Titus O’Neil-

Well there had to be at least one squash match tonight. Well this is unexpected.  Titus is beating the crap out of Ryback. That is until a spine buster by Ryback crushes Titus. Ryback gets the win after Shell Shocked.

Ryback defeated Titus O’Neil via pin fall 

Singles Match: Big Show vs. Mark Henry-

Big Show is firmly in control of the match. Big Show is manhandling Henry. He lands multiple leaping elbow drops to Henry’s back. Show locks in a modified Indian death lock, but Henry manages to get to the bottom rope. Show and Henry have fought/feuded many times, but this is one of the most physical matches they have had. Show climbs to the top rope (yes you read that right) but Henry slams Show off the top rope. Henry hits the World’s Strongest Slam, but Show kicks out at two. Henry gets DQ’d after hitting Show in the head with the ring steps.

Big Show defeated Mark Henry via Disqualification.

After the match, Henry gave Show the World’s Strongest Slam on the ring steps. Henry has seemingly returned to his “Hall of Pain” glory. Let’s hope it ends with a WWE title run… Ok, that isn’t going to happen, but it sounded good. 

Backstage Brie Bella was… Zzzzzzzzzzz err sorry, Renee Young is standing backstage and Eric Rowen appears. He pulls his mask up, touches Renee’s hair and says, “Pretty….” Renee says thank you and walks away. That was a funny bit. Maybe Rowen is going to go the way of Snitsky.

Divas Singles Match: Nikki Bella w/Brie vs. Emma-

 Sigh

Nikki wins.

 After the match Nikki orders Brie to slap AJ. AJ floors Brie than chases Nikki out of the ring.

Um… I think they just showed a vignette that featured Xavier Woods doing a black preacher gimmick. A black preacher that also seems to think he is James Brown. Yep. That just happened.

Singles Match: Rusev w/Lana vs. Zack Ryder-

… Moving right along

After Rusev eats Ryder like a plate of Pierogies, Lana rants about Putin until Sheamus comes out and tries to convince us as to why we should care that the Bulgarian and the Irishman are fighting for the U.S. title. Before you ask, Sheamus was unsuccessful. 

Backstage Steph approaches Lana and Rusev about joining team Authority. Lana tells Steph they will get back to her. 

Singles Match: Fernando vs. Stardust-

Why is this match happening? The Dust Brothers are fighting the Usos in a cage for the titles on Smackdown. The Miz and Mizdow are at ringside. El Torito attacks Goldust, and Fernando hits the backstabber on Stardust for the win. Why is any of this happening??

Fernando defeated Stardust via pin fall.

The only way any of this makes sense is if there is a fatal four way at the ppv for the tag titles.

Singles Match: Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins-

Orton is all over Rollins to start out with. Triple H and Steph are at ringside observing the action. Rollins attempts a dive over the ropes but Orton moves out of the way. Rollins crashes down to the mat in a sickening thud. After a kick to Orton’s head Rollins mounts the top rope. Orton cuts him off and superplexes Rollins off the top rope for a two count. Orton sets up his rope assist ddt, but Rollins dumps Orton over the top rope. Flying knee off the top rope by Rollins. Triple H is visably upset as he watches his two crown jewels destroy each other. Orton goes for the RKO, but Rollins reverses it into a backslide out of nowhere (ha!) for the win. 

Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton via pin fall. 

After the match Triple H tells Orton to shake everyone’s hand. Orton shakes Jamie Noble, Joey Mercury, and Kane’s hand. And of course Orton RKO’s Rollins. Orton takes out everyone in the ring. Triple H gets in the ring to try to calm Orton down, but Orton decks him. The numbers game becomes too great; Kane and Mercury hold Orton as Rollins Curb Stomps him on the announce table. Triple H tells Rollins to finish this. Orton Curb Stomps the Orton on the ring steps. Orton is bleed from his forehead as the show goes off the air.

There was a ton of actually wrestling on the show tonight. That usually isn’t the case. Storylines were moved forward, which for the most part is a good thing (unless we are talking about the Bella storyline which just needs to die already). With Orton’s actions after the match he clearly isn’t going to be on the Authority’s side at the ppv. He may not even be at the ppv. Rumor has it Orton will be filming a movie so who knows how long Orton will be off TV. It was pretty bizarre that Cena wasn’t on the show at all tonight, but with Orton out of play, Cena will have to be around to push the main event storyline for Survivor Series. Stay tuned, people!

Show Grade: 7/10

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