Last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw the inclusion of new members to both Team Cena and Team Authority while the number one prospect Ryback still stands alone. During the beginning of RAW The Authority’s main goal was to acquire “The Big Guy” and it seemed as if that would happen. The hostile UK crowd was treated to an early spine buster on Cena from Ryback, which was the perfect way to start the evening. Before the night was over Team Authority was able to gain a huge advantage with additions of both Mark Henry and Rusev. Though team Cena would find their way later in the episode with an addition of the bro and world’s largest athlete. On a side note one member of Team Cena Dolph Ziggler may have a little more than just the Authority to wonder about as we finally see who is behind the set of eyes coming after his intercontinental title.
The evening’s matches started with the dismantling of Jack Swagger by Seth Rollins. The WWE has no issues putting Rollins in the spotlight over some of their former younger talent that at times showed much promise. Rollins is the new deal so it was a forecasted outcome that the sole purpose of this match was to defy Swagger for joining team Cena. Not being a headlining act it was assumed Swagger would fall before Survivor Series but they made sure he never got a chance to taste of the camaraderie of Team Cena. This sparks the question of why would Swagger be cast aside when the SS poster reveals Cesaro on Team Authority. This means that Swagger is still below the ranks of those chosen few and also makes the rumored joining back up with former tag team partner Cesaro unlikely.
Next we saw the Divas division as we see a now title less Paige find her way among the rest of the Divas. We don’t feel Paige is done in the hunt for the title but it’s clear the universe is more interested in Nikki vs. AJ. She came out to a ruckus crowd happy to see their native starlet as she faced Alicia Fox another woman in Divas division purgatory. That was followed by a rematch for the United States Championship with Sheamus and Rusev. With Team Authority now on his side Rusev had no issue defending his title. A nice little assist from Mercury and Noble provided a count out on the Bro and was the last straw to push him over the edge.
Later he would meet with Cena and the rest of the bunch to join Team Cena. Tag Team battle between The Miz and Damien Mizdow and Los Matadores proved to be nothing more than a just another outlandish showcase with Hornswoggle as now the second stunt double for the Miz. It really just assured that the WWE really needs help with their Tag Team division, which seems to be at an all time low.
The second half of the night proved to be more entertaining with matches showcasing Mark Henry vs. Dolph Ziggler, AJ vs. Nikki, Tyson Kidd vs. Adam Rose and the main event Ryback vs. John Cena. A couple things to mention from these matches. Dolph once again sees the dark mysterious eyes at the start of his match with Henry. Big Show steps in as the newest member to Team Cena (Sheamus announces after this fight) as Henry has no intentions of actually wrestling Dolph, just to put him on the bench. AJ defeats Brie who had to fight for Nikki and that set up Nikki to finish AJ when it was over. The timing of Survivor Series is what can upset Nikki’s plans for the Diva title, as it seems as if Brie will do something to cause her to lose. It’s worth keeping an eye on but the true feud of the two will only start when the Nikki and Brie storyline finally ceases.
Tyson Kidd keeps his minor win streak alive with an assist from The Bunny as Adam Rose seems to still have issues with his furry companion. Does this set up a match up between The Bunny and Adam Rose? Or does this bring Rose into the light of being a heel? The only true significance of this match was the reintroduction of Erik Rowan who came out lost and confused muttering “She’s not here?” who “she” is yet to be determined but it possible we may have a macabre styled Diva on hand? This is a gimmick that has us more perplexed than anything.
The finale was somewhat predictable as Cena battled Ryback in front of Team Authority. What could pull The Big Guy over to Team Cena (as indicated by the poster and the new push to make him a face) could be the issues with he and Kane. Kane was not to happy with Ryback now being looked at as the big monster on campus. Deliberately interfering with the match set Ryback off and amidst both teams squaring off in the cage Ryback got his revenge on Kane. This left a confused and applauding John Cena as Ryback walked off alone. We will have to keep an eye on Main Event to see if anything else surfaces but more than likely we will get out answers at Smackdown.
The ending of the night gave us our answer to the serious eyes following Dolph Ziggler. No other than Luke Harper makes his case for being a “team player” by throwing a lifeless Ziggler to the feet of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. How he fits in the equation is unknown and really makes you question the Survivor Series poster that clearly shows Cesaro in the mix. Somehow we have a feeling those plans of Harper will be derailed. While it is now a tad more clear who will be joining each teams we still have some questions remaining two weeks out from Survivor Series.