June is coming to a close, and that gives us one final RAW In A Nutshell. Things are scoring outside, and they are blazing hot in Thunderdome, too.
Or, at least, some things are blazing hot in Thunderdome. Other things might end up being more like dumpster fires, but we have to see what this RAW In A Nutshell gives us, no?
The name of the game truly should be Money In The Bank. That event looms large, just a few weeks away.
Last week, we got our first wave of Superstars qualifying-unlikely ones like Riddle, Morrison and Ricochet.
One of Randy Orton, AJ Styles or Drew McIntyre is set to join the party by the end of RAW.
Perhaps we have some more fun stuff set up for MITB too…could make for a fun Nutshell, no?
But, either way, things are heating up…which means it is time for…
Let’s crack open this Nutshell and get things moving!
The main event was solid. I did not like the ending, but I get it.
The opening battle royal. Given the end result, and even just all involved…this was the definition of filler.
Sure felt like, even in spite of how the main event went, that WWE was doing what they could in order to build Riddle up.
Of course, if they REALLY wanted to do that, I think you find a way to get Riddle to win here. But that’s just me.
Either way…he’s my star.
For me, it would be Ricochet’s splash on John Morrison.
Off the middle of the top rope, with Morrison perched on top of the guard rail.
My guess at first was crash pad, but replays made me think they didn’t have enough time.
Miz had the reaction many of us did, too…
The battle royal was filled with them.
I kind of feel like I can say that Drew McIntyre winning was a mild upset…because the way the show had unfolded to that point, a Riddle win kind of felt inevitable.
I was so set on putting Riddle’s win here.
Show starts and we hear Orton can’t work his last chance qualifier.
RAW brass announce a battle royal to fill his spot.
Riddle says “hey, I’ll be Randy tonight, let me earn the shot”.
He does. And he very nearly pulls it off, even after kicking the steel steps.
Of course, he didn’t win. So, instead, I put the near win.
New guy had a few fumbles on commentary. But, he did catch himself and/or own up to it.
So, in that case, can’t complain.
I would argue that some of Riddle’s punches on AJ Styles on the outside-before the table got destroyed-looked a lot soft.
Maybe I just have not been paying close enough attention, but it feels like I have not seen R-Truth or the 24/7 Championship pursuit in like, forever.
Just having Truth back was great.
Having him interact with Ryker? Even better.
Orton not working the show was probably it.
I do now wonder, will WWE parlay the Riddle loss into an eventual breakup of RK-Bro?
Sure, they could…but I would think it is a bit early for that.
However, if Riddle HAD won, and Orton was in the MITB match too? Could have totally seen one beating the other out for the briefcase.
Or, at least, one costing the other his shot, thus leading to the breakup and a summer feud.
There is still time for that, of course. I just hope we have a chance to let RK-Bro have a nice run first.
One other thing…hard not to think WWE is laying on the summer foundation with some action tonight.
Like, Kofi taking out MVP. Almost like…MVP could be coming back?
And, Xavier getting another shot at Lashley next week, all while Kofi invokes Brock’s name yet again.
Say it with me folks…these name drops are not done accidentally….
I feel like the women got the short end of the stick tonight.
We had a waste of a battle royal, that gave us…Riddle as proxy for Orton. Which they could have done straight away…but they didn’t.
And then, ALL the women that should matter on RAW? Squeezed into one shorter match.
Yep, that was this RAW In A Nutshell.
Also, I wanted to see things blazing hot in Thunderdome…but we got more like hot flashes at best.
Here’s the thing. I get wanting to keep Drew in the title hunt…but I think getting Orton in the MITB match would have likely opened more possibilities.
Like, if Omos causes Drew the match, but AJ didn’t win either? Then we’ve got the start of a fairly high profile new feud for the RAW Tag Team Champions.
And, as I mentioned before…plenty of ways to take Orton and Riddle…so I think this one was a bad booking job.
Riddle’s work. I loved him in NXT, and I really liked how things started on the main roster…but then he fizzled.
Now? He’s still in the Money In The Bank match, and he very nearly got Orton into it too.
Ricochet’s spot still has me impressed. But…will he only be in MITB for the spots?
It could have been blazing hot in Thunderdome…but it wasn’t.
There were moments where things were really looking up. But plenty where things just stalled out.
Here’s the upshot though…while there were some maddening moments in the show, there were just enough really good spots to make me not hate this particular RAW In A Nutshell.
And in just a few weeks…no more Thunderdome…live fans return…so things will get super interesting. We hope.
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