RAW Retort – AJ Lee drops a Diva pipebomb

The WWE is really stepping things up week by week, storyline by storyline, match by match. It’s as though something clicked with creative and they’re going back to the things that have worked the best for them all along. They’re going back to relive storylines that have worked the best, yet tweaking them and working them with some of the best in the company.

I adore Cena for the man he is, but I think his time off could be a wonderful thing for the WWE all the way around right now. In the end, Cena will return and sell more merchandize than ever, but right now it’s best for Bryan to carry the company, no matter how much they claim Orton is the face of the WWE.

Opening Segment

Triple H with Randy Orton

This opening segment was much stronger than last week, even though last week showed Steph turning heel on Bryan to align with her husband and father. Triple H trying to make claims about the company, and doing the right thing, then giving Orton a Caddy – he played the boss to the hilt, and then verbally abused Bryan, who would take nothing of it, and neither would Bryan’s fans.

They played this segment stronger and better than even last week’s closing segment, making Bryan look at least like he had a chance to make it through the entire three hours, even though it was obvious that Trip was sure he wouldn’t.

Maddox Plays Long

As soon as I saw Sandow on announce in his ring gear, it was obvious that something was going to happen with him and Cody, but when Miz came out, I was almost on the floor laughing. Miz in Fandango‘s ring gear is too funny for words! But then when Maddox came out, it was obvious that he was going all Teddy Long on this match, and I actually thought he handled it better than almost anything he’s ever done on RAW.

Maddox was a riot on mic and handled it really well. The match, on the other hand, was nothing to write home about, though I do like that Fandango keeps ditching his tag partners. He’s setting a precedent and is an interesting bit to his character going forward. I do have to say that it’s lame that two matches only lasted 4:10, but those matches weren’t about the ring work, but about the storylines, and it worked really well for those.

Joshing Backstage

They seem to be using Josh a lot more than they had been, but I think he fits in really well. Actually, they’re using Renee a lot more too. I like that they’re returning to solid backstage reporting, and both Josh and Renee are working things well. I don’t like that Josh was bullied by Ryback, but it’s the storyline at this point and Ryback will get his.

Abusing Punk

Axel handled himself much stronger in this match than we’ve ever seen him. Axel keeps stepping up and looking stronger and stronger. His mic work isn’t the best, but it’s better than it was back in Nexus! I fell back that Axel is the afterthought in all of this, but in reality the core of this is the relationship between Punk and Heyman. The fact that Punk and Heyman are so close makes this storyline that much stronger.

We all know they’re close, and that emotion is carrying over into their work. Those two are a couple of the strongest storytellers in the WWE, and working together has brought their stock way up in the company. I cannot get over the power of this relationship on TV, and that Heyman would beat his best friend with a kendo stick to bleeding the way he did.

Heyman really looked like he’d been bawling his eyes out when he and Axel were stopped by Renee on the way out of the building. That’s some serious selling. I’m not sure how they’re going to handle this feud going into Night of Champions, but I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic.