WWE RAW Most Improved Superstar: Big E Langston

For the second straight week Curtis Axel had to defend his Intercontinental Title on Raw. Last week he faced Dolph Ziggler and won. This week he was up against a different opponent.

Big E Langston has been given a good push since going MIA after his alliance with AJ and Ziggler dismantled. He was invisible on Raw until he suddenly showed up to be CM Punk’s opponent. A few weeks later he turned face on Smackdown and helped Punk fight off Axel and Ryback.

He was called a rookie by Paul Heyman and Langston did not take that in good humor. He was set to face Axel later at a pay per view but due to Axel’s injury, he ended up in a short and meaningless feud with Dean Ambrose for the US Title. The one memorable thing that came out of it was the fact that both of them received stiches after having a collision in the ring.

So now, Axel made his way to his second straight title defense in two weeks as a guy who decided not to be a ‘Paul Heyman Guy’. Cole exclaimed that Ryback and Axel had decided that they were just too good for Heyman and that they deserved better.

This certainly made the prospect of Axel losing his title much more plausible. Big E made his way to the ring and the Nashville crowd was clearly and emphatically behind him. The match was not that spectacular but the ending definitely was. It was a ‘Big Ending’. Langston pinned Axel-One, Two, Three- and was now declared the new champion. Even if the match was okay, the end result of the match surely received a great reaction. Though, predicting that Langston might bring back the reputation of this title is a bit too soon.

But winning a championship for the first time is a monumental achievement as an up and coming superstar and the reaction of the audience to his win surely assured the WWE of giving him a good push.