Raw Review 5/18/2015

Monday Night Raw Live from Richmond, VA: 

Intro to Raw: 

• Raw kicks off with the Authority ( Triple H and Stephanie) coming down to the ring to hype up the evening. They told us that Seth is the Champion they knew he could be and that tonight he will be honored for his great title defense. They then introduced the IC Title and took a few shots at Daniel Bryan for being injured. They began to hype up the Elimination Chamber match for the IC title. Sheamus and Ryback both came down to the ring to confront the Authority. Sheamus wanted the Authority to give him the IC title for ending Daniel Bryan's career. Ryback came to defend Bryan's name and he challenged Sheamus to a match which the Authority granted him after announcing that both men would be in the Elimination Chamber match for the IC title. 

Match 1) Ryback vs Sheamus:

• The opening match of Raw started off slow with a few breaks that really hurt the pace of the match. Sheamus beat up on Ryback early and really focused on the broken ribs that Ryback suffered at Payback. The match never really picked up its pace and it felt like the guys were working a very stiff match. I am not sure if it was due to Ryback's ribs or if the guys just never really clicked. The right guy went over here and my guess is Sheamus will be a heavy favorite to win the IC title match at Elimination Chamber. 

Winner: Sheamus

Match 2) Neville vs King Barrett: 

• Neville came out early to cut a promo and was interrupted by Bo Dallas. Bo then attacked Neville after he made a comment about beating him in NXT. Neville sold the knee injury as King Barrett came down to the ring. King Barrett really took it to Neville and did some damage to Neville hurt knee. Finally Barrett ended the match with a Bull Hammer. After the match Bo Dallas got back in the ring and put a beat down on Neville's knee. This could be a very interesting feud, I really enjoyed their work in NXT! 

Winner: King Barrett

•  Rusev came down to the ring and cut a promo claiming that he did not say I quit. He then proceeded to bash Lana and he added that she would not be coming out tonight. Lana came out and interrupted him. She cut a pretty heart felt promo showing that she has feeling for Rusev. He told her she was weak and asked her to leave. He said he did not need her and that no one needs her. Lana left the ring looking very sad and Rusev celebrated in the ring. It looks like the break up between Lana and Rusev is complete lets see where the two of them go from here. 

 Match 3) Dean Ambrose vs Bray Wyatt:

• Its not every week you get to see Bray Wyatt wrestle on Raw. This match was a slow brawling match in the beginning but it started to pick up as the match went on. The pace really picked up toward the end of the match. J & J security came down to the ring to cost dean the match by pushing him into Bray's finisher. Im ok with this finish simply because it looks like they may have big plans for Dean Ambrose. 

Winner: Bray Wyatt 

 Match 4) New Day vs Cesaro & Tyson Kidd for the Tag Titles ( Xavier Woods is banned from Ring Side):

• This match started off with New Day coming down and cutting a promo bashing the city of Richmond. That drew some heat from the rather quiet crowd. The match started off with both teams getting in the action. The ref lost control of the match and rang the bell causing a DQ. After the match all the teams who will be participating in the Elimination Chamber match came down to the ring and beat each other up. Prime Time Players were left standing tall in the ring after the brawl. 

• It was made official that it will be Los Matadors vs New Day vs Ascension vs Prime Time Players vs Cesaro and Kidd vs Lucha Dragons in the Elimination Chamber match for the Tag team titles. 

Match 5) John Cena vs Kevin Owens: 

• This match never actually happened but Oh my it was awesome seeing Kevin Owens on Raw!!! I lost it when his music hit. Kevin Owens killed it on the mic during this segment. I loved the line " I have been wrestling longer than you John so you don't get to give me advice" That was just amazing. He then proceeded to lay out John Cena with a power bomb. Even tho we didn't get a match here this was a great segment and it made a statement for NXT and Kevin Owens. Remember that name because he will be gracing your screens every Monday soon enough! I really cant put into words how cool this segment was and It may go down as one of my favorite Raw debuts! This was just a special moment! 

Winner: Everyone Watching!! 

Match 6) Dolph Ziggler vs Star Dust:

• Well that was a quick match. There was not a lot to add to this match it kinda was what it was. Ziggler won and had a post match interview with Cole. Cole named him as the last contestant in the Elimination Chamber match. During the interview Lana came down to the ring and kissed ole Ziggler Rusev came running down to the ring to confront Ziggler. Ziggler got the better of him and left with Lana. So I guess we are going to go through yet another love triangle story line. I guess at least this one doesn't involve Fandango so its kinda different. 

Winner: Ziggler

Match 7) Luke Harper and Rowen vs Zack Ryder and Fandango: 

• This match was just kind a here. Not a bad effort from the four men. It was short and right to the point and that point was Rowen and Harper are dominant but not dominant enough to be put in the tag team Elimination Chamber match. 

Winner: Luke Harper and Rowen 

Match 8) Nikki Bell vs Naomi: 

• This match was not much of one to be honest. Most of the match was spent at commercial break. The main point to take away from this match was the fact that Paige is back and She is here for the title!! 

• After the match It was announced that it will be Kevin Owens vs John Cena at Elimination Chamber!!! This is going to be an awesome match and I cant wait for it. This is shaping up to be one awesome pay-per-view! 

The Closing for Raw: Seth Rollins event

• The segment started off with Kane saying a few nice things about Seth Rollins. He then presented Seth with a video package that paid homage to the champ. Dean Ambrose comes out and interrupts the Seth Fest and demands to have a title shot at Elimination Chamber. The Authority tells Seth Rollins to attack Dean Ambrose and he does so but gets easily overwhelmed by Dean. Dean put a hurting on Seth and J & J. Dean got Seth on the out side and he put Seth on some bricks. He threatened to hit Seth with a chair unless he was granted at Title match at Elimination Chamber. The Authority granted his request and Dean began to fight off the rest of the Authority until he was finally overwhelmed. Seth hit him with a pedigree and stood tall to end the show. 

Recap: WHAT A RAW! WWE has really been doing a great job with Raw the last few weeks! They have just delivered in every way here lately. This was a great Raw! We had a little bit of everything on this show from Kevin Owens challenging and beating up Cena, to the return of Page, Lana joins Ziggler and finally Dean Ambrose is going for the WWE Championship! It was such a great ride from start to finish.

Thanks for Reading and I hope you enjoyed Raw! Until Next time Wrestling Fans !