WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw 10/7/13 Review (Improvement)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today we take a look at WWE Raw 10/7/13. Will this be better than Battleground? Let's just hope that's the case… Let's begin. 

He's fired again?

We open the show with Stephanie and Bipolar Show. She lashes out at him for his actions at Battleground while Big Show doesn't seem to care. The big guy admits he knocked out Daniel Bryan since Steph told him to do it, but had enough and started to punch everybody out. After some more rebellion from Show, Steph fires him while Show seems happy. YAY, I'M UNEMPLOYED!!! WOOOOOOO!!! So, let me get this straight. Steph wanted Randy Orton to unleash his dark side, but wanted to help him win the WWE title at Battleground? Ah, the loveliness that is wrestling logic…

You know, that sums it up perfectly. Show's fired for the second straight year and I'm sure it won't last as long as the last one. In fact, let's start taking a poll in when Show will get his job back. Based on how things are going, I'm gonna shoot for Hell in a Cell. What do you think? I love how they insert the fact Show's been escorted from the building. Oh yeah, I'm sure he will NOT be showing up later in the show… yep… guara-damn-tee it!

The stuff people forget about

Dolph and Damien throw some punches 'n stuff… the match is over. This was pretty much the same match you got if you checked out the pre-show, but you ended up saving your brain cells then you got something decent. I will agree that the match does nothing for either person since both guys need some type of program/rival since they're stuck in their own limbo at the moment. I just hope something changes soon with them. Meanwhile, we can watch the Total Divas put those 'amazing' skills to the ultimate test. I know I shouldn't be too harsh on these ladies since they're still learning techniques in the ring and are mostly on the WWE roster for sex appeal but they clearly were not ready for this match. Wannabe Jessica Rabbit couldn't even master the art of tagging in a partner while the potato wedge did nothing during this match… And I think Natalya was somewhere. Bonus points if you were able to spot here, but unfortunately for you, there's no prize in this contest. In other matches, Los Matadores defeated 3MB-1. I'm still getting a kick out of this tag team and El Torito. It's NOT supposed to be taken seriously and is being played up for laughs so I'm actually getting a kick out of it. I understand if you don't like it since it's too goofy but everybody has their own preferences/taste. Well, I think it's about that time. It's time to grab life by the horns…

Heyman's in a baaaaaaaad mood

Ryback and Curtis Axel teamed up to take on CM Punk and R-Truth because Paul Heyman remembered that he agreed to manage Axel. Yeah, you almost forget that's a thing considering Curtis has regressed to whipping boy since Heyman found something more meaty. The match wasn't too bad and it was enjoyable, so at least it had that going for it. It does seem odd that Truth has started a rivalry out of nowhere with Curtis for the IC title, but that's probably because the staff forgot Curtis was IC champion in the first place. Well, at least Axel's glad to be the toilet paper champion. 

The WWE App brought to you by voting

The Randy Orton/Kofi Kingston match was at least entertaining but it was nothing out of the norm. After the match, Bryan attacked Randy for stiffing him on the check from last night. Randy would get a chance to repay him later in the show by doing the same thing. Wow, what an asshole! I should note that Randy vs DB will happen at Hell in a Cell and it will indeed be a HIAC match. A HIAC match at HIAC!? Who would've thought of that!!! WWE, you're indeed a genius for this… Okay, this joke is going nowhere. There will be a special guest referee for the match and that will be determined by the WWE App. I think in the next year, you will have to have the WWE App surgically attached to your ass JUST to watch this show. It's getting to that point. Anyway, the choices for the guest referee is uninteresting choice #1, uninteresting choice #2, and SHAWN MICHAELS. VOTE NOW!!! VOTE NOW!!! VOTE NOW!!! One of the things that always makes me laugh is how the commentators say every vote on the WWE App broke the previous record but they NEVER tell you any of the metrics. I think I'm just gonna let that one speak for itself. Of course, HBK won the poll but I wanted to see Mr. Backlund slap somebody with the cross face chicken wing. That was about the only thing I was able to decipher from his promo. In fact, Bob Backlund is the only person I know that speaks fluent english and you still need to get a translator for him. Still, Backlund was very entertaining this evening. It makes sense for HBK to be the special guest referee since it makes you wonder which side of the coin he's gonna take. Will he help out his former student…

…or will he support his best friend? It's that element alone that makes the Orton/Bryan match even more intriguing. I just hope the match lives up to the expectations. 

Kryptonite is bulls***!

So, how many times has Alberto Del Rio tried to sweet-talk Vickie Guerrero and how many times has it failed? Well, you know what they say. If at first you don't succeed, try try try try try try TRY TRY TRY TRY TRY F***ING AGAIN!!! Of course, it blows up in his face and now has to face John Cena at HIAC…Wait, John Cena? He's back already? Yeah, so I was instantly puzzled by this announcement. I'm not sure if the man's healthy enough to compete or not but it definitely has my interest. Is Cena healthy enough to compete? If he isn't 100%, how will the match go? With a triceps tear, I still think he's got a ways to go in the recovery process. At the same time, I'm not a doctor and can't claim to know anything about a triceps tear, but it sounds like it would keep you on the shelf longer than 6-8 weeks. You know, WWE, he ISN'T really Superman. The internet gives you a nickname for so long that you start believing it's actually true. Joking aside, this matchup does make things interesting. So, a special guest referee and Cena returning early? I think HIAC already has done better build in one day than Battleground did in those three weeks combined. Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Ricardo Rodriguez taking advantage of the situation and got a rollup victory on Del Rio. That s*** was hilarious! Unfortunately he didn't get to laugh for very long. Ricardo, your arm's not looking so good there. 

More stuff people forgot about

With WWE having Brad Maddox apologizing for his actions, I wonder if they were secretly using Maddox to have him apologize for the entire Battleground event. Fandango defeated some guy who lost his 15 minutes of fame years ago. More like Fandumbo…Naw, that was a terrible. Give me time on that one. More Punjab-A-Whirl thanks to Antonio Cesaro. Notice how the Cesaro swing is quickly making the audience root for the Real Americans. I'm even starting to hear some 'We the people' chants going on here. Antonio, you might be on to something with this craze. Bray Wyatt decided to pick on the Miz this evening, but Miz fought back. He did manage to hold his own against Bray, but Bray seemed to get off on this. Again, I'm not sure if the Wyatt family are getting new opponents or they're just going after everybody, but at least it's a start. 

FINISH HIM…

According to my sources, WWE is gonna trademark 'it's good for business'. Why? Because it's good for business…

The final match of the night was the Shield taking on Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan. While the match was fine, it was the aftermath we're looking forward to so let's just skip ahead. The match is about to end in another no contest until Triple H decides to restart the match and make it a No DQ match. Randy runs interference and Shield is able to steal another match. Big Show arrives once more and is searching for Trips. Oh yeah, now that he's fired, he can knock me out now… I…I didn't plan this very well. At this point, I imagine Triple H is thinking this…

Sure enough, the episode ends with Show knocking out Triple H. After weeks of build, the payoff finally happened and Show knocked out the corporation. As mean and unsettling it would've been for people, I kinda wanted to see him knock out Steph as well, but one thing at a time. This was actually a good ending to the show. I know people will argue this should've happened at Battleground, but that PPV was doomed the second it started, so it was best to cut your loses and just wait until Monday night to do something better. Like I mentioned earlier, it makes you wonder how Show ends up getting his job back, but only time will tell.

Overall Impression:

I think it goes without saying, but this was miles better than Battleground. I wouldn't call this one of the best episodes of Raw I've seen this year, but it was entertaining for what it was worth. The matches were decent to sit through and the storyline progression was more intriguing than what occurred at Battleground. In fact, let's pretend Battleground never happened and we'll be perfectly fine moving forward. The announcements for HIAC are very interesting and I'm already looking forward to this PPV. Definitely a swing in the right direction after…THAT thing we won't mention anymore since it NEVER HAPPENED! Well, I think it's time to wrap this up. Thank you for reading my stupid thoughts. Tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls in the next one.