The final RAW before Payback featured a fantastic match, some quick match building and a surprise announcement about a pay-per-view. However, an announcement from Daniel Bryan overshadowed it all.
It truly seemed like deja vu when Bryan came out and announced that he was unable to compete, and had to forfeit the belt he was carrying. After all, it was just last year when he won the WWE world heavyweight title at Wrestlemania, stuck around for a month, and then had to forfeit the title after tests showed he couldn't wrestle. This time felt a little bit different, though.
Bryan forfeiting his title wasn't a surprise to anybody who was paying attention. I think that it would've been a surprise if he hadn't been forced to. His speech though felt a little different from his speeches in the past, both before he forfeited the title last June, and when he acted like he was retiring in December before pulling the swerve and announcing the was returning.
This speech, and the reaction of the crowd, was more resigned to their fate. I think the WWE Universe is starting to realize that even though Bryan probably isn't done yet, there may not be much left. It's hard to watch him try to compete and just not be able to.
The way he started, saying he needed to be able to come out in front of the crowd has to be true for him, and for him to once again have to go away for a while just feels unfair, both to him and to us.
Hopefully Bryan takes his time with his recovery. He shouldn't try to rush back for any events, he shouldn't even think about coming back at anything less than 100 percent.
That's what happened this time. He forced himself to come back before he was ready, and he clearly wasn't healed. While we want to see him, we don't want to see a shell of what he is, and we certainly don't want to see him reinjure himself.
Will we ever see the same Bryan? It's hard to say. We've seen wrestlers reinvent themselves in the ring before, and Bryan certainly has the talent to do that. The important thing though is that whatever style he employs, whenever he comes back, even if it's not this year, that he prioritizes himself. He can't worry about meeting a deadline, he'll return when he's ready, and not before.
Hopefully he has a lot more in the tank, but more than anything, I hope we never have to see Bryan crying in the ring again, unless it's for winning the world title.
The Rest of RAW:
**John Cena's open challenge has routinely been a highlight of RAW, and Monday night was no exception. Neville came out to accept his challenge, and the two put on an absolutely fantastic match. Neville pulled out all the stops in this one, including hitting a Phoenix Splash from the second rope (isn't it odd how that move has become more prevalent in WWE over the past four months?). It looked like Neville might actually win, when Rusev came in and attacked both wrestlers.
Two things I want to note about this match, one a positive, one a negative. The first is that while I'm not sure that the open challenge has elevated the US title, it certainly has made the segments relevant every week. Just the build, and the guessing, of who will come out every week makes the segment a must-watch. The fact that the matches have almost all been good just adds to it. As for the negative? Every week someone is kicking out of the AA.
They have overdone it so much that it's expected now that someone kicks out, which shouldn't be the case when it's the finisher for one of the most powerful guys in the company. Too often wrestlers rely on kicking out of finishers to build the match, and they've now reached the point for Cena where kicking out of an AA doesn't matter. And that's not a good thing.
**I think the WWE surprised everyone when Michael Cole announced that two weeks after Payback, on May 31, we were getting a second "pay-per-view" that would only be on the network, in the return of the Elimination Chamber. There had been rumors early on about Elimination Chamber moving to the summer, but nothing concrete came out, and it seemed like we'd go the year without the Chamber. To have what basically amounts to a surprise PPV is pretty shocking, as the WWE has never done this before.
The question is what the show will have in it. Will it be a full PPV show, or will it be similar to King of the Ring where they just had an hour-long special? Also, what will the Chamber be for? It makes way too much sense at this point for the IC title to remain vacant until the Chamber, and then have a match involving King Barrett, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Neville, and two others, maybe R-Truth and Luke Harper (though Harper may be busy with something else).
Also, will the WWE world heavyeweight title be defended, or will they have a No. 1 contender match, or nothing with the big title? We're on new ground here, so WWE could do anything.
**All four competitors in the main event at Payback were involved in matches on RAW. Dean Ambrose had the first match of the night, an entertaining handicap match against J&J Security. Kane and Roman Reigns had a brief encounter that ended with Reigns sending Kane over the announce table. Finally, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins had another good match to add to their series, which ended in a DQ, and ended with a brawl between all four men involved, and the three faces hitting their finishers on Rollins, while Kane looked on with a chair. At the beginning of the show, Triple H told Kane that if Rollins didn't win at Payback, Kane would be out of a job.
**For once, a segment on RAW built off of what happened on Smackdown, instead of just pretending that it didn't happen. On Smackdown, Luke Harper destroyed Fandango. Erick Rowan came out, and instead of going after Harper, he too beat up Fandango. On RAW, instead of going through the same thing over again, they had Harper and Rowan come out together, and then Rowan beat Fandango in a match. Good for the WWE actually acknowledging storyline changes from Smackdown. If Harper and Rowan are truly back together, that's a fantastic addition to the revamped tag division. Harper and Rowan against Kidd and Cesaro could be a truly great match.
**King Barrett beat Dolph Ziggler in a solid match. Say what you want about the intertwining feuds of Barrett/Neville and Ziggler/Sheamus (and both matches will be happening again at Payback), but they've provided some compelling matches. Sheamus beat up Ziggler after the match.
**Speaking of tag teams, it seems like we're going to get another comedy tag team, though this one could be somewhat compelling. Curtis Axel, in his Axelmania gimmick came out to face the newly dubbed "Macho Mandow." As the two went through the signature moves of the people they were imitating, the Ascension came out. They insulted the two, and then tried to attack. However, Sandow (or Mandow) and Axel joined together to fight them off, and then shook hands. So we may have a Mega Powers parody now. It's not the best gimmick, but I could certainly see it getting over.
**Cesaro and Big E had a solid match, featuring plenty of antics from the rest of the New Day, as well as Tyson Kidd. The two powerhouses meshed in the ring, and Cesaro ended up winning with a cradle variation after Kidd, Kofi and Xavier mixed it up on the outside. These teams will face off in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Payback.
**The Prime Time Players cut one of their mocking promos about the New Age Outlaws. Billy Gunn responded on Twitter, saying that Road Dogg needed to get his gear, so maybe we're going to see a match between the two teams.
**Tamina beat Brie Bella as their partners both looked on.
Thoughts? Questions? Leave them in the comment section, email me, or find me on Twitter: @TheAOster