The Undercard
Randy Orton defeated Fandango to kick off the night on Raw. I was very impressed with how good Fandango was tonight. He looked very aggressive and was given plenty of opportunities to get his offense in. Orton is now extremely relevant and really needs to come off dominant. This match went back and forth and Orton tweaked a little of his offense. He hit his patented DDT from the top rope, not the middle rope. Something little like that is what is needed from Orton over the course of him holding the briefcase. I find it hilarious that Orton was a guy less than a week ago that the casual fan loved but the "marks" could care less about. Now, he is always going to be important to watch.
Grade: B+
The Shield Attacks Mark Henry. This was interesting because I do not think many people saw this coming. After Henry lost last night, the question was where does he go from here? Henry gets attacked by the three men. My biggest problem is that Henry is best suited as a heel. He is such a great heel who can garner so much heat from any crowd. His intelligence and way of speaking as a bad guy is vastly underrated. It looks like Henry will try and fend off The Shield. Does this mean he needs to find two more guys? Isn't this repetitive?
Grade: C+
Alberto Del Rio defeated Dolph Ziggler in another excellent match. Last night was another example of why the wrestling styles of Ziggler and Del Rio work so well together. Both guys hit their respected moves, but the story was what happened at the end. AJ Lee came out (After being broken up with) and distracted Ziggler by ringing the bell. Del Rio hit a kick to Ziggler's head and picked up the win. Big E Langston came out and hit his finisher on Ziggler. THIS IS TOO SOON. I understand that they want Big E and Ziggler to feud, with AJ in the middle, but it seems too soon and too rushed. Langston is not ready, as an overall character, for a singles match at Summerslam. It also begs the question as to why will Del Rio defend the championship against at Summerslam?
Grade: B+
The Wyatt Family Attacks R-Truth. Many people will complain about Wyatt's attacking a bum like Truth. I felt the same way at first, but the promo that was cut made it so much better. Bray is such a natural on the microphone and is so clever. His voice is superb, his laugh is demonic, and the way he is trying to get over is completely different than anything WWE has. They are being booked much different than The Shield. Yes, they both have 3 guys and are attacking people, but I feel like the Wyatt's have more of a grand plan. They talk about Kane, which tells me they are going to try and bring him into the cult. If anything, this is only going to make the next few weeks extremely interesting for both parties. I expect Kane back in a week or two.
Grade: A-
