John Cena vs. Bad News Barrett
John Cena and Barrett kick off WWE Raw. John Cena gets close to losing a handful of times, including after a great looking Winds of Change. Barrett is able to hit a Bullhamer, completely knocking Cena out. John Cena counters with a springboard and then an AA for the win. After the match, Lana comes out and invokes the rematch clause as Rusev attacks the champion. They invoke the rematch and it is a Russian Chain Match.
So, the difference between a Russian Chain Match and a regular Chain Match is… Come on, WWE! This is a really good feud and could be even better if the following happens.
LAST…MAN…STANDING. I book it as both men cannot make the 10 count and Cena wins via draw. The crowd hates it, but it gives these guys another month to feud. What will happen is that John Cena hits him in the face and knocks him out, which we should believe is still a tough loss and one that is credible to not completely bury Rusev. Cena and Barrett work very well together, both strong and agile in their skill set. Barrett looks to be in the best shape of his career. I hope they capitalize on that and not continue to use him as a pawn to main event storylines.
Roman Reigns vs. Big Show
Roman Reigns comes out and talks to Booker T and the WWE Universe. He breaks down his match with Brock Lesnar and talks about making him bleed. Big Show cuts him off and they begin to go back and forth about Big Show needing to retire and Roman Reigns needing to watch his back.
Roman gets attacked on the stage by Show, as he is thrown into the town car on the stage and then chokeslammed on the top. Big Show stands tall.
We all know how I feel about Big Show. The guy is like a well done steak. He is dry, bland and just overdone time and time again. We need fresh and we need something new for Roman Reigns, not something that has happened on Raw main events since December. Even though the segment was productive, there is not much creativity or intrigue to this feud.