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My Thoughts on RAW (5/9/16): The Extreme Booty

  • We kick off RAW with The Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho. Jericho says Dean Ambrose was supposed to be his guest tonight, but he's injured after the deadly potted plant shot last week. He lifts up a sheet covering a stool with Mitch the potted plant on it. Jericho says that Ambrose underestimated him, and now he's been shattered, waiting for someone to put him back together. Jericho puts the crowd on blast for caring more about Mitch the plant over Ambrose. Chris Jericho has no time for your silly memes! Jericho says Mitch is better than Ambrose, and he's a loser like all the fans. Jericho says he's a legend, and that brings out...Big Cass? Sure, why not! Cass says that if Jericho is a gift, he would return it to the store. He says the new era is not a cry for attention, it's a warning, and that he has arrived. He says Jericho is in his way, and that if Jericho doesn't get out of his way, he'll run through him. Jericho tells him to visit Amore in the hospital. Some dicks in the crowd start chanting "Where is Enzo" before Cass challenges Jericho to a fight. Jericho tries to say he's the best in the world at what he does, but Cass cuts him off. Jericho takes his jacket off, but walks away with it over his shoulder. Cass says that there's only one word to describe Jericho, and he spells it out for him; S-A-W-F-T SAWFT. Jericho runs back, but Cass gives him a big boot off the apron, making Jericho retreat. That was great, great to see Cass isn't being forgotten about without Enzo.
  • Backstage, Jericho walks up to Stephanie McMahon. He gives out about the new era, Big Cass, and Shane, and says he and Stephanie should stop the new era together. Stephanie says she thinks Shane is doing the right thing, and books the main event; Chris Jericho vs Big Cass. So much for that McMahon family tension. Actually, I'm not sure if no McMahon family tension is a good or bad thing.
  • Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin-OK, this has gone on long enough, BARON CORBIN'S NEW ATTIRE IS AWFUL! Seriously, who thought poop brown would be a good choice for ring attire, especially a big threatening dude like Corbin. Match kicks off brawling, Corbin rolling to the outside and catching Ziggler with a knee. Ziggler dodges a big boot and Corbin lands crotch first on the barricade, allowing Ziggler to dropkick him into the stands before the commercial break. We come back with Corbin in control after a straight punch. Ziggler fights out and runs wild with clotheslines, a corner splash, and a neckbreaker before an elbow drop for a two count. Corbin avoids the Famouser and clubs Ziggler in the back of the head. Ziggler feigns being knocked out, allowing him to hit the Famouser for another two count. Ziggler goes for the Zig Zag, but Corbin blocks it and follows it up with a Deep Six for a two count. Ziggler almost gets another roll up win and hits a corner splash, but Corbin tosses Ziggler into the ring post and hits an End of Days for the win. Fine match, nothing special.
  • Backstage, Charlotte and Ric Flair confront Shane McMahon. Charlotte says that she doesn't think it's fair the Ric is banned from ringside at Extreme Rules, but Shane is having none of it, and adds that Ric is banned from ringside tonight as well.
  • Also backstage, JoJo interviews the Not Bullet Club, actually getting booed. Styles says he could have beaten down Reigns with a chair but chose not too, and won't hesitate to attack Reigns next time.
  • Fandango vs R-Truth-R-Truth got his tips frosted. That's all. Match kicks off with a back and forth exchange between the two before Truth hits a hip toss. Fandango throws Truth over the top rope and takes control back in the ring. Fandango and Goldust dance, Brezze distracts the referee, and Truth hits the Lil Jimmy for the win. Again, just a comedy match like last week.
  • Backstage, the McMahons, Kevin Owens, Cesaro, and The Miz argue over the Intercontinental Championship. Stephanie books a Triple Threat for Extreme Rules, but Sami Zayn barges in and says he should be in the match because that's what the fans want. Shane says he has to prove it, and Zayn suggests having a match with Miz. Stephanie books it and excuses everyone.
  • Charlotte vs Paige with Natalya on commentary-Match kicks off with a back and forth exchange before the two go on the ring apron and Paige hits a superkick, sending Charlotte to the floor. The two brawl at ringside while nonsense ensues on commentary. Charlotte takes control back in the ring, hitting a big boot for a two count. Paige almost gets the flash roll up and runs wild with kicks before hitting a big knee for a two count. Paige must have been auditioning to be a Young Buck tonight because she hit like 6 superkicks in this match. Paige stops Charlotte from hitting a moonsault and superplexes Charlotte for a two count. The two exchange roll ups before Paige hits another kick and tries to lock in the PTO, but Charlotte gets the ropes. Charlotte tries to roll up Paige with her feet on the ropes, but Natalya alerts the ref. Paige hits a fallaway slam, which I thought the crowd was popping for (which was incredibly odd) but it was because Ric Flair came down to ringside. This brings out Shane and some refs to get Flair to the back. This allows Paige to hit a kick to the back and roll up Charlotte for the win. Overbooked nonsense.
  • Sami Zayn vs The Miz-Match kicks off with a quick roll up by Zayn for a two count. The two go back and forth for a long time before Zayn tosses Miz from the ring with headscissors. Zayn goes for a tope, but Maryse pulls Miz out of the way. Miz pulls Zayn out of the ring and Irish whips him into the barricade, but Zayn jumps up and hits a moonsault. Zayn tosses Miz into the barricade multiple times before Maryse yells at him before the commercial break. We come back with Zayn chopping Miz and throwing him around the ring. The crowd is loving Zayn as he goes for ten corner punches, but Miz pushes him off and tosses him over the top rope and Zayn hits his head of the stairs. Zayn barely beats the ten count and quickly eats a boot from the Miz. Miz hits his corner clothesline and a double axe handle and calls for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Zayn fights out, only to get hit with a DDT for a two count. Miz goes for the Figure Four, but Zayn pushes out and hits a Michinoku Driver for a two count. Zayn goes to the tope, but Miz dodges and dropkicks Zayn's knee, setting up the figure four. God, I forgot how bad Miz's figure four looks. Sami goes for a sunset flip roll up, but Miz sits down on it (after an ALOHA ARN!)

and grabs the ropes, but the ref catches him before the three count. After arguing with the ref, Miz gets caught by Zayn with a exploder suplex into the corner. Zayn follows it up with a Helluva Kick for the win, adding him to the match at Extreme Rules. Good match
  • Backstage, Renee Young interviews Becky Lynch. Becky says Emma intentionally poked her in the eye last week, which brings Emma into the shot. Emma calls her a failure. Suddenly, Becky gets blindsided...BY DANA BROOKE! Dana pats her on the head to end the segment. YES! HEAD PAT CITY BITCH!
  • We get a vignette for Darren Young's new gimmick. He says he looked for a life coach, and that is Bob Backlund. Backlund agrees to be his life coach, and says they're gonna "Make Darren Young Great Again"
  • We get one of the most shameless product placements in WWE history. They say they're doing a thing for UpUpDownDown, WWE's gaming channel, with Dolph Ziggler as a special guest. He orders Pizza Hut, they talk about how great the pizza is, and that's the end of the segment. Actually, here's a quick summary of the segment:

Just dye Mike Meyer's hair blonde and BOOM, that's the segment. I could be watching Wayne's World right now instead of this.
  • Backstage, Zack Ryder is talking with Shane McMahon. He says he doesn't want to just sit around backstage. Incomes Kevin Owens, who says Shane handed Sami Zayn a title shot. Owens and Ryder argue that they both deserve a title shot, and Shane books them in a match, where if Ryder wins, he takes Owens' spot in the Extreme Rules match.
  • Also backstage, Roman Reigns and the Usos are talking over deafening boos when Tom Phillips wonders in. They say they are better than The Club (I guess that's what they're called now) because they are family, and Reigns says they will sweep the Club 3-0
  • Sin Cara vs Rusev-For the first time in a long time, Lana actually does Rusev's ring introduction. Rusev takes the fight to Sin Cara early on, hitting two big gutwrench suplexes and locks in a bearhug while trash talking Kalisto. Rusev is great. Sin Cara is able to fight back, hitting a tornado DDT, a springboard headbutt, a springboard moonsault, and a suicide dive. He goes for a senton bomb, but Rusev dodges and hits a superkick. He calls for the Accolade, but Kalisto distracts him by hoping up on the apron. Lana hops up on the apron too, which allows Kalisto to kick Rusev in the face, allowing Sin Cara to get the roll up win. Ummm...aren't you a face. He blatantly cheated! Hilariously, after the match, Rusev chucks the steel stairs at the Lucha Dragons.
  • Puerto Rico...you know what it means. Oh wait, something new happened! Turns out "The Shining Stars" are coming next week to RAW. Gee...I can't wait!
  • The Club vs Roman Reigns & The Usos in an Elimination Tag Match-Match kicks off with Anderson and Jey Uso. Anderson beats down Jey before a dropkick gives control to the Family. Anderson is able to regain control after some triple team work, and the Club works over Jimmy Uso until Anderson misses a knee drop and Jimmy makes the tag. Jey runs wild on Anderson, hitting a Samoan drop. After several reversals, Gallows hits Jey Uso with a straight right, allowing Anderson to roll up Jey for the elimination. Reigns and Gallows go at it next, allowing Reigns to run wild on the Club. Reigns and Jimmy Uso beat down Gallows, with Jimmy hitting the corner hip attack, but eats a big boot afterwards. Anderson tags in and gets rolled up for an elimination, making it two on two before the commercial break. During the commercial, Styles eliminated Jimmy Uso with a Phenomenal Forearm. Reigns beats down Gallows, eliminating him with a Superman Punch. Styles immediately pounces on Reigns, knocking Reigns out of the ring and hitting a Phenomenal Forearm to the outside. Styles tears apart the announce table, but Reigns gets up and tosses Styles over the table. Reigns tries to powerbomb Styles through the table again, but Anderson runs down and hits him with a chair to cause a DQ. The Usos run down and get beat down by Gallows & Anderson, who then each get speared by Reigns. Styles runs in and hits a Pele Kick and goes for a Styles Clash, but Reigns dumps him onto the apron. After a stare down, Reigns give Styles the chair, but Styles kicks it back to Reigns. Reigns picks it up and dodges a Phenomenal Forearm, but Styles slides out of the ring. Great, now we are back to the bullsh*t "not a bad guy, definitely not a good guy" where Reigns is clearly booked as a good guy. He gets attacked from behind and overcomes the odds like a babyface. And the booking of Gallows & Anderson has been absolutely pitiful. Some of the worst I've ever seen.
  • Zack Ryder vs Kevin Owens-Match kicks off with a headlock by the HEADLOCK MASTER! Owens batters Ryder before tossing him from the ring. He goes for the apron powerbomb, but Ryder reverses it and rolls Owens back into the ring. Ryder hits a missile dropkick for a two count, and Owens regains control. Ryder almost wins with a jacknife cover, but Owens kicks out. Ryder dodges a cannonball and goes for the Broski Boot, but Owens rolls out of the ring. After brawling at ringside for a bit, Ryder rolls Owens back into the ring and hits the El-Bro Drop for a two count. Ryder calls for the Rough Ryder, but Owens reverses it, hits a superkick, and hits a Pop Up Powerbomb for the win. Quick but exciting match, never slowed down.
  • Backstage, Renee Young interviews Big Cass about his main event match tonight. Cass says it's the biggest match of his career and he's doing it for Enzo.
  • Outcomes the New Day. The joke about The Vaudevillians name, and they say they will use the power of the "extreme booty." They yell "ALL HAIL THE BOOTY!" while holding up the Booty-O, and Xavier sings to it. Big E makes an incredible race joke, saying that the era the Vaudevillians represent "wasn't kind to people like them...you know...smartphone users!" Yeah...smartphone users (wink wink).
  • The New Day vs The Dudley Boyz-After starting during commercial, Bubba Ray beats down Kofi before Kofi makes the tag to Big E. Big E hits the big splash for a two count, and the New Day continues to work over Bubba before he fights out and makes the tag to D-Von. The two beat down Kofi before he tags out, and D-Von takes the Unicorn Stampede. While Woods is playing the trombone, the Vaudevillians run down and attack him. This allows D-Von to hit a lariat on Kofi for the win. The Vaudevillians hit the Whirling Dervish on Kofi to end the segment
  • Colin Cassady vs Chris Jeri-Actually, instead of that, the lights stay off during Jericho's entrance until he gets to the ring to reveal it's not Jericho...it's Ambrose! He ambushed Jericho on the stage and took his jacket. Ambrose destroys Jericho's light up Jericho, which makes Jericho run down to stop him. The two brawl until Jericho flees with his jacket. However, Cass stops him, Jericho slaps him, and Cass tosses him around ringside before throwing him back to Ambrose. Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Jericho and finishes destroying the jacket to end the segment. Now the feud has gone from "feuding over talk shows" to "feuding over a potted plant." Also, poor Big Cass. He didn't get his chance to have his main event match against Chris Jericho, which would have easily been the biggest match of his career.
  • Backstage, Stephanie and Shane joke around backstage. It meant nothing. Why did that end the show?
And that's the show. It was OK, but nothing special. Pretty average.

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