WWE Monday Night Raw results, observations (07/27/15): Broken nose can't stop John Cena
The WWE's hot streak of quality episodes of Monday Night Raw came to a mostly uneventful end this week.
Raw wasn't really a bad show this week. I've definitely seen worse. But when I looked back at the show, it was harder than usual to find anything of consequence.
Sure, there were some good matches and John Cena's nose was pushed to the side of his face, but other than that, not a whole lot happened.
It was just another week in the WWE Universe, as the company is slowly building its way to a now four-hour SummerSlam.
Because of the lack activity on this show, I'm not going to have a ton of observations this week. But if you're interested in my thoughts on the situation involving Hulk Hogan, I address them here.
With that said, let's run through the full match results from the program, held at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City:
- Big Show def. Dean Ambrose via count-out
- Neville def. Fandango
- Sasha Banks def. Paige
- Lucha Dragons def. Los Matadores
- Becky Lynch & Charlotte def. Nikki Bella vs. Alicia Fox
- Randy Orton def. Kevin Owens via disqualification
- WWE United States championship – John Cena def. Seth Rollins
Now, here are my full observations:
John Cena is double tough
I know that John Bradshaw Layfield sort of said this to the point of nausea at the end of the show, but Cena really is a tough, hard-working son of a…
If you hadn't seen the gruesome photos yet, Cena took a knee from Seth Rollins right to the face and it apparently put him in a bad spot. Not long after, he was bleeding all over the place.
At first it looked as if Cena might have hurt his mouth in some way, which happens from time to time, but a closeup of his face revealed something much worse — his nose was broken and the bridge of it was pushed so far to the side it looked as if someone had put a boomerang on his face.
It was gruesome, it was ugly, and it was awesome. Instead of letting it affect the rest of the match, Cena shook it off and acted as if his nose was perfectly fine, although it was clearly broken.
I think most wrestlers would have finished the match, as they have that mentality ingrained in their minds anyway, but it doesn't make Cena any less tough for doing so Monday night.
Is he the first wrestler to break a bone during a match? Heck no, and he unfortunately won't be the last. But for one night, it reminded people who don't regularly watch wrestling that these guys are taking real risks with their bodies every time they step into the ring.
The world champion taps out
Lost and almost forgotten in all of the hysteria of Cena's broken nose was the fact that he forced Rollins, the WWE World Heavyweight champion, to submit to retain the United States championship.
What?
Huh?
I understand that this was only a United States title match and Rollins could potentially use the out that he was merely conserving himself. After all, it was only the United States title.
But since when is it good to have your top champion tap out under any circumstances that don't involve him losing the title?
I know that the WWE could have gotten out of that match without having either guy lose. The company books matches of no consequence with non-finishes weekly, but it gives this one a clean finish?
Champions shouldn't be losing regularly anyway, but to have him tap out like a chump simply doesn't make any sense. And I guess they wonder why no one but Cena, Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker is over.
It's because no one is on the same level with them. As Meek Mill once said, it's levels to this, and no one is remotely close to Cena's, Lesnar's or Undertaker's level.
It's because you don't see them losing for no reason at all. When they lose, it means something. Rollins isn't quite the stature of Cena, Lesnar and Undertaker, but as the holder of the top title in the industry, he deserves to be somewhat protected.
You almost forget that Rollins, by virtue of holding that title, is supposed to be seen as the best in the world. Instead, he's just a guy holding a big gold belt.
I don't understand why Rollins, the man at the top of the industry, has to constantly prove himself to Triple H or to Randy Orton or to Cena. What does he need to prove to them? He's THE champion. He's already proven himself. At least he should have.
I guess WWE will try to make up for it at SummerSlam, but the damage has already been done. It was done months ago.
NXT divas continue to look strong
It was another strong showing for Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch.
Banks participated in a lengthy match against Paige that was probably the best of the night outside of Cena-Rollins, and Lynch forced Alicia Fox to tap out during a tag team match later in the program.
While the women are looking as if they belong, all of this "divas revolution" talk needs to stop.
It doesn't sound genuine, as there is really nothing revolutionary about what Charlotte, Banks and Lynch are doing.
They're merely taking the division by storm, which has been done in different incarnations plenty of times before.
So let's drop the social media buzzwords and let's just talk about the fact that these three women are dominating the veterans in the division and that one of them is going to dethrone Nikki Bella to become the next Divas champion.
By the way, I don't how much revolting you can do when you're following boss Stephanie McMahon's orders.
Wait a minute. Banks is the boss. There are too many bosses to keep track of.
Dean Ambrose-Big Show finish accomplished nothing
As I mentioned earlier, WWE books weird finishes to matches that have no consequence at all. This is a prime example of what I was referring to:
For whatever reason, WWE had Big Show defeat Ambrose by count-out. A giant defeating a man half his size by count-out. Outside of keeping Ambrose from getting pinned, this match accomplished a lot of nothing.
Ambrose has things on his plate with the Wyatt Family, and Big Show is still tied up with The Miz, so the pair were essentially tasked with filling considerable match time on the show.
That was all.