WWE Monday Night Raw results, observations (08/03/15): The night Neville almost became the man

From beginning to end, the most recent episode of Monday Night Raw was not all that great.

There were definitely some lulls during the show, which I probably should be accustomed to at this point given that we're three years into the three-hour era, but I guess I never will be.

However, there were some very high points of the show that rescued it from being a bad show and made into at least a passable one.

Before I delve any deeper into my analysis, here the full match results.

You can watch my thoughts on the Roddy Piper tribute in the video above and read my thoughts on his rebellious spirit HERE:

- WWE World Heavyweight championship – Seth Rollins def. Neville

- The Ascension & The New Day def. Los Matadores & Lucha Dragons

- Charlotte & Becky Lynch def. The Bella Twins

- Rusev def. Mark Henry

- King Barrett def. Zack Ryder

- Paige def. Naomi

- Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose & Randy Orton def. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper & Sheamus

With that out of the way, here my full observations from this week's episode of Monday Night Raw, which emanated from the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. where a lot of the WrestleMania festivities took place earlier this year:

Seth Rollins, Neville start the show off hot

I usually complain either here or on Twitter about how WWE starts off Raw in the same formulaic fashion week after week.

We've all seen it: The Authority comes out, cut a 20-minute promo that could have been easily cut in five minutes, thus giving many people no other choice than to change the channel before the show even really get started.

WWE did mostly the same thing this week, but instead of the entire Authority, it was just WWE World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins.

After another long, drawn-out promo from Rollins, he finally got to the crux of the issue, which was that he wanted to hold an open challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight title, just like United States champion John Cena, who missed Monday's show due to Rollins splattering his nose all over his face last week.

Rollins challenged anyone to come down, but under two conditions: The challenger had to be under six-feet tall and must weight less than 200 pounds.

Rollins' own stupidity thought the only person that fit that bill was El Torito, but it turned out Neville did as well.

What happened next was pretty darn good.

As expected, Rollins and Neville put on a show during the match, but the real money was made with two near falls that everyone believing for a second that the match was indeed over.

The one that stopped my heart the longest was after Neville hit the red arrow and attempted to pin Rollins for the victory.

Rollins' legs were dangling in the air and the referee's hand was about halfway down to counting three, which would have given Neville his first WWE World Heavyweight title, but at the last possible second, the referee noticed Rollins' leg hanging on the rope and stopped the count.

I'm not even sure me describing it will do it any justice, as you had to see this to believe it. All of the fans in San Jose lost their minds and I was right with them. I couldn't believe it. It was probably the best near fall I've ever seen and we've seen a ton in recent years.

Neville went for the red arrow again, but Rollins moved out of the way and hit him with the pedigree to narrowly retain his title.

WWE books nonsensical finishes on a weekly basis. It did so just last week with Cena forcing Rollins to tap out, but this finish made perfect sense.

Firstly, it protected Neville's finishing move as Rollins never kicked out of it. It just so happened his foot landed on the rope as he was being pinned, which would give the impression that if his foot wasn't on the rope, Neville would have won the match.

That only helps Neville in the long run.

Secondly, it gave Rollins a clean win that didn't involve shenanigans and interference for the first time in a long time. It gave him some credibility back after he had lost some over the last two or three months.

Oh, it also got some more heat on Rollins.

Great Miz TV segment with Cesaro, Kevin Owens

When Miz TV comes on, I usually divert my attention elsewhere. Nothing of consequence usually happens.

But this week was different as it helped shine up both Kevin Owens and Cesaro, who are engaging in a sure-to-be-entertaining mid-card feud.

We rarely see WWE invest this much time on Raw to a program that is slated solely for the mid-card. There was no John Cena or Randy Orton involved.

It was two guys that have never been the top champion, but possess more than enough talent to get there.

I thought all three men (Yes, The Miz, too) played their roles well.

This may not mean that much to some, but I liked the fact that Cesaro came out wearing a suit.

He actually stood out from the rest of the roster, who typically wear their T-shirt and wrestling gear during talking segments, which never made any sense to me.

I remember a time where guys would start the show in street clothes, but would be in their gear for the main event and that was during a two-hour program.

Having Cesaro come out in a suit actually differentiated him from everyone else and I think it can help him get even more over. It may do the same for others as well.

The sun is hot and Paul Heyman cuts another amazing promo

To say that Paul Heyman cut an amazing promo is almost like repeating yourself over and over again because we've said so many times over the past two years.

If someone were to rank the top 10 promos of 2015, I'm almost certain the list would consist of nothing but Heyman.

But just when you think you've seen every trick up Heyman's sleeve, he busts another unexpected one.

In the midst of cutting yet another spellbinding promo, Heyman talked about how Undertaker begged Vince McMahon for a rematch with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 and McMahon refused because he knew that Lesnar would hurt Undertaker.

He said that the Undertaker's attack on Lesnar at Battleground left WWE no other choice but to allow him to sanction a match against Lesnar knowing he's going to get hurt.

Heyman furthered his point by reading Undertaker his last rights — in a different language. Who does that? Heyman does that and it was awesome.

Stephen Amell confirmed for Raw next week

It was confirmed during Raw that, Stephen Amell, the star of the television show Arrow, will confront Stardust on the show next week.

It looks like the start of the super hero/super villain angle come to life will begin then.