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WWE Raw results (09/01/14): Seven observations from this week's episode

This week's episode of WWE Raw wasn't very eventful, but it did happen. That much is for certain.

While there were a few highlights, and I believe it was a step above last week's show, it was the second sort of dud in a row for WWE's flagship show.

Before we dive further into the happenings from the show, here are the full match results:

- Cesaro & The Miz def. Dolph Ziggler & Sheamus

- Naomi, Summer Rae & Layla vs. Eva Marie, Rosa Mendes & Cameron went to a no contest

- Big Show & Mark Henry def. The Wyatt Family via disqualification

- Jack Swagger def. Curtis Axel

- Adam Rose def. Titus O'Neil

- Rusev def. Zack Ryder

- Goldust def. Jimmy Uso

- John Cena, Chris Jericho & Roman Reigns def. Seth Rollins, Randy Orton & Kane

Now, let's dig deeper into what happened at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa:

John Cena can't be stopped

At least that's the way it looked Monday night, as he tore threw everything in his path during the six-man tag main event.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have qualms with Cena taking a more aggressive turn with his persona.

I think it is necessary in order for him to be taken remotely serious against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions.

However, I do have two main gripes with it.

Firstly, I still maintain that The Wyatt Family shouldn't have been the target of his the beatings his was dishing out last week. Even more than a week later, I'm still scratching my head over that decision.

My second gripe is more with the aesthetics of Cena, which remain unchanged.

If Cena is truly becoming more of the aggressor and is taking on a bit of a more serious tone, his attire should reflect that.

But yet he still comes out with his bright red and yellow shirt complete with arm- and wristbands.

I understand that the WWE is trying to sell merchandise, so let's say he keeps the t-shirt, but let's make it a darker one.

Let's also get rid of all of his accessories, including the hat.

Hey, let's even change up his entrance. Instead of him going through his routine of waving the towel, saluting the fans, pointing at the camera and sprinting to the ring, let's have him sternly walk to the ring with a purpose.

No hat or shirt toss, just straight up business.

Growing up Bella was pretty rough

When I say rough, I mean rough as in for the audience to endure throughout the night.

The WWE played segments throughout the night titled "Growing Up Bella," which pretty much featured Nikki Bella further bashing her sister Brie Bella.

After Stephanie McMahon handed Nikki Bella a shot at the WWE Divas Championship, which AJ Lee and Paige logically took issue with, Brie Bella offered her sister a simple solution to their squabble.

The solution was that Nikki Bella would forgive her sister, but only if she quit.

What ensued was Brie Bella not doing a very good job making it seem like she was debating the decision and Nikki Bella yelling out of nowhere into the microphone for her sister to quit.

I'm not sure how much more I can take of this. If a person that doesn't normally watch wrestling suddenly stumbled upon this segment or any other that has involved The Bella Twins lately, they would cringe and quickly change the channel.

For once, I'm not sure that I can blame the writing. I can blame the fact that they are overly-scripted, but the lines they are given simply aren't being delivered properly. They're just not.

The Bella Twins are two very attractive women, who seem like perfectly nice human beings. It takes a certain breed of person to make a name for yourself in the WWE, but they are downright horrible actors.

But that's the problem. They're acting. They shouldn't have to act. They should feel the words they're saying. It should feel real to them.

But you can tell that it's taking a lot for Nikki Bella to pretend that she hates her twin sister. You can also tell that's it taking a lot for Brie Bella to pretend that she's all broken up about it. None of it is coming off as authentic.

The emotion is there, but it's simply not connecting.

Rhodes brothers make for some good heels

After being lukewarm on the Stardust and Goldust tandem for weeks, I've finally come around to liking them since their heel turn last week.

I just like the entire presentation of them being bizarre and smiling, but instantly flipping a switch into a pair of menacing bad guys.

That was on full display when they attacked The Usos Monday. Stardust was going around all smiling after beating up The Usos, grabbed a chair and then the smile quickly left his face before smashing that chair across one of The Usos' knee.

It was great. Stardust (Cody Rhodes) has always reminded me of the Riddler when the character was played by Jim Carrey, but without the menacing feel to it.

Now that they're heels, he now has that feel and I think it's awesome.

The Miz is making this new persona work

I absolutely love the way the WWE is embellishing the character of The Miz.

It's one thing to have him look like and say that he's a movie star. It's a completely different thing to have him sit in a director's chair during the match to get makeup and even have a stunt double jump in the ring for him.

Not only is it hilarious, it makes sense and it's great character building, which is something that has been severely lacking in the WWE for years now.

Having Damien Sandow be his stunt double makes it even better because he looks nothing like The Miz, but yet expects everyone to believe he does.

I almost fell out of my chair laughing when Sandow burst out of his suit and yelled, "Action!" before trying to jump into the match.

Having Sandow gives The Miz something a lot of heels lack today: heat. I can't wait to see how The Miz utilizes Sandow to help him cheat his way to victories.

Bo Dallas looks to be back on track

After a couple of weeks in the background, Bo Dallas seems to be back in a featured role on Raw and is in a program with Jack Swagger.

After Swagger's match Monday, Dallas brought out three people that all lost something due to Swagger's loss to Rusev at SummerSlam. One guy is even going to be deported back to his home country of Italy because of the loss.

I thought the segment itself was pretty funny and thought Dallas was good once again on the microphone.

I've been a fan of Dallas since he moved up the roster not only because of the humor his character brings to the table, but the potential progression the character could have.

As of right now, his character is and should be embellished to the point that he becomes more delusional. Eventually, he may have to begin to shed that smile and become the true heel he really is.

There's no need to rush that progression because I'm still enjoying the character in its current state.

The Hall of Pain goes international

I don't expect Mark Henry to defeat Rusev any time soon, but I'm always a fan to see the Hall of Pain have a grand re-opening.

That's what's going to happen, according to Henry, who confronted Rusev Monday.

Henry told the undefeated Russian/Bulgarian that he was opening an international wing of the Hall of Pain and that Rusev was going to be the first inductee.

I think Henry could be a great opponent for Rusev. What Henry lacks in athleticism, he makes up for in knowledge.

The knowledge that Henry will bestow upon Rusev during their upcoming matches will take him a lot further in the WWE than an athletic opponent would.

Divas tag team match was awful

What was that? I mean really, what was that?

Oh, I know what it was. It was merely shameless promotion for Total Divas, which starting back up soon.

That's because every diva in the match is on the upcoming season. Besides learning about the upcoming season, we also received a pretty awful match.