Author's Note:
OK, OK, I know I'm supposed to be bringing you the next chapter (AND IT'S HAPPENING SOON, I PROMISE!) but I COULD NOT pass up the chance to talk about Payback, as well as this past episode of RAW:
My overall thoughts on WWE Payback... AJ WON! AJ WON! AJ WON! AJ WON! AJ WON! AJ WON! WOOOOOOOOOOO! *Ahem* ANYWAYS… This was a very very solid PPV, and made up for a very lackluster Extreme Rules from last month. Just about every match had some decent spots, got the crowd involved, and managed to tell a story, even the pre-show match!
Very nice to see Curtis Axel win the Intercontinental Championship on Father's Day, as if it was his own way of paying tribute to his Dad. Curt would be very proud of you, Joe.
AJ and Kaitlyn had a fairly decent match. Not quite as good as their bout on NXT a couple months back, but still OK. One of the finer women's matches in WWE that I've seen in quite awhile. Props to both gals on that. And yes, I marked out for AJ. A lot. I am so proud and so happy for her, for all her hard work and dedication, to finally accomplish the biggest goal in her career. Imagine how she's feeling right now. She's been waiting for this moment for 14 years, and now it's finally here. Congrats, AJ. You f'ing deserve it.
The Shield retained their gold. Thus, I'm happy.
ADR/Ziggler… Um, WOW. Probably the most dramatic match of the night. I legit felt bad for Ziggler. I won't overreact on the whole quick title reign thing, cause I think that Del Rio's actions throughout the coarse of the match lets me know this feud is far from over. On one hand, I could boo ADR and justifiably so for what he did, but on the other hand I couldn't blame him. He wanted to prove a point to Ziggler; he wanted some "Payback" of his own. Can't wait to see how this goes from here. Excellent double turn.
CM Punk made his triumphant return and along with Jericho, put on the match of the night IMO. The crowd was into it all throughout, and when you have two world-class competitors like Punk and Y2J, you're bound to get a barn-burner.
Cena/Ryback was….. pretty OK. Better than what they had at ER, in my view. Cena probably had the spot of the night with that hole cannonball jump on top the lumberjacks, and Ryback looked like a fucking beast with those steel steps. The finish was innovative as well, what with Cena putting Ryback THROUGH the ambulance. Have to think the Cena/Ryback is donezo for now.
My grade? A solid "A". Good job, WWE.
(Slight note concerning my second viewing of AJ/Kaitlyn: On my first viewing of the PPV, I thought AJ/Kaitlyn was the 3rd best match of the night, behind Punk/Jericho and ADR/Ziggler. And after viewing it again, I liked it even more! Great display of moves, great storytelling, the announcers actually PAID ATTENTION to what was going on, and a nice sequence of events to finish it off. If I could count on one hand on some of the best Divas matches in the past few years, this definitely would be one of them.)
Now as for RAW...
Alberto Del Rio cemented his heel turn, CM Punk made his RAW return to challenge ADR, which immediately lead to some disention between Punk and Heyman. Team Rhodes Scholars ACTUALLY got a win over Sheamus, only for Sheamus to act like a sore loser dickhead afterwards. Seriously, he may be the worst babyface in the company. Worse than Cena, even. I'm not joking.
The McMahons injected their inflated egos onto my TV screen once again, so I was annoyed.
Cesaro may ACTUALLY get some progress with his character, since he is now partnered up with Zeb Coulter.
Daniel Bryan looked like he wanted to choke a bitch when he was told he was unable to continue.
And Mark Henry... WOO! My God, Mark Henry! Someone give that man an Oscar! From his tears, to him bringing up his kids, to Cena class acts of kindness... and then WHAM! World's Strongest Slam outta nowhere! Looks like we're getting Cena/Henry at MITB, which will be VERY interesting to see.
Punk and ADR had a nice match, with Del Rio taking the cowardly way out of walking out of the match... ONLY FOR ZIGGLER TO RETURN AND GET HIS REVENGE! And if THAT wasn't enough, out comes BROCK. FUCKING. LESNAR. He picks up the mic, contemplates talking, and then basically says "Fuck it" and F5s the shit out of Punk! Wow, talk about an ending!
That made it official: It was the best RAW in MONTHS, ever since the night after WrestleMania. Su-Fucking-Perb. Looks like it's gonna be another hot summer in the WWE!
And of course, there's my girl AJ, having of all things a segment with Stephanie McMahon! Talk about "whoa!"
But I had some qualms about the segment, and it follows like this:
I'm sure AJ was marking out a little inside to have a chance to do an in-ring segment with one of her idols, even though Steph acted like a bit of a twat and not only tried to bury AJ, but also tried to bury Kait before she even said a damn thing.
Triple H has definitely rubbed off on her, that's for sure. (Psst, that was a joke. Kinda. ;))
But over time, I got less angry about it; it was just Steph putting her foot down as one of the authority figures of the company. Because then, a theory came to my head.
You know, by the way the other divas were standing behind Kaitlyn when she came out, makes me wonder if underneath it all, after the AJ/Kaitlyn feud boils over, is that Steph is gonna send them all at AJ, one by one, to either take her title, make her life hell, or both.
This will do either 2 things: get more heel heat for AJ as she keeps turning back and defeating every challenge in a smug manner.
OR…
It could garner enough sympathy for her to keep putting up with McMahon bullshit that it might actually turn her babyface again. I don't know, I'm just throwing out theories.
BTW, I'm sorry but I have to say this: Kaitlyn is a HORRIBLE actress, and not that good on the mic to boot. Hell, I think Eve acted better than her, and that's saying something.
Also, I think AJ has potential to be one of the top talkers based on her delivery, like what she did to Kaitlyn before Payback, but she needs more consistency. She sometimes enunciates too long, or either speaks too fast we can hardly catch up. And sometimes, she does both in one segment. If she finds that proper balance, she'll be one of the best mic workers in the company, IMO.
She can certainly handle her own, as evident with her actually going toe to toe with Steph on the mic.
OK, that just about covers it. I think. Oh, and one more thing: No Power Couple for Zigglee, suckas! lol
But I promise, the new chapter is ON. THE. WAY. Just hang out for me a little longer. Catch ya next time! :)
#AJIsDivasChampionAndItsAboutDamnTime
#PaybackWasGreat
#RAWwasevengreater
#PunkVsBrock