WWE RAW Report (June 16, 2014): Stardust debuts and everything is awesome again

Hello again, welcome to another edition of the RAW Report

This week, I am incredibly excited because we saw the debut of Stardust, a wrestler I never knew that I wanted to see, but is now going to be my favorite wrestler on the roster.

Plus, we also saw some pieces finally come together for the Money in the Bank PPV. Last week, everything was a mess and there wasn’t a clear direction for the entire product. This week, the WWE put everything back on the rails.

Let’s get to it.

The Authority addresses the WWE locker room. Photo credit: WWE.com

“John Cena won’t be in the battle royal to have a shot at the title, but we will still find a way to put him in the title match.”

Cena being involved in the Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title is about the most obvious thing in the world. So when HHH decided to announce that Cena wouldn’t be involved in the battle royal to fill the last spot in that match, I was legitimately happy and hopeful for something completely unexpected.

And then, HHH put Cena in a stretcher match with Kane to earn his way in.

Look, I understand all the reasons for putting Cena in a title match. It’s the most predictable thing ever because it makes sense. However, don’t have HHH go out there, say it won’t happen and give several good kayfabe reasons why only to give Cena a way to sneak back in to the title match.

All of those reasons HHH gave, by the way, made perfect sense. Cena went out and was an incredible jerk to The Authority, going as far as calling Stephanie a bitch, just because he wasn’t happy with how Bryan was being treated. He crossed the line and stuck his nose into Bryan’s business for no real reason other than he’s John Cena, so Hustle, Loyalty and No Logic, let’s do it.

Don’t go through dumb logic gymnastics just because it looks like a psuedo-swerve. It’s pointless and looks incredibly ridiculous, especially when we all know how it’s going to end at this point.

I will take one positive away from this segment, though, and that’s the fact that WWE is going to make sure we don’t forget about Daniel Bryan. The B+ player insult continued and helped goad the crowd into having an excuse to keep the “YES!” chant alive another week. Get well soon Bryan, you are missed and your employer certainly believes it as well.

Give Dean Ambrose the mic, he wants to pick a fight. Photo credit: WWE.com

When I ask for logic in WWE segments this is exactly what I mean.

These two segments were just spectacular, and it all started with the match between Ziggler and Rollins. The best two bumpers in WWE face off against each other achieving two things:

Ziggler gets to look great in front of his home crowd.
Rollins, who is getting the big heel push, also gets to look fantastic.

The match ended in a disqualification with Ambrose running in to get some revenge on Rollins. However, it is important to look at the timing of when he did so. Ambrose waited until Seth hit his finisher which allows the crowd to remember that Seth would have legitimately won this match. That helps build the rivalry he is having with his former Shield partners.

After all, he wouldn’t be much of a believable architect if he’s constantly losing.

Now, I’ve written before how babyfaces tend to look like heels with sneak attacks and attacks from behind. In this case though, Ambrose is clearly going for revenge, which can give a babyface some latitude; however, the more important part is that he stays out for the fight. He didn’t come out to make Rollins lose, but to beat the hell out of him.

Further, consider the character that Ambrose plays: an unhinged madman. Running in the middle of a match to go pick a fight? That’s completely within character and Ambrose is the more logical choice to shove into this action as Reigns is the cool calculating powerhouse that is jockeying for position for a vacant title so their other enemy, Evolution, can’t get a hold of it.

Everybody has their role in this segment, including Bad News Barrett, who was more than happy to be the hired gun. After all, who would love to spoil plans of Dean’s attempted revenge than him? Additionally, the guy has a kayfabe background as a bareknuckle fighter. That’s the perfect guy to go throw at someone looking for a fight.

A madman doesn’t need logical motivations and that makes all the sense in the world. Photo credit: WWE.com

The other thing I ask for: continuity.

And the second segment of Barrett v Ambrose had it in spades.

Rollins’ interference in this match fails and Dean manages to get the upper-hand on the entire situation. When he does, Ambrose doesn’t give a damn about the match in the ring and follows Rollins, getting counted out in the process. Sure, it’s another DQ-style Dusty Finish, but Ambrose wasn’t there for Barrett, he wanted Rollins in the first place.

And what does Ambrose do after he gets a piece of Rollins? He comes back after Barrett and blindsides him. Why did he do it? Who knows, but he immediately went to the outside of the ring after and starting talking to his own fist.

The guy is nuts and he’s pissed. He’s out there to fight and he doesn’t exactly give his actions a lot of thought (see: doing a suicide dive with a bad shoulder).

Yes, Dean’s lack of logic is actually the perfect logic.

Bonus: Man did Dean do a solid job of selling his shoulder injury. He had a couple of lapses, but it was one of the best injury sell jobs I’ve seen in a match in a long time. Little things like that make matches so much more enjoyable for me as it gives wrestlers reasons for why they do things in the ring.

Roman Reigns is the first person to treat Vickie Guerrero like a human in ages.

Vickie Guerrero is a fantastic character. The woman knows how to get heat like none other. However, just about everything she gets involved in is some stupid gag to demean her. Even worse, when babyfaces interact with her, they all immediately stoop to the lowest possible level (example).