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WWE Raw Hits and Misses: Planting Seed For Hogan’s Return

By Glenn Moore

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Coming off an excellent Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, WWE Raw came up big for the third week in a row.

While many were excited about the ending of Hell in a Cell Sunday night, I was more excited about the follow up on WWE Raw Monday Night. The finish to Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, with interference from Bray Wyatt, left me counting down the hours to Raw to see what would happen next.

Raw hasn’t been exciting for the past few months, with storylines not progressing and pay-per-views thrown together with little build up. But for the last three weeks, Raw has improved and added a “Attitude Era” feel to the show.

The Randy Orton vs. Rollins era officially began to start off Raw. Trouble in The Authority as Orton is upset being second-fiddle to Rollins will lead to a multi-month feud that should end in a WrestleMania match. It will be a fun ride.

Hulk Hogan made an appearance for another promo about breast cancer awareness. Which is great, but I’m not getting excited about Hogan’s appearances anymore. He’s been promoting the WWE Network too, but until they book Hogan in a major storyline, I’m not going to excited.

Here’s some hits and misses from last night’s WWE Raw:

Hits

Hulk Hogan return to San Antonio for Raw. (WWE.com)

Teasing Hulk Hogan’s return to the ring?

While I mentioned before that Hogan’s Raw appearances haven’t been anything meaningful towards storylines, last night’s appearance could lead into something more. Or I could just be imagining and hoping for a Hogan ring return.

Earlier in the night, Triple H announced at Survivor Series that it will be Team Authority vs. Team Cena. While Team Authority will have predictable members, Team Cena is different.

Hogan put over Cena as “his champion”. Earlier in the night, Triple H took a shot, possibly at Hogan, about someone who is past their prime making a return to the ring. While it was a general statement, you put two and two together, you might see Hogan become a member of Team Cena at Survivor Series.

It would be the perfect return for Hogan. He would be a member of a five-man team and wouldn’t have to wrestle much to have a big impact. Making the hot tag, do his typical moves and the crowd leaves happy. Plus, the buildup would be great and would push fans to buy the WWE Network. Win-win for WWE.

Randy Orton shows emotion

Orton has been bland for months. He’s been one of The Authority’s henchman and hasn’t been able to express any emotion in segments. That all changed Monday night.

The Viper stormed the ring after Rollins bragged about winning his Hell in a Cell, while mentioning Orton lost his. The result was Orton delivering a RKO to Rollins, which was sold beautifully. This is just the start of an epic feud, which should include a lot of RKOs out of nowhere.

Are they starting the feud too soon? Maybe. This match would be nice at WrestleMania. But teasing the possible feud and stretching out the buildup should be aided by Triple H trying to keep the peace. Maybe a gimmick match at TLC in December would be ideal, and save a clean finish for ‘Mania.

In the end, it was nice to see Orton get extra mic time and show emotion. While he’s better as a heel, turning him into a face could be the best thing for Orton right now. Just don’t expect to see Orton team up with Cena anytime soon.

Ryback returns

Feed. Me. More.

Ryback made his return to the WWE, accepting Bo Dallas’ open challenge. And the best part of the match was how over Ryback was with the crowd.

It was a short match, but Ryback hit all his old “crowd-favorite” spots. They ate it up.

While Ryback was used in a tag team with Curtis Axel, it will be interesting to see what happens in the future. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ryback is used in the Survivor Series main event, participating on Team Cena.

Making Ryback a legit face gives one more big guy for the WWE to use. Maybe in a feud with Rusev.

Misses

Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose on Raw. (WWE.com)

Bray Wyatt via satellite

We saw the return of Bray Wyatt Sunday night at Hell in a Cell. Social media blew up with reaction and it was the main reason why I was excited to watch Raw. Wyatt delivers some epic promos, but the fact that this one was taped, was a downer.

Ambrose vs. Wyatt will happen and will be a multi-match program. Seeing the follow-up to Hell in a Cell was disappointing. But I get it.

Wyatt’s promos are best when taped. They don’t have the same feel or are as good as they are live. But they could have added some action to the live show. Taking out Ambrose during the show, but not showing the beating, would have worked. Leaving the storyline on a hook and unexpected beating would add to Wyatt’s mysterious presence.

Mark Henry turns on Big Show

We saw this coming.

After Mark Henry came down to the ring Sunday night during Big Show’s match, which saw Rusev get the victory, you knew Henry would turn on Big Show.

Henry has turned so many times in the last few years, it’s becoming less than effective each time. Same with Big Show.

Hopefully this is just a Survivor Series match and both can move on. It’s been hard to give these guys any legitimate feuds with anybody.

John Cena denies invite to join The Authority

If I had to bet, I would say Cena never turns heel. There’s too much invested by the WWE with Make a Wish, merchandise and lack of other top faces to have Cena turn.

While it’s nice to have it teased by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H officially extending an invitation for Cena to join them in The Authority, it’s foolish to think it would actually happen.

But who will join Team Cena? Dolph Ziggler? Hogan? Ryback? If it would happen, who would Cena turn on to make the Cena heel turn worth remembering? My guess would be Hogan.

I don’t see it happening, but the invite by The Authority was strong and drove the point home. Plus, Triple H’s little jab (possibility at Hogan) at old wrestlers coming back to the ring could lead to a Hogan appearance in the ring.

Moore Thoughts: Hopefully the Bella Twins’ feud and angle picks up in the next month…how epic is Goldust’s run in the WWE…they should have a camera on Mizdow at all times…ending Raw with an all-out brawl was a nice touch…imagine if Orton came in at the end to RKO everyone?

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