WWE Raw – May 27, 2019 (Review)

The Best of Raw

The Best in the World Strikes Again

Shane McMahon stood in the ring alongside his hired goon, Drew McIntyre, and proceeded to run down Roman Reigns’ entire family lineage. His open challenge was then answered by a man I was lead to believe was Roman Reigns’ cousin. I think his name was Lance Anoa’i.

Before the match even started however, Drew stepped in to absolutely maul this poor jobber, while Shane rather amusingly pretended to call off his attack dog. I’m still disheartened to see McIntyre in this henchman role, but I can’t say this wasn’t effective. Drew looked like a monster, and Shane got to pick up an easy win without us all being asked to entertain the fantasy that he’s a great wrestler.

Following the match, Roman Reigns ran down to save his family member from further harm. I’m not sure where he was when McIntyre was demolishing him before the bell rang. But regardless, this was a good angle.

The Usos Memorial Day Block Party

The Usos hosted a party in a controlled environment outside of the arena. This had nothing to do with anything happening on Raw (and perhaps that’s why I rather enjoyed it). They drank, they played games, Titus O’Neill manned the grill. Even R-Truth stopped by for some more 24/7 Championship zaniness. (Estimated time before they forget about that belt: T-minus two weeks.)

😂😂😂😂 @WWEUsos #RAW pic.twitter.com/GzXb6yMTSQ

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 28, 2019

While this wasn’t quite in the same league as the Festival of Friendship, it was nevertheless a welcome change of pace from the rest of Raw.

Ricochet and Cesaro

Ricochet and Cesaro had a predictably awesome match, filled with incredible athleticism and cracking counters. This was a quick seven-minute, high octane encounter that ended when Ricochet performed a handspring over the ropes into a hurricanrana for the pin.

Can this match NEVER END, please???? @WWECesaro @KingRicochet #RAW pic.twitter.com/81pxhrs3Ef

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) May 28, 2019

It’s perhaps somewhat of a shame that Cesaro would lose so soon after his repackaging, but Ricochet was also desperately in need of a win here. So I’ll take it.

Yowie Wowie

Bray Wyatt just continues to highlight Raw with his unsettling new character. This week he revealed his alter-ego to be ‘The Fiend’, here to protect us from the cruel, unforgiving world. The more we delve into this bifurcated character, the more interested I become.

Another revelation – although this one not entirely unexpected – came in the form of Abby the Witch. Abby seems to once again be a manifestation of Bray’s… dead? imaginary?… sister. On this edition of Firefly Fun House, the Witch pondered why Bray couldn’t just “let her rest”, lamenting how tired she was of “this limbo”. Which Bray artfully transitioned into a game of, well, limbo.

This was captivating, unsettling and excellent.

‘The Architect’ vs ‘The Critic’

Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn put on a pretty good main event. Despite Zayn’s abysmal booking of late, he remains a quality presence on Raw. Of course, given the larger context, Sami once again picked up the loss here. But this match as all about the journey and not the destination.

Unfortunately though, the journey had one notable drawback. When attempting a tope suicida, Seth once again blew out his surgically-repaired knee. Again. AGAIN!

That knee continues to put @WWERollins in a world of hurt tonight. 😰 #RAW pic.twitter.com/00526Frtt7

— WWE (@WWE) May 28, 2019

This is an angle that seems to re-emerge whenever WWE feels the need to position the Universal Champion as a vulnerable, gutsy underdog. Quite frankly though, I’m tired of seeing this same recipe play out. The law of diminishing returns applies, meaning that every time Seth works the knee injury, I get a little less invested.

This criticism notwithstanding, the match itself was very good overall.

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