WWE Raw Live Review & Photos | Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL | August 31, 2015

by S. T. Register • September 10, 2015

“Electrifying” is an adjective that has been used quite often throughout the years by announcers and wrestlers alike. Used to describe a particular performer, a move or the audience itself, it is has always meant to me what I believe to be a representation of everything there is about the live experience. Seeing these incredibly talented athletes put their bodies on the line for the fans who appreciate them for doing just that.

People who do not understand wrestling for what it truly is, miss out on some of the most rare forms of enjoyment. In most cases, when a fan goes to see their favorite sports team or athlete they are there to cheer them on, only to hope they come out the victor. In the world of wrestling, fans go not just to cheer on their favorite wrestlers, but to cheer against the wrestlers they love to hate. When a “heel” is really good at what they do, there is a special bond between them and the audience who boos them, that is not seen anywhere else.

What truly makes this love/hate relationship that much more electrifying is that when all is said and done, the crowd will clap and cheer for both athletes to show their respect and appreciation for the performance each just poured their heart into. On Monday night in Tampa, Florida at the Amalie Arena, fans of WWE from around the state came together to witness one of the most electrifying live broadcasts in history, Monday Night RAW.

It begins…

The crowd was ready. Everybody heard the news about how this was going to begin. Before the music even came on, the people were cheering for him to come out. He obliged. The crowd was the loudest I’ve heard since I had been to my first Monday Night Raw over a decade ago when the entrance music kicked in and Sting walked out. It was good to see him back.

The first match of the night was one of the more technical and entertaining matches with only one draw back that slowed things down a bit. Dolph Ziggler wrestled Rusev and both worked hard for the match. Rusev was good at getting the crowd to show their ‘Murican pride when the former powerlifter from Bulgaria grabbed his nations flag in the middle of the match and waving it around. Though this slowed up the match, the crowd made due for a good ole USA chant.

Here comes the drama…

After a fantastic and heart pumping exchange between the two wrestlers, Rusev went for the Accolade, Ziggler countered with a Zig-Zag. However, Summer Rae interfered by breaking up the pin, giving Ziggler the victory via disqualification. Lana wasn’t happy that her boyfriend’s match was interrupted, so she got in the ring and tackled Rae. The crowd went nuts. Everyone got their first taste of drama for the night.

Ziggler was interviewed by Renee Young after the match and retreats to his locker room for a shower, sans Lana, Rae is seen sneaking into said locker room. “ooo,” said the crowd. “Ooo.”

Number one contender match for the Diva’s Championship Belt.

Next up, the first of three lackluster matches that was meant to crown a number one contender for the Women’s belt, but came off more so of a time waster. It was time for the “Beat The Clock Challenge.” I knew from the moment I heard the name of the challenge I was worried, but I thought I would watch with an open mind.

Nikki Bella announces a fancy countdown clock in confidence, which will make her the longest reigning Divas Champion ever when it runs out, before the next match beings. This time for Becky Lynch vs Alicia Fox. The match only lasted a little over 3 minutes and focused on mostly arbitrary moves. The match ended with Lynch submitting Alicia. The crowd was excited enough to see Lynch win, but overall wasn’t very impressed.

Intercontinental Championship Match

Ryback is talking about getting ready to defend his Intercontinental Championship in a match with Big Show in an interview backstage. In the middle of it, Summer Rae runs by hysterically and the camera cuts to Dolph Ziggler who is in just a towel, confused, and then slams the door. “Ooo,” said the crowd.

Before the match, The Miz came out to sit at the announcer’s table. Surely he will stay there and not interfere, right? The match itself was good. But when you get two really big guys in the ring together, people act like they are getting to watch a couple of gladiators fight. Watching Big Show slap Ryback’s chest hurt everyone in the audience. On TV you can hear it hits pretty hard, but when you are there and you hear and see it and feel it, the hit makes you cringe.

It was easy to tell that people wanted to like Big Show more. However, Ryback was the clear favorite. The crowd chanted “Feed Me More! Feed Me More!” during what was almost the entire match. In the end after both contenders kicked out at moments where everyone thought they were done, The Miz distracted Big Show giving Ryback the chance he needed to hit the Shell Shock for the win. Overall, it was a solid match even with the basic and cliche interference.

The next Beat the Clock Challenge wasn’t too much different from the first and if anything, more disappointing. Brie Bella and Charlotte quickly got things going with the same arbitrary moves, but this time even faster. Charlotte is claimed the victor in under two minutes after she finishes Brie Bella with the Natural Selection.

Best Match of the night.

Now it was time for what could easily be considered the best (televised) match of the evening. Cesaro and Kevin Owens put on a fantastic show. Both played to the crowd and showed outstanding athleticism. Even though Owens played as if he was a heel by talking trash, the crowd undeniably loves him. He had one of the biggest chants of the night where the audiences was urging him,

Fight, Owen. Fight!”

This was also one of the closest matches. It was very hard to guess which way it was going to go. We did not get to see Cesaro swing Owens around. When Cesaro got Owens up on the turnbuckle, everybody wanted to see Cesaro pick him up and slam him. The crowd cheered heavily every time they thought Cesaro was going to pick him up. This was one of the times the whole crowd wasn’t cheering for Owens.

Even though Owens fought him off a countless number of times, Cesaro was finally able to wear him out enough to gutwrench duplex him off the ropes. Owens eventually got his revenge when Cesaro tried a Swing attempt, but Owens connected with a pop-up powerpomb for the win.

The jumbotron cuts to backstage with Dolph Ziggler talking to Lana backstage. He tries to explain “nothing happened” and that Summer Rae didn’t see him naked. Maybe she saw him naked … Okay, she saw him naked for like two seconds, but that’s it. Lana walks away sad and frustrated. “Awww,” I say. “Awww.”

The Wyatt Family

Now came the part that I was looking forward to the most throughout the night, The Wyatt Family. I am a big fan of this group of gigantic bearded powerhouses, but I also like Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. I don’t think anyone really believed the fight between Dean Ambrose and Braun Strowman was going to be much of a fight. It was definitely going to be one-sided. What everyone was waiting for, including me, was to see what will be different. Will Ambrose and Reigns figured out a way to at least cause some damage? More importantly, did they find their third man who was going to help even the score? *cough* Erik Rowan. *cough*

While Ambrose was getting his ass handed to him, Reigns was brought into the fight by a heavy push by Braun. We started to see a little bit of damage on Braun, but barely. The crowd waited in anticipation for a hero to come. Braun destroys both men and the rest of the Wyatt Family joins him in the ring. It was over. Nothing was different and there was no surprises. Much of the crowd had the same reaction I did, silent with disappointment. There was no change or movement in the storyline and we wanted more.

After a quick video segment of Rollins saying that he is going to remind Sting who he is, the third Beat the Clock Challenge began. Paige chases Sasha Banks around a little bit and the clock runs out. The End. Worst. Match. Ever.

More drama …

Another solid piece of drama backstage with Summer Rae describing how Dolph Ziggler apparently “came on to her” was shown to Lana. Summer says she ran away, but won’t forget what she saw. I honestly miss the days of Mark Henry and Mae Young. Now that’s quality entertainment.

The New Day came out, being hilarious as usual, followed by proper boos from the crowd. I like New Day a lot. Even though the Dudley Boyz will always be one of my favorite tag teams of all times, The New Day get me with their banter and preaching. Some of the best dialogue I have heard in a while was them coming out that night and talking about all of the “tables” that are important and have special meanings in all of our lives. Sure, I still wanted to see the Dudleys put one of them through the now bubble wrapped and last table in the building. Who didn’t?

The match was a blast to watch. “Get the table” chants were heard throughout the entire match as New Day kept it from coming into play. Devon got the beat down, and Bubba Ray finally got some revenge. It was one of the most exciting parts of the evening. The only problem was that after the Dudley Boyz won with the 3D on Kofi, he was rescued before being put through the table. The crowd and I were incredibly disappointed.

The Last Televised Match

Considering this was the last (televised) match of the night, spirits were getting low throughout the arena. Many people started to leave before our final segment.

The Finale

Rollins came out to call out Sting while boosting himself up, yet again, by trying to put his name and Triple H’s in the same sentence. Stephanie McMahon came out, expectedly, and tells Rollins that he let Sting get into his head. When Rollins makes yet another demand for Sting to come out, we were met with John Cena’s entrance music.

After Cena enters the ring, gives the whole “The Authority is just using you” speech, and it starts to get tiring. However, what made people pop their heads up was when Cena announced he wants to fight for US Title at Night of Champions since it was strictly said that “every title is on the line.” When Stephanie reluctantly says yes with Rollins’ dismay, the crowd went bananas. Cena walked back to the entrance and was met with Sting to end the televised portion of the event.

Encore

When Cena walked behind the entrance and the music was cut off, suddenly his music kicked back on and the bell rang. It was announced that the final match of the evening for the audience was to be Cena and Randy Orton versus Seth Rollins and Sheamus.

This was the kind of match we could only hope every match was like when we see a Raw or SmackDown. These men pulled off some amazing tag team moves and played to the crowd nicely. This was the moment I realized, even though I am not a Cena fan, I love how he interacts with the crowd during his matches. After Cena and Orton hit their finishers on both Sheamus and Rollins, they destroy Sheamus again with a couple more finishers ending the fight and the night.

Overall my feelings on the night are complex. In the end, it didn’t feel like a whole lot happened story-wise. In most cases the crowd and I felt disappointed and let down with the absence of progression. However, there really is nothing like seeing Monday Night Raw or any pro wrestling event for that matter, in person. I felt like a kid again.

Seeing all the smiling faces of kids who have their own heroes made me think of everything wrestling meant to me growing up. This was a not so subtle reminder that, even though I might stop watching for a little sometimes, I will be a fan for life. The squared circle can pull you in just like that, if you let it.

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WWE Raw Live Review & Photos by S.T. Register.

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