This was largely a good crowd hurt by a dead crowd. MizTV wasn't nearly as bad as expected, sadly, and featured a bit of nip, so that overdelivered. The Heyman-Punk stuff was outstanding. Bryan's gauntlet was must-see stuff thanks to the Cesaro match that was one of the best ones on Raw all year. Bryan-Swagger was also pretty good, and Bryan-Ryback was their best match yet.

 

http://jayreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2013/07/raw-7-22-13.html

 

Screens -

 

 

 

Full gallery -

http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/tcgwez80ybw2gwvml342h04x7e0ao4ji

I picked the perfect time to start watching it again.  Bryan killing it for forty-five minutes was too good.  I'd be surprised if Bryan/Cesaro isn't in the running for MOTY.

I reviewed Raw with pics and gifs here:
http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/wwe-monday-night-raw-7222013-results.html

Overall thoughts: This was the Daniel Bryan show and it was awesome. He had about 30 minutes straight of great wrestling and he was at his best here. He made the show along with CM Punk and turned what would have been a so-so Raw into a good one!

Some shots from the show:

Crazy performance by Bryan tonight, also Cesaro looked amazing too, good showcase for him.

Of course just as Bryan-Cesaro is about to start, THE FUCKING POWER GOES OUT!

I'm going to be vacationing in Las Vegas during SummerSlam. I can't wait to see my wife's reaction to me blocking off an evening for SummerSlam.

Holy shit, wrestling is fucking amazing right now.

Sweet Jebus did Cesaro bring the fury tonight! 

 

Nothing can stop Daniel Bryan. 

 

Sheamus and his leg. Gross.

Bryan/Cesaro might be my MOTY on one view. Cesaro came across as an incredibly polished, main event level heel just WORKING the fuck out of that chinlock and setting up Bryan and the homestretch with the euro flurry and Bryan just crumbling, then eating that short clothesline with a nutty spinbump. and so many great hope spots in there, and the fucking FINISH with the elevated euro attempt smoothly into a small package blew my mind. Cesaro was every bit as good if not better than bryan here. My only reservation of calling it my MOTY is MAYBE the fact that there was a commercial that ate up the opening, but plenty was there and we got the elevated euro rewind which is what mattered.  

 

Bryan/Ryback was very good too.

 

What an incredible Bryan showcase that was.

 

Del Rio/Sheamus was good too.

Vicious uppercuts from Cesaro followed by insane elbows/forearms from Bryan. Holy shit that was too fucking good. I wish it wasn't chopped with commercial breaks. What did the ref say to Bryan right after that exchange? Anyway, great match... definitely MOTYC in my book. Bryan was on an absolute tear. Cesaro was great too.

Was Bryan selling at the very end of the show, or did Rybotch injure him during that botched power bomb spot?

Oddly paced show, but Bryan's shit was gold.

I missed all but the final segment pretty much.

 

Wow. So glad I got to watch that. It felt a little bit like watching a mid-major go on a tournament run -- the little guy taking on the big state school in OU at one point, even. The Cesaro segment was MOTY worthy. Great stuff by both guys.I was super impressed w/ Ryback. He's been watching his Mark Henry Trash Talk Heel tapes. I loved his various crowd taunts, too. He's such a great bully who falls apart at the end. I love that segment sets up next week marvelously.

 

No Wyatt's? I'm guessing they couldn't shoehorn them into the show w/ a 30-plus minute Bryan segment. But no doubt they'll be messing with Kane tomorrow.

I have nothing to add to the love, so instead I will admonish the WWE for putting up a tweet calling that new diva a #ringrat.

Also, the Cesaro/Bryan match was made by those ridiculously dangerous Superplex-type tease spots. I felt like I was a 5-year-old kid at the circus watching a tightrope act.

No Big Show either. I got to thinking his return was ripe for a Wyatt Family beatdown.

Cesaro is so old school in the way he approaches the lay out of a match. Just take a simple hold and get so much mileage out of it. Use it as your go-to heat device to cut off the babyface and build to a peak. They should just line up the whole heel locker room to get heat on Bryan. He's so fucking over right now.

If I had one critique of Cesaro it's he could use a few shitbag heel shortcut spots. Something cheap he could use to paint his heeldom in bright colors. Otherwise he is standing toe to toe with all the baby faces. Which I don't think he can do all the time. 

 

That being said, when the heat was on, he had the FUCKING FURY!

I'm not sure how I feel about the bright red hair on that chick. It's great but when they showed her with her natural color in the hotel room...wow. That concludes my thoughts on #totaldivas

Joey Styles better upp the full version Cesaro vs Bryan like he did Cena vs Punk and the Bryan vs Orton series.

 

 

Can't wait for dirtsheets to push the panic button once the ratings come in and the gauntlet doesn't draw well (long matches rarely do, specially when you don't have a household name).

For it is not me, but you who have been exposed.. for I have seen the nipple on your soul!

Getting hard to argue those 2 aren't the best on the planet.

I enojoyed Cole giving us a "Vintage RVD" after busting Wade Barrett up.

Dear God that ATX crowd was AMAZING.  Only town where people order their Cena shirts a size too small.  The Texas trolling by Heyman and Dutch was glorious, too.

 

RVD is great, last guy on earth with an undercut and just out there to put on a show for old school fans.  Good stuff.

 

Wyatts need to lay off the promo vids and do more beat downs and shit.  Also, the three rednecks beating up Truth didn't come off too well in recap form with no context.  Ha.

 

Bryan was of course fantastic.  I didn't really believe that Maddox was trying to ape Bischoff until I found out how old he was...now, sure, it all makes sense.  Loved how creepy and cheesy those beard stroking "yessss...but wait until he faces the REAL enemy mwahahahaha!!!!" skits were. 

I wanted to second the love for the Maddox segment before the Ryback match. It was like something from a video game cutscene, but, with the placement and effectiveness, it felt like I was actually watching a television show and not just a WWE segment.

 

Also, I don't think Bryan was selling the arm. After he came off the top during the Ryback match (right before he put the YES! Lock on the wrong arm) he was grabbing at that left arm. I'm sure those two powerbombs didn't help. Hopefully it's nothing serious, but it might be a good idea to drop that dropkick spot if it's just going to injury you ever other match.

 

Is it as obvious to anyone else when Punk is searching for a word or trying to get back on point? It's nice that he keeps talking and doesn't stumble too much, but dude rambles. A lot.