WWE Raw Results: Top 15 Moments from Last Night's Show (5/28)

Raw was a much better show this week around. Last week just had no energy at all, outside of a few segments after Over the Limit. The Red brand delivered a solid effort on a holiday edition of Raw.

While the television rating will likely be down because of that, I give credit to WWE for not taking the week off. They could have easily done nothing major, but they entertained (B grade) for two hours.

What were the highlights? Let's find out!

15. Tag Titles

First, I must mention that Vickie Guerrero looked exceptional Monday night.

However, everything else during this match did nothing for me. Kofi Kingston and R-Truth defended their tag titles against Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler.

I suppose the All World group is taking a few shows off. That seems to be nothing of note anymore.

As expected, the champs retained. All four men did great, but I just couldn't convince myself to care.

14. Alex Riley

Alex Riley could be released this week.

Alex Riley could be a main-event player by next month.

His career is so fascinating to watch. It could take a number of turns, and I would not be surprised one bit by any of it.

As a big fan, he is always welcome on Raw. Riley was talking to Eve but was pushed around by Big Show by the end of the segment.

It was not much, but it was something...

13. Del Rio Wins

Alberto Del Rio is next in line to get a World Title match against Sheamus. Surely, he will lose to the Celtic Warrior at No Way Out, but that is not the point.

The point is Del Rio needs to keep winning until then.

Defeating Santino Marella may not seem like much, but it will work. Fans love the Cobra, yet they do not like Del Rio one bit.

Simple, yet effective!

12. Swagger vs. Ziggler?

Dolph Ziggler seems to be tired of losing.

He, once again, teased a feud with Jack Swagger.

This has been the story on and off for a few months now. Until now, it has meant nothing. Where Vickie Guerrero goes if these two men finally feud is anybody's guess.

11. Christian

Christian vs. The Miz was a fun match. It did not get a lot of time, but both men did their job. The new Intercontinental Champion picked up yet another victory, while the heel lost.

With Cody Rhodes teasing a future match with Captain Charisma, everything seems to be in line. Christian is still gaining fans each week, while the former champion wants his re-match.

10. RKO!

After the loss, Miz was left in the ring. As he complained about another loss, Randy Orton came down to the ring.

Without saying a word, Mr. RKO left Miz lying in the ring.

Usually, this would be a big deal. With Miz leaving to film Marine 3, it was fine. The most interesting part was Dolph Ziggler watching all of this backstage.

WWE did briefly mention Chris Jericho being gone. If anybody wants to face Orton at No Way Out next month, why not Ziggler?

9. Brodus Steps Up

Backstage, Big Show was bullying Santino. He was looking for somebody worthy of being a challenger for later on in the night.

Who stepped up?

Brodus Clay!

This was a nice moment for the Funky Crew. They had been all about fun before this. Last night, he finally stepped up as a legitimate threat.

The main event of Big Show vs. Brodus Clay immediately felt "huge."

8. Laurinaitis Promo

John Laurinaitis made John Cena vs. Big Show at No Way Out a steel cage match. It was nothing shocking, but it will be a good stipulation.

After teasing himself as being on the cover of the next video game, CM Punk interrupted. I am sorry, but we have seen this too many times. A year later, it is the exact same thing.

The usual insults were thrown around. Punk was revealed as being on the real cover, and the segment ended. I could have done without this, but it also passed by 10 minutes.

7. Punk vs. Bryan

The fact that this was given away without any hype is very telling.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan was a quality match. The two could have gone another hour without breaking a sweat. The two are that good inside the squared circle.

AJ being at ringside wearing Punk gear was interesting. I still assume she goes back to Bryan, but you never know. No matter what happens with her, I do not want her to pair up with CM Punk.

That is the last thing the WWE Champion needs right now.

Bryan cheated to win, so you have throw him in a future title match. AJ seemed to be trying to help Punk, but it actually ended up causing him to lose. Drama!

Kane coming out after the match was fine. I suspect he is there for casual fans to care about the title picture, and the Smackdown advertisement tells us more of the story.

6. Teddy Long

Mr. Excitement challenged Eve and David Otunga backstage to impress him. They had been doing a poor job as of late, so this made sense.

He even teased retiring in the next decade or so. When that happens, one of them may replace him. That was such a great line.

Of course, we were treated to more of Teddy Long being humiliated. This story had gone away for a few weeks, but I glad to see it return.

The closing remark about iced coffee was gold.

5. Extra Thoughts

First, I loved Matt Morgan returning to WWE! His "revolution" was great to see. Oh wait, that didn't happen at all.

Oh, but I did enjoy seeing Dean Ambrose make an impact on Raw. He is the greatest thing since sliced bread and showed why last night. Oh yeah, that did not take place, either.

Right.

The "revolution" videos were for a video game announcement. There is a reason I stayed far, far away from that story the past few weeks. It was nothing major, and expecting anything else was just the usual "fantasy booking."

I did enjoy the live crowd last night. New Orleans came through in a big way, and they all reacted well. This is how a live audience can be loud and excited, yet not attempt to ruin the show.

Smackdown did get a fair bit of hype on Raw. Everybody knows about Sin Cara returning. We also found out that CM Punk will defend his WWE Title against Kane this week.

My guess is somebody finally noticed the Blue Brand's ratings falling the past few months. Nobody should expect a title change, but the match will surely be entertaining and build to No Way Out.

Finally, I must give props to the Memorial Day videos. WWE always handles this with complete class, and John Cena doing the voice over was perfect.

4. Sheamus Wins

Sheamus winning is always a positive.

He defeated David Otunga in quick fashion. This was a nice segment right before the main event. The World Champion winning is always common sense.

Otunga being the one to take the pin-fall loss was also smart. It may seem like this was a throwaway match, but every win Sheamus racks up means more and more credibility.

3. Opening Promo

Big Show makes an amazing heel.

He showed why during the opening of Raw last night. He explained his turn very well, had the crowd all over him and made tons of logical points.

What the man said was true. Everything was laid out perfectly, and it just worked. Big Show looked great, while the live audience just wanted John Cena to come out and destroy him.

Seems like a perfect scenario to me!

2. No Cena

Every once in a while, WWE keeps John Cena off Raw.

Last night was the right time to do it again. Big Show knocked him out to close last week's show, so there was not much that could have happened this week.

Their pay-per-view match is still three weeks away, and Show needs to look like a monster right now. Keeping Cena off the screen all night was also done as a test.

As I always discuss, Cena will be gone one day.

Then what?

Is CM Punk going to be "the man" and draw major business all by himself? Will The Miz step up and take that role? What about Randy Orton getting another chance when Cena is gone?

Last night, WWE gave the big break to Brodus Clay. The company built up his 22 wins and hyped him as being in the main event. John Cena was not mentioned to appear once. For one night, Clay was "the man."

With the holiday likely dragging the television viewership down, it will be very intriguing to see the Raw rating in a few days. Due to Memorial Day, the number will be delayed till the end of the week.

Cena did appear for the live crowd after the show.

1. Main Event

The main event did a few things right.

First, it kept Brodus Clay undefeated since returning. The match never began, so he never lost.

Secondly, Big Show put doubts in some fans' minds about Brodus Clay. The former World Champion compared Clay to a clown and made it seem like he was a joke.

If Brodus was ever to "snap" and turn to the dark side, there is motivation right there. Just planting the seeds for a future turn was an interesting move.

Thirdly, Clay is finally doing something different. He is great at dancing. His girls look stunning, but that can't last forever. Even being in a unique environment for one segment was good to see.

Finally, Big Show was dominant. Not only did he take out Brodus, he also destroyed Kofi and Truth. The tag champs tried to help but were crushed by one man.

The giant heel looked like an intimidating force and an unstoppable beast moving forward. All the while, fans were chanting for John Cena!

It can't get any better than that, folks.

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