Kester's WWE Raw Rundown: Daniel Bryan stands tall, Goldust fights for his brother's job, and CM Punk assaults a doctor

By Ryan Kester

Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton

Much like the rest of the show, WWE chose to give us more of a reminder of the Night of Champions main event rather than any added sell. The announcers tried to make it sound like Daniel Bryan's surprise finisher spot meant he has a chance in hell this Sunday, but that is far too little of that story being told far too late.

Personally, I recognize that what we got on Raw didn't help sell the Night of Champions PPV, but I am still very excited to see the main event of that show. I've enjoyed the WWE programming over the past month, and I am interested to see what WWE will do with the Bryan character after building up his opposition so strongly.

Goldust

WWE did a good job making Goldust look like a big deal on Raw. I could have done without the comedy bit, but other than that snafu, WWE gave the man the star treatment. It paid off with a great reaction during his match with Randy Orton, and set up Orton to get good heat after he was victorious.

It's disappointing that WWE had Stephanie McMahon give Goldust the unemployment line comment after he lost his match with Orton. There is some definite value to having an old hand putting over younger talent, and after the buildup that Goldust had throughout Raw, it's unfortunate that that momentum is being used up in a one off.

CM Punk and Paul Heyman

I wasn't crazy about the direction WWE took the Heyman and Punk feud on Raw. It did serve the purpose of furthering the idea that Punk will get his hands on Heyman on Sunday, but it was done in a manner that was comedic and didn't fit with the tone of the feud to date. What was once a blood feud was treated like a slapstick routine when it needed one final hard sell.

Out of all the angles that WWE needed to hammer home on Raw, this was the one that came up feeling the most undercut by the efforts put forth.

Overall Show

The go home edition of Raw was a very content light show. WWE settled on using reminders and filler for their go home show rather than giving the whole affair a final hard sell. I understand that they were facing the double-header from the NFL, but it would have been nice to see a bit more effort put into a show that's otherwise had a great build.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter.