WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (04/06/15)

The WWE accomplished a lot during the latest episode of Monday Night Raw, and did so without bogging the show down with talking segments that overstay their welcome.

It was a refreshing change of pace for the show and made watching it on television much more enjoyable overall.

Before I delve into why the show was more enjoyable to watch, let's run through the full match results from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas:

- Randy Orton def. Kane via disqualification

- Seth Rollins def. Neville

- WWE United States Championship - John Cena def. Stardust

- Naomi & Paige def. The Bella Twins

- Ryback def. Luke Harper

- The Lucha Dragons def. The New Day

- Roman Reigns def. Big Show

- Sheamus def. Mark Henry

- The Miz def. Damien Mizdow

- Randy Orton def. Ryback & Roman Reigns

With that out of that, let's jump into my highlights and observations:

Raw had a lot of … wrestling?

The good folks of Austin, Texas were treated to a wrestling-heavy show Monday night, where 10 matches took place over the course of the three-hour program with only one not having conclusive finish.

What do you know? A wrestling program that features a lot of wrestling. I was pleasantly surprised.That shouldn't be a big deal for a company with the world "wrestling" in its name, but it is for the WWE.

That's because Raw is usually filled with talking and backstage segments that cut down on the in-ring action. Sure, there were promos and backstage segments, but they were kept to a minimum, at least time wise.

This sudden change of pace happened mostly because Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were not on the program. Since they weren't there, we didn't get their 20-minute promos to start the show. We didn't get multiple segments with them discussing business in their office.

We got a productive opening segment with The Authority and Randy Orton, a few backstage segments with Kane, and that was it. The rest was wrestling. Again, this shouldn't be a big deal, but it is when you're talking about the WWE in 2015.

No Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler

You would think that a show that features a lot of wrestling would have two of the best in-ring performers in the company on it, but that wasn't the case this past Monday as neither Daniel Bryan or Dolph Ziggler were on the program.

For that matter, a lot of the guys that were in the ladder match at WrestleMania were absent from the show, including Bad News Barrett and Dean Ambrose. However, Bryan and Ziggler are scheduled for a tag team match on Smackdown.

Randy Orton to face Seth Rollins at Extreme Rules

By virtue of his win during the main event of Raw, Randy Orton will be the first man to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and it will take place at Extreme Rules.

Orton is logical choice to face Rollins given that he defeated Rollins in spectacular fashion at WrestleMania. But I have to believe that Roman Reigns will be involved in the title picture at some point in the near future. The WWE attempted to put so much steam behind him going into WrestleMania that I would be surprised if he just takes a backseat to Orton so quickly, but I've been surprised before.

Neville has another impressive showing

Talk about being thrown into the fire.

Last week, Neville made his debut on Raw as a member of the main roster. Seven days later, he's in the ring for a one-on-one match against the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Fortunately, Neville is talented enough to be able to hold his own in such a make-or-break spot. Because that's what it was. It was a test to see if Neville can hang on the big stage of Monday Night Raw.

In my humble opinion, he passed with flying (no pun intended) colors by having a great match with Seth Rollins. I agree with the decision of Rollins defeating Neville. He is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion after all, but I didn't totally agree with the extra curb stomp after the match.

I know that Rollins is a heel and that's the type of stuff that heels do, but I think this should have been less about getting Rollins over as a heel (because he's already over in that respect) and more about having Neville coming out of this looking stronger.

I think the match itself accomplished that, but maybe I'm just nitpicking about the post-match action. Other than that one thing, I was happy with what I saw.

John Cena has another open challenge

For the second week in a row, John Cena came to the ring to issue an open challenge to anyone on the WWE roster that wanted to face him for the WWE United States Championship.

Last week, Dean Ambrose answered the challenge. This week, it was Stardust.

Once Stardust hit the ring, he and Cena proceeded to have a no-nonsense match that put the United States title in a better light, which is the reason why Cena holds the title to begin with.

I love the way the United States title is being built with Cena. It makes it seem important when people are actually willing to wrestle for it, not just steal it and tuck it under their shirt like what was being done with the WWE Intercontinental Championship before WrestleMania.

Also, Cena is putting on very good matches for the title. If he keeps this up, the hardcore fans that boo him on a consistent basis may actually start cheering him. That's because it looks like he's going to be having unique and entertaining matches on a weekly basis and who could complain about that?

Why Damien Mizdow still using The Miz's gimmick?

It's been more than a week since Damien Mizdow broke away from The Miz, but yet he's still using his music, his attire and his moves.

I know there must be a specific reason as to why he's still pretending to be The Miz, but that hasn't been explained. It's just Mizdow walking out as The Miz and that's it.

What was also weird was the first match between these two wasn't saved for Extreme Rules. I know that their match Monday hinted at the feud continuing, but I would have made the absolute most out of that first match.

With their angle having been built for months, there should have been more anticipation built in for their first match.

Heel turn coming New Day

When they don't clap, they snap was what The New Day said during their backstage promo after being asked about the harsh reaction they receive from the fans.

Then during the match, Kofi Kingston, who wasn't a part of the match, kicked one of the Lucha Dragons from the outside, which put a big smile on Xavier Woods' face.

What does that mean? A heel turn should be coming for The New Day, which is a welcome change to me. Being the eternally happy-go-lucky trio is not endearing the fans to them at all.