The go-home edition of Monday Night Raw heading into the Fast Lane PPV is in the books!
What did the Pulse Wrestling crew have to say about the show?
Brian Mitarotondo
Ugg. That was rough. The problem of the 3 hour format really came back to haunt WWE today. With only a couple of matches booked for Fast Lane, you would think they would be able to fill the 3 hours by filling out the Fast Lane card. But this show seemed to really drag. The wrestling was mediocre to bad throughout the night. Kane and Big Show need to hang up their boots and call it a career.’ At the very least, they should be far far away from any main event storylines. The build to Reigns/Bryan has been terrible. That match is supposed to be the biggest match leading into WrestleMania, but the HHH/Sting confrontation seems more important. I did like the brawl at the end though. Overall, a very weak show, in my opinion.
Matt Harrak
If you missed this week’s RAW, you can’t be excited for this Sunday’s Fastlane. But as long as were able to catch the Triple H/Flair & final brawl between Reigns and Bryan segments either live or even on YouTube then Fastlane is shaping up to be much more interesting than what it looks like on paper. While Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan is a complete mess from a booking standpoint, the two competitors showed an intensity and focus in the last segment of RAW that hasn’t been seen from them since before their respective injuries. It was good to see both guys step up to the plate and get back to a place where they were before they got hurt, especially since these two need that next level to make this year’s WrestleMania work.
And tonight Triple H finally made Sting’s appearance at Fastlane mean something. Sting is synonymous with WCW so why would he ever care about what was going on in the WWE? That’s what fans have been asking about this storyline and that’s EXACTLY what Triple H questioned too. Although WCW has been dead for 14 years, HHH just turned this into another WWE vs WCW issue & this is probably the last time the WWE will ever be able to cultivate it. It’s WCW’s franchise versus the heir-apparent to the ownership of the WWE. If Sting can deliver the best mic work of his career leading into ‘Mania, we’re going to be looking at a pretty fun ride for control of the WWE.
Penny Marie Sautereau
It was better than last week’s, although that’s not really saying much. Less crap, more matches. Surprised how into Cena’s Rusev beat-down the crowd was. Loved Ziggler’s “The Reason You Suck” speech to Rollins, loved the continuation of the Dust Brothers break-up. Loved Bryan and Reigns trolling each other. I was okay with Flair coming out, as it sold the idea of Sting getting into HHH’s head. And I’m guessing that we’ll see Taker on Raw next week, because if they made it any more obvious that that’s who Wyatt’s been addressing in his promos they’d be beating us over the head with it. I mean a coffin nail? REALLY? At least it’s good promo work from Wyatt as always.
Also; Anytime I see Bill DeMott, Norman Smiley and Robbie Brookside get screentime on Raw I’m happy.
CB
Raw was much better than last week, and they have me sold on Bryan vs. Reigns at Fastlane. Rusev better win over Cena here, even if he inevitably loses to John at Mania.
Justin Czerwonka (@JCWonka)
So Fastlane is being sold on two matches and a confrontation. No wonder it is free this month. The pull apart brawl at the end of the show was good but everything leading up to it was kind of dumb. Cena/Rusev intrigues me but the y pretty much did the same thing they did last week. Bray Wyatt continues to talk about The Undertaker. Eventually, he will just say that. It was a show that once again left a lot to be desired. I liked the interaction between Triple H and Ric Flair and it set up a good backstory for HHH and Sting. I still don’t want to see Big Show or Kane near the main event in 2015. For the casual viewer, I’m sure interest isn’t high. They hyped Dusty Rhodes and barely used him. No standout matches on the show. RAW gets a 3 from me.
Widro (@Widro)
I just don’t like how anything has been booked since the Rumble. I think the Reigns/Bryan feud has softened both guys and resulted in first time ever resentment towards Bryan. The show was OK, but the whole promotion is treading water and not interesting and a major shake up is needed.
