We only have two more RAWs before Wrestlemania, which means you only get to read me doing RAW reviews for another two weeks until someone else takes over. Randy Orton has challenged Seth Rollins to a match at Wrestlemania. Will Rollins accept? Sting is also rumored to be in the building tonight. Can he save his program with HHH? And will Roman Reigns be on RAW for more than 10 minutes tonight? Follow along to find out!
Are We Sure This Isn’t Last Week’s RAW?
RAW started with the Authority in the ring, minus HHH and Steph. Rollins said what Orton did last week was called betrayal. Rollins said he gets the crowd doesn’t know what that feels like because you have to be a somebody to feel that, and everybody else is a nobody. Rollins said Orton stalked him like an animal and mocked him while he was suffering. Rollins said it was nothing like he did with the Shield because what he did with the Shield was a smart business decision made to secure his future. What Orton did was in cold blood and with no decency.
Big Show apologized to Rollins and said that Orton was a no good snake in the grass. Show said he crushes snakes in the grass under his boot. Kane also apologized and said that he was tricked as well and Orton will pay. Jamie Noble said that what Orton did was inexcusable, and what Orton did hurt Joey Mercury the most. Mercury took the mic but just ended up crying. Rollins said what will hurt the most after all of this will be Randy Orton’s ego. Rollins said Orton has never messed with anybody like him. Rollins accepted Orton’s match at Wrestlemania, but only if Orton agrees to face him tonight.
Randy Orton came out. He said he is just a guy who last week made Rollins look like a bitch. He accepted Rollins challenge. He said he knows Rollins will have the deck stacked against him tonight. But Orton said that’s ok because he has enough venom to take down all the Authority. And even if he is beatdown, it will be worth it because then he gets Rollins at Wrestlemania. And at Wrestlemania, he will end the future of the WWE.
Look What Happens When You Give Divas A Chance!
AJ vs Nikki Bella. Nikki tossed AJ in the corner but AJ caught a charging Nikki with some knees. AJ went to an armbar but Nikki caught AJ with a clothesline. Nikki went for a sideslam but AJ countered with a hurricarrana. Nikki rolled to the apron and caught AJ by dropping her on the ropes. Back from break AJ escaped an armbar but then ran right into an elbow from Nikki. Nikki continued to work over the arm of AJ and threw her arm first into the turnbuckle. Nikki went back to the armbar. AJ countered and went for the Black Widow but Nikki slammed her into the corner. AJ came back with a kick to the face and neckbreaker. AJ went to the top and hit a crossbody. Both women exchanged near falls. AJ hit a dropkick but Nikki later tossed AJ to the outside. Brie eyed AJ down but Paige came over. After Nikki and AJ went back into the ring, Brie punched Paige and sent her into the ringpost. The distraction caused AJ to get caught by a Nikki right arm and then the Rack Attack for the win.
WINNER: Nikki Bella
Big Show and Kane argued backstage about being in Seth Rollins corner. Seth came in and called them idiots. Kane said Rollins has been acting like a spoiled brat since he won MITB. Kane said he wouldn’t be in Rollins corner and Big Show just walked away.
Ryback made quick work of Miz. At one point, Ryabck was outside and told Mizdow to punch Miz. Mizdow went to put Miz stopped him. Mizdow went to help Miz after the match but Miz ended up hitting the Skull Crushing Finale on Mizdow.
At Least Rusev Can Dress Properly For A Contract Signing
John Cena came out. He said with a straight face that this is the most important contract that he ever signed. He said by being US Champ, Rusev represents the United States of America. That means Rusev represents every one of us. Cena said enough is enough. Every chance Rusev gets, he belittles the USA. It’s disrespectful that Rusev represents a country we love and call home. Cena said the contract was a declaration of independence and Wrestlemania was their revolution. Cena said at Wrestlemania Rusev will find out that you can only push the USA so far until they comeback and kick your ass.
Rusev came out with his attorney and no Lana. His attorney said Rusev wouldn’t sign the contract or fight Cena at Wrestlemania. They showed Steph saying only Rusev could agree to the match. The attorney said since Lana accepted the match not Rusev, the contract is void. The attorney asked Cena to allow Rusev to read a statement and keep his barbaric American patriotism down. Rusev said he beat Cena at Fastlane and Cena is weak. He said the parents and kids of America are failures. Rusev called America a cancer to the world. Rusev mocked the national anthem and said America will eventually die. Rusev signed the contract then flipped the table in front of Cena and bailed.
New Day vs Kidd and Cesaro. Cesaro went for the swing with the dropkick from Kidd but the ref stopped Kidd. Koffi hit an enziguri. Big E was knocked to the outside. Kofi went for Trouble in Paradise but Kidd pushed Cesaro out of the way of it. Cesaro hit an uppercut to the back on Kofi for the win. After the match both teams brawled with Los Matadores, which ended with El Torrito hitting a hurricarana on Cesaro.
Seth Rollins argued with Noble and Mercury backstage. Rollins said he needs them tonight unlike last week when they didn’t help. Noble pointed out that Rollins was the one who sent them to the back. Rollins slapped Noble, Mercury and Noble quit.
A Brock Lesnar interview aired.
Big Show attacked and KO’d Erick Rowan before their match.
Larry Zbyszko was announced as the next HOF Inductee.
There was a mini battle royal which ended with Mark Henry standing tall.
I Think I Can I Think I Can
Paul Heyman was in the ring. He called Brock the most legitimate Champion of Then, Now and Forever. He said Brock is a conqueror and not coming to Wrestlemania to make love, he is coming to make war on Roman Reigns. He said what is going to happen when Brock Lesnar starts to not follow the rules. Will the WWE cut the feed to the Network and give out refunds. They cut the mic. Heyman said what are they going to do when Brock Lesnar does what he isn’t suppose to do. Heyman said Roman Reigns is the next big Samoan Ameri-Can’t. Heyman said Reigns can’t beat Lesnar for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania.
Roman Reigns came out. He said he has a lot of respect for Paul Heyman and called him one of the best talkers ever. He said Heyman is giving everyone a fair warning about what to expect from Reigns. He said he is going to talk to Brock Lesnar now. Reigns said he is expecting a fight, and hoping for a war. He said he is going to be carrying out the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. He said he has a huge chip on his shoulder from people saying he can’t win at Wrestlemania. But he can, he will, and believe that.
When Was The Last Time Barrett Won A Match?
Six man tag: Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose vs Stardust, Luke Harper and Bad News Barrett. Ambrose took down Stardust to start. Ambrose hit a punch in the corner then a bulldog. Daniel Bryan came in and landed some uppercuts. Bryan applied the surfboard submission on Stardust. Bryan landed some kicks in the corner and went for an armbar but Ziggler tagged himself in. The heels tried coming in but the faces stopped them.
Back from break Ambrose caught Harper with an elbow then a tornado DDT and tagged in Ziggler. Stardust came in as well and ate a DDT from Ziggler. Harper distracted Ziggler which allowed Cody to hit a springboard kick. Barrett slammed Ziggler into the apron on the outside. The heels took their turns working over Ziggler. Barrett went for a boot but Ziggler moved and Barrett went over the top. Ziggler went for the tag but Harper and Barrett pulled Ambrose and Bryan off the apron. Ziggler hit the Fameasser and all six men started brawling. Harper connected on a boot and powerbomb but only got two.
Back from break Ziggler countered Wasteland into a DDT and tagged in Bryan. Bryan hit a dive to the outside but Ambrose tagged himself in beforehand. Ambrose hit his clothesline on Stardust but Harper hit him with a boot then superkicked Bryan. He was sent to the outside by Ambrose, who eventually hit Dirty Deeds on Barrett for the win.
WINNERS: Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Zigler
Everyone brawled after the match. It ended with Barrett getting the IC Title back after hitting four Bullhammer Elbows.
Seth Rollins asked HHH and Steph what they were going to do about tonight. Steph told Rollins to man up. Rollins said it was her fault since she sent home Kane and Big Show last week. He asked HHH if he was done playing hide and seek with Sting or if he was still going to screw up the future of the WWE.
Bray Wyatt promo. He said Wrestlemania will be The Undertaker’s final resting pace and he will make Abigail proud of him. He will take his place among the gods and no one will be safe after Wrestlemania.
RAW Is Swerves
Seth Rollins came out for his match with Randy Orton. Rollins said he has made every member of the Authority look like fools. Rollins started laughing and said it only took him three hours to make a fool out of him. All of the Authority came out. Orton grabbed a chair. The Authority surrounded the ring. They went to enter the ring but the lights went out. When they came back on Sting was in the ring and they cleared it of the Authority. Sting hit a Stinger Splash on J & J. He then hit the Scorpion Death Drop on Noble, and Orton hit the RKO on Mercury. The show ended with Orton and Sting standing tall in the ring.
OVERALL
The show still wasn’t quite Wrestlemania-level important, but it did a better job than last week’s show. The ending was done well, although I’m pretty sure everyone knew what was going on with Rollins and the Authority going into the match. I thought Roman Reigns did a decent job of responding to Heyman/Lesnar. The contract signing was just like any other contract signing. I thought AJ and Nikki had a nice little women’s match. It wasn’t NXT level good, but better than we’ve seen on RAW in recent memory. I’m starting to get sick of the IC Title feud. At this point it isn’t close to funny anymore. But the WWE still needs to do a convincing job next week on RAW to sell Mania to some fans who aren’t buying into it yet. Tonight was better, but they need a good final sell next week. I’ll give RAW a 6, which might be a bit generous but the good slightly out weighed the bad.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
