Not a bad Raw at
all as we head into Fastlane this
weekend. I’ve got far more compliments than complaints…
John Cena beats down
Rusev, promises “reckless abandon” at Fast
Lane. One thing I’m enjoying about this Cena/Rusev program is the
renewed emphasis being placed on the United States Championship. The idea that
the company’s franchise player is gunning for it obviously plays up the belt’s
prestige. The announcers mentioning Dean Ambrose’s lengthy run with the title
didn’t hurt either.
In terms of the more “edgy” John Cena we were promised for Fastlane, I wouldn’t’ count on seeing
anything profound. Brock Lesnar immasculated and humiliated Cena at Summerslam, and then at Night of Champions he was basically the
same guy. So I don’t buy it at all.
Daniel Bryan joins
the announcers during Roman Reigns’ match with Kane. Byran had the line of
the night with: “I had one less title defense than Brock Lesnar, so I don’t
think they needed to strip it from me.” We definitely saw a less humble side of
Bryan here. What’s more, he knew how to advance himself and his storyline with
the opportunity he was given. It was pretty cool to hear.
Incidentally, we had a pretty cool back-and-forth chant
during this match. The men in the crowd were chanting “You can’t wrestle!” To
which the kids, and perhaps the women, responded: “Yes he can!” That’s a new
one, isn’t it?
Conversely, Reigns
plays mind games during Daniel Bryan’s match with The Big Show. The
interesting thing about Roman Reigns’ role in this match was that he got to
show off his personality a little bit. He’s got a cockiness about him that can
actually be endearing when you don’t overscript him. Bryan also played his
jealous role very well, while at the same time turning in a pretty good match
with The Big show.
Triple H talks Sting
with Ric Flair. Flair was obviously brought in to play up his history with
Sting. They did a well enough job, though it seemed like Hunter had to reign Ric
in a little bit. Oddly enough, it was similar to what Stephanie had to do with
Dusty Rhodes awhile back. It seems like Hunter and Steph love to stay on
script, while the old school guys like to ad lib. It’s not surprising when you
think about it.
What’s curious about the build up to Sting’s encounter with
Triple H is that WWE isn’t using the WCW library to their advantage. They could
have used a bunch of clips of Sting taking on Flair, Hogan, and a litany of
other stars to build up to Ric’s appearance in that segment with Triple H. It
just seemed like a waste of a perfectly good resource.
Dolph Ziggler def.
Seth Rollins via disqualification. Was curious to see how the fans would
react to Rollins after his little nude photo scandal last week, involving NXT wrestler
Zahra Schreiber. Thankfully for Rollins, it seemed like most of the crowd was
oblivious to the whole thing. Though Ziggler came a little close to it with the
whole “bad Valentine’s Day” joke.
Great mic work from both guys leading up to the bout, and of
course a really good little match. These are two guys I could watch wrestle
every week. Here’s hoping these two get added to the Fastlane card. They haven’t got anything else for either guy to do,
right?
Bray Wyatt cuts three
short promos, the final one while hammering a nail into a coffin. I enjoyed
these quite a bit, because it was the only time we saw Bray during the show.
Two lines that stuck out….
1. “Limbo is no place for a soul like yours.”
2. “Find me… (back to the camera)…or I’ll find you.”
Stardust turns on
Goldust after a loss to The New Day. Hey, I’d be pissed if I lost to The
New Day too. But this Stardust/Goldust feud is long overdue. The anticipation
leading up to Cody’s turn was great, and his rant to his father Dusty Rhodes
backstage was awesome. Perhaps I’m a bit partial, but I say this was great work
by all parties. I can’t wait to see how this unfolds heading into Wrestlemania. These guys deserve it.
The Bella Twins try
to prevent Paige from competing by stealing her clothes. She wrestles in an
outfit from one of the Rosebuds. I haven’t talked much about the Nikki
Bella/Paige program, mostly because I can’t stand watching seeing the Bellas on
my TV. But I do like that WWE is pushing Paige as the top hero of the divas
division. She’s obviously got a different look than most of the supermodel
types WWE has hired in the last decade or so. And this week’s story helped make
her into a positive role model to the company’s young female audience. I wish
she weren’t working with the Bellas, but I’m happy to see her succeeding
regardless.
The Prime Time
Players reunite to fend of The Ascension. FINALLY! Breaking Titus O’Neil
and Darren Young up was a mistake to begin with. Granted, they’ve probably been
reunited just to job to The Ascension. But still, it’s great to have them back.
The Usos to defend
against Cesaro & Tyson Kidd at Fastlane.
Cesaro & Kidd as the tag champs? HA! Not around Wrestlemania season, folks.
Written by: The Fanboy Wonder, Rob Siebert
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