Paul Heyman cuts
another killer promo. Then Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns have…a tug of war? Firstly,
the last thing Brock Lesnar said in that video package? “I’m going to f#$%
Roman Reigns up.” Bone chilling.
Secondly, I’ll give WWE credit for making me actually want
to see Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. I don’t know if it’s going to be a train
wreck or not. But Paul Heyman has made me believe Roman Reigns is in borderline
mortal danger this Sunday. And they had me in this last segment. They really
did.
Then Lesnar and Reigns had that weird tug of war with the
belt. I get what they were going for. The whole back-and-forth pull with the
WWE Championship. It put a huge damper on the segment. Plus, it seemed really
out-of-character for Brock. If I’m Lesnar, and Reigns literally pulls the title
out of my hand, I take him down on the spot and knock his teeth down his
throat. When Reigns grabbed the belt, it seemed like a fight was about to break
out. Something the refs would break up. Brock has done that kind of thing with
both Cena and Triple H before. Mind you, we’d already seen a couple of big
fights on this episode. But one of those was definitely worth changing up to
end the go-home Raw to Wrestlemania on a high note.
Sting opens Raw, comes face-to-face with Stephanie
McMahon and Triple H. It was great to see the crowd react to Sting so well.
All that sound and fury definitely leaves me hoping Wrestlemania is more than just a one night stand for the Stinger.
I was also very pleased to hear Sting using his actual voice
this week. Why they felt the need to mess with his voice during that vignette
last week is still a mystery to me. And it makes even less sense when you take
into account that we were bound to hear his real voice eventually. That ring at
Wrestlemania is going to be miked,
obviously. So weird…
Internet fans have poked a little fun at The Undertaker not
being around much for this one. But realistically, there’s no other way to do
it. Undertaker’s appearance on the show undeniably one of it’s biggest selling
points. Quite possibly its biggest one.
Rusev def. Jack
Swagger, and subsequently destroyed John Cena. . Hey, remember when Jack
Swagger was a Heavyweight Champion, and wasn’t getting his ass handed to him by
Rusev whenever they needed a squash match? Yeah, me either.
From a heat perspective, the John Cena/Rusev program is more
or less where it should be. Cena has played up the importance of the United
States Championship, and what it means to stand up for America. It should be an
interesting match on Sunday.
The way the announcers played up Lana’s absence (she’s
filming a WWE flick) was interesting, referring to her granting Cena a match at
Wrestlemania. I imagine she’ll be
with Rusev come Wrestlemania though.
Dean Ambrose &
R-Truth def. Stardust & Luke Harper, with Bad News Barrett on commentary. A
solid match, amplified by how into it the crowd was, obviously. I still
maintain that Stardust and hist brother Goldust have unfinished business. But
perhaps that’s a story for Extreme Rules.
I find it mildly amusing that WWE has guys like Shawn
Michaels, Scott Hall, and Bret Hart tweeting about how this ladder match could
make somebody’s career. When those guys wrestled for the Intercontinental Title
in a ladder match, they weren’t competing in a squeeze match with seven guys.
They were in one-on-one matches, engaged in rivalries that weren’t watered down
for the sake of getting a bunch of guys on the Wrestlemania card. No offense to anyone involved in this match, but
come on!
And if you were wondering where Daniel Bryan and Dolph
Ziggler were during this match…
Daniel Bryan vs.
Dolph Ziggler, with Dean Ambrose as the guest referee. I realize I’m
beating a dead horse here. But if you want a Wrestlemania match for the Intercontinental Title that at least has
the potential to be worthy of Savage vs. Steamboat, Hart vs. Piper, and HBK vs.
Razor, this would be it. Just give these guys some time and let them do their
thing. Their work speaks for itself. And hot damn, Ziggler even got the win
this week! Good finish, too.
Kevin Nash announced
for WWE Hall of Fame. Given all the notoriety Nash has earned over the
years, I almost wish he were headlining the Hall of Fame a different year. But
regardless, it’s tough to deny Nash deserves it. Even if you’re not a fan of
his wrestling ability (as many aren’t), he’s been one of the biggest stars in
wrestling for the past two decades. Congratulations are most certainly in
order.
Hulk Hogan makes a
surprise Raw appearance to confront
Curtis Axel alongside Snoop Dogg. Hey, at least Axel got a mildly
entertaining segment out of this whole #Axelmania thing, and got to stand next
to an icon like Hogan on worldwide TV. To his credit, he milked a Royal Rumble elimination like nobody
ever has.
Los Matadores &
El Torito def. Tyson Kidd, Cesaro, & Natalya in an “Interspecies” tag team
match. I was hoping to avoid talking about this match, as it already
happened on Smackdown last week. But
since it was apparently so memorable they had to have it again this week, let
me say this: The only time Natalya should be involved in an “interspecies”
match is if she’s wrestling her grandpa’s old buddy, Terrible Ted the Wrestling
Bear. (Look it up, kids.)
Incidentally, Cesaro was the winner of last year’s Andre the
Giant Memorial Battle Royal. That should serve as inspiration to all the guys
in this year’s match. If you work hard, gut it out and win, you too can be on
next year’s Wrestlemania pre-show.
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