Roman Reigns Opening Promo
Roman Reigns came out to the ring to open WWE Monday Night Raw to talk about how The Authority don’t want him in the main event of WrestleMania and if anyone gets in his way, he has a spear with their name on it. That brought out Daniel Bryan. Reigns looked good there, not seeming to care if the audience booed or cheered him, which is good for him right now. Bryan thanked Reigns for taking out Big Show last week to help him win and then said he is looking forward to Fast Lane because he is the better wrestler.
That brings out The Authority and Triple H calls out Sting to give him an answer to his invitation to Fast Lane. Is he a man or the coward Triple H thinks he is. Stephanie tells Reigns that he speared an innocent Big Show last week because he was mad because Big Show beat him. Reigns said he did it because he could. Then, Stephanie called Bryan sick for putting Kane in a casket, despite that being the rules of the match. LOL. Bryan makes a Katie Vick joke that only some fans will get and this leads to the first match.
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan vs. Kane and Big Show
When Roman Reigns was in the match, it was pretty even but when Daniel Bryan got tagged in, Big Show and Kane started to dominate. Bryan started to play the little big man at this point and actually had Kane trapped in the Yes Lock until Big Show saved him and tossed Bryan into the barricade for the DQ finish. After the match, Reigns took out Big Show. When Kane attacked Reigns, Bryan tried to make the save but accidentally kicked Reigns. This caused Reigns to shove down Bryan and Triple H booked a handicap match tonight with Kane, Big Show, J&J Security and Seth Rollins against Reigns and Bryan.
The match was ok but nothing special, which makes sense because they are just setting up the handicap match anyway.
Rating: **
Seth Rollins vs. Ryback
Ryback looked pretty good here against Rollins, but J&J Security kept attacking Ryback when the referee wasn’t looking. Ryback finally had Rollins up for the Shell Shock, but J&J Security attacked and caused the second straight DQ in two matches. This is made worse by having the same finish happen twice in a row to start the show.
Rating: *
Sheamus is coming back and he stole Fit Finley’s tag line.
Brie Bella vs. Paige
Brie Bella dominated most of this match, but once Paige got sick of it, she roared back and held on to win. I find it funny that Brie still yells her name before a move and the fans crap all over it. Nikki Bella tried to interfere, but it backfired and Paige hit the Rampaige for the win. Bonus points for a face actually getting a pinfall win despite cheating – a first tonight.
Rating: * ½
Promo: Rusev Pays Tribute to John Cena
Lana said they wanted to honor John Cena, so they had a video set up for him. They started the video with how he is an underdog and then it switched directions and showed a ton of moments where Cena was destroyed and hurt. When they came back, Lana said that Cena was hurt and waiting for someone to end his career. Rusev agreed that Cena is not who he used to be. “I will break your body and I will crush your spirit.” That brought out Cena for what will likely be joke time, as he no sells everything they said. However, Rusev saves everything when he cracks a joke (!?!?) about Cena not being able to see him out of his one good eye (Cena’s left eye is messed up). Cena challenges Rusev to come to him, so Rusev does and crushes Cena. That is how you book a heel. That would have been awesome if Cena wasn’t so jokey.
Rating: ****
Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt
This was easily the best match of the night so far. Ziggler and Wyatt both turned in a great match and the right man won. It really looked like Ziggler had a chance to win and actually showed how to block Sister Abigail’s Kiss. However, Bray Wyatt capitalized on one mistake to clothesline Ziggler into unconsciousness. He then hit the Kiss and won. After the match, Wyatt wanted to pull up the protective mats and hurt Ziggler but the referees stopped him. Wyatt then just toyed with Ziggler after the match. After two crappy matches to start the show, the last two segments have really picked things up.
Rating: **** ½
This week, the WWE honors Junkyard Dog for Black History Month.
Promo: Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman talks about Brian Williams being in the news for lying but says that he isn’t even as big of a liar as Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan for saying they have a chance to beat Brock Lesnar. Heyman said that Reigns is scared and Bryan has been lucky his entire career and neither are a match for Brock Lesnar. Not the best Heyman promo, not the worst.
Rating: ** ½
Goldust and Stardust vs. The New Day
This is all part of the breakup of Goldust and Stardust. Xavier Woods said that Gold and Star were supposed to be brothers, but the New Day are the real brothers. OK. Stardust left in the middle of the match and just stood at the top of the ramp and watched Goldust lose. The sad thing is that New Day was supposed to reinvigorate Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E but they have no direction and no one cares.
Rating: * ½
Backstage Interview with Daniel Bryan
Rene asked if Bryan and Roman Reigns can co-exist tonight as a team. Bryan said he probably would have reacted the same as Reigns did, but before he could finish his thought, Reigns showed up and said they would co-exist to eliminate The Authority. Reigns is doing well this week on the mic so far. Backstage, Goldust found Stardust and said this was Dustin speaking, and when he said Cody, his brother hit him and said Cody is dead.
Rating: **
Triple H Promo
Triple H is in the ring when we come back from commercial (he didn’t even get an entrance on TV). Triple H said he almost lost everything because of Sting, who is the face of WCW – the WCW that Triple H helped destroy. Triple H said that Sting stayed away for 14 years because he knew that Triple H would have exposed him. Triple H called out Sting and said he was a coward while Triple H is a man. He said that, if Sting agrees to leave the WWE, he will let Sting leave Fast Lane with his dignity intact. He wants an answer now. Sting is not here, and he just totally toys with Triple H. The lights go out, the crow sounds off, Sting “appears” at different places in the crowd and stands. The lights go out and a Sting lookalike runs in and causes Triple H to fall over and almost shit himself. Then, the lights go out and the words I ACCEPT appears on the Titan Tron. It is nice to see Triple H actually selling for someone. Let the mindgames begin.
Rating: *** ½
The Usos vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
Ok, this comes from Total Divas stupidity where Natalya and Kidd went on a double date with Natalya and Jimmy. Cesaro tagged along and everything went to hell. Of course it did. At least this gets Kidd and Cesaro more screen time. Now, that was a great match. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro looked like stars and a legitimate tag team and they picked up the win. Honestly, Kidd and Cesaro have finally given the Usos a true heel tag team that they can match
Rating: ****
The next 2015 WWE Hall of Fame inductee is … Rikishi – and they only mention his career as Rikishi and not as part of the Samoan Swat Team. I hate that.
Damien Mizdow vs. Sin Cara
This is part of The Miz dressing down Mizdow and making him look bad. The fans are really behind Mizdow. The Miz tried to get Mizdow counted out by ordering him to get him water during the match. The fans started chanting “You’re from Cleveland” at Miz and Miz responded with “Better than Columbus.” Funny stuff. Mizdow tried to win with the Figure Four and Miz told him to stop because that is the move he made famous. The distraction allowed Sin Cara to steal a rollup for the win.
Rating: * ½
Promo: Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt continues to cut backstage promos that appears to be calling out The Undertaker. Same as usual.
Rating: *
Dean Ambrose vs. Curtis Axel
Curtis Axel is still whining about not losing at the Royal Rumble and wants his fans to keep the movement alive at #AxelMania. That brings out Dean Ambrose, who challenged Bad New Barrett last week for the IC title, only to have Barrett turn down his match. The match sucked and Axel dominated until the end where Ambrose hit his clothesline and Dirty Deeds DDT for the win. After the match, Ambrose said he wants his face on the walls at WWE headquarters by winning the IC title (I guess U.S. title holders aren’t up there). Bad News Barrett comes on the screen and again says Ambrose doesn’t deserve it.
Rating: *
Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Big Show, Kane, Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble
Roman Reigns was taken out of the WWE Monday Night Raw main event early. The bad guys then started to destroy Bryan and this lasted until Ryback’s music started and he came out with Dolph Ziggler and Erick Rowan. Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane charged up and they fought to the back while Bryan was left alone with J&J Security. He took them down and just as he prepared for the big knee, Reigns showed back up and tagged himself in. Reigns hit the spear and won. Bryan was pissed because he did all the work and Reigns took the easy win. He shoved Reigns, so Reigns hit the spear and left Bryan lying.
Rating: **
