The Authority opened WWE Monday Night Raw as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon came out to the ring. Michael Cole kept talking about how unpredictable the Royal Rumble was last night (I guess he means everything except for the Royal Rumble match). The crowd immediately started chanting “Yes” and Stephanie tried to play it off as they meant something else so the crowd booed. Then Triple H made fun of them for being mad because they didn’t get what they wanted. The fans booed when Triple H announced that Batista was going to Wrestlemania.
Then Stephanie McMahon announced that Randy Orton would defend the WWE World Championship inside the Elimination Chamber and that brought out Daniel Bryan. Michael Cole actually admitted that the WWE Universe wanted Daniel Bryan last night. Bryan asked the fans to stop chanting “Yes” and to stop chanting “Daniel Bryan” because The Authority doesn’t like it, so they did.
Bryan said that his match was, according to many people, one of the best matches on the Royal Rumble. He then said most people’s most disappointing moments of the Royal Rumble was him not being in the Royal Rumble match, but they refused to let him. He told them to listen to the crowd. Stephanie claimed it was because of his injuries and Bryan pointed out the numerous times they put him in three matches in one night.
Stephanie asked if Bryan really thought all the people in the arena came just to see him and the crowd all started chanting “YES.” Stephanie continued to make fun of the crowd for not knowing what they should chant. Daniel Bryan said he wanted in the Elimination Chamber match and then he got in Triple H’s face and he wasn’t leaving until he got what he wanted. Triple H called out The Shield, who attacked Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and John Cena ran in for the save.
Tonight, The Shield will face John Cena, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan and the winning team gets into the Elimination Chamber match.
The first match on WWE Monday Night Raw sees Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara face The Real Americans. Zeb Colter started off by saying real men don’t wear masks. Things got hot when Colter got mad at Jack Swagger for getting thrown out of the ring and then he slapped Swagger in the face. Antonio Cesaro threw Swagger back in the ring and he was more aggressive. It really looked like Rey and Sin Cara would win when Rey hit the 619 and then Sin Cara went on top. However, Cesaro moved out of the way and then hit the giant European uppercut and the Neutralizer for the win.
Bad News Barrett is out next and said he had bad news for the television audience because The Miz will fight Dolph Ziggler later in the card. He said that match will have two losers in it, which makes it perfect for Cleveland.
The WWE Network starts in four weeks and we get a preview of the WWE Network series “The Monday Night War: WWE vs. WCW.”
Fandango was out for the next match with Summer Rae. His opponent is R-Truth, which means Xavier Woods is on commentary. Emma from NXT made another appearance in the audience with her sign. A lot of the commentary was about Xavier Woods’ education and career goals (he wants to teach autistic kids and win the U.S. title from Dean Ambrose). R-Truth picked up the win.
Brad Maddox came out next and introduced the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton. He starts to whine about being in the Elimination Chamber match and demands respect, which brings out Batista. The fans really have Batista’s shaken up here and he screws up some lines as he talks about winning the title. He said no one will stop him and that brings out Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman.
Heyman said that Lesnar’s patience is running out and tonight The Authority has two choices tonight. He said the first option is for Lesnar to get a title match tonight (the crowd chants “Yes”). Heyman said it was just a suggestion and the second option would be for Brock Lesnar to fight Batista tonight. He said if Lesnar doesn’t get his answer, there will be an “or else.” Well, Paul Heyman saved that segment.
Next up is the “Battle for Cleveland” with Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz. The end of the match came after Ziggler finally got to the ropes to force Miz to release his Figure Four. The two exchanged small packages, but then after they stood up from that, Ziggler hit the Zig Zag from behind and picked up the win.
The next match was a tag team match between The Usos and the team of Ryback and Curtis Axel. The Usos picked up the win when Jimmy Uso pinned Ryback.
The next match was a tag team match between The Usos and the team of Ryback and Curtis Axel. The Usos picked up the win when Jimmy Uso pinned Ryback.
Up next was Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio. This might be the first time I remember this year that Del Rio wrestled someone other than Sin Cara or Rey Mysterio. The match was very long, and very even. There were at least two or three occasions where it looked like one of them would win before Del Rio finally hit the concussion kick for the win.
The WWE World Tag Team Championship as on the line next as the New Age Outlaws took on Goldust and Cody Rhodes. The end to a long match came when Paul Heyman came out with Brock Lesnar and Lesnar attacked both Goldust and Cody Rhodes. Heyman said The Authority refused both their challenges so Lesnar took a chair and KILELD Goldust and Cody Rhodes with them. The chair actually broke over Goldust’s back.
An eight-man Divas match was next with the Bella Twins and Funkadactyls taking on AJ Lee, Tamina Snuka, Aksana and Alicia Fox. Naomi pinned the champion AJ Lee in the match and the good girls danced in the ring after the match.
The next inductee to the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame is Jake “The Snake” Roberts, someone who has worked his butt off to get to this point thanks to DDP Yoga. Congratulations to The Snake.
The next match is the six-man Elimination Chamber qualifying match with John Cena, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan facing The Shield, the winning team gets all three men in the match. This match was another long match on a night of some solid wrestling action. It went almost 20 minutes, and interestingly, The Shield just destroyed John Cena for most of the match.
However, the ending was strange as The Wyatt Family came down and attacked John Cena, causing the disqualification and meaning that Cena, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan are in the Elimination Chamber match. After the match, The Shield destroyed the ringside area and Roman Reigns stood on the announcer’s table and stared down either Sheamus or Bray Wyatt, who was at the entrance.
