Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman & Stephanie McMahon Kick Off RAW
The post-WrestleMania 31 edition of WWE RAW, which is live in front of a jam-packed crowd in San Jose, California, opens up with the normal RAW opening video, followed by a shot inside the arena, where pyro and fireworks explode as loud as the fans do.
Michael Cole welcomes us to the show on commentary, informing us that the SAP Center in San Jose is sold out for tonight’s show. From there, Brock Lesnar’s theme hits, the fans erupt and out comes the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion accompanied by his advocate, Paul Heyman.
Lilian Garcia introduces Lesnar and Heyman. Lesnar, by the way, is wearing his ring gear — no shirt, wrestling shorts, MMA gloves, etc. He’s got scratches and bruises all over his face and looks pissed. The announcers inform us what happened at WrestleMania 31 last night, with Seth Rollins cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
The music dies down as the “Lesnar! Lesnar!” chants pick up. “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman,” opens the advocate. The fans are absolutely on fire here early on tonight.
The fans break out into a very loud chant. It’s either “U-F-C!” or “Suplex City!” but either way, Heyman tells us the correct phrase is “Suplex City, BITCH!” the phrase Lesnar said last night while he was beating down Roman Reigns in the early goings of the match.
Heyman brings up Rollins cashing in and points out that he pinned the challenger, Roman Reigns, not the champion, Brock Lesnar. Heyman explains how he can handle that situation legally before pointing out that his client, Brock Lesnar, thinks all lawyers are scumbags and doesn’t want to handle it in a legal fashion, he wants to use his rematch clause. The fans go wild for that one. Heyman tells us that the rematch will be used right here, right now, tonight. The fans go absolutely crazy for that one. “Yes!” chants spread throughout the SAP Center as Stephanie McMahon’s theme hits.
The fans boo so loudly that you can barely hear Stephanie, who talks about how awesome WrestleMania was last night at the top of the stage. The “Ronda Rousey” chants are now drowning out Steph as she tries to talk. The announcers point out that the fans are chanting for Rousey. Steph says Rollins isn’t back from his “Today” show appearance in New York yet, so she can’t make the rematch official yet.
Heyman tells Stephanie that he’s going to give Stephanie — not a prediction, but a spoiler. He says tonight, for the first time in over a decade, his client — Brock Lesnar — is going to wrestle on Monday Night RAW. He says he’s going to give Seth Rollins a beating and he is going to make an announcement, “The winner, and once again the reigning, undisputed, WWE heavyweight champion of the world, Brock Lesnar.” Lesnar’s music hits again as Heyman tosses the mic out of the ring.
Three Title Matches Tonight On RAW?
We shoot to the announcers who inform us that we may see three title matches tonight, as John Cena has issued an open challenge to defend the WWE United States Championship tonight here on RAW. They also inform us that Daniel Bryan is going to defend his newly won WWE Intercontinental Championship aganist Dolph Ziggler, and that match is next. We head to our first commercial break on that note.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
– Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
When we return from the break, Dolph Ziggler is in the ring wearing a goofy jean-jacket cut-off that looks like a vest, with pink emblems and stuff on it. Daniel Bryan’s theme hits, the fans erupt in “Yes!” chants and the new I-C champ makes his way to the ring.
The bell sounds and here we go with our first match of the evening. The former I-C champ, Bad News Barrett, is on commentary for this one. Bryan and Ziggler trade holds and Bryan mounts Ziggler with rig8ht hands. Ziggler with a 2 count. Ziggler fires back with strikes now. They lock up and fans chant “this is awesome” as they go to the corner. Bryan drops Ziggler in the corner and gets him in the surfboard submission to a pop. Bryan keeps control after they break but Ziggler hits a dropkick. We head to a mid-match commercial.
We’re back from the break and we see Bryan beating on Ziggler in the ring. Bryan climbs up top but Ziggler crotches him. Ziggler climbs up but Bryan reverses and crotches Ziggler. Bryan climbs back up as we get dueling chants from fans. Bryan hits a huge super back drop from the top and covers for a 2 count. Bryan with kicks while Ziggler is on his knees now. Ziggler ducks the roundhouse and rolls Bryan up for 2. Bryan goes for the “Yes!” lock, but Ziggler avoids it.
Ziggler goes for his Zig-Zag finisher, but Bryan avoids it and blasts Ziggler with a super kick. Ziggler and Bryan trade shots again as the fans come alive once again. Much like last night at WrestleMania, Bryan and Ziggler trade headbutts back-and-forth until finally Bryan knocks him down. Bryan hits the running knee and pins him. 1-2-3. Bryan retains.
Winner and STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion: Daniel Bryan
After The Match:
Once the match is finished, Bad News Barrett hops off of commentary and hits the ring, attacking Daniel Bryan. As he continues to beat him down, Sheamus’ theme song hits. “The Celtic Warrior” makes his way to the ring and chases Barrett out of there, but then out of nowhere, he blasts Bryan with a Brogue Kick and then beats down Ziggler for a while. The fans start chanting “You look stupid! You look stupid!” at Sheamus, who has a big red mohawk and a beard tied up in little rubber bands. Sheamus gets on the mic and simply says, “I’m back.” We head to commercial.
