– Regarding WWE bringing in veterans like Rhynoand Brian Kendrick to NXT, the idea behind it is that new developmental talents will improve faster if they work with more experienced talent. This is a similar move to that made by Jim Ross, who had a similar philosophy when he was working with Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE”s developmental territory at the time. WWE is rumored to be bringing in more past veterans to work with the young guys in NXT.
– Ticket sales for WrestleMania 31 have reportedly picked up since the WWE World Heavyweight Championship between Brock Lesnar and Rmoan Reigns was officially announced after the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. Comped tickets are said to be down a considerable amount compared to 2014 and the overall pace of ticket sales for the show as a whole are said to be slightly ahead of where WrestleMania XXX was at this time.
– This WrestleMania 31 poster that surfaced last week featuring The Undertaker and Sting, among others, is legitimate. WWE launched this banner ad campaign on Monday promoting the event on the WWE Network featuring a variation of the artwork.
– Lilian Garcia is scheduled to sing the National Anthem on Friday, March 13 the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona before the Phoenix Suns vs. Atlanta Hawks game.
– Even more details are coming in regarding the major argument between Brock Lesnar and Vince McMahon that saw Lesnar storm out of last week’s WWE RAW without appearing on television, as scheduled.
While it was known that the issue was related to business matters (not creative plans), former WWE writer ‘MetsFan4Ever’ revealed that Lesnar told McMahon he wanted to attend Saturday night’s UFC 184 pay-per-view to discuss a potential deal with UFC President Dana White. McMahon was strongly against Lesnar attending the show, which caused him to storm out, leaving his WWE future in question.
As we saw over the weekend, Lesnar did in fact attend the UFC show and was seen cageside talking with Dana White. After talking with a few people in the know over the weekend, it looks like the chances of Lesnar returning to UFC are over 50% at this point.
– Bryan Alvarez of f4wonline.com has provided some new information regarding AJ Lee calling out Stephanie McMahon on Twitter last week regarding the way WWE Divas are paid and portrayed on television. While Lesnar’s walkout was a huge story last week, it’s said that there’s even more heat on AJ Lee.
As far as the blow up is concerned, there are still not a lot of details regarding the situation. We can, however, report that whatever happened between Lesnar and Vince has something to do with negotiating a new WWE contract, and that things got so bad that both were said to be overheard loudly yelling at each other to the point that some became concerned, especially for McMahon. Those who could hear the argument noted that it sounded “really bad.”
Lesnar is friends with Tony Ferguson, a UFC Lightweight contender who fought in the pay-per-view opener on Saturday night. In fact, Lesnar was Ferguson’s coach on The Ultimate Fighter back in 2011.
According to UFC President Dana White, Lesnar “just happened to be in town,” as that’s the explanation he gave for Lesnar being at the show, however it’s pretty obvious that Lesnar is “playing the game” in terms of negotiations, in an attempt to get the best offer for his services.
While no one seems to know what Lesnar’s issue is with WWE’s new contract offer, it’s worth pointing out that there have been a lot of talent that have gotten offers from WWE recently that included a lot of weird stipulations, including extended non-competes and verbal agreements being made that end up being completely different than what ends up being written into the physical contracts.
It will be interesting to see what happens at the March 9th edition of RAW, as that is the next show that Lesnar is being advertised to attend. At the WWE SmackDown television taping this past Tuesday night, things regarding Lesnar were so bad that the WWE writers actually asked McMahon if they should write a “back-up version” of WrestleMania 31, one that wouldn’t include Lesnar in any way, shape or form. McMahon replied with a firm “no,” and insinuated that he would sue Lesnar if he didn’t work the show.
If Lesnar does not work the remainder of his current deal with WWE he would likely be in breach of his contract, unless there are unknown extenuating circumstances.
– As noted on Saturday night, current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who is in the middle of a serious negotiating issue with WWE, was in attendance at the UFC 184 pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California. While Paul Heyman didn’t directly comment about Lesnar attending the show last night, he did re-tweet a fan who commented about him being there, and also re-tweeted a MMA journalist who posted about Lesnar wearing a “sweet suit” at the show. You can check out photos of Lesnar wearing his “sweet suit” at the UFC pay-per-view this weekend by clicking here.
– Vince McMahon tweeted the following on Friday, congratulating part-time WWE performer Batista on his role as “Mr. Hinx” in the new James Bond movie.
Following the surprising absence of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at Monday’s edition of WWE RAW, which he was advertised to appear on, a lot of rumors started spreading online.
One particular rumor, which emanated from a post on Reddit, claimed that Roman Reigns had failed a Wellness test, and that had something to do with Lesnar leaving the building and refusing to appear on the show.
Regarding that specific rumor, WWE issued a brief, one-line statement that read, “That story is absolutely, 100% untrue.”
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. In this installment, JR spoke at length about the news of Brock Lesnar “walking out” on WWE during Monday’s RAW and the #GiveDivasAChance movement that’s been bubbling up this week. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Brock Lesnar Walking Out On WWE: “Read online about Brock Lesnar allegedly walking out of Monday Night RAW prior to his appearance on Monday’s show so to address the many Tweets @JRsBBQ and emails, I have no idea what the issue may or may not be. Generally, my philosophy on matters such as this is to keep my nose out of other’s business and that these matters are usually about one of the Two C’s, cash or creative. That may or may not be the case in this matter but I’m confident that the two sides will reunite here at crunch time in attempting to build much needed momentum for WrestleMania which will be here before we know it. In today’s world of big money and the multitude of diverse personalties involved in negotiations in all sports ad entertainment, once again the term communication elbows its way into the equation.”
The #GiveDivasAChance Movement: “@RondaRousey is arguably the top star in MMA today so if that is remotely true then why can’t a highly skilled diva contribute much more in the sports entertainment world than they currently are? It’s all about presentation and performance. Nonetheless, it’s going to be challenging for many of today’s Divas to surpass the accomplishments of the women of the Attitude Era and, yes, I’m biased about the roster that we assembled back in the day as those ladies were not only skilled from bell to bell but they also brought sex appeal and a great attitude to the presentations in which they were involved. Plus they were damn tough.”
As always, you can check out JR’s amazing line of BBQ products at WWEShop.com.
As noted earlier today, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar was at Monday’s post-Fastlane edition of WWE RAW in Nashville, Tennessee, but for some reason was not used on the show.
Lesnar reportedly flew his private plane to Nashville early in the day on Monday, but WWE decided against using him as part of the program.
According to those who saw Lesnar on Monday, he was said to be “obviously angry” about something, with one source even claiming that he actually walked out before the taping began.
As far as what went down, there are a few different stories making the rounds. It’s said that whatever happened was not a creative conflict, but instead had something to do with the business relationship between WWE and Lesnar.
Vince McMahon reportedly acknowledged the issue during a production meeting for WWE SmackDown held earlier today, but did not elaborate on what happened in terms of providing details during the meeting.
At this point, Lesnar has returned home to Minnesota, and is not backstage at the WWE SmackDown television taping tonight.
Lesnar is currently not advertised to appear for WWE again until the March 9th edition of RAW in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which gives WWE a few weeks to work out whatever issues are going on.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar did not appear on Monday’s RAW, despite being advertised for the show up until 30 minutes before RAW went on the air.
Lesnar’s advocate Paul Heyman was there and cut a must-see promo on Roman Reigns to hype the WrestleMania main event, but Lesnar was conspicuously absent.
It turns out that Lesnar was in fact backstage, but there was some sort of incident that resulted in him not participating in the show. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, there is a situation developing that WWE officials do not want getting out.
WWE Fastlane was held in Memphis last night at the FedEx Forum. It was a fitting venue, seeing as they pretty much mailed it in for most of the night. After a night of action, we now have a pretty clear idea of what WrestleMania will look like in five weeks. Here are the pros and cons from last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
Pros
After a night of non-finishes and botched endings, the main event between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns was an absolute treat. These two guys started off a bit slow, but once they got going, they really gelled well. Bryan’s wrestling style went so well with the brawling style of Reigns, and it was nice to see both guys getting support from the crowd.
A few of the highlights included Reigns countering Bryan’s dive to the floor into an overhead belly to belly suplex, Bryan countering the spear into a beautiful small package, and also Reigns turning a potential hurricanrana into a brutal powerbomb from the top rope. These two also employed some solid in-ring psychology due to Reigns selling Bryan’s kick to the liver as he tried to hit a Superman punch. Overall, it was an exciting match, both guys looked great, it ended clean, and it’s always nice to see a main event end in a handshake.
The tag team match was a close second for match of the night. These two teams have so much chemistry and it’s really a pleasure to watch them do their thing. Cesaro’s half crab Cesaro swing was cool, as was the combination of Cesaro’s suplex from the apron into a springboard from Kidd.
The Usos looked good as well, teaming up for a double team Samoan drop that I don’t recall seeing them bust out before. In the end, new champions were crowned after Kidd picked up the victory with a swinging fisherman suplex. After their victory, it was nice to find out that they are “still the new WWE Tag Team Champions” (perhaps suggesting the outcome was changed last minute, as the odds shifted after the “smart money” was in).
The Bray Wyatt segment was enjoyable. He had the crowd going nuts in anticipation of the Phenom, only to shatter their dreams by popping out of the coffin. Wyatt called himself “the new face of fear,” and said: “At WrestleMania, I will claim the soul of the Undertaker.” This feud should be entertaining, but it would have been nice to see Wyatt play up the fact that fans weren’t getting ‘Taker, as the company needs more dislikable heels right now.
I’m not totally sure how I feel about the Sting and Triple H segment, so I’ll go ahead and put it in the pros section. Triple H of course continued to bury a long dead company, stating: “My legacy is putting your legacy out of business.” He also threatened Sting with the Benoit treatment, saying he would wipe him from the history books if he didn’t cooperate. It was cool to see Sting use his signature black bat though, and Hunter was very intense throughout the segment. Overall, it could have been better, but it was a decent setup for their match at WrestleMania.
Finally, the Rusev and John Cena match was far from perfect, but it worked out well. There was some hard-hitting action throughout, including a big spinning side slam from Rusev. The action was slow-paced and methodical, but it was entertaining for the most part. It of course ended in another non-clean finish, but it worked well in this case. I have to say, seeing Cena stagger out of the arena was pretty satisfying, even though it means he will definitely get redemption at WrestleMania.
The post-WWE Fastlane edition of RAW takes place live tonight from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Tonight’s show will feature the fallout from last night’s Fastlane pay-per-view, and will begin to official road to WrestleMania 31.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar is advertised for the show, so expect his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania to start getting hyped tonight.
Make sure to visit us here tonight for live WWE RAW play-by-play results coverage.
Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan at the WWE Fastlane pay-per-view on Sunday night at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.
With the victory, Reigns becomes the number one contender and as far as things stand right now, will be the one to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at this year’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view, which takes place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
WWE Fastlane went off the air with Daniel Bryan shaking Reigns hand and saying, “You better kick his ass at WrestleMania.”
Make sure to join us here for WrestleMania 31 live results coverage on Sunday, March 29th.
– Sting is in Orlando, Florida this week for WWE business-related reasons. It’s believed that he is working on his segment with Triple H scheduled for this Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
– There continues to be an expectation among many within WWE that Brock Lesnar will actually end up staying with the company after his current contract expires following this year’s WrestleMania.
– Hollymood Entertainment has just released another new trailer for the marijuana documentary featuring Rob Van Dam. The documentary is titled, “The Emperor, The President & The King” and is scheduled to be released late in 2015. You can watch the new trailer below, and can subscribe to the Hollymood Entertainment Youtube channel at Youtube.com/slowdive626.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR said about:
Brock Lesnar’s WWE Future: “Sources are saying that it looks more promising that Brock Lesnar could well stay with WWE past WrestleMania due to concerns over long term health affects of competing in MMA specifically concussion oriented issues later in one’s life. gain, these are ‘sources’ and how reliable they are can only be judged after WM31 and following the status of the former UFC Heavyweight Champion. One thing is certain, if UFC believes, and rightfully so in my view, that CM Punk will sell PPV’s for at least his first two fights then what would a healthy Brock Lesnar mean to the UFC brand in a time where no combat sport company has a plethora of bona fide star power that can move the needle on the pay per view business.”
Lucha Underground: “Watching more Lucha Underground and it continues to remind me of when TBS did wrestling at Center Stage on West Peachtree in Atlanta. I loved that venue and the overall gig as living in Atlanta was a blast and I lived only about 15 minutes away from the building. Lucha smartly shoots their small but enthusiastic crowd which is comparable on how WWE shoots NXT. It’s essentially a plus sized TV studio with few more whistles and bells. It can create a unique atmosphere and fun live event experience.”
As always, you can buy Jim Ross’ amazing line of BBQ products at WWEShop.com.
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan will battle WWE Fast Lane on February 22nd to determine which man will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania.
The match was set up on RAW after Triple H’s major announcement regarding the controversy surrounding Reigns’ Royal Rumble win. There is a strong argument to be made why both of them are deserving of the title shot. Reigns won the Rumble, albeit with help from The Rock. Daniel Bryan was stripped of the gold last year after he was forced to undergo neck surgery.
No matter who you think deserves the WrestleMania title shot – which of them do you think will actually get it? Vote here:
– Seth Rollins spoke about being in the ring with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar during the WWE press conference in Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning. Rollins stated the following:
“I have watched Brock Lesnar for a really long time and I thought I knew how strong he was, I thought I knew how fast he was. Being in the ring with him, he is a completely different animal. He is a beast. They call him the Beast Incarnate and that is real. Whether you are in the Octagon with him trading fists, or in the ring trading German suplexes it is on another level. It was a pleasure and I am glad I got to be in the ring with him and i think I proved to the entire world I can hang with the guy.”
– Finn Balor, who defeated Adrian Neville to become the new number one contender to the NXT Championship at last night’s NXT TakeOver: Rival special, posted the following photos of his body paint on Twitter.
– The teaser that aired in the middle of the NXT TakeOver: Rival special on Wednesday was for the debut of Solomon Crowe. The teaser simply said to stay tuned to next week’s episode, which was put over by the announcers.
– Part two of Steve Austin’s interview with Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg is now available on the latest edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast. The official description for the show reads as follows:
SASu – EP194 – Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg Pt2
“Hot 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg returns to talk pro-wrestling with Steve! The Macho Man vs Ricky Steamboat steel cage match, more Royal Rumble analysis, the Montreal Screw Job, Stone Cold vs Mike Tyson, the hardest & easiest wrestlers to move around in the ring, and pro-wrestling memorabilia include Steve-weiser cans & Bret Hart’s sunglasses!”
– NBA legend and former part-time WCW performer Karl Malone recently challenged Brock Lesnar during an appearance on FOX Sports 1. You can check out the interview below.
When I was a kid, I had a trampoline. My friends and I were all huge pro wrestling fans and long before the explosion of “backyard trampoline wrestling federations,” we would watch the matches together, go out on the trampoline and try and reenact what we saw on television.
Of course if you’re this enthused about professional wrestling as a youngster, you’re going to take your trampoline matches seriously and treat them as if they were part of a legitimate organization — for kids. Were we looking to become millionaires or television stars? Of course not. Did we fantasize and treat it like we were right in the middle of a WWE ring on a WWE Superstars or Saturday Night’s Main Event broadcast?
We sure did.
So the next logical step, seeing is how we were taking this so seriously was to purchase replica WWE Championship belts so that when we won “the big matches,” we could crown ourselves the champion.
What was the first replica belt we bought? Well, obviously it was the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, right?
Wrong.
This was during the early-1990s and mid-1990s, when if you were a kid, the best wrestlers and your favorite wrestlers were generally the guys who held the WWE Intercontinental Championship. We thought the belt itself looked cooler than the “Eagle” championship that the main champions wore and we — even as kids — recognized that guys like Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect and Shawn Michaels were much better wrestlers than Diesel or Yokozuna.
Fast-forward to today.
I can’t recall a time when the secondary titles in WWE have meant less. If you’re an Intercontinental Champion or United States Champion in WWE these days, you basically aren’t a champion at all. I can’t even count how many times a pay-per-view would come and go without an I-C or U.S. title match even taking place on the card. If they were on the card, they certainly didn’t come off as anything important or relevant.
With Brock Lesnar as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and with the main title in WWE being unified, meaning there’s only one “main” champion these days, and due to the fact that Lesnar has such a limited schedule in WWE, why doesn’t WWE take this opportunity to try and make their secondary titles mean more?
WWE Superstars need to cut promos and make the I-C and U.S. titles seem like a goal that is really worth achieving. They need to act like those titles are the be-all, end-all, if for no other reason than the fact that they are the only consistently active titles in the company right now.
There has been a lot of talk about unifying the I-C and U.S. titles and while I have always been in favor of that idea, I’m not so sure if that should be happening anytime soon. While unifying the I-C and U.S. titles would, in theory, make the one secondary title seem stronger, it would also take away even more from WWE live events having title matches.
Right now, the I-C and U.S. titles are the only men’s singles championships that are on the line at non-televised events. For that matter, they’re the only titles that are defended on television. Hell, they’re the only two men’s singles titles that are defended on pay-per-views more often than not.
WWE needs to raise the value of their secondary championships and make those I-C and U.S. titles mean as much as humanly possible. The good part is, when Lesnar does eventually drop the title and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship becomes active again, the I-C and U.S. titles, if they play their cards right, will at that point mean more and all of a sudden you have three titles of value, something WWE hasn’t had in years.
Basically, it won’t seem odd for a big-name Superstar to explain how important it is to win the I-C title at that point, whereas if Roman Reigns or John Cena said in a promo today, “I won’t sleep until I get the WWE United States Championship around my waist!” you would probably look at them like they have four heads. Although with Cena’s current program against U.S. Champion Rusev, we might actually hear a version of that, if WWE decides to make the title an important part of their feud, which of course is doubtful.
Regardless, WWE needs to work on getting these secondary championships to regain the luster that they had when I was a little kid jumping on a trampoline and pretending like my dreams just came true because I won a match and got to hold the — PRESTIGIOUS — WWE Intercontinental Championship high over my head.
What are your thoughts on WWE’s secondary singles titles? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also follow me on social media for continued news and views at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR and/or on Twitter @MBoone420.
It appears that WWE has once again changed plans for the WrestleMania 31 main event, according to a Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
For the better part of 2014, it was expected that Roman Reigns would be challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 31. It appeared that plans were still on course after Reigns won the Royal Rumble. That was until fans outright rejected WWE’s storyline plans for Reigns in a sign of fan defiance we hadn’t seen since, well, the previous year’s Rumble.
Daniel Bryan was originally booked to wrestle Sheamus at WrestleMania. Then, Bryan and Dolph Ziggler began talking about a potential WrestleMania match on social media. Now, it looks like fans have pushed Daniel Bryan right back into the WrestleMania main event mix.
According to Dave Meltzer, Vince McMahon recently changed his mind about the WrestleMania main event, with Daniel Bryan being added as the third person in 3-way match. The feeling after the Royal Rumble was that Vince McMahon would not want to do another triple threat match to headline their biggest show of the year, since they went that route last year. However, Vince McMahon heard the fan backlash to Roman Reigns loud and clear, held a meeting with top WWE officials and decided on Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan.
Of course, plans could change again, but as of now, that’s what they’re going with.
It’s also worth noting that WWE.com ran a poll over the weekend asking who was more deserving of the WrestleMania main event – Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns – with Bryan earning over 87% of the vote.
Reddit user MetsFan4Ever, a verified WWE insider with a strong track record of breaking news, has posted an update regarding the main event of WWE Fast Lane and more specifically, the rise of Roman Reigns. Here are the main points:
– MetsFan says that it’s “100% confirmed” that Roman Reigns will be defeating Daniel Bryan at WWE Fast Lane. WWE addressed the Rumble controversy and put this obstacle in Reigns’ way as a way to “silence the marks” for a few weeks while they get Reigns over. Regardless of the mixed reactions he’s been getting, ‘Roman is the man and will be headlining WrestleMania and defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.”
– Daniel Bryan is considered one of the most physical in-ring workers in WWE, which is why he’s been paired with Roman Reigns. WWE wants Reigns to work with Bryan to get him comfortable working stiff matches ahead of his date with the Beast Incarnate.
– The general feeling amongst WWE management is that fans are going to purchase WrestleMania no matter what and the WrestleMania brand is what sells, not specific matches. MetsFan was told in jest that WWE could put Brock Lesnar vs. Doink the Clown and fans would buy it.
There’s a possibility that plans for a Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler match at WrestleMania 31 may be off.
Some are speculating that once Bryan vs. Roman Reigns was made for the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view in a number one contender’s match that the company had already started heading in a different direction leading into WrestleMania.
While it’s unlikely, there is a possibility that Bryan ends up working against Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, however most assume that the main event will remain Reigns vs. Lesnar for the title.
Regarding the Bryan-Ziggler match, there is said to be a reason why WWE has Ziggler teaming up with Ryback for a tag-team match on tonight’s SmackDown show. Apparently there is talk of keeping Ziggler and Ryback as a duo and having them work a tag-team match at WrestleMania 31, which would obviously scrap the possibility of a Bryan-Ziggler singles match.
– Although it was reported on Tuesday via Reddit user “MetsFan4Ever” that WWE officials were considering changing NXT star Kalisto’s gimmick to that of a gay hair stylist, WWE sources reached out today and claimed that is not the case, and that Kalisto will not be changing characters at all.
MetsFan4Ever has since posted an update – stating that his initial report was that the idea was being considered – not that it was definitely happening. It remains to be seen if WWE does pull the trigger on this unique character change, but it was discussed.
– In what could be taken as a sign of a possible Fast Lane spoiler, as of this week the people in charge of handling the actual promotional materials for WrestleMania 31 were still under the impression that Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns will be the main event of the show. In the promotional materials, the workers were told to feature Reigns the most prominently, followed by Lesnar and John Cena.
It’s worth noting that WWE has not included Sting in any of the promotional materials for WrestleMania as of yet, and since he’s all but confirmed for the event, his involvement will likely be a major selling point for the show, so new materials will likely be released in the near future to include him.
As seen on Monday’s RAW, Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns is now set as the main event for the February 22nd WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view, with the winner going on to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.
Prior to the Royal Rumble backlash, the original plans for Fast Lane was to have Reigns defeat a top heel, possibly Big Show, in the main event on the show, while Bryan was likely to lose to Bray Wyatt in order to keep Wyatt strong for The Undertaker.
Regarding booking for Bryan, WWE originally wanted to put him in a match with Sheamus at WrestleMania 31, however Bryan himself requested that he work with Dolph Ziggler instead. It’s worth noting that it’s considered possible that Bryan still ends up working with Sheamus, although it is considered unlikely at this point.
After being postponed last week due to snow, the good ole live, in-ring version of Raw was back last night, emanating from the Mile High City. The company was back in full force, with Triple H making a “major announcement” and a big main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from last night’s episode of Raw.
Pros
The clear highlight of the night was the main event between Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Anytime you get two guys with this type of talent in the same ring, you know you’re in for a treat. They certainly didn’t disappoint either, pulling off a number of impressive spots and exhibiting impeccable chemistry. The spot of the match was probably Rollins countering Bryan’s Running Knee finisher into a Powerbomb. In the end, Bryan picked up the win and will face Roman Reigns at Fast Lane for a chance to go to WrestleMania (more on this later).
The second best part of the night was probably the segment involving Curtis Axel and Dean Ambrose. It’s sad when the first thing Axel has to say when coming out is, “Don’t change the channel.” It’s like he’s a mind reader or something. Anyway, it was hilarious to see Ambrose quickly toss Axel over the top rope before telling him he’s now eliminated. Even more exciting was that Ambrose called out Bad News Barrett. This is a program that really needs to happen, as Ambrose is the type of guy who could bring some prestige back to the Intercontinental Title after the company has played hot potato with it over the past few years.
Bray Wyatt had a big night. His match with Dolph Ziggler was incredible, and it was nice to see two guys who don’t work together much get a chance to shine. Wyatt hit a devastating Sister Abigail that Ziggler sold better than anyone to end the match. Later in the night, he cut a promo saying things like, “I am the new face of fear” and, “We cannot wait to see you again.” It looks like they are going with the rumored Wyatt/Taker program for WrestleMania and I, for one, cannot wait. If only they had gone this route last year instead of wasting the streak on a part-timer…
Rusev’s beating of Rowan and post-match promo was money. I absolutely love this guy and he played off of the Russian flag miscue perfectly. Please push this guy to the top and don’t feed him to Cena.
Jimmy Uso and Cesaro looked great together. The highlights were a Cesaro Swing into a Half Crab and a brutal uppercut to end the contest. It was nice to see Cesaro pick up a victory, but the only downside was that they are already teasing tension between Cesaro and Kidd. I’d like to see these guys stick together for a while and get a run with the titles.
Finally, the Miz/Mizdow promo was absolutely hilarious. It was nice to see the Miz berate his now former stunt double and put the wheels in motion for a breakup. Here’s to hoping for a payoff at WrestleMania.