WWE Superstar Jack Swagger recently spoke with The Huffington Post U.K.’s “Royal Ramblings” blog. Below are highlights from the interview.
On what it would mean to win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31: “It would mean a lot. Just to be on a Wrestlemania card, I think, means more to the superstars than a pay check or going to work that day. It’s such a special thing, such an honour to be on there. So to win the Battle Royal would be very impressive and I’d put it up there with one of the best feats of my career. Anything named after Andre the Giant in our line of work is something very special and should be put on a pedestal.”
On Rusev vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 31: “Rusev is one of those competitors that comes around once in a generation. Everything that you see about him is legit. If anyone were to stand a chance against him it would probably be Jack Swagger! I think I’ve probably got one more Wrestlemania to get him! Me aside, if anyone wants to take him down in this day and age in the WWE it will be John Cena – and what a moment that will be.”
On advice he’d give Roman Reigns going into his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31: “I think I would tell Roman that he just needs to do everything he has done his entire life. He knows how to win and how to prepare himself. The hay’s in the barn at that point, it’s just time to believe in himself and go win the biggest match of his life. That, and to stop putting so much conditioner in his hair before he goes out! It’s not naturally that shiny! It makes me mad. It’s all product! You’re all product Roman!”
On the “#GiveDivasAChance” movement and who he feels the next big Diva will be: “I think our divas division is very strong and more competitive than it has been since I’ve been on the roster. They definitely are underutilised and don’t get enough air time – some matches just leave you blown away by what they do. I think Trinity (Naomi) is one of the girls that is going to transcend and change the division. She’s so athletic – if she was a guy she’d be a Pro Bowler in the NFL or an All-Star in the NBA, she’s that good.”
Alberto El Patron recently spoke with The Troy Show, where he spoke about WWE Dr. Chris Amann suing CM Punk and Colt Cabana, Roman Reigns, Vince McMahon and more. Below are highlights from the interview.
On CM Punk being sued by WWE doctor Chris Amann: “I never had any issues with the WWE medical staff, I’ve had problems with other departments similar to that. I know CM Punk, I know he’s not lying… Hopefully Punk goes well with this lawsuit and hopefully we get to see him pretty soon.”
On if he feels CM Punk go to Lucha Underground: “You never know buddy. There will be more surprises will be coming in the next 3 to 4 weeks.”
On Roman Reigns: “Great guy, great talent. A lot of talent and a lot of potential.”
On Vince McMahon: “A great person. A gentleman. I have nothing but good words for him.”
On Triple H: “I’m going to reserve my comments on that one [laughs].”
– WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan gave his endorsement of NXT talents Kevin Owens and Sasha Banks. “The Hulkster” tweeted a photo out on Saturday that features himself, Triple H and Jimmy Hart with the NXT champions and wrote, “This is why the WWE will live forever brother.”
– Jim Ross touched on the build to this year’s WrestleMania and the fan reaction to the push of Roman Reigns in his latest website blog. Below is an excerpt where JR comments on these two subjects.
“For those looking at the build to this WrestleMania as being not to their personal liking because of not enough hype and a lack of momentum in their eyes, I equate it to the Super Bowl. This year in the Super Bowl I did not have a horse in the race so I did not have an emotional investment to a high degree but I still watched the game with interest simply because I’m a NFL fan and it was, after all, the Super Bowl. Could that analogy apply to WrestleMania as it currently stands? I’m not jacked to the max today about WM31 but I promise you that I will be come that weekend and wouldn’t miss watching the show on the WWE Network for anything. Why? Because I’m still a true, wrestling fan. Let the show happen and then judge it as you choose.”
“Continue to get feedback from fans on Twitter or here at our Q&A’s that Roman Reigns “isn’t ready.” How many of you think that JYD was “ready” when Bill Watts made him the top star in Mid South Wrestling back in the day? Simply ask some of Dog’s opponents. But Dog had much of what many feel that Roman Reigns does. “Charisma” and a marketable look. Time will tell on that one but I say put Roman in the game and let’s see what’s in his heart when he knows he’s being relied on to pull the wagon. I’d enjoy seeing Reigns and Heyman put the screws to Brock this Monday in Pittsburgh on RAW whereby Lesnar goes into the main event at WM31 as a fan favorite defending his title against a stacked deck w/ Heyman ‘making’ a couple of villains by enlisting their help as “backup.” Just an idea much like Fantasy Football from my friends a @DraftKings.”
There is speculation that Brock Lesnar may legally owe WWE an additional appearance due to the fact that he walked out without appearing on the February 23rd edition of RAW as scheduled. As noted, Lesnar walked out after a business “blow-up” with Vince McMahon.
Lesnar’s current deal with WWE is set to expire following the post-WrestleMania 31 edition of RAW. As of right now, he is advertised to work the RAW in Pittsburgh on March 9th, the RAW in Los Angeles on March 23rd and the aforementioned post-WrestleMania 31 edition of RAW. The only date Lesnar could work to make up the show he walked out on would be the RAW in Des Moines on March 16th. As things stand currently, he has not been added to that show.
Despite all of the uncertainty surrounding Lesnar’s future, the belief among many within WWE is that there is still a good chance that he will end up re-signing with the company when his current contract expires.
Regarding the Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31, there’s a feeling that with the “smart fan” WrestleMania crowd, Reigns, who hasn’t been getting cheered as much as WWE would have liked by now in recent weeks, may end up being a wildly popular babyface if word spreads that Lesnar is leaving WWE for a UFC return after WrestleMania 31. A similar scenario played out back at WrestleMania XX between Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, as the smart crowd knew both guys were leaving after WrestleMania, so it immediately made both guys nuclear level heels to the Madison Square Garden fans.
Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Mikey Whipwreck recently spoke with Pro Wrestling Illustrated for an interview. Below are some of the highlights.
On still wrestling at age 41: “I feel it before I even get through the curtain. But they say it about ‘Taker, too. On a much, much smaller scale, they say I’m like Yoda. I can barely move. But when the music hits and it’s time to go to the ring, something just clicks in the brain. The adrenaline kicks in. The endorphins kick in . . . Some of the bumps hurt more than they used to. I took a tackle bump last month and it was like I got hit by a damn bus. But then I take a sidewalk slam or something big off the top rope, and it’s fine.”
On Roman Reigns: “He doesn’t have the experience that the other guys have. And he doesn’t know how to protect himself—not physically, but protect his character and how it comes across. He also doesn’t have the stroke to put his own spin on his character. I’ve heard him talk and do interviews, not on TV, but candid interviews. He’s very well-spoken. He’s really good. I just think when he was in The Shield and got over, he didn’t really talk. He was the ass-kicker. Now you have him out here talking and kind of trying to be like John Cena. And there’s nothing wrong with John Cena, but he’s very polarizing. You’ve got the guys that hate him and the kind and girls who love him. And that’s the kind of boat you’re going to get in with Roman Reigns. The smart people see he’s just not ready yet. They didn’t get him over. He was picked.”
On his career highlights: “The part now that everybody talks about is, ‘You pinned Steve Austin.’ That’s what I get. Yeah, being champion was cool. For me, at the time, it was mind-blowing. I though tit was the greatest thing over. But I pinned Steve Austin. That’s the one that really did it.”
On Paul Heyman’s current run in WWE: “I love it . . . When he comes on, it seems legit, like he’s really talking the truth. Yes, he’s in a wrestling character. But it really seems like he’s head and shoulders above everybody else. It’s super entertaining . . . It almost exposes everybody else. He’s pretty much had this same character since nineteen eighty-whatever. And he’s had a chance to master it. He’s just super good at it. He just takes his real personality and amps it up. And that’s what everybody says to do. You take a guy like Roman Reigns’ real personality—nobody knows what it is. So we don’t know what they’re amping up.”
On his relationship with Paul Heyman: “Without Paul Heyman, there’d be no me. Did he lie to me? Did he ever screw me over? No. Did the company owe me money? Yes. But, I knew we weren’t getting paid, and I made the decision to go to work every day. When I needed a break physically and I wanted to make some money and I went to WCW, he didn’t give me his blessing in WCW. But when I was fed up in WCW, he brought me back and gave me a really decent push after I was back a couple months with the Network and Tajiri. So what can I say? The guys what really hate him and still bury him and complain, it’s like, ‘It was 15 years ago. Get over it.”
– 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 past Saturday NXT live event in Tampa, Florida drew over 500 fans, setting a new record for the venue.
– NXT star Finn Balor is advertised to appear at the WWE live event in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, April 14th. Matches advertised for the show include Dolph Ziggler vs. Bad News Barrett, Big Show vs. Roman Reigns in a street fight, The Miz & Damien Mizdow vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro.
– TNA President Dixie Carter posted the following congratulatory message to Hulk Hogan following his “Appreciation Night” at Madison Square Garden this past weekend.
– 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.
WWE is gearing up for their annual post-WrestleMania European tour, with the following matches being advertised:
The “A-Crew” will be headlined by John Cena vs. Rusev for the United States Championship, Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship and Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins.
For other touring roster will feature Roman Reigns vs. Big Show in the main event, Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper and Tag Team Champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. The Usos.
While this doesn’t reveal anything big about what could transpire at WrestleMania, it does give an idea of which feuds will be continuing.
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.”
– While he did mention the name Rusev on Monday’s episode of “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart did not reference his current angle with Seth Rollins.
– The dark match main event after Monday’s RAW saw Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and John Cena beat Big Show, Kane, Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. The finish saw Reigns hit a spear on Big Show, with Cena following up with an Attitude Adjustment for the 1-2-3.
Raw was held in Nashville this week as the build to WrestleMania continues. The event featured a Tag Team Championship match, a few promos, and a bunch of other stuff that wasn’t really music to most fans’ ears. Here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
As soon as they announced the Usos were planning to invoke their rematch clause, it was obvious fans were going to be in for another treat. As one would expect, the action was fast paced and frequently spilled over to ringside. Kidd’s heel work has been top notch over the past few weeks, frequently using his wife as a human shield in order to gain an upper hand.
The Tag Champs work so well together too, using combination moves such as a catapult into a big uppercut, and a Cesaro swing into a dropkick. Although the match didn’t end clean, it featured some solid action and was probably the highlight of the night. Kidd and Cesaro are the best team in the WWE by far right now. They should get these guys some merch and push them to the moon.
I loved the backstage segment between the Miz and Damien Mizdow. It was awesome (no pun intended) to hear the Miz talk up the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and act like a win would elevate his career to new heights. (That worked out real well for Cesaro last year.)
Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler was a decent opening match. There were honestly only a handful of wrestling moves utilized throughout the match, with most of the action consisting of punches, rest holds, and brawling action outside of the ring. With that said, there were a few impressive sequences. Ziggler countered Wasteland twice, once into a DDT and another into a sunset flip. The sequence where Barrett ended up hitting Winds of Change was also nice.
The Show Off picked up the win after hitting the Zig Zag, allowing for Ambrose to show up and taunt Barrett with his Intercontinental Championship before staring Ziggler down. What are the chances that Barrett never touches his beloved title again? I’d usually say it’s about as likely as the Cubs winning the World Series this season, but they actually decided to crack open the checkbook over the winter so that might not be the best analogy.
#Axelmania. Enough said.
The Daniel Bryan/Roman Reigns promo was one of the more interesting moments all night. It was nice to see Daniel Bryan once again acting as the voice of the fans, saying, “The biggest Roman Reigns doubter is right here in Daniel Bryan,” while also echoing fan sentiments regarding Reigns only being in the main event because of his size and look. At the same time, he also put Reigns over for winning the match, ending the segment with a handshake.
Heyman’s interaction with Reigns was also intriguing, as he said he would put his money on Reigns over anyone, including guys like Hogan, Austin, and the Rock – anyone except Brock Lesnar, of course. Reigns was confident and composed during the back and forth with Heyman as he continues to improve on the mic. It’s easy to picture these two guys hooking up in the near future.
The Bray Wyatt promo was more of the same, but still entertaining nonetheless. I can’t wait for the Undertaker to show up respond to Wyatt’s challenge.
– Lilian Garcia was trending on Twitter last night due to a few botches she made during Fastlane. When Tyson Kidd and Cesaro defeated The Usos to capture the WWE Tag Team championships, she announced, “Here are your winners and still new WWE Tag Team Champions…” Later, she introduced WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella as the “WWE Women’s Champion.”
– Jim Ross and Chris Jericho tweeted the following about the Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns Fastlane main event:
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.
The Road to WrestleMania will become a lot clearer after Sunday’s pay-per-view. Fastlane is available for free to all new WWE Network customers, and even those who previously cancelled their account and re-subscribed, so there’s really no reason to miss out on the action. Here is how I expect the event to play out.
Goldust vs. Stardust
Man, they really should have saved this one for WrestleMania, but I guess there is only room on the card for one tag team breakup storyline, and it looks like that’s going to be Miz and Mizdow. Expect these guys to put on one hell of a match, as they have been lobbying for it for what seems like years. After a solid ten-minute contest with a number of near-falls, Stardust will pick up the win with Cross Rhodes.
Result: Stardust via pinfall
Rusev (United States Champion) vs. John Cena
These guys have done a pretty good of building up this match over the past few weeks, and it genuinely seems like Cena is interested in winning the United States Championship, which is always a plus. It’s almost guaranteed that this feud is going to continue into WrestleMania, so I expect Rusev to pick up the win, but certainly not clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHA5g_T227k
Lana will become involved at some point, possibly distracting Cena long enough for Rusev to pounce and pick up the win via the deadliest finisher in all of wrestling (the distraction roll-up), or by using the title as a weapon to knock out Cena while the Ravishing Russian distracts the referee. This will set up a rematch at WrestleMania where Cena will most likely go over.
Result: Rusev via pinfall
Nikki Bella (Divas Champion) vs. Paige
Paige is the most popular diva in the entire company by far right now. They are going to want her to capture the title at WrestleMania. Nikki wins with help from her sister before dropping the title to Paige next month.
Below are the latest online betting odds for Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. Keep in mind that the numbers, which are from the 5Dimes website, don’t mean much until about 90 minutes or so before the beginning of the show, where at that point they have approximately a 95-percent accuracy rate.
Earlier this week, Samoa Joe took to Twitter to deliver a shocking announcement. After nearly ten years as one of the pillars of TNA, Joe announced he would be parting ways with the company, effective immediately. Much like an RKO, the announcement came from out of nowhere.
Since the announcement, there has been speculation that Joe could try his luck with the WWE, as former superstars such as Steve Austin and Mick Foley have publicly stated they believe the company should sign him. However, what role would Samoa Joe play if he and the WWE reach an agreement? Here are five worthwhile feuds for Samoa Joe if the two sides can reach an agreement.
5. Finn Balor
If Samoa Joe does sign with the WWE, he will have to do his best Drake impersonation and start from the bottom, with NXT being the starting point. Finn Balor is currently the number one contender for the NXT Championship, and should be in NXT for at least the rest of the year. With Joe’s agile, submission-based style, and Balor’s high-flying, strong style, the two could mesh well together and provide a nice juxtaposition of styles in an entertaining program.
– Toronto Blue Jays MLB players Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez were among those that Roman Reigns was taking pictures with in the crowd during Daniel Bryan’s match on this past Monday’s RAW.
– There’s talk within WWE right now of pairing NXT Diva Zahra Schreiber with Baron Corbin because they both have a lot of tattoos. Zahra is the same NXT Diva who was involved in the Seth Rollins nude photo controversy last week.
– Below are some recent WWE attendance figures:
February 12th in Abu Dhabi drew 5,000 fans
February 13th in Abu Dhabi drew 4,700 fans
February 14th in Abu Dhabi drew 4,500 fans
February 14th in Tampa drew 7,000 fans
February 15th in Ft. Myers drew 4,500 fans
February 13th in Ft. Pierce for NXT drew 530 fans
February 16th in Orlando for RAW drew a sellout of just over 12,000 fans
February 17th in Ft. Lauderdale for SmackDown drew 8,000 fans
The latest weekly sit-down interview between Michael Cole and Triple H is now available.
On this week’s interview, the focus was this Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view event. Cole asked HHH about some of the top matches. Regarding the Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns main event, “The Game” pointed out that the leader of the “Yes! Movement” might be the best wrestler in WWE right now, however he questioned if that will be enough to overcome Reigns’ brute strength and power.
Regarding Sting, HHH said he first wanted to apologize to Ric Flair for pushing him down on Monday’s RAW. He blamed it on passion and Sting and said what Sting is trying to do will only get done over Triple H’s “dead body.”
You can check out the complete Cole and HHH interview above.
Daniel Bryan recently appeared on Turnbuckle Weekly with Chuck Carroll, which you can listen to at Washington.CBSLocal.com. Here are some highlights:
– Bryan revealed that he was not officially cleared to return to the ring until the day before his first match back. He wasn’t cleared at the time he announced he would be in the Royal Rumble. On that Monday, Bryan said he was only about 90 percent sure medical clearance was imminent.
– Bryan said that he had been in touch with WWE in the three or four weeks before the announcement and let them know that the treatment was finally working and he was preparing to return.
– When asked about the negative reaction Roman Reigns got at the Royal Rumble, Bryan said it had less to do with overzealous Philadelphia fans and more to do with the hardcore WWE wrestling fan base that traveled from all over to attend the show.
As the entire northeast freezes under a mountain of snow, the WWE decided to dip down to Orlando in an attempt to heat things up heading into Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view. The show featured eight matches, as well as appearances from Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from this week’s episode of Raw.
Pros
Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler was pure gold. Before the match, the two engaged in a hilarious back and forth, with Rollins laying down some burnsauce by telling Ziggler: “I know you fancy yourself a comedian but the only thing funny about you is that joke you call a career.” It was also hilarious to hear Ziggler question whether J&J getting him the wrong chocolates ruined his Valentine’s Day. Something tells me his Valentine’s Day was ruined for other reasons… As for the match, it was fast paced, full of spots, and exactly what you’d expect from two of the best workers in the business. Other than the J&J interference and non-finish, this was pretty much perfect on every level. I suspect a match between these two will be added to Fastlane after Smackdown. Here’s to hoping they give these guys 15 minutes and let them tear the house down. Highlight of the night by far.
I enjoyed the Dusty Rhodes backstage segments. The match between the New Day and Gold and Stardust was also nice, as it served as a nice juxtaposition between the brawling opening contest between Ambrose and Harper. Following the match, Stardust attacked his brother and called Dusty a “polka-dotted freak of a father.” I’ll admit, they’ve dragged this out forever and I wasn’t too excited at first, but I’m now getting into it.
Roman Reigns was the man last night. He sounded like a completely different person during his backstage interview before his match with Kane. His calm, confident, and collected demeanor is a stark contrast from the nervous guy we saw out there a few weeks ago talking about beanstalks while stumbing over every other word. His match with Kane was actually decent too, with Reigns winning via countout after hitting a big Spear. Daniel Bryan was on commentary during the match, with he and Reigns playing off of one another very well. It was also humorous to hear Michael Cole state: “Daniel Bryan is trying to steal Roman Reigns’ thunder. Roman Reigns just beat Kane, guys!” That means about as much as beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015.
For a comedy segment, the Paige bit was actually hilarious. The outfit was funny, it actually served some sort of purpose in furthering her feud with Nikki Bella, the fans seemed to be enjoying it, and the match with Summer Rae was good for the time they were given.
The Dean Ambrose “weekend update” promo, where the Lunatic Fringe was parked at a desk looking like a shady used car dealer, was also entertaining. His match with Luke Harper featuring some nice, brawling action and was a good opening contest. JBL’s “we’ve got an air psycho” line had me cracking up, and his plot to force Barrett to sign the contract for Sunday was perfect. Nobody in the midcard deserves the IC Title more than Ambrose, and it looks like he’s going to find a way to capture the gold on Sunday.
Bray Wyatt’s promos are starting to become a bit repetitive, but I still enjoyed his work this week. He once again attacked the Undertaker, stating: “You’re an empty shell, and any fear that I once of you has turned into nothing more than putrid, hateful pity.” I can’t wait to see this program.
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: