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This week’s Raw wasn’t the best but it also wasn’t the worst. It had its moments that stood out and helped propelled feuds forward in time for Wrestlemania.
What did Orton have to say after Fastlane? Did Undertaker return to answer Bray Wyatt’s challenge? What’s next for Daniel Bryan? Will Barrett get his stolen title back? How will Cena react after his controversial loss? Who will be next in the Hall of Fame? All of these will answered shortly.
So let’s take a look now at the results for each match/segment and have a quick analysis.
Opening segment
Randy Orton comes out to start things off and speaks about being away for 4 months thanks to Seth Rollins/The Authority. He calls Rollins out but instead gets greeted by the entire Authority except Rollins. The Authority tries to persuade Orton to join them but he refuses. However he ultimately agrees to discuss matters further in a backstage conference.
A promo involving The Authority normally opens up Raw and this was no different but it did set up new elements to the Rollins v Orton feud.
Dolph Ziggler v Bad News Barrett
R Truth was on commentary for this match. This was a great back & forth bout that Ziggler ended up winning with a Zig Zag.
Dean Ambrose enters post-match with Barrett's Intercontinental Title. Ambrose taunts Barrett and stares at Ziggler before exiting back up the ramp.
This could be leading to fatal four way at Wrestlemania 31 between Barrett, Ambrose, Ziggler, Truth.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Backstage conference
The Authority is shown discussing matters with Orton. Ultimately he decides to put his differences aside (for now) and shakes Rollins' hand. Steph says to celebrate there will be a tag team match with Rollins & Orton taking on the team of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns
Primetime Players v The Ascension
The newly reformed Primetime Players tackled the dominant Ascension. This was a fairly short match that PTP won through Young with a roll up.
It will be interesting to see where these two tag teams go from here.
Winners : The Primetime Players
Reigns promo
Roman Reigns comes down to the ring to cut a promo and is interrupted by Bryan who wishes him his best in facing Lesnar. As Bryan leaves, Paul Heyman comes out to trade words on the mic with Reigns. Brock Lesnar wasn’t with Heyman. It was a fairly decent promo segment that helped push the feud between Reigns & Lesnar while allowing Bryan to show his respect for Reigns.
Cesaro & Kidd v Usos (tag team title rematch)
A rematch for the tag team titles, Naomi accompanies The Usos while Natalya accompanies Cesaro & Tyson Kidd to the ring.
The two teams exchange offense in an entertaining bout. Towards the end, Jimmy starts to build momentum and sets up for a splash. Natalya interferes though, pulling him off the top rope and giving The Usos the win by disqualification.
I still believe we will see a multi-man tag match like last year that will probably get relegated to the pre-show again unfortunately.
Winners : Cesaro & Tyson Kidd
Miz/Mizdow backstage
Miz and Mizdow are show in a backstage segment where Mizdow states he has been getting a lot of calls about jobs lately, and Miz shows his frustration. Miz announces he will be in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Two important points came out of this short segment.Firstly, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal will indeed be happening again.Secondly, this likely means we won’t see Miz v Sandow at Wrestlemania 31 but instead they will both be participants in the battle royal. Hopefully Sandow wins the battle royal.
Wyatt promo
Wyatt is shown next to an open casket delivering another mysterious promo aimed at The Undertaker to set up their awaiting bout.
Jack Swagger v Stardust
Stardust gains the upper hand early on but eventually Swagger manages to look in the Patriot lock. Stardust makes it to the ropes to break the hold but Goldust comes out for the distraction. This allows Swagger to lock the hold it again and force Stardust to tap.
A meaningless win for Swagger here as this match was clearly just setting up the ongoing feud between brothers that will probably lead to a rematch at mania.
Winner: Jack Swagger
Cena/Rusev
Cena speaks about his loss at Fastlane before being interrupted by Rusev who came out to taunt him. Cena wants to defeat Rusev and bring the US title back home to America so he challenges him to match at Wrestlemania. Rusev however declines, stating he doesn’t deserve another opportunity.
This was just a simple promo to further their feud. Obviously the Rusev v Cena match will be happening at Wrestlemania and it’s likely the US title will be on the line again.
Backstage segment
Rollins is shown backstage conversing with Randy Orton. He says he knows that Orton hates him, but Orton assures him that they are on the same page if that is what's best for business.
Just a short segment setting up the longing tension between the two.
Sting Video Package
A video package aired showcasing Stings illustrious career. It highlighted his old WCW days as the surfer Sting gimmick before showing his transformation into the mysterious baseball wielding Sting we know today. However they conveniently skipped over his TNA run moving straight onto his arrival in WWE. Numerous different current WWE stars were shown throughout providing their own comments in regards to the icon Sting. The video package successfully gave some back story to Stings career for those that didn’t know and built him up as a legend.
Bella Twins v Paige & Emma
Paige attempted an attack before the bell but the ref and Emma held her back. Emma started things off with Brie while Paige screamed at Nikki calling her a cheater before being shoved off the apron by Brie. She then hit a quick facebuster on Emma to pick up the win. Paige stormed the ring post match but was attacked by Nikki.
An extremely short 30 second match that didn’t really accomplish much at all. However it does seem evident now that the ‘Paige v Bella’ feud will be continuing into Wrestlemania 31.
Winner : Paige
Hall of Fame
A video package aired to officially announce the Bushwhackers as the next inductees in to the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame, while also showcasing their strange career.
Curtis Axel v Ryback
Curtis Axel began talking once again how he got screwed at the rumble. He spoke about the #Axelmania movement while wearing a red Hogan type shirt except with Axelmania written on it. Axel announced himself as a participant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal before being interrupted by Ryback who also announced himself as a participant. He also mentioned their short history as part of Rybaxel.
The clash between former tag team partners was a short one, with Ryback picking up the win with Shell Shocked in roughly a minute.
This was a very short/pointless match that simply gave Ryback some momentum and officially announced some new participants into the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Winner: Ryback
Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns v Seth Rollins v Randy Orton
During Rollins entrance, they play a video package showing the interactions between him and Daily in regards to his comments about the Daily Show.
Rollins and Bryan start things off in the ring. Bryan locks in an impressive surfboard submission early on to Seth. Reigns and Orton soon find themselves in the ring exchanging offense.
Surprisingly enough Orton actually pulls Rollins out of harm’s way at one point, stopping Bryan from hitting a suicide dive. Kane, Big Show all come down to ringside along with J&J Security to back up The Authority.
Reigns makes a hot tag to Bryan who comes in and starts dominating Rollins and eventually locks in the Yes lock. Orton breaks it up but Reigns attacks him.
A distraction from J&J allows Rollins to get back on top and the pace of the match slows down again.
Bryan eventually manages to fight back but misses a flying headbutt to Orton. Both men are down and looking for a tag which they both get. Reigns begins to dominate Rollins with large power moves. Joey Mercury gets up on the apron but eats a Superman punch.
Orton sets up for a middle rope DDT but Rollins tags himself in much to Orton’s anger who hits the DDT anyway and begins arguing with Big Show/Kane at ringside. Reigns hit a massive superman punch and then Bryan tags himself in to hit a running knee and pick up the victory for his team. Reigns and Bryan shake hands after the match.
Orton is furious at ringside and gets in the ring setting up for a punt kick to Rollins. J&J storm the ring and get an RKO for their trouble. Orton confronts Rollins but eventually walks away without doing anything. Rollins stands in the ring with Show and Kane looking confused.
That was a pretty weak ending to an only average Raw. Despite putting their differences aside for now, I’m certain Rollins will still face Orton at Wrestlemania 31.
Winners: Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
