Sorry for the delay guys, was dealing with a stomach bug yesterday and just couldn’t make it to a computer.
WWE Monday Night RAW Report for 2/3/14 from CenturyLink Center in Omaha, NE
Raw opens with Randy Orton…
Orton comes out with his usual whining about having to actually defend his title. Randy doesn’t like having to defend the WWE World Title against 5 men in the Elimination Chamber. Apparently, Orton feels like there’s a conspiracy against him, completely ignoring that the WWE champ defends the title in the Chamber EVERY year… Crowd isn’t in to Randy, then again who is? “CM Punk” chants start. I’ll settle for anything over the usual Orton bit. Orton says after he wins the Chamber he will defeat Batista at Mania, noting they were once equals but Orton is the greatest of all time now. Randy says he’s the main attraction of Raw, if that were true then ratings would be much lower…
Here comes more crap. Cue HHH & Stephanie at the top of the ramp. More “CM Punk” chants to screw with Steph and HHH, but they ramble through their lines as if they were robots repeating scripts. Steph calls Orton paranoid, while HHH says Randy’s whining doesn’t sound like “the face of the WWE”. HHH thinks maybe there should be a new face? “YES!” chants follow. Steph informs Orton that over the course of the next 3 weeks, he will face all five of his Chamber opponents in one on one matches. The Authority tease Daniel Bryan as the new face of WWE, HHH even joined in with the fans on the yes chants by raising his hands in the “YES!” gest. Orton will begin his slew of matches tonight, and his first opponent will be… DANIEL BRYAN!
There were at least 3 loud “CM Punk” chants during the opening segment, for an Omaha crowd that’s almost unruly. After little “Omaha” play by Peyton Manning at the Superbowl, I guess they deserve something.
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1. The Shield vs. Rey Mysterio, Big E. Langston & Kofi Kingston. Before the match, highlights from last week’s RAW & Smackdown are shown of the issues between the Wyatts & The Shield. The main clip featured Roman Reigns getting in Trips face on SD and announcing the Shield’s challenge to the Wyatts. Following a commercial, the match begins with Langston & Ambrose starting. The faces get some good offense in on Ambrose & Rollins, before the Shield can corner Kofi Kingston. Roman Reigns tags in to a good pop. The Shield work over Kofi with quick tags. Kingston manages a hot tag to Mysterio. Rey Rey rushes in “flying”, and I use that term fairly loosely, all over the place on Rollins. Fans want to see the 6-1-9, but the Shield corner Mysterio and Reigns tags in for control at the commercial break.
After commercial, WWE App footage of Reigns hitting the SUPER DROPKICK on Mysterio onto the apron. Ambrose misses a charge into the corner and Rey gets the hot tag to Big E. The IC Champ Langston hits the Shield hard, tossing them all around the ring. Reigns gets his eyebrow split open in the melee. Now it’s all 6 in the ring, and things break down. Reigns nails Langston with the SUPERMAN PUNCH and sets up for the Spear. Dean Ambrose TAGS HIMSELF IN and hits Langston with the inverted DDT for the win in 11:00, as Reigns looks on, pissed.
Reigns is pissed that Ambrose stole the win, they argue back-and-forth a bit while Rollins tries to calm the situation down. The Wyatt Family ends up appearing on the big screen… Is that thing still called the Titan Tron? Bray Wyatt cuts a promo. He says he has their blueprint stamped in his brain. He calls the Shield pawns. Bray says The Shield’s moment is coming sooner than they think. Luke Harper ends up getting a speaking role. He says “he has always been your king.” He begins whistling, very creepy… Erick Rowan leans in wearing the sheep mask. Rowan says “run.” We see Bray smiling as Harper continues whistling. VERY AWESOME INTERVIEW segment… Super creepy… more so than usual. I like giving the other guys speaking rolls, it adds to their character and the segment.
-Commercial Break-
Back from break, Michael Cole promotes the fact that the Seahawks did the “Yes” chant after winning the Super Bowl, as well as the Seahawks tweeting Daniel Bryan after their big victory.
#BNB, It’s Bad News Barrett everyone! Barrett points out that the Super Bowl on Sunday was the most watched show in U.S. history, but he’s afraid he’s got some bad news. He talks about people eating junk food during the game. Out of nowhere, Jerry Lawler jumps on the house mic. says he’s afraid he’s got some bad news for Barrett. Lawler says hopefully next week, Barrett won’t be around. How is that even news? It was a statement of hope, not news. Not only that, it was abrupt, made no sense, and it ended there without any further discussion or explanation. Lawler’s music plays. That was….odd
-Commercial Break-
2. Christian vs. Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter & Censaro). Christian returned last week on SD and defeated Jack Swagger to earn a qualifying spot in the Elimination Chamber match. Meanwhile, Swagger’s partner Cesaro defeated Dolph Ziggler to earn a spot in the Chamber. Swagger seems to be letting his real American friends down. This is the rematch from SD. The announcers discuss dissension and jealousy within the Real Americans. Swagger takes down Christian to start. The match spills to the floor at one point, but is right back inside just as quick. The King thinks Christian would be a great FACE of the WWE. Well, that gets things going. LOL, that’s all it takes for Vince McMahon to start feeding JBL lines from years past. Vince has JBL talk about how Christian’s face would look better as a BLUE DOT, no seriously Vince made a joke about this years early. McMahon believed that Christian was so ugly that his gimmick should be he had a blue dot to cover his face on the screen. Jack misses the Swagger Splash/Bomb in the corner. Christian comes back and hits a dropkick from the middle rope. Swagger catches Christian coming off the top and tosses him down and applies the Ankle Lock. Christian escapes. Swagger dodges a Killswitch and goes for the Gut wrench Powerbomb, but Christian floats over. A sunset flip gets 3 in 5:00… Christian wins again!
After the match, Cesaro is shown outside the ring looking upset at that his partner has lost once again. Lots of teams having issues these days…
-Commercial Break-
3. STEEL CAGE MATCH: WWE Tag-Team Titles: Champions The New Age Outlaws vs. Goldust & Cody Rhodes. Highlights are shown of last week’s match between the Outlaws vs. Goldust and Cody, including Brock Lesnar interfering. The steel cage is lowered and the Outlaws make their way out. Other than the turn on Punk, they sure haven’t hinted much at being heels. Michael Cole mentions that this isn’t the usual “Escape the Cage” match, there must be a pin or submission. Cool! I like that old Crockett feel. The faces start off super hart, things swing back & forth… Crowd starts up a “CM Punk” chant during some down time. The Outlaws FINALLY gain complete control of the match just before a commercial break. Perfect timing too, “We Want Punk” chants begin…
After the break, Goldust and Road Dogg are battling it out back & forth. Cody tags in and goes off. Gunn flings Goldust into the cage. Rhodes goes to the TOP OF THE CAGE and NAILS A MOONSAULT! Glad this spot made it to TV, it looked awesome at the house show. Cody landed the move perfectly, but Dogg didn’t do the best job of taking the move. Cody sells his arm/shoulder off the bump, and as he tries to get up, BILLY GUNN WITH THE FAME-ASSER for the win! The Outlaws retain in 16:00.
4. Titus O’Neil vs. Zack Ryder. Titus is coming off a heel turn on Darren Young from SD. O’Neil has new theme music… It sucks… That is all… Titus manhandles Ryder, who still has a job. THE MIZ randomly shows up at ringside. Miz is pissed that a guy that barks is wrestling against a guy who makes up internet titles (You bring up something from 3 years ago? Really??? Really???). Miz is pissed these guys are being booked over him, them just stomps away. That was about as worthless as this match. “CM Punk” chants during this bore-fest. Ryder finally makes a comeback, Bro-ski boot, but O’Neil catches Ryder off the second rope with a side slam. Splash in the corner and “Clash of the Titus” wins the match for O’Neil in somewhere around 3:00.
Titus has something about him that can catch the viewers attention, but they didn’t let him use it tonight. BLAH.
-Commercial Break-
Very cool “Black History Month” vignette on “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd.
Dance-Off: Summer Rae vs. Emma. This starts off as a Fandango vs. Santino Marella dance off, but Santino insists it’s an easy win for him, so why not let Summer Rae challenge a fan from the crowd. Summer agrees, and Santino picks NXT Diva Emma. Summer goes first, fancing all of 5 seconds… Okay… The music stops and Santino tells us to feast our eyes on the swirling hips and fantastic maneuvers of #Emma. Goofy music begins to play as Emma dances atrociously, to the point that it really didn’t even resemble “dancing”. I don’t follow NXT yet (I plan to once the Network starts up), but this Emma girl already annoys me greatly… Santino polls the crowd… They boo Summer, they cheer Emma… Summer & Fandango leave the ring without further issue. Santino & Emma dance… Well… That…. Was…. Pointless.
-Commercial Break-
5. Sheamus vs. Curtis Axel (w/Ryback). “CM Punk” chants start early, and why not… Back & forth match, spills to the floor, Sheamus slams Axel into the announce table as Ryback watches on. Axel takes back over after Sheamus hits the post with his shoulder. “Punk” chants pick back up so Ryback plays heel to the ringside crowds to kill them. Clever, for once. Sheamus fights back, tries for White Noise, but Axel escapes. Sheamus comes back and lands the BROGUE KICK for the win in 7:00…
Nothing necessarily WRONG with this match, it was fine, but it was put in a bad position to follow the crap before it.
Seriously. who the hell booked these last 3 segments back to back? This really killed the show. I feel like I’m in the 10th hour of a telethon. Shoot me now. If this is what they came up with after their BIG creative meeting late last week, then we’re in major trouble. They say the locker room had low morale? Gee, wonder why…
-Commercial Break-
It’s time for BATISTA to cut a promo. The Animal enters the ring to a less than enthralling response. Batista barely speaks before ALBERTO DEL RIO comes out. The two men argue over who the better metrosexual is, or maybe it was about something else. Del Rio says he was winning titles while Batista was at home waiting on acting jobs. Batista tells Del Rio he doesn’t have a problem with him and to drop it. “CM Punk” chants emerge a few times during the segment. Del Rio continues his comments.
Batista again tries to explain he has no issue with Del Rio, but before he can finish the sentence, Alberto pops him in the face… NICE! That was much better than the usual “wait for guy to stop talking before I attack him” spot… Del Rio beats down Batista and goes off the ropes, but runs right into a boot from Batista. Batista sets up for a Batista Bomb, but Del Rio wiggles free and escapes the ring. Del Rio teases getting back in, but leaves. Batista is pissed off in the ring and says if Del Rio wants a match, he’s got it!
-Commercial Break-
6. Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth & Xavier Woods vs. The Wyatt Family. A small comment is made about Dolph’s lashing out in an APP interview after last week’s SD, but the video isn’t shown. It’s Rowan & Woods to start, Xavier gets the upper hand and tags to Truth. R-Truth steps in but takes a beat down by the Wyatts. Truth finally makes a comeback as “We Want Ziggler” chants begin. Hot tag to Zigglesworth and he is all over the ring! 10-Punch on Harper, neckbreaker and DDT follows. Rowan breaks up the cover. Things break down into a brawl, Bray handles the faces without issue. Harper whacks Ziggler with the big clothesline. Wyatt tags in and lands Sister Abigail for the win in 5:00. Really? Sheamus vs. Axel gets 7:00? You couldn’t have cut out the dancing crap and extend this match?
Yeah, you can tell Punk leaving really sent a message to “The Authority”. As they continue to bury certain talent. Not that I expected Ziggles team to win by any means, but making a lifeless Ziggler do the job was just another “message” to the fans, IMO…
The Shield appears on the screen. Ambrose tells them that they’re not afraid of them and that they don’t live in his weird little world. Seth Rollins calls him delusional. He says they can’t hang with The Shield. Roman Reigns tells The Wyatt’s to take a look around because they’re standing in The Shield’s playground. He says when the Elimination Chamber comes, The Wyatt Family’s time is over. When The Shield are done, we see Bray laughing in the ring.
-Commercial Break-
A vignette with Alexander Rusev and Lana airs next. The Bulgarian is coming!
7. Naomi (w/Cameron) vs. Aksana (w/Alicia Fox). AJ Lee on commentary with Tamina by her side. Naomi beats down Aksana while AJ talks trash on Naomi while on commentary. Cole points out Naomi beat AJ twice, Lee says Naomi is the best of the Total Divas, but that AJ is better than all of them. Aksana takes over Naomi and prevents some comeback attempts. Naomi lands a nice split legged moonsault out of nowhere to get the win in 6:00.
After the match, Alicia Fox tries to attack Naomi. Cameron makes the save. Naomi hits the Rear View on Fox to clear the ring. This is getting to be a loooong episode of Raw…
Main event is next…
-Commercial Break-
8. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton (WWE Champion). “Daniel Bryan” and “Yes” chants start out strong in this non-title match. “CM Punk” chants also breakout at one point early on. Bryan on the offense early with some kicks in the corner, a nice dragon screw leg-whip. Bryan works over the leg of Orton. Orton escapes to the floor but BRYAN TOSSES ORTON OVER THE TABLE AND INTO MICHAEL COLE! Nice… Anytime Cole gets nailed unexpectedly is fun for me. Bryan with a lengthy offene, working the leg of Randy. Orton lures Bryan back outside and hits a back suplex onto the barricade, and Bryan is down. Back inside, Daniel battles back with leg kicks, but Orton hits the scoop powerslam as we go to commercial…
Back from break, Bryan is back in charge, working the leg of Orton. Randy finally counters with an Exploder Suplex and tosses Daniel outside. Bryan favors his shoulder, so Randy posts him and tosses Bryan into the steps.
As the action returns to the ring, Orton continues to focus his attack on the arm of Bryan. Orton starts doing his Ronnie Garvin stomps on the body of Bryan, again focusing mainly on Bryan’s arm. A loud “Daniel Bryan” chant breaks out in Omaha as Orton continues to work over the arm of Bryan. Orton does his pose to taunt the fans as Bryan continues to sell his arm. Orton grabs Bryan’s arm and yanks it over the top-rope as he drops to the floor outside the ring.
Back in the ring, it’s Mr. Slow & “Methodical” doing what he does best and boring me to tears… Orton goes for a SUPERPLEX, but Bryan fights him off, and finally drops Orton with a headbutt. MISSILE DROPKICK from Bryan, but Daniel hurt his shoulder during the process. Fans are solidly behind Bryan. Both men get up, Bryan goes after Orton’s leg, but Randy yanks Daniel’s arm down to the mat. Orton tries to take over but Bryan counters with the YES LOCK! Orton manages to hook the ropes with his leg for the break.
Bryan stays on top, YES Kicks in the corner, SHOTGUN dropkick in the corner! A Second Shotgun Dropkick! Bryan tries a third, but runs right into a Randy Orton Dropkick!!! NICE SPOT, excellent timing…. Orton lands the draping DDT and sets up for the RKO. Bryan counters with a kick. Daniel with YES kicks with Randy on his knees, and a big roundhouse kick to the side of Randy’s head puts Randy down. Bryan goes up and connects with a DIVING HEADBUTT..1………..2……….Orton kicks out!!!
Here comes KANE… UGH…. Bryan knocks Kane off the apron!!! Daniel tosses Orton out… Bryan with a SUICIDE DIVE on both men… Bryan knocks Kane into the steel steps then back inside with Orton… Randy meets Bryan with an RKO… NO!! Bryan shoves him off, RUNNING KNEE GETS THE WIN!!! Bryan pins Orton after 25:00.
After The Match, Bryan’s music plays and he leads the crowd in some “Yes!” chants, but continues to sell his shoulder. Kane and Orton creep up on the apron and Bryan goes after Kane. Orton attacks Bryan from behind and the heels take over. Kane chokeslams Bryan down as the crowd boo’s. Kane does his pose and his pyro explodes…. about 5 seconds late…
Orton grabs his two belts and both guys stand tall over the fallen Bryan. End Raw.
