WWE Raw Preshow Notes
– Scott Stanford along with Corey Graves and David Otunga from WWE HQ. UH OH… Me thinks Alex Riley done pissed some people off with those Tweets… Tonight on Raw, HHH’s big announcement about the controversial Royal Rumble ending, and John Cena welcomes back Ryback, Rowan and Ziggler.
– We catch a look at HHH’s interview on Smackdown from last week. He promises to make an announcement tonight that will shake the WWE to its core. The guys in the studio discuss what HHH could be announcing. They think it has something to do with altering the WWE Title match at Mania. Otunga is stuck on Curtis Axel never being eliminated… They play up Axel pretty big here, they could pull a fun segment out of this should they choose to…
– Renee Young stands by at Raw to talk to superstars about what they think HHH will announce tonight. Unfortunately, she speaks to the New Day…. And it sucks… A lot…
– Last week on Raw – face to face between Reigns & Brock is shown. The panel puts over both guys…
– HHH on Stone Cold Podcast TONIGHT
– Back to Raw a couple weeks back… Cena gets Ziggler, Rowan, and Ryback their jobs back, with a little help from Sting. Aaaaand, you guessed it… The panel discusses Sting/HHH, their face to face at Fast Lane, plus Cena welcomes back the fired heroes tonight. I guess he didn’t see them at the Rumble or Smackdown last week…
– Off topic, but Stanford flubs his lines a lot. Now we get to discuss The Ascension… Joy. The panel also focuses on the dissention between Gold and Stardust from last week in their loss to Ascension. The two teams have a rematch slated for tonight…
– Corey Graves takes over for the Alex Riley WWEShop shill. Hey, free shipping if you order right now!!! No mention of Riley throughout this show so it’s looking like he’s pissed the “higher ups” off again. Fastlane promo with Roman Reigns follows.
– Back to Renee Young at Raw. She’s interviewing Bad News Barrett about his thoughts on HHH’s big announcement tonight. Barrett points out Axel was never eliminated, and thus the announcement will be Reigns has to meet Axel tonight. At least he didn’t try any crappy comedy like New Day…
– They hype the Stone Cold Podcast with HHH by showing a clip from the last Podcast with Vince…
WWE Raw Report 2/2/15 from the Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
– We kick of the show with the Authority as promised. Probably one time I wouldn’t have minded them breaking a promise… Anyway, HHH is out there with his wifey to make his “Big Announcement” about the Royal Rumble controversy. The lockeroom is shown in the back watching the announcement on a TV screen. Trips and Steph make sure to drag this crap out, talking about the Superbowl, the Patriots and the controversial ending… Steph says the Pats as Superbowl champs is best for business…
HHH mocks the WWE fans by talking #CancelNFLNetwork. More F-U comments towards the fans… They love poking a stick at the people who pay their checks…
The Authority claim they’ve been listening to the fans since the Rumble. So they’re out here to do something about it. HHH says they can’t let something like “this” happen, and they play a video that shows Reigns dump Kane and Show, and the Rock making the save. After the video, HHH says Show and Kane were unsportsmanlike, but his problem with the Rock… HHH puts over the Rock as an actor, but says he’s no longer a WWE superstar. HHH said he let Sting get away with interfering at Survivor Series and Raw, and now Rock did it at the Rumble. HHH mentions again that he’s calling out Sting at Fastlane. We’re now TEN minutes into this crap and he hasn’t gotten to the point yet…
The Authority wonder what would have happened between Reigns and Rusev at Rumble had the Rock not interfered. They question if Reigns should go on to face Lesnar at Mania. Cue the Roman Reigns music, because people can do that while their boss is cutting a promo. Roman hurries his way to the ring. Reigns says the Authority aren’t going to take his Mania Main Event away from him…
HHH and Reigns get face to face. Steph steps in and yammers some crap…. Cue Daniel Bryan!!! Daniel Bryan on his way to the ring… Steph mocks Bryan’s return and the YES! chant. Bryan talks about his own controversy. Having the title stripped from him and never receiving a rematch… HHH says Lesnar never beat Bryan for the title so he could hypothectically see Bryan getting a title shot at Mania…
Seth Rollins interrupts… His mic isn’t working on the way to the ring, Stephanie alerts him, lol…
This segment has gone on so long that…. THEY TAKE A COMMERCIAL BREAK DURING A PROMO SEGMENT!!!!
-Commercial Break-
I’ve seen matches go through commercial breaks… But promos?!?!?!???
Seth Rollins is just now getting in the ring with his Security. It took him 3 minutes to walk 20 feet… Rollins says Bryan got injured and should take it like a man. And Reigns wouldn’t even have won Rumble without the Rock. Rollins thinks he belongs in the Mania Main Event because he stole the show in the Rumble title match where he broke Lesnar’s rubs…
23 minutes into the promo and HHH makes his announcement….
Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins, tonight…. the winner meets Roman Reigns at Fastlane… and the winner of the match at Fastlane will headline WrestleMania against Brock.
HHH says Reigns has the chance to erase the asterisk from his Rumble win. He can say “yes” so there’s no question he deserves his spot.
Daniel Bryan tells Roman not to buy in to the Authority’s crap. Rollins plays Devil’s Advocate and says Reigns must accept this offer or he admits he’s scared…
The fans are about 50/50 chanting YES and NO in regards to Reigns decision…. The Authority ask Roman to make a decision….
Roman Reigns ACCEPTS the challenge…
It’s Rollins vs. Bryan tonight, the winner meets Reigns at Fastlane, and the winner there will meet Brock at Mania….
30 MINUTES TO GET TO THIS “BIG ANNOUNCEMENT”… Dear God….
HHH tells Reigns not to go anywhere as Big Show’s music hits…. OH NO!!!! You make us sit through one of the crappier promos for 30 MINUTES and then “treat” us with a Big Show match???????????????
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Raw will return… But I may not…
-Commercial Break-
1. Roman Reigns vs. The Big Show
They show us a little mercy as the match is joined in progress… I assume maybe because the promo ran long. No complaints here. Reigns escapes a bear hug and drops Show with a pair of clotheslines. A few more clotheslines and Big Show is knocked over the top rope to the floor… Reigns rocks Show on the floor and sets up for the Superman punch, but J&J security distract and Show lands a SPEAR for 2… Reigns kicks out, blocks a choekslam, knocks Jamie Noble off the apron onto Rollins… SUPERMAN PUNCH drops Show to his kneees… Reigns sets up for the Spear, but Mercury is on the apron to distract the referee… Meanwhile, Rollins cracks Reigns in the back with the MITB briefcase, and Show lands a CHOKESLAM for the win in 2:45 that was aired on TV….
– The Authority is in the back talking about the previous promo. Right on camera, HHH admits they can’t even contractually do what they did tonight if Reigns didn’t want to… He says they can’t even strip Reigns of the title. They act as if they planned out the entire segment to get what they wanted. Big Show took out Reigns, Rollins will take out Bryan, and then Rollins will take out Reigns at Fastlane to headline Mania… Those dirty dirties…
-Commercial Break-
– It’s Curtis Axel, and he’s pissed! He asks people not to change the channel. lol… Axel is pissed about being screwed out of his Rumble match opportunity. He wants justice…. Axel gets up on the ropes and points to WrestleMania sign… I love it… I fantasy booked this last week, lol.
So who comes out to contend his bitching? Erick Rowan the guy who took him out? No that’d make sense… Instead it’s Dean Ambrose… I’ll take it…
Dean attacks Axel, beats him down, flings him over the top rope like a turd, and then calmly announces “Now you’re eliminated”… Dean talks about being eliminated from the Rumble, seeing former legends and champions pictures on the wall at WWE HQ…. Ambrose thinks his face would look great on that wall. Ambrose beat IC Champion Barrett 2 weeks ago…. Ambrose has some “BAD NEWS”, he wants the IC Title at Fastlane…
Curtis Axel jumps Ambrose after the promo, but Dean lays him out with a wicked clothesline and Dirty Deeds….
– It’s Black History Month. We get a video on “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd!
-Commercial Break-
2. The Ascension vs. Goldust & Stardust
Booker tries to put over the Ascension on commentary, but JBL continues to bury them. Stardust starts the match but injures his head. Goldust tags himself in… Goldust does well for his team for a bit but tries to fight off a 2 on 1 and loses to the Fall of Man in 2:00…
After the match, Cody, or umm Stardust, scolds his brother Goldust.
– Up next, Cena welcomes back his fired buddies…
Wooo, an hour into the show, 4 minutes of wrestling, and yet another promo segment planned next…
-Commercial Break-
– Stardust is backstage talking to himself… Goldust interrupts him to talk. Star won’t respond, so Goldust snaps him out of it by calling him CODY… This pisses Stardust off, he gets in the face of Goldy and tells him to NEVER call him CODY. Hissssssss
– John Cena in the ring. He acknowledges the fans and mentions HHH having to do Steve Austin’s Podcast tonight and discuss the state of the WWE. “Cena sucks” chants from the men in the crowd. Cena talks HHH and Seth Rollins. He talks about HHH only being worried about business, and sponsors, and that he doesn’t care about the fans or what they want… Cena is sporting a black eye. He mentions how much crap HHH has put him through but he still never gave up. We go back 2 weeks where Cena pins Rollins to get the jobs back.
Cena welcome out his friends, Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan… But we barely get a word from them before Stephanie McMahon interrupts on the big screen… She announces for tonight, Rowan vs. Rusev, Ziggler vs. Wyatt, and Ryback vs. Harper, which starts right now!
-Commercial Break-
3. Ryback vs. Luke Harper
Harper suplexes Ryback… Ryback with a loooong delayed vertical suplex… Ryback takes over, but soon runs into a big dropkick from Harper… And Luke plants a Big Boot that knocks Ryback off the apron to the floor… Harper gains clear control, another big boot gets 2… Ryback escapes a front facelock by tossing Harper backwards… Luke misses a charge into the corner and Ryback takes over… Ryback with a Thesz Press and a big splash gets 2… Ryback tries a powerslam, but Harper wiggles free and hits a spinning sidewalk slam for 2… Ryback rebounds with a Spinebuster and sets up for the big clothesline, but runs into a SUPERKICK from Harper for a near fall!!!! Ryback somehow manages to scoop Harper up for Shell Shock, but Harper turns it into a SUNSET FLIP!!! 1…2…Ryback kicks out…. Meathook Clothesline!!! Shellshock… It’s over in 10:00….
For a Ryback match, that was pretty damn good. Perfectly fine match. If you DVR’d, I’d give it a watch…
-Commercial Break-
4. Jimmy Uso (w/Jey Uso & Naomi) vs. Cesaro (w/Tyson Kidd & Natalya)
Cesaro in charge early. The two trade some stuff ass chops and Uso takes over. Jimmy knocks Cesaro to the floor but Cesaro moves out of the way… Cesaro confronts Jey on the floor, and Jimmy winds up diving out onto Cesaro after all… Cesaro regroups with his heel buddy and attacks Jimmy to take back over control. Chinlock time… Uso escapes with a pair of superkicks, but misses a corner splash, and it’s time for the CESARO SWING, and Cesaro spins it into a Half Crab… Uso won’t quit so Cesaro lands a double stomp for 2… Cesaro with a Double Underhook Powerbomb gets another near fall…
Cesaro calls for a European Uppercut but gets knocked back, Jimmy with Whisper in the Wind off the top for 2…. Uso comes back with come clotheslines, but Cesaro catches a superkick and tosses Jimmy outside by Tyson. The referee warns Kidd. Cesaro rams Uso into the announce table and goes back to the ring. Cesaro off the top but lands into a SUPERKICK from Jimmy Uso. Uso with the ass bash in the corner and goes up for the big splash… Tyson on the apron to interfere, but Jey Uso takes him out… Jimmy jumps off towards Cesaro who nails Uso with a EUROPEAN UPPERCUT and knocks Jimmy flat out. Cesaro picks up the win in 6:20.
Tyson Kidd with a sneak attack lays out Jey Uso after the match.
This wasn’t a bad match, a little rushed, and the Usos aren’t the best in singles, but for TV and to set up the tag title match this was definitely an okay match and served it’s purpose.
-Commercial Break-
– Backstage segment. It’s Damien Sandow grabbing some catering… for the Miz…. The Miz tells Sandow how many blueberries he wants. A staff member asks for an autograph… Miz says he doesn’t have time… But he wants Sandow’s, not the Miz. Sandow signs it no problem. But Miz rips it up and runs the guy off… Miz then explodes on Sandow. Sandow mimics the Miz at first, but Miz cuts him off… Miz runs down Sandow and trash talks him, he says Sandow has an ego now. The Miz FIRES Sandow from being his stunt double… But he makes Sandow his personal assistant. Sandow starts mimicking Miz again. Miz reminds Sandow he is no longer the stunt double… Miz then sends Sandow to make him his protein drink… Or something like that…
– Erick Rowan meets up with John Cena in the locker room. He thanks Cena for helping him. Rowan says his time away made him a changed man. Now Rowan wants to do John a favor when he takes on Rusev tonight. Cena gives Rowan some advice and the two shake hands…
– It’s time for Ziggler vs. Wyatt…
-Commercial Break-
– We get a look at Steve Austin preparing for his Podcast with HHH.
5. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt
Ziggler goes right after Bray at the bell. Bray lays Dolph out with a big hot, but Ziggler comes right back with his patented dropkick. Ziggler pummels Bray back to the ropes, the ref tries for a break and Bray lays in a big punch to take control… Damn heels… Bray takes over for a bit, but Ziggler with another dropkick and tries a Famouser, but Wyatt dodges and exits the ring. Back in the ring, Dolph grabs a single leg, but Wyatt fights his way free and knocks Ziggler on his ass… Wyatt with a senton splash gets 2… Wyatt applies the dreaded nerve hold.
Dolph breaks free and plants a pair of elbows, but Bray bails out of the ring again. Ziggler reaches out to grab Wyatt, but Bray drops Dolph face first into the apron and then suplexes him out of the ring to the aisle way floor… Nice stuff there… And we’re off to commercials.
Back from break, and it’s the epic commercial chinlock applied on Ziggz… Dolph breaks free, but Wyatt PLOWS HIM OVER with a wicked body attack for a near fall… Chinlock again. Ziggz breaks free with a jawbreaker. Wyatt misses a charge into the corner and Ziggler tries to regroup. Dolph off the second rope, but runs into a big hand from Bray. Wyatt misses a senton however and both men are down…
Ziggler comes back with a big clothesline, the corner splash and neckbreaker… Jumping elbow gets 2… Ziggler sets up for the Famouser, but Wyatt takes his head off with a nasty clothesline… Wyatt tries Sister Abigail, but Dolph counters with a jumping DDT for 2… Ziggler misses a corner splash, but Bray connects with one. Wyatt tries Sister Abigail, but we get a series of counters from both, ends up with some type of a Superkick from Ziggler for 1…2…..Thrrr….no!!!! Wyatt kicks out. Both men down. They trade punches, Wyatt wins that battle, but Ziggler WITH THE FAMOUSER…. AND WYATT NO SELLS IT!!!! WYATT POPS RIGHT UP FROM THE FAMOUSER… SISTER ABIGAIL…. AND IT’s OVER in 14:48!!!!!
Really good match… That’s two so far tonight…
– Seth Rollins meets up with the Authority backstage to question their thoughts about Bryan possibly going to Mania. HHH badmouths Orton, how Randy always complained and whined when they gave him opportunities. Seth and HHH trash talk Orton, and then Rollins thanks them for his chance to go on to Mania. Rollins says he punches his ticket tonight to move on to Fastlane.
-Commercial Break-
– Last week the Bellas laid out Paige backstage.
6. Paige vs. Alicia Fox
We’ve got the Bellas on commentary. The two girls immediately spill out in front of the Bellas and Paige shocks them with a Scream… Ooooooo-kay…. Fox takes over on Paige in the ring. Nikki talks all over the match, I don’t think her character is a gimmick. It’s too natural. Fox dominates the entire match, she lands a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, and Paige somehow turns that into an inside cradle for the win in 2:30.
After the match, Fox holds down Paige while the Bellas spray her with some color… It looks like black spray paint, but the announcers sell it as tan spray.
-Commercial Break-
– So the Miz is on the next episode of Sirens…
7. The Miz vs. Sin Cara
Miz is introduced by himself, and there’s no noise… Sandow eventually follows and the crowd explodes… lol… Miz scolds Sandow as they walk to the ring. Sandow is no longer allowed to copy him. Sandow tries to mimic Miz but gets yelled at. Sandow is forcing himself not to copy the Miz, he’s going through withdrawal as the fans chant for Sandow throughout the entire match. This match is nothing more than a prop, but Hunico Cara is looking really good… Cara misses a somersault senton off the top, and Miz goes to the top rope… Sandow climbs up as well… This pisses off the Miz who climbs down to yell at Damien. Miz trash talks Sandow and goes back to the match, lays Cara out with a big boot for 2… Fans keep chanting for Sandow and he smiles.
Cara escapes a back suplex, but blows the spot. He rolls Miz up for 2. Miz right back on top with a clothesline. Miz goes to rip the mask off of Cara. Cara fights off Miz, but Miz keeps coming right back with a big move. The fans Boo Miz, Sandow gets on the apron and the fans go nuts… Miz yells at Sandow and Cara rolls Miz up for the win in 5:38.
Cara wins more matches a jobber than when he was pushed… But thank God that lighting effect is long gone!!!
– The lights go out and we have a Bray Wyatt Promo from backstage… He’s the new face of fear, I think he calls himself the Devil… He’s tells someone to come and find him… Cryptic! But I think we can see where this is going….
-Commercial Break-
8. Erick Rowan vs. US Champion Rusev (w/Lana)
Rusev blasts Rowan as he tries to get in the ring and lays him out on the floor… Rusev throws Rowan into the ring post and back into the ring… The bell never sounds as the ref waves the match off, but Rusev continues to beat down on Rowan… I’m not sure if this is a match or not… Rusev dangles Rowan off the apron and tries to super kick his head off…. And then the ACCOLADE. The referee makes it clear the match never started and demands Rusev break the hold. Lana climbs in the ring and Rusev finally releases… Where’s Cena now?
Lana takes the mic. She invites the fans to watch a new “film” where Rusev defeats Cena, and anyone else who opposes him. We get a Rusev video made into a movie trailer type ad. After the ad, the fireworks go off and the Russian flag starts to come down, but it gets caught and it hangs crooked and awkwardly. The fans pop.
– Backstage, Roman Reigns is sweating it out. Daniel Bryan stops by. Reigns tells Bryan that Seth will get what’s coming to him. Bryan hops Reigns doesn’t think Seth is beating Daniel. Both men stand up. Reigns says he will beat either one of them, he will beat whoever and advance to WrestleMania. Reigns gets testy with Bryan and tells him to leave his locker room. Bryan has no problem with that…
-Commercial Break-
– Smackdown this week will feature Reigns and the winner of this next match on MizTV to talk Fastlane.
9. Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins (w/J&J Security)
You know the rules here. The winner meets Reigns at Fastlane, and the winner of Fastlane will meet Brock at Mania. Don’t want to spoil this for anyone, but does Orton cost Rollins tonight, or at Fastlane??? We get a lot of back and forth and counters as things get going. Bryan lands a double underhook suplex and floats right into a cross arm breaker… NICE… Rollins escapes and the match continues. Bryan is tossed outside, Rollins distracts the ref while J&J Security drive Bryan into the barricade… Rollins then with a suicide dive drives Bryan back into the barricade, and we head to commercial…
Back from break, Rollins in control. Big Show has also come down to ringside. Seth lands a corner splash for 2, but misses a second one, and Bryan makes a come back. Bryan fights Seth off and back to a corner, Daniel charges but takes a Downward Spiral right into the middle buckle… Bryan with a back flip off the top to escape from the corner, and he lays Seth out with a clothesline…
Yes! Kicks follow… 1…2…Rollins kicks out…
Bryan lands the dropkick in the corner… Bryan tries a top rope Huracan Rana, but Rollins rolls through into a super sunset flip for 1…2….Bryan kicks out… Seth misses a big kick, Bryan tries a Yes Lock. the two tussle and Bryan ends up dropkicking both Noble & Mercury off the apron!!! Bryan then backdrops Rollins outside onto Noble… And Bryan with a Suicide Dive sends all three men over the announce table!!!
Back inside, Bryan goes up but gets crotched by Seth. Seth tries a top rope move but now he gets crotched…. Bryan with a SUPER SAITO SUPLEX OFF THE TOP ROPE!!!!!!!! 1…………………2……………….ROLLINS KICKS OUT!!!!! Bryan stares at the WrestleMania sign and gets the fans to chant YES…. He wants the knee….
Bryan tries the knee, but Rollins counters with the Powerbomb into the turnbuckles… and then he kicks Bryan’s head off!!! 1………2………..BRYAN KICKS OUT…..
Rollisn wants a Curb Stomp, but Bryan counters with a YES LOCK…. Rollins is ready to tap but BIG SHOW PULLS SETH’S LEG TO THE ROPE for the break…. Booooo
Bryan has the release and Seth goes to the floor.ROMAN REIGNS COMES FLYING DOWN THE AISLE AND SPEARS THE SHIT OUT OF BIG SHOW ON THE FLOOR!!!!
REIGNS SPEARS MERCURY….
Noble tries to sneak up and nail Bryan with the briefcase, but the ref catches him… While the ref is with Noble, REIGNS SUPERMAN PUNCH TO ROLLINS!!!! Bryan kicks Noble’s head off…. Then it’s the flying knee from Bryan to Rollins..1……………2…………….3!!!!!
Match went 17:11. Reallllly good stuff here, and a great finish. Surprised it was Reigns who cost Rollins, thought for sure Orton would work his way back to set up his Mania match with Seth.
– Renee Young wants to talk to HHH, but he’s going to say it to Steve Austin.
– Michael Cole interviews Daniel Bryan in the ring. Bryan just thanks the fans and says he’s beating Reigns to go to Mania…
Stone Cold Podcast with HHH is next. Not sure if this thing is going to be a big work or not…
