WWE Raw Preshow Notes
– We open with Scott Stanford, Corey Graves, and David Otunga… Still no Alex Riley… See what happens when you voice your thoughts??? Otunga briefly talks about the Grammy Awards last night before we move into last week’s headline angle with Reigns helping Bryan defeat Rollins to head into Fastlane… The announce panel discuss their thoughts on Fastlane and the dynamics of who will face Lesnar at Mania…
– We catch a brief bit of a sit own interview with HHH who talks Sting. The panel talks about the possibility of Sting accepting HHH’s invitation to show up at Fastlane and the possible opportunity of them having a match at Mania.
– The announcers talk Rusev vs. Cena.
– The announcers talk the recent issues between the Miz & Damien Sandow. We go backstage at Raw where Miz is bossing Sandow around. Sandow has handled his smoothie needs and dropped the laundry off. Damien has a hard time leaving his stunt double routine behind. Sandow says he is wrestling Sin Cara tonight, the man who beat Miz. Sandow says he studied Cara and Miz last week, and he’s dedicating the match to Miz. The panel talk about Sandow potentially eclipsing the Miz’s “popularity”. Otunga is TERRIBLE at this by the way.
– WWE/Flintstones commercial.
– We look at the tension between the Dust Brothers… Otunga thinks they need to fight and get it out of their system. Graves thinks it’s much more than that…
– We get some final predictions for Raw and this preshow has frozen more than I’ve ever experienced… Must be all of the free subscribers…
WWE Raw Report 2/9/15 from the Schottenstein Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio
– We get a video recap of last week’s angle with Reigns, Bryan, and Rollins.
– Roman Reigns is out first for a promo. He explains how last week he was the Rumble winner and headed to meet Lesnar at Mania. However, the Authority made it clear last week they don’t want him in that spot at Mania. So now he has to beat Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. Crowd shits all over Reigns as he plays lone wolf and says he’s out for himself and stumbles over his words.
Cue Daniel Bryan to the ring… Bryan mocks Reigns, but also puts him over for Reigns spearing Big Show. Bryan thanks Reigns for the opportunity last week to beat Rollins. Now they both have an opportunity at Fastlane to meet Lesnar at Mania… Bryan informs Roman that he is the better WRESTLER than Reigns…
THE AUTHORITY is out on the ramp with Kane and Big Show… Please God don’t let this be a tag match… HHH talks trash on Sting before we move on to the current angle in the ring. Stephanie talks last week’s match with Bryan and Reigns, and the Bryan and Kane casket match. Bryan cracks a joke about Katie Vick… Steph isn’t amused and she books… Bryan and Reigns vs. Show & Kane, NEXT… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
-Commercial Break-
1. Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Kane & Big Show (w/The Authority)
If you thought they’d start during the break, you’d be wrong… Damn… So here we go, Kane knocked to the floor to start and Bryan lands a suicide dive. Show and Reigns tag in, Show manhandles Roman. Reigns manages a DDT but Big Show comes right back and tags to Kane. Kane is so boring they show replays from LAST WEEK during the match… Reigns finally separates himself and makes a hot tag to Bryan while Show tags in. Bryan goes wild on Show, kicking the crap out of Show with a variety of YES! Kicks… Bryan dives out of the ring onto both Show and Kane, but they catch him and throw him into…. the ropes… They threw him into the ropes, and he has to sell it like it hurt…. And we go to break…
Back from break, and I now realize that we’re within minutes from not having to watch Kane or Show wrestle the rest of the night… Hopefully… Show has Bryan in a bearhug. Kane takes over the bearhug. Oh the excitement, you can cut it with a knife… Kane lays Bryan out with a sideslam for 2. Show walks on Bryan and tries a pump splash in the corner but misses!!! Bryan crawls towards Reigns, but Kane tags in and knocks Roman off the apron. Bryan hooks Kane in the Yes Lock, but Show pulls Bryan to the floor and throws him over the timekeeper barrier and that somehow causes a DQ in 12:00… Hey, whatever, as long as it’s over….
Reigns comes to make the save, but Big Show drops him with a chair shot. Show goes in the ring after Reigns, but eats a SUPERMAN PUNCH… And Reigns lays Show out with a series of chair shots that knock Show over the top rope to the floor…
Kane attacks Reigns next, Roman blocks a chokeslam, Bryan charges at Kane but Kane moves and BRYAN NAILS REIGNS with a dropkick in the corner… WARRIOR VS. HOGAN!!!! 😛
Bryan tries to explain himself afterwards but Reigns shoves him down… The two get in each other’s faces and argue… HHH is shown smiling… As he announces a match for later…
Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns vs. Kane, Big Show, J&J Security, and Seth Rollins… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… Do they WANT people to turn the channel? TWO MATCHES WITH BIG SHOW AND KANE?????? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????
You have no idea how it feels to know you have 2 and a half hours of SUCK left and there’s nothing you can do about it…
-Commercial Break-
2. Ryback vs. Seth Rollins (w/J&J Security)
Okay, so everyone is pulling double duty tonight… What is this, Smoky Mountain Wrestling??? Rollins dumps Ryback to the floor early and J&J Security drive Ryback into the barricade. Back inside, Seth takes over. Seth controls the next but action, but Ryback counters with a high backdrop and Rollins rolls to the floor… Noble tries to distract while Mercury interferes, but it doesn’t work. Ryback lays out Mercury and plants Rollins with a spinebuster… Ryback goes for Shellshock but J&J Security attack causing a DQ in 3:10… Seriously?
This may wind up being one of the worst Raws in a while at this rate…
After the match, the heels triple team Ryback and Rollins drops him with a Curb Stomp…
They build Ryback back up, for this…
-Commercial Break-
– ‘Sheamus Returns’ Vignette airs… FELLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAA….. I’m gonna come back for 3 months, and get injured for 9!!!
– Oh that God awful Brie Mode music… If only Autotunes could help Brie in the ring.
3. Paige vs. Brie Bella (w/Nikki)
Paige goes right to work on Brie Mode. Brie takes over with a head scissor. Brie comes off the middle rope with a dropkick for 2… Then the girls slap each other simultaneously. Paige takes over, she tries for a cradle DDT but Nikki gets on the apron. Paige whips Brie into Nikki and the Divas Title belt on the apron, Nikki bumps to the floor and Paige lands the “RamPaige” Cradle DDT on Brie for the win in 3:15…. Paige Moooode.
-Commercial Break-
– We’ve got US Champion Rusev and Lana in the ring to pay tribute to John Cena. “USA” chants and speaker feedback to start the segment… Lana gets things going by putting over Cena as one of the fighting-est champions in WWE history. They want to recognize Cena’s career tonight, and we get a Cena video, but it turns into clips of Cena getting his ass beat from over the years… Lana wonders how much longer Cena can go, he’s just awaiting annihilation… Rusev says the man that Cena was no longer exists. The fans WHAT Rusev, Rusev says the fans shouldn’t what him and proclaims himself a hero. He says Cena’s lost his fighting spirit and is weak. Rusev says he will break Cena’s body and crush his spirit at Fastlane…
Cue John Cena to the ramp… John says if Rusev is so unbeatable and Cena sucks then why are they having a match at Fastlane. Cena says they’re full of crap. John does your typical “I’m going to whip your ass at the PPV” promo. Some unfunny comedy follows. Cena is not the Rock. Cena tells Rusev he picked a fight with the wrong “old man”.
Rusev teases leaving the ring to go after Cena, but Lana holds him back. Rusev gets on the mic, he says Cena is afraid to get in the ring and mocks Cena’s bad eye. Cena says Lana is the one with the balls and invites Rusev to a fight on the ramp… Rusev obliges and the two men brawl to the stage where Rusev goes to Cena’s bad eye and rams him into the Raw lighting.
Officials separate Rusev from Cena as we go to break….
I think they got all of the bullet points right for this angle, but every one of them was delivered with a fizzle for me. Would have liked to heard a better promo from Cena here as he phoned this one in. Also, would have liked to seen Rusev look a little more bad ass in the brawl rather than just exposing Cena’s injured eye and slamming his head into some lights.
-Commercial Break-
We’ve got TWO HOURS left to kill with all the main eventers out of the way… Not really sure what the hell they’re doing for the next 90 minutes until the main event…
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Bray Wyatt
AGAIN? This can only end one way… Didn’t we just do this last week? Not complaining about the match, I just don’t see how this helps either one of them outside of having a good match. Ziggler rassles Wyatt to the mat, Bray comes back with a slap, but Dolph lands a dropkick in response… Wyatt takes a cheap shot elbow on Dolph to take over. Bray misses a splash in the corner, but Ziggler lands one, and a neckbreaker gets 2… Wyatt rolls outside to escape an elbowdrop, but he gets dropped across the top rope and Ziggler dropkicks Wyatt off the apron and Bray tumbles to the floor as we go to break.
Back from break, Wyatt has control but his nose is busted open from the dropkick before the break… Wyatt hits a nasty looking body attack as it looks like the two men had some miscommunication. Wyatt tries to take Ziggler’s head off with a clothesline, but Dolph ducks and this Bray with a jumping DDT for 2…
Wyatt blocks a Famouser and goes for Sister Abigail, but Dolph counters out with a roll up for 2… FAMOUSER CONNECTS, Wyatt pops up like last week, but Ziggler’s waiting with a SUPERKICK!!!! 1…..2……… Wyatt kicks out.
Bray goes to the floor, Ziggler chases, but Dolph runs into a sick clothesline that kills Ziggler… Wyatt rolls Dolph into the ring, does the upside down gimmick and then just lands Sister Abigail to definitively put down Dolph for the win in 11:34.
After the match, Bray pulls up the padding in the aisle and teases Sister Abigail to Ziggler on it, but the officials force Bray back.
I guess Bray’s win last week wasn’t definitive enough for Vince, let’s kill Ziggler’s heat off all together… Now that Daniel Bryan supposedly has his Mania main event match, I guess he’s forgotten about Dolph too…
– Celebrating Black History Month: Junkyard Dog Video
– Brock Lesnar up next… Oh yeah, forgot he’s actually working Raws these days.
-Commercial Break-
– It’s time for Paul Heyman and WWE Champion Brrrrock Lesnar. Heyman brings up Brian Williams and hios recent lies in the news. Heyman says Brian Williams is the #2 liar in the land, the #1 spot belongs to Reigns and Bryan… Heyman says if either thinks they have a chance against Brock Lesnar then they’re lying to everyone, including themselves… Heyman says Reigns pissed his pants when he went face to face with Lesnar at WWE HQ…
Then there’s Daniel Bryan… “Look at Daniel Bryan, and look at Brock Lesnar”… That pretty much sums it up… Heyman asks if the fans really think Bryan would be the one to beat the one behind 21-1. Heyman says whoever wins at Fastlane should hop in a helicopter with Brian Williams and head into enemy fire, the F5 at WrestleMania…
Simple promo, Brock says nothing, and gets paid A LOT OF MONEY for standing there…
-Commercial Break-
– We see a video highlighting the recent issues between the Dustststststs….
5. The New Day (Big & & Kofi w/Xavier) vs. Goldust & Stardust
New Day getting boo’d during the intro and remain silent for the most part… Stardust gets the better of Kofi early and tags in Goldy… Goldust takes over with an armbar and Stardust just randomly walks off a minute in… Goldust tries to maintain control but turns his attention towards Cody, and Kofi rolls Goldy up for the win in 1:35. CROWD DOESN’T MAKE A SOUND…
New Day may be the most un-over group ever… JBL says it best about Cody, why even come out here if you’re going to leave right away…
– Renee Young in the back with Daniel Bryan. Daniel says what he did to Roman earlier was an accident and that he doesn’t blame Reigns for his response, Bryan says he would have felt the same way… Renee wants to know if Bryan and Reigns can coexist, Reigns steps in and says they will coexist and they will win tonight and go on to Fastlane without any issues.
-Commercial Break-
– Goldust catches up with Stardust in the back. He says this is DUSTIN talking, and he calls Stardust “Cody”. Cody attacks Goldust and drops him, he says never call him Cody and says Cody is dead, he is only Stardust….
– HHH is out to the ring… He wants to call out Sting today to see if Sting will show up when he calls him out for Fastlane… That…. makes… sense??? So anyway, HHH is calling out Sting in regards to Fastlane where he has called out Sting… HHH says he’s done everything he could for the last 20 years to make the WWE better, and Sting took it all away…. Ummm, didn’t you get the power back a few weeks later???
HHH trashes WCW, and says Sting stayed away for 14 years because HHH would expose him. Sting finally took his shot at Survivor Series, but he attacked like a coward. HHH says he’s a man, not a coward… He’s calling Sting out at Fastlane. No shit. HHH will show Sting at Fastlane why he made a mistake ever showing up. HHH says he will let Sting go away unharmed if he leaves Fastlane and never returns…
HHH demands an answer right now from Sting… Will he be at Fastlane???
Lights flicker… A crow caws… Lights go out… There are random spotlights in the crowd… A HHH interview plays with Sting paint superimposed on his face. The lights go out… They come back on… There’s someone dressed like Sting with a BAD WIG standing behind HHH in the ring. HHH takes a bump in fear… The lights go back out, and the words “I ACCEPT” appear on the big screen….
That was interesting… Sound cool? Well, it wasn’t… Concept was there, but the delivery was pure CRAP…. And I think I bought Kevin Nash as Sting better than this imposter guy… At least hire NWO Sting. 😛
-Commercial Break-
6. Tag Champs Usos (w/Naomi) vs. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (Natalya)
Non-title here… So there was some double date on Smackdown with Jey/Naomi and Tyson/Natalya. Cesaro is there for some reason and they attack Jey after some comments are traded… Natalya plays heel… The heels beat down on Jimmy Uso early on. The Usos take over after double teaming Kidd. Jimmy sends Tyson to the floor and goes for a dive, but Kidd springs back onto the apron and catches Jimmy with a semi huracan rana type move that pulls Jimmy out to the floor as well and we go to break…
Back from break, the heels have taken over control while Naomi & Natalya verbally go at it. Tyson grabs that chinlock, Jimmy breaks it with a back suplex. Cesaro tags in though and stops Jimmy from tagging. Cesaro with a dead lift gutwrench, then Tyson right back in with another chinlock. Cesaro lays Jimmy out with some cross faces. Jimmy escapes Cesaro and kicks him to the floor… Hot tag to Jey Uso and Tyson. Jey goes on the offense, Tyson to the floor but blocks a dive. Jimmy dives out onto Cesaro. Back inside Tyson tries a springboard but lands right into Jey’s SUPERKICK for a near fall…
Tyson comes back with a roll up on Jey but gets caught using the ropes for leverage. Jey lays Tyson out with another superkick… Jey Uso goes to the top rope for the big splash, but the referee is busy getting Jimmy out of the ring and Cesaro shoves Jey off the top rope…. Kidd is quick to cover and the would be challengers get the win in 10:32.
– Rikishi is officially announced for the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame. Never mind all the stuff he did as Fatu, they just focus on the Stink face…
– The Usos are shown in the ring celebrating the announcement… Hey guys, YOU LOST!!!
– Sandow on his way to the ring, with Miz…
-Commercial Break-
7. Damien Sandow (w/Miz) vs. Sin Cara
Cara gets the jobber intro, already in the ring. We’re reminded Cara pinned Miz last week. Even though Sandow is wrestling, Miz does the intro and Damien just stands behind him. The bell sounds but Miz gets on the mic and stops the match, he tells Damien not to remove his sunglasses like the Miz. We get counters from both and a stand off, but the WWE marks have no appreciation for rasslin unless it’s a high spot, so there’s no applause… We do however get a let’s go Mizdow chant soon after. Sandow dropkicks Cara out by the Miz at ringside… Miz orders Sandow to get him a water while he’s out of the ring. Sandow hands him the water but Miz wants it open. After Damien opens it, Cara dives onto him… A giant “You’re from Cleveland” chant directed at the Miz, and Miz responds with “Better Than Columbus”. Lol. Sandow pulls off a Miz neckbreaker, and then a kip up… Sandow starts to apply the Figure Four, and Miz demands Damien to stop because it’s not his move… Miz tells Sandow to get his own moves… Cara rolls Sandow up for the win in 3:47. Crowd makes NO NOISE…
This segment had it’s moments, all be it all by accident. It’s like they keep finding ways to ruin every segment tonight…
– Bray Wyatt promo from a dark place… Where do we go when we die? Wyatt knows “he” can hear Bray. He sends a message to someone, that it’s time to come home and FIND HIM. FIND BRAY! But who is he talking to? 😉
– Dean Ambrose is next.
– Sheamus Returns video… Again… Fella…. I wonder if he got injured during the making of this video… Perhaps he strained his eyes…
-Commercial Break-
8. Dean Ambrose vs. Curtis Axel
Axel continues to point to the WrestleMania logo, cutting a promo that nobody is going to steal the Rumble match from him, not even Kanye West… Axel asks the fans to continue to keep the movement alive #AxelMania… Ambrose attacks early but telegraphs a backdrop and Axel takes over with a kneelift… Dean fires back with punches, Axel hits a terrible looking dropkick that has his father rolling in his grave… Dean bounces between the ropes and fires back with the big clothesline, and Dirty Deeds ends it in 2:29.
– Ambrose cuts a promo on Bad News Barrett. He won’t stop until he gets the IC Title shot he wants… BNB appears with his new TMZ style backdrop. It sucks by the way. Barrett tells Ambrose that just because he wants a shot, it doesn’t mean he deserves one. This TMZ gimmick is poop.
-Commercial Break-
2 vs. 5 Handicap Match
9. Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins, Kane, Big Show, Joey Mercury & Jamie Noble
Apparently Noble & Mercury have sold their gear, wrestling in dress clothes. The heels surround the ring and then attack the baby faces. Bryan and Reigns are beaten down, Kane & Show double chokeslam Reigns and he rolls to the floor… Bryan is laid out in the ring but demands to continue the match… And the bell sounds.. The match begins…
Bryan is already selling his neck injury, this is already played out for me when he goes to that injury in EVERY match… The heels take turns beating down Bryan, Noble ends up making a mistake and Bryan takes over on Jamie… Bryan is eventually forced to the heel corner and Mercury tags in… YES LOCK on Mercury, but Rollins breaks it up right away. Kane tags in and the heels take back over. Reigns finally recovers from the floor and attacks to help Bryan, but Show lands the KNOCKOUT PUNCH and Reigns goes down and rolled back to the floor… The heels systematically pick Bryan apart…
Big Show & Kane clear off the announce table as J&J Security throw Bryan to the floor…
RYBACK’s music hits… Ryback, Ziggler, and Rowan come out and brawl with Kane, Show and Rollins in the aisle. Ziggler dives off the stage onto the heels…
Meanwhile, we’re down to Daniel Bryan vs. J&J Security in the ring… J&J try a double superplex, but they’re knocked off the ropes… DOUBLE MISSILE DROPKICK on both from Bryan!!! YES Kicks on both J&J members lay them out… Noble rolls outside, Bryan sets up for the flying knee out of the corner on Mercury, but Reigns tags himself in, hits the spear, and wins in 7:39. Well, that was pretty heelish.
Bryan calls Reigns out for laying on the floor all match and then stealing the win. Reigns starts to walk away but Bryan wants an answer… Bryan shoves Roman, and Reigns spears Bryan… Daniel is so short that Reigns nearly spears him in the throat… Gotta aim lower there buddy…
– The Authority are shown in the back smiling at Bryan and Reigns being at odds…
Wow, that was an AWFUL show. This may be the first show in a long while that didn’t have one good match. Bray and Ziggler was okay, but last week’s match was way better. Everything else was subpar to just terrible. Some of the segments sounded good in theory, but the delivery just BOMBED… The crowd died during the New Day segment, and they never fully recovered, even during the main event. Lots of hokey shit or badly written segments this week, more so than usual. The “main event” was just a backdrop for what happened afterwards.
Usually, I can find a match or two that I can say is worth the watch. Sometimes there’s even a good promo of angle… There were a lot of good ideas on this show, but every single one of them was poorly executed in my opinion. This is probably the first Raw in a while that I’d recommend just completely skipping if you didn’t already sit through it…
