WWE RAW: Results & Review (09.02.15)
We continue on the Road to WrestleMania 31 here with the second RAW of February 2015. Last week we saw Daniel Bryan beat Seth Rollins in order to gain a shot at Roman Reigns at WWE Fast Lane, with the winner of that match going to WrestleMania to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. So, plenty to be curious about here, let’s get on with it.
The show opens with Roman Reigns heading to the ring to 80% boo’s, 20% cheers, and talks about how he won the Royal Rumble and shouldn’t have to earn his shot at Lesnar again. Reigns bumbled his lines yet again here, they need to keep him quiet and get him to practice more, seriously. Bryan interrupts to 80% cheers, 20% boo’s, and tells Reigns that they will be fighting at Fast Lane, and that he is the better wrestler, etc. The Authority interrupts, setting up a tag match with Reigns and Bryan taking on Big Show (ugh) and Kane (sigh), and that match would be next. The match was mediocre with Bryan and Reigns winning via DQ. Afterwards, Stephanie and Triple H announced that Bryan and Reigns would have another tag match later in the night, against Big Show, Kane, J&J Security and Seth Rollins.
Match Results:
- Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns beat Big Show and Kane by Disqualification
- Ryback beat Seth Rollins via DQ
- Paige pinned Brie Bella
- Bray Wyatt pinned Dolph Ziggler
- The New Day beat Goldust & Stardust
- Tyson Kidd & Cesaro beat The Uso’s
- Sin Cara pinned Damien Mizdow
- Dean Ambrose pinned Curtis Axel
- Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns beat Rollins, Big Show, Kane & J&J Security
Ryback and Rollins had a random match, which did nothing of note. Brie Bella took on Paige in a match made to keep the booking behind the Nikki/Paige match for Fast Lane. It was okay, but again, did very little, but at least Paige went over strong here. Lana and Rusev came out to “pay tribute” to John Cena. They played a video package which showed Cena being beaten down, spoke about him, and then put him down in their heel-manner, calling him old and lacking of ruthless aggression. Cena comes out and does his usual shtick, saying he will “kick” Rusev’s “ass” at Fast Lane. The segment was passable only for Lana’s heel mic-work, which she is very good at, I enjoy her character. The segment ends with a mini-brawl between the two.
Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt had another good match here, one of the highlights of the show. They have good chemistry and the fans seem to enjoy when two young and fresh stars fight it out. I know I do. I’d love to see a long-term feud with the two with them swapping victories, because Ziggler deserves a good feud. Wyatt though, appears to be moving onto bigger things as they continue to hype his potential upcoming match with The Undertaker and WrestleMania. The fans were split with who they cheered here, another crowd who didn’t get behind one guy, something I find increasingly annoying. The match ended with Bray hitting the Sister Abigail for the victory. Top class action again from these two.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman hit the ring and Heyman takes his rightful place behind the microphone. Heyman speaks about Reigns and Bryan being liars. He talks about their match at Fast Lane, and what it means. He says that neither of them have a chance against Brock Lesnar. Heyman mocks the “Yes” chant and talks about both Reigns and Bryan and why they will fail to Brock. Heyman, in one of the things that makes him one of the best of all time, manages to put Bryan down, while still putting him over as an amazing talent. The best talker in WWE without doubt, this hyped Reigns, Bryan, Lesnar and WrestleMania. Just brilliant.
They continued to tease the split and eventual feud between Goldust and Stardust, with Stardust walking out on Goldie and leaving him to lose to their opponents in the ring, this week it was the tedious New Day faction. Goldust looked disappointed in the ring. I hope this leads to their much-wanted WrestleMania match. The two have words backstage with Goldust calling Stardust “Cody”, causing Stardust to throw Goldie to the ground and walk away.
Triple H hit the ring to call out Sting. Trips talked about how it had taken Sting so long to come to WWE after WCW folded in 2001. A cool video package aired with the lights out, and strange bird noises, before Sting accepted with the words “I Accept” on the big screen. The fans popped for this. The hype-machine is fully behind this feud that will lead to a one-on-one match between the two at WrestleMania 31.
Cesaro and Kidd took on The Uso’s to continue their feud. I wish they’d just shot an angle here instead of a match. I’d prefer to see them hold off on the match until Fast Lane, but hopefully that will still happen, because these are my personal two favourite teams in WWE right now. Talent bursting at the seams. The match was good, though they did hold back for television, which is a good thing. There were close-falls and lots of excellent spots here and the fans were invested as the match wound down. Cesaro knocked one of the Uso’s off the top rope when the referee was distracted, allowing Kidd to score the pinfall and pick up the win for his team. The match I enjoyed the most on this episode of RAW, these teams are fantastic.
Rikishi was announced as the next inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame 2015. I was surprised to see Rikishi inducted this early, but I’m happy. It’s deserving. He had a good run as a Headshrinker, and in Too Cool where he was incredibly over for a time, and his son’s, The Uso’s, can induct him. Nice.
Damien Mizdow had a match with Sin Cara. The Miz sat and ringside and berated Mizdow on the microphone during the match, making him do things as Miz’s assistant. A match that, again, only existed to push the break-up of the team of Miz & Mizdow. Mizdow got pinned by Sin Cara due to Miz distracting Mizdow. After the match there was another Bray Wyatt promo. Wyatt spoke about death and immortality before ending the promo with the words “find me”. Following this, a Sheamus video played, hyping the return of the former World Champion. When? Who knows. Dean Ambrose and Curtis Axel had a one-on-one match here. It was more or less a squash, with Ambrose winning with his finisher. After the match Ambrose challenged Bad News Barrett to a match for the Intercontinental Title. Barrett responded, cut a promo, and told Ambrose to “stay tuned” for his answer.
The final segment/match of RAW was the handicap match with Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns taking on Big Show, Kane, Joey Mercury, Jamie Noble and Seth Rollins. The match was strange with its booking. Bryan took a beating from the five opponents while Reigns, attacked earlier, is outside the ring for most of the match. The end of the match saw Bryan fight back, get the crowd involved, and hit his running knee, but before he could get the pin, Reigns tagged himself in, hit a spear, and scored the pin instead. This made Reigns look weak, because he spend the match laying outside the ring, and like he couldn’t win a match without snatching someone else’s victory. I dunno where they’re going with this, but I’m intrigued enough to keep watching. Bryan looked angry as he and Reigns were announced as the winners. After the match they argue and Reigns nails Bryan with a spear. The show goes off the air with Bryan laid out, and Trips and Stephanie smirking backstage.
RAW: Best Match: Cesaro & Tyson Kidd vs. The Uso’s
RAW: Best Talker: Paul Heyman
RAW: Worst Match: The New Day vs. Gold & Stardust
RAW: Surprise of the Night: Rikishi announced for the Hall of Fame 2015
