Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Raw Review 3/2/15

Raw in Newark, New Jersey kicked off with Seth Rollins and J&J Security. He discussed the Daily Show with Jon Stewart stuff, who is scheduled to appear latter. He was cut off by Roman Reigns. Seth continued by saying he was a better talker than Stewart, better rapper than Wiz Khalifa (who will perform next week) and a better wrestler than Reigns. He ain't lying there. He also teased cashing in the night after WrestleMania. Reigns stumbled over his words a bit but in the end, took out Seth and J&J Security because he's a powerhouse. Didn't you know? Backstage, Seth isn't pleased and Randy Orton comes up to him. He says that he believes in Seth and suggests he demand a match with Roman. I still don't see the point in this Orton stuff. Surprisingly, the WWE actually hypes a Divas Title match tonight as Paige gets a rematch. We'll see if #GiveTheDivasAChance did anything. Our opening contest pit Bad News Barrett against the man currently holding his title hostage, Dean Ambrose. R-Truth was back out on commentary and continued to be his pretty insane self. It's fun. He stole the Intercontinental Title before Luke Harper appeared behind him from out of nowhere and he stole it. The distraction allowed Ambrose to sneak up and plant Barrett with Dirty Deeds. I like that we're heading towards what should be a fun ladder match at WrestleMania, but Barrett losing every single week is only really hurting him. It's like Dolph Ziggler was the only guy booked strongly as an IC Champ.Truth stole the segment by saying he's scared of heights and wants to use small ladders like they do for "Hornswoggle and Dean Malenko."

On Smackdown, The Miz stole a commercial from Damien Mizdow. He didn't ask for a script and freestyled this. He had some scrubs backstage for his commercial premiere, only to find out it was for an erectile dysfunction ad. He was pissed and slapped Mizdow, which led to Mizdow coming face to face with him before backing down. It was clear from the crowd's response that when Mizdow inevitably gets fed up and lays out Miz, the place is going to explode. Maybe during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal? Bray Wyatt comes out next with a casket to build his WrestleMania match alone. I've actually enjoyed the promos on Undertaker more than his usual stuff. He seems to be more focused and it is shining through in the work.

Our first look at the divas following the hashtag stuff is a six person tag match. The Tag Team Champions, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro teamed with Natalya to face the Usos and Naomi. I appreciate that we haven't had this incarnation of this feud yet. The match was solid and played into Kidd being a great chickenshit heel. He avoided a double superkick and tagged in Nattie. She wasn't pleased as she was nursing an ankle injury. Her yelling at Tyson allowed Naomi to slip in and win. I wonder if they're actually going to give us a straight up Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania. We get the Sheamus Returns ad again. I wonder when that will actually happen. I mean, WrestleMania is right around the corner.

John Cena appears to address his WrestleMania future. He does his whole "the crowd is divided" stuff and points to the WrestleMania sign a few times. If you made a drinking game out of stuff Cena always does in promos, you'd be drunk halfway through. Since Rusev won't give him a rematch (rightfully so) he declares himself for the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Stephanie McMahon interrupts and tells him he can't just declare himself in the match, so Cena tells her that's what everyone has done so far. Stephanie drops truth bombs, telling Cena that he doesn't define the WWE and they, and WrestleMania, can thrive without him. She won't put him in the match and it brings out Curtis Axel. #AXELMANIA! Axel says he'd make a fine opponent for Rusev, kisses Stephanie's ass, and gets the crowd to chant "AxelMania." He claimed to be "often imitated, never eliminated". He does the Hogan shirt rip  and asks "WHATCHA GONNA DO WHEN AXELMANIA RUNS WILD ON YOU?" but loses to Cena in relatively quick fashion, bringing out Rusev. He delivers a quick promo and once again denies Cena his match. This was a highly entertaining segment highlighted by Axel.

Our WrestleMania feuds are being built by one guy due to part timers mostly. This was evident again as Triple H come out to build his match with Sting. He brought Booker T into the ring, and questioned him about Sting. It led to him firing Booker, only to say it was a fake out as Booker was leaving. It was supposed to him showing how much power he has and being an asshole. Decent at best segment. The Divas Championship was on the line next as Paige got her rematch with Nikki Bella. They were given a commercial break and about seven minutes, which was appreciated. Paige knocked Brie off the apron and had Nikki in the PTO, which is a move that I see no counter for once it is on. The crowd popped for the possibility of her winning, until Brie came in to cause the disqualification. The Bellas then took the opportunity to double team Paige until the theme of AJ Lee hit to a HUGE pop from her hometown fans. She stood tall with Paige as the Bellas retreat. If they had build Brie as competent and not a complete idiot, they could have done a Fatal Four Way at WrestleMania. As it stands, I sense we get a tag team match instead, which is fine. Seeing AJ Lee return was for the best as it adds something to the division for sure. Backstage, Renee Young interviews AJ and Paige after the break. My heart couldn't handle the three of them on screen at the same time and I nearly died. Both girls are sick of the Bella Twins bullying the division around.

We are at the two hour mark and it's time for the Daily Show with Seth Rollins. He tells some shitty jokes until Jon Stewart interrupts. Stewart was excellent here, which makes sense since he talks for a living. He calls out Seth for not earning things in his career, though this could be directed at Roman Reigns perhaps. He said Seth looks like a SWAT Team stripper with Lady Gaga hair which made me laugh. Seth got pissed and grabbed him, which brought out Randy Orton to calm things down. The distraction allowed Jon to kick him low and leave. Good segment and Stewart looked like he had a blast. Next, we had Daniel Bryan take on Luke Harper. I would love to see these two get a PPV match down the line with build and time. Bryan wins quicker than expected while the title stealing continued. Truth, Ambrose and Barrett all got involved, but Harper went to leave with the belt only to be greeted with a superkick by Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler climbed a ladder on the stage and posed with the belt. They have big names involved but with all of the match results seemingly irrelevant, it's like a battle of the biggest losers at WrestleMania. Next, we get more talking as Paul Heyman is out. He redeems himself after last week's shit promo. He came out aggressively and said that Brock Lesnar may just "Ronda Rousey" Roman Reigns' ass. I won't lie, I think that would be hilarious and an incredible sight to behold. Our main event was next as Rollins took on Reigns. A lot of Seth tonight huh? He wins thanks to help from Orton. Seriously? The guy that's supposed to beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania loses right before? They couldn't have had Seth beat him months ago when it would have been okay? Whatever. Roman beats up the Authority post match and hits a big dive to the outside. It was nice and he should have waited to bust that out during a match.

In the end, I rather enjoyed this Raw. It wasn't big on the actual wrestling as it was promo heavy but sometimes that's fine. I'll take five meaningful promos over seven rematches with little to no meaning. There was no Kane and Big Show, which allowed me to enjoy this way more than usual. The divas stuff was damn good, the Daily Show segment was enjoyable and the show moved quickly. 7.5/10