Live from San Antonio, Texas this is the Raw Deal for episode #1086. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport.
There was a video from last Monday’s Raw when Daniel Bryan got his way with Triple H accepting a match against him and also a WWE World Title match if he beats Hunter. The “Occupy Raw” segment was fantastic.
The COO of WWE, Triple H, was standing in the ring in a suit for a promo. Hunter did the typical heel promo by saying when this is all over it’s going to be the fault of the fans for supporting this “yes movement” of Daniel Bryan. Hunter said it’s been a week and he is confident he can beat Bryan at WrestleMania. He’ll talk to Bryan face to face later on. In other words, this is a promo to promote another promo later. Yes it’s WrestleMania season.
Batista’s music started up to interrupt Triple H. Michael Cole welcomed us to Raw with JBL and Jerry Lawler joining him.
Batista said Hunter may have problems with Bryan, but he’s got bigger issues with him. Batista complained about how he didn’t come back to have a triple threat at WrestleMania where he didn’t have to get pinned to lose. He asked Hunter what he was thinking. Hunter wondered what Batista was thinking because he said he was going to beat Bryan at WrestleMania.
Randy Orton’s music started up and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion walked out with both titles. Orton wondered what Hunter was thinking. Fans were chanting “yes” as Hunter said Bryan wouldn’t be able to beat him. Hunter wondered if Bryan got in their heads, so Batista said “apparently not as much as he’s got in yours.”
Orton wanted Bryan one on one in a No DQ match, so he can prove what Batista didn’t do last week. Hunter gave Orton that match. Orton said the fans cheered Bryan because nobody cared about Batista. Then Batista told Orton that as WWE Champion, Orton sucks and that’s why the fans love Bryan. Batista started arguing with Orton. Hunter went to walk away, but before he could leave Batista told him to fix this.
Hunter said he’s sick of troll faces like Daniel Bryan and the fans chanting for him. He’s sick of Hollywood movie stars coming back there to tell him what’s right for this business. He stared right at Batista. He’s also sick of technically gifted guys that can’t win a match without Hunter holding his hand. He looked right at Orton. Hunter said the only person he can trust is himself. Hunter added a stipulation to WrestleMania that if he beats Bryan then he gets to face Orton and Batista in a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
After Hunter left, Orton dropped Batista with a RKO to end the segment.
Analysis: Cue the angry internet fans! Haha. Don’t worry. Hunter’s not going to win at WrestleMania. While I’m sure some fans will think that because they’re too negative, it’s just a way to put over the idea that Hunter is mad with power. It also assures us that there will be a triple threat main event at WM, but that’s something we already assumed. I thought the promo was pretty average for the most part. It got really good when Hunter took direct shots at the two heels. Orton’s RKO was a cheap move on his part. Expect Batista to get revenge soon. I like that they are heels that don’t like each other. They don’t need to be buddies in this storyline.
Later in the show, John Cena responds to the Wyatt Family and The Usos in action next.
(Commercial)
Backstage, Batista was shown leaving the building. Renee Young asked for a reaction to what happened. Batista said coming back here was a big mistake.
Analysis: I’m sure people that paid for the Royal Rumble would agree with that, Batista.
The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) vs. The Real Americans (Cesaro & Jack Swagger) w/Zeb Colter
This is not for the tag titles held by The Usos. The champs were in control early on with some quick tags. Nice tilt a whirl backbreaker by Cesaro. Swagger tagged in for his team, but Jimmy was able to take him down with a cross body attack off the top. Cesaro distracted Jimmy, so Swagger kicked Jimmy in the face and that sent him to the floor. That’s the cue for the vintage floor to commercial break.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Jimmy made a brief comeback only for Swagger to take him down and Cesaro hit a double foot stomp. Swagger got back in there, but Jimmy caught him with a spinning kick that connected with the back of Swagger’s head. Jey made the hot tag with clotheslines on Cesaro and a shoulder block followed by the running butt splash in the corner for two. Cesaro tried for the Cesaro Swing, but Jimmy saved his brother. Tag team move leading to a Samoan Drop for two by Jey. Double superkick by the Usos on Swagger. Jey hit a dive on Swagger outside the ring. Cesaro hit an uppercut shot to the face of Jimmy and then the Neutralizer for the win. The match went 12 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The Real Americans
Analysis: **3/4 It was a good tag match with a lot of action and a memorable finish. The uppercut to set up the ending was perfect. It would be nice if this was a tag team feud where they get three or four long matches and really show how great tag team wrestling can be, but I’m not sure what the plan is. Perhaps it’s a multi-team tag match at WrestleMania. It looked like Cesaro and Swagger were splitting up, but they did work well here.
The announcers welcomed us to the show as they went over some stuff including WWE Slam City, which is some animated series. They showed some clips of it. Lawler said it was fun of course. As an adult I feel way too old to be watching WWE when I see stuff like that.
(Commercial)
I should add that I finally download the WWE App on my new iPhone. Just saw a Dolph Ziggler promo about an 8 man tag later on the show.
Highlights from Smackdown showed some issues between Kane and The Shield.
Kane showed up to confront The Shield backstage. He said he needed to count on them and if he can’t count on them then they cease being an asset. Kane asked them if he can count on them. Seth Rollins said they’re united and Reigns said “believe that.” Kane said they’ll have to prove it later when they’re asked.
Analysis: The Shield have been booked as babyfaces for about a month now so this continues that story.
Hornswoggle was giving out some goodies to the people at ringside for St. Patrick’s Day. Wade Barrett showed up on his platform with some bad news.
Bad News Barrett said Hornswoggle was a real life leprechaun celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. His bad news that St. Patrick really didn’t get rid of the snakes in Ireland. He spoke about people getting drunk, doing shameful things and regretting them for the rest of their life.
Analysis: The bad news is that these segments are still boring.
Sheamus came out for a match against Titus O’Neil with Hornswoggle posing with him.
(Commercial)
Christian joined the announce team for this match. He’s in the battle royal at WrestleMania and so is Titus O’Neil.
Sheamus (w/Hornswoggle) vs. Titus O’Neil
The idea is both guys are Irish because O’Neil is an Irish name. Not true of course, but heels lie. Sheamus hit a nice cross body block outside the ring. O’Neil powered back by driving Sheamus into the ring post. Backbreaker by O’Neil. Christian was mad about people ripping him and he called JBL “David Spade in a fatsuit.” That was awesome. After Titus had Sheamus knocked down, he picked on Hornswoggle with some slaps to the face. He did a fallaway slam, but Sheamus caught him. Sheamus threw Hornswoggle face first into the stomach of O’Neil. Ten clubbing forearm blows by Sheamus, then a slam and the Brogue Kick ended it after about 7 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Sheamus
Analysis: *1/2 That finish was no surprise. Just a match to put over a babyface. Remember when it looked like O’Neil might get a heel push after the breakup of his team? Nope. He’s just another guy. That’s the WWE midcard for most people. Hornswoggle hasn’t been around much of late. I didn’t miss him.
The lovely Renee Young interviewed Sheamus in the ring. She asked how Sheamus was going to celebrate and he wished everybody a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Sheamus said he’s going to win the Andre the Giant battle royal at WrestleMania. Like a dumb babyface, Sheamus turned his back and Christian attacked from behind. He threw Sheamus into the steps and then gave him the Killswitch on the floor.
Analysis: Sheamus is a definitely a favorite to win the battle royal. Heel Christian is much better than the face version. Glad to see him with some attitude again.
(Commercial)
Plug time: Check out my column archive at WhatCulture.com where I post 10 feature columns per week as well as news items with commentary. Some of my really feature columns of late include 10 things WWE wants you to forget about Randy Orton, 7 Brock Lesnar matches we want to see, a listing of the 10 best tag team matches in WWE history and plenty more!
Next week on Raw it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger to plug his movie Sabotage and Scooby Doo along with the Mystery Machine to plug WWE’s movie with Scooby Doo. Once again I feel too old for this although I’m not surprised that WWE would go with a random combo like that. At least the Brooklyn crowd should be solid.
John Cena ran down to the ring because his worked knee injury must be feeling better. Cena said he’s been there 12 years and had over 3500 matches. Cena said his relationship with the fans is like an old married couple because there are good times and bad. He claimed that he always gave it his all. He admitted that he was afraid of Bray Wyatt and his biggest fear is that the people are starting to listen to him. Cena claimed that all Wyatt wants to do is destroy Cena’s legacy. He’s mad because Wyatt is trying to convince us that Cena is filled with evil. “To hell with that” was his reply. Cena fired back with one of his promos about how he fights for everything he believes in. “At WrestleMania I will fight for my legacy.”
Bray Wyatt and his family appeared on the screen wearing a Cena shirt as well as the arm bands. Wyatt said his childhood wasn’t rainbows and butterflies. He spoke about the scars he had that were given to him by the world. Fans were chanting “Cena” during this. Wyatt said he could be like Cena hugging the fans and go home to his plastic girlfriend (among other things), but that’s not his way. He said he didn’t care if he died just as long as the world sees Cena the way he does. Follow the buzzards.
Analysis: Cena saying he was afraid of Wyatt was definitely newsworthy and was done to make Wyatt more of a threat. Typical good promo by Wyatt. Interesting to see him mentioning Cena’s plastic girlfriend (he didn’t say Nikki Bella by name). I figured they might do something physical, but that didn’t happen here.
Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan were shown walking backstage. This early in the show? That’s a surprise.
(Commercial)
Randy Orton made his entrance as they replayed his RKO on Batista earlier in the show. Then Batista said coming back there was a big mistake. Daniel Bryan made his entrance to a positive reaction of course. I have no idea how many Orton/Bryan matches there have been since August, but I’ve reviewed so many of them and they are usually good.
No Disqualification: Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan
This is not for Orton’s WWE WHC. Bryan was on fire early, but Orton fired back with forearm shots to the chest. Bryan came back with the flying goat dive outside the ring to take out Orton. Orton grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring and hit Bryan in the face with it. Orton gave Bryan a back body drop onto the announce table. They went to break there three minutes into the match.
(Commercial)
The action on the App was full of Orton beating up Bryan outside the ring, but Bryan was able to come back by throwing Orton face first into the steel steps. Bryan threw Orton over the announce table to send him crashing.
Back from break, Orton was in control in the ring with the kendo stick. Orton sent Bryan groin first into the ring post followed by a backbreaker. Orton remained in control as the crowd tried to rally behind Bryan. Running clothesline by Bryan and then the running dropkick in the corner. Hurricanrana off the top by Bryan for two. Bryan attacked with kicks/kendo stick shots and then a roundhouse kick for a two count. Bryan went up top, Orton tripped him up and it was superplex time for two. Orton hit the vintage DDT off the ropes. Bryan rolled out to the floor and then attacked with the kendo sticks. Bryan hit a running dropkick to knock Orton down by the timekeeper. It took 14 minutes when Orton finally brought a chair into the match with a jab shot followed by an attack to the back. Batista showed up out of nowhere with a Spear on Orton. Remember it’s a No DQ match. Batista turned around and Bryan knocked down Batista with the running knee to the face. Bryan covered Orton for the win after 15 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Daniel Bryan
After the match, Bryan went up the ramp to celebrate. Meanwhile back in the ring, Batista hit a Batista Bomb on Orton to get his revenge from earlier.
Analysis: ***1/4 It was the typical Bryan/Orton match that we’ve seen dozens of times in the last year although they have had better ones. They’ve had so many matches that I was able to call the spots and sequences before they took place. It’s nothing against either guy. Bryan’s my favorite and Orton is good, but they’ve done this match way too often. Batista getting revenge on Orton made sense, so I thought that was effective. It should be noted that both the WWE Champ and tag champs lost in non-title matches. Typical WWE booking in non-title matches.
The announcers talked about the WWE Network. More demonstrations on how to do it. The camera focused in on the “Mr. T to WWE Hall of Fame” story on WWE.com. Oops.
Up next is Paul Heyman with a message for Undertaker.
(Commercial)
Paul Heyman appeared on the stage to deliver a promo to hype up a match for the part timers that are probably not appearing on camera. He pointed out that Lesnar has beaten and conquered several people that Undertaker has also beaten.
There was a video package about The Undertaker at WrestleMania in recent years by showing his wins over Triple H. Clips of Brock Lesnar destroying people were also shown. Voiceover guy ended the video by saying “at WrestleMania he shall conquer death himself” in reference to Lesnar.
Heyman said Lesnar will conquer the streak at WrestleMania. Heyman proclaimed that at WrestleMania The Undertaker and his streak will rest in peace. Lawler said this is the most uncomfortable he’s felt about the streak. I think he says something like that every year.
Analysis: That’s what happens when the guys aren’t in the building to sell the match. They go to the video package. It was good, but I was hoping to see either Lesnar or Undertaker. Maybe next week.
Backstage in the office, Hunter and Stephanie McMahon talked about what happened last week. Steph was mad that Bryan disrespected them. She was really frustrated about everything. Hunter said he’s got this and he’ll take care of it. Steph: “You better.”
Summer Rae and Fandango danced on the stage.
(Commercial)
Goldust made his entrance with brother Cody Rhodes. They even did a dance on the stage.
Goldust (w/Cody Rhodes) vs. Fandango (w/Summer Rae)
Funny spot early as Goldust caught his foot and did some dancing with it. Atomic drops from Goldust followed by his patented uppercut. Summer jumped on the apron to distract him. Goldust did the chomp at her, so Cody caught her outside the ring. Fandango hard whip on Goldust in the corner. Hard whip into the corner by Fandango again for two. Crowd is pretty dead for this. Fandango missed the top rope leg drop and Goldust hit the Final Cut for the win after five minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Goldust
Post match, Goldust was mad about something after the match. They must have butted heads at some point because there appeared to be blood.
Analysis: *1/4 A slow match that didn’t mean anything. Goldust tried doing some fun stuff early, but the fans lost interest pretty early on. Not sure what Goldust was upset about. Maybe they blew a spot or something like that.
They showed Kane walking backstage. He was headed for the ring.
(Commercial)
The Director of Operations Kane entered the ring. He complained about Daniel Bryan’s “occupy Raw” segment from last week. Kane claimed that Daniel Bryan could not do it alone. Kane said that the person that helped Bryan is from Memphis and had a role in what happened last week. He asked Jerry Lawler to go to the ring. Come on Kane, Jerry hired you as Isaac Yankem all those years ago. Lawler didn’t go anywhere.
The Shield’s music hit and they entered the ringside area. They forced Lawler to go into the ring. Kane was smiling about it.
Lawler went into the ring with Kane and The Shield. It looked like Kane was going to kick Lawler’s ass with The Shield’s help when Rollins said that The Shield always does what’s best for business. Then they faced off with Kane. Lawler left the ring.
Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose attacked Kane. Rollins hit a jumping kick to the head. The crowd was cheering this. Reigns hit a Spear to knock down Kane. The Shield hit a triple powerbomb on Kane. Then they posed together as a united group. Believe in The Shield, people.
Analysis: As I mentioned earlier, they’ve been booked as babyfaces for a few weeks now and this has confirmed it. I’m not sure what they’re doing at WrestleMania, but it could be a six man tag against Kane along with Erick Rowan and Luke Harper. It would be nice if they let us know soon. I doubt all of them are going to be in that battle royal.
Still to come is another promo as Daniel Bryan/Triple H have a “man to man” segment.
Analysis: There have been a lot of promos to set up other promos. It’s WrestleMania season.
(Commercial)
Brie and Nikki Bella joined the announce team. The Funkadactyls are still billed from “Planet Funk” as the Bellas talked about how great Total Divas is. I hit fast forward through most of the first episode. I sort of watch it.
Naomi & Cameron vs. AJ Lee & Tamina
Naomi has an eye patch to cover her recent broken orbital bone injury. The heels isolated Cameron in their corner. This crowd is pretty dead. Naomi received the hot tag with some dropkicks on AJ Lee. Tamina made a save. Naomi sent her out of the ring. Naomi hit a powerslam on AJ. Split legged moonsault by Naomi on AJ for the pinfall win after 3 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Naomi & Cameron
Post match, AJ Lee was mad that Tamina wasn’t there to save her. AJ was mad that every time she’s by herself she wins, but when they’re together they lose. Tamina shoved AJ to the mat.
Analysis: 1/2* Good to see Naomi back in action. It was your typical three minute tag divas tag match with AJ getting pinned by another diva. I don’t think Tamina will work as a babyface, but seems to be going in that direction. It’s also likely going to be some match involving several divas in the ring at once.
As an aside, the Natalya/AJ Lee match from Main Event last week was incredible. It’s a shame more people didn’t see it. It was 15 minutes long and very competitive. Something like that on Raw would go a long way to helping the boring divas division. It’s not the fault of the talent. It’s the booking, or lack of booking.
The next WWE Hall of Fame inductee will be announced. We already know.
(Commercial)
There was a video package for the next WWE Hall of Famer: Mr. T. He’s going in the celebrity wing of the Hall of Fame and he deserves it. His impact at WrestleMania 1 was huge. A legit superstar celebrity in a WWE ring. Without him who knows if WrestleMania would have been successful.
The Hall of Fame class is Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, Lita, Paul Bearer, Carlos Colon and Mr. T. It’s expected that Scott Hall will also be in it likely next week.
They replayed the Hulk Hogan speech from last week about the Andre the Giant battle royal. Big Show did a pre-taped backstage promo about how he’s going to be in the battle royal to pay tribute to Andre the Giant. He could win it.
Big E, Big Show, Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler vs. Ryback, Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow and Ryback
This eight man tag is a battle of midcarders who have no direction right now. All of them are in the battle royal. Big E started with Ryback and he hit a belly to belly suplex. Henry clotheslines on Axel followed by a boot to the face. Neckbreaker by Ziggler on Axel, then Axel came back and isolated Ziggler in the heel corner. Ziggler hit some dropkicks to break free. Then his buddies joined him in the ring. They went to break with the heels escaping to the floor.
(Commercial)
Back from break (admittedly I forgot to look at the App), the heels were isolating Ziggler in their corner again. Ziggler was able to break free after a leaping DDT on Axel. Sandow prevented the tag as he hit a knee drop on Ziggler. Slingshot by Sandow, then he missed a corner charge and he hit the turnbuckle. Hot tag to Big Show.
Big Show hit clotheslines on Sandow followed by a back body drop and then a splash. Shoulder tackle. Show hit a chop on Axel, but Ryback took Show out and Big E sent Ryback over the top with a clothesline. Del Rio dumped Big E and then pulled down the ropes so Henry went outside. Ziggler sent Del Rio out, then Axel sent Ziggler out. Big Show sent Axel out. Sandow tried an attack, but Show didn’t feel it and gave Sandow a Chokeslam for the win after 12 minutes.
Winners by pinfall: Big E, Big Show, Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler
Analysis: **1/2 It was an average tag match. Instead of everybody hitting finishers at the end, they were tossing each other over the top rope to sell the idea of the battle royal.
No replays of that. They just showed highlights of the Orton/Bryan finish with Batista involved.
Backstage, Renee interviewed Batista. Batista said he’s not a quitter and he’s leaving WrestleMania with what he came for – the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Bray Wyatt in action up next.
(Commercial)
Plug time: I’ve set up a NCAA basketball tournament pool using ESPN’s tourney challenge. This link right here should get you access to it as long as you have a free account with ESPN. I set it up so you can have two brackets in the pool. It’s free and just for fun. I’m not sure who I’m picking. Leaning towards Kansas. I’m a big college hoops fans, so it’s tough decide on a winner.
Tomorrow night The Undertaker is on Main Event on WWE Network. Odd booking there. Also John Cena vs. Luke Harper on Smackdown.
The designated jobber against Bray Wyatt is Kofi Kingston.
There was a video package about Wyatt/Cena using an Eminem song “Legacy.” Very cool to hear an Eminem track in a WWE video package. They said it’s an official song for WrestleMania. Great to know. Eminem’s one of my favorite music artists ever.
Bray Wyatt (w/Luke Harper & Erick Rowan) vs. Kofi Kingston
Wyatt hit a running body attack to take down Kingston after Kofi missed an attack off the top rope. Wyatt pummeled him and then hit a running splash in the corner. Wyatt finished him with the Sister Abigail neckbreaker. Match went about three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Bray Wyatt
Analysis: * It was a squash match win similar to an “Iron” Mike Sharpe match from 25 years ago except in this case the jobber was a guy that used to have a Jamaican accent. Wyatt continues his momentum on the road to WrestleMania.
That Bryan/Triple H promo is up in the main event.
(Commercial)
Next Monday, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Mangianello are on Raw in Brooklyn to plug their movie Sabotage.
Triple H entered the ring. Daniel Bryan was up next. They stood face to face in the ring.
Promo Main Event with Triple H and Daniel Bryan
Hunter did a rambling promo saying that it was never personal and that he has a tough job making decisions for WWE. He spoke about how a lot of has happened with Bryan crossing the line last week, but he’s going to let it go away. Hunter said that in three weeks they’re going to step in the ring and they’re going to fight. Hunter will not apologize for what he does, nor should Bryan apologize to him. They’re going to do what they do better than anybody else on this planet. Bryan crossed the line, so he (Hunter) has to put an end to this. Hunter said he had no choice than to put an end to this “yes movement” and to shut that down as the fans chanted “yes” at him. He said he’d do it because it’s best for business because that’s what he’ll do every single time. “No hard feelings in all of this. May the best man win.” Hunter extended his hand for a shake. Bryan shook his head no and Hunter said it was cool. Hunter admitted that he has dumped a ton on Bryan, thrown roadblocks in front of him and yet Bryan still stands there. It was his way of saying he respected him.
Stephanie McMahon showed up on the ramp. She said she was pressing charges after what happened last week. She brought out the cops to arrest Bryan. Cops went into the ring to deal with Bryan. While that was going on, Hunter was arguing with Stephanie with him saying that he was going to handle it and she was really angry about it.
Hunter went back in the ring after Bryan was handcuffed. Hunter told them to back off and said that besides they’re not really cops. With Bryan cuffed, Hunter kicked him in the head. He assaulted him with punches. It’s a swerve. He was in on it with his wife all along.
Hunter attacked Bryan outside the ring by whipping him into the steel steps. Hunter continued the assault while Stephanie verbally taunted him. Hunter whipped him into the barricade at ringside followed by more punches to the head. Bryan tried to fight back, but with no use of his hands Hunter was able to keep him down. Hunter set him up on the announce table. Even Stephanie walked up to deliver a few slaps on Bryan’s face. Bryan told her that she hit like a girl! That’s funny. Hunter set up Bryan’s head against the ring post, then he hit the post with a chair. Fans booed as Stephanie got in Bryan’s face to taunt him some more.
Hunter hit a Pedigree on Bryan in the center of the ring. Hunter said it was their show. this belongs to them and there is no “yes movement” as his music started to play. Raw ended with Triple H and Stephanie standing over a fallen Bryan and it went off the air at 11:18pmET.
Analysis: That was a 20 minute segment to end the show. Hunter did a good job of playing up the idea that he was there to be respectful to Bryan, but in the end he was just fooling him. I liked seeing the evil side of Triple H. The beating went a bit long and could have been accomplished in half the time it actually took. It served its purpose, though. Bryan got the advantage last week, so of course this week he was the one that got his ass kicked. Heel Triple H has always been way better than face Triple H.
The main focus of this show was on the Bryan/HHH story along with Orton/Batista involved. There wasn’t much build to Cena/Wyatt and Lesnar/Undertaker weren’t there. The goal was to add more heat to the Bryan storylines. I think they did a good job of that. If people think he isn’t winning both of his matches at WrestleMania they are wrong. The babyface will triumph. They know that’s how the story has to go.
Three Stars of the Show
1. Daniel Bryan
2. Triple H
3. Randy Orton
The Scoreboard
6 out of 10
Last week: 7
2014 Average: 6.65
2014 High: 8 (January 13/March 3)
2014 Low: 5 (February 3)
Last 5 Weeks: 7, 8, 7, 6, 6.5
Final Thoughts
It wasn’t as good as the last couple of weeks and below the yearly average at this point, but 6 out of 10 isn’t a bad score.
This edition of Raw was all about furthering the Bryan/HHH story. They got several segments together at plenty of key points in the show from Hunter’s open to Bryan’s match to the main event slot and a really long overrun as well. Last week I commented that they didn’t do enough with Orton and Batista. This week they improved on that and both guys got promo time while also getting physical in the ring.
There was no Lesnar or Undertaker on the show. The video package aired in their place. Undertaker actually appeared after the show was over for the live crowd.
None of the matches were that memorable. We’ve seen Bryan vs. Orton so many times. It’s not like they ever have bad matches. It’s simply a case of them doing the same things over and over that fans can tell what move is coming before they even see it. It would be nice if they were able to switch up matches or try some tags once in a while.
Champions were pinned all night long as The Usos, Orton and AJ Lee lost their matches. Is there no other way for WWE to build up opponents? It’s too repetitive if it happens three times in the same show.
Next week Arnold Schwarzenegger and Scooby Doo are on the show. Normally that would be awkward, but in WWE it’s just another week of insanity.
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That’s all for me. Check out my column archive at WhatCulture.com as well as visiting that site daily and have a great week. Thanks for reading.
John Canton – mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport
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