In memory of Frank Bullock. He was a long time WWE employee who you probably never heard of. Props to him for all his hard work behind the scenes.
Betty White opens Raw. Yup, I just said that. Big Show escorts her. Betty says she’s thrilled to be on Raw and she’s going to kick some ass. Hunter and Stephanie interrupt her, hug her, and then go to the ring as White is escorted to the back with Big Show.
^I like the Golden Girls, but I don’t care to see one of them on Raw. Just my own personal feelings.
Hunter says they are reconsidering all of the Elimination Chamber participants as the face of WWE. Randy Orton interrupts them. Common theme on this show.
Orton says he needs to apologize to the authority for his actions and needs to bring the viper out for the remainder of his reign as champion. Stephanie wants to know how they can trust him and he says it’s coming from the heart(the crowd chants Daniel Bryan very loudly as all this goes on). Orton says he wants to be the face of WWE outside of the ring as well as inside. Daniel Bryan interrupts. Yup, trifecta.
Dbry talks. Stephanie says everyone going forward will need to make an appointment with the director of operations instead of interrupting them. Dbry says last week he beat Randy Orton despite Kane’s interference. He wants a match with Kane tonight. Stephanie says Kane is on admin leave for one week for his actions last week. Orton jumps on Dbry for insulting Hunter and Steph. Dbry brings up ancient history of Orton taking out Stephanie. Hunter says Daniel Bryan will face no one tonight in this very ring because in his agitated state the best thing for him is a night off. The crowd chants no.
^Michael Cole just said it doesn’t matter what the fans want to see. He’s right. You can’t make that a storyline when we’re all annoyed with it. At least the whole opening scene was kept short.
The Wyatts defeat the Brotherhood and Rey Mysterio. Wyatt nails a sister abigail off a blind tag on Mysterio for the three count.
^That was an excellent six man tag. I know we see a lot of these nowadays, but the Rhodes brothers made this one highly enjoyable with their pacing. Great match.
Bray cuts a promo after the match about the Shield failing just like everyone else. He says they will fall in time for his next game to begin. He’s simply amazing with his mic work.
The Shield are interviewed by Renee Young. Ambrose gets taunted by Reigns and puts up an open challenge for his US Title tonight. Interesting segment for the “united” group.
The divas are backstage with Betty White. I honestly don’t care about this. The Outlaws interrupt them and offer her a cup of tea. I still don’t care about this.
Santino w/Emma takes on Fandango w/Summer Rae. Fandango wins a short match.
^I’m surprised there wasn’t more diva involvement here. Solid match but pretty short. How do you enhance a feud with no fuel for the fire?
Byron Saxton(from NXT) interviews Sheamus. Sheamus says he’ll kick anyone’s teeth in who stands in his way of becoming WWE World Champion.
^I like that they’re giving Sheamus more time to talk. No guy ever got over as the top star without saying more than a few words(you could argue Undertaker, but he’s even had his iconic speeches over the years).
Christian and Sheamus take on the Real Americans. Sheamus brogue kicks Swagger for the win after a solid back and forth match.
^Twelve plus minutes of solid tag team action? I’ll take it! The roster depth right now is incredible for WWE. How are they going to fit all this talent on the Mania card in LESS THAN two months? I don’t believe Christian or Sheamus will win inside the Elimination Chamber, but a possible Mania match between the two would be welcomed.
Renee Young interviews John Cena about Randy Orton. That’s all you need to know. Well, Cena puts over other guys becoming the new stars and that’s always a good thing.
Alberto Del Rio takes on Dolph Ziggler. Del Rio wins the match in less than three minutes with a kick to the skull of Ziggler.
^What a joke. I know this was more about the segment with Batista, but how much did Ziggler piss off WWE officials to get treated like this?
Del Rio attacks Ziggler after the match and Batista makes the save. Batista ends up bombing Del Rio through the announce table.
^Nice to see Batista get physical here, but the guy bores me almost as much as Del Rio. At least he didn’t talk here; that helped.
Batista and Triple H talk backstage. Hunter says he can’t have Batista going off like he just did on Del Rio. He reminds him that WWE is a publicly traded company now and he’s just trying to fit him in for what’s best for business. Hunter offers Batista a match with Del Rio at the chamber and he accepts. He says he’s just looking out for him and Batista says things really have changed around here.
Lita is the next inductee into the WWE 2014 Hall of Fame class. Well deserved; she was one of my favorites.
The Outlaws are backstage with Betty White. This is my face where I show that I care. Looks like they’re trying to drug Betty White with the tea. She switches the cups when she sends them for lemons. I’m sure it will be some sort of “humorous” outcome later for Road Dogg.
The Usos defeat Rybaxel when Jimmy nails the Superfly splash on Axel for the win. The Outlaws are on commentary.
^Solid tag team action, but somewhat short. I do enjoy the tag team emphasis quite a bit these days though.
Billy Gunn runs to the back after taunting the Usos. Looks like his tea hit him.
Dean Ambrose loses to Mark Henry by DQ for his open challenge when Seth Rollins stops Henry from winning the US Title. Reigns spears Henry and the Wyatts come down for a staredown after the match.
^Too much was going on here. I love the involvement of the US Title in this Shield angle and I fully expect a triple threat match for the US Title at Mania with the group. Henry needs to make room for these younger guys and get lost; he’s always injured anyway. How many times can the guy “return” from injury and have it be special? Lastly, I’m stoked for the Wyatts/Shield match.
AJ, Alicia Fox and Aksana take on Cameron and the Bella Twins in a six diva tag match. Cameron pins Aksana after a DDT.
^Aksana took a beating here. Is AJ Lee hurt? She’s barely done anything lately on TV from what I can recall. Maybe it’s just the piss poor booking of the divas.
Lana puts over Alexander Rusev and he speaks in Russian.
^I’ll reserve any further opinions on him until I see how he’s used. I want to be wrong about him. Anyone seen that other “big” guy doing something relevant ever since he won the IC Title(Langston?). I know he’s beaten Curtis Axel a handful of times, but that’s about it.
Kane comes out. I thought he had the week off. He accepts the Authority’s punishment. He admits that his behavior was ill advised but the authority had nothing to do with it. Daniel Bryan interrupts him.
^I’d be okay with them having a match at WrestleMania if it wasn’t Triple H vs Dbry. I’m probably in the minority there.
Dbry charges the ring and Kane goes for a chokeslam but Dbry counters out and gets the best of the Big Red Machine as they brawl around ringside. Dbry knocks Kane into the crowd and he leaves as Dbry leads the crowd in a yes chant.
^That was fun. Dbry is insanely over and should be Champion when WrestleMania XXX is over. There isn’t a better option.
Betty White thanks the audience for making Raw feel like home. Glad she’s done for the night.
Randy Orton takes on John Cena in the main event in a non-title match. Cena wins a competitive match with an AA.
^Solid wrestling match to “end” this rivalry. I hope it’s legit, but I seriously doubt it. Cena going over makes sense. I expect one or two more of Orton’s opponents(obviously not Christian if you saw Smackdown) to beat him in one on one matches so that he can win at the pay per view.
Lots of wrestling. Some silly “entertainment” segments. Solid matches. A good overall show, but nothing super standout. Call it 6.5 out of 10.
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