Live from Dallas, Texas this is the Raw Deal for episode #1129. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport.
There was a video package for Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of MLK Jr. Day in the US on Monday with clips of his "I have a dream" speech. They honor him every year because Vince McMahon has said many times that he is one of his heroes. Good video as always by WWE.
The opening Raw video "Tonight is the Night" airs. It airs some weeks, but not all weeks. Michael Cole said that they are sold out with over 15,000 fans in the arena. Dallas has always been a very good market for wrestling. They advertised Raw Reunion with pics of the legends.
Raw begins with the entrance of the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman. Heyman did his "ladies and gentlemen" intro, but Lesnar grabbed the microphone and said that when he shows up it's time for business. He wanted Seth Rollins to come out. Instead, Triple H's music started as they aired a video package from Raw last week that ended with Rollins hitting a Curb Stomp on Cena and then Lesnar.
Triple H walked down to the ring saying he understood why Lesnar was upset with Rollins for giving him a Curb Stomp. Hunter pointed out that Lesnar suplexed Rollins first. Hunter suggested that Heyman and him go back to talk about it while Lesnar can have a steak. Lesnar wondered if Hunter was there to fix this or if he was there to fight. The crowd was cheering for Lesnar's threats.
Stephanie McMahon marched down to the ring with the turning giants Kane and Big Show by her side. All of them were in the ring. Heyman was trying to tell Lesnar to be reasonable. Rollins showed up on the video screen. He was backstage. Rollins said that Lesnar is two steps behind and that he should be patient. Heyman told Rollins not to get involved. Heyman told Hunter/Steph to put a "leash on their puppy" referring to Rollins or else Lesnar is going to cause some carnage. Heyman said that at the end of the match at the Royal Rumble, the winner and still reigning, defending WWE Champion...but there's John Cena's music.
John Cena was wearing his new blue shirt because he likes to change colors every few months. He said he was there to talk to The Authority. Cena reminded us that every week The Authority tries to put Cena's back against the wall and force him to quit, but that all it does is lights a fire in him more than he has ever had before. Cena said at the Rumble he'll beat the mercenary (Lesnar) and protégé (Rollins) and then say "The Champ is Here." Cena said that Hunter and Stephanie are piles of ashes. He called them the world's biggest "asheholes" because I guess that's creative. He was about to leave.
Stephanie told Cena to not leave yet. She said that Cena used to be the man to overcome the odds and inspire the people because he ultimately won at the end of the day. She said that Cena isn't like that anymore because he lied to the fans due to fact that he brought The Authority back. She reminded him that he's responsible for three men getting fired. Stephanie said that John isn't the man that he used to be. Rollins called Cena a loser and a failure like last week when he lost to Rollins while this Sunday at the Rumble, Cena will fail again. Rollins said that everybody knows that Cena is a failure except for Cena. Rollins suggested Cena tuck his legs between his legs (oops, he fixed it quick by saying tail between the legs) and when Cena spoke, he mocked him for the mistake. Then Cena did one of his fired up promos.
Cena made a suggestion to The Authority. He said that if he wins the WWE Title at Royal Rumble then The Authority should hire back Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan. Hunter said that if Cena wants that then he has to put something on the line. Hunter put Cena in a match on Raw tonight. If Cena wins, those three guys get their job back. If Cena loses then he's out of the WWE Title match at the Royal Rumble. Hunter said it's not up to Cena to answer. Hunter said that the fans will vote for it on the WWE App.
Analysis: It's 22 minutes later and that segment finally ended. It took too long to get through all that and I honestly might have missed some of the points because it was so long, but they finally got around to it by the end. Cena bringing back those guys is likely going to happen, so it all depends on what kind of match it is and of course the fan vote should be in his favor. It wasn't a bad segment. It just ran long like these opening promos usually do.
The announce team of Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield and Booker T talked about the WWE App vote.
Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt up next.
(Commercial)
The intros for this unannounced match took place. Why wouldn't they promote this over the weekend? It's a big match.
Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
They're both in the Rumble match. Their match last year at the Rumble was awesome. Wyatt was aggressive early, but Bryan came back with a dropkick With Wyatt outside the ring, Bryan did a top rope cross body block. One minute into the match, Kane's music started up. They have a match on Smackdown this week. They had a match last week. Bryan stared at Kane as the show went to break.
Analysis: That's what happens when you have a 22 minute opening segment without a break. Back to the show for three minutes and another commercial break. I know the WWE App is a thing where I can watch the match and sometimes I do, but it hurt the flow of the show when you go to commercials so quickly
(Commercial)
Back from break, Wyatt decked Bryan with a forearm shot to the head and Kane was watching on a leather chair at ringside. Wyatt whipped Bryan into the barricade at ringside before bringing him into the ring. Wyatt hit a running body attack, which is always an impressive spot that earned an "oh my goodness" from Booker. Wyatt slowed it down with a headlock to build up the comeback and he did an "ask him" to remind me of Chris Jericho. Bryan did a jawbreaker, then Wyatt came back with a huge clothesline that Bryan sold by doing a flip. Bryan rolled out to the floor the vintage floor to commercial break.
Analysis: Two commercials in ten minutes for this match. A little much.
(Commercial)
Wyatt was still in control with a running back splash in the ring. Bryan was favoring his neck the whole match. Bryan hit a clothesline to start a comeback and then a dropkick in the corner followed by a series of kicks. Bryan nailed a top rope hurricanrana for two. The crowd really came alive for the comeback by chanting "this is awesome" when it's really just his normal arsenal, but we sure did miss the guy. Bryan hit some kicks, Wyatt charged at him and Bryan avoided it so that Wyatt went over the top. Bryan hit a dive out of the ring between the top/middle rope. Kane tripped up Bryan while Wyatt was being checked on by the ref so Bryan took a bump on his face. Wyatt whipped Bryan head first into the turnbuckle and then Wyatt hit Sister Abigail for the win after 16 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Bray Wyatt
Analysis: *** It was a good match between them like usual. It was nice to see some traditional Bryan spots like the corner dropkick, hurricanrana off the top and dive outside the ring. I'm glad he stopped doing the headbutt off the top. Wyatt was really aggressive while Bryan looked awesome selling everything in a major way like that clothesline where he did a flip. Some people may be mad about Bryan losing, but it's fine because it fit the story. Plus, if you want him to win the Royal Rumble it's a good thing to lose on Raw. I'm just glad they were given a good amount of time. It would have been better without two commercials, but not much we can do about that.
The replay showed that the ref didn't see Kane's interference. After the match, Kane gave Bryan a Chokeslam in the middle of the ring. Kane punched Bryan in the head repeatedly. He stopped as Bryan was selling it in a lot of pain.
Analysis: That's a good way to build to the Smackdown match between them. Bryan will win.
There was a plug for the Cena poll on WWE App. Also a Legends Panel about the Royal Rumble featuring Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair. JBL said it was up next, but Cole mentioned it was coming up later.
(Commercial)
They showed a tweet from Erick Rowan. A Dolph Ziggler tweet was shown earlier. Way to promote "fired" guys.
Triple H was in his office talking on the phone. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were there in NWO shirts. Hall wondered if he was still working that Authority gig. Nash told him to drop the suit and run around with them. Michaels showed up to wonder why Hunter was wearing the suit. Hunter made fun of Shawn's "Remington" shirt and said he doesn't show up to his hunting of defenseless animals and tell him what to do. Damien Sandow showed up dressed like X-Pac in a DX shirt and started doing crotch chops. The real X-Pac showed up and did a mirror image type deal with him where Sandow was imitating him. Miz showed up to say that is his stunt double. He saluted the legends and said to call him. Nash got the punch line asking Hunter what kind of show he was running.
Analysis: Good backstage segment with Hunter's Kliq buddies hanging out with him. The fans popped when all of them were on screen together, so that's cool. I don't mind a bit of nostalgia once in a while.
That Legends Panel with Hogan, Michaels and Flair is up next at the top of hour two.
(Commercial)
There was a replay of Triple H's promo with Cena from earlier. A tweet from Ryback was shown. Cena was shown off camera talking to Renee Young because the WWE App vote result is up after this next segment.
Legends Panel
Byron Saxton was in the ring to host the Legends Panel. There were three stools in the ring along with a red carpet. Two time Royal Rumble winner Hulk Hogan was out first to salute the fans. One time Royal Rumble winner Ric Flair was out with his two Hall of Fame rings. The announcers noted that the 1992 Rumble (best Rumble ever) was 23 years ago today. Finally, my favorite wrestler ever and two time Rumble winner Shawn Michaels was out last. He was in a camo shirt, Hogan was wearing one of his Hogan shirts and Flair was in a suit.
The panel was asked about the Cena story about winning back the jobs of his three friends. Michaels acted like he was tired from running around the ring and he just said "yes" about Cena fighting to get the jobs back of his buddies. Flair said no while Hogan said yes.
Flair said that winning the 1992 Royal Rumble was the greatest night of his career and they showed pics of him winning the WWE Title. He added that men like Michaels, Hogan, Undertaker, Piper and Savage were in that match. He said that there's nothing like winning the Royal Rumble.
Michaels said that the Rumble is the epitome of what's in the future because if you win the Rumble the future is WrestleMania. They showed clips from his wins in 1995. He also won in 1996. He said there would be no Mr. WrestleMania without the Royal Rumble.
Hogan said "let me tell you something brother" is that the competition in the Rumble is amazing. He won in 1990 and 1991. He didn't say much about anything except that it was a tough match.
They were asked for their picks to win this year. Michaels said he's going for somebody that's just a little out there...Bray Wyatt. He said that Wyatt had the focus to get it done. Hogan said that Bray isn't going to win. Michaels jokingly complained that Hogan is always pushing him and they should do it like SummerSlam 2005. Hogan said he (Shawn) doesn't want to do that again, so Shawn said "you're probably right I'll sit back down." Hogan the ultimate babyface picked Daniel Bryan to win the Royal Rumble. Flair said that he likes the guys that walk on the wild side, so he picks Dean Ambrose.
Big Show entered. He told the guys in the ring they weren't legends as the fans chanted "you sold out" at him and Show said he did it for his family. Michaels was hiding behind Hogan. Show was mad that none of them picked him to win the Royal Rumble. Show reminded Hogan that he beat him for the WCW Title on his first night. He told Flair that when he tried to put him in the Figure Four Leglock, Show gave him a Chokeslam and took him out of his top spot. Show told Shawn that when he came to WWE, Shawn faded out. What about in 2002 when Shawn was back and they had a lot of matches together? Odd memory. Show complained about how the legends were begging for attention from the people. Show said that nobody is going to throw him over the top rope. You mean like every other Rumble match he's been in? He's never won. Sorry for remembering.
Flair wondered if he was done. Flair threw some chops at Show's chest. Then he bounced off the ropes. Show gave Flair the KO Punch. Show told the fans that it was their fault.
The music of Roman Reigns started up. He entered through the crowd. Does he text the music guy to tell him he's coming? I'm just saying. Reigns went to Show's face and Show told him to leave. Reigns fought back with an uppercut as well as a clothesline that sent Show over the top to the floor. Show retreated up the ramp.
Flair was checked on by the ringside doctor as well as referees. He was helped to the back.
Analysis: That was a 20 minute segment to start hour two. Michaels was pretty funny with his mannerisms and some of his answers. Hogan was very basic. Flair did a good job of selling the KO Punch from Show. I liked how they showed him still in pain after the segment was over. Big Show was fine although nobody thinks he's going to win the Rumble. He might last a long time in the Rumble match before Reigns gets rid of him, but that's it. I'm surprised nobody on the panel said Reigns for the win. As for Reigns, that's how you book him. He got into a fight for one minute and didn't say a word. That's all. His promos suck. Don't let him talk unless he absolutely has to.
John Cena was backstage with Renee Young. He just stood there for 20 minutes? What a guy. The WWE App vote results: Yes 85%, No 15%. That means Cena has to have the match to win back the jobs of his three buddies. Cena added that if he loses then those guys still don't have jobs and he's out of the WWE Title match. He said that moments like this make a champion and tonight the champ is here.
Analysis: Good promo by Cena. He got the point across. We are 85 minutes into Raw and there's only been one match. I'm not sure if that's a record.
(Commercial)
A match on Raw? Sure. Sounds like a good idea.
Bad News Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose
This is not for Barrett's IC Title. Ambrose was aggressive early on, but BNB nailed a kick to the throat. Ambrose came back with a dropkick and Barrett was sent to the floor for a vintage commercial break.
Analysis: Two minutes of action before a commercial. That's weak.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Ambrose made a comeback with a bulldog out of the corner. Ambrose hit his top rope elbow onto the standing opponent for a two count. Ambrose tried to run the ropes, but he collapsed due to the left knee injury. I like that selling. He still managed a clothesline. Ambrose went up top, but Barrett tripped him up on the top rope. Ambrose fought out of Wasteland and hit the Dirty Deeds DDT for the win after eight minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Dean Ambrose
Analysis: ** Since Ambrose is the bigger star it makes sense that he got the win. Barrett's the IC Champ, but as we know in WWE the champs lose non-title matches all the time. It's a good way to give Ambrose some momentum going into the Rumble match. He needed a win like that. What disappointed me about the match is they only got eight minutes, yet we only saw five minutes. If a match gets under ten minutes then they need to time it so there's no commercial during it. Work on those timing issues, WWE.
Cena takes on a mystery opponent later.
(Commercial)
There were members of the Dallas Cowboys (JBL noted they were his team) sitting behind the announcers at ringside. Then the announcers plugged WWE Network by mentioning it is now in the UK & Ireland. It was actually available in the middle of last week. I'm happy those fans get it finally.
The traditional "By The Numbers" video aired mentioning the previous Royal Rumble matches. There have been 782 entrants in the Rumble match. Shawn Michaels still holds the record number of eliminations with 39 while Kane has 38 eliminations over 15 Royal Rumble matches. It noted that Kane had the record with 11 eliminations, but that Roman Reigns topped it with 12 eliminations in 2014. It was mentioned that 216,557 pounds of weight have been in the match. Nine people won in their Rumble debuts and 43 entrants are WWE Hall of Famers. It ended by mentioning that WWE Network will broadcast the Rumble for the first time in 170 countries. Austin's record three wins were also mentioned. Santino's one second elimination was mentioned. In 2006, Rey Mysterio set the record at 62:12 for longest time in a Rumble match. Triple H has the record amount of time in the Rumble match with 3:51:32 total time. The announcer dude ended it by saying "The road to WrestleMania truly begins at the Royal Rumble."
Analysis: There were some other numbers I missed, but I got most of them. It was a great video like usual.
The New Day trio of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E all had microphones for their entrance. Woods had a boot on his ankle, so he said Kingston and Big E would be in action. Commercial time.
(Commercial)
The New Day (w/Xavier Woods) vs. Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (w/Natalya & Adam Rose)
There was an awesome spot where Cesaro did a delayed suplex to Kofi and then Kidd took him down with a cross body block. Cesaro drilled Kofi with a forearm spot as they worked on him in the corner. Cesaro did the swing, Kidd tagged in and hit a dropkick. Another great tag team move by them. Kofi tried to fight out of the corner, he kicked Kidd in the face and then got a forward rollup on Cesaro for the pin. That's it? No hot tag? Odd ending. It went about four minutes.
Winners by pinfall: The New Day
Analysis: *1/2 The ending was flat and felt rushed. These teams could have a great match if they got 10-15 minutes. Instead they didn't have the time to go into a hot tag sequence to do a normal finish. The highlight of the match was the tag team moves by Kidd & Cesaro. They have a bright future as a team.
Post match, The New Day was leading the Party Posse and the crowd doing "New Day" chants.
The New World Order trio of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac are up next.
(Commercial)
The New World Order music (still a great song) started up as Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the top of hour three. JBL said these three guy changed the business. Well, two of the three along with Hogan. No disrespect to X-Pac, but he didn't form the NWO.
Hall started with a patented "hey yo" and then said you can't have a reunion without them. He asked for a survey: "How many people are here for the Raw reunion? How many people are here with the N...W...O?" Fans chanted "NWO" so Scott said thank for playing. Nash said that the NWO singlehandedly created the Monday Night War and said that you can relive it on WWE Network for $9.99 saying you're welcome Hunter. Nash said that due to the NWO, Steve Austin, DX and the Attitude Era started up. Nash jokingly said that they were responsible for everything great, which was a nice bit of sarcasm. X-Pac fired up the crowd, but instead of getting anywhere they were interrupted by The Ascension's Konnor and Viktor.
The Ascension went into the ring to confront them. Viktor welcomed them to Raw Reunion saying all they see are three old dogs just begging to be put out of their misery and Konnor said they're the two to do it. The fans chanted "you suck" at them. Konnor said "we were born and bred to rip and shred." Brutal line. They continued to talk trash as the fans chanted "NWO" for the legends. Hall threw a toothpick in Viktor's face.
JBL told them "no no no" to this. He told them they were disrespectful. JBL unbuttoned his shirt and showed he had an APA shirt on. Ron Simmons showed up with the APA shirt on. Huge pop from the crowd for that. The legends all surrounded The Ascension in the ring.
"Oh you didn't know!" There's the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn aka the New Age Outlaws to interrupt things. They were wearing Dallas Cowboys shirts to suck up to the fans. Road Dogg said there ain't no party like an old school party because an old school party don't stop. He said this party is full of thoroughbreds and racehorses, so he wondered who invited the jackasses.
The Outlaws attacked the Ascension with Gunn hitting a tilt-a-whirl slam on Viktor. Konnor was tossed outside the ring. JBL warmed up the arm and delivered a huge clothesline on Viktor to destroy him. The crowd popped big for that. X-Pac took off his shirt and had a DX shirt on too. All the legends celebrated in the ring.
Analysis: That was a fun bit of nostalgia. It was cool seeing the APA together again like that. JBL crushed Viktor with the clothesline and he sold it really well. It was the Outlaws that started the attack because they were most recently active in WWE. People might see that segment and think that The Ascension got buried. I wouldn't overthink it. This is bit of a nostalgia show, so it was just a feel good moment for the fans watching. The Ascension were doing those promos for the past month to build up for something like this. It was good storyline continuity. It was weird without Hogan being there, though. He should have been with the NWO too.
After the break, The Authority will let Cena know who he faces on Raw.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Hunter and Stephanie were in the office. They said they needed a drumroll, so a drummer showed up to do the drumroll. Hunter said that Cena will face Seth Rollins and the drummer stopped. Stephanie said Big Show too. Drummer stopped again. Hunter added Kane, so the drummer kept going. They told him again. Stephanie added that she will be ringside with Hunter to witness the destruction of Cena. A dude with a trumpet showed up to play too. That means we'll get Cena vs. Rollins, Kane and Big Show in a 1 on 3 match.
Analysis: They love handicap matches, so of course that's what it is.
The Bella Twins were at ringside for the divas match. They're facing Natalya and Paige in a tag match at the Rumble.
Natalya & Paige vs. Summer Rae & Alicia Fox
Paige started for her team, then Natalya tagged in and was nailed by a Summer spin kick. Fox hit a nice Northern Lights suplex for two. Nikki said she and her sister were a tag team their whole lives...except when they feuded. Paige received the hot tag with some clothesline on Fox followed by a dropkick. A standing side kick by Paige earned a two count. Summer broke up the pin, so Natalya shoved her out of the ring. Natalya shoved Fox into Paige, who delivered a kick. Paige applied her Paige Tap Out submission for the tapout win after three minutes.
Winners by submission: Natalya & Paige
Analysis: * It was basic booking to put over the team that has the match at the PPV to show they are cohesive unit. Of course the match was only given three minutes like most diva matches get. I'm just glad there wasn't a ROLLUP OF DEATH in the finish.
Post match, they mentioned the tag match of Natalya & Paige vs. The Bella Twins at the Royal Rumble. A title match would have been better. The Natalya/Paige team will probably win.
There was a reminder of the 1 on 3 handicap match later.
(Commercial)
Rusev was in the ring with Lana. R-Truth got his full entrance in. He turned 43 years old today, so happy birthday to him. He told Rusev that every flag waving, apple pie eating superstar is coming for him.
Rusev (w/Lana) vs. R-Truth
R-Truth knocked Rusev over the top to the floor. Rusev went back into the ring and nailed him with a superkick. Rusev applied the Accolade submission and Truth tapped out. It lasted about one minute.
Winner by submission: Rusev
Analysis: It was a decisive win to put over Rusev for the Royal Rumble match. It was so quick that there wasn't even time for shots of Lana at ringside. For shame.
They showed tweets of Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan about making things unfair for Cena with Ziggler's tweet saying "terra ryzing" in it, so that was clever on his part.
Rollins was backstage with J&J Security. Lesnar walked up to Rollins. Lesnar said he's a prize fighter and that on Sunday he's going to get paid to take Rollins out. Lesnar: "And I will take you out." He left while Rollins looked worried.
Analysis: Lesnar talked more on this show than he did in the last three years in WWE. I'm fine with that. He did a good job getting in Seth's face in that segment.
(Commercial)
The Miz and Damien Mizdow were in the ring for a match. There was a pre-match promo backstage with Miz saying he had two chances to win the Rumble because he had a stunt double. Mizdow did a bit of a look at that point as if to say he wasn't going to do what he was told.
The Miz (w/Damien Mizdow) vs. Jey Uso (w/Jimmy Uso)
They have done this match before to set up the tag title match at the Royal Rumble. Miz hit his backbreaker/neckbreaker combo while Mizdow did his imitations on the floor. Corner clothesline by Miz and then a double axehandle off the top. Miz went shoulder first into the steel post after missing a corner charge. Jey went up top and hit a Superfly Splash for the win after three minutes.
Winner by pinfall: Jey Uso
Analysis: * It was a very basic match that was really brief. Jey barely got any offense in until the finish. I think the Usos retain on Sunday while the Miz/Mizdow breakup will happen during the Rumble match after a spot where Miz gets tossed out and Mizdow doesn't want to imitate him. That will be the start of their problems.
The announcers went on talking about the WWE Network again by telling people to order the Royal Rumble on it.
Hulk Hogan was interviewed from earlier in the night. He said Cena's a fighter and that things can only get better by getting their jobs back. H also thought that Cena would go on to win the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble as well.
Cena's 1 on 3 match is next.
(Commercial)
It was announced that the New Age Outlaws will face The Ascension at the Royal Rumble. That should be an Ascension win in their PPV debut.
The trio of Seth Rollins, Kane and Big Show were in the ring with J&J Security while Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were at ringside. If Cena wins, he gets Ryback, Ziggler & Rowan their jobs back. If he loses then those guys still don't have jobs and Cena loses his WWE Title shot at Royal Rumble.
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Kane & Big Show
The heels dominated Cena early on with some quick tags. There were dueling "let's go Cena/Cena sucks" chants like usual. Big Show got in a big boot as well as some punches to the ribs of Cena and then a running splash in the corner. Cena tried a slam on Show, but Show fell on top of him. They went to break there with Cena in pain.
(Commercial)
Back from break, Cena was still getting worked over by the heels as Rollins applied a sleeper hold on him. More mixed chants from the crowd as Cena broke free by driving Rollins into the turnbuckle. Rollins came back with a blockbuster for a two count. Show went for a splash off the middle rope, but Cena moved out of the way of an elbow drop. Cena tried a comeback. There was some interference and Rollins got a nearfall after a superkick. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment for a two count, but Kane yanked Cena outside the ring. Show hit a Spear on Cena outside the ring. The ref was counting him out while Hunter taunted him, but Cena rolled back in before the ten count.
Kane connected with a Chokeslam on Cena for a two count. Rollins set up for a Curb Stomp. An image of Sting appeared on the video screen. Wow. What a reaction! His first time ever on Raw! Lights went out and Sting walked onto the ramp. Cena capitalized by doing the ROLLUP OF DEATH and that was enough to pin Rollins. The match went 13 minutes.
Winner by pinfall: John Cena
Analysis: *1/2 It wasn't a great match by any means, but they did a good job with the finish because it was the first time Sting had ever been on Raw. I thought it might be Orton helping Cena win, but Sting doing it was fine with me. He lives in the Dallas area, so it was smart of WWE to actually use him for this. The Cena win was obvious because they had to bring back Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan before the Rumble to put them in the match. They'll probably be on Smackdown this week.
Post match, Cena went into the crowd to celebrate with the fans.
Hunter grabbed the microphone and yelled about Sting. Fans chanted "We Want Sting" at him. Sting apparently left. Brock Lesnar's music started up.
Lesnar marched down to the ring with Paul Heyman. Lesnar took down Rollins by tackling him. Lesnar hit a F5 on Kane. Lesnar went after Rollins. Lesnar hit the F5 on Big Show. That's still impressive all these years later. Rollins ran up the ramp along with J&J Security. The show ended with Lesnar looking dominant in the ring. The crowd was cheering him, which is rare. They went off the air at 11:02pmET. That's about five minutes earlier than normal. I like that.
Analysis: Lesnar was on fire in that segment. It shows that if WWE wanted to turn him face it could probably work just because he's so great as an ass kicking machine. Those F5's on Kane and Show were very impressive. It's still one of the best finishers in the business after all these years. I like that Rollins ran away from him before Lesnar can get his hands on him. You want to see it? Get the PPV. It's how it should be.
That ending was really well done. It was chaos. It was tough for me to watch it all and write it because I was just amazed at how they pulled it off.
Three Stars of the Show
1. Sting - His first time on Raw. He gets first star for that.
2. Daniel Bryan
3. (tie) Bray Wyatt
3. (tie) Brock Lesnar - Was used well all night.
The Scoreboard
6 out of 10
Last week: 4.5
Last 5 Weeks: 4.5, 4.5, 7.5, 6, 5.5
2015 Average: 5
Final Thoughts
It gets a 6 out of 10.
Weird Raw. One match in first 85 minutes. Short matches after that. Some cool segments. Really hot ending to it with a dude like Sting (sorry, a vigilante) in his mid 50s making his first Raw appearance ever. Tough to give a score. I feel like a 6/10 is fair. I liked the ending a lot so that certainly helped things.
It was a promo heavy show like usual before a PPV. As I mentioned earlier in the show, they went 85 minutes with only one match. It was a good match, but it's pretty ridiculous that there was barely any wrestling for half the show.
The legends did a good job in their segments. I thought Big Show wasn't the right guy to confront them, but they used it to put over Reigns as the babyface that saved the vulnerable old guys. Reigns wasn't on the show after that.
What frustrates me is that the current stars don't get a chance to talk about the Rumble very much. Why can't we have Bryan doing a promo, then Ambrose comes out, then Reigns (hopefully not talking a lot), then Wyatt and others? Maybe a brawl at that point. Just do something to sell the Rumble match. That's all.
I'm glad that Ziggler, Ryback & Rowan get their jobs back just because I'm sick of all the stupid firing angles. Couldn't they just fire people every week if they want? Yeah, but we don't want to see it. Do something else.
It will be remembered for Sting's first appearance on Raw. He didn't say anything or do much, but his presence was felt.
-----
That's all for this week.
We will have our TJR Royal Rumble preview posted mostly likely on Saturday morning, so be sure to check that out.
Check out my feature column archive that's exclusive to WhatCulture. I'm posting recaps of every Royal Rumble PPV, which are a lot of fun to do. I'm into the 2000s now and should get all of them done by the end of the month if not before the end of the month.
Thanks for reading.
John Canton - mrjohncanton@gmail.com
Twitter @johnreport
