Similar match to last night with a big front slam and a running punch for the win by Rawley.
Peyton Royce beat Liv Morgan
A lot of athletic moves by Liv who looked great even in defeat. Peyton locked in her submission and won.
Elias Samson beat Patrick Clark
A lot of heat on Samson, heckling and booing down his pre match song. This match was all Drifter. Won with his neck breaker.
Noah Kekoa and Josh Woods beat BAMF (Blake & Murphy)
Woods worked the arm of each Blake and Murphy in this one, showing some impressive amateur skills. The heels took control until Noah got the big hot tag, ran wild with arm drags and during a scuffle, he was able to roll up Murphy to steal a win. BAMF were losing their minds as they got outwrestled by two newcomers.
Apollo Crews beat Manny Andrade
Excellent match. This was one of Apollo’s best in NXT and Manny won over another town by being incredible. Big spots included fast running the ropes, dropkicks, a Manny moonsault, and Apollo’s huge spinning power bomb slam for the win. Post-match, Apollo shook Manny’s hand to show respect.
NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash/Dawson) beat Tucker Knight and Rich Swann
Swann took a beating in this match, suffering double team attacks and heel cheating to keep the advantage for the Revival at all times. Tucker got a big hot tag, yet wasn’t enough to beat the champions. After some big moves and running wild, Swann was tagged back in, but Knight was sidestepped so he hit the post on the outside. The Revival hit the Shatter Machine on Swann for the win.
– In ring promo with Angelo Dawkins. He wants to be called The Curse Of Greatness. Crowd wasn’t responding much to his antics.
Chris Girard vs Sawyer Fulton went to a no contest
Girard was busted open on a dive to the outside.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Alexa Bliss, Emma, and Asuka in a fatal four way match
This match was to tease a lot of Bayley vs. Asuka without giving too much away, Alexa and Emma took most of the punishment. Asuka was laying in kicks on everyone. At one point, all four were on the mat throwing punches at one another in a circle. Emma had her submission on Alexa for a near finish and Bayley broke up that attempt. Alexa tried to take the fight to Asuka which was a big mistake. Action broke down and Bayley was able to hit the Belly to Bayley for the big win to send everyone home happy.
NXT is in Largo tonight for a sold out show. Approximately 250 in attendance.
Mojo Rawley beat Alexander Wolfe
People were, in fact, hyped for Mojo. Everyone was cheering and encouraging his antics. Wolfe gets the “wienerschnitzel” chant to mock him, and allows Mojo to taunt him as well. Mojo hit his usual running spots and picked up the win.
Emma beat Aliyah
All Emma here, won it with the Emma Lock.
Levis Valenzuela beat Alex Riley
Levis hit the windup punch for the win.
Sami Zayn beat Manny Andrade
Excellent match that on par with their recent first encounter in Tampa. Everything these two do is crisp and smooth; just brilliant wrestling. This was all what you’d expect: teased dives, a moonsault from Manny into a standing moonsault when Sami rolled back. Zayn hits the Exploder and Helluva Kick for the win.
The Vaudevillains beat Kenneth Crawford and Patrick Clark
The Vaudevillains entered to their face music despite being the heels against the fresh new faces of Clark and Crawford. A few athletic hope spots yet it was mostly a showcase for the Vauds.
Apollo Crews beat Angelo Dawkins
This was an entertaining match. As per usual, Dawkins was jaw jacking with no one in particular. Apollo snatched his headband to taunt him. Some strong man slow lift spots by Crews, followed by his firy comeback to set up the win with his big slam.
– Chris Girard in-ring promo. He says he’s been a professional wrestler for 8 years and now he’s an NXT Superstar. He let us know he is the best wrestler here and vows to be champion.
NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Nia Jax
Slow paced match with Nia methodically working over Bayley, save for the ocassional hope spots. Nia used the over the top shoulder breaker, The Rock’s old finisher. At one point, Bayley ended up on Nia’s shoulders in the doomsday position and was able to roll forward to the mat and win via roll up.
NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival beat American Alpha
This was a good tune up for the NXT Dallas show. They did all the expected spots and of course, they built to a Jason Jordan hot tag. He ran wild, dropped the straps, took care of both men, and set up the assisted German suplex on Dash. But, Dawson held Gable’s feet from the outside which allowed Dash to fall on Gable and steal the pin.
Post-match, the entire locker room met The Revival in the entrance way, threw them back in the ring, surrounded the ring and pounded on the mat while the two teams had an intense staredown and brawl that finished with stereo ankle locks applied by Jordan and Gable. The locker room left as American Alpha celebrated.
Don’t hold your breath given changes are made weekly, but I-C champion Kevin Owens vs. A.J. Styles’ first singles match in WWE (at least the first one being advertised) is on the docket for the March 25th MSG house show in NYC, also billed as Daniel Bryan Appreciation Night.
We incorrectly noted Thursday that the Styles/Owens match would be their first ever. They actually wrestled a singles match in upstate New York a few years ago for the 2CW promotion as well as for the House of Hardcore promotion.
A new lineup was released Thursday for the show with a number of changes from the original lineup. The new main event has Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. WWE Champion HHH & Sheamus. Originally, HHH was going to be in Sheamus’ corner for a singles match with Reigns.
Additionally, two other announced matches are U.S. Champion Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio, and Big Show vs. Bray Wyatt. Additionally, Bryan will be there to address the crowd for his Appreciation Night.
NXT is at the Orlando National Guard Armory tonight in front of a sell out crowd of approximately 400.
Apollo Crews beat Manny Andrade
Good match, Manny was the heel tonight and tried to work holds. Traded some athletic rope running and Apollo hit a big dropkick. Manny appeared at Apollo’s level even in defeat. Apollo hit the big spinning slam for the win.
Liv Morgan and Aliyah beat Peyton Royce and Billie Kay
The heels got the heat on Aliyah to build the Liv hot tag. She was fired up, hit a lot of running offense of her own, got Aliyah involved and suplexed Aliyah on to the fallen opponent before positioning herself for a standing moonsault for the win. Good showing for Liv Morgan tonight.
Levis Valenzuela beat Chris Girard
Girard wore down Levis with his intense and aggressive style. Plenty of holds and growls. Levis wound up and nailed Chris with a Fiesta Fireball punch.
– In-ring promo with Hugo Knox who was heelish tonight in a stylish suit. Was not dancing tonight.
American Alpha beat BAMF, The Vaudevillains, and Enzo & Cass
This was a fatal four way elimination match for the right to face The Revival tomorrow night in Largo. Simon Gotch got the pin Enzo Amore for fall one. Fall two saw Jason Jordan run wild after a hot tag and defeated Alden English to eliminate The Vaudevillains. About a minute later, American Alpha hit the assisted German Suplex on Murphy for the win and the right to face the champions tomorrow night.
Emma beat Daria
A couple MMA style comebacks with Daria shooting the legs for takedowns yet this was mostly Emma. She won it with the Emma Lock. After the win re-applied the hold until Asuka made the save. Asuka took care of Emma then checked on Daria.
Sami Zayn beat Elias Samson
Crowd was vicious towards The Drifter tonight. Causing him to think on the fly being heckled during his song. Sami got the reaction of the night. Long match, a lot of Drifter rest holds until Sami’s big comeback and win via exploder suplex and jellies kick.
NXT Champion Finn Balor and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Samoa Joe and Nia Jax
Some crisp action from Joe and Finn in spurts to tune up for Dallas. These two are great together, Nia tries to wear down Bayley yet could never quite keep her grounded. At one point in a brilliant spot Nia Jax set up for the People’s Elbow then stopped short and just pulled Bayley up by her hair. Finn got the hot tag and nailed the Bloody Sunday on Joe for the win.
During the post match celebration Bayley took the mic and asked what “Finn 3:16” means? Finn responded by talking in a shy child voice with “… Finn 3:16 means… May I have this dance?” the lights went low, and Time Of Our Lives started playing, they slow danced at a distance like a middle school prom. Then Bayley went in to the corner, ran towards Finn who lifted her up in the air then back down in to a hug. Everyone was going wild.
It’s a show where the future sounded so much better than the present. Bayley and Carmella team up to battle Eva Marie and Nia Jax. Plus, what will Mr. William Regal have to say about the controversial finish to the #1 contender’s match last week?
The Big News: Samoa Joe will wrestle Sami Zayn in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match in 2 weeks.
The Medium News: Finn Balor will wrestle Neville next week
The Little Beaver Sized News: A brand new star will also debut next week.
The News Even Smaller Than Little Beaver: On the show that actually aired this week, Eva Marie won the tag team main event, pinning Carmella.
American Alpha defeated Blake & Murphy
38 days away from NXT Takeover and we kick things off with American Alpha. We are still at the CFE Arena in the University of Central Florida, for the third week here. The fans still liked Jordan & Gable, but this was already the second time they saw them, so it wasn’t as much love as before. Plus this was minutes after the Samoa Joe-Sami Zayn match that aired last week, so the fans were kind of tired.
Gable was single handedly destroying both Blake and Murphy. Jordan tagged in long enough for a double dropkick, but other than that the first half of the match was just Gable schooling both men. We went to commercial and came back with Jordan in control. It took almost 7 minutes, but the heels finally cut off Gable for the heat after using double team shenanigans.
Blake and Murphy continue to work good together. Jordan got the hot tag and hit several suplexes on both men. The good guys picked up the win with Grand Amplitude.
– After the double pin finish from last week, Mr. William Regal announced a 2 out of 3 Falls match with Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn in 2 weeks. He also announced that a brand new talent would debut next week.
– Sawyer Fulton sang while “highlights” of his matches aired. He can still be boring even in highlight form.
Apollo Crews pinned Christopher Girard
Apollo Crews is back. He has become so directionless since losing at Takeover: London. That loss was such a big deal. Girard looked good in his NXT debut, but the announcers were pointing out his size (or lack thereof) as they said he wasn’t much bigger than Gillberg.
This was not just a squash match, as Girard got a full entrance and had a competitive match with Crews before going down in defeat. Crews hit his toss Powerbomb to pick up the win.
– Bayley and Carmella were backstage with Alex, who called them “Baymella”, which was gag worthy. Bayley put over her partner and Carmella said one day she is coming back for the championship. Bayley was happy Asuka helped out, but it’s obvious she’s coming after the championship.
– Earlier this week, Enzo Amore arrived at the WWE Performance Center when he was attacked by Dash & Dawson. It was shot purely with security cameras, so it looked grainy and definitely not HD, but it looked more real.
Tommaso Ciampa submitted Bull Dempsey in a Loser Goes To WrestleCon Match
Actually the winner may be there too, I haven’t checked the list lately.
Bull needed the referee’s help to get his shirt off because it was so tight. Ciampa was not amused. Dempsey was content to do jumping jacks, as opposed to sports entertaining, so Ciampa made him pay for it. At one point it looked like Dempsey hit the Bossman Slam, but Bull was the one selling, so they sold it like Bull’s shoulder was hurt. It reminds me of Spike Dudley’s Acid Drop where you didn’t know if he hit the move half the time until someone sold it.
Ciampa won with a rolling armbar. At least Bull lost. You might recall Kassius Ohno started getting a pretty good push after he was released.
– Samoa Joe cut a promo saying he made NXT hot just by being here. It’s a shame for Sami Zayn to get beaten on for 2 falls instead of 1. Alex then asked Sami Zayn about it. Zayn said he’s been in plenty of 2 out of 3 Falls matches and he’s ready to do what he’s gotta do to become a 2-time NXT Champion.
Nia Jax & Eva Marie defeated NXT Women’s Champion Bayley & Carmella
Main event time! These four ladies have been in each others way going back to November when Bayley wrestled Eva Marie for the first time ever. This continued through Takeover, into the battle royal last month and Carmella’s title match 2 weeks ago.
For everyone that has such high hopes that WWE’s Diva Division is going to get a total makeover, just remember that Eva Marie is still pegged as the next breakout Diva.
The faces schooled Eva, who screamed for Nia’s help. I want to point out, in the interest of fairness, that Eva has improved ever so slightly. She used to show absolutely no expression during the match and at least now she yells in pain while selling. That’s a step up..
Nia stayed in the match as much as possible, tagging Eva in for very specific spots and moments, things she couldn’t mess up. Bayley got the hot tag, which woke the crow up and did her entire comeback on Eva.
Bayley had the match won with the Belly to Bayley, but Nia dragged Bayley off and headbutted her. Carmella tagged in and it became the Nia Jax Show. Nia attacked Carmella, gave a body attack to Bayley and dragged Eva over to her corner for the tag. Nia hit three legdrops on Carmella before Eva tagged herself in and got the pin!
– The show ended with Rich Brennan interviewing William Regal and Finn Balor. Mr. Regal told Finn that he is closing in on the record for longest reigning NXT Champion. mr. regal finished the show by telling Finn that next week he will face the longest reigning NXT Champion ever….Neville! That should be one amazing match and we have two straight weeks of amazing matches coming up.
But until next time, remember to say your vitamins and take your prayers!
For this week’s show from Indianapolis, airing in Canada on Wednesday and in the U.S. on Thursday:
– WWE Champion HHH came out to significant cheers. There was a podium with the title belt. They played the Reigns injury angle from RAW, and said he’d beat Reigns at WrestleMania.
Sheamus & Wade Barrett & Rusev & Alberto Del Rio beat Kalisto & Sin Cara & Neville & Dolph Ziggler
Barrett wrestled for the first time in months. Sheamus pinned Neville with the Brogue kick.
– Kevin Owens was being interviewed by Renee Young. He offered Dean Ambrose an I-C title rematch tonight. The idea was it was a grandstand challenge since Ambrose was “injured” from the Lesnar angle. Owens said that he wanted to wrestle Ambrose, but if he’s not there, he’s taking the night off. Big Show came out. This set up a title match for later in the show.
– Devon Dudley beat Jimmy Uso quickly with a roll-up.
– They did a video where they announced that Undertaker would be at Raw on Monday night in Nashville.
– They aired a Godfather Hall of Fame video.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens beat Big Show via countout
The finish came when Show was crotched on the top rope, fell to the floor, and couldn’t get back in the ring. Owens grabbed his belt and left as quick as he could before Show recovered.
Becky Lynch NC Natalya when Naomi and Tamina attacked both of them
Sasha Banks made the save. Charlotte came out and said the Lynch vs. Banks match for the title shot at WrestleMania will be on Raw on Monday night.
R-Truth beat Heath Slater
The finish saw Goldust punch Slater behind the ref’s back. R-Truth didn’t see it either, but when he saw it on the replay, he got mad at Goldust.
– New Day did an interview prior to the main event.
A.J. Styles & Chris Jericho & Mark Henry beat WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E/Kofi/Xavier Woods)
Styles made Woods tap to the calf crusher. There was a spot where Jericho jumped in the way of a kick by Kingston aimed at Styles and Jericho sold it big.
– Notes from tonight’s tapings:
They announced that Night of Champions would be taking place at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on 9/25 with the code WWEPRE for pre-sale tickets.
The return of Shane McMahon to start the show appears to have impacted the viewership of Raw greatly, or it was that and a combination of the bump caused by coming a day after the PPV.
Last night show did 3.87 million viewers, the best number since the day after the Royal Rumble doing 4.09 million viewers.
It’s hard to know how much the McMahon return would mean since it was a shock, but it was also at the beginning of the show, meaning word may have gotten around quickly causing people to tune in. The show ended up having a huge third hour drop, at a larger levels than most weeks, but the third hour was still ahead of every third hour since the day after Rumble show.
The show was up 12 percent from last week’s 3.46 million viewers, which was the second lowest number for a non-holiday show outside of football season since 1997.
The three hours were:
8 p.m. 4.20 million viewers 9 p.m. 4.06 million viewers 10 p.m. 3.40 million viewers
Tickets went on sale for the Payback PPV on 5/22 in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center, and then Ticketmaster changed the name of the show to Extreme Rules.
There will still be a Payback show on 5/1, but the location hasn’t been announced.
WWE announced that Roman Reigns underwent surgery today in Tampa for a broken nose that was suffered during the brawl with HHH at the end of Raw last night.
No time frame was listed for a recovery and the story was far more vague than most stories regarding top talent undergoing surgery are. Given the timing and nature of the attack, this could be storyline related but we will update shortly.
HHH destroyed Reigns at the end of Raw, smashing his head repeatedly into the announce table until Reigns came up covered in blood. There are videos online that appear to show Reigns being handed a blood packet by Byron Saxton during the HHH beating, which if accurate would suggest the injury is storyline.
Reigns vs. HHH for the WWE World Heavyweight Title is expected to headline this year’s WrestleMania, following Reigns winning a three-way over Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose at the WWE Fast Lane pay-per-view on Sunday night.
With the main event of WrestleMania official, Raw originates from Detroit tonight as the countdown to WrestleMania begins. Clearly, after the reception Roman Reigns received at Fast Lane, there’s still plenty of work to do to avoid him getting booed out of Texas next month. He and HHH will likely kick off a series of angles tonight. The recipient of the Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award will be announced, which could also be an angle leading up to WrestleMania. There will probably be new programs for Charlotte, Kevin Owens and the New Day for their respective championships.
Plus, there’s the matter of which 90s starts will appear at WrestleMania? Who will they be facing? And when will the promotion for those matches begin? It’s the start of the most popular time of the year for wrestling in America tonight, and our coverage starts at 8 ET.
From Dave Meltzer:
An angle was just shot before Raw to air on the show where Brock Lesnar destroyed Dean Ambrose and he was rushed to the hospital to help get the wheels in motion for their WrestleMania match and make Ambrose the babyface.
It is expected this will be announced at the start of the show. The plans are for this to be a major show to set up WrestleMania’s top bouts.
###
The Big Takeaway:
A wild night. Shane McMahon made his return to Raw after leaving the WWE six years ago. He will face the Undertaker at WrestleMania in a Hell in a Cell match with control of the company on the line. Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose is also set for WrestleMania after an angle where Lesnar jumped Ambrose and slammed him on a limo. Ryback appeared to turn heel and looks to be up for a program with Kane. Roman Reigns juiced in the main event after being jumped by HHH, ending with HHH giving him a Pedigree on the ring steps.
Show Recap:
The Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award was in the ring with a red carpet draped around it.
Michael Cole showed video of Dean Ambrose being driven in, where Brock Lesnar jumped him and drove him into the hood of a limo. Lesnar then slammed Ambrose onto the limo, and Ambrose was shown being stretchered out of the arena with a neckbrace on. Cole claimed Ambrose underwent medicat tests at a local hospital. Lesnar and Paul Heyman will make an appearance later.
Vincent Kennedy McMahon came out for the presentation of the Legacy of Excellence award. Vince said tonight would be a night the fans would never forget. Vince said for over 100 years, his family had been presenting sports entertainment. It started with his grandfather, then carried on to his father. He announced the winner as Stephanie McMahon.
Stephanie came out and started crying. She got a lot of heat as she accepted the award. She claimed she wasn’t expecting to win, but had some prepared remarks to make. She then pulled out a binder the size of a notebook ready to make her remarks.
Before she could talk, Shane McMahon came out to an incredibly huge pop. He was wearing old school Air Jordans straight from 1984 and looked a little emotional as he made his return to TV for the first time since 2009. The place went bonkers and Shane looked stunned to see how huge the response was. Fans chanted “Holy Shit” and “This is Awesome.”
Shane milked it in for a while. Vince went to hug him, but Shane stopped him. So Vince extended his hand, and Shane left him hanging. He looked like he’s lost 60 pounds, minimum, since he made those cameos at various PGA Tour events. Shane said the Legacy of Excellence Award should be bestowed on someone who deserves it, and it wasn’t Stephanie.
Vince asked his son to play nice and asked if he and Shane could talk in the back. Shane said his father always told him to do things out in the open face-to-face. Stephanie said this was her moment, getting booed worse than Mark Messier in Joe Louis Arena. Stephanie said her husband and her have been running a billion dollar business for seven years while Shane is away.
Shane told his father “She doesn’t know, does she?” Then Shane said Stephanie and her husband have been running the company into the ground based on talent injuries, stock, even TV ratings (Good lord. This was like Eric Bischoff admitting Nitro had fallen off the rails in 1999). Stephanie called Shane a quitter and told him to get out of her ring. Shane said it was her father’s ring. Shane said several years ago, Vince messed up huge. Big time. But Shane was there to save the day.
So Vince and Shane cut a deal. In that deal, Shane was able to take time off, build businesses. But he never lost his place in line. Shane said the reason why Stephanie was able to climb this far was because Shane allowed it to happen. Stephanie thought this was ridiculous and asked Vince to say this wasn’t true. Vince had a very guilty look on his face. Stephanie kept asking if this was true. Vince didn’t want to answer. Shane pressed for an answer, and Vince admitted there was some truth to it.
Shane said, at the time, the agreement he and Vince reached was “Best for business.” Stephanie started to leave, but said she would never forgive Shane for this.
Stephanie left. Vince wanted to know what this was about. He offered to give Shane any amount of money. Shane said it wasn’t about money. It was about getting out from under Vince’s thumb. It was all about legacy. Shane talked about Vince being the third generation, he was the fourth generation, and his three children would be the fifth generation. He started to tear up when he talked about that.
Shane said he wanted control over Monday Night Raw. Vince said if Shane controlled Raw, he would control the entire company, and Shane can’t just step right in and control the entire company. Vince offered a deal. He would give Shane Monday Night Raw as long as he has one match on one night. And if he wins, he gets his match. If he loses, Vince gets the key to Shane’s lockbox so Shane can’t hang anything over his head again. Crowd actually chanted “You still got it.” That Randy Orton angle was a million years ago at this moment.
Shane agreed to the deal. Vince said something that got bleeped out but left the crowd buzzing. Vince said Shane would wrestle at WrestleMania…against the Undertaker. Hell in a Cell.
The New Day defeated Lucha Dragons and Neville (15:27)
Good match where Kofi Kingston pinned Sin Cara with Trouble in Paradise after Kingston escaped the Dragon Bomb by pulling Sin Cara’s mask. Before the finish, Neville did a 450 splash onto Big E. off the apron. Kalisto then jumped off Neville’s back and did a 450 splash onto Xavier Woods. The New Day look to be turning face as they cut a promo on the League of Nations during an inset promo. They offered them a box of Booto-Os cereal, which has it’s own box with the new day on the front. That was hilarious.
Reigns did a promo with Jojo upset over what happened with Ambrose. Crowd loudly booed Reigns and chanted for Ambrose as he did his promo. It was a badly scripted interview about how the match between him and HHH would be about heart. Reigns just doesn’t have the promo ability.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out. Heyman said this was the main event of the evening, even tough he wasn’t wrestling. He said Lesnar was the single biggest attraction in sports entertainment or Mixed Martial Arts. That sound you hear in Connor McGregor laughing. Heyman said Lesnar took Ambrose and Reigns to Suplex City, and had Reigns on the verge of tapping out to Lesnar, just like the Undertaker was. Then Ambrose took a three-way fight and turned it into a street fight, and took Lesnar out of the equation and out of the main event of WrestleMania.
Heyman said Lesnar got his revenge earlier today, and claimed that Ambrose was out of WrestleMania altogether. Heyman said there was no shield that could protect Ambrose from the wrath of Lesnar. Heyman said Lesnar deserves to be in the main event of WrestleMania, and is the main event. Not HHH, not Reigns. Heyman ran down Ambrose as some kind of hardcore kid wannabe riding on a BMX bike that everyboyd thinks is cool. Until the reality of a Mack-Semi truck comes down and…Heyman then threw down the mic to symbolize what Lesnar does to people. He actually had to get another mic because he broke the old one.
Heyman said Lesnar needed another Lesnar WrestleMania opponent. Whoever wants to be that person, go visit Ambrose in the hospital room while he can barely breathe. So sayeth Brock Lesnar.
Heyman finsihed. At that point, the TitanTron turned to the back, where an ambulance came in from the back. The ambulance came out into the arena. Of course, Ambrose was behind the wheel wearing a neckbrace. He staggered out to a pop. Ambrose crawled to the ring, more or less. The brace fell off his neck. Lesnar stood over Ambrose and walked over his chest.
Ambrose told Lesnar he was indestructable and he would find that otu the hard way. He challenged Lesnar to a match at WrestleMania in a No Holds Barred Street Fight. Lesnar went after Ambrose and gave him an F-5 on the floor. Fans didn’t chant for Ambrose. They chanted “One More Time.” Heyman got down on his knees and told Ambrose face-to-face that his client accepted Ambrose’s challenge.
The Usos were about to face the Ascension when the Dudley Boyz came out. Bubbay Ray Dudley said the Usos shouldn’t take the beating the Dudleys handed them two weeks ago personally. They did it to remind people they were the most decorated tag team in the history of WWE. Their legacy won’t be defined by a piece of furniture, but by the accomplishments. Bubba claimed the fans would never see the tables again. Devon Dudley told the Usos maybe their father shouldn’t have been running around in oversized thongs, but should have taught his sons respect. Fans didn’t seem to know Devon was talking about Rikishi, which Cole and Byron Saxton filled in the blanks.
The Usos defeated the Ascension (1:58)
Jey Uso pinned Viktor after a double superkick and a splash. Dudleys came down to tease a fight with the Usos. Looks like that’s another match for WrestleMania.
Jim Harbaugh was at ringside in time for tonight’s tweets from angry SEC fans about unfair recruiting practices.
Chris Jericho came out for more talking. He said for years, he heard about the legacy of A.J. Styles. He saw Styles in the Royal Rumble and he didn’t like him because Styles called himself “Phenomenal” without having one match in the WWE. Then he wrestled Styles three times, with last night’s match being one of the best he’s had in years. Jericho said Styles beat him. 24 hours later, Jericho said he had some words for Styles, and wanted to say them face-to-face.
Styles came out and the fans instantly started dueling chants. Jericho said Styles that going into their match last night, the pressure was all on Styles. But Styles won, and Jericho admitted it. Jericho congratulated Styles because he proved to the WWE Universe that he belongs in the WWE. He has what it takes to become a WWE champion. Styles proved he was phenomenal. They shook hands.
Social Outcasts came out. Heath Slater made fun of them. Bo Dallas said his heart was warm seeing how much love was in the ring right now. Slater told Dallas he was being sarcastic. Dallas pretended he knew. Curtis Axel accused Jericho of playing nice to Styles, but in his heart he knew Styles made him tap out. Slater asked Styles if he was a man. Slater said where he comes from, they call people like Styles a coward. Adam Rose said no one was buying Y2AJ. Slater ordered them to get out of the ring.
Jericho called Slater “Ginger Jackass.” Jericho said he and Styles weren’t planning on being a team, but they could become one to face Social Outcasts immediately in a tag match. It was Y2Aj vs. Slater and Axel.
Chris Jericho and A.J. Styles defeated Curtis Axel and Heath Slater via submission (3:55)
Jericho made Axel submit to the Walls of Jericho while Styles did a springboard plancha onto Dallas, Rose and Slater. Slater is now being referred to as the Red Dragon in a moniker that Sinclair Broadcasting executives should just love.
Stephanie and HHH were backstage. Stephanie was furious at Shane. HHH said Shane was always a failure and always will be. HHH said tonight will end the way they want it to, so he asked if she wanted to tell Roman, or should he? She volunteered.
Stephanie found Reigns backstage and said Reigns would be facing Sheamus tonight. She said League of Nations was a brotherhood, unlike the fake one Reigns had with Ambrose. She urged him to watch out for League of Natons causing him to miss WrestleMania because of injury.
R-Truth and Goldust had another skit. Goldust apologized for costing Truth his match against Axel last night. He offered a cake which said “I’m Sorry” as a makeup present. Goldsut said it was chocolate cake with golden frosting, just like a potential tag team with him. R-Truth tried to tell him off, but Goldust said he could predict Truth’s every move before he does it. Truth said he guessed Goldust would predict he was going to take the cake a smash it in his face. But he wouldn’t do that to Goldust because he was better than that, and walked off. Then he stormed back, said “Psych” and smashed it in Goldust’s face.
Luke Harper, Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan defeated Ryback, The Big Show and Kane (12:29)
Finish saw Kane about to deliver the choke slam on Luke Harper, but Ryback walked out on Kane. For some reason, this distracted Kane, which allowed Harper to tag Bray Wyatt. Then Wyatt pinned Kane with Sister Abigail. Big Show was laid out earlier by Braun Strowman. Fans did’t care for Ryback and chanted “Goldberg” at him. Then a few started chanting “Gillberg” and the Big Show started laughing. Wyatts sure ended up on the short end of the WrestleMania stick. They went from potential opponents to the Undertaker to potential opponets for Lesnar to status unknown. Who would have thought last month that the Dudleys would have had a clearer direction for WrestleMania than the Wyatts?
Ryabck did an interview saying he walked out on Big Show and Kane because he was done being in tag teams. It was his time to be in the spotlight. He said “That glass ceiling. That brass ring. Break it. Take it.”
Sasha Banks defeated Naomi via submission (6:47)
Tamina interfered several times on Sasha Banks. That brought down Becky Lynch to jump Tamina. Banks won with the Bank Statement.
Postmatch, Charlotte and Ric Flair came out. She was dressed like Nikki and Brie Bella, which Cole pointed out. They’re teasing Nikki Bella showing up at WrestleMania. Charlotte said the Authority had told her Lynch would be facing Banks in the coming weeks, and the winner would face Charlotte at WrestleMania. Charlotte told Lynch to watch out, like Banks was about to jump her. Of course, Banks hadn’t made a move toward Lynch. But Lynch reacted like she had. Charlotte laughed about how they really don’t trust each other after all.
Stephanie wanted to know what Shane held over Vince’s head. Vince said the odds of Shane beating the Undertaker were astronomical. Vince explained he was taking a calculated risk. Stephanie seemed to understand.
So in the final week of Black History Month, they announced the Godfather was the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. JBL announced the APA was reuniting to induct the Godfather because they rode miles and miles with the Godfather.
There was a sign on the screen shown repeatedly in the final hour that said “Raw is Stale as Cole Slaw.” How that made the airwaves without being confiscated is beyond me. This show had more signs than any Raw is a while, so maybe restrictions are being curtailed.
Roman Reigns and Sheamus went to a no contest (10:51)
This was one strange scene. Sheamus, the top regular performing heel in the company, came out to complete silence. Reigns, the chosen one, got mostly booed. A reminder that we are six weeks away from WrestleMania. Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and King “Catch Him While You Can” Barrett were at ringside. Rusev gave Reigns a uranage on the floor to a round of cheers. During the break, referee Chad Patton (his name was announced on TV, breaking previous company protocol), ordered the League of Nations to the back. They went two more minutes past the commercial when Reigns hit a Superman Punch on Sheamus. HHH came out ready to fight, and he and Reigns started brawling. As for where Sheamus went? Your guess is as good as mine. How’s that for top heel treatment?
So HHH and Reigns brawled, with Reigns delivering a Superman Punch to HHH. And HHH responded by selling it somewhat, then hit Reigns with a ring bell. HHH was ruthless, slamming Reigns head into the table again and again so much, it got a “Yes” chant going. HHH put punches to Reigns head, and he started juicing. This led to several referees coming down trying to pull HHH off. Instead, HHH pulled down the ring steps and gave Reigns a pedigree on the steps to mostly cheers. HHH actually did a crotch chop to Reigns and got cheered louder. Then he posed with the belt and the show went off the air with HHH like a rogue babyface, which is pretty much how he’s been booked when he’s a heel for the past decade.
Summary:
This was some surreal booking for WrestleMania. Shane McMahon got a great one-time reaction tonight. So how does that carry over for six more weeks? They couldn’t get Alberto Del Rio over long enough for two weeks after his return. When did the Undertaker turn heel and join the Authority? Did I miss this angle? What is it that Shane holds over Vince’s head? There have been plenty of times over the past 15 years that a McMahon-driven storyline has gaping holes in the plotlines that the audience is supposed to have cleared up before the end. Except it almost never does, and I wouldn’t bet on it here. Plus, the company just did the storyline of Stephanie and HHH potentially being out of power only 18 months ago at Survivor Series. They returned a month later. And so what if Shane wins? Does that mean Raw will be a different show? Judging from the past, it makes the likelihood of guys from Jackass sequels showing up as guests, which isn’t how you build top heels.
The segment alone where Shane actually acknowledged the WWE’s falling rating was straight out of 1999 WCW. And I mean, like, taken word for word from an Eric Bischoff interview during Nitro in March of that year.
Then there’s the main event segment. The idea on paper was: with John Cena out of the equation, who do fans hate more than Reigns? HHH. Thus, Reigns can be cheered at the biggest show of the year. That idea isn’t working in practice. Reigns is the new John Cena. Females and kids cheer him. Everyone else boos him. That’s fine for the short-term. But in terms of getting fans emotionally invested in a character like they did Daniel Bryan, it’s not happening. HHH didn’t exactly help matters tonight, in that regard.
WWE officially announced Monday through Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden that Charles “The Godfather” Wright will join Sting in the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame class.
The Freebirds, Jacqueline and announcer John Bradshaw Layfield are also expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks, while the Wright announcement is expected to be announced on Raw tonight.
Wright, who started his career as the Soul Taker in Memphis, was a Monster Factory trainee after being a high school basketball star in San Jose, CA. Mark “Undertaker” Calaway, who had been friends with him before both were in WWE, arranged for him to meet with WWE officials. They liked his size at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds at the time which was a lot of what main events were based on in that era.
He started as Papa Shango, doing a voodoo gimmick, feuding with Ultimate Warrior. The character got a big push and a lot of attention, but had a mixed reaction. He had a second run as Kama The Supreme Fighting Machine, modeled after Kimo, a UFC star in that era. He then changed to Kama Mustafa in the Nation of Domination before eventually finding the role he’s most remembered for as The Godfather, who started as a heel but became a strong show opening babyface, mostly for his ring entrance coming to the ring with distinctive music with his “ho’s”, and then mostly doing short matches.
Between stints and after wrestling, Wright worked managing a strip club in Las Vegas.
