Tag: WWE

The Big News: Vince McMahon announced that if the Undertaker loses to Shane McMahon at WrestleMania, then the Undertaker will never wrestle at WrestleMania again. Kevin Owens became the latest wrestler to get scolded by Stephanie McMahon, who ordered him to defend the Intercontiental Championship in a ladder match against Sami Zayn, the Miz, Sin Cara, Stardust, Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler. Building up Shane McMahon was the backbone of the show through a series of vignettes, and no matter how much Vince McMahon has lost his creative touch, this company will always have great videos as extra spice in their stew. But they served a cold dish, overall, tonight. 

Show Recap: 

The show was dedicated to the memory of Mary Katherine Stewart, who was only 21 years old. 

Stephanie McMahon announced HHH wasn’t going to be there tonight, and fans had 60 second to get to the box office for refunds. She claimed her husband was missing the show because of front office concerns, not because of Roman Reigns attack last week. She said Reigns proved why he would never be WWE World Heavyweight Champion, because he lacks intellect. Reigns came out to mostly boos, which was not the reaction he got when he defeated Sheamus for the WWE title in December. He’s no longer walking through the crowd. 

Stephanie started to dress down Reigns until he put his hand over the microphone. Fans booed him as he started to talking, and said HHH didn’t come to Philadelphia because he knew he would whip his ass all over Broad Street. Reigns said he would walk into Texas and take his championship back, and there was nothing Stephanie or her daddy’s money could do about it. Stephanie started to slap him, but he caught her hand and said “Now, I’m the Authority.” It was the right idea to put Reigns in there with Stephanie because he’s the only person she sells for, but the fans just aren’t willing to accept him as a headliner. Short segment for an opener, going only seven minutes. 

Kevin Owens (C) defeated A.J. Styles in a nontitle match (19:19)

They just can’t help themselves. A.J. Styles had Kevin Owens in the Calf Crasher, but Chris Jericho came out for the weekly distraction into a schoolboy cradle finish. Of course, it was a great match with Styles getting near falls following a Fireman’s Carry Neckbreaker and a Rack Bomb. During a commercial, Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm, but Owens grabbed the ropes and Styles crashed to the floor. Owens pulled out a frog splash for a great near fall, and later showed off the F-Cinq. The crowd was into it, but the finish took it down a level. Styles chased Jericho to the back.

Afterwards, Owens laughed about winning over Styles and defending his title at “KO-Mania.” Dolph Ziggler came out to challenge him, and mentioned “KOMania and Botchamania.” Ziggler, who just got crushed last week, as the top challenger spoke volumes about the depth of the midcard. Then the Miz came out and laughed over how Ziggler thought he could get a title shot after HHH slaughtered him last week. Ziggler brought up superkicking Miz on SmackDown. Sami Zayn came out and said he had waited for months to get a piece of Owens and wanted him at WrestleMania. Owens said he would talk with the Authority about arranging a three-way match among those three challengers, and the winner would get the shot at WrestleMania.   

Dean Ambrose was taped at the Philadium bar doing a promo on Brock Lesnar when suddenly, Terry Funk popped up. Funk looked like he had lost 40 pounds since his last television appearance. Funk did a variation of his classic promos, including this one from Puerto Rico that’s the White Album or Dark Side of the Moon of wrestling interviews. He told Ambrose that if he had a son, he would be just like Ambrose. Funk gave Ambrose a chainsaw which he could use against Lesnar, and Ambrose started sawing a table to the horror of various extras. 

Owens approached Stephanie and asked for a triple threat match tonight that he could book. Stephanie agreed. The trick was Owens didn’t say who would be in the match, with Stephanie assuming it would be Miz vs. Zayn vs. Ziggler. 

They did a good feature on Shane McMahon and the Undertaker featuring Mick Foley, Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Edge, John Cena, Booker T, Michael Hayes and Jerry Lawler. Foley said Shane’s return was among the top three reactions he’s ever heard in the business. Cena mentioned he never thought he’d see Shane in the WWE again. The piece featured headlines from when Shane left the company in 2010 and what brought him back. 

Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and Sheamus did promos on the New Day laughing about how they beat them up last week. New Day came out with Booty O’s cereal. Xavier Woods held up placards which spelled out “You are trash.” Kofi Kingston said Rusev had stinky feet. Kingston wondered what happened to Del Rio, he used to come out in a car with his own ring announcer, but now he’s stuck in the League of Nations. They mentioned Sheamus’ parents must have known how he would turn out to be because they put the word “Shame” in his first name. Woods mentioned the tag line “Booty-O’s: They make sure you aren’t Booty.” 

Big E. defeated Rusev (11:06) 

Big E. won after the Big Ending. Lots of activity outside the ring, including King Barrett and Sheamus throwing Woods and Kingston into the barricade, which they sold for several minutes. Big E. hit several Belly-to-Bootie suplexes. Rusev teased the Accolade, but Big E. escaped with an Electric Chair, which was impressive considering Rusev’s size. Match was good but was a few minutes too long. 

Vince McMahon will make an announcement concerning Shane-Undertaker later tonight. 

The Wyatt Family did a promo about a match tonight between Ambrose and Braun Strowman, who said the God of War watches over him tonight and he would offer Ambrose for sacrifice. 

Aliciia Fox and Naomi did a commercial for Snickers where some male was pretending to be a drama queen. So they gave him a “Drama Rama” bar, the guy took a bit out of it, and turned into Natalya. 

The Big Show came out for a promo for the 3rd annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Byron Saxton vowed winning the battle royal could change someone’s life. So far, the winner’s of the battle royal have been Cesaro and the Big Show. Exactly how have their lives changed for the better? Show said he once claimed to be the greatest giant of all time, but the true greatest giant was Andre, because he was the first giant and the greatest giant. That’s why it meant so much for him to win the battle royal last year and wants to win it again. Social Outcasts came out. Heath SLater said Show’s mark on the industry would soon be the Social Outcasts’ largest victim. Bo Dallas claimed they were a Cinderella story. Curtis Axel corrected him and said they were like Voltron. Adam Rose said Show was in serious trouble. Show said the only trouble he would have would be figuring out which one of them to knock out first. Slater got choked, but Axel hit Show with a Shining Wizard. They started to put the boots to him, but Kane came out, threw Dallas and Slater over the top rope, as well as Rose. Dallas tried to shake Kane’s hand with his left hand, but he was thrown out. Show hugged Kane, who didn’t return the favor. Show posed on the second rope, but Kane grabbed Show and choke slammed him off the second rope. Guess that’s what Show gets for saying he wasn’t properly booked over the years on Austin’s podcast. 

Chris Jericho defeated Fandango (2:08)

Nice to see Fandango back from the witness relocation program. He missed the Last Dance and Jericho started to put on the Walls of Jericho, but Styles came out and started chanting “Y2 Jackass.” Jericho must not be as easily distracted as Styles was, because Jericho kicked out of Fandango’s small package. Jericho got the pin with a codebreaker. 

Jericho challenged Styles to get in the ring. When Styles ran in, Jericho ran out. Styles then did a promo saying he’s wrestled all over the world, but not at WrestleMania. He challenged Jericho to a match at WrestleMania, which Jericho didn’t answer. 

Another Shane promo video, and this was very good. Of all people, they had Renzo Gracie cutting an interview about how Shane brings energy to his jujitsu workout daily. Renzo is as good a personality as you’ll find from the MMA world to get someone over on an interview, especially since he doesn’t have a script. Shawn Michaels, Edge, Road Dogg, Austin, and Booker built Shane up as someone tougher than shoe leather, but most of them picked Undertaker to win. A good hype piece, and it left the fans with a better flavor about Shane than if Shane had appeared in front of the live crowd and received a lukewarm response, which is always a danger in Philadelphia. 

Owens handled ring announcing for the triple threat match for the Intercontiental championship. Instead of Miz vs. Zayn vs. Ziggler, Owens announced Stardust, Sin Cara and Zack Ryder. 

Stardust vs. Zack Ryder vs. Sin Cara ended in no contest (3:41) 

The joke here was Owens booked three jobbers for a fight for his championship. What’s scary is, after last week, Ziggler and Miz have as much credibility as the three who started this match. Zayn, Miz and Ziggler came out to confront Owens, who was on commentary. It led to Owens jumping Ryder for the DQ. Everybody started fighting with Owens, who walked away. 

This led to our weekly segment known as “Stephanie gets to castrate talent.” Stephanie scolded Owens for misleading her about the triple-threat match, then ordered him to face Zayn, Sin Cara, Ryder, Stardust, Ziggler, the Miz and Stardust at WrestleMania in a ladder match for the I-C title. 

Stephanie walked out of the building, where a black SUV was waiting for her. HHH came out from the backseat and kissed her. As the garage roof raised, Reigns was behind it. I guess HHH and Stephanie were making out in the backseat because the SUV didn’t move. Reigns pulled HHH out of the back and brawled with HHH, including ramming him into a set of bars. HHH got one punch in and the SUV sped off. 

Charlotte (C) defeated Natalya (4:47)

Charlotte won with Natural Selection. Natalya got the Sharpshooter on, but Charlotte made the ropes. Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch were on commentary doing promos on each other that succeeded in making me less encouraged to watch the match. It’s sad how far behind the WWE is from UFC in terms of using interviews to build up fights. It’s like the gap between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns. 

Bubba Ray Dudley defeated R-Truth (2:04)

The gimmick was R-Truth was despondent about Goldust turning down his requests to be his tag team partner. Bubba Ray Dudley won with a big boot. Devon Dudley joined in to beat up Truth. So after weeks of building up the Goldust-Truth tag team, Goldust runs down for the save. And Michael Cole couldn’t have been more monotone in his delivery. Why the hell do you start the angle if you aren’t going to sell it big on the payoff? On top of that, Goldust ran in with a chair, but got laid out with a reverse 3-D. Then the Usos ran in and gave Bubba a double superkick, ditto for Devon. The Usos pulled out a table and teased giving Devon a splash through the table, but Bubba pulled his partner to safety. 

Vince came out and he just has worn out his welcome. Total silence on his entrance. After the post-WrestleMania Raw in 2 weeks, he needs about nine months off to get fresh again. He reviewed the Shane-Undertaker stips, and said if Shane wins, it might mean he will never be on Raw again. Like anyone believes that. Then he put over Shane as a wrestler. He actually said Shane might be the most forminable opponent the Undertaker has ever faced at WrestleMania. You could a loud groan in the audience after that one. The big news is if Undertaker doesn’t beat Shane at WrestleMania, then the Undertaker will never wrestle at WrestleMania again. 

Braun Strowman defeated Dean Ambrose by DQ (5:12)

Paul Heyman was on commentary doing his best to sell Ambrose’s match with Brock Lesnar. Crowd was so dead, it was amazing this was only two weeks before WrestleMania and one of the top babyfaces was in the ring. It got boring chants. All Strowman could do was nerve holds. Finally Ambrose used a chair on Strowman for a DQ for no real reason. Ambrose went after Luke Harper and Erick Rowan with the chair, then hit Dirty Deeds on Strowman onto the chair. Ambrose walked over to Heyman and mouthed off to him while Heyman looked on with concern. 

Final Thoughts:

There is no momentum for WrestleMania at all. The event sells itself purely on its brand name. But there wasn’t one regular performer on this show who is over. As long as Raw is 3 hours, appearing on Raw is an obstacle to getting over because you’re overexposed. And there’s two types of people in this company. Those who have been castrated by HHH and Stephanie, and those who are going to be.  Tonight, Owens joined the former club after being in the latter for eight months. 

Three weeks from WrestleMania and it’s all hands on deck in time for the final push towards the biggest show of the year. After a two week absence to sell his broken nose, Roman Reigns will return tonight in Pittsburgh to resume the build for his main event against HHH. Shane McMahon and the Undertaker are also scheduled. The New Day are scheduled to defend the World Tag Team titles against Alberto Del Rio and Rusev. Plus, Sami Zayn made his return last week and is expected to build for his presumed match against Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Championship. Plus, Chris Jericho, A.J. Styles, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks.

Our coverage starts at 8 ET. 

The Big News: Shane McMahon and Undertaker had their first face-to-face confrontation since the WrestleMania main event was announced. It ended with Undertaker chokeslamming Shane after Vince sacrificed his own son, but Undertaker gave Vince a mean stare afterwards. Dolph Ziggler became the latest on the long line of wrestlers that HHH buried. Stephanie buried him in an interview segment, and HHH buried him in a match. Other matches official for WrestleMania include the League of Nations vs. the New Day for the tag team titles and Kalisto vs. Ryback for the U.S. Championship. 

The New Day started the show with a new box of Booty O’s in Kofi Kingston’s hands. No 20 minute promo tonight as Alberto Del Rio and Rusev came out for the tag team championship match. 

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Rusev and Alberto Del Rio to retain (13:37)

It was Big E. and Xavier Woods representing the New Day. Woods pinned Rusev with a schoolboy cradle. Rusev hit a superkick on Woods while Big E. was laid out with a double foot stomp by Alberto Del Rio, but Woods kicked out in a good near fall. Kingston distracted Rusev for the finish. The match tried to make New Day into total babyfaces. Big E. did a good comeback sequence with repeated belly-to-belly suplexes on Rusev, which is now called the Booty-to-Belly. Pretty good match, though you would think that since the fans have wanted to turn New Day for months, they would rally around them once they finally did. But they were dead for this one. 

Postmatch, Sheamus and King Barrett joined in for a total beatdown of the New Day. Barrett even got to pull out the Bullhammer elbow on Kingston. Rusev delivered the Accolade on Woods, and Del Rio delievered the Double Foot Stomp off the top. Sheamus gave Big E. the Brogue Kick. Appears a rematch is coming at WrestleMania. 

Dean Ambrose came out after losing to HHH at Road Block. Ambrose admitted he ade a mistake against HHH on Saturday night, but that’s fine because he lives by his sword and he dies by his sword. He told anyone to ask how HHH how he’s feeling right now because it ain’t gonna be good. That would have made sense later in the show if HHH came out selling something. Instead, HHH came out 30 minutes later looking no worse for wear. Oh well, if he can’t change after 15 years, why start now? 

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman came out.

Heyman said he was the voice of reason because that was the only thing that was saving Ambrose from a beating. Ambrose dared Heyman to let the beast off his leash. Heyman said any fight that features Lesnar is the main event, and he didn’t want to ruin the main event of WrestleMania. He got on his knees and begged Ambrose not to provoke Lesnar because if he came down to the ring, Ambrose wouldn’t make it to WrestleMania. Then there wouldn’t be anyone left for Lesnar to wrestle because Ambrose was the only one crazy enough to want to fight Lesnar. 

Ambrose again dared Lesnar to come to the ring, but Heyman held him back and put over Lesnar with his standard platitudes. Heyman went to the back, but Lesnar didn’t. He walked down to the ring. Ambrose pulled out a crowbar. Lesnar didn’t back down despite Heyman’s objections and circled the ring. Lesnar charged the ring, but Ambrose went after him with the crowbar. Lesnar dropped down, looked menancingly at Ambrose and they cut to a break. Fans really don’t seem to know how to approach this program because they want to cheer both men. 

Ryabck defeated Sin Cara (4:12)

Ryback won after giving Sin Cara two shellshocks, the second of which he did staring at Kalisto at ringside. The new gimmick for Ryback is he’s a good big guy who will always win over a good little guy. He challenged Kalisto to a U.S. Championship match at WrestleMania. It would help if the good little guy was over. Instead, when he tried to get a “Lucha” chant going, the fans started chanting “We want tables.” Ryback’s turn has also fallen on indifferent ears. 

They have a new sponsorship with Burger King grilled dogs, so they showed past promos with Mad Dog Vachon, Junkyard Dog and Road Dog Jesse James. 

Stephanie McMahon came out to shocking little reaction.

Like her father, she didn’t look happy about it. She introduced HHH, who she said handily defeated Ambrose at Road Block. HHH came out selling nothing and said Ambrose failed because the Authority always wins. He said hope is not a strategy, but it’s how fans relate to Ambrose and Roman Reigns, because they hope they’re the ones who can end the reign of the Authority. HHH saved his boring 20-minute promo for the 9 o’clock hour, saying people hope they get a job once they get out of high school, hope they get a promotion, hope they get a raise, but it never comes. 

HHH said the fans were all failures and they cut to a shot of fans at ringside. You could see their boredom. HHH went on and on forever in his worst promo in recent memory. He said Reigns will fail at WrestleMania. Reigns got a mixed reaction. He said the Authority always wins. Dolph Ziggler came out wearing a pink shirt and black blazer. Stephanie said “Speaking of failures.” 

Ziggler said he knows his place, and it’s in the ring busting his ass for the fans. Stephanie treated him like a joke, saying he was pandering “Cena-esque.” Stephanie said he wasn’t that good. Ziggler wondered if Stephanie was going to threaten to fire him. He realized he has nothing left to lose. He vowed never to quit. Ziggler said he and Ambrose were screwed by the system, the Authority’s system. But they weren’t failures. Ziggler dared Stephanie to fire him. HHH stepped in and said firing him wouldn’t be good for business. The fans loved Ziggler because he was a loveable loser, just like the fans. HHH said Ziggler didn’t have to be a loser, he could be great, but he didn’t have the right people backing him up. Maybe he could get everything he wanted out of life if he got the right advice. 

Ziggler said he wouldn’t side with HHH and Stephanie if they were the last two people on Earth. Ziggler called Stephanie “egomanical, tyranical.” Stephanie slapped him and offered him any match at WrestleMania if he could win his match tonight. Stephanie said Ziggler wouldn’t win the match and she would break his spirit tonight. Stephanie said Ziggler would face HHH, who looked a little surprised at that announcement, but not hesistant to wrestle. On the bright side, I didn’t think I would watch anything this week more interminable and less entertaining that yesterday’s Selection Sunday show, but this segment proved me wrong. In less than 24 hours, to boot. I really miss the days when wrestling was fun. 

Sami Zayn defeated The Miz (7:13)

Kevin Owens was on commentary. Sami Zayn did a Somersault tope on the Miz. Owens got up and started jawing with him. Miz jumped Owens from behind. Michael Cole explained that was because Owens walked out on the Miz during a tag team match on SmackDown. Owens distracted Miz, oddly enough, which led to Zayn pinning Miz with the Helluva Kick. 

Renee Young did a promo with the League of Nations. Del Rio said they sent a message to the New Day. Rusev said no one was laughing now. Sheamus challenged New Day to a match at WrestleMania. 

They announced Connor’s Cure would partner with the Jimmy V Foundation t fight cancer. Daniel Bryan, Brie Bella and that dasterdly heel Stephanie were all shown. 

Naomi and Tamina defeated Brie Bella and Alicia Fox (2:39)

Our third distraction finish in four matches. Bella hit the Bella Buster on Naomi, but Tamina made the save.  Lana (who came out just before the opening bell) distracted the referee while Naomi ran in and did a double team stuffed Michinoku Driver on Bella, and Tamina got the pin. Alicia Fox took a double superkick from Naomi and Tamina afterwards. 

Social Outcasts did a product placement skit for Burger King.

Paige did an interview with Jojo when Lana walked in. Lana said Paige was a fool if she thought she was a successful diva. Lana said Paige was hanging around a lot of weak American friends. Paige said if Lana wanted to know what a real Diva does, she would show her. Naomi and Tamina backed up Lana and told Paige to watch her words more carefully. So it appears Lana, Naomi and Tamina have formed a group. 

Charlotte and Ric Flair did a promo with Young. Charlotte said she knew Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch before they made the main roster. Charlotte said before Banks’ first match, she was holding her hair because she was throwing up in nervousness. Now, she walks around like she owns the place, but Charlotte still sees a scared little girl. Charlotte said Lynch was always the third wheel. Flair said Charlotte called him after two weeks at NXT and told him there were two girls here who are going to be great, and Charlotte said she had to be better. Charlotte said she was better, and she had the Divas Championship to prove it. Charlotte, Lynch and Banks will have a sit-down conversation at SmackDown, and Charlotte said they would learn on Thursday they couldn’t run from their past. 

The Usos defeated Bo Dallas and Adam Rose (1:54)

The Dudley Boyz were at ringside. Jey Uso pinned Bo Dallas after a splash. They continue the Usos-Dudleys program.

Ambrose was in the back when Mick Foley showed up. This was the highlight of the show. Foley wanted to know why Ambrose wanted to fight Lesnar at WrestleMania. Ambrose asked Foley if he was scared when he was on top of the Hell in a Cell (right there, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) in 1998 against the Undertaker? Foley said he was. Ambrose asked him why did he keep going? Foley said because he was Mick Foley, and that’s what he does. Ambrose said he’s Dean Ambrose, and this is what he does. Foley then took the crowbar out of Ambrose’s hands and gave him a gift box, which was to symbolize a passing of the torch. Ambrose pulled out a barbed-wire baseball bat. Foley is one of the greatest talkers and actors of all time. With Foley, Steve Austin, Rock Shawn Michaels and HHH in 1998, it’s easy to see why Vince Russo could look successful. It’s hard to lose when you’re dealt a royal flush. 

WWE Champion HHH defeated Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match (17:28)

Good match where Ziggler got lots of near falls after a Famouser and various superkicks. HHH finally won clean as a sheet with the Pedigree because…of course he did. Largely buried Ziggler. Since it was Pittsburgh and Kurt Angle rumors were flying, the fans seemed disappointed with the finish. 

Reigns came out afterwards. It was supposed to be his be revenge spot, but he got booed loudly. They still had one hell of a brawl, though. It started at the announcer’s table, where Reigns did the spot that HHH did to him three weeks ago of repeatedly ramming HHH’s head into the table. Charles Robinson and other referees came out to stop him, but Reigns shoved him down. HHH hit Reigns with a can of soda, which fizzed everywhere. Reigns sold it for a moment,  then came right back with a right hand.

They brawled to the pyrotechnic area, where Reigns threw a huge toolbox and HHH that resulted in hardway blood. It ended up backstage, where Jamie Noble, Jack Swagger, the Usos and Mark Henry tried to break it up. Reigns hit HHH with a HDTV. HHH threw a trashcan at Reigns, who came back with a bigger trashcan. It finally ended when HHH and the Usos stepped in. Good brawl, but the fans still aren’t warming up to Reigns. 

Jacqueline was announced as the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Goldust walked around backstage when he stumbled upon someone dressed in a penguin mascot. It was R-Truth, who explained that when he grew up in the hood, the closest thing they had to a penguin as a 17-year-old pigeon with a limp. Truth heard that when penguins mate, they stay together forever. He asked Goldust to be his penguin, or his tag partner. Goldust smiled and said no. Truth said that was cold, then put the costume back on and wiggled around. 

Chris Jericho came out and did a heel interview saying the fans chose A.J. Styles over him. Jericho said Styles wasn’t as good as fans thought he was, he was a hack, arrogant, in over his head, and last week he put Styles in his place. He had to show Styles who his daddy is, which is Jericho, who is the best in the world at what he does. Neville came out. 

Neville defeated Chris Jericho by DQ (4:52)

Neville injured his left leg/ankle attempting a baseball slide through Jericho’s legs coming back from break. Jericho and Robinson very vocally audibled on how to get to the finish. Jericho put Neville in a schoolboy cradle, but Robinson stopped counting for no reason since Neville’s shoulders were still down. Robinson disqualified Jericho for pushing him. It appeared Jericho didn’t look happy with Robinson at all. Afterwards, Jericho got on the mic, ran down the crowd and Styles. This led to Styles coming out and giving Jericho a punch, followed by the springboard forearm, now called the Phenomenal Firearm, which will likely be his finisher.

Undertaker, Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon segment 

Vince McMahon came out for the main event segment. Again, not much of a reaction. Seems that’s becoming a pattern. He even had Lillian Garcia introduce him again to get the pop he was looking for. He did the same promo he did last week about what would happen if Shane McMahon wins the Hell in a Cell match against the Undertaker. He said Shane will no longer want to be seen in public after he loses to Undertaker. The nice part is Vince won’t have to lay a glove on Shane to do his dirty work, the Undertaker will. 

Undertaker came out. Vince told him not to put his hands on him ever again, referring to two weeks ago when Undertaker grabbed Vince by the throat. Undertaker took his jacket and hat off to big pops. Vince said Undertaker had a lapse of judgement, and Vince himself had a lapse of judgement for even bringing up the subject again so he apologized. Vince knew the Undertaker wouldn’t mind getting his hands dirty in leaving Shane in a pool of blood. Vince said some might call this an unholy alliance, but he calls it what’s best for business. 

Shane came out to, by far and away, the most tepid reaction since his return. Shane said his father was definitely not what’s best for business anymore. Shane said he finds himself in  match of a lifetime against the Undertaker. He’s figured out a way to beat the Undertaker. He basically said he was going to stick and move, turn his body into a 230-pound weapon, and use his heart because he’s fighting for his children, the fans’ children and the legacy of the WWE.

Undertaker said it still wouldn’t be enough. Undertaker said he has these, holding up his fists. It’s his legacy. Shane said for the last 25 years, Undertaker has carried the company on his back. That’s why he was surprised that Undertaker is dancing around like a puppet while his father controls the puppet’s strings. Undertaker said no one controls him. Shane says he sees it differently. Shane said he had the misfortune of being Vince’s son, but Undertaker was now Vince’s bitch. 

Undertaker grabbed Shane by the throat, but Shane skipped out the backdoor and threw punches that Taker really didn’t sell at all. Shane did the Shane O’Mac shuffle, but Vince threw Shane into the Undertaker, who gave him a choke slam. Vince taunted Shane as he was laid out on the canvas, but then Undertaker looked at Vince. It’s amazing how little body movement it takes by Undertaker and Vince to get a reaction. Undertaker just turned his head at Vince. Vince moved his eyes three times realizing the Undertaker was glaring at him with bad intentions, and it got more of a reaction than anything on the show. Vince rolled out of the ring as Undertaker walked towards him. Vince smiled in delight as Shane writhed in pain, but Undertaker was engaged in a staredown with Vince. 

Final Thoughts:

Behind the scenes, Vince is playing Shane against HHH and Stephanie. Vince is trying to prove he’s not out of touch, even though he’s lost 75% of his audience in the last 17 years. HHH is running NXT, which has garnered the following of hardcore fans, but Vince doesn’t think he can make any of the NXT wrestlers stars. There’s internal heat on HHH for not selling the Reigns injury, and tonight he did one of his classic HHH burial jobs on Ziggler. And I’m supposed to care about WrestleMania when all this is going on behind the scenes? You tell me, which sounds like more intriguing developments to follow? As for this show, Pittsburgh has long had the reputation of being a city of dead crowds, and tonight continued that reputation. Closing hour was interesting.