1) Seth Rollins: I apologize for the delay, things were hectic with Mania weekend. Honestly, after WrestleMania, could there be any other choice? I was pleasantly surprised by how wise the booking was for the Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns match but what we got was the very best possible outcome. Seth Rollins, the most consistently great performer the WWE had on the main roster in 2014, swooped in and finally cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. He did it at the perfect time and left WrestleMania 31 with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. During the Evolution/Shield feud, he was excellent and since turning heel, he has been untouchable. The guy gave us the most interesting result of the main event and came off looking like a genius. Let's not forget that he had a damn good match with Randy Orton earlier in the show and took quite possibly the best RKO in history. Some of the results of the matches at WrestleMania left a lot to be desired and the Reigns/Lesnar match would either see the title disappear for a long time or Reigns win it when he wasn't ready. Seth Rollins is absolutely ready and to be honest, as upset as I was that Daniel Bryan didn't get the main event spot, seeing Seth leave with the belt was honestly even better. Here's to hoping Seth gets a great run with the title because he damn sure deserves it.
2) Daniel Bryan: One of the best matches at WrestleMania was the opening Intercontinental Championship match. Granted, I felt that Dean Ambrose needed this win more than anyone, but it was Daniel Bryan who captured the title. It's fitting actually since it's the only title he hasn't held and allows him to join the elusive Triple Crown group. They tried hard to make it seem like a big deal and even had legendary former IC Champions congratulate him. I feel like Bryan can be booked well with the title, hopefully on a Shinsuke Nakamura level. Regardless, it's another win in a line of successful moments for Bryan.
3) Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar: Yea, I'm cheating with this pick and I don't care. I can't separate these two. Brock Lesnar looked like an absolute monster and Roman Reigns was booked perfectly. Instead of being in a cheesy role where he was given too much to do, he took a beating from Brock Lesnar and liked it, while also busting Brock open and hitting him hard. It was well executed and helped Reigns earn my respect at least. Plus, now he doesn't get the title and can chase it, which is even better. Both men gave it their all and deserve a ton of credit for their efforts.
4) John Cena: A guy who has won 15 World Championships is back with the US Title. And you know what? It works perfectly. Instead of putting him back in the top spotlight, guys like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns get the chance. Meanwhile, Cena can make the United States Title a more prominent part of the show. He defeated Rusev in a solid match to win the belt. I liked their first bout at Fast Lane much more, but this was still alright. The more important thing is that Cena won and ended Rusev's year long undefeated streak, while capturing another United States Title. I'm very interested in where this is going and seeing just how important the belt becomes around Cena's waist.
5) Drew Galloway: The only non-WWE guy to make my list and he did so because he did one of the biggest things you can possibly do on the indies. Galloway holds both the Evolve and Dragon Gate Open the Freedom Gate Titles. That's not all though. During WrestleMania weekend itself, he retained the Evolve Title against PJ Black (the former Justin Gabriel), then beat Uhaa Nation in a non-title match, before completing his run by defeating Johnny Gargano to win the Open the Freedom Gate belt. Galloway became only the fifth man to hold the title since its inception in 2009, joining Gargano, BxB Hulk,Yamato and Ricochet. Life after WWE is suiting Galloway perfectly and the man is finding tons of success now.
The post WrestleMania Raw has become a massive annual deal. So what's a good way to open tonight? Well you bring out Brock Lesnar in his FIGHTING GEAR. In other words, we could potentially see a murder tonight. Paul Heyman has extra fire on the mic here, and the fans get in on it, chanting "Suplex City" which causes Brock to laugh. Heyman says Brock is using his rematch clause tonight. Stephanie McMahon interrupts, to Heyman's disdain. She gets "Ronda Rousey" chants. Stephanie claims that Seth Rollins flew to New York for an appearance after WrestleMania and is flying back but hasn't returned yet. She calls Seth a fighting champion and the match is on later. Great start to the show as Heyman was on fire and Brock looked ready to SMASH.
Our first match sees Daniel Bryan defending the Intercontinental Title against Dolph Ziggler. Bad News Barrett is on commentary, wisely pointing out that he does get a rematch but he wants it on his time and not tonight. Since Dolph actually holds some victories over Bryan recently, the fans were biting on the near falls here which was good. They repeat their excellent headbutt battle from WrestleMania, before Bryan is able to retain. Barrett attacks after the bell until a new look Sheamus returns. He has a mohawk, which looks cool, but tassels on his beard, which don't look cool. He then turns and Brogue Kicks Bryan and Dolph! Sheamus turns heel, drawing "you look stupid" chants. He seemed to welcome the chants and I liked this whole segment. Four of the best mid to upper midcard guys involved in the IC Title picture. I can get behind this.
We get told that Sting will not be on Raw, but on the WWE Network after. An eight man tag follows, pitting the Ascension and the Tag Team Champions against New Day and the debuting Lucha Dragons! Well, their Raw debut at least. They were like the video games when you debut on Superstars and have to work your way to Raw. This was the perfect time to debut Kalisto as the crowd responded to it well. Cesaro is great at selling for his style and the Ascension did well since they've worked them before. Despite New Day getting shit on by the fans, everyone worked hard. It was the Kalisto showcase though as he and, to a lesse extent, Sin Cara, killed it and the crowd ate it up. Kalisto wins for his team in the match of the night as it was an absolute blast. NXT! NXT! NXT!
After a cool Adrian Neville vignette airs, we are told that Seth Rollins has arrived. Our WWE Title match is now, except it isn't because Seth claims he's too jetlagged. BROCK SMASH however Seth escapes after a kick. This pisses Brock off more than ever and he turns over the announce table, WHILE THE ANNOUNCERS WERE SITTING! He takes Michael Cole into the ring and plants him with an F5 to one of the biggest pops ever. I hope Cole takes a few years off. He's the worst and this solidifies face Brock because nobody likes Cole. Brock isn't done as he goes to do it to a cameraman but Stephanie appears, telling to stop and promises him a shot. Brock is like I DONT GIVE A FUCK and he plants him with the F5 anyway. Steph suspends him indefinitely, but Brock hits another F5 anyway. One of the best segments the WWE has put out in a LONG time. Expertly done.
Byron Saxton comes out for commentary alone since our normal shitty announce team died. Team Rhodes Scholars explodes as Damien Mizdow beats Stardust. This worked as a fine cool down before Miz attacked Mizdow after he won. After a Ronda Rousey recap, Curtis Axel is out as we are on the road to AXtreme Rules. He calls the locker room jealous of him but he's cut off by Neville! Yes, the WWE dropped his first name, which is completely stupid but at least he was handled well here. Axel is a fine seller for his offense, and this was all Neville. He got in his stuff, debuted a cape and new attire and came off looking great. Good to see him on the main roster, since he's done everything he can down in NXT. Saxton meanwhile, hasn't been good on commentary alone though it is partially because he's selling Brock's attack.
All night long they have been promoting John Cena's open challenge for the US Title. He pandered to the crowd and has new merch with the US Title on it. Saxton expects Rusev to answer, which would be dumb since he already has a guaranteed rematch. Instead, we get Dean Ambrose to a monster pop. I really likes this match, although there were some sloppy moments, like Ambrose messing up a sunset flip powerbomb in the corner. But, Ambrose did kick out of an AA and even do his own STF before losing to a second AA. After the bell, Ambrose sold the frustration at losing another big match, while Cena gave him respect. This is what I want to see from the midcard titles. Have fighting champions who make them a big deal, defend them often and then give them some stories. Unfortunately, it was around here that the show started to come down.
Seth Rollins is interviewed backstage until Randy Orton interrupts. We're gonna have a six man tag main event pitting Seth, Show and Kane against Orton and two partners of his choosing. A six Diva tag came next and AJ Lee possibly steals the entire show by sporting a Bayley shirt to the ring. She teamed with Paige and Naomi against the Bella Twins and Natalya. This was perfectly fine as the girls got 13 minutes and worked through the commercial. Surprisingly, Naomi got the pin on Nikki Bella with the Rear End. It was solid, the crowd stayed involved and there were some "We Want Bayley" chants even. Next, Rusev squashed Goldust. It was just there.
Time for our main event and I just have to point out that the WWE Title looks good on Seth. Ryback and Roman Reigns turned out to be the partners of Randy Orton. The crowd decided to shit on this match. The reason for that, at least in my eyes, was that this was not a post Mania Raw caliber main event. This is something you see on a regular old edition of Raw. The fans did a wave, chanted "please retire" to Show and "same old shit" at Kane before going to chants for all of the NXT talent like Finn Balor, Hideo Itami, Sami Zayn, Enzo Amore and more. Roman Reigns got the win for his team in a relatively okay match. That was it though. The past few years, post Mania Raws have ended with Brock Lesnar returning, Ryback turning heel and killing Cena and the Shield and Daniel Bryan taking out the Authority. Here, Reigns just gets the pin and that's it. It was anti-climactic to say the least.
Overall, this was still a really good Raw. It was one of the lesser post Mania Raws but still good. The first half of the show was incredibly brilliant. The Brock stuff, IC Title match and NXT showcases were all perfectly done. After the US Title match though, pretty much everything else was only decent at best. Still, I'll take this over their throwaway Raws we get from time to time. 8/10.
The first WrestleMania in the history of my blog happened last night and it was a long affair. The two hour Kickoff Show featured an hour of talking before jumping into the action. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro defended the WWE Tag Team Titles against New Day, the Usos and Los Matadores. Early on, Jey Uso was taken out by Cesaro, which was a way to get him out of the match due to a legit shoulder injury. After that this featured non-stop action. There was pretty much no slow down at all and everyone brought their A game. I appreciated how the managers of the bout, like Xavier Woods, Natalya, Naomi and El Torito were incorporated into things. Kidd and Cesaro retain, which is for the best, though I wasn't a big fan of the fact that they had to kind of steal it. Still, a ton of fun. ***1/2
At this point, I'm thinking "even though I wasn't pumped for this show, maybe it will surprise me." Then came the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Like most battle royals, it was a big clusterfuck but a few things stood out. Unfortunately, Curtis Axel was out first. Then Bo Dallas and his stupid goatee had the next cool spot with his awesome gimmick. Things went downhill from here as Hideo Itami was tossed out by Big Show, giving me repeat feelings of the putrid Royal Rumble. It didn't end there as Show also tossed out New Day and Ryback. The final three were Show, Miz and Mizdow. Mizdow finally had the big face turn on Miz and turned his attention to Show. The crowd wanted it badly so what did they get? They got the fucking Big Show winning this shit. Why is this man still relevant and winning important things in 2015? It's embarrassing and the booking is terrible. Worst thing on the show. DUD
The official show itself opened with the Intercontinental Title Ladder Match. Bad News Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Stardust, and hell, even Luke Harper had new attire. Though Harper's was just black jeans instead of blue. Everybody got in on the high flying and the brawling. People took big bumps, especially poor Dean Ambrose whose Pay-Per-View losing streak continued. I appreciate that all seven men worked their asses off to show off on the big stage. Daniel Bryan is able to retrieve the belt and pick up the victory in under 14 minutes. The booking of the belt and champions has been dreadful but with Bryan holding the gold, maybe they may even go full Shinsuke Nakamura with it and have it be built up to where it's near World Title level. Really good match but I don't think it should have opened since there are so many straight singles matches coming up. ****
Moving on, we get Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins. I felt that even with the poor build, it had the chance to steal the show. Orton was wearing some elbow pads which looked weird. However, I really enjoyed this match. It wasn't a match of the year candidate or anything but it was damn good and entertaining. They worked some crisp counters and pretty much everything in the match looked sweet. Especially the finish as the Curb Stomp countered into the RKO was one of the absolute greatest RKOs in history. He's had some great ones against Evan Bourne and Dolph Ziggler, but I don't think this will be topped. I jumped out of my seat and was stunned at it. Orton got the pin after that in 13 and a half minutes. ***3/4
Surprisingly, it's only the third match of the card and it's time for Sting vs. Triple H. Sting's entrance was supposed to be grand but was actually incredibly odd. He had a gong and a bunch of weird drummers and they didn't even play his shit theme. Triple H's was even stranger with the Terminator gimmick and looked absurd. The match itself wasn't very good. People went nuts for the arrival of DX and the nWo during the match, but I didn't see the point. Sting went out of his way last week to say that this wasn't about WCW vs. WWE, but then you book the match around that? They overbooked it, which was smart since the match itself didn't deliver. The nostalgia was a big factor here. The finish sucked though as Triple H actually beat Sting. Whatever. 18 minutes, fun nostalgia but nothing more. **1/4
After a good old fashioned WrestleMania concert, we move to the Divas match. I have to say, I disagree with the match order so far. The girls weren't just given a really short amount of time so that was fine. They got six and a half minutes, and did alright with it. I was surprised to see AJ Lee get the hot tag, since I feel like Paige fits the hot tag role better. Regardless, the girls did good but it was just a fine match. Like, it could have been on any Raw, Smackdown or Main Event. This should have been a Fatal Four Way to be honest. Paige and AJ won with the Black Widow. I also would have preferred Paige be the one to score the win for her team since I get this sinking feeling that AJ may be on her way out of the company before the end of the year. **1/2
The United States Championship match was up next and Rusev got a grand entrance. He came out in a fucking tank. Seriously. Lana was back too, which makes things a million times better. John Cena had an over the top patriotic display. It was sickening at times. Anyway, when they actually got into the match it was good. I've seen a bunch of people give it high praise but I didn't see it. I give Cena credit for trying a few things like the springboard stunner, but it didn't look very good. This wasn't as crisp or good as their Fast Lane match. That being said, it was still solid. After a little over fourteen minutes, Cena ended Rusev's streak and won the US Title. Rusev blamed Lana for the loss after she was knocked off the apron. I guess that's the end of them. **1/2
Even with the concert, we still had to have an in-ring segment. Triple H and Stephanie came out to brag about the attendance record set tonight. HHH bragged about beating Sting and WCW again to massage WWE's ego. The Rock interrupts and tries to goad Triple H into a fight. Stephanie interjects to cut him down because she's an amazing heel. Rock won't hit her, so he goes ringside and gets Ronda Fucking Rousey. She gets in the ring with him, Stephanie tries to say they are friends but Rock and Hunter go at it. Rousey judo tosses Hunter, causing Stephanie to get in her face. She threatens an armbar but goes against it, causing HHH and Steph to leave. I have NO INTEREST in Rock/HHH next year but give me a mixed tag involving Rousey and I'm down. This went on far too long.
In our second to last contest, Bray Wyatt brings The Undertaker back from the dead. I wasn't really interested in this match because I didn't really see the point in it. However, according to an interview, it was Bray's dream match so I'm glad he got to live that out. The match itself was solid. Probably thanks to a lack of concussion, Undertaker looked much better this year than last. They did a cool spot where Bray's weird crab walk is stopped by Undertaker sitting up. It took two Tombstones but Undertaker managed to get the win. I'm not a fan of the outcome since Bray carried this entire feud by himself, literally, but at least Bray didn't look as bad as he did last year either. Still though, another good match but nothing out of this world. ***
Time for the main event, which featured Roman Reigns getting booed heavily. Brock Lesnar may have gotten the biggest pop of the night to be honest. Everyone was curious at how this would be booked. What we got was the perfect booking of this. Brock beat the fuck out of Reigns, hitting over ten suplexes. Reigns smiled though and wanted more, before busting Brock open and hitting a series of Superman punches and Spears. He only got two before Brock hit a fourth F5 on him. With both men down, Seth Rollins theme hits as Mr. Money in the Bank is out! He cashes in, making this a Triple Threat match. He Curb Stomps Brock and goes for a second but is caught for the F5. Reigns spears Brock, and Seth curb stomps him to win! I could not think of a better ending. ****1/4
For all of the shitty build up that this show got, they got the actual booking of the main event especially right. The whole show was good but I wouldn't call it a top five WrestleMania. The main event was expertly done. You had Brock look like a monster, Reigns look like a badass that hit Brock incredibly hard and Seth look like a genius. You didn't hotshot the belt on Reigns and gave it to someone far more deserving. Excellent booking. Basically, it's an enjoyable show with peaks and valleys. For all the good, you get some bad. Great main event, shit battle royal. Fun ladder match, but Sting loses. However, the positives outweight the negatives to make this a recommended show. 7.5/10.
This is a bit of a tough choice but not because there are so many options. The New Day and Los Matadores aren't walking away with the belts here. There is no chance of that. That leaves it between the current champions and the Usos. While I fully expected the Usos to win back their belts here, Jey's injured shoulder makes me change my mind. I see the champions retaining, but not holding the belts for much longer despite being entertaining.
Winners and Still Tag Team Champions: Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
Well there are about two or three intriguing things going on here. You have the Miz/Damien Mizdow rivalry, AxelMania and the potential Sheamus return. Coming off the Royal Rumble match, my pick for this was Ryback. He was relatively hot and is still pretty over, plus he was the biggest name in this thing. However, with Sheamus' return being held off, I sense he comes back here and steals it. Hideo Itami qualified to be the NXT star in this. I see Mizdow eliminating Miz before it comes down to Itami and Sheamus. After a tough fight, Sheamus prevails.
Winner: Sheamus
This match has suffered from pitiful booking. Since he was taken out by the Authority last November, I've expected Randy Orton/Seth Rollins at WrestleMania. His quest for revenge was the EASIEST thing to book heading into the show. Instead, they've wasted time with a fake heel turn for Orton and made me dislike this. I have a feeling that Seth will be cashing in the next night on Raw, but even with that, I don't think he wins. Randy Orton will get his ultimate revenge, especially since he hasn't won at the Show of Shows since 2011.
Winner: Randy Orton
It's the match that everyone thinks can steal the show. I feel that it could too, but the build has been lackluster. It's like the winner of this gets the king of the jobbers crown because the champion seems to endlessly lose. Also, what the hell is R-Truth doing in this? And where has my Stardust/Goldust feud gone? Regardless, I want to see everyone bring things to the table. Barrett and Harper hitting hard, Stardust and Ambrose bring the weirdness, Dolph and Bryan bring their incredible ability and Truth being Truth. The guy who absolutely needs to win this match is Dean Ambrose since he's been fumbled so hard after being the hottest thing in the company in the Summer. That being said, he won't win. Daniel Bryan will.
Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: Daniel Bryan
So fantasy booking would have me do this. If Roman Reigns has to win the main event, I'd have Rusev win here before going on to face Reigns for the title at SummerSlam. Instead, we all know what is going to happen. John Cena goes over because 'MURICA. Vince McMahon sure loves his anti-American gimmicks, and they all play out with America standing tall. Especially when it's John Cena. Where Rusev goes from here is unfortunate since I don't have confidence that creative will book him well.
Winner and New United States Champion: John Cena
With the news that we are going to get some musical performances on the show, I fear for the time the girls will get. I want them to get a chance to do some good work, because these are four of the most capable girls on the roster. They've been given good time since the #GiveTheDivasAChance trend, and the crowd has positively responded. I think this has potential, but with the Bellas (namely Nikki) coming out on top of every PPV since Survivor Series, it's time for them to get their comeuppance.
Winners: AJ Lee and Paige
This is the absolute definition of a lose/lose situation. If Bray Wyatt loses, everything they've built back up after his unfortunate feud with John Cena is wasted. On the flip side, if the Undertaker loses, the guy who won 21 straight times, all of a sudden can't buy a win. They did this with the Bray/Ambrose feud because neither guy could afford a loss there and they absolutely killed Ambrose. He will be sacrificed for nothing since Bray is going to lose here. He raises the Undertaker from the dead after losing to Brock, only so we can get Sting/Taker next year.
Winner: The Undertaker
Probably the easiest match to pick right here. This should be an absolute spectacle. Sting's first ever WWE match against a guy who, while he never was THE guy, bleeds WWE more than most. The outcome is not in doubt, but I'm pretty pumped for this. Every single time Sting is on WWE TV, part of me is still in shock because it's so surreal. I'm very intrigued to see if Sting can still go after his unfortunate run near the end of his TNA days.
Winner: Sting
Before Brock Lesnar's ESPN announcement, I had little to no interest in this match. That's sad for a Mania main event. I have hope. Not on the actual outcome though. If Brock was leaving, it was possible he would mail it in like WrestleMania XX. Instead, he is committed to the WWE, which should help the match. I still don't think it will be great, but it should be at least interesting. Either way, I fully expect WWE to stubbornly pull the trigger on Roman Reigns. And if Seth Rollins is going to try and cash in tonight, Reigns will beat him too.
Winner and New WWE World Heavyweight Champion: Roman Reigns
The show begins with the ring surrounded by SIx Sides of Steel. James Storm is out to cut a promo on Jeff Hardy, who he took out in a cage match a while back. He says that tonight won't be Jeff's revenge, which brings out Jeff. He brings up his classic "I'm still standing" line from his 2002 match with the Undertaker and is going to face Storm in the cage later. The Revolution attack but Jeff wipes them all out before having a ceiling for the cage being lowered with weapons like it's Lethal Lockdown. After this segment, a reacp is shown of Rockstar Spud winning the X Division Title because he has to defend it against the man he took it from, Low Ki. The BDC are also mourning the loss of Samoa Joe, but Ki tries to concentrate. They had a fun match helped by appearances from the BDC and Drew Galloway. I may have forgotten to mention it but they were back in Orlando for this, which was cool. Spud is able to roll up Ki to retain after the Galloway distraction.
MVP is not pleased and he calls out Drew Galloway for a beating. Galloway cuts a promo about "standing up" and is joined by the former Camacho and Shawn Ricker. They run to the ring with him and we get a big brawl. The promo part of this was good as Galloway has been cutting passionate promos and Kenny King got in some great stuff. I've enjoyed this feud. After the battle, MVP tells the BDC to chill and that they are going to "call him" because he's ready. I guess Samoa Joe is getting replaced. Moving on, Awesome Kong has staked her claim for the Knockouts Championship. She would face former Knockouts Champion Brooke Tessmacher, who has an entrance that should never be skipped. If she ever gets the jobber entrance I quit TNA. This was your standard Kong match as the smaller opponent does her best to come out of the gate strong, but Kong just overpowers them. Kong wins in about five minutes and then tries to put Brooke through a table. Instead, the Knockouts Champion, Taryn Terrell appears to make the save. Unfortunately for her, their brawl ends when Taryn is powerbombed through the table. TNA continues to deliver great Knockouts stuff week in and week out.
Highlights are shown of Kurt Angle winning the World Title last week. Backstage, Austin Aries says that Angle deserves a celebration tonight, but he may have one of his own and he shows off the briefcase. I really need him to successfully cash in. Before we get to the celebration, Koya attacks Jeff Hardy but gets beaten with beer bottles. To the ring, Kurt ANgle comes out to thank the fans for supporting him. I really don't want him as champion. Thankfully, EC3 is out to save this segment! He brings up his resume and how he's beaten every TNA Hall of Famer, including Angle. Out comes Bobby Roode, who puts over Angle before saying he deserves it. Eric Young interrupts, but not to win the title, to badmouth Roode. I guess their feud isn't over. He does say he holds the fate of the World TItle, which brings out Austin Aries. Angle says he'll fight anybody and leaves his own celebration. A brawl ensues and Mr. Anderson comes out. Poor EC3, and Tyrus, are the only non former World Champions. This leads to a six man tag pitting EC3, Tyrus and EY against Aries, Roode and Anderson. This wasn't great and ends with EY using the Figure Four to make Aries tap out. Not a fan of that boking decision.
Bram makes his way to the ring, saying "coward". He says that's the best way to describe Magnus before running down Mickie James and his kid. Magnus and Mickie interrupt. Magnus challenges him to a fight and they trade insults but because this is TNA, we have to have this result in another brawl. Mickie gets involved but neither guy fully takes control. Next week we get Angle/Lashley II for the title, Bram/Magnus in a Falls Count Anywhere match and Roode/Young again. The next segment is the main event, as Jeff Hardy meets James Storm in Six Sides of Steel. It was a pretty good match, with a fair amount of weapons involved, and I really liked the cowbell being brought in for story purposes. Hardy wins and gets some revenge after a big splash in around fifteen minutes.
This was a step down from the last two weeks. TNA had been on a great roll but this show was kind of just there. It wasn't bad by any means but nothing really stood out. However, the show not being bad is a step up for TNA after I stopped watching them a while back. 6/10.
In case you didn't know, the final Smackdown before WrestleMania is a bit different. The show is a mix of a few segments, WrestleMania video packages and highlights from Axxess. Renee Young and Byron Saxton host. We open with a Fatal Four Way match to build towards the Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania. One member of each team competed as Fernando, Cesaro, Jimmy Uso and Big E went at it. Despite only being given about five minutes, this was a lot of fun. They busted out some creative moves and made sure the match moved fast and never got dull. Jimmy wins after a big splash in a fun choice to open. Now we to kill time with a ton of build up videos for WrestleMania. We see Brock Lesnar announcing that he's re-signing with the WWE, a hype video for his match with Roman Reigns, build for the Intercontinental Title and Randy Orton/Seth Rollins matches before finally moving back to the arena.
AJ Lee skips out to the ring to discuss her issues with Paige following Raw. She says that both her and Paige love the Divas Title, so the Bellas wisely used that to cause friction. This brings out Paige who says that she still doesn't trust AJ. AJ calls the Bellas the Kardashians, which brings them out. The Bellas, not Kim or Kourtney. Nikki fires some shots at AJ for taking vacations this year, even claiming Brock Lesnar has worked more dates than her. Nikki was great here but Brie sucked. Paige and AJ basically claimed they are more real than the Bellas and they're proud. Nikki called them bitches and it added some fuel to the WrestleMania match. I hope they are given a good amount of time and get to have a good outing.
We move to more build for WrestleMania, namely the big Tripe H vs. Sting match. Then we get stuff for Bray Wyatt vs. the Undertaker. Our final segment for Smackdown is an eight man tag match. They try to build it as a big deal but it's pretty random. John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns and Mark Henry take on Seth Rollins, Kane, Big Show and Bray Wyatt. I hate the idea of Bray teaming with the Authority. The match got about twenty minutes and was fun. My only real issue with it besides Bray being out of pace is that he was made to look weak against Roman Reigns. I totally understand that Roman needed to look good here heading into Mania, but so did Bray. At least he didn't get pinned, but still, that was a bad move. After a flurry of finishers, Bryan is able to get the pin for his team.
It's hard to fully rate this Smackdown since so little actually happened. The Axxess stuff gives it a different feel, but it's too similar to the WrestleMania Today stuff that was on the Network earlier in the day. The actual Smackdown stuff was good. A solid main event, fun Four Way and great Divas segment make this show a thumbs up. 6.5/10
So, it's the go home Raw before WrestleMania, meaning it needs to be big. We start with a bang as Sting comes out to speak to open the show. He says that he's the last soldier from WCW but isn't doing this for them, he's doing it to take Triple H down. Sting was in form and seemed full of energy as Stephanie McMahon came out. She was looking nice and ran down Sting for a bit. She went to slap him, which she always telegraphs by turning sideways, so he blocks it. Someone has been scouting Stephanie! Triple H is out, and gets serious. Stephanie gives him the sledgehammer so Sting busts out the bat. They don't rumble, as Steph talks Hunter down and they leave. Sting wants to fight as the segment ends. This was fine as having Sting around is cool, it just needed more of just him before it was cut off. He seemed pumped to be out there alone. Moving on, Nikki Bella announced on the Pre-Show that she will give either AJ Lee or Paige a Divas Title shot tonight, but the catch is that they must choose which one of them gets the shot. Also, the fans get to choose Randy Orton's opponent tonight. Will it be Kane, Big Show or Seth Rollins along with J&J Security? Our opening contest is a tag team bout consisting of some of the IC Title ladder match contenders. Dean Ambrose and R-Truth bested Luke Harper and Stardust. These have to be two of the oddest teams in history. Truth gets the win for his team and dances with Ambrose. Bad News Barrett was on commentary throughout. Decent stuff.
Our next bout was a ten man tag featuring participants in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Miz, Mizdow, the Ascension and Adam Rose lost to Ryback, Erick Rowan, the Prime Time Players and Zack Ryder. Look at Ryder getting a win on Raw, even though it was Ryback who scored the pin. What made this rather annoying was guest Bill Simmons and his back and forth with JBL on commentary. I'm fine with Simmons being on Raw, especially to promote the upcoming E:60 special that looks excellent, but the bickering was annoying. Next, the fans picked Seth Rollins and J&J Security to face Randy Orton. J&J did most of the work while Seth avoided combat. That was fine because we should keep their interaction to a minimum. Obviously, Orton wins after Mercury takes an RKO.
We see a recap of Michael Cole's interview with the patriotic John Cena before being told that we are gonna have our favorite match tonight, Rusev vs. Jack Swagger. Guess how that will end? Paige and AJ Lee decided Paige would get the title shot tonight, even though she called AJ crazy. These two girls got eleven or so minutes and killed with it. It was a candidate for match of the night. The worst thing about it was Brie's grating "COME ON NIKKI" all throughout. The finish came as AJ accidentally elbowed Paige, allowing Nikki to retain. Paige and AJ brawled after the bell. Really good match that the crowd was pumped for it, which is good. I still wish the Mania match was a Fatal Four Way but still.
Tonight's other guest star, Snoop Doog, is out as Summer, Rosa and Alicia dance with him. I'm surprised Emma didn't dance too. Or at least Sasha Banks since she's related to Snoop. Anyway, he promotes Mania until Curtis Axel interrupts. This leads to a Hulk Hogan appearance, which was a cool surprise since it wasn't advertised. Hogan gets in his catchphrases before Axel rips his AxelMania shirt. Hogan lays into him, Snoop tosses him over and out and poses with Hogan, despite having the skinniest arms I've ever seen. We get told that the Tag Team Title match on Sunday is Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. the Usos on the Pre-Show. Sigh. Yet we have to see Kid Ink and others perform. We get a rematch of the 6 Being Interspecies match from Smackdown. This time, El Torito wins for his team by pinning Natalya. This was just there.
We are told of an eight man tag for Smackdown pitting John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns and Mark Henry against Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane. Meh. Time for Rusev vs. Jack Swagger for the 11th or so time. Rusev wins easily. Swagger should leave and go to Lucha Underground as the Todo Americano character from the video game. No? Oh well. Rusev doesn't stop the attack so John Cena comes out. He saves Swagger here but not his teammates back around Survivor Series? Rusev beats up Cena and poses with the title and Russian flag. Decent Mania build here. Bray Wyatt came out for a promo, which was excellently delivered again. He did the signature Undertaker pose and it's a pretty incredible feat that he built this match all by himself.
Next, we find out that Kevin Nash is going to get inducted in the Hall of Fame this year. They then do a Burger King Chicken Fries segment with Kidd and Natalya that was funny. Our main event followed as Dolph Ziggler took on Daniel Bryan. The fans voted in the other most popular guy in the company, Dean Ambrose, as the special referee. Solid main event, though I've see these guys do better. I liked the fact that they started friendly before getting aggressive. Dolph surprisingly won clean, which made me a bit sad because Bryan should be headlining Mania, not losing in the midcard. Anyway, Ambrose attacks Ziggler after the bell, bringing out all of the Ladder match participants. They all brawl and it ends with everyone laid out. The match has been poorly built but should be fun regardless.
It's now time for what the WWE has promoted all night long. Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns coming face to face. Brock and his odd looking stubble was out with Paul Heyman first. Heyman cut another excellent promo that built the WrestleMania main event a million times better than creative, Brock or Roman has been able to do. After he talks for a ton of time, we finally see Roman Reigns appear. Brock raises the title in his face, and Roman snatches it. That gets an "ooh" from me and the fans. I was like "this is gonna be good." Then it wasn't. Because all that happens next is Brock and Roman play tug of war with the belt. That's it. Face to block. Like two toddlers wrestling over a toy. Seriously? You pay Brock a TON of money per appearance and you waste it on this? A fucking tug of war? This has been the worst built Mania main event that I can remember and this segment was one of the worst possible ways to end the go home show for Mania.
Overall, I thought the episode of Raw itself was really enjoyable. Nothing was spectacular, but it was still good. Sting was great to see, the Divas absolutely killed it,Bray's promo worked and Dolph had a damn good match with Bryan. The only real issues I had with the show was the lazy Smackdown rematch with the Tag Team Champions and the pitiful ending to the show. Words can't describe how bad that was. 7.5/10.
1) Rockstar Spud: Yes, I know that there was someone who had a bigger win than him. However, after his star making performance last week against EC3, he capitalized on it this week. A while back, he won an X Division Title shot in the Feast or Fired match and cashed it in Money in the Bank style on Impact. Everything about it was brilliantly done. From the fact that it came after his performance last week, to it being in his home country, to the shock factor it was masterfully done and an absolute feel good moment. TNA has been on a bit of a roll lately, putting out some surprisingly good wrestling and Spud is one of the main reasons why.
2) Kurt Angle: Here's the guy who had the bigger win than Rockstar Spud this week. Kurt Angle captured the TNA World Heavyweight Title from Bobby Lashley in a great first time ever match. It had a special big match feel to it and headlined another strong Impact episode. Kurt showed that he can go with the best of them, though I'm not a fan of the decision. I think that TNA needs to move away from putting the belt on Angle, like they've done so often. I'd rather see Bobby Roode, Austin Aries or Ethan Carter III with the gold. Still though, this was an impressive feat that is deserving of making my list this week.
3) Fenix: Lucha Underground is absolutely something you need to be watching. Not only did they improve the concept of the Royal Rumble with Aztec Warfare, but this week they put on the best Casket match I've ever seen. Fenix is one of my favorite guys there, behind Prince Puma and Alberto El Patron. He defeated Mil Mascaras in the "Grave Consequences" match. It was the best match on a week full of damn good ones. He bled buckets, had his mask ripped and stole the show. It was probably the best match I've ever seen in Lucha Underground, which is saying something since they've been on fire. If you haven't seen this or Lucha Underground yet, you need to do so now.
4) The Wolves: The strong episode of TNA Impact this week opened with one of my favorite things in TNA history. Ultimate X! The Wolves defended their newly won titles against the BroMans and two members of the Revolution. Not only were the fans treated to a fun and exciting opener, but the Wolves were able to retain, securing a big win. I feel that this, unlike putting the belt on Kurt Angle, is another strong move for the company. The Wolves are the kind of team they should build their tag division around. They're young, not from the WWE and, most importantly, they are damn good at what they do. Hell, they've even gone on last on Impact shows before, so I hope they get even more shine.
5) Taryn Terrell: Capping off a great week for TNA wrestlers on this list, is Taryn Terrell. The Knockouts Champion successfully retained her title against two of the greatest Knockouts ever in Awesome Kong and Gail Kim. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of her on the offensive but still. One of the things that I appreciate about TNA is that they have their titles defended very often. This gives a lot of their champions a great chance to make and top this list. TNA delivered in spades the last few weeks and deserve more recognition than they are getting due to their very shaky past. While I feel that Kong is eventually going to take the belt from Taryn, this was a wisely booked match. It kept the Kong/Kim feud going and gave Taryn a chance to retain without pinning Kong.
