One night after Fastlane, WWE officially kicked the road to Wrestlemania into hyper-drive with Monday Night Raw. Let’s take a look at what went down on a night filled with questions.
Randy Orton Comes Back Home… For Now
We kick things off with Randy Orton’s official return to Raw. The Viper has been out since November following an attack by the Authority and he wants his revenge on Seth Rollins, and he wants it right now. Instead, the Authority comes out to the stage, with Mr. Money in the Bank noticeably missing. Stephanie welcomes Orton back and even though he hurt the Authority at Fastlane, she wants him back and to be the face of the WWE.
Orton tells her to drop the act because no matter what she says he isn’t forgiving Rollins and he will get his revenge. Steph tries to calm him down and asks him to forgive everyone and come home to the Authority, saying they only attacked Orton because they had to. The Viper isn’t buying it though, he tells Stephanie he’d rather kick ass than kiss it, so of course Big Show gets on the mic since Orton is basically talking about him.
Show tells Orton he understands why he’s so mad, but the Giant put his anger aside and joined the Authority because doing so is a great decision. Orton tells him that rejoining the Authority would be the same as selling out. Stephanie is back on the mic and she reminds Orton that he’s done some pretty bad things to her and her family, but she’s willing to move past it to get the Authority back on the same page. She asks Orton think about it and then join the Authority in a conference backstage later on.
Later, we see the Authority in the back trying to get Seth Rollins on the same page, but he is arguing that letting the Viper back into the Authority is ridiculous and shouldn’t be done. Stephanie yells at him and says it’s best for the Authority, despite Rollins saying they still can’t trust Orton. Stephanie asks the Viper if they can solve their issues and move on, so Orton agrees and shakes Rollins hand. Stephanie announces that Orton and Rollins will team up tonight against Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan in the main event to celebrate the Authority reunion.
Even later on we see Rollins backstage and he tells J&J Security to leave so he can talk to Orton. The Viper says he won’t forget what Rollins did, but he wants to move forward and show Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns they’re lucky he wasn’t in the Royal Rumble. Rollins calls them the Face and the Future and the two shake hands.
So apparently WWE decided that the pop Orton got from the crowd last night when he returned wasn’t enough to turn him face, and instead he’s back in the Authority after taking a four month vacation? Okay.
Reigns Has a Message for the Beast
Out comes Roman Reigns to discuss his Fastlane win over Daniel Bryan and his Wrestlemania 31 match with Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Reigns says that some people didn’t think winning the Royal Rumble was enough, so he went out and beat Bryan at Fastlane and now he’s going to Wrestlemania.
Reigns is quickly cut off by Daniel Bryan’s music and out comes the Beard. Bryan says he knows why fans boo Reigns and DB admits that he was Reigns biggest doubter of all. Bryan talks about how Reigns has the look, but he doesn’t have the heart that the Beard has, which is the reasons Bryan never liked Reigns to begin with. DB says that at Fastlane he gave it all he had and still couldn’t beat Reigns. Bryan says that last night Reigns proved he had more heart than even Daniel Bryan, which come on now.
Bryan extends his hand in congratulations and tells Reigns that he wouldn’t pick anyone over Reigns as his partner.
Seriously before we move forward, Roman Reigns owes Daniel Bryan his life right now. Bryan made Reigns legit with their Fastlane feud, he put the big man over in their singles match, and then he comes out on Raw and cuts that promo? I hope Reigns is buying DB all the vegan meals his heart desires for the rest of his life after this.
Bryan makes his way to the back and out comes everyone’s favorite walrus, Paul Heyman. Heyman hits the ring and congratulates Reigns on his win and starts to talk about how Reigns has the look and the heart to be great, and now that Daniel Bryan is out of the ring people start booing LOUDLY.
Heyman calls Reigns the right guy in the right place at the wrong time and says that he can’t slay the Beast, who will retain at Wrestlemania. Reigns tells Heyman to keep motivating him and talks about his staredown with Lesnar the night after the Royal Rumble. Reigns tells Heyman that at Wrestlemania 31 he is going to destroy Lesnar, and we can all believe that!
Cooler Heads Prevail in the Main Event
Good back and forth match between both teams. All four men were able to show their strengths, and the flow of the match was really pretty fun to watch. Despite questions about Orton’s loyalty to the Authority, he worked well with Rollins throughout the match.
That is until the end of course. As things begin to break down, we have Orton in the ring just dominating Reigns and setting up for his patented hanging DDT off the ropes (VINTAGE ORTON!). Before the Viper is able to hit it, Rollins tags himself into the match, much to the dismay of Orton. He hits the DDT anyways then rolls out of the ring clearly angry at the tag. Big Show, Kane and J&J Security all try to come him down ringside, and the distraction helps Reigns connect with a monster Superman Punch.
Rollins of course sells it like a champion. Reigns then hits the corner and gets read to hit a Spear to finish Mr. Money in the Bank off, but Bryan pulls a Rollins and tags himself into the match.
Exact same situation as the Authority, but with a totally different outcome. Reigns just laughs at the tag and lets Bryan do his thing, which of course is hitting Rollins with an awesome running knee for the 1-2-3.
Rollins again sells it about as well as anyone possibly can. As Orton stews angrily ringside, Reigns and Bryan put an end to their feud with a handshake and YES! chants all around.
That smile and nod from Reigns is basically as much as we’re going to ever see in terms of an on-screen acknowledgement of Bryan saving the kids career. Seriously, without DB being all in, this could have gotten way, way worse. The good guys eventually head to the back and now it’s time to find out if Orton is going to be able to keep his cool or if the Viper is finally going to snap.
Orton rolls into the ring as Rollins tries to make his way to his feet and it sure looks like Randy is strongly considering punting the brief-case holder right in the side of the head. He starts to walk towards Rollins but J&J Security runs in and Jamie Noble eats an RKO from Orton for his troubles. The Viper then walks over to Rollins in the corner, picks him up and gives him a pat on the shoulder before leaving the ring as a shocked Rollins looks on.
So I guess we’re going to have to wait a few weeks for Rollins to get what he deserves from Orton? I have to admit, having the Viper back in the Authority is kind of boring (although the Face & the Future nickname is money) but it’s a good idea by WWE to drag this out a bit, the pay-off when Orton finally snaps will be that much better.
Other Results:
Cena Challenges Rusev.. Again: John Cena comes out and says that Rusev beat him in what was a true war. Cena says that he never gave up and that’s why Rusev gave him a low blow, and he calls Rusev a coward for it. Out come Rusev and Lana of course to tell Cena that they told him so. Lana says Cena failed and he let down his country because he can’t compete with the super athlete. Rusev grabs the mic and says his time is now and no one can beat him.
Rusev calls Cena an embarrassment to America and the Marine isn’t having that! Cena tells Rusev to watch his mouth and calls Rusev garbage. Cena says he will beat Rusev and bring the US title home, so he challenges Rusev to a Wrestlemania match, but Rusev declines and says that Cena doesn’t deserve it.
The IC Title Picture Gets Murky: Dolph Ziggler and Bad News Barrett put on a great match that saw that two pull out some pretty interesting moves, especially Barrett who tried to powerbomb Ziggler, a move you don’t see often from the big man.
For some reason, R-Truth is on commentary for this match that eventually sees Ziggler hit the Zig Zag for the upset win in the non-title match. After the win, Dean Ambrose comes out with Barrett’s title and makes fun of BNB. Eventually, Ambrose and Ziggler have a bit of a staredown and Ambrose leaves the ring while bumping Ziggler on his way out.
Ziggler vs. Barrett vs. Ambrose for the IC title? Yes please.
PTP Back in Full Effect : Guess who’s back playa!
The Prime Time Players are back and they pull off an upset win over the Ascension via roll-up. The Ascension would get their revenge, hitting Young with Fall of Man after the bell. Seriously though, the Ascension have fallen off the radar faster than Adam Rose did. Yikes.
The Brass Ring Club Retains.. Technically: Another great match between the Usos and the Brass Ring Club (that’s their name, even if WWE refuses to use it on-air) in a title rematch from Fastlane. The match featured some cool spots, including this awesome Cesaro Swing into a Kidd drop-kick.
The finish saw Naomi and Natalya get involved and call for the ref to ring the bell.
Bray Wyatt is Still Crazy: Wyatt cuts a promo in front of a coffin and talks about how the Undertaker is 21-1 at ‘Mania and his loss to Brock Lesnar might have made him afraid of the end. Wyatt says there’s no reason to hide because it’s better down here, and tells the Undertaker to find him. Seriously, Taker and Wyatt in a casket match at ‘Mania is going to be all kinds of creepy and amazing.
Mizdow’s Star is Rising: The Miz backstage rips on Mizdow for being late and announces that he’s entering the Andre the Giant Battle Royal at ‘Mania. Mizdow tells the Miz that he wants to thank him for firing him because now that he’s no longer a stunt double he’s getting a ton of offers, which of course annoys the Miz who just makes Mizdow roll lint off his jacket instead. Let’s get this Mizdow turn over with already we can’t wait anymore!
Stardust is Losing It: Stardust loses a match to Jack Swagger thanks to a distraction from Goldust. Stardust is not happy with this.
Give Cody Rhodes credit, he’s all-in and really making Stardust interesting.
Ryback Ends Axelmania: Curtis Axel comes out and talks about never losing at the Royal Rumble and wanting his Wrestlemania moment, so he enters himself into the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. Ryback comes out and says he’s winning the battle royal before completely squashing his former teammate.
The Bellas defeat Paige and Emma: Okay I’m not a fan of Divas matches, but this was a little ridiculous. The entire match lasted about 3 seconds and was pretty embarrassing. I mean it was so bad that #GiveDivasAChance was one of the top trends on Twitter.
