Last night, WWE took a break from the Road to Wrestlemania and used Raw as a set-up for this weekend’s RoadBlock special on the WWE Network. While the majority of the night revolved around this Saturday’s title match between Triple H and Dean Ambrose, it was a surprise return that stole the show. Let’s take a look at what went down.
Sami Zayn FINALLY Gets A Proper Call-Up
Look, the Triple H-Dean Ambrose feud is a lot of fun, and it’s great we’re getting that match Saturday regardless of the fact that we know Ambrose won’t win. But last night belonged to one man, Sami Zayn.
We started things off with an absolutely amazing match between Kevin Owens and Neville that really showcased just how great both men are in the ring. Seriously, look at some of the in-ring stuff these guys pulled out in this match.
Even when a move was a misfire it looked great.
Neville specifically showcased the fact that he should be getting a push of his own. His in-ring skill is almost unmatched in the company.
Our finish here sees Neville hit an awesome move off the second rope for a near-fall.
He goes for a Red Arrow but KO rolls Neville up with the tights for the 1-2-3 and the win.
Afterwards, Owens just starts to beat down Neville. KO takes Neville to the outside to set up for a Pop-Up Powerbomb on the apron but…. THAT’S SAMI ZAYN’S MUSIC!
Owens reaction sums things up perfectly and their blood rivalry from NXT and Ring of Honor is FINALLY making its way to the WWE main stage!
Zayn runs down and THE BRAWL IS ON PEOPLE!
Owens and Zayn battle in the ring a bit and Owens tries to escape before Neville catches him with a kick to the head. Zayn clotheslines Owens out of the ring and celebrates before shaking hands with Neville.
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental title at ‘Mania would 10000% steal the show. Sadly, looks like Zayn will just be a part of a multi-man match for the strap. Not so sadly, SAMI ZAYN AND KEVIN OWENS ARE FEUDING ON WWE TELEVISION PEOPLE.
It’s time to start marking out.
Ambrose Makes a Statement
Dean Ambrose comes out and talks about his match with Triple H on Saturday. He promises to screw up all of the Wrestlemania plans by winning the title and hijacking the biggest show of the year.
He says Triple H will have to respect him after he wins the title and becomes face of the company. He does a lot of crazy rambling before Triple H comes out and says Ambrose’s fantasy is cute but the title stays with Trips as long as Trips wants.
Ambrose tells Trips to suck it and the crowd eats it up. They go back and forth before Trips announces that Ambrose will be taking on Bray Wyatt in tonight’s main event.
Wyatt and Ambrose put on the same match we’ve seen them have more than a handful of times and it was awesome as usual. Brutally physical match that shows the best sides of both men and our finish is exactly what you’d expect, the Wyatt Family interrupting and beating Ambrose down.
After they decimate the Lunatic, Triple H makes his way out to pick up the pieces. Before he leaves though, he has a staredown with the leader of the Wyatt Family.
The crowd absolutely eats this up and Wyatt sends a simple message to the Champ.
Seriously, this is the second time they’ve teased Wyatt-Trips (counting the Royal Rumble) and YES PLEASE.
Trips slowly takes off his jacket, heads outside to set up the announce table for his destruction of Ambrose. He finally gets in the ring and IS IMMEDIATELY HIT WITH DIRTY DEEDS!
Ambrose lays out the Champ and celebrates with the title as we go off the air and head towards Roadblock this weekend.
There’s no way Ambrose walks out Champion, but we can dream can’t we?
Other Results –
Vince Disowns Shane, Shane Owns Vince’s Security Team – We kicked off our show with Shane O’ Mac in the middle of the ring talking about his father dropping him as a son during last week’s show. He touches on how disappointed he is in the Undertaker and promises to win at ‘Mania to rid us all of the Authority. He even goes as far as to promise that when he takes over, the guys with talent will finally get a real chance. (Holding my breath on that one)
Vince comes out and basically tears Shane to shreds. He says that when Shane is stretchered out of ‘Mania he’ll have to console his grandchildren as the only father figure they can depend on before promising that his greatest creation (Taker) will put his greatest failure to rest.
Vince calls for security but Shane fights them all off and leaves on his own. SHANE O’MAC IS BACK.
HEEL JERICHO IS BACK BAYBAY! – The New Day comes out to take on the newly-formed Y2AJ in a match for the tag team titles and as you’d expect, this thing was freaking awesome. AJ Styles is super over with the WWE Universe and it’s no surprise when he’s doing things like this.
And this.
All the competitors really get a chance to shine in this thing, and our finish sees Big E show off how freaking strong he is by catching Y2J in the middle of a Code Breaker atempt and turning it into a Big Ending for the win.
New Day retains and afterwards AJ tries to console Jericho who remembers he’s way more interesting as a bad guy and HITS AJ WITH THE CODEBREAKER!
Y2J hits two more and then grabs the Y2AJ shirt that I hope nobody actually bought and stuffs it into Styles mouth.
Heel Jericho is the best Jericho.
The League of Nations Abolishes Dolph Ziggler – Backstage we see Stephanie McMahon talking to Dolph Ziggler about the Show-Off taking down an anti-Authority tweet he had. He them reminds Steph about Survivor Series where he was responsible for removing the Authority and she acts like she doesn’t remember that happening which might as well be true because Ziggler never actually got a push after that.
She does however book Ziggler in an elimination tag match with the League of Nations, and he won’t have any partners for it. Ziggler eliminates Wade Barrett before taking a kick to the head from Rusev and a Brogue Kick from Sheamus. Yay.
Charlotte Asserts Her Dominance – Becky Lynch and Sasha win a quick match with Tamina and Naomi thanks to a Banks Statement. Afterwards Charlotte, who was watching ringside with her dad, attacks Sasha and takes her out. Becky tries to make the save but the Divas Champ takes her out too. Still can’t believe we aren’t getting a straight Sasha vs. Charlotte match at ‘Mania but whatever.
Lana Wrestling Is.. Not Fun – We get a match between Brie Bella and Summer Rae who is back from the dead, but the real story here is Lana distracting Brie who loses to Summer. Afterwards, Lana gets in the ring and actually does a real wrestling move.
Yeah so we’re headed towards Lana making her in-ring debut at Wrestlemania. Soak it in people.
Kalisto Needs Some Direction – Kalisto picks up a nice win in a short match with Tyler Breeze that was more entertaining than expected. He’s headed towards a feud with Ryback which is meh. Seriously, we need Kalisto and Tyler Breeze to get real storylines, they’re too talented to waste away. ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE OF THEM IS YOUR U.S. CHAMPION.
Mean Ryback is Still Boring – Ryback comes out and destroys Curtis Axel and yeah this just happened and was not interesting at all.