Undertaker, CM Punk, John Cena, The Rock, Triple H & Brock Lesnar: WRESTLEMANIA NEWS & RAW REPORT

By Dani Mitchell

With the exception of the angle of Punk vs. Undertaker and Triple H’s contract signing, this Raw was a bit of a snoozer. Let me explain why.

First of all the show kicked off with John Cena. With the Rock being absent again this week, I found that it was ridiculous to kick off the show with Cena. He really has nothing to do without his WrestleMania opponent. He was interrupted by The Primetime Players. They had a quick back and forth and Titus O’Neil was dressed as a different character, Rufus “Pancake” Patterson. It was an odd move. I think the crowd would have responded better if Titus came out and claimed to be Cheeseburger Eddie. Anyways, this lead to a squash match between Cena and Young.

Next up, we saw David Otunga in the Ring. Cue Ryback. Second squash match of the night. Ryback destroyed Otunga. Next, Mark Henry came out before he could come to the ring, Vickie would announce that Ryback was out of his match at WrestleMania vs. The Shield, instead he will be facing off against the World’s Strongest Man. In all honesty this is a better match up, but then this lead to the fact that Orton and Sheamus would need a new partner for ‘Mania. Later in the Night Sheamus and Orton would face 3MB. This match would be another squash and no one really cared, everyone was waiting for the Shield to come out.

After Orton and Sheamus secured their win, The Shield came out, but then did Big Show. This sent The Shield packing. Obviously Big Show will later be announced as the one to replace Ryback in the WrestleMania match.

WWE kept the Snooze fest going with Fandango. Once again he does not wrestle. The audience is getting increasingly frustrated with the same skit week after week. Pittsburgh didn’t hold back in between Boos, you heard chants of “He Can’t Wrestle” and one fan was heard very well, when Fandango says, “Tonight was the night you almost saw the debut of Fandango” the fan yells, “NO ONE CARES”. I think that about sums it up.

Sandow matched up against R-Truth. Two guys who are working to get to the top, it could have been a great match, but instead it was a cop out. Sandow left the ring and took a count out for the loss. Boo. If they could have finished strong it might have been a pretty okay match.

Finally! What everyone has been waiting for, Undertaker comes out. He gets to the ring and addresses Punk. Undertaker talks about the disrespect Punk has shown and says, “Punk, last week you sealed your own fate when you decided to make this personal….I’m going to hurt you and I’m going to hurt you bad.” Undertaker wants the Urn back, but alas, Punk is backstage and shows himself on the screen rather than coming out. He has the Urn and he doesn’t plan on returning it. He throws it around and actually drops it. This rivalry is definitely heating up. If one thing comes from the death of Paul Bearer, it’s the fact that he has made this rivalry completely legit.

Some people were disappointed that Punk didn’t wrestle; this might have had something to do with a minor injury he may have received last week. It would make sense that WWE wouldn’t want to risk him taking any chances before his huge match with Undertaker. Although, I think Pittsburgh was short changed with Punk not even coming out. I would have liked to see him at least out on the ramp or in another segment, especially considering all the filler through the night.

Team Hell No took on Primo and Epico. An okay match. Bryan and Kane obviously wrestle their butts off no matter who they face. I wish they were in a solid feud, instead of randomly throwing them in matches every week. Hopefully WWE has a plan for them. Anyways, Team Hell No secured the win when A.J. Lee came out and skipped around the ring trying to distract them, but instead Kane finishes strong for the win.

Del Rio is up next to face off against Cody Rhodes. The two of them have a really solid match, but I felt like it was overshadowed by the fact that everyone was waiting on Swagger to come out. Del Rio Secured his win over Cody Rhodes with the arm bar, and is immediately attacked by Swagger. Ultimately it is Ricardo Rodriquez that pays the price; Swagger injures him with a relentless ankle lock.
The intercontinental Championship belt was up for the taking last night. Wade Barrett, The Miz, and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match. I thought it was a great match. You really didn’t know who was going to win. All 3 were involved in most of the match. Just when it seemed like someone was about to win the title, someone else would surprise you. In the end it was Barrett who came out on top and walked away with his belt. This could set up something fun for Jericho. If they are not going to go after the Ziggler vs. Jericho angle, this is probably the next best thing. Let’s be honest, they could put Jericho in a match with anyone and it is going to be a great match.

Of course the end of Raw was going to be the contract signing for HHH vs. Brock Lesnar. Paul Heyman walked down the ramp with a security staff. He got in the ring and Heyman really pushed Triple H’s buttons. It wasn’t until he mentioned Stephanie that HHH reached his limit. He attacked security, and then went after Heyman. After punishing Heyman, he signed the contract, and then threw him out of the ring. That’s when the monster Lesnar came out but Heyman kept the beast from entering the ring. Then Paul announced what the stipulation would be that HHH had signed. The match at WrestleMania will be a No Holds Barred match with Triple H’s career on the line.

Well there you have it. A pretty slow RAW but had an explosive ending so I guess you have to take what you can get it. Until next time my wrestling kiddies.