WWE have done old school Raw before where they change the set, and for some reason that's what I expected from last night's show. Instead it was a Raw "Reunion" and everything looked the same. And everything felt the same. The biggest problem I had with the show last night is that it didn't feel at all special. It didn't feel like a big reunion show. And it didn't feel like the go home show before the Royal Rumble. This could have been any episode of Raw.
The opening segment followed the usual formula. These segments just keep getting longer and more tedious. And as usual, the longer this went, the worse it became. It started out pretty well with a pissed Lesnar and a concerned Heyman. It was a good way to show the heat between Lesnar and Rollins before the Rumble. Triple H coming out to face them even worked with the potential for violence between himself and Lesnar. But when Stephanie's music hit, I groaned. It just got worse from there. Every time someone new came out I rolled my eyes. It turned into yet another segment where everyone showed up and yet nothing happened. All that came from this was setting up the main event, which could have been done in two minutes.
As usual when watching these shows in full, John Cena's stuff came off badly. I am always surprised anew when I watch a full show, at how old and tired his routine has become. He talked about having fire, but I honestly didn't see any. Everything he said and did came off as very flat. It's a bit ridiculous that he's still in this spot.
Bray Wyatt vs Bryan was a good match, and Bryan seemed pretty comfortable out there which is a relief. These two have good chemistry and Bray didn't talk so I could enjoy his performance for once. I have to say though, I hate Bryan's look more every time I see him. Freaking Mizdow looks more main event than he does.
I was surprised this wasn't Bryan vs Kane though. Was that match not originally set for Raw? I feel like it should have been. If Bryan's Rumble spot was going to be in question, they should have dealt with it on this show and made a story out of it. @Everlong's prediction of Bryan winning but then being given the #1 spot would work well. Maybe they'll still do this, but they should have done it on Raw where more people would see. And where it would give Bryan a bit of momentum going into the Rumble.
The lack of stories for this Rumble match kinda bugs me too. There are a couple of minor feuds that will be furthered in there, but there's been very little build up for the Rumble match itself. All the focus has been on the title match. Which won't even be the main event (I imagine).
The backstage skit with the Kliq was tolerable. It rarely gets any better than that with WWE humour, so I guess that's a point in their favour.
The legend's panel was a bit overlong and I almost wish they had announced it ahead of time, given I always find it a bit phony on these shows when all these old timers are scheduled to show up and yet don't have anything to do. But this wasn't bad. I like it when they expect us to remember the show's history and they did build up the prestige of the match. It also established Ambrose, Bryan and Wyatt as contenders (surprised nobody said Reigns). Big Show even had a decent promo afterwards; talking about destroying Hogan and Flair early in his WCW career was a nice touch.
Then finally, FINALLY, they did something smart with Reigns. He came out to defend the legends, knocked Big Show over the top rope like a bad ass, and didn't say a single word. You needed to start doing this stuff months ago, WWE. But I'm glad you might finally be getting the picture.
Barrett and Ambrose was a fairly good match. I only just realised that Ambrose's Anarchy shirt shows the A inside a D. That's cool and I'm an idiot for not noticing before. This felt like it was meant to hype the Rumble match, and they should have been featuring more matches like this in recent weeks. Both guys look good right now and I look forward to seeing them in the Rumble. Besides Ambrose's ludicrous selling of the knee, this was all enjoyable.
The New Day vs Kidd and Cesaro. My fucking god this was bad. It's hilarious how little fans care about the New Day. They're trying to start chants and you can see every single person in the shot behind them firmly planted to their seats. Every. Single. Person.
I was confused enough about why Kidd and Cesaro were together, but why the fuck are they hanging around with the bunny dude? If WWE have nothing for the party guy, then they should leave him off the damn show. Why are they willing to issue another 20 paychecks for people standing around doing fuck all?
The nWo came out to ... do nothing. These are the segments we get all the time at these reunion shows and they're so contrived. Advertise these guys to show up and do something. Otherwise they'll just come out and have a chat and someone will inevitably interrupt them. It ends up very formulaic and dull. Anyway, the interrupting party this time was the Ascension. And these guys are dead on arrival. Their new gimmick stinks, but not as badly as that promo. That was slow and awkward and they looked out of their depth.
Simmons managed to get one of the biggest pops of the night, because he was a surprise and he came out to do something rather than just showing up for a bit of a chat. He's not more popular than anyone else in that ring. He just had a better introduction. Which is why they should quit being so lazy when it comes to booking their returning legends. New Age Outlaws vs the Ascension sounds like a massive waste of time. Ascension will win, but they're not going to "go over" exactly. Nothing is getting those two over at this point. Not for the foreseeable future.
The comedy segment where the Authority announced Cena's opponents was kinda funny, but it was a really weird time to do comedy. I guess they realised the fans wouldn't take the match all that seriously anyway. Cena was never going to lose. On another note, they need to cool it with the damn handicap matches. It's getting beyond old. Just last week, Triple H referred to booking Cena in a handicap match "unoriginal" and yet here he is doing it one week later. Boourns.
The women's match was pretty forgettable other than the moment when the commentators all seemed to think that Paige was going for the Sharpshooter (Natalya's finisher) forgetting that she has her own submission finisher.
R-Truth is still getting paid! That's news to me. Obviously his rapping act isn't close to over anymore. Which is why I find it funny that it was still far more over than the New Day's shtick. All this segment managed to do was spoil Rusev's elimination on Sunday (Americans will all gang up on him). Thanks for the Spoiler Alert, R-Truth. This was a pointless waste of time. But at least it was a clean victory for Rusev. They've had too many crappy finishes to protect his undefeated streak recently.
The Usos match was as forgettable as usual. Miz and Mizdow has worn on me completely by now too. It was funny at first, but I just find Mizdow silly now. If it was booked with just a little more subtlety and finesse, they could be a great comedy team, but it's just too over the top for me.
Cena's match was okay, but it struck me again how ridiculous it is to see Cena going up against the odds in the main event of a 2015 show. It just seems like such a dated angle. In fact, the only guy in the match who feels fresh and worthy of a main event in 2015 was Rollins. Show and Kane are being overused at the moment. The action was pretty good though when Rollins was in the ring and Sting's interference was a good use of his character. Though I hope in future he's a bit more active in his interruptions and less passive. It seems like most of the legends last night just had the task of showing up and weren't required to actually physically do anything.
I imagine that Ziggler & Co will now be in the Rumble match. Which is cool. Although I wish they could have had a hand in saving their own jobs rather than having Sting and Cena doing it for them.
Triple H and Sting is going nicely as a feud, Lesnar beating down everyone at the end of the show was a good way to build to the title match at the Rumble, and Reigns and Ambrose actually look cool again heading into the Rumble match. So this show wasn't all bad, by any means. Just a little lackluster. It's sad that the go home show for the Royal Rumble felt so pedestrian.
