With less than a week before Wrestlemania 28, last night’s episode of WWE RAW needed to be as close to perfect as possible.
By today’s standards, it was.
That mainly had to do with the last 15 minutes of the show, where John Cena and The Rock set up what can be one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history with some entertaining promo.
Speaking of which, sure, there was a lot of promo in this episode, but it was the good kind- the type that teases and entertains and doesn’t waste time.
Every angle picked up some steam and this year’s Wrestlemania looks to be an even stronger show than it was before RAW.
The first few matches were physical and pushed a good pace. The rest were all squashes, but were adequate enough and set up more promo work. Speaking of which, all the video packages were well-produced. Between the Metallica tunes and looks back at many of the Superstars’ careers, the WWE has done a solid job of making fans care about these matches.
Matches:
Randy Orton and Sheamus vs. Kane and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan w/ AJ: Strangely, Orton and Bryan looked solid together. They delivered some great, hard-hitting action. Sheamus and Kane were good as well- both are big guys in excellent shape. Kane’s basement dropkick on Sheamus and the Celtic Warrior’s diving clothesline on the Big Red Machine were proof of that. Aside from routine offense, this match featured a ton of kick outs and signature maneuvers and wasn’t predictable. After Kane took care of Orton on the outside, AJ got involved and caused Sheamus to miss the Brogue kick. Soon after, Kane chokeslammed Sheamus. As always, Bryan took advantage of the opportunity and got the win.
United States Champion Santino Marella vs. David Otunga: A whimsical encounter that saw Hornswoggle initiate Otunga’s demise. After he “accidently†hit himself with his own flagpole, Santino hit the Cobra for the win. Soon enough, The Miz was ringside and nailed Marella with Full-Nelson Facebuster finisher. Within seconds RAW GM announced that Miz would be a part of his team for his 12-man tag match at Wrestlemania.
Eve Torrez w/ Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly: Chants of Hoe-ski started the match, but the contest ultimately disrespected the fans more than Kelly’s taunts towards Eve. After a missed moonsault, Kelly hooked on a mediocre cradle for the win.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Christian: Captain Charisma’s new hair style makes him look a bit too much like he’s going to High School prom, but luckily for him, Punk took him to school. Delivering a modified GTS on the ring steps and an Anaconda Vice on the outside, Punk got himself DQed. Christian’s hair survived the beating.
Curt Hawkins vs. Brodus Clay: T-Bone suplex, splash- another win for Clay. A shame. Hawkins has some Clay doesn’t- talent.
The Big Show vs. Epico w/ Primo and Rosa Mendez: Another squash as Epico caught a monster Chokeslam from Show.
The Great Khali vs. Mark Henry w/ John Laurinaitis: Another… you guessed it, squash. Henry nailed Khali with the World’s Strongest Slam and beat the former World champion in less than a minute. After the match, Booker T was announced as the final member of Teddy Long’s team for Wrestlemania.
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