WWE RAW Coverage: When Nostalgia is More Fun Than Reality

RAW Reunion was a disaster.

Well, until Sting made an appearance that got Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan their jobs back and Brock Lesnar took out The Authority all by himself.

With Royal Rumble this weekend, cameo appearances from Ron Simmons, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman and a “Legends Panel” featuring Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan did nothing other than prove that the WWE’s best creative days are far behind it.

How long can they rely on a man close to 60 that has yet to wrestle for the company?

In need of a big jolt of momentum in order to garner excitement for one of the company’s most sought-after PPVs, this week’s RAW plodded slower than the last minutes of the Big Show’s cardio routine. Luckily, thanks to a great ending and the addition of a cool tag team match between The New Age Outlaws and the Ascension, this week’s RAW got the job done, just barely.

Matches:

Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt: Bryan was in control in the early going with strikes and hit a top rope Crossbody on Wyatt on the outside. That’s when Kane (Who has a match with Bryan which can decide whether on not Bryan is in the Royal Rumble match.) decided to make his way down the ramp to “watch” the match. Although Bryan was still solid, Wyatt began to methodically work on Bryan’s next with submission maneuvers and strikes, weakening the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Down, but not out, Bryan fought back with his trademark Corner Dropkick, Kicks and a Frankensteiner. After a Suicide Dive on Wyatt, Kane got involved and allowed Wyatt to hit the Sister Abigail for the win. After the match, Kane hit a Chokeslam to cement his “authority.”

Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose: A quickie that was entertaining in the fact that Ambrose got the surprise win, countering The Wasteland into the Dirty Deeds DDT.

Big E. Langston and Kofi Kingston w/Xavier Woods vs. Tyson Kidd and Antonio Cesaro w/Adam Rose and Natalya Neidhart: Kidd and Cesaro were in control throughout, until Kingston got the surprise win with Rollup on Cesaro after he inadvertently took out Kidd with a kick.

Natalya Neidhart and Paige vs. Summer Rae and Alicia Fox: Paige got the quick win with the PTO.

United States Champion Alexander Rusev w/Lana vs. R-Truth: Rusev won in a matter of seconds with The Accolade.

Jay Uso w/Jimmy USo vs. The Miz w/Damien Sandow: Another faceless job-out that ended after a few minutes with an Uso Splash.

John Cena vs. Kane, Seth Rollins and The Big Show w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H: While Big Show and Kane toyed with Cena, Rollins hit the Blockbuster and other signature offense to weaken Cena. However Show missed a second rope Splash that opened the door for Cena. After Cena went on a tear, but couldn’t hit the Attitude Adjustment thanks to interference from Noble and Mercury. Once Cena did hit the move, Kane pulled out Cena to the outside to break up the pinfall, allowing Show to hit the Spear on the outside. Once back in Cena was nailed with a Kane Chokeslam, but managed to kick-out. With Rollins gearing up for the Curb Stomp, Sting made another appearance which diverted the attention of Triple H and the rest of The Authority, allowing Cena to win with a Rollup. After that, Brock Lesnar hit the ring, hungry for Rollins’ blood and instead ended up F5-ing both Kane and Big Show.