This week on RAW, the WWE Universe called for Sting and Randy Orton.
They got neither.
What they got instead was appearances from Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair and the possible reformation of the Prime Time Players.
Solid in-ring work aside, the go-home before Fast Lane was anything but a turbo-charged experience. More filler and final prep before the event, this week’s RAW dragged and plodded its way to its conclusion doing nothing in the way of building excitement for an event that not many care about in the first place.
Matches:
Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose: An awesome back and forth filled with high impact offense and signature maneuvers. After getting nailed with a vicious Super Kick, Ambrose kicked out of Harper’s Sideslip and nearly won with a Rollup. After his flipping Clothesline, Ambrose got the win with the Dirty Deeds.
Goldust and Stardust vs. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston w/ Big E. Langston: More miscommunication between the Rhodes boys led to the Kingston win. After the match, Stardust hit the Cross Roads on Goldust.
Roman Reigns vs. Kane: Another back and forth battle that saw Reigns hit several maneuvers, from signature strikes and a Samoan Drop-when he wasn’t obsessed with hat Daniel Bryan was doing on the outside. Once the action was sent to the outside though, Reigns hit the Spear and got back in the ring by the ten-count to get the cheap count-out win.
Paige vs. Summer Rae: Paige, garbed in a silly outfit from a member of the exotic express after the Bellas stole her ring gear, made quick work of Rae with the PTO for the submission win.
Seth Rollins w/Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury vs. Dolph Ziggler: Rollins got the quick advantage thanks to J & J Security, but the referee promptly threw them out of the match. With no more distraction, Ziggler rallied, hitting his Jumping DDT for a near-fall. Rollins wasn’t down for long though, getting a near-fall of his own with a sweet Enzigieri. After Rollins missed the Curb Stomp, Ziggler hit the Super Kick and followed that up with the Zig-Zag before Noble and Mercury hit the ring to get the match thrown out. Soon enough Erick Rowan and Ryback evened out the numbers game and took out Noble, Mercury and Rollins.
Darren Young and Nameless Wrestler vs. Viktor and Konnor: The match never happened as Titus O’Neil came in and made the save. Does this mean the Prime Time Players are back together?
Damien Sandow w/The Miz vs. Wade Barrett: Sandow was in control, but thanks to more antics from The Miz, Barrett won with the Bullhammer. After the match, Ambrose hit the ring and cable-tied Barrett’s hands around the turnbuckle and forced Bad News to sign the contract for a match for the Intercontinental title at Fast Lane.
WWE Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso and Naomi w/Jey Uso vs. Tyson Kidd and Natalya Neidhart w/Antonio Cesaro: Ironically Naomi and Natty did the majority of the heavy lifting before Neidhart was pinned following a slew of pinning combinations. After the match, Kidd berated his wife.
Daniel Bryan vs. The Big Show:  Much like Reigns’ match, Bryan seemed more focused on what his Fastlane competitor was doing than his opponent. But unlike Reigns, Bryan was able to let Show take out Reigns accidentally on the outside. After Show got out of the Yes Lock, Bryan hit his signature kicks, he went for the top rope Front Dropkick, but Reigns got the match thrown out after he hit Show with the Superman Punch. After the bell, Bryan took Reigns out with the Front Dropkick from the top, but Reigns then came back in the ring and threw Bryan out. Before long, the two were at each other’s throats in a mini-preview of the Fast Lane Main Event, fighting their way through the crowd.
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