WWE Raw Reunion Results - Spoilers ahead

Tonight's WWE RAW Reunion show opens up with a Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute video. We see fans clapping in the arena before getting the RAW opening video.

- We're live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas with Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T on commentary. Cole hypes the Legends appearing tonight.

- We go right to the ring and out comes WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman to a big pop.

Heyman starts introducing himself but Lesnar takes the mic. Lesnar says he's here to fight and tells Seth Rollins to get his ass out here. Lesnar says when he shows up, it's business time baby. He says Rollins has about 10 seconds to get his "weasley" ass out here. Fans count down to 10 and Rollins doesn't show. Lesnar says that's what he thought. Triple H's music hits and out he comes by himself. We get a look back at last week's contract signing as they head to the ring.

Triple H understands the Curb Stop embarrassed Lesnar last week but said Lesnar would have done the same if he had the opportunity. He brings up Lesnar hitting the suplex first. Triple H suggests they all calm down, go backstage and get a big steak for Lesnar, then he and Heyman can discuss this like businessmen. Lesnar asks Triple H if he's here to fix this or fight. The crowd pops and Heyman tries to talk Lesnar down, saying Triple H pays the bills. Stephanie McMahon's music hits and out she comes with Kane and Big Show. Stephanie says cooler heads need to prevail. She says this isn't what Brock wants to be doing, not right now. They enter the ring and face off with Lesnar and Heyman. Lesnar backs up against the ropes closest to the ramp. Stephanie says she's not trying to make Brock defensive. Rollins appears on the big screen and fans boo.

Rollins says Lesnar is always two steps behind him. Rollins tells Lesnar to relax because he will get his shot, right before Rollins takes the title at the Royal Rumble. Heyman interrupts and says adults are talking. He tells The Authority to get their puppy on the leash before Lesnar fixes it on his own and leaves bodies laying around. Heyman has a spoiler for Sunday and it's Lesnar still being the reigning and defending... John Cena's music interrupts and out he comes to a big pop.

Cena talks from the ramp and says they're all going to settle this on Sunday. He came out to talk to The Authority, he says. He brings up The Authority asking him to join a while back and then coming up with a plan to destroy him. Cena tells The Authority to keep it up because everything they say and do lights a fire under him like never before. Cena's taking that fire to the Rumble to eliminate Rollins and Lesnar, then declare that the champ is here. He says he would do anything to get Erick Rowan, Ryback and Dolph Ziggler back. He says The Authority has no fire anymore, just ashes. Cena calls them the world's biggest ash-holes and goes to walk off. Stephanie has his music cut and tells him to come back. Stephanie says this is the turning point in Cena's career because he used to be the guy who always won but that's not who he is today. She says John Cena is the man who lied to every fan by bringing The Authority back. Stephanie says Cena can make all the corny jokes he wants but they are here because of him. She says he's responsible for the three Superstars getting fired and losing their livelihoods. Stephanie says nobody wants to cheer Cena or see him win at the Rumble because he's not the man he used to be. Rollins calls Cena a loser from the big screen. Rollins rips on Cena some more and says Cena will fail again this Sunday. Rollins says everyone knows Cena is a failure except Cena. Rollins says if there's one thing he and Lesnar can agree on, it's the fact that Cena's time is up. Rollins says Cena should take himself out of the match at the Rumble and walk away. Cena pokes fun at Rollins for stumbling over his words. Cena threatens to come to the back and beat Rollins up. Cena talks about respect and says when he beats Rollins and Lesnar on Sunday, people don't have to like him but they damn sure will respect him. Cena proposes that if he wins at the Rumble, The Authority must give Ryback, Ziggler and Rowan their jobs back. Triple H says they gave Cena a chance to get their jobs back last week and he failed. Triple H says Cena needs to put something on the line in return. Triple H proposes that if Cena wins his match tonight, the Superstars get their jobs back. If Cena loses, he is out of the title match on Sunday. Cena doesn't look so sure about that offer. Stephanie asks if he's really willing to do anything or is he all talk. Cena goes to speak but Triple H cuts him off. He's leaving the decision up to the fans on the WWE App. He says we're going to find out what the WWE Universe truly thinks of Cena. Triple H's music hits and we go to the announcers.

- Cole, Booker and JBL hype the WWE App, saying it's been downloaded over 15 million times. Cole shows us how to download the WWE App and voting on John Cena will be open later.

- Still to come, Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt. Back to commercial.

Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan

Back from the break and Bray Wyatt is making his way out. Daniel Bryan is out next to a big pop for his first RAW match in nearly a year.

They lock up and Wyatt takes it to the corner. Bryan ducks a shot and goes to work with kicks. Wyatt shoves him across the ring and drops him with a big right hand. Wyatt stomps and takes control. Bryan with a kick and a knee to the gut. Bryan misses a kick as Wyatt rolls to the floor. Bryan hits a dropkick through the ropes and goes to the top. Bryan leaps down and takes Wyatt down. Kane's music hits and out he comes in a suit. We go to commercial.

Back from the break and Wyatt is in control as Kane watches from a chair at ringside. Bryan turns it around with a drop toe hold. Bryan keeps on and goes to the top but Wyatt headbutts him off the top, to the floor. Wyatt sends Bryan into the barrier and the apron before bringing it in. Wyatt with a 2 count. They run the ropes and Wyatt hits the big shoulder. Wyatt uses the ropes on Bryan's neck and keeps up the attack. Wyatt with a 2 count and more headbutts. Fans chant for Bryan as he fights to his feet but Wyatt takes him back down with a headlock.

Wyatt keeps control and hits a huge clothesline. Bryan lands hard and rolls to the floor as Wyatt talks trash and fans boo. Back to commercial.

Back from the break and Wyatt cuts off another comeback attempt and drops Bryan for a 2 count. Wyatt whips Bryan into the corner but it's blocked. Bryan runs the ropes and nails Wyatt. Bryan rallies and hits the big dropkick in the corner. Bryan with kicks in the corner now. Bryan climbs up and hits the hurricanrana for a 2 count. Bryan with kicks. Wyatt ducks the roundhouse kick but Bryan ends up sending him to the floor. Bryan runs the ropes and nails a big dive to the floor. Bryan rolls Wyatt back in but Kane pulls Bryan off the apron while the referee is distracted. Bryan is thrown back in and Wyatt throws him face first into the turnbuckle. Wyatt nails Sister Abigail for the win.

Winner: Bray Wyatt

- After the match, we go to replays and come back to Kane clapping in the ring. Kane grabs Bryan and chokeslams him. Kane mounts Bryan with rights and lefts while the referee tries to get him off. Kane stands up and loosens his tie before mounting Bryan with more punches.

- Voting will be open later on the WWE App for John Cena risking his Rumble title shot for the chance to get Ziggler, Rowan and Harper their jobs back.

- Still to come, a Royal Rumble Panel with Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. Back to commercial.

- We come back and Triple H is backstage on the phone. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash walk in wearing nWo t-shirts and they hug. Nash tells Triple H to drop the suit and run around with them tonight. Shawn Michaels walks in to another pop. He comments on the Legends Panel he's about to do and like The Outsiders, HBK jokes on Triple H's suit. HBK asks if he's Vince Jr. Triple H pokes fun at HBK's Remington t-shirt. Sean "X-Pac" Waltman comes in doing crotch chops. It's actually Damien Sandow, dressed like Waltman. The real Waltman comes in and Sandow acts as his stunt double. Waltman says he's hired. The Miz appears and tells Sandow to go change, claiming him as his own stunt double. Nash asks Triple H what kind of show does he run. Triple H drops his head and says he's ashamed.

- Still to come, the Legends Panel. Back to commercial.

- Cole hypes WWE App voting that will end after the Legends panel. We see John Cena backstage with Renee Young.

- Byron Saxton is in the ring for the Royal Rumble Legends Panel. Three stools are set up and the apron is red. Out first comes Hulk Hogan to a big pop. Saxton introduces Ric Flair next and out he comes. Hogan and Flair hug as Saxton introduces Shawn Michaels and out he comes to another big pop.

Saxton asks them about the WWE App vote on John Cena and if he should put his title shot on the line for the three fired Superstars. Shawn says he should. Flair says no. Hogan says yes. Saxton asks Flair about the 1992 Royal Rumble. Flair gets a big pop for mentioning 2015 Hall of Famer Randy Savage. Flair says the 1992 Rumble was one of the greatest nights of his career. He says there's nothing like winning the Rumble. Saxton asks HBK about what winning the Rumble meant to him. HBK says there would be no Mr. WrestleMania without the Royal Rumble. Saxton says Hogan is one of the Superstars who helped elevate the Rumble to what it is today and asks him about Rumble memories. Hogan talks about how tough the competition was in the Rumble. HBK predicts Bray Wyatt will win this year's match. HBK says Wyatt may be whacked out but he's very talented and has the focus that can take him the distance. Hogan says Wyatt won't be winning. HBK says this is the second time this has happened and Hogan is always pushing him, always needling him. HBK brings up SummerSlam 2005 and says let's do it as Hogan stands up. They joke around and Hogan predicts Daniel Bryan will win this year's Rumble. Flair goes with Dean Ambrose. Big Show's music hits and out he comes clapping.

Fans chant "you sold out" at Show and he says he did what he had to do for his family. Hogan tells Show fans don't want him out here. Show tells Hogan to pipe down because it's no longer his time. Show says Hogan, Flair and HBK are all jealous of him. Show gets in Hogan's face and reminds him that he beat Hogan for the WCW World Title in his debut. Show reminds Flair how he took him out in WCW. Show says Flair hates that and it eats him up inside. Show says HBK fizzled out when he came on the scene. Show calls them three washed-up has-beens begging for a little attention from the fans. Show says he's ashamed. Show says he's going to win the Rumble because there's nobody who can throw a giant like him over the top rope. Show asks the three Legends to get out of his ring and go back to the old folks home. Show threatens them if they don't leave. Flair asks if he's done yet. Flair takes his jacket and Rolex off. Flair chops Show and punches him several times before dancing around into the ropes. Flair comes back into a knockout punch. Fans boo as HBK and Hogan check on Flair. Show says it's all the fans fault. Roman Reigns' music hits and out he comes through the crowd.

Show tells Reigns to get out of the ring before something bad happens to him. Reigns comes face to face. Show tells him to get out. Reigns unload with punches. Reign dodges the knockout punch and blocks a chokeslam. Reigns comes back and sends Show over the top rope. Show retreats up the ramp as fans cheer for Reigns and his music hits again. Booker T sits back down from checking on Flair. HBK and Hogan lead the way as officials help Flair to the back.

- Cena is backstage with Renee Young. We have WWE App results and 65% voted for Cena to wrestle the match and put his title shot on the line for the fired Superstars. Cena says he wants to fight, wants the match and tonight, we will realize that the champ is here. Back to commercial.

Dean Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett

Back from the break and WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett is in the ring for a non-title match. Dean Ambrose is out next to a pop.

Back and forth to start. Barrett takes it to the corner but Ambrose comes back with an elbow. Ambrose works Barrett over but misses a clothesline. Barrett with a big kick to the face and a running boot to the face. Barrett with a 2 count. Ambrose ends up kicking Barrett off the apron. We go to commercial.

Back from the break and Barrett is in control. Ambrose fights back but misses a splash in the corner. Barrett wails away and hits a big knee to the gut for a 2 count. Barrett with a headlock now. Ambrose makes a comeback and hits a nice bulldog. Ambrose with chops on the ropes now. Ambrose runs and his knee goes out. Barrett with a roll up for 2. Ambrose comes back off the rope and hits the big clothesline but his leg is hurting. Ambrose goes to the top but Barrett crotches him. Barrett goes for the Bullhammer but it's blocked. Barrett goes for Wasteland but Ambrose turns it into Dirty Deeds for the win.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

- Still to come, Cena vs. a mystery opponent with his Rumble title shot on the line. Back to commercial.

- We come back and see Dallas Cowboys players at ringside watching the show.

- We get a Royal Rumble video package.

Big E and Kofi Kingston vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro

We go to the ring and out comes The New Day on the mics. Xavier Woods mentions that he has an ankle injury. They hit the ring and we go to commercial.

Back from the break and Natalya is dancing with Adam Rose and the Rosebuds at ringside. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro are in the ring. Big E and Kidd go at it first with Kidd hitting a dropkick. Kofi comes in and takes control of Kidd until Rose provides distraction on the apron. Cesaro tags in and works over Kofi now. Cesaro and Kidd with a nice double team move for a 2 count. Kidd with a headlock on Kofi now.

Cesaro comes back in and hits a big shot to the kidney and a big uppercut on Kofi. Cesaro knocks Big E off the apron and does the Cesaro Swing. Kidd tags in and turns the Swing into a double team move for a 2 count as Big E breaks the pin. Cesaro comes back in with forearms on Kofi. Kofi fights back with kicks in the corner but Cesaro blocks the tag. Kidd gets knocked off the apron and Kofi rolls Cesaro up out of nowhere for the win.

Winners: Kofi Kingston and Big E

- Adam Rose taunts The New Day from the ring after the match.

- Still to come, Cena will put his title shot on the line. Also, a nWo reunion with Hall, Nash and Waltman. Back to commercial.

- Back from the break and out comes Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman to the nWo theme music. Hall does a "hey yo" and issues a survey to see who's here to see the nWo. Nash says the nWo created the Monday Night Wars and takes credit for many top stars. He says he has an ego but jokes that the nWo is responsible for everything great ever created. Waltman speaks but the music interrupts and out comes Konnor and Viktor of The Ascension.

Viktor welcomes them to the show. He says it's the Wolfpac but all The Ascension sees is three old dogs begging to be put out of their misery. Konnor says they're the two to do it. A "you suck" chant breaks out and Nash smiles. Konnor says they were born & bred to rip & shred. Viktor says no team from the past, present or future is better than The Ascension. Especially no team from WCW, he adds. Konnor says it's their time to rise and welcomes the nWo to the wastelands. A "nWo" chant breaks out. Hall flips his toothpick in Konnor's face and they all ready for a fight. JBL's stands up and takes his coat off as fans pop. JBL rips them for having the audacity to come out in front of Legends. JBL had a feeling this would happen and made a phone call. He reveals an APA t-shirt and out comes Ron Simmons to a big pop.

Fans chant for Simmons and JBL as they hug and hit the ring. The music hits again and out comes "Road Dogg" BG James and Billy Gunn, The New Age Outlaws. Road Dogg says says this looks like an old school party. He knocks The Ascension and they attack. Gunn and Dogg beat Konnor and Viktor into the corners a the other Legends look on. Konnor gets sent to the floor. JBL hits a Clothesline from Hell on Viktor. The nWo music hits as the Legends celebrate.

- We see The Authority backstage looking at the WWE App. Still to come, Cena puts his title shot on the line. Back to commercial.

- Back from the break and The Authority is backstage. Triple H says it's time to find out who John Cena will face tonight. Stephanie calls for a drum roll and a man appears with a drum. Triple H announces it will be Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane. After hassling the drummer, they fire him. Stephanie says Triple H will be at ringside to watch the match. Another guy appears with a trumpet in their face. They talk off as he plays.

- We go back to the announcers and JBL is still wearing his APA shirt. The Bella Twins are on commentary for the next match.

Paige and Natalya vs. Summer Rae and Alicia Fox

Paige and Natalya with some double teaming early on. Natalya with a dropkick and a tag to Paige for a double suplex. Summer and Alicia make one comeback but Paige and Natalya win by submission.

Winners: Paige and Natalya

- After the match, Paige and Natalya face off with The Bella Twins. The two teams will face on Sunday.

- The New Day vs. Adam Rose, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro in an elimination match is announced for the Rumble pre-show.

Rusev vs. R-Truth

WWE United States Champion Rusev is out with Lana. R-Truth comes out rapping next. Truth says every American is coming for Rusev in the Rumble on Sunday. Truth tries to get the upperhand but Rusev makes quick work of him after a big kick and The Accolade.

Winner: Rusev

- Brock Lesnar walks up on Seth Rollins with The Stooges backstage. Lesnar says he's not going to hurt Rollins... tonight. Lesnar hopes Rollins takes Cena out tonight and then, Lesnar will handle Rollins on Sunday. Lesnar walks off and Rollins is left looking scared. Back to commercial.

The Miz vs. Jey Uso

We come back and The Miz waits in the ring with Damien Sandow as WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos make their way out. We see a sidebar video from earlier of Miz talking about taking back the titles on Sunday.

The end comes when Jey blocks the Skull Crushing Finale and Miz runs into the ring post. Jey goes up top and nails the big splash for the win.

Winner: Jey Uso

- We get a video from earlier tonight with Hulk Hogan talking about John Cena's chances for tonight. Hogan says with everything against Cena, it can only can get better. He calls Cena a fighter. Hogan says Cena will win the jobs back and go on to win the title at the Rumble.

- Still to come, Cena vs. Kane, Big Show and Seth Rollins. Back to commercial.

John Cena vs. Big Show, Seth Rollins and Kane

Back from the break and it's main event time. Triple H and Stephanie watch from ringside. Show and Kane both get offense on Cena before Rollins comes in. Rollins works Cena over for a 2 count as the dueling chants for Cena continue. Rollins stomps away on Cena in the corner. Cena counters Rollins and hits a big bulldog.

They keep up the attack on Cena as Kane comes in. Show tags in next and hits a big right hand to the gut. Show with a huge back splash in the corner. Cena ducks a shot in the corner and tries to fight back. Cena scoops Show up but Show falls on top of him for a 2 count. Show steps on Cena as Stephanie looks on and we go back to commercial.

Back from the break and Rollins is still in control of Cena. Rollins hits a big running shot in the corner for a 2 count. Cena fights back again but Rollins applies a sleeper hold. Rollins with more offense and another 2 count. Rollins tags in Show and tells him to finish Cena off. Show goes to the second rope for a big splash but Cena rolls out of the way as The Authority looks on.

Rollins comes off the top but Cena counters and hits his usual moves. Cena with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He goes for the Attitude Adjustment but Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble provide distraction. More back and forth after a Rollins roll up. Cena ends up nailing the AA on Rollins for a close 2 count as Kane pulled Cena out of the ring. Show spears Cena on the floor as Kane takes apart the steel steps. Triple H taunts Cena at ringside but Cena makes it in at the 9 count. Kane readies for a chokeslam and nails it for another 2 count. Rollins comes back in and waits for Cena to get up. Sting appears on the big screen and the crowd goes nuts.

Sting comes out to the stage and provides distraction. This leads to Cena getting the win.

Winner: John Cena

- Triple H throws a fit at ringside. Erick Rowan, Dolph Ziggler and Ryback are now re-hired. Triple H yells for Sting to come back and says he doesn't belong here. Triple H is furious as fans chant for Sting. Brock Lesnar's music hits and out he comes with Heyman to a big pop. Lesnar hits the ring and takes down Rollins. He fights off Kane and Show, hitting them both with F5's. Rollins takes off running to the back as Lesnar looks on. RAW goes off with the air with Lesnar pacing around.

Lesnar's such a badass. Still can't properly F5 Big Show, but that's a minor issue.

Lesnar is a monster. Really hope he retains at the Rumble. Was worried that the stip at the rumble would be in Cena wins, rowan ziggler and ryback would get their jobs back meaning he would be nailed on to win. Thankfully that didn't happen.

His f5's to Kane and Big Show are just insane. He picked Big Show up with ease. I like his F5 on Big Show, to turn that size of a man in mid air is almost impossble, so to modify it to him literally turning him upside down and throwing him looks even better.

They did a good job of making all three guys look god going into the main event. Still think Lesnar is nailed on to win. And I was genuinely surprised when Sting showed up. Certainly sets up him vs HHH at Mania.

Aside from that, it was a better RAW than usual, but still wasnt up to par with other shows on offer.

The problem as usual was too much filler which is down to it being a 3 hour show instead of 2 hour.

Seems like the end of this episode at least might be worth a watch.

I'm still very unexcited by the appearance of Sting, let alone him working a match at WM (unless they did something interesting like using the man known for face paint to introduce Balor, but I don't see that happening).

Really enjoyed that Raw. Especially the ending. I thought Sting was nailed on the whole night, especially so when it was 3v1. Cena was winning and there had to be a good reason for why he could.

It was clever build for a lot of feuds. Pluses for HHH v Sting in the long term, The Ascension will beat the NAO and thats good for them, the title match at the Rumble could go so many ways and Lesnar's attitude all night was brilliant, the Rumble itself has got a good few mini feuds lined up and could have a few winners. Should be a really good PPV and you can see the road to Mania is properly beginning too with feuds that have pointers to the end of March.

With Sheamus and Orton to come in it should be an interesting night.

Really enjoyed that. Liked the Sting appearances but my 2 favourite parts were the JBL segment (Loved The Closeline) would also like to see the APA one final run.

Brock Lesnar was just class. The destruction at the end was just badass and just didn't care.

Prometheus wrote:Seems like the end of this episode at least might be worth a watch.

I'm still very unexcited by the appearance of Sting, let alone him working a match at WM (unless they did something interesting like using the man known for face paint to introduce Balor, but I don't see that happening).

Pauline will be spinning in her grave.

The Ascension really need a manager as I thought they were quite poor on the mic. JBL was fantastic on the mic for his little cameo.

Lesnar looked great tonight, he just wanted to beat someone up like how it should be with him. Sting was a welcomed suprise, looking forward to Sting - HHH.

Like mentioned above, the filler matches really ruin the show. How many times are the Usos and Miz-dow gonna fight. Besides the WHC title match, there are no other stories being developed.

Anyone notice how Heyman didn't get to finish his spoiler for the Rumble?

The bit with the Ascension is the kind of bit you do with a tag team thats been around a bit. I dont see the point in squashing the best tag team on the roster a few weeks after they debut. Hopefully they crush the NAO.

Ye gawds Hall and Nash look not just old, but ancient.
I love how 15M people have downloaded the app, but WWE are not sure that people know how to download an app so they give step by step instructions.
I'll miss Lesnar if he's off, he really is awesome. I'm not saying they should have over-exposed him, but they really should have got twice the number of appearances they had in his contract.
And thank the lord for Bryan coming back and giving a much needed injection of energy to Raw, he's almost got me caring about Wyatt and Kane too.

For me that was the best Lesnar has been since he returned.

Usually he's poor on the mic but he was exactly how he should be.

Decent Raw and the last 5-10 minutes was great, made a change to the usual mass brawl that ends the Raw before the Rumble.


Also, Damien Sandow. Genuinely didn't realise it was him until the real x pac came on screen. Brilliant.

I thought the Bryan - Wyatt match was decent. Liked the psychology of that bout, and Bryan losing makes him seem more vulnerable.

Whilst there was some good skits involving the Old timers, I thought the show was pretty average. It annoys me that Wade Barrett's been booked so weakly after becoming Intercontinental Champion. Surely someone like Luke Harper could have jobbed to Ambrose.

Outside of the Rumble and the world title match, the rest of the card looks pretty weak. I don't see there being a great deal of interest in the three tag bouts.

Interesting how Lesnar was pretty much booked as a babyface last night.

Lesnar is always booked as face - probably not intentionally. The only heel thing about him is Heyman.

jeez some people dont half like to moan.

having "filler matches" keeps wrestlers relevent.
complaining about the uso's and mizdow having a filler match is just daft.
one team is the tag team champs ffs, they need to be kept on tv.

people complaining about too many promo's would then bitch and moan about the fact that there was no story to the rivalries.

i wonder why half of you even bother watching it.

Ian2307 wrote:jeez some people dont half like to moan.

having "filler matches" keeps wrestlers relevent.
complaining about the uso's and mizdow having a filler match is just daft.
one team is the tag team champs ffs, they need to be kept on tv.

people complaining about too many promo's would then bitch and moan about the fact that there was no story to the rivalries.

i wonder why half of you even bother watching it.

Completely disagree

I have no issues with filler matches, in fact I would welcome them but to pit the same team together ad infinitum is pointless. Thats 5 weeks in a row that the Usos have faced wither miz or mizdow. Why would anyone want to see that a PPV now?

There are another 3 tag teams featured at the moment on RAW (Cesaro/ Kidd, Ascension and New Day). You also have the Matadors if you wanted, plus a few others. They all need air time and a win but also to be kept fresh.

Why didnt Usos face Cesaro? Have Miz intefere keeping the feud going and giving Cesaro a win? Have the same happen for New Day/ Miz with Usos getting revenge? Something different but elevates everyone.

Ascension jobbing to a retired tag team before they have even beaten one decent team? Insanity!

RAW is generally rubbish and has been for 6 months. Rollins and Lesnar are the only decent things on it at the moment.

i agree, im using the argument in general and just using that as an example.

like i say, you need filler matches to keep people relevent and you need promos to keep storylines up to date.

as for the Ascension i will disagree there.
The outlaws were recently tag team champions so they can still go, and Billy Gunn looks like he could could still compete on a regular basis.
there were 7 guys in the ring with the Ascension including the APA who are known to be pretty badass outside of the ring, so you would expect the Ascension to not come out on top in that.

they'll no doubt go over the NAO at the RR and rightly so, but i wouldnt expect them to overcome 7 on 2 odds.

And if Nash is involved then he's not putting anyone over...

I love the Usos, I think they bring great energy to the ring and are that traditional tag-team who work so well together. I also love the mizdow tag-team, well watching Sandow. But I skipped it when I watched Raw last night. For that very reason that I've seen it before, and before, and before.

WWE itself knows that tag teams can be great. This is why the NAO or the Acolytes get big pops. But its really been a long time now since any thought and effort were put into booking and developing the division. And I find that really disappointing because I don't even think its so hard to do, its just that this division is so low down Vince's priority list that every week seems to literally be using the previous week's booking.

Will try to catch this if not for the NWO alone.

Not really a fan of WWE anymore, but will try to get back into it.

I thought the whole skit with the Ascension was daft, doubt anyone could convince me otherwise, if its a set up for them to go over the New Age Outlaws at the Rumble then they'll get a wee rub off it but the thing for me is that the Ascension have been sold as these big angry badasses and when they were stood in that ring alongside everyone else they looked small and insignificant they weren't anywhere near as physically big both in muscle mass or height as they've appeared to be when given opponents in NXT of in their firat couple of weeks in RAW.

Perception is everything in Wrestling and I feel they totally killed what they've been trying to sell us for the best part of a year now.

As for Lesnar, love him, he legitimises what you're watching, he just has that aura about him, Bryan being back is a huge bonus and thought his match with Wyatt was decent, it wasn't close to their Rumble 2014 match but to come back after such a long lay off and go about 25 minutes live on TV shows that Bryan will gwt back to where he was in no time.

Only a casual viewer, only watch on YouTube if something takes my fancy but watching the segment with The Ascension -who id never watched before-they didn't seem as physically intimating as I've heard and read. Is their gimmick reliant on them being physically dominant as per the Road Warriors?

Kay Fabe wrote:I thought the whole skit with the Ascension was daft, doubt anyone could convince me otherwise, if its a set up for them to go over the New Age Outlaws at the Rumble then they'll get a wee rub off it but the thing for me is that the Ascension have been sold as these big angry badasses and when they were stood in that ring alongside everyone else they looked small and insignificant  they weren't anywhere near as physically big both in muscle mass or height as they've appeared to be when given opponents in NXT of in their firat couple of weeks in RAW.

Perception is everything in Wrestling and I feel they totally killed what they've been trying to sell us for the best part of a year now.

As for Lesnar, love him, he legitimises what you're watching, he just has that aura about him, Bryan being back is a huge bonus and thought his match with Wyatt was decent, it wasn't close to their Rumble 2014 match but to come back after such a long lay off and go about 25 minutes live on TV shows that Bryan will gwt back to where he was in no time.

you havent got to be the biggest to be the baddest though, and the problem you have is since theyve been put up against jobbers, as soon as they come up against some actual competition, they are bound to look smaller.

For the last few weeks theyve been banging on about being better than all the tag teams of the past, so it made total sense for them to go out when the NWO were there.

Personally, and anyone who knows how I feel about the Ascension being the worst talents in the WWE at this moment will understand this, I thought the segment with the legends was fantastic, these guys have (should have) no long term future in the company, so lets just extrapolate the process and get these guys jobbed out before sacking them

I thought it was a decent Raw, certainly being helped by Lesnar and Bryan being around, always makes Raw rise in quality as they are stars in a way that Raw has been missing for quite a few months. 

The ending segment was really good, I want to be, but can't be excited about Sting but glad they didn't just have Cena going over clean. Lesnar is easily the best thing in WWE right now, every time he appears it's good and gives the show a level of importance it doesn't get. They have to re-sign him. 

The Ascension segment was ridiculous, they didn't even fight back, at least let them hit a couple of moves before being outnumbered, they looked small and pathetic and they will have been really hurt momentum-wise from this segment, beating the New Age Outlaws isn't likely to bring back a lot of legitimacy. 

I actually liked the fact that Raw had less wrestling than usual, the matches they normally have are so pointless, repetitive and rarely worth watching so it was good to see more segments and promos, the only matches worth watching were the Bryan/Wyatt match and the Rollins/Cena match, good to see Ambrose pick up a win as well. I totally agree that filler matches are a real problem, it's almost like live-show booking where they have the same matches with the same endings every Raw, has to change.

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:Personally, and anyone who knows how I feel about the Ascension being the worst talents in the WWE at this moment will understand this, I thought the segment with the legends was fantastic, these guys have (should have) no long term future in the company, so lets just extrapolate the process and get these guys jobbed out before sacking them

You know you didnt think it was fantastic. You cant moan about use of new talent and roster members in any company if youre only gonna base it on who you like and dont.

Face it, the gimmick is good. I wish they'd just speak less, they dont need to talk really. Not their game

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:Personally, and anyone who knows how I feel about the Ascension being the worst talents in the WWE at this moment will understand this, I thought the segment with the legends was fantastic, these guys have (should have) no long term future in the company, so lets just extrapolate the process and get these guys jobbed out before sacking them

Bit harsh.

Urgh I would just love to see the current roster kick the cr@p out of the legend panels and reunion cack. Least Flair sold something! I was hoping for an Orton Punt on all of them. Hall looked like he drunk the bar dry and at one point was going to fall over in the ring. The Mizdow bit was the only good thing coming from the whole thing.

The ending was actually really good. Lesnar going easy on the lightest person in the ring! Hopefully we'll see Rollins get tossed about on Sunday. They are building Sting up real good. Shades of WCW 96/97 no doubt.

I think they're missing a trick not called Cesaro and Tyson Kidd 'Team Uppercat'.

Ian2307 wrote:

Kay Fabe wrote:I thought the whole skit with the Ascension was daft, doubt anyone could convince me otherwise, if its a set up for them to go over the New Age Outlaws at the Rumble then they'll get a wee rub off it but the thing for me is that the Ascension have been sold as these big angry badasses and when they were stood in that ring alongside everyone else they looked small and insignificant  they weren't anywhere near as physically big both in muscle mass or height as they've appeared to be when given opponents in NXT of in their firat couple of weeks in RAW.

Perception is everything in Wrestling and I feel they totally killed what they've been trying to sell us for the best part of a year now.

As for Lesnar, love him, he legitimises what you're watching, he just has that aura about him, Bryan being back is a huge bonus and thought his match with Wyatt was decent, it wasn't close to their Rumble 2014 match but to come back after such a long lay off and go about 25 minutes live on TV shows that Bryan will gwt back to where he was in no time.

you havent got to be the biggest to be the baddest though, and the problem you have is since theyve been put up against jobbers, as soon as they come up against some actual competition, they are bound to look smaller.

For the last few weeks theyve been banging on about being better than all the tag teams of the past, so it made total sense for them to go out when the NWO were there.

No-one said you have to be the biggest to be the best but in terms of stature this team, a team I had high hopes for and personally thought were big badasses looked like small fry compared to the guys they shared a ring with, they haven't been put against jobbers for the last year, the problem is in NXT they have been protected against guys who are near their size, in NXT they looked huge, they looked intimidating,  seeing them in RAW they don't look or feel big or intimidating, like I say, Perception is everything, before RAW I felt they could be the next big thing in Tag Team Wrestling, I was disappointed at how small fry they looked next to most of these other guys, it leads me to think that for the last year they've been trying to perfect a flawed gimmick.

Samo wrote:I think they're missing a trick not called Cesaro and Tyson Kidd 'Team Uppercat'.

I'd go for Catsaro.

Ian2307 wrote:jeez some people dont half like to moan.

having "filler matches" keeps wrestlers relevent.
complaining about the uso's and mizdow having a filler match is just daft.
one team is the tag team champs ffs, they need to be kept on tv.

people complaining about too many promo's would then bitch and moan about the fact that there was no story to the rivalries.

i wonder why half of you even bother watching it.

It shouldn't be filler matches. It should be well presented continued storylines with many different angles being focused on.

Raw was one main storyline with filler.

RAW in my opinion shouldn't be having "filler" matches, one or two jobber matches is fine but filler matches on a flagship show isn't whats required or wanted in my opinion, ive stated many times how much I hated the same rotation of recycled matches, particularly tag team and 6 man matches between 5 or all 6 of the same competitiors on a regular basis, it shows a lack of interest or ideas in these guys, giving them 10+ minutes wont change that, if you do the same thing the crowd don't invest their time or emotion into it.

wins and losses should mean something, if you want to fill time then mix it up, have guys fight different guys from who they're in a feud with, if Dolph Ziggler is feuding with Bray Wyatt then the last thing you should be seeing is those guys having TV matches, more so before they've even had 2/3 PPV matches.

I'd also like to see more skits, back in the 80s the WWF absolutely nailed it with their skits, whether it was DiBiase flaunting his wealth, Dusty Rhodes being a common man or Mr Perfect simply being Perfect, these skits looked unique and had a feel to it that made it look traditional to the show and character, skits now are poor, badly over acted and everything is far to rehearsed, I'd like to see more skits with ad-lib required instead if sticking rigidly to a script written by the same script writter for everyone, thats what makes Wrestler bland, allow them to show their natural charisma, thats what will attract people.

While I wholeheartedly agree that the Raw product could be a better show, I'm never convinced that more skits is an answer.

To me, wrestlers should be employed as wrestlers. If they are good on the mic, then even better, but why use them to do skits when their training and ability is in the ring?

Also, it feels like the problem is a lack of thought put into what these wrestlers should do, i.e. how a story should progress with them and a natural direction for them to take. Back stage skits should take as much effort at least as this, so if you are going to spend the time on them, spend the time thinking about how they can work in the ring.

And finally, if the Usos vs Mizdow becomes hackneyed playing week after week, I really don't want to start to think how quickly similar skits from midcarders will start to have me reaching for the fast forward button.

So for my two-pence. I don't like filler matches, but I'd rather this than some of the alternatives.

I'd like to see used a 'tale of the tape' ala boxing/MMA where it shows the stats of each guy before a match including their last 6 results. It then may remind creative etc that certain wrestlers are actually meant to win a match every now and then or that the same people have faced off for the last 6 weeks.

It's a nice idea Hero, but this is an organisation who's Chairman said in his high profile podcast interview that belts weren't important. You really think he considers a win / loss ratio something to even consider?

Oh I realize it'll never happen as it actually then shows up the laziness of the product and creative but who are we to try to improve it!

I still think back on that Austin podcast and shake my head at some of the things that Vince said.

But you know wrestling tends to have this problem that it can never escape doing again what was successful once. So, Vince created a billion dollar organisation thru his being in touch with what people want in sports entertainment means he can't be wrong now. Even though that viewership that he once had has been whittled away and wrestling doesn't have the popularity of the late-90s.

I quite agree with you. I think just as the time for the kids-cartoon characters had passed in the 80s and WCW produced more adult wrestling that WWE had to counter. I think now we have the rise of MMA and WWE needs a more serious product. This doesn't mean that wrestling isn't a work, but it does mean that it has to be produced where wins matter.

BNB is back. He picks up a strap. And he loses. Seriously, if you went up to the man in the street, he'd tell you that's a crazy idea. So, I wonder sometimes if WWE are just incompetent or they do it because they really want to see how little effort they have to put in to make a big product.

And my biggest fear is that the Network doesn't help us the viewer. Because WWE are no longer trying monthly to sell a big ticket PPV they can put less effort into it. Have you seen a Rumble with less build? Usually we have some excitement over the number 1 or 30 entry. There's hardly anything this year, just whether DB will be in or not. It's lazy. And yet I'm still gonna give them 9.99 to watch it, so I'm part of the problem.

We're all part of the problem, we moan each and every week about the product, yet each and every week we tune back in and buy the network. You'd barely know the Rumble was about to happen, they could have quite easily made a storyline over one of Bryan or Reigns having to go in at No1, or that HHH had abused his power to put himself in at No30, no nothing at all.

I'm not even sure that the Rumble is going to be the main event, or if it will be the title match.

But the Rumble should be on of their top 3 PPVs and that is because of the Rumble. The Rumble is special, its not only a lot of fun, but you get a chance to weave in many stories, there are often wrestlers coming back from injury and the winner gets the Mania title shot. You've got to at least try to make me care.

Now that Rollins is involved, I'm actually looking forward to the title match. But this is a match that you could have at Fast Lane. Who knows, that might be their best PPV ever. But I doubt it. I think it will be a filler of a PPV. Most likely WWE will get my network subscription in Feb because of the NXT PPV, not because of the main product. And after Mania then I think I'm very likely to be skipping months of network subscriptions when the PPV does not excite.

If Lesnar is coming to the end of his contract I wouldnt be surprised that the title match goes on last.

To be fair, you know that theyve put Bryan in a story that he had to earn his Rumble place, same with Rowan, Ziggler, Ryback. Reigns is saying he wants to win the Rumble, they did a legends panel about the Rumble.

I have no problem with filler matches, its just their use of them. Have Kofi beat Kidd, Miz beat Matador #1, Mizdow lose to Matador #2 because he got distracted by his stunt duties as Miz argued with an Uso outside. Have Jey Uso beat Adam Rose. Reasonably fresh matches, gives some wins and storyline progress.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:To be fair, you know that theyve put Bryan in a story that he had to earn his Rumble place, same with Rowan, Ziggler, Ryback.

Only if you've watched SmackDown. They could have put more emphasis on Bryan's spot being in jeopardy after losing to Wyatt, and question if he is really ready to be back to put him over more. Instead they chose to plug SmackDown being on Thursday instead. Thats not good business.

But I havent watched Smackdown and didnt even read the spoilers and knew all of this.