Oh boy. A year ago, the go-home show of Monday Night RAW ended on Lesnar and Reigns' infamous tug-of-war with the WWE WHC belt. What can top that moment? How about this? The entire crowd chanting "YOU STILL SUCK" to Reigns in the middle of the ring, after the roster tried to separate him and HHH from each other to end the show. They tried to recreate that moment with Lesnar and Taker last year except this feud lacked the heat, largely attributed to Reigns not connecting with the crowd and HHH being cheered because he's the father of NXT. That's how the show ended.
RAW actually started off great with Undertaker and Shane McMahon kicking off the show. Shane even did a freakin elbow drop from the turnbuckle to hit Taker on the announcer's table. This helped get the crowd excited for their feud, even though the build to it was been pretty inconsistent. And after that, as usual, RAW starts to go downhill. The results can be found here.
Rather than sum up what happened, I'm going to pull some choice quotes from other websites that thought the go-home episode was disappointing:
AV Club:
"[... ] this is the worst kind of go-home show, where everyone who wrestles Sunday is stuck wresting their opponent on Raw for some reason."
F4W/Wrestling Observer:
"Tonight was the final straw for a year's worth of work. The verdict is in: Reigns is not the guy."
RollingStone:
"It is what it is. Hunter vs. Roman was the most logical way to go in light of limited roster maneuverability, but it hasn't translated as an electric weekly drama."
Prowrestling.net:
"Vince McMahon developed a reputation over the years for doing his best work when his back was against the wall. He did not rise up to the challenge this year. WrestleMania may still turn out to be a great show, but WrestleMania Season was flopped."
You know what made the show a little interesting to watch? The Brooklyn crowd. They were loud and smarky and their chants were heard loud and clear. This crowd actually had a 4-hour taping with Superstars, Main Event, AND Smack Down right before RAW. I think the best reaction was the surprise addition of Eva Marie, thus completing the 10-woman Total Divas match for the Kickoff show. It was reported that WWE thought Eva Marie (a heel on NXT) joining the face team would get cheers and they were floored at the opposite reaction. The reaction has been same for Reigns, who was met with boos, silence, and deafening chants. WWE has protected Reigns so much that he barely cut any promos or wrestled for the last 2 weeks.
Oh, and Ambrose came down with a red wagon to load it up with weapons without making eye contact or speaking with either Lesnar and Heyman. It got a great reaction from the crowd - even Lesnar looked amused - but it was just really disappointing to see that this is the last time they interact before Sunday.
So, am I hyped for WrestleMania not really. I'm actually looking forward to what's going to happen for NXT TakeOver: Dallas with the major debut of Shinsuke Nakamura and seeing Austin Aries again. I am dreading - DREADING - that Ambrose and Lesnar's match will get interference shenanigans so that the match doesn't get a clean finish. We'll see what happens.
WHAT A LUNATIC
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