The beast looks over his work. Photo credit: WWE.com
Vickie Guerrero kicked off the themed Raw Roulette night in Las Vegas by spinning the wheel and revealing that Randy Orton versus Antonio Cesaro later on would be a Special Guest Referee match.
A furious CM Punk rushed out, pushing over officials and telling the cameraman to get out of his way. He claimed that he got "screwed" the previous night at the Royal Rumble against The Rock, calling him a cheat for needing outside help and berating Vince McMahon for trying to screw him over.
McMahon himself then joined Punk and revealed that he had video footage supposedly proving the former-champ's involvement with The Shield, warning Heyman that he'll be seeing him later on for a "performance review."
Randy Orton defeated Antonio Cesaro with The Miz as the special guest referee in what was a solid encounter. Both men gave stellar displays and rarely (if ever, actually) put a foot wrong. My only slight gripe with the bout (and I feel picky typing it considering the efforts they put in) was that I reckon a heel referee should've been picked (Brad Maddox would've made sense considering his involvement with Orton in the past) to aid Cesaro in a win here, he would've benefitted more from one.
For the finish Miz and Cesaro predictably began having an argument after the US Champion out his hands on the ref, which gave Orton a chance to then sneak up from behind and apply an RKO for the one-two-three. For good measure Miz then attacked cesaro with a Skull Crushing Finale.
After another spin of the wheel, Ryback had to face the Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) in a 'Make Me Laugh Challenge'. After a lame joke from the PTP, Ryback had enough and chased off Young before Shell-Shocking O'Neil. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, and Matt Stryker too who awarded Ryback the win. So as a sign of gratitude Ryback then also Shell-Shocked Stryker, which went down very well with the commentators.
Wade Barrett received the 'Player's Choice' from the roulette wheel, which meant he could choose any opponent he wanted, so he chose NXT wrestler Bo Dallas who eliminated him in the Royal Rumble match.
Bo Dallas pinned Wade Barrett in an average bout. Barrett dominated for the most part, until Dallas managed to turn a Bull Hammer Elbow attempt into the winning pinfall through a slam. Dallas wouldn't have been the talent from NXT I would've personally picked to move up, but it's a positive sign that they're taking chances on these up and coming talents.
John Cena beat Cody Rhodes in a worthless squash match. This did absolutely nothing for Rhodes except bury him, and all we got from Cena was his usual old routine. They could've at least used a more lower down talent such as Slater to take the fall here. Rhodes got Cena after picking him via the roulette wheel.
Afterwards Cena debated whether or not to choose the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship to challenge for at WrestleMania after winning the Rumble match. He then pretty much buried the World Championship by foolishly claiming that he would have better odds at winning that than the WWE Title, which just damages the image of that strap that Del Rio holds. Finally he stated that on April 7th at 'Mania he will challenge either CM Punk or The rock for the WWE Championship.
Cena was then taken out by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns). Ryback and Sheamus attempted to help out but both fell victims to the trio who managed to keep them all down. Smart move here I thought, keeps the three looking strong. Although I'm dreading a potential match with Cena which could only damage their image.
In a bizarre segment, Brodus Clay and Tensai competed in a Dance Off. Unfortunately for Tensai he wasn't informed that the challenge had changed from a Lingerie Pillow Fight, so he was still wearing some unsuitable ladies garments under his robe. After being convinced from Lawler and Clay, he decided to give the dance contest a go anyway and got into it, with the fans also enjoying it. Ron Simmons was then shown watching this all backstage, with his extremely appropriate "Damn." I have to be honest, I did have to chuckle a bit at this, and who knows? Maybe Tensai has a future as a face and in a possible team with Clay? That could help rejuvenate both of their careers.
In what was meant to be a Body Slam Challenge between Big Show and Alberto Del Rio turned into a beat down from Show as he taped up Del Rio's hand to the rope and slowly took out his ring announcer and friend Ricardo Rodriguez in front of him. Eventually the giant then took out the World Champion with a KO punch.
Kaitlyn versus Tamina in a Lumberjill match ended in a no contest after all the lumberjills ran in and began brawling. It was pretty much a waste of time from start to finish. It failed to enhance any Divas or provide any remore entertainment. Pure filler just for the sake of using the Divas Champion.
The new WWE Champion The Rock came out and thanked the fans for their support, and claimed that the "crap days" of Punk's title reign were finally over. Soon CM Punk joined 'The Great One' and stated that Rock was handed the title like everything else in his life and demanded that he hand it back to him, the rightful title holder before he tarnishes it anymore.
Punk then said he'd grant Rock their championship rematch and began to list off dates of various live shows he has over the next week, clearly taking a personal jab at the 'People's Champion' for his part-time appearance schedule compared to how many hours Punk puts in. There have been various rumours of CM Punk's bitterness towards dropping the strap to Johnson considering how hard he's worked in comparison to him over the last year (and plus) for WWE. But in the end the former champ decided on Elimination Chamber in a few weeks time for their rematch, walking away before The Rock had even finished up. Real emotions in a feud always make it that bit more interesting.
Sheamus bested Damien Sandow in a Tables match. It was a fair outing, with worthy if unspectacular efforts from both men. It's certainly watchable anyway and worth checking out, but just don't expect too much. Sheamus drove Sandow into a table with a nice White Noise for the win.
As The Great Khali got underway in a karaoke contest with Zack Ryder, trying his best at Shawn Michaels' theme song (it was bad, on every level) 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) interrupted and claimed to be the real rockstars of the WWE. Khali and Ryder responded by taking out the trio.
Chris Jericho came out to a healthy response and thanked his fans for their great reaction when he made his surprise entrance in the Royal Rumble the previous night. Dolph Ziggler, as usual accompanied by AJ Lee and Big E Langston, then joined Y2J and asked him what he was doing on the show, reminding him that he was the one that got him fired in a match last year on Raw. Vickie Guerrero answered that on the big screen by informing 'Ziggy' that she'd signed him back, then spun the roulette wheel to reveal that they'd have to compete in a Strange Bedfellows match, where they'd have to team together.
Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) beat Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho in a disappointing tag bout. Considering the talent I was expecting a far more exciting contest. Unfortunately they didn't have enough time allocated, which seems absurd considering the time they'd wasted on other segments during the show, and with both teams arguing with each other we didn't get enough decent action. Kane chokeslammed Ziggler for the winning pin after Jericho had slapped Kane on the back and snuck away.
Trish Stratus was then announced as the next inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame. As my personal favourite ever female performer I was obviously a big fan of this announcement. Along with Foley I'm very much looking forward to the HOF Ceremony this year at Madison Square Garden.
Vince McMahon called out Paul Heyman, informing him that CM Punk had been escorted from the building so he was on his own. The Chairman asked Heyman once again if he had been involved with The Shield or Brad Maddox, and Heyman simply answered "No." But he did admit that he had lied plenty during his life as a promotor.
McMahon then presented some backstage footage secretly filmed a few weeks ago of Heyman talking to Brad Maddox about paying him and The Shield to help out Punk in various title defenses. With him eventually having Shield attack Maddox after all his pestering. Heyman tried to convince Vince that it was an impersonator in the video, but he wasn't having any of it and was about to fire Heyman when Brock Lesnar made his return.
Lesnar slowly made his way to the ring where he warned a hysterical Heyman back and went face to face with McMahon, finally F5'ing the Chairman. I wasn't expecting Brock back just yet but I'll take it, his segments and matches since coming back last year have been superb. I'm guessing this will be the start of his much rumoured rematch with Triple H.
It was a real mixed bag of a show this week, with a fair few memorable moments which is always a good sign. Unfortunately most match ups were unremarkable and a waste of time, especially Cena versus Rhodes and the Divas contest, plus the karaoke and dance off challenges should've been cut in favour of something half decent. Jericho and Ziggler's tag match with Team Hell No was also disappointing.
On the plus side the CM Punk and Rock promos were stellar, we finally had the Maddox and Shield involvement with Punk and Heyman brought out in the open, Stratus announced as a HOF inductee was a nice announcement, Tensai showed promise as a face and of course we had the momentous return of Brock Lesnar. The road to WrestleMania is really underway now.
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