The Deadman stares off with his future 'Mania opponent. Photo credit: WWE.com
The special edition 'Old School' Raw started off with The Undertaker himself walking out and simply raising his arms in front of the WrestleMania XXIX logo, looks like we'll be seeing him in five weeks time at the big event then.
CM Punk, accompanied by Paul Heyman, came out and blamed the fans for him not main eventing WrestleMania and claimed that there was no point even attending the event if he wasn't in the top spot on the card. But he then went on to challenge 'Taker to a match on said event to end his streak and take it away from all the fans in spite.
Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show then joined Punk and each staked their claim to face 'The Deadman' on the big stage. So to settle things Vickie Guerrero announced a Fatal Four Way between them all to determine who'll face 'Taker next month. It was a decent enough start to the show.
Ryback pinned Antonio Cesaro in a passable outing. It was certainly watchable, with standard stellar work from Cesaro and a fair display from Ryback. Afterwards Mark Henry and Ryback stared off as he came out for his following match up. Guess we'll be seeing these two face off at 'Mania then, can't say I'm too hyped for that one myself.
Mark Henry beat Zack Ryder in a brief squash match. Not much more to add here to be honest.
Before his bout The Miz introduced Ric Flair, who was joining him in his corner. 'Naitch' predictably received a healthy reaction from the fans.
The Miz defeated Dolph Ziggler in a worthy enough effort from both men. Not either man's finest contest but it wasn't bad, a fun enough watch. Flair attempted to take out big E Langston at ringside after striking Miz, but failed as the big man simply stood there, which I was personally quite relieved at since it would've looked foolish having the far older Flair take out a much younger, bigger and tougher man.
Miz won via submission using the Figure Four Leglock (what else?), what has happened for Ziggler to deserve this? I've said it before but he should be having everything done to elevate him and make him a believable World Champion when he finally cashes in, but tapping out to Miz (who's lost numerous times to Cesaro as of late on PPV) is just making things worse for the 'Show Off'. Ziggler deserves far better treatment.
John Cena shortly interrupted The Rock's promo on arriving in Buffalo and his excitement for WrestleMania, and spoke about how worthless he felt after loosing to Rocky last year after claiming to everyone that he was going to be victorious. He also added that their WWE Championship match was his chance at redemption after all that.
'The People's Champ' told Cena that he wanted to face him because he knew how much it all meant to him, how much drive he had, but claimed that his own determination succeeded that. Cena retorted by explaining how he'd accomplished everything in WWE, except beat The Rock, who amusingly gave us a Lance Armstrong quote and told Cena that he was "full of crap" just like him. For me that was his best line since his return. I enjoyed the segment myself, it made a refreshing change having Cena take it seriously rather than with a goofy grin as he did with quite a few of their promos last year, it added to the intensity.
Less than a minute into his match with Jim Duggan, Jack Swagger took him out with his own two by four, along with Sgt Slaughter and Dusty Rhodes. I was just relieved we didn't have to endure an actual match involving Duggan.
Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) bested the Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) in a largely enjoyable tag bout. All four men gave decent displays and provided a fun watch. Afterwards the 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase stuck a one-hundred dollar bill down Young's mouth, which Bryan snuck back to take for himself.
Tensai and Brodus Clay beat 3MB (Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater) in an extremely brief contest with Tensai applying a quick roll up pin for the one-two-three. Afterwards the Honky Tonk Man began to celebrate with the victors but was interrupted by Slater, so he decided to crack his guitar over his head.
Fandango once again refused to make his in-ring debut against Kofi Kingston after announcer Justin Roberts didn't manage to announce his name to his high standards.
Triple H explained that after supposedly retiring from the ring last year, he still kept up his training in the gym every day and was just waiting secretly for an excuse to get back into the squared circle, and Brock Lesnar gave it to him when he took out his Father-in-law Vince McMahon a few weeks ago. He went on to then challenge Lesnar to an official fight at 'Mania. I'm personally quite looking forward to their match myself, should be a dramatic one.
Alberto Del Rio defeated Wade Barrett in an enjoyable encounter. Del Rio is on great form at the moment for me, and he carried it on here with a solid performance. Barrett also worked well and gave a worthy display. Not an outstanding match by any means but still above average.
The New Age Outlaws, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg beat Epico and Primo in a largely average tag contest. The action was never great but fortunately the nostalgic element and passable work from the NAO was enough to make it worth a watch if you're a fan.
Just before the main event Mae Young celebrated her incredible 90th birthday, but it was soon spoilt when CM Punk and Heyman walked through and straight to the ring. What a git, eh?
CM Punk bested Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show in a solid enough Fatal Four Way main event to earn a match with The Undertaker at WrestleMania. All four men used their time well here and predictably managed to each get in their signature maneuvers in turn. While not as exciting as I was maybe hoping for, I can't fault any of their displays. Afterwards 'Taker made an appearance and faced Punk from the stage. It's on! I'm expecting a very high standard from their encounter on the grand stage.
While most of the show was decent enough, there was no one part that was exceptional or that exciting for me, which was quite disappointing. My highlights were the Cena Rock promo, main event and Triple H segment. On the whole a watchable Raw with nice progressions for WrestleMania, but nothing special.
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