CM Punk poses over the fallen 'Dead Man'. I'm looking forward to this one! Photo credit: WWE.com
John Cena kicked off the pre-WrestleMania XXIX Raw by claiming that his rivalry with The Rock was far more serious then last year, due to the WWE Championship being on the line. He went on to also warn Rocky that after having to stand by and watch him unveil a brand new title belt and "usher in a new era" (really?) he will strive to reclaim the strap and prove that he is superior to 'The Great One'. Cena was greeted with chants of "Boring" afterwards, granted it was an unremarkable promo but that was a little harsh I felt.
Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus bested 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal) in an average and at times sloppy six-man tag bout. At least it was kept brief. Afterwards The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) warned the their 'Mania opponents that come Sunday they won't be celebrating after they beat them, and also added that they weren't fooling them by pretending to be a cohesive unit like themselves.
We were presented with a VT featuring Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter in Washington DC, talking about the change that Swagger will bring come this Sunday when he obtains the World Title, calling their fellow Americans weak in this day and age due to them accepting all the immigrants that had entered the US over the years.
In response Alberto Del Rio admitted that Swagger was free to say whatever he pleased with the freedom of speech, but that didn't mean he had to like it and would at least get a chance to gain some retribution in their title clash.
Dolph Ziggler pinned Daniel Bryan in a solid back and fourth encounter. These two worked hard and provided an enjoyable bout from the get go with crisp action. During the match AJ Lee distracted Kane, allowing Big E Langston to tear through him with a mean-looking clothesline. Ziggler then took advantage of Bryan kicking Big E through the ropes and gained the one-two-three with a quick roll up.
Shawn Michaels made a special Raw appearance and warned Triple H that while he was retired by 'Taker at WrestleMania, they still held the upmost respect for each other and he never bragged about ending HBK's career, unlike Brock Lesnar who would relish it. Michaels went on to admit that he wasn't in Washington to talk his good friend out of his match on the grand stage, but order him to "kick Brock Lesnar's ass!"
Lesnar, along with Paul Heyman then made his way out. Heyman went on to list all the people that Triple H will disappoint after his client defeats him, and claimed that he wasn't "man enough" to beat Lesnar. As usual Heyman was on top form on the mic.
Wade Barrett beat Zack Ryder in a passable outing. While most of the match was fairly pedestrian, there were some engaging moments to be found, and it wasn't a bad effort by either man.
Mark Henry flattened Santino Marella in a short squash match. Santino was booked against Henry after playing an April Fools prank on Vickie Guerrero and Brad Maddox. An angry Ryback then made his way out to confront Henry, who smugly reminded him that they had a no contact clause to their contract. So to get around this Ryback decided to hurl Santino at his 'Mania foe to take him down.
As Alberto Del Rio's match with Zeb Colter begun, he was soon distracted by Swagger at ringside who'd begun attacking Ricardo Rodriguez, this then allowed Colter to start smacking the champion with one of Ricardo's crutches. Swagger soon joined his accomplice and together they took down Del Rio.
The WWE Champion The Rock said that his match with Cena wasn't about retribution for him, but the "the will of the people" and his connection with the fans. He also reminded us that at every turn he'd topped Cena, and it would be no different in their contest for the championship. It was a decent enough promo from Rock, with the crowd in the palm of his hand, which was a stark contrast to Cena earlier.
Chris Jericho defeated Antonio Cesaro in a decent contest. For the most part it was a fun watch and the wrestling was stellar, but I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed, maybe I was expecting more form these two talents facing off. During the match Fandango appeared and began judging Jericho's moves out of ten with scorecards. After Y2J had forced Cesaro to tap to the Walls of Jericho, Fandango ran in and after beating down his rival then landed a couple of flying leg drops. I'm definitely intrigued by their WrestleMania match.
The Bella Twins beat Naomi and Cameron in a fair Divas tag match. I was actually pleasantly surprised here, there were some nice moments of action to be found amongst most of the pedestrian wrestling.
The Undertaker warned CM Punk that the pain he's going to put on him will "last an eternity" after the disrespect he's shown to Paul Bearer. A line up of druids then appeared, along with Paul Heyman dressed as Bearer. As a furious 'Taker marched down he began to take out some of the druids, only for CM Punk to reveal himself as one of them and take out 'The Dead Man' with Bearer's urn.
But then the gripping moment came as Punk poured the ashes of Bearer over Undertaker and on himself. While many will find this segment extremely disrespectful of Moody (which I get) I couldn't help but be completely engaged by it. Punk has really thrown himself into this feud and clearly has no restraints with the material he's used. For me this has been the strongest segment leading into WrestleMania.
Overall Raw was a fair show for the most part, more memorable than most as of late. Ziggler versus Bryan, Jericho versus Cesaro, the Heyman promo and especially the closing segment were my highlights. Outside of them it was pretty pedestrian for me, with a lot of material and bouts feeling a bit too familiar. Still, despite the disappointing build up to 'Mania this year I'm still looking forward to the big event, with more than a few matches that should be very entertaining I reckon.
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