Monday Night Raw
February 10, 2014
Los Angeles, California
First off, I’d like to thank Brad Woodling for pinch hitting for me last week, he’s a stud as always. We head live right into Staples Center into Los Angeles and Big Show brings out our Raw guest host, the awesome Betty White. She is legitimately overwhelmed. She gets the show title right which is cool. Betty says she’s here to kick some ass. Speaking of, out comes The Authority to ruin the fun. Stephanie and Triple H come out to a chorus of boos. They hug Betty and what, throw her off the stage? Yeah, Betty gets taken right off the stage. Wow that was pretty cold. Triple H wants to clear up that last week he said Daniel Bryan could become the face of the WWE if he defeated Randy Orton. Well he did, but Triple H lists the other Elimination Chamber participants as possible faces of WWE. With that out comes WWE World Champion Randy Orton. Tonight Orton faces John Cena. I’m sure we’re gonna get the same boring whiny promo out of Orton. Stephanie wants to know if he’s seriously here to bitch again and he should turn around and get ready for his match tonight. Orton says he’s out here to apologize to the Authority for being childish, selfish and stupid. Orton says he needs to bring the Viper back and he starts by beating John Cena tonight. Stephanie wants to know if they can trust Orton. The Daniel Bryan chants start and again Orton is flummoxed. Orton says at Summerslam in this arena he cashed in MITB and became the Face of the WWE for the first time, standing united. Orton says he wants to make good on a promise. He wants to be the Face of WWE in and out of the ring. He wants to be on cereal boxes, billboards and interview shows. He says no one else in this company is the Face of WWE. We get the familiar theme and crazy pops for Daniel Bryan who comes down the aisle to the usual bonkers crowd. Daniel tells Randy he is not the heart and soul of WWE. Bryan says he’s a different body part. Stephanie says stop interrupting them and make an appointment with them. Bryan says he doesn’t want to make an appointment with Kane he wants a match with Kane. Stephanie says Kane is on administrative leave. Bryan insults the Authority and Orton starts kissing the Authority’s ass. Bryan reminds us of 2009 when Orton kissed Stephanie. Triple H says Daniel Bryan will get the night off. The crowd’s pissed and starts chanting but regardless Daniel Bryan isn’t wrestling tonight. These opening promos are getting so tiresome.
MATCH: Rhodes Brothers & Rey Mysterio vs. Wyatt Family
We go back to Friday night when Bray and Goldust had a pretty good match. Is Rey wearing Lakers colors? Probably, he does stuff like that. Speaking of Goldust, he won PWI’s Comeback Wrestler of the Year award for 2013. Well deserved. JBL says Betty White should referee the Orton/Cena match later tonight. Hell why not? Of course she can’t jump around and hit the ground for pin counts, but imagine her swinging a chair? Awesome. Vince just tweeted that he has a date with Betty White tonight. I hope we don’t have uncomfortable vignettes. The match is pretty good for TV as Rey looks the best he’s been since coming back. Bray hits Sister Abagail on Rey for the win. WINNERS: Wyatt Family
Bray Wyatt takes the mike and tells the Shield they’re nothing more than toy soliders in a war they don’t belong in.
We get a vignette of Roman Reigns’ dominance in the Royal Rumble match.
Renee is with The Shield. Roman calls her “baby girl”, which was slick. Rollins says the Wyatts speak in riddles, and the Shield works in actions. Renee asks Ambrose why he hasn’t defended his US Title in a while. Ambrose talks about paperwork and stalling, when his partner Reigns says he’s no champion. So tonight Ambrose gives an open challenge.
Cole says Orton and Cena both came up in 2004. It was 2002 dumbass. We get a clip from Breaking Point 2009, when Cena beat Orton in an I Quit match.
MATCH: Santino Marella vs. Fandango
Emma from NXT comes down with Santino. I think of all the reasons that getting the WWE Network is awesome, watching NXT is probably top 3 on the list. A few minutes into the match and out comes Miz who again is pissed he’s not on the show but these two guys are. Fandango wins fairly easily. WINNER: Fandango
NXT commentator Byron Saxton is backstage with Sheamus, who comments on the Chamber match. YAWN.
MATCH: Sheamus & Christian vs. Real Americans
I do miss Sheamus in the ring, but his babyface promos are the shits. They continue hinting the dissension between Swagger and the other two guys in the group. We get a WE THE PEOPLE chant from the Staples Center crowd. It’s a pretty stiff match with all four guys laying into each other with forearms and other strikes. Christian has a shiner from his match with Orton Friday on Smackdown. You’re starting to see more charisma out of Cesaro, like a solo run is in his future again. He grabs Christian and swings him about 15 times. This match has been pretty good with all four guys working hard. Sheamus cracks Swagger with the Brogue Kick for the win. WINNERS: Sheamus & Christian
Backstage Renee is with John Cena. He talks about his long history with Orton. He talks about the Network, and the support that the WWE Universe gives to Daniel Bryan and the new superstars.
We see 30 seconds of Batista Bombs, courtesy You Tube.
MATCH: Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio
One of 2013’s biggest feuds. Looks like it will be Del Rio vs. Batista at the Chamber. Wow a shocking squash that Del Rio wins fairly quick. I thought Dolph would win the title again in 2014. He may not last in this company much longer. WINNER: Alberto Del Rio
He gets back in the ring and puts Ziggler in the arm bar until Batista comes out and beats Del Rio down, including a Demon Bomb through the announce table. Batista looks like a cabbage patch kid on steroids. So weird looking. Plus what’s with his weird Zubaz boots?
The Bellas tell us how to get the Network when it launches. Cole says you can sign up now and get a free week. You can’t sign up now can you?
Backstage Batista is walking and Triple H stops him. He tells Batista not to go off on guys whenever he wants. Triple H says it’s a different company, and he’s trying to fit Batista in. The Animal gets Del Rio at Elimination Chamber.
So joining The Ultimate Warrior and Jake “The Snake” Roberts in this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class is…Lita. This was rumored and now its reality. She deserves it and I’m sure she’ll look hot as shit that night. Who inducts her? I say Trish Stratus. They were the ultimate Divas rivalry in the 2000’s.
The New Age Outlaws are having tea with Betty White, and when Betty’s not looking Road Dogg spikes it. They both leave to find lemons and Betty switches her cup with Billy Gunn’s.
MATCH: Rybaxel vs. The Usos
Ah Michael Cole just corrected himself that you can’t sign up for the free week of WWE Network until 2/24. The Outlaws are at the announce table and Billy Gunn’s getting a little queasy. Road Dogg just referred to the Samoan Swat Team. Billy Gunn just burped. He keeps burping. Jey Uso tagged his brother in mid-air and Jimmy hits the splash for the win. WINNERS: The Usos
The Outlaws go to start something with the Usos but Billy goes up the ramp because he’s on the verge of very bad poopies.
We get a promo for the Shawn Michaels: Mr. WrestleMania DVD, out Tuesday. All his Mania matches (except XX of course, which sucks because it’s five stars).
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP: Dean Ambrose © vs. Mark Henry
I was expecting something a little better than this. Love the big guy, but imagine Ultimate Warrior running down the ramp? Ok, wishful thinking. Could have re-enacted Summerslam 1988. This has the feeling of a title change, but I wonder if Henry winning does anything for the title or himself to be honest. I thought Reigns was going to challenge Ambrose. That would have been cool. As expected Mark Henry was about to win the title when Rollins runs in and causes the DQ. WINNER: Mark Henry by disqualification
The Shield beat Henry down, concluding with a Reigns spear. Reigns is definitely the modern day version of Batista 2004-early 2005. The lights then go out and the Wyatts are coming down the aisle. The Shield hop the barricade and the crowd goes crazy. Reigns is turning into such a badass. All six men get on the apron, and they match stares. Reigns gets in the ring alone, the camera locked on him. Bray Wyatt gets half in the ring and the family walks away. They definitely had the Shield painted as the babyfaces.
Wiz Khalifa is in the crowd. I remember we played “Black and Yellow” on the Place to Be Podcast like five times in the first 20 episodes.
With February being Black History Month, we’ll start getting vignettes on great black wrestlers. Tonight, Hall of Famer Bobo Brazil.
MATCH: Bella Twins & Cameron vs. AJ Lee, Aksana & Alicia Fox
Now AJ doesn’t get her entrance on camera anymore? WINNERS: Bellas & Cameron
We compare Cena’s and Orton’s resumes. They’ve combined for 25 WWE/World Championships, 3 Rumble wins and 2 Money in the Banks.
We get a vignette for Alexander Rusev. Another young awesome hoss.
Down comes Kane, who was supposed to be on administrative leave after what happened last week. He says he acted on his own volition last week and it was ill-advised. In mid-sentence out comes Daniel Bryan to another raucous ovation. He runs to the ring and the fight starts. They brawl outside and Bryan boots Kane over the barricade. The YES YES YES chants are rampant. April 6, New Orleans. WWE World Champion Daniel Bryan. Bank on it.
Orton will face Cesaro Friday on Smackdown.
Betty White thanks everyone for making her feel welcome, and she intros our main event.
MATCH: John Cena vs. Randy Orton
They should make a DVD set of these guys’ best matches, and they have had a few. Orton is 1-1 so far in this “Chamber gauntlet”. He lost to Bryan, and beat Christian. He has Cena here, he has Cesaro Friday, and he’ll likely face Sheamus next Monday. They first met in a one on one match in November of 2005. There’s a pic on wwe.com and Cena’s got an Eddy Guerrero t-shirt on, so I think it was the Raw the night after Eddy died. It’s hard to decipher whether it’s a bad match with them or not since they’ve wrestled so many times. This match has more of that free TV posturing that you don’t get in a PPV title match. After about ten minutes the match kicks into high gear and now we go back and forth. Orton hits his DDT, not from the second rope but from the top rope. Impressive. Cena actually kicked out of the RKO. I can’t believe they’ve done that on free TV. Cena’s probably done it before, but for some reason it seems more stunning tonight. Cena hits the AA but Orton kicked out of it. Cena goes for an AA on the second rope but that doesn’t happen. Cena hits his leg drop from the top, then hits the AA for the win. WINNER: John Cena
So Orton is 1-2 and Cena apparently has ended the feud. Cena celebrates and we’re out.
SCOTT’S TAKE: Not a bad show, I actually wished for more Betty White but the matches were ok and the main event was really good. Orton has two more guys to face. He’s lost to two of the other favorites.
One of our favorites is Graham Cawthon, purveyor of thehistoryofwwe.com. Here’s Graham’s Raw Tweet of the Night!
@thehistoryofwwe Wyatts vs Shield is what Survivor Series 97: Gang Rulez was made for. Not Los Boricuas and the DOA
Graham, didn’t something else happen that night? I don’t remember..
