The Highlight of the Night
The Top Moments from Raw
Written by Mark Adam Haggerty
“Yeah, we tease him a lot ‘cause we got him on the spot”—WELCOME BACK! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, folks that fall somewhere in between allow me to introduce myself: my name is Mark Adam Haggerty and this is the “Highlight of the Night,” the once-weekly top five countdown of what’s worth watching on WWE Monday Night Raw. This week Raw comes to us live from Ohio where the WWE is tip-toeing closer and closer to the free February pay-per-view spectacular Fastlane. According to the Wrestling Observer, the WWE has chosen to take an alternate route on the Road to Wrestlemania. How might that effect the main event title picture, and will it impact the upcoming confrontation between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns? Let’s get down to it and start talking about why this week’s episode was a step in the right direction in terms of remedying Raw and preparing certain Superstars for their appearance next month at Wrestlemania.
5. Paul Heyman Speaks for Brock Lesnar
For someone so immersed in the wrestling industry, I don’t really follow the Raw-reports about who and what to expect each Monday night. So imagine my surprise when I got to see the WWE world heavyweight champion so soon after his appearance at the Royal Rumble just two weeks ago. I find myself at constant odds with people over the true value of Brock Lesnar, especially now that his current contract is creeping closer to a close. I’ve been extremely vocal as to how much I’ve enjoyed the scattered presence of both Brock and the belt, so I’m particularly fond of each rare occasions I get to see the champ on TV. Paul Heyman led the Beast into the ring and did all of the talking; the former “Mr. Dangerously” warned both Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan as to what they’ll be getting into, should either man walk out of Memphis victorious. I say “should” of course, because as rumors run rampant we begin to hear rumblings about another triple threat main eventing ‘Mania. No comment on that—for now. I just think it’s awfully cumbersome, especially with a three way dance headlining last month’s Royal Rumble as well. I think the Powers-that-Be were wise to keep Lesnar off the mic, particularly if the idea is to push Lesnar as an unstoppable heel. If Brock is truly finished with the WWE for the time being, I suspect the only creative route to take is that of an evil monster, soon to be conquered in Santa Clara by whomever is named “The one who beat the one in twenty-one and one.” But there’s still a chance Brock will opt to continue wrestling, especially with the UFC in its current state of disarray stemming from several mainstream drug violations. Brock could of course sign with Bellator, but given his personal relationship with UFC’s Dana White—I think that’s sort of a long shot. Brock could very well sign an extension keeping him in the WWE for another 6 months-to-a year, in which case we might begin to see a new babyface Brock begin to emerge. When the champion did his own talking leading into his three-way confrontation at the Royal Rumble, he made waves around the arena in terms of captivating a crowd like no other Superstar is able to do. And all he did was say “baby” over and over. Imagine a Beast Incarnate devoid of Paul Heyman running rough shod over diabolical heels such as Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt, and RUSEV! The WWE is well aware of what kind of money-making machine they have in their possession, it’s just a matter of how high they turn up the power.
4. Ziggler Seeks Revenge on Wyatt
My biggest gripe with the current main roster has been the lack of in-ring excitement, especially over the course of a three-hour broadcast like Monday Night Raw. This evening wasn’t short on wrestling, although many of the matches were contests we’ve seen previously over the past few weeks. The second bout between Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt was just as enthralling as the first and just like its predecessor, this one-on-one battle had no trouble stealing the show for either individual. The crowd in Ohio appeared passionate about both Bray and Dolph when compared to some of the other talent for whom they had no reaction throughout the course of the night. I’ve never been an avid Dolph Ziggler supporter—I like the guy, but I’ve never been one clamoring for his push to the top. That being said I suspect the “Show Off” is being written-off once again. Since outlasting nine other Superstars at the Survivor Series, Dolph Ziggler seems to have fallen down the card to an elevated enhancement-level position. I don’t think we’re ever going to see Dolph Ziggler get squashed ala Barry Horowitz, but I don’t think WWE Creative sees Dolph as anything other than an athletic Superstar who can sell. I’m sure quite a few residents of the WWE Universe were positive Dolph would earn the victory over the “Eater of Worlds,” and who can blame them for thinking that? The WWE is notorious for constant “Even-Steven Booking,” never allowing anyone the chance to build momentum without suffering a pointless loss on a random episode of Smackdown. I too thought the former world champion might get his retribution, but the bigger picture is one of Bray Wyatt and I realized that only a few moments into this match. The Road to Wrestlemania is a complex system of detours and pitfalls designed to keep unworthy combatants from competing on the Grandest Stage of Them All. The good money is that Bray Wyatt will seek an audience with the Dead Man, challenging the Undertaker to his first match since losing to Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30. But what of Dolph Ziggler? Speculation went wild for a few days and then died regarding a potential “Battle of the Underdogs,” featuring Dolph and Daniel Bryan. I hope Daniel has a bit more to do in Santa Clara than work a midcard match with Dolph, but if the alternative is wrestling Sheamus, I’m all about Dolph vs. Daniel at Levi’s Stadium.
3. Rusev’s Russian Propaganda
Alexander Rusev—because I believe characters need twonames—is without question my favorite heel outside of the current King of Instagram, Seth Rollins. I watched Rusev grow from a green power lifter in the performance center, to a well-rounded highly psychological fighting machine on Raw. I’m sure the idea of positioning Lana alongside Rusev stemmed both from their pre-existing romance, as well as Rusev’s apparent inability to speak English. But as we’ve learned in recent months, the “Bulgarian Brute” is not only fluent in our native tongue, but also capable of delivering some of the finest promos on WWE television. I’m sure Rusev is being scripted just the same as Dolph Ziggler and Ryback and all of the other Superstars who sound exactly the same, but the difference is Rusev is a caricature rather than a real-life character. Speaking as a writer, it is much easier to speak on behalf of someone when they have a predefined way of communicating. Rusev talks in short phrases and broken-English, so it’s simple for a Creative team member to write for him, as opposed to someone such as Roman Reigns. I really enjoy how Lana uses sarcasm and backhanded compliments to dig her nails deep beneath the skin of the live crowds, and this week’s anti-Cena “propaganda” video fell right in line with her anti-American character. John Cena was awesome as always; his speeches about working hard for the fans are so corny that they’re almost cool. When John Cena started he would come to the ring wearing throwback jerseys featuring retired sports teams such as the LA Rams and the Washington Generals. Well after spending over ten years promoting “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect,” Cena has become a throw-back in himself. Nobody listens to his clichéd monologues and says, “Yeah! John Cena is fighting for me! Because I’m a fan!” No! They’re saying, “That John Cena is a dork, but that’s why we love him.” However even a dork with a comic book t-shirt of himself has his breaking point, and for John Cena it’s when anybody messes with the Stars and Stripes. I’m looking forward to their match at Fastlane and would like to make a prediction: John Cena loses to Rusev and feels distraught over losing to the “Pride of the Russian Federation.” He challenges Rusev to another match at Wrestlemania and for a month we get old school training montages featuring John Cena running in the snow and scaling stadium stairs. Then when it comes time to fight, John Cena hits the ring to his original music, because tonight’s not about “Not Seeing” anybody—tonight’s about teaching Rusev a lesson in “Basic Thuganomics.” Word Lyfe.
2. Daniel Did All the Work
The main event began just as any other final match on Monday Night Raw—it was 7:50PST and we were about to watch a 5-on-2 handicap match. I was moments away from turning off my TV and catching up on “Better Call Saul,” but decided to stick it out just in case anything interesting happened. The match went down much the way I assumed, with plenty of unfair advantages employed by the Authority, a kick-spot by Bryan on the Stooges, and several Superman Punches. Who’s actually in charge of the Authority when Triple H and Stephanie aren’t around? I mean obviously they’re always around, Triple H even made an appearance earlier in the evening. But speaking in terms of Kayfabe, who is the default leader? I like to think Seth Rollins and Kane have an unspoken agreement whereby stating Kane is the boss, but Seth has unlimited freedom to do as he pleases. Like when parents hire a babysitter to watch their little kids, while a teenager is upstairs smoking pot in their bedroom. If you’re a regular reader of my Raw review you’ll notice that I fluctuate on my feelings for Glen Jacobs. I really like him when he’s playing the evil authoritative role, appearing only to choke slam someone at the tail end of a match. But it’s when he begins to mix it up in the ring that I flip flop as to what Kane’s true purpose in the company should be. The Big Show sucks and he always has. Let me tell you something about the Big Show—he was cool in WCW because they introduced him as the “Son of Andre the Giant,” which corresponded with Hulk Hogan’s babyface run on top. He was cool during the Attitude Era because he made his appearance in a very surprising way and then it was like, “Oh wow! They’ve got The Giant in the WWF now!” He had some high spots including breaking the ring and holding the WWE’s version of the ECW title, but aside from a few bullet points, the Big Show sucks and should transition out of the ring. Mercury and Noble are in the same age demographic as their supersized counterparts, but are perhaps among the most athletically gifted individuals in the match. Now it comes time to talk about Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan. I don’t really care for Roman, but I think he’s doing his best to fix whatever the hell was wrong with him two weeks ago in Philadelphia. Since then he’s seemed stronger, swifter, and far more confident. I’m curious as to who the WWE turns heel, if they decide to turn either individual. It would be easy enough to transition Roman into that spot given that a good majority of the ‘Universe still isn’t sold on the former Muscle of the Shield. But I’m inclined to believe Bryan would be the best bad guy the WWE has had since CM Punk went rogue. Daniel Bryan has previously played a villain in the company, but did so as a second-rate goofball that was beaten at Wrestlemania in a matter of seconds. But the former ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson was a different sort of competitor; Danielson would regularly attempt to break his opponent’s bones, as they clutched the ropes he’d scream: “I HAVE ‘TIL FIVE!” When the main event concluded and Reigns swooped in to earn the pin fall, Daniel began to become unhinged. Roman turned away, and Bryan pulled him back, instructing the “rookie” Reigns not to turn his back on him. Reigns disrespect Bryan again, leading the former WWE world heavyweight champion to shove the much-larger Roman Reigns clear across the ring, hollering, “I did all the work!” Reigns returned with a receipt in the form of a Spear, laying Bryan flat on the canvas beneath the gargantuan Wrestlemania banner.
1. Fake Sting Returns!
Okay so maybe it wasn’t the real Jeff Farmer—that’s the guy who played “Fake Sting,” but tonight’s brand of mind games harkened back to a time when segments were carefully planned and executed to perfection. Triple H is one of my favorite personalities in all of professional wrestling, both for his in-ring work as well as his outside contributions to the business. I think saying Triple H is one of the wisest men in all of Titan Towers is an understatement, and I’m always happy to see him spearhead a program that he feels passionate about. We may whine and complain about the current state of the tag division, or how awfully the WWE is treating Alex Riley, but more often than not the masses are silenced by the spectacle of whatever it is that Triple H is up to. Since this time last year Gary Mastriano and I have both said that Sting’s only opponent inside the WWE’s squared-circle should be the King of Kings; Sting shouldn’t wrestle any of the up-and-coming talent and should instead focus his sights on a “dream match” with a fellow veteran of the Monday Night Wars. The current roster only features a handful of names active during those days, and as much as I love Mark Henry and the Undertaker, I think Sting could have his greatest performance with Triple. Granted Steve Borden is 55 years old, there’s room to assume that this could be his best match ever. Ever? EVER! If you closely examine what Sting did in WCW, he had a great run of matches with Ric Flair, Vader, the Great Muta—but was ultimately responsible for working with statuesque bodybuilders like Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and the Macho Man. Fast forward to TNA where Sting is working inside a six sided ring against the likes of Bubba Ray Dudley and Jeff Jarrett. While his matches with AJ Styles were decent enough, I wonder what kind of confrontation we can expect from Sting if he’s working with one of the most consummate ring generals in history, as well as the COO of the WWE. I loved this promo because it allowed Hunter the chance to spread his villainous wings after coming off so clean-cut last week in his interview with Steve Austin. When the video began to roll my first question was: who the hell does Sting know in the production truck? Am I to believe Steve Borden made this video on his MacBook Air while on his patio at home in Dallas, Texas? Regardless, it was a really well produced vignette tying each strand of this saga together perfectly. Triple H was noticeably spooked by the affair and began to back-trot out of the ring, where he was met by a mysterious figure whose face was painted to resemble Sting. As the 13-time world champion attempted to scamper away from sight, the Titantron flashed the words, “I accept”—Sting will be in Memphis, Tennessee at Fastlane.
This evening’s episode of Monday Night Raw featured nine matches, and since my most consistent complaint in recent months has been the lack of in-ring action I’m willing to consider this a successful show. Now that the WWE has reached a reasonable rate of three matches per hour, it’s time they focus on booking Superstars against different opponents from week to week so that it doesn’t seem like we’re always watching the same old Usos match. The WWE advertised a face-to-face encounter with Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns for this week’s Smackdown; what will the two men vying to become number one contender have to say to one another when they’re once again confined to the same ring? Until next time, my name is Mark Adam Haggerty and this has been the “Highlight of the Night.”
