Raw was staged in New Orleans as WWE gave us another show that lacked overall punch in a slow middle section with two hot bookend segments.
The build continued for the Royal Rumble. Seth Rollins, John Cena and the man with no eyebrows, Brock Lesnar, had a traditional contract signing. Of course, nothing good ever comes from a contract signing and no good table ever goes unbroken.
More on that in a moment. Here are some things we learned from this week’s Raw:
Michael Cole believes TMZ exists in a world other than online and television. He said TMZ broke the Macho Man WWE Hall of Fame news “in print.” He probably also believes Facebook is a place where you can buy coffee…
Dean Ambrose is golden no matter the weak material he’s given by writers. Now if only his knees were stronger, as he's becoming the master of the funky finish…
Roman Reigns has been practicing with the microphone. He turned in two of his best promos on SmackDown and again on Raw. He’s showing more personality and he’s flubbing lines less. It’s still early, but these are good steps for him to become a total package…
Big Show is annoying as a heel. I know, heels are supposed to be annoying to some degree, but he’s unwatchable. He’s hardly endearing as a face, too…
It’s obvious the show misses Dolph Ziggler. The Showoff deserved the rest, but something was lacking without him…
Someone on WWE Creative had an idea. “How can we make someone from NXT really LOOK like they came from NXT? I know!” Enter The Ascension. They bring little to the table with their cheesy entrance, generic theme and bland promos. Wrestling against the roster from WCW Thunder isn’t helping them, either…
Booker T is worthless on commentary. Half the time you can’t understand what he’s saying. The other half he’s saying things that make no sense. That adds up to 100 percent of wasted time. Sadly, he makes JBL look good…
HHH gets points for his tie. Lana also wins points for going with brown attire this week…
Stephanie McMahon said WWE Fit Series features cardio workouts. Someone tell Randy Orton. Also, Stephanie needs Google maps. She said the Super(Silver)Dome was a few miles away from Raw venue Smoothie King Center. Um, it's right across the street, maybe a football field length, if that. Stephanie also last week called the arena an "office" though I can understand because I'm sure her office is really, really big…
Daniel Bryan is back. Yes, I’ve been critical of his ability to carry the banner, but WWE needs another top face so having him back is a bonus…
Which brings us to super face Cena. He started the show with a loss against Rollins in a lopsided Lumberjack match and a failed attempt to bring back Ziggler and Co. He finished on his back as a victim of the Curb Stomp.
Lesnar also took a Curb Stomp and he’s sold the move better than anyone else and he’s only taken it twice. Say what you want about Lesnar and if his heart really is in wrestling, but he has done well to put over Cena (in a DQ loss) and to make Rollins look like a legitimate threat to the title.
They’ve done well to not make Cena the center of the match. Rollins and Lesnar had a strong stare down and there’s intrigue and doubt regarding the outcome. Cena will get his 16thh and likely final title reign, but I’m not sure it comes at the Royal Rumble.
Note to Rollins: Don't take German suplexes with the gusto you did on Raw. You won't make it past two of them at that pace.