Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, February 23rd, 2015 (USA Network)
Location: The Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN
Results by Matt Boone
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…”
Randy Orton & The Authority Kick Off RAW
The post-Fastlane edition of WWE RAW kicks off with Randy Orton’s theme music. “The Viper” makes his way to the ring to a big pop from the fans in attendance. Highlights are shown of Orton’s return at last night’s Fastlane PPV as he makes his way to the ring live on RAW.
Orton stands in the middle of the ring with a mic as the fans begin to chant “Randy! Randy! Randy” Orton says he’s not here to talk forever, but there is something he needs to get off his chest. He addresses the fact that he’s been on the sidelines for the last four months. He says it’s because of Seth Rollins and The Authority. He shows a video package which shows Rollins injuring Orton four months ago.
After the video, Orton says he’s replayed that scene in his head over and over again for the past four months. He warns The Authority that what he did last night was only him getting started. Orton says starting tonight, he’s done talking. He orders Rollins to come down to the ring.
Instead of Rollins, “King of Kings” hits. With that being said, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Big Show and Kane all come out. All four make their way to the ring. Stephanie decides to be the talker of the group. She welcomes Orton back.
Stephanie talks about the Randy Orton she wants as the face of WWE. Orton tells Steph to stop it. He informs her that he’s not part of their party anymore. He warns Steph and promises to bash Rollins’ head in. Steph tries to reason with Orton. Steph asks Randy to “come back home and join The Authority.” She sticks her hand out for Orton to shake. Orton says it’s tempting, but he’d rather kick some ass than kiss some ass.
Big Show takes the mic from Steph and now he tries to reason with Orton. The fans boo loudly as Big Show tries to speak. The fans chant “You Sold Out” as Big Show as he tries to tell Orton that joining The Authority was the best thing he’s ever done. Big Show tells Orton that him coming back to The Authority is the best decision he could ever make. Orton says “and by coming back to The Authority, you mean — selling out?”
Steph tries again. She gets in Orton’s face and tells him to look in her eyes. Steph tells Orton that he’s not a good guy. She talks about some of the deplorable acts Orton has done in the past. She tells him he’s a bad guy. She brings up Orton’s past with her family and some of the crazy things he’s done there. Steph tells Orton to have a business meeting with them so they can talk like professionals.
As they go to leave, Triple H stops and stays in the ring by himself, staring a hole through Orton. Finally, he leaves with the rest of The Authority. Orton remains in the ring by himself.
Orton stops The Authority when they get to the top of the stage. He says, “fine, I’ll be there. Business meeting.” The Authority smiles, all except HHH, who is still staring at Orton from the top of the stage. Orton looks at them and smiles. That ends the opening segment for this week’s show.
Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler
From there, Bad News Barrett’s theme hits. Out comes the WWE Intercontinental Champion without his title, as it was stolen by Dean Ambrose at last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. As Barrett makes his way to the ring, we head to our first commercial break of the evening.
When we return from the break, Barrett is in the middle of cutting a promo, basically complaining about his I-C title being stolen. From there, Dolph Ziggler’s music hits to interrupt him. Ziggler makes his way to the ring as we find out R-Truth is on commentary for this one.
The bell rings and here we go. Truth talks on commentary about how he deserves a title opportunity, and how he beat Barrett recently. Meanwhile, Barrett is dominating the action on Ziggler inside the ring.
Truth certainly is acting strange on commentary. Anyways, the match in the ring has literally been all Barrett thus far. Ziggler finally starts to try and make his first comeback attempt, however Barrett cuts him short. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Barrett still in control of the action. Truth is still goofing around on commentary while Ziggler finally starts mounting his first offensive series in this contest.
Ziggler turns a Wasteland attempt from Barrett into a DDT. We see — via the WWE App — that Barrett threw Ziggler right into Truth outside the ring during the commercial break. Back in the ring, Barrett catches Ziggler coming in with a super kick. He follows that up with a powerbomb for a near fall.
Barrett hits the Winds of Change for a close pinfall attempt, however Ziggler manages to survive. Barrett starts stomping Ziggler in the corner. Barrett goes for Wasteland again, but this time Ziggler reverses it into a pin roll up. He hits the Zig-Zag and then covers Barrett. 1-2-3. Ziggler wins.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
After The Match: Dean Ambrose Strikes
After the match, while Ziggler is celebrating, Dean Ambrose’s theme hits. Ambrose comes out with the Intercontinental Championship. He makes his way to the ring. Ambrose gets in the ring and stands right in front of Barrett, taunting him with his own I-C title. Now, Ambrose and Ziggler start staring at each other. Ziggler looks down at the I-C title. Ambrose shoulder-bumps into Ziggler as he walks past him. He exits the ring and leaves up the ramp still holding the I-C title. We head to another commercial break after the match.
Triple H & Sting Update
When we return from commercial, we see highlights of what went down last night at WWE Fastlane between Triple H and Sting. The announcers then remind us that HHH vs. Sting is officially confirmed for WrestleMania 31. Michael Cole then says tonight we’ll take a look at the man called Sting.
Randy Orton Re-Joins The Authority?
From there, we head backstage where we see Randy Orton and Seth Rollins with The Authority. Rollins tries to complain but Stephanie cuts in. Kane tries to reason with Stephanie, and Steph cuts him off as well. Steph says this isn’t about them, it’s about The Authority. Rollins asks how they’re supposed to trust Orton.
Steph says if Orton can find it in his heart to give Rollins, than they can all forgive Orton. Steph asks Orton again if he’s with them. The whole time this is going on, by the way, Triple H is just staring off into the distance. Orton sticks his hand out. Rollins shakes it as Steph claps and smiles. Steph says tonight it will be Orton and Rollins teaming up to take on Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. We head to another commercial break.
The Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension
When we return from commercial, we see The Prime Time Players in the ring, Titus O’Neil and Darren Young. From there, The Ascension’s theme music makes their way to the ring. Tag-team action is up next here on WWE RAW.
The bell rings to kick this one off. Darren Young and Viktor kick things off for their respective teams. Viktor tags in his parter, who picks up where he left off, taking it to Young. The two continue to utilize quick tags to keep a fresh man on Young and continuing to deliver punishment.
The domination of Young continues. The Ascension hit their double-team move on Young, but O’Neil comes in to make the save during the pin. One of the Ascension members takes O’Neil out of the ring. While this is happening, Young rolls up the other Ascension member. 1-2-3. The Prime Time Players hand The Ascension their first loss. After the match, The Ascension attacks Young. We head to commercial break after the match.
Winners: The Prime Time Players
Roman Reigns Addresses WrestleMania 31
We’re back from the break and Roman Reigns’ theme hits. The number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship makes his way to the ring as highlights are shown of his victory over Daniel Bryan at last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view.
Reigns talks about beating Bryan at Fastlane and earning the next shot at Brock Lesnar. He says he knows a lot of people were rooting for the other guy. As he continues to talk, Daniel Bryan’s music interrupts him.
Bryan comes out to a bunch of “Yes!” chants. Bryan says he knew Reigns deserved to get the shot last night but like a lot of these fans, he just booed inside. Bryan says he is the biggest Roman Reigns doubter there is. Bryan talks about Reigns has the look and size. He’s seen a bunch of guys who have that but don’t have half the heart that he does. Bryan says that’s why fans don’t like Reigns and a “yes!” chant starts. Bryan says that’s why he didn’t like Reigns. Bryan says he gave the match everything he had and then some but still couldn’t do it. Bryan doesn’t regret a thing because he gave it all he had. Bryan says Reigns proved to him that Reigns has more heart than he ever thought. Bryan congratulates Reigns and extends his hand. They shake. Bryan says if there’s one Superstar he wants to team with in the main event tonight, it’s Reigns. Bryan tells Reigns to go beat the crap out of Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31.
Bryan drops the mic and leaves to a pop as his music plays. As Bryan is making his way up the ramp, out comes Paul Heyman. Heyman watches as Bryan heads to the back. He begins to address the crowd as he makes his way to the ring, where Reigns is still standing.
Heyman approaches the ring and talks to Reigns. He tells him that he knew all along he would be the man to win the Royal Rumbke. He says he knew he was going to win last night as well. He says, however, Reigns won’t be able to beat Lesnar.
Reigns goes on to talk about how he’s not just going to WrestleMania 31, he’s going to WrestleMania 31 to beat Brock Lesnar and become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He tells Heyman to believe that. His music hits to end the segment. After the segment, we head to a break.
WWE Tag-Team Championship
– Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (c) vs. The Usos
When we return from the break, the former WWE Tag-Team Champions The Usos, accompanied by Naomi, make their way to the ring. Out next are their opponents for tonight in this immediate title rematch from Fastlane, the new WWE Tag-Team Champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, who come to the ring accompanied by Natalya.
The bell sounds to make this one official. Jey Uso and Cesaro kick things off for their respective teams. In the early goings, Uso controls the action. The guys spill out to the floor where The Usos utilize some double-team offense to gain control of the match. Moments later, however, Cesaro and Kidd are hitting double-team spots and now they are firmly in control as the match resumes in the ring.
Each team takes turns in control, with the action high-paced and bodies flying all over the place several times during the match. As the heels begin to take over again, we head to a mid-match commercial break.
We return from the break to see the heels still in control, however, The Usos are in the middle of making a comeback. Cesaro hits the Cesaro Swing. He and Kidd do some double-team moves to one of the Usos.
Cesaro and Kidd look to do their double-team finisher, but Uso avoids it. He hits an electric chair on Cesaro and the other Uso follows up with a big splash off the top. As he goes to pin Cesaro, Kidd breaks up the count.
Uso hits a big superkick on Kidd. He goes for the Rikishi butt splash in the corner but Kidd moves. Kidd rolls Uso up and tries to put his feet on the ropes, but Naomi knocks them off. As Uso tries to hit his splash off the top, Natalya crotches him. Naomi nails Nattie from behind. Cesaro and Kidd check on Nattie outside the ring. The heels retain. After the match, we head to another commercial break.
Winners and STILL WWE Tag-Team Champions: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Bray Wyatt Addresses The Undertaker
When we return from the break, we see highlights of last night’s Undertaker-inspired segment with Bray Wyatt at WWE Fastlane.
From there, we return live on RAW to see Wyatt backstage with a casket. He cuts another cryptic promo on Undertaker the same way he has been doing for several weeks now.
Wyatt brings up the 21-1 record at WrestleMania. Wyatt said the loss last year was the end of Undertaker. He says it represents the day he became a broken, shell of his former self. Wyatt closes the casket and ends the segment by looking at the camera and saying, “find me.”
Stardust vs. Jack Swagger
From there, Stardust makes his way to the ring. The announcers talk about last night’s match between brothers with Goldust and Stardust. On that note, we head to a commercial break. Stardust will be in action when we return.
When we return from the break, Jack Swagger is making his entrance to the ring. It’s Stardust versus Jack Swagger next here on WWE RAW.
The bell sounds to make this one official and right out of the gate, Stardust immediately goes to work, as he’s all over Swagger from the word “go.” Stardust continues to work over Swagger in the corner, easily handling “The Real American” thus far.
Out of nowhere, Goldust’s theme hits. Out he comes, which provides a distraction. Swagger takes advantage of the distraction, as he slaps the Patriot Lock on Stardust. Stardust taps out as Goldust stares him down from the ramp. The segment ends with Goldust staring down Stardust, who freaks out in the ring. We head to a break.
Winner: Jack Swagger
John Cena Challenges Rusev To Rematch At WrestleMania 31
After the commercial break, John Cena makes his way to the ring. As he’s making his entrance, the commentators talk about what happened between he and Rusev at Fastlane on Sunday night.
Cena stands in the ring with a mic. He talks about last night’s Fastlane show. He admits that last night he lost to Rusev. He says all Rusev proved last night was that the “mighty Rusev is nothing more than a coward.”
With that said, Rusev’s theme hits and out he comes with Lana. Lana tells Cena “we told you so.” Lana starts doing the “shut-tup” thing to the fans heckling she and Rusev. She tells Cena he failed last night.
Rusev gets on the mic and tells Cena he embarassed him last night. He says it’s now Rusev’s time. He says no one can beat him. Rusev tells Cena he wants him to admit that Rusev and Russia is better than Cena and America.
Cena tells Rusev he can talk trash about him all he wants, but warns him to watch his mouth when talking about the United States. Lana asks what Cena’s gonna do if they don’t. Lana shows Cena what happened to him last night.
Cena gets all patriotic talking about the U.S. Cena calls Rusev garbage and tells him it’s time to take the trash out. He tells Rusev he’s going to beat him and bring the U.S. Championship home where it belongs — the United States of America. Cena tells Rusev he’s going to beat his ass at WrestleMania. Rusev turns down Cena’s WrestleMania challenge and leaves.
The History Of Sting
A long video package airs showing the career of Sting in WCW. The video features a look throughout Sting’s entire career, with several big names doing talking heads about his career as clips are shown. Like a mini-documentary with all shoot-style facts, which blends into the current storyline with Sting and Triple H.
Paige & Emma vs. The Bella Twins
Out comes Paige for Divas action. She has her own ring gear back on this week. Out next is Emma. Those two remain in the ring and wait on their opponents. The Bella Twins’ theme hits and out comes Nikki and Brie for Divas tag-team action.
Brie hits a cheap shot on Emma while Paige is distracted to kick off the match. As it turns out, that is the match. Brie scores the pin off of that, 1-2-3. After the match, Paige knocks Brie down, but Nikki makes the save and takes out Paige. The Bella Twins leave celebrating while Paige and Emma are left laying in the ring. After the match, we head to another commercial.
Winners: The Bella Twins
WWE Hall Of Fame Announcement
Back from the break and it’s time to make the next inductee announcement for the 2015 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame. This week’s announcement is for a tag-team. The Bushwhackers are officially the next entrants into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Curtis Axel vs. Ryback
After the Hall Of Fame announcement, we return to the ring, where we see Curtis Axel wearing a Hulk Hogan colored “Axelmania” t-shirt. Axel points to the WrestleMania logo and cuts a promo before his match. He announces himself as an entrant in the 2015 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.
From there, Ryback’s theme music hits and out he comes. Ryback also announces himself for the memorial battle royal. The two then have a quick, minute or so long match which Ryback wins with two moves. After the match, we head to another commercial break.
Winner: Ryback
Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton & Seth Rollins
After the commercial, Seth Rollins’ theme hits. J&J Security accompanies Rollins as he makes his way to the ring. As he makes his way to the ring, the clips between he and Jon Stewart are shown. Rollins cuts a little promo and then out comes his tag-team partner for tonight, “The Viper” Randy Orton.
Rollins and Orton stand in the ring now as Daniel Bryan’s theme hits. The leader of the “Yes! Movement” makes his way to the ring. Bryan’s partner for tonight is his opponent from last night, Roman Reigns, who makes his way to the ring through the crowd now. We go to another commercial.
When we return from the break, Rollins and Bryan kick things off for their respective teams in this one. Quickly, Rollins tags in Orton. Bryan tags in Reigns. Orton immediately goes to work on Reigns. “The Viper” is having his way in this match thus far.
Bryan and Rollins end up back as the legal men in the match. Bryan launches Rollins out to the floor. Bryan goes to hit his running dive through the ropes onto Rollins, but Rollins teammate, Orton, yanks Rollins out of the way before Bryan dives. Orton calls over J&J Security, Rollins and Big Show to regroup and talk things over. As that is going on, we head to our final commercial break of the evening.
We’re back from the break and the first thing we see is Orton dominating the action in the ring. The announcers hard-sell the fact that Stephanie McMahon did an impressive job getting the two huge egos of Rollins and Orton to co-exist here tonight. Meanwhile, Orton continues to dominate the action in the ring, taking it to Daniel Bryan with a vengeance.
Finally, Bryan makes it to his corner and tags in Roman Reigns. Orton also tagged out. Reigns immediately takes it to Rollins off the hot tag. He calls for the Superman punch but ends up hitting J&J Security, who popped up on the apron. Rollins takes Reigns out with a big superkick and tags in Orton.
Orton steps into the ring and grabs Reigns. He and Orton begin exchanging punches back-and-forth. Finally, Rollins tags himself in, which pisses Orton off. The Authority tries to calm Orton down on the outside. Meanwhile, Bryan does the same thing, tagging himself in, but Reigns just laughs it off. Bryan hits the Running Knee on Rollins. 1-2-3. Bryan and Reigns win.
Winners: Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan
After The Match: Orton Isn’t Finished
After the match, Orton continues to lose his cool. Bryan and Reigns celebrate and eventually leave. Orton waits for Rollins to get up, looking to hit him with the punt-kick. As he runs towards him, Jamie Noble grabs him from behind, only to eat an RKO out of nowhere for his attempt. Orton then simply walks over and helps Rollins up. He pats Rollins on the back and leaves as his music plays. Rollins and The Authority seem confused. This week’s show ends on that note.
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AEW: Skye Blue vs. Leyla Hirsch & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. TBA Set for Sat. Collision, Jim Ross to be at AEW Dynasty, Revolution 2024 PPV Buys Update
