WWE RAW Results (3/23/15) – Sting/Triple H, Hogan Returns & More!

Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, March 23rd, 2015 (USA Network)
Location: The STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA
Results by Matt Boone

“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…”

Sting, Stephanie McMahon & Triple H Kick Off RAW

This week’s show opens up with Michael Cole welcoming us inside the sold out Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The crowd is hot tonight, folks! The announcers promote Snoop Dogg and Bill Simmons’ appearance on tonight’s show and then we get right into the show.

We kick things off strong, as we hear the crow sounds and the lights dim. Sting walks out on stage to kick off this week’s RAW!

“Sting! Sting! Sting!” chants the fans as Sting holds a mic. “So, this is what it feels like to kick off Monday Night RAW, huh?!” The fans explode.

Sting talks about watching Triple H rise through the ranks for years, back-stabbing people, being under-handed and doing any-and-everything to get to the top of WWE. He says he is the last solider standing from some forgotten war, but he’s not here to fight for WCW. He says that would be ridiculous at this point. He says he’s here for one reason — to take Triple H — DOWN.

Before he can continue, Sting is interrupted by Stephanie McMahon’s theme. The billion dollar princess makes her way to the ring as Sting waits for her.

“So this is what it feels like to be in the ring with the Stinger, the last hold-up of WCW,” opens Stephanie. She congratulates Sting on finally making it to the big-time. Stephanie tells Sting he’s lucky to be in the ring with her. She tells him to soak it in.

Sting tells Stephanie she’s had everything handed to her, but tells her it’s nice to finally meet her. Stephanie says she can tell Sting is intimidated by her. She says in WCW, Sting was a great big fish in a teeny-tiny pond, but in WWE, he’s a tiny minow swiming in an ocean. She tells Sting she’s one of the people who helped end his career when WWE defeated WCW in the Monday Night War.

Stephanie goes on to compare Sting to a dog, but finishes by saying she isn’t comparing him to a dog because she doesn’t want to insult dogs. She tells Sting that this Sunday, he will lose any respect he thought he had when her husband pins him in the middle of this ring. She calls him a face-painted-freak. Sting smirks and does his “Woooo!” chant to the fans. Sting winks at her. Stephanie goes to slap him, but Sting catches her hand.

“King of Kings” hits as Sting continues to hold Stephanie’s arm. Triple H comes out and takes his tie off and unbuttons his dress shirt. He heads to the ring as Stephanie smiles at Sting.

Triple H walks over to Stephanie and, off-mic, asks if Sting put his hands on her. Steph says yes. Triple H takes his sport coat off and rolls up his sleeves. Steph tells him to wait. Steph goes under the ring and grabs a sledgehammer. She hands it to Triple H, who is standing on the apron.

HHH takes the sledgehammer and as he goes to enter the ring, he notices Sting now has his trademark black baseball bat. Sting tells him to come on in. The fans chant “Sting! Sting! Sting!” as HHH contemplates coming into the ring. HHH decides not to and hops off the apron and back out to the floor.

Sting takes his big coat off and drops the bat and dares HHH, who is now walking back up the aisle with Steph, to come back and get in the ring. HHH heads towards the ring. He stops as the fans chant for Sting again. Steph gets in front of HHH and backs him up, telling him to save it for WrestleMania. Sting’s music plays as HHH and Steph head back up the ramp.

WWE App Poll For Tonight

After the Sting/Triple H opener, the announcers plug tonight’s WWE App poll, which allows fans to vote for Randy Orton’s opponent tonight. The options are Big Show, Kane and Seth Rollins with J&J Security.

Backstage: AJ Lee & Paige

Backstage, we see Paige and AJ Lee talking as the announcers talk about their Divas tag-team match against The Bella Twins at WrestleMania 31 this Sunday.

Dean Ambrose & R-Truth vs. Stardust & Luke Harper

From there, Dean Ambrose’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring. The announcers inform us that Ambrose and R-Truth will be in tag-team action against Stardust and Luke Harper — next. We head to our first commercial break of the evening.

When we return from the break, all four men are now in the ring. Joining the announcers on commentary is the WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett. The bell sounds and here we go with the first match of the evening.

Ambrose dominates the action for the babyfaces for the most part early on. All four guys get involved, with Ambrose and Truth throwing them out to the floor and standing tall as we head to a mid-match commercial.

We’re back from the break and the action is in progress in the ring. The heels have taken over and seem to be in complete control at this point. This lasts pretty much all the way to the finish, which sees Stardust turn around right into Truth’s finisher. 1-2-3. The good guys win.

Winners: Dean Ambrose & R-Truth

Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, The Miz & Damien Mizdow

“Get Hard” stars Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart are shown in a pre-recorded segment from a press junket, being interviewed by The Miz and Damien Mizdow. Ferrell and Hart seem to like Mizdow, but Miz keeps trying to steal the attention. Finally, Miz insists that Mizdow get him some water. Ferrell offers to. That ends the segment.

The Miz, Damien Mizdow, Adam Rose & The Ascension vs. Erick Rowan, Ryback, Zack Ryder & The Prime Time Players

Prior to the Will Ferrell segment, The Miz and Mizdow was making their way to the ring. The announcers tell us ten-man tag-team action is coming up next.

When we return from the break, all ten guys are in the ring. It’s The Miz, Damien Mizdow, Adam Rose and The Ascension against Erick Rowan, Ryback, Zack Ryder and The Prime Time Players, with Bill Simmons on commentary for this one.

The Miz draws some heat to himself early on by showboating and ignoring Mizdow and the fans chants. Eventually, Miz gets beaten down. All hell breaks loose with pretty much everyone getting involved at one time or another, all-the-while the announcers completely ignore the action in favor of talking to Bill Simmons about a bunch of old wrestling stuff that has no relevance on today’s scene for the most part.

Finally, Mizdow gets tagged in and the Staples Center goes completely bonkers for him. Mizdow flies around for a bit, hitting anything that moves, but within a few seconds, The Miz demands he tag him into the match. Mizdow thinks about it for a bit, and eventually tags him in as ordered.

Ryback tags in and starts taking The Miz apart limb from limb. He’s throwing him all over the place like a rag doll while playing to the crowd. The fans chant “Feed Me More” as Ryback gets ready to hit Miz with his finisher. The heels interfere and stop it, but Ryback takes them all out. Miz attacks Ryback from behind as the fans boo. Miz plays to the crowd, only to turn around into a Meathook clothesline. Ryback picks him up for the Shellshock and nails it. 1-2-3. The babyface team wins.

After the match, the announcers talk a bit more to Bill Simmons, asking him what he likes about the WWE Network. Simmons basically says the price. From there, we see highlights of last week’s main event, which included Sting and Randy Orton side-by-side. After that, we head to another commercial break.

Winners: Erick Rowan, Ryback, Zack Ryder & The Prime Time Players

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins, Jamie Noble & Joey Mercury

When we return from the break, Randy Orton makes his way to the ring. From there, Booker T reveals who won the WWE App poll to decide Orton’s opponent for tonight. The options were Big Show, Kane and Seth Rollins along with J&J Security. The winner(s), with 77 percent of the vote is Rollins and J&J Security.

With that said, out comes Rollins, Noble and Mercury. The bell rings and here we go. Orton and Mercury kick things off, with Orton immediately taking control of the offense.

Orton dominates Mercury for a while and then Noble, until the numbers game plays into their favor and they take over on “The Viper.”

Randy takes back over and nails J&J Security with a double-draping DDT off the ropes. Rollins runs in and goes for the Curb Stomp on Orton, but Orton blocks it and goes for an RKO. Rollins shoves Noble into the RKO instead. Rollins retreats as Orton scores the pin. Orton stares Rollins down after the match.

Winner: Randy Orton

Backstage: AJ Lee & Paige

Backstage, we see Paige getting ready. AJ Lee walks in and talks about how Nikki Bella gets to pick who she defends the Divas title tonight between the two. She says Nikki is trying to cause issues with them before their tag-team match at WrestleMania. Things are fine until Paige says it would have been “crazy” to turn down the shot. That word “crazy” seemed to bother AJ. We head to a commercial.

WWE Divas Championship
Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige

When we return from the break, Paige makes her way down to the ring for this title match. AJ Lee is outside of the ring for this one. Out next is Nikki Bella, who comes out along with Brie Bella.

The bell rings and here we go. Paige gets in a bunch of offense early on. Nikki fights back a bit, but Paige re-establishes control as we head to a mid-match commercial.

We’re back from the break and we see Nikki in control of the offense now. Paige turns the tables and takes over until the finish, which saw the action spill out to the floor, with AJ accidentally hitting Paige without realizing it.

Paige, after getting hit by AJ on accident, turns right into a big shot from Nikki on the floor. Back in the ring, Nikki hits her Rack Attack finisher on her for the 1-2-3. We head to a commercial break after the match.

After the match, Paige and AJ Lee lose their cool and start cat-fighting all over the place. The fans chant “CM Punk! CM Punk! CM Punk!” at AJ as this segment/match ends.

Winner and STILL WWE Divas Champion: Nikki Bella

Snoop Dogg-Mania, Axelmania and Hulkamania

When we return from the break, Snoop Dogg is introduced. He makes his way to the ring dancing. He gets on the mic and talks about Snoopmania. Before he can say much, Curtis Axel comes out and interrupts him.

Axel tells the fans not to change the channel. He gets in Snoop Dogg’s face and says he got it wrong, it’s Axelmania. Before he can say much, Snoop says he actually got it wrong.

With that said, Hulk Hogan’s theme hits and the fans in the Staples Center go wild. It’s Hulkamania time. Hulk gets in the ring and does his flexing pose, which Snoop does alongside with him.

Hogan puts over Hulkamania and puts over Snoop. He says as far as Axelmania goes, which he says Snoop knows better than anyone, “what’s this brother smoking over here?” Snoop laughs as Axel tears his shirt off, Hulk Hogan style.

Axel points his finger at Hogan and says, “Whatcha gonna do?!” Hogan blasts him and drops him. He feeds him to Snoop, who throws him out of the ring. Snoop tears his shirt off. Hogan’s music plays again as Hulk and Snoop do the muscle pose to the fans again.

Tyson Kidd, Cesaro & Natalya vs. Los Matadores & El Torito

When we return from commercial, it’s time fr an inter-spieces rematch from last week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.

The match begins, which features Tyson Kidd, Cesaro and Natalya taking on the trio of Los Matadores and El Torito. On commentary for this one are The Usos.

The match is kept pretty short, with the babyfaces getting in a lot of offense early on. The finish saw Natalya finally tag in and fight with El Torito. She nearly takes him out and pins him, but Torito kicks out and eventually scores the pin on Nattie.

Winners: Los Matadores & El Torito

Backstage: Bad News Barrett & Kane

Backstage, Kane walks into Bad News Barrett’s room. Kane tells Barrett he has to give him the Intercontinental title. Barrett doesn’t want to. Kane says he has to take it to hang it above the ring. He says as Director of Operations, he’s been authorized to strip Barrett of the title if he doesn’t comply. Barrett finally does. Kane then mocks Barrett, taunting him about the odds of him retaining his I-C title at WrestleMania 31 this Sunday in the big ladder match.

Rusev vs. Jack Swagger

Up next is a match featuring two familiar rivals, as Rusev is taking on Jack Swagger in one-on-one action.

The bell rings and here we go. Swagger actually takes control early on, but it isn’t long before the WWE United States Champion takes over. The announcers, meanwhile, are ignoring a lot of the action to talk about Rusev vs. John Cena at this Sunday’s WrestleMania.

The fans get on Rusev’s case with “We Want Lana” chants as Rusev sets up for his finisher. He gets it, locking Swagger in “The Accolade” submission. Swagger taps out. Rusev wins.

Winner: Rusev

After The Match: Rusev Destroys John Cena

After the match, Rusev refuses to break The Accolade on Swagger. The announcers point out that Lana is usually the one who gets Rusev to break the hold and she’s not here. Rusev continues to hold Swagger in The Accolade until finally Cena’s theme music hits and out he comes.

Cena comes out and runs to the ring. Rusev and Cena go at it, but Rusev quickly gets the better of things. Rusev throws Cena out on the floor and slams him into all kinds of stuff. Rusev takes the announce table apart and slams Cena on it. Rusev locks Cena in The Accolade on top of the announcers table. He refuses to break it, despite five or six referees trying to forcably get him off of Cena. They can’t, and Rusev continues to pull on Cena. The announcers get their serious/sad voices on as finally Rusev lets go.

Rusev heads back into the ring as the announcers are still talking sad and serious as medics attend to Cena while Rusev poses with his U.S. title in the ring as the giant Russian flag drops from the ceiling and his theme music plays. On that note, we head to another commercial break.

Bray Wyatt Sends One Last Message To The Undertaker

Bray Wyatt makes his way to the ring for a promo segment. Wyatt delivers another very typical Bray Wyatt-style promo, but he does so in a way with a lot of passion and a great delivers.

Wyatt talks about his match with Undertaker at this Sunday’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view, as well as his standing as the new “face of fear.”

The lightening from The Undertaker starts striking and sound effects are played, but Wyatt laughs and isn’t fazed. He says he controls the evil now, he controls the darkness. He says at WrestleMania this Sunday, he’s going to give The Undertaker the mercy he has been begging for from the kiss of Sister Abigail.

Wyatt ends his promo segment by kneeling down and doing The Undertaker’s hand-raise to the heavens. We head to another commercial break on that note.

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler
Special Referee: Dean Ambrose

We return from commercial and it’s time for our semi-main event of the evening, which features Daniel Bryan versus Dolph Ziggler, with Dean Ambrose serving as special guest referee. Ambrose won the WWE App poll for who serves as the special ref in this one. With that said, we head to a commercial.

When we return from the break, Bryan and Ziggler start going at it. Bryan throws Ziggler to the ground after a lock up. The two continue to trade offensive moves back-and-forth, with neither man establishing a clear advantage in the early going.

The action continues with each guy continuing to take turns in control. Bryan ends up knocking Ziggler out to the floor and flying out on top of him as we head to a mid-match commercial.

We’re back from the commercial and we see Ziggler holding Bryan in a sleeper hold. Bryan fights out and starts to fire up on offense. Bryan is in clear control now as the fans erupt in the Staples Center with “Yes!” chants.

Bryan gets Ziggler with a bunch of “Yes!” kicks, with the fans chanting for each one. Finally, out of nowhere, Ziggler blasts Bryan with a super kick. He follows up with a Zig-Zag for the 1-2-3. Ambrose counts the pin and this one is over.

After the match, one-by-one, eventually everyone involved in the I-C title ladder match at this Sunday’s WrestleMania 31 pay-per-view comes out to the ring, where Ambrose, after turning on Ziggler, pulls a ladder out from under the ring and sets it up under the I-C title in the ring. All of the guys in Sunday’s match filter in the ring. Eventually, everyone goes down and the RAW theme plays to end the segment. We head to a commercial.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns End RAW

When we return from the break, Paul Heyman and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, make their way to the ring for tonight’s final segment.

Heyman goes on and on about how Lesnar is unbeatable. He reminds everyone what Lesnar did to Undertaker at WrestleMania last year. He reminds everyone what Lesnar did to John Cena last year.

Lesnar’s “advocate” continues to talk, saying if he hasn’t convinced, or “sold” everyone to buy the WWE Network to watch Lesnar compete this Sunday at WrestleMania 31, he doesn’t know what else to say.

Finally, as Heyman continues to talk about what Lesnar is going to do to Roman Reigns in the WrestleMania 31 main event this Sunday in Santa Clara, California, Reigns’ theme music hits.

Roman Reigns makes his way to the ring through the crowd. Reigns gets in the ring, where Lesnar is now standing by himself. Reigns gets in Lesnar’s face. Lesnar holds the WWE World Heavyweight Championship up and puts it right in Reigns’ face. Reigns eventually grabs it out of Lesnar’s hands. Lesnar goes to take it back and the two basically have a tug-of-war over the belt as RAW ends pretty much out of nowhere, with both guys holding onto part of the title.

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