Monday Night Raw – March 28, 2016: Go Home, Go Home, GO HOME!
Monday Night Raw
Date: March 28, 2016
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton
It’s the final Raw before Wrestlemania and things are almost entirely set in stone. The big question is whether or not anything major happens between now and Sunday, as there’s still time for some big moves before we get into Dallas. There’s always a chance that it could happen but the go home Raw’s have been uneventful at times. Let’s get to it.
Here’s the Undertaker, who Cole calls the greatest of all time, to open things up. He gets right to the point (thankfully) and says that Shane’s blood will be on Vince’s hands, but Vince’s blood may be on Undertaker’s hands. This will NOT be his last Wrestlemania because the Cell is his house.
Cue Shane to say that Undertaker is fighting to not lose while he’s fighting to win. Shane is the agent of change that WWE has needed for a long time and no matter what happens, Shane will crawl down the aisle and stand in the middle of the ring to usher in a new era. Undertaker brings up legacies and Shane comes to the ring to get in his face. This talk doesn’t worry him because Undertaker’s legacy died two years ago at Wrestlemania.
Undertaker doesn’t want to hear about this because Shane has belonged to his father since the day he was born. That sets Shane off for his now standard offensive flurry, which still has no effect. They head outside with Shane escaping a Last Ride through the table and hitting Undertaker in the head (hands) with a monitor. Shane goes to the top for the top rope elbow which barely grazes Undertaker’s arm. However, since the New York fans are the smarkiest of smarky fans in the world, which translates to “we’ll cheer ANYTHING”, it’s called awesome, despite being borderline sad. Shane leaves and Undertaker sits up.
Chris Jericho vs. Zack Ryder
This is fallout from Jericho ripping into Ryder for being a loser on the pre-show. Before the match, here’s AJ Styles to interrupt. AJ still wants to face Jericho at Wrestlemania because that still hasn’t been booked for some reason. Ryder gets in a quick rollup for two to start but Jericho sends him to the floor. Jericho charges into the knees in the corner and Ryder’s middle rope dropkick puts Jericho in the corner. The Broski Boot is blocked by a Walls attempt but AJ starts a chant to make fun of Jericho, setting up a quick small package to give Ryder the pin at 1:55.
Jericho IMMEDIATELY hits a Codebreaker after the match to keep Ryder in his place. We get an old WCW style tantrum and Jericho agrees to the match.
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
Non-title and Sasha Banks is on commentary. They trade armdrags to start with Charlotte getting the better of it as we take an early break. Back with Becky running Charlotte over and Sasha getting to her feet. The distraction lets Ric trip Becky, setting up a big boot and Natural Selection to give Charlotte the pin at 6:28. Too much in the break to rate but Becky continues to look weak going into the title match.
Vince is in the back to say that he agrees the Cell is Undertaker’s yard but Shane wants the yard, the house and the whole WWE Universe. Shane comes in to say yell at Vince for thinking he’s the only one that can run Raw. This Sunday, Shane is letting out 40 years of frustration and taking the company from Vince, just like he took it from his dad.
Social Outcasts vs. Kane/Big Show
Barely a match as the Outcasts all come in for the DQ at 32 seconds.
The ring fills up with midcarders in the battle royal for the big brawl. Mark Henry, Kane and Big Show are left alone with Mark taking a double chokeslam. The Outcasts are chokeslammed at the same time.
We look back at Reigns attacking HHH and Stephanie last week.
Here are HHH and Stephanie, the former of which was announced as being on the way to the arena before the break. Stephanie orders all of us to get on our feet and show respect to the champ. HHH talks about how the largest crowd in history will be in Dallas this Sunday to see Reigns fall. It is the dream of every athlete to walk out on that stage and the dream of everyone here in this arena.
However, that’s never going to happen because they just don’t have the ability. Roman Reigns has that ability because he’s a one in a million talent but this Sunday he’s going to lose it all. We get a nice rant about how HHH’s obsession with this business and how it’s lead him to dominate this title for twenty years (not quite). That has allowed him to put on a suit and really run this business, only to have Reigns powerbomb him through that announce table four months ago.
All that did was reignite the fire in him though because maybe people had forgotten who he was. Now it’s time for HHH to become the old Game again and destroy Reigns once and for all. Stephanie screeches for a bit and here’s Reigns to a lot of booing. Thankfully he doesn’t say anything stupid but clears the ring, only to be booed even more.
The thing to remember here is this isn’t a response to what Reigns has been doing for the last month but rather to what he’s been doing for the last year and a half. The fans aren’t going to forget all the stupid promos and illogical booking that we’ve been subjected to. This has been a good final push for Reigns and things could get better in the future but Wrestlemania is looking like a wash at this point.
Stephanie and HHH promise to fix things.
Here’s New Day for a match but first of all they need to plug BootyO’s, the official cereal of Wrestlemania. They also question why the League of Nations doesn’t have their own cereal, with the theory being because it would suck. The fans LOVE New Day here, especially when Big E. praises New York pizza.
Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio
Kingston starts fast and sends Del Rio outside for a quick concert. Back in and a charge misses, allowing Del Rio to hit his reverse superplex for two as we take a break. Kingston is still in trouble when we come back with Del Rio getting two more off a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. The top rope double stomp misses for Alberto and the SOS gets two. Kofi misses in the corner again and a quick double stomp puts Kofi down. No cover though as Del Rio would rather shout and pose, allowing the armbreaker to be countered into a rollup for the pin at 7:40.
Rating: C-. Not great here as I’m getting tired of this feud. There’s a possibility that the titles have been cut out of the match to make it even less important than it already is, which was something you had to expect at some point. Kofi winning is a nice sign though as he’s really turning back into the version from nine years ago who looked like he could be something very special.
Post match THE COACH, as in Jonathan Coachman from ESPN, makes a surprise appearance to announce that SportsCenter will be covering Wrestlemania all day. He even dances a bit for fun.
We recap the opening brawl.
Roman Reigns is in the back for an interview when the Dudley Boys interrupt. Yeah because two people from NEW YORK are going to get Reigns cheered. HHH comes in for the sneak attack and Reigns is destroyed.
Konor vs. Kalisto
Non-title. Konor gets in an early headlock but Kalisto speeds things up with his kicks, followed by a dropkick to Viktor. A quick springboard Salida Del Sol puts Konor away at 1:49.
Post match Ryback comes out for a staredown.
Here are Heyman and Lesnar for the hard sell. Heyman talks about being the advocate for the baddest beast on the planet today before hyping us on the fact that we’re six days away. This year people have a once in a lifetime chance to see an athlete at the top of his game in Brock Lesnar. That’s why they’ve been looking for the right lunatic to take on Lesnar at Wrestlemania XXXII and Dean Ambrose happens to be smarter than he’s given credit for.
Dean has the opportunity to take some weapons and try to survive a no holds barred street fight against Brock Lesnar, which is the good news for Ambrose. However, the bad news is that he has a no holds barred street fight with BROCK LESNAR. Cue Dean with a wagon, which he fills with various “toys” from under the ring. Why he didn’t have those in there in the first place isn’t clear but he finds the barbed wire baseball bat and the chainsaw. After filling up the wagon, Dean leaves without even looking at Brock.
Paige vs. Emma
This is a preview match for the Total Divas (Paige/Alicia Fox/Brie Bella/Natalya) vs. what seems to be called Team Bad and Blonde (Lana/Naomi/Tamina/Summer Rae/Emma) for Sunday. Emma dropkicks Paige down to start and gets one off the former Emma Sandwich. The THIS IS MY HOUSE clothesline gets two for Paige but the other women get in an argument at ringside, allowing Lana to come in for a cheap shot to give Emma the pin at 2:53.
Post match the Total Divas get beaten down until Eva Marie of all people comes out for the save. The fans boo her almost as bad as Reigns but the rest of the Total Divas don’t seem impressed.
R-Truth comes up to Goldust and says it’s every man for himself in the battle royal. Goldust doesn’t care because they’re not a team.
Snoop Dogg is being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Sami Zayn/Sin Cara/Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens/Stardust/The Miz
The fans are WAY behind Sami as he starts with Miz. The arm work sets up a tag off to Owens but he tags out to Stardust instead. Off to Ziggler (in a shirt for some reason) to hold Stardust down with a front facelock (notice that they’re being VERY safe this week) before superkicking Miz off the apron to take us to a break.
Back with Sin Cara coming in off the ropes for an elbow to Stardust’s shoulder. The fans chant for Byron Saxton and then JBL as Stardust clotheslines Sin out of the air. Owens makes Stardust tag Miz as the CM Punk chants break out. Sami comes in to draw an OLE chant (at least it’s about the match now) and gets stomped down by Stardust. That’s enough of the heels in control as it’s off to Ziggler for a lukewarm reaction. Miz gets in a cheap shot from the apron as Owens still won’t come in. Ziggler gets stomped down even more and we take a second break.
Back again with Ziggler still in trouble as Miz puts on a chinlock. Now it turns into a NEW DAY ROCKS chant because the “smart” fans are surprised that a go home show doesn’t have the most exciting action. Ziggler sends Stardust into the post and gives Miz the Fameasser, setting up the hot tag to Sami. Everything breaks down and Cara makes a blind tag, allowing Sami to dive onto Owens.
Cara’s high cross body gets two on Stardust but the Swanton hits knees. Sami comes in again but walks into the Skull Crushing Finale which sets off the Parade of Finishers, capped off by a big Cara moonsault to Stardust. Now Owens comes in but the Pop Up Powerbomb is countered with a dropkick. Miz and Stardust want nothing to do with Owens now (makes perfect sense), allowing the tornado DDT and Helluva Kick to put Kevin away at 21:22.
Rating: C-. The match was dull but of course the focus is going to be on the crowd who couldn’t to five minutes without having some big dive or flip to entertain them, meaning we’re stuck with more announcers chants. I liked the basic story they went with here and that’s the best thing about the match. Seeing Sami pin Owens was a great touch too, as I don’t think he ever did that in NXT.
Usos vs. Dudley Boyz and the Divas tag are now on the USA portion of the pre-show. No word on where the battle royal will air.
Here’s the Authority to wrap things up. Stephanie talks about how Reigns is going to fall and promises that there will be no new leadership next week. It’s about time they acknowledged this for a change. HHH doesn’t want to hear about him attacking Reigns from behind because there’s too much at stake. This brings out Reigns for another brawl with Reigns getting the better of it until a bunch of guys (the League, Dudley Boyz and Stardust) come out to pull him off. This brings out some good guys and it’s a big brawl. They’re finally separated but Reigns does a big dive over the ropes to take out the pile to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. It’s a not horrible go home show for a not horribly built Wrestlemania. The crowd had its moments here but it’s pretty obvious that Sunday is going to be interesting and not in the best possible way. There’s some good stuff going on but they better knock it out of the part with everything they’re doing at the pay per view. Other than that, this was your standard go home Raw: not much action, a lot of pushing the pay per view, and little else. Oh and where are the Wyatts? Are they really just stuck in the battle royal? That’s the best they can get?
Results
Zack Ryder b. Chris Jericho – Rollup
Charlotte b. Becky Lynch – Natural Selection
Kane/Big Show b. Social Outcasts via DQ when all four Outcasts were in the ring at once
Kofi Kingston b. Alberto Del Rio – Small package
Kalisto b. Konor – Salida Del Sol
Emma b. Paige – Pin after a kick from Lana
Sami Zayn/Dolph Ziggler/Sin Cara b. Kevin Owens/The Miz/Stardust – Helluva Kick to Owens
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I am much less excited for this WM than the last two. I honestly just realized yesterday that WM was this weekend (I don’t want Raw live and will skim through so it isn’t as obvious when the PPVs are). I’ll still watch WM but expect little and will watch even less after (unless something wows me). Shane beating Taker could be an interesting twist moving forward…
Product has just been very ‘meh’
I just re-read KB’s write up for 2011 Mania. And there are quite a few parallels.
1) Rock is being advertised as the marquee celebrity in both WM
2) Main event for the title is clouded with discontent and indifference in both Manias
3) Big Show and Kane continue to have forced-relevance
4) Taker is taking on the McMahons on both occasions
But in terms of sheer star power, this far outlasts that WM. With Styles, Brock, Jericho, Ambrose – there are some decent names here; and thankfully some good feuds.
It’ll be very, very hard for any Mania to come close to the Bryan Spring Revolution from couple of years ago. But remove that Mania, and you’ll find this a fairly stacked card to some of its other peers.
Watch it with the slurs.
Guessing the guy is a troll.
No wonder WWE has turned to such shit with homos like Ted and Jay H sucking up the crap they put out and begging for seconds. Grow some balls, you both sound like total pussies.
Hey, the 80’s called – and want their insults back.
Wow so you think being a “homo” is a bad thing huh? It still stuns me that in 2016 This mode of thinking still exists.
I’m not sure what I liked better, the Shane and Taker segment or seeing Sal and Q from Impractical Jokers. Both I liked. The rest was meh.
So I was in the crowd last night. I think the reason that final match had ridiculous chants going throughout it was that there was a Superstars match, a Main Event match, 3 Smackdown matches, and then live Raw. Over 4 hours of wrestling later, the audience was antsy I think. That said, some of it actually got funny in the commercial break and then got dumb again.
I laughed at some of the chants except the CM Punk one. Have we not gotten past the fact chanting his name does nothing? I can understand being antsy but at least show some respect to those guys who I thought were working pretty hard.
I’m with ya. Our section chanted against it (likely not heard). I can deal with most, but that one is just dumb.
I don’t see why. People chant for Macho Man and Bryan (Yes!!) – so what’s wrong in chanting for CM Punk who has been a cultural phenomenon (for the WWE fans) over the past decade?
great show Roman Reigns one man Show and Undertaker and shane episode stole the Show. Great Night !
Barclays Center is in Brooklyn.
Which is in New York.
lol
Hey, look! Ryder scored a win. Totally justifies his title shot now, right?
The guy is not hacking it and the more the E tries to pour on the hyperbole and praise. It just gets sadder.
The best part of this show was Stephanie being such a try-hard to sell the Triple H/Roman match by burying the New Day (among others), only for New Day to come out in the very next segment and get the loudest cheers of the night, with the grin on Xavier’s face basically saying “Yeah, we’ve got the heat you wished you had.” And this is despite the fact that New Day is feuding with the League of Nobodies.
Reigns is in serious trouble here. His chants aren’t even split, so good luck to the WWE trying to sell the narrative of him being “controversial” the way Cena supposedly is.
I think Cena will get the biggest pop in years when he comes back. At least he has charisma and was on top because he was just that good, and THEN he was forced down our throats. Reigns…we were told to like him or leave before we had the chance to like him.
Worst part is the injuries. This Mania could have been something special but the injuries and the booking crippled it. Cena/Taker, Sting/Wyatt, Rollins/HHH, Orton/anyone. Add Lesnar/Ambrose and Reigns/anyone and you get a stacked card.
Reigns has to turn heel or disappear for a long time.
“This Sunday, Shane is letting out 40 years of frustration and taking the company from Vince, just like he took it from his dad.”
Actually Shane stumbled on his words again and more or less said Vince stole the company from his father, Which is nothing like the stealing Shane is going to do to his father.
That dive was very sad.
Stephanie still sucks and can’t act at all even after 15+ years of training.
I wanted to give the The triple H Reigns build a chance this week. But i’m sorry it’s still terrible.
I still have no interest in the title match. Triple H is still being cheered despite being a monster heel. He’s also nowhere near as good as he was ten years ago.
Reigns is still god awful. They don’t even care anymore. They are just going to put the belt on this idiot. Be dammed being booed by 80 thousand people. At this point just skip the audience and dub in a laugh track if you care so little.
I have to admit I chuckled at Ambrose stockpiling all the weapons he needs to take down Lesnar . He has no chance though.
The new day have been the most entertaining tag team in years and they deserve better then some second rate feud that may or may not even be for the titles. I don’t even know what’s going on with that story line among others.
“The match was dull but of course the focus is going to be on the crowd who couldn’t to five minutes without having some big dive or flip to entertain them, meaning we’re stuck with more announcers chants”
You rep what you sow. The build for this show has been terrible. They don’t get an ounce of sympathy from me on that score. The build for this wrestlemania has been pathetic and I know they can do better. If they refuse to change, then they deserve the audience who don’t react properly or hijacks their show. Personally I think the best thing to do is stop going to the shows. But that’s not happening so crap on it until they listen.
The worst part about this is I keep waiting for them to prove me wrong. I keep waiting for the awesome build, to the great match, between two wrestlers, from the dozens of talented guys they have but it never comes.
Just zipped through Raw, and here are my observations
– Eva Marie, Ryback and Reigns – three of E’s “Creations” – all three got the most deafening boos from the crowd.
– KB – I really do believe you’re being harsh on the crowd. IMO this was way better than the crowds of Philly and Chicago from previous weeks. I enjoyed the OLE chants, boo/yay duel between HHH and RR (though not in a way Vince would’ve) and of course sticking it to Eva Marie.
– Speaking of Eva Marie – how awkward was that? She comes up to the ring. Gets booed. And then tries to hi-five her “chums” only to be snubbed. And yet all along she has that ridiculously stupid smile on her face – almost implying – “eh ah eh – how bout that girls, wink wink, eh ah eh…”
– That dive by Reigns on the crowd of baddies towards the close of the show was awesome. I can’t remember him doing something like that, ever. And of course thank you NY for shitting on him even so, “you still suck”!!
– Also you being a little harsh on that dive by Shane? Ok yeah he didn’t really connect; but come on – this is a 40 (5ish?) year old dude who has been out of the ring for better part of decade, and he did something that 95% of the roster hasn’t done for ever. Also, I’d argue that from that height, with that momentum of the fall – even a jab in the side would hurt.
OVer all agree with your rankings, but really given this was always going to be talk-heavy show I was quite okay with the end product. Still not overly excited for the Sunday event, but then again I’ll be tuning in and out – unlike yourself and your missus who will be at the show. So good luck to you, and I hope for all our sake that they pull a rabbit out of the hat.
Ryback and Reigns used to get giant cheers. WWE ruined both of them.
Whatever Paige’s team is should have beaten the utter crap out of Eva. That would have been great.
Roman has done the diving thing a few times before.
Wrestlemania is on at 11am on the Monday in my timezone, and I have literally nothing on during that day. Despite that, I don’t think it’s worth the $9.99 or the bother of trying to get myself another free trial somehow. The biggest drawing card for a major event is building it up to feel like a major event. Dolph Ziggler and zack Ryder once had the hottest match on a PPV because it was built up and the fans hungered for the juicy payoff. That’s not going to happen when the story is, for the second time in a row now, trying to catch the Daniel Bryan anti authority 4th wall “holy shit hhh might actually kill the WWE on purpose” thing in a bottle.
There’s just NO momentum at all going into this year’s Wrestlemania. They continue to force feed Reigns down our throats in a main event no one wants to see, Undertaker/Shane is gonna be a giant botch fest, heck even Ambrose/Lesnar hasn’t been built properly. And please…either eliminate the divas division entirely or at least bring back the bra and panties matches.
I heard this same argument on an unrelated podcast recently; and I don’t get it. I think Ambrose/Lesnar has been really well built.
Couple of WM ago – the saviour of IWC – CM Punk had a program with Jericho, where the punchline was CM Drunk. And alcoholism.
This one pits an underachiever, non-quitter, happy go lucky Ambrose vs the monster, the beast, the one who just cannot lose this one. The whole program extends before the triple threat at fast lane and has been built for over 6 weeks. It’s been a fun slow-burn story; and I thought they ended this episode with just the risk amount of talking and action.
“Steroid Shane says: And please…either eliminate the divas division entirely or at least bring back the bra and panties matches”
Ok
1. wow that’s an incredibly sexist thing to say.
2. Becky and Sasha and Charlotte having been tearing it up in the ring.
3. The match at wrestlemania actually has a chance to be memorable after years of being nothing garbage.
4. Even if you didn’t like any of their wrestling styles you won’t at least coincide it’s a good thing they are being given a platform to try and achieve credibility as performers?
It really amazes me we all wanted Charlotte/Sasha/Becky in this position and now its get rid of them from idiots like that one above us.
No wonder WWE has turned to such shit with homos like Ted and Jay H sucking up the crap they put out and begging for seconds. Grow some balls, you both sound like total pussies.
That was a generous grade there, KB. You ain’t starting to feel pity for WWE, are you? Seriously, I don’t feel much hype for Mania after tonight’s show. Practically nothing was done that gave that ‘final push’ to really want to watch Mania live whatsoever…
Nothing was done? Yeah I guess those brawls with HHH/Reigns and Taker/Shane were nothing right. Jesus Christ on a stick.
Other than Eva Marie showing up I thought it was a fun go home Show.
Yep they were nothing. Shane taker still makes no sense and Triple H Reigns is miscast.
#LOLJay #LOLItsAlwaysSunnyInWWE #LOLHeActuallyThinksWWEHasDoneAGoodJobBuildingWrestlemaniaThisYear
I do believe WWE has downright pissed off a lot of fans with their stubborn programming of Reigns.
That said, I do also believe that this anger is clouding the judgement of people on the remaining Mania card which is not really that bad.
Ambrose/Lesnar has been given a fair build – and is quite intriguing going in. Especially if they manage to finish the match clean (without Wyatts or someone interfere) – this one has potential to be the MVP of the night.
Styles/Jericho – albeit handicapped due to the overexposure of matches over the past 2 months; is still fair game in my books. Especially with Jericho turning full on heel which has given some fresh perspective.
New Day/League – again, you win today/I win tomorrow – booking has been silly;but it was necessary to prolong this feud. I might be biased here; but I am the few who likes Del Rio as a wrestler – and I am enjoying him in this role – much, much more so than his MexAmerica gimmick which was awful.
Women’s triple thread – again, commendable storytelling over the past month with a decent amount of exposure.
All of the above feuds have been given fair air time and have built nicely when compared to the previous WM. I think the huge problem with the previous WM’s used to be the weak mid card and the strong main events. I think this WM will have things reversed a bit in that respect.
That said, cameos from Cena, Rollins, Bullet club and of course the Rock are all possible one way or another (pure conjecture on my part). And will potentially be around the two main events. So even the main events have a good chance of stepping up. That said, I do agree that the build for these two matches has been unsatisfactory.
My problem is people crapping on the Show before it even happens.
It is true that maybe the show will be spectacular. But you have to admit the build has been anything but.