Event: WWE Monday Night RAW
Airdate: Monday, February 24th, 2014 (USA Network)
Location: The Resch Center in Green Bay, WI
Results by Matt Boone
“Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event…”
Hulk Hogan Opens Up RAW
The post-Elimination Chamber edition of WWE RAW opens with Hulk Hogan immediately coming out to the ring. Hogan talks about being home. He says 30 years ago he was part of something historic — the first WrestleMania. He says he’s part of something historic right now as well — the WWE Network. He talks about the past, present and future. He officially announces himself as the host of WrestleMania XXX. His final question for us? Whatcha gonna do when the WWE Network and WrestleMania 30 run wild on you? His music hits again and we shoot to the commentary table as Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and JBL talk some more about the WWE Network.
What’s On Tap For Tonight?
Daniel Bryan vs. Kane, a possible Brock Lesnar appearance and Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio are announced for later tonight. Batista vs. Del Rio is coming up after the break. We head to our first commercial of the evening.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Batista
When we return from commercial, Alberto Del Rio’s theme music hits. It’s time for the first match of the evening, as “The Animal” and “Mexico’s greatest export” compete in an Elimination Chamber rematch. Del Rio’s entrance wraps up and Batista is out next. The fans in Green Bay boo the hell out of Batista, proving yet again that it’s not just certain crowds, the “WWE Universe” in general wants to boo that dude.
The bell rings and Batista jumps all over Del Rio. The “Boo-Tista” chants immediately spread throughout the arena. It looks like that’s going to become a regular chant. Del Rio knocks Batista off the ring apron and out to the floor as we head to a mid-match commercial.
When we return from commercial, Del Rio is stomping away at Batista in the ring. He continues his attack on Batista as the announcers talk about the vicious streak in “Mexico’s greatest export,” a reference that they’ve said about two or three times already. They run down some current WWE-related trending topics on Twitter as Batista nails Del Rio with a top-rope suplex.
Both guys get back to their feet and start exchanging punches. The crowd boo’s everytime Batista lands a shot and cheers everytime Del Rio lands one. Del Rio knocks Batista down and is now waiting for him to get up. He goes for the superkick but misses it. Batista slams Del Rio down. He fires up and is calling for the Batista Bomb. The crowd boo’s. Out of nowhere, Randy Orton’s theme music hits. The crowd explodes with cheers. Del Rio uses the distraction to roll Batista up. 1-2-3. Del Rio wins.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
After The Match
Orton gets on the mic and mocks Batista for the way the WWE Universe has reacted to his “triumphant return.” He says he doesn’t know if Batista can sense it or not, but the fans don’t like him very much. He says he bets Batista is sorry he came back. The crowd breaks out in a “CM Punk” chant. Batista says Orton is wrong. Batista says he loves this business. The crowd boo’s him like crazy anyway. He says he also loves that the fans have a voice. He says if the fans cheer him, he cheers them back. If they boo him, he boo’s them back. He says it’s called being real, something Orton knows nothing about. He says what matters is that he’s going to beat Orton and become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He concludes with his new “deal with it” catchphrase.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Big E. (c) vs. Cesaro
Before we head to another commercial, we see a split-screen shot of Big E. and Cesaro backstage heading to the ring. The two guys who just got name-changes from WWE will battle after the break. When we return from commercial, the WWE Intercontinental Champion makes his way to the ring. Out next, accompanied by both Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger, is Cesaro.
The bell rings and immediately a loud “we the people” chant breaks out from what has seemed all night to be a pretty hot crowd. Big E. gets the better of Cesaro early on. Cesaro starts fighting back, but Big E. cuts his offense short by out-powering him over and over again. Big E. keeps pounding away on Cesaro until Cesaro finally slows him down with a big boot to the face. Cesaro is now taking over the offensive flow of the match.
Cesaro keeps Big E. grounded and is working him over on the mat as a light “we the people” chant breaks out again. Cesaro does his launching European uppercut on Big E. for a near fall. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial.
When we return from commercial, Cesaro is still in control of Big E. Big E. gets up, however, and the two trade punches. Ultimately, Cesaro is able to remain in control of the current I-C champ. Cesaro hits his big double-stomp on the chest of Big E. Cesaro hits a number of power-moves on the I-C champ, including a big gut-wrench powerbomb.
Big E. starts fighting back now as both guys trade punches back-and-forth. Cesaro hops on Big E’s back and slaps on a sleeper-hold. Big E. is able to slam his way free. Big E. hits a belly-to-belly suplex and follows up with a big splash for a near fall. He takes the straps down. He goes for the Big Ending but Cesaro avoids it and counters into a launching European uppercut on the big man.
Big E. is down and now Cesaro is calling for the Cesaro Swing. Big E. manages to use his leg-strength to kick Cesaro off of him and avoid the swing. Another loud “we the people” chant breaks out. Cesaro ends up getting a hold of the legs of Big E. out of nowhere. He begins the Cesaro Swing. He swings hmi ten times. Out of nowhere, Swagger jumps in the ring and locks the Patriot Lock on Big E. The ref calls for the bell.
Winner via Disqualification and STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion: Big E.
After The Match
Cesaro and Swagger argue as Zeb Colter tries to cool the situation down. Big E. jumps Swagger from behind. Cesaro grabs Big E. and nails him with his Neutralizer finishing move. The Real Americans music starts playing and the trio heads to the back.
John Cena Addresses The Wyatt Family
Before we head to commercial, we are told that John Cena will address what happened at the Elimination Chamber with The Wyatt Family robbing him of his chance of going to the main event of WrestleMania XXX. On that note, we head to another break.
When we return from commercial, Cena comes out and makes his way to the ring. He says the fan in him is excited to see Hulk Hogan back in WWE. He puts over the fact that we’re in a historic period with the new WWE Network. He says he’s been talking hard the past few weeks and if someone wants to carry the WWE into that new historic era, they need to go through him to prove it. He says the future of this business will run through him.
With that being said, he switches his focus to Bray Wyatt. He talks about Wyatt costing him a championship match at WrestleMania. He calls it a pretty bold move on Wyatt’s part. He asks if he’d like to make another bold move right here and now. He drops the mic and takes his shirt off. The Wyatt Family cut happens and the trio appears on the titantron. Bray says “Green Bay, we’re here.” And The Wyatt Family theme music hits.
The Wyatt Family make their way down to the ring. He sits in his rocking chair at ringside. He says Cena is full of empty promises. He says Cena promised to keep the fans safe. He calls Cena a liar. He says this is a terrible world. A cold, dark and lonely place. Bray says he stands for everything that is real. He says Cena talks about the future having to come through him first. He says he couldn’t agree more. Bray says he should properly introduce himself. He says his name is Bray Wyatt. He says The Wyatt Family are the reapers that bring death to this era.
Cena says he should introduce himself too. He says his name is John Cena. He says if any of those guys slide into that ring, they’re starting something “son.” He drops the mic and waits to see if they go in the ring. All three of The Wyatt Family members hit the ring. He fights them off momentarily but eventually the numbers game is too much. The Wyatt Family beats him down. After the beatdown, we head to another commercial.
When we return from commercial, we see highlights of the beatdown that The Wyatt Family just put on Cena. We see footage from the WWE App of Cena being stretchered out of the ring during the commercial due to a knee injury.
Christian vs. Sheamus
After the Wyatt Family and Cena highlights finished, Christian’s theme music hit and out he comes. During hs ring entrance, we see highlights from the RAW pre-show from the WWE Network of Christian and Sheamus arguing and Brad Maddox making a match between the two. After that finishes, Sheamus’ theme song hits and out he comes.
Sheamus is selling his ribs from before the match. The bell sounds and Sheamus goes after Christian with a vengeance immediately. Christian slaps Sheamus and pisses him off. Sheamus uses his anger as fuel for a vicious beatdown, as he goes nuts on Christian, punching and kicking the crap out of him. The announcers hype up Christian’s recent mean streak as Sheamus controls the action. Sheamus blasts Christian with a big shoulder tackle from the apron to the floor. After that, we head to a mid-match commercial.
When we return from commercial, Christian is controlling Sheamus in the middle of the ring. Christian continues to beat up Sheamus for several minutes. The finish, however, saw Christian come flying off the top and landing right into a Brogue Kick from Sheamus. 1-2-3. Sheamus wins.
Winner: Sheamus
Daniel Bryan Challenges Triple H
Michael Cole introduces a video from earlier tonight. We see Renee Young interviewing Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who are coming out of a limo, about the historic launch of the WWE Network. As they talk about the Network, Daniel Bryan angrily approaches them and yells at them for seemingly having a problem with him. Bryan challenges Triple H to a fight at WrestleMania XXX. HHH laughs it off basically. Stephanie tells D-Bry to turn his focus onto Kane, the guy who screwed him on Sunday, and the guy he has a match with later tonight at RAW.
Dean Ambrose Fights With The Shield, Roman Reigns Challenges Bray Wyatt
Backstage, we see Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins staring Dean Ambrose down. Rollins tells Ambrose to explain one more time where he was during their six-man tag-team match with The Wyatt Family last night. Ambrose says he’s tired of explaining himself and walks off.
Bray Wyatt walks up and smiles. Roman Reigns challenges him to a one-on-one match later tonight. He says if Bray leaves the family behind, he’ll leave the hounds of justice behind. He says he accepts the challenge. So there you have it, Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns in one-on-one action later tonight.
RAW Panel With Ric Flair & Booker T
After the backstage segment, Michael Cole sends us to the WWE Network panel. We see Josh Mathews sitting with Booker T and Ric Flair. The crowd explodes with “WOOOO’s.” The WWE Hall Of Famers talk about some of the happenings thus far on RAW tonight. The segment concludes with Ric Flair leading the fans in a big “Yes!” chant when hyping up the upcoming match between Daniel Bryan and Kane.
Daniel Bryan vs. Kane
With that being said, Daniel Bryan’s theme music hits. The crowd erupts with cheers that immediately transition to “Yes!” chants. Daniel Bryan makes his way to the ring. During his ring entrance, we head to a commercial. Bryan vs. Kane is coming up after the break.
When we return from commercial, the fire pyro explodes and the “Director Of Operations” Kane makes his way to the ring. The bell rings and Bryan goes right after Kane, viciously nailing him with repeated “Yes!” kicks in the corner until the referee breaks things up. Kane uses the break to jump on Bryan with a cheap shot. Kane gets Bryan down and is now focusing on the hurt shoulder of Bryan, which is still heavily taped up.
Moments later, Bryan gets Kane back in the corner and is blasting him over and over again with “Yes!” kicks again. Bryan switches his focus to the leg of the big man as the fans in Green Bay break out into a big “Daniel Bryan” chant.
Bryan continues to punish Kane and dominate the majority of this match thus far. Bryan locks Kane in a half-Boston Crab in the middle of the ring. Kane eventually gets out of the hold and the offensive momentum quickly shifts in favor of Kane. Kane continues to focus his attack on Bryan’s shoulder as Michael Cole and JBL get into one of their infamous bickering arguments on commentary. We head to a mid-match commercial after Kane slams Bryan into the ringside steps out on the floor.
When we return from commercial, Bryan is trying to fire up on offense, but Kane cuts his attempt short and remains in control of the match. Bryan starts fighting back again. He’s going nuts with “Yes!” kicks on the big man. The fight spills out to the floor where Bryan slams Kane into the barricade. A loud “Daniel Bryan” chant breaks out from the fans in Green Bay.
Bryan goes to come off the top rope on Kane, but Kane catches him and chokeslams him. Kane goes to pin him, but Bryan somehow manages to kick out at two. JBL and Cole, by the way, have been in rare form, even for those two, with the arguing back-and-forth during this match. Bryan hits the running knee out of nowhere on the “Director Of Operations.” 1-2-3. Bryan wins.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan Challenges Triple H Once Again
After defeating Kane, Daniel Bryan gets on the mic. He says he confronted The Authority earlier today. He says Triple H is a coward. He says he challenged him to a match at WrestleMania and he hid behind his wife’s skirt. He says ever since Triple H put on a suit, he has ignored what the people want. The people break out in a big “Yes!” chant. Bryan says there’s an entire arena in Green Bay chanting “Yes!” and demands that Triple H give these people what they want — Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX. His music hits again and he walks off.
Summer Rae (with Fandango) vs. Emma (with Santino Marella)
We see Fandango and Summer Rae backstage. Michael Cole informs us that Summer Rae is in action when we return from the break. On that note, we head to another commercial. When we return from commercial, we see a quick vignette featuring Alexander Rusev and Lana. After it finishes, we see Fandango and Summer Rae dancing around in the ring. Next, Emma’s music hits and she comes out with Santino Marella.
The bell rings and Emma starts doing her little foot-stamping and goofy-ass dancing. Summer shoves her down. Emma shoves her back. Michael Cole plugs Summer Rae being in the new WWE Studios sequel to The Marine and the fact that she’s on season two of Total Divas. Meanwhile, Summer Rae blasts Emma with a big spinning-kick for a near fall.
Summer Rae continues to dominate Emma as the crowd tries rallying behind the former NXT Diva. Michael Cole points out that Summer Rae is trending worldwide on Twitter as she continues to have her way with the latest addition to the Diva roster. Out of nowhere, Emma locks Summer in her “Emma-lock” submission finisher. Summer taps out.
Winner: Emma
New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Usos
Michael Cole announces a rematch from Sunday’s Elimination Chamber between The New Age Outlaws and The Usos after the break. On that note, we head to another commercial.
When we return from commercial, The New Age Outlaws and The Usos are already in the ring. Road Dogg gets on the mic and does his usual pre-match promo. Before he can finish, one of the Usos superkicks him in the face. Apparently the bell already rang before he started. The other Uso splashes him off the top and pins him. 1-2-3. The Usos win this non-title match.
Winners: The Usos
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
The Shield’s music hits and out comes the big boy, Roman Reigns. Reigns comes out through the crowd, but he’s by himself. As promised, he’s leaving the other members of The Shield behind to battle Bray Wyatt, who promised to leave the rest of The Wyatt Family behind so that they could slug it out one-on-one. During Reigns’ entrance, we head to a commercial.
When we return from commercial, Reigns is standing in the ring waiting for his opponent for this singles match. The Wyatt Family music hits without the “we’re here” intro. Bray Wyatt comes out by himself as highlights are shown of The Wyatt Family beating Cena down earlier tonight. The bell rings and here we go.
Reigns walks to the middle of the ring and waits for Bray. Bray circles around Roman and the two trade a punch. Bray doesn’t like the looks of things so he rolls out to the floor briefly. He comes back in the ring and the two lock up. Neither guy seems to be able to budge the other. Bray finally hits Reigns with a big knee to the gut and headbutts him down to the mat. Reigns knocks Bray down with a big shoulder tackle.
Reigns seems to be in control of the offense now. Reigns launches Bray out to the floor. Bray comes back in and the two trade punches. Bray seems to be getting the better of Reigns now and he is now in control of the offense. A light Husky Harris chant breaks out as Bray continues to dominate Reigns in the middle of the ring.
The fight spills out to the floor. Reigns nails Bray with a huge clothesline. We head to a mid-match commercial on that note. When we return from commercial, the guys are back in the ring duking it out. The fans are getting restless, as a number of random chants have broken out. There’s been loud “Randy Savage” and “Under-Taker” chants thus far.
Meanwhile, Reigns is firing up on offense. He hits a big sidewalk-slam style move on the leader of The Wyatt Family. Reigns calls for his finisher and The Wyatt Family cut-in happens. When the lights come back on, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper are standing outside of the ring. Seth Rollins flies out of nowhere and dives onto Rowan and Harper on the floor. Harper and Rowan have Rollins at their mercy moments later, with the announcers questioning where Dean Ambrose is. Ambrose pops into the picture out of nowhere to make the save.
The guys continue to fight outside the ring while Reigns hits his big Superman punch on Bray in the ring. Reigns calls for his finisher again, however Ambrose runs into the ring and starts beating up Bray. The referee calls for the bell. The guys continue to fight and The Wyatt Family duck out the back door. The Shield’s music hits as The Shield stares The Wyatt Family down from inside the ring.
Winner via Disqualification: Bray Wyatt
Brock Lesnar & Undertaker Showdown
Backstage, we see Paul Heyman giving advice to Brock Lesnar. He asks him not to destroy anything or anyone. He tells him which way the ring is. Lesnar smiles, shakes his head, and starts walking. We head to a commercial break.
When we return from commercial, Aaron Paul from the “Need For Speed” movie (and Breaking Bad) is named as the host of RAW in Chicago. We shoot back live to the arena and Brock Lesnar’s theme music hits. Lesnar comes out with Heyman and the two make their way to the ring.
Heyman talks about tonight being a history-making night for WWE. He says he’s sorry that it falls upon him to inform us that his client, Brock Lesnar, is not in a good mood. He says Orton and Batista should get their title match out of the way and the winner should face Lesnar at WrestleMania. Heyman says when he told this idea to The Authority, they gave him an alternative solution. One that Heyman considers a mere consolation prize. He says they gave him an open contract to face whoever he wants at WrestleMania.
By the way, there is a table and carpet set up in the ring during this segment. Heyman continues to whine about the open contract and not getting a title shot. As they go to leave, the gong hits and the crowd explodes. The Undertaker appears on stage. We see Lesnar staring at him from inside the ring. He slowly makes his way to the ring.
Taker enters the ring. The crowd breaks out in a big “Taker, Taker” chant. The lights come back on. The crowd erupts into an “Undertaker, clap-clap-clap, Undertaker” chant. They stare each other down. Taker looks up at the WrestleMania XXX sign. We hear Lesnar off-mic telling Taker to “sign the damn contract.” Lesnar leans down and signs the open contract mentioned before. Lesnar slaps the pen on Taker’s chest and the crowd ooh’s and ahh’s at that. Heyman gets on the mic and says the contract has been signed and if he wants the match with him he needs to sign it. Taker stabs Lesnar’s hand on the table with the pen and then grabs him by the throat and chokeslams him through the table. The crowd breaks into a “holy sh*t” chant. Michael Cole says “I take that as a yes.” The Undertaker’s music hits again and the crowd explodes again.
That will do it for this week’s RAW.