The RAW Report 3/18/2013

It definitely started out slowly, as Paul and HHH talked back and forth for about ten minutes. Paul Heyman eventually crossed the line, disrespecting Stephanie. HHH tossed Heyman down and dispatched of his security with extreme prejudice. After that, he attacked Heyman, and it was physical. HHH smacked him around, slammed him into a table and smacked him hard in the face more than once. Heyman was screaming, calling for Lesnar, as he continued to take a beating. Heyman was cut on the forehead and his cheek was turning black and blue. Finally HHH signed the contract and out came Lesnar. Nobody matches Lesnar’s intensity and the feeling that something incredible is going to happen when he comes out. Lesnar came out with a chair, but was met by HHH having hid his sledgehammer under a table. Lesnar wanted to engage but did not. When Lesnar and Heyman got to the top of the stage they stated the match was no holds barred, and was for HHH’s career. Nice segment once it heated up. Chris Jericho had a fantastic match with The Miz and Wade Barrett, injecting some much needed excitement into the Intercontinental Title. It was an action packed three way match that saw multiple near falls. Jericho was in rare form, and he’s building up to something special at Wrestlemania. It was a great match for The Miz and Barrett also, but Jericho gets a nod here for another segment on tonight’s program. He had a hilarious moment with Fandango in which he called him, Fan-Dumbo, Fan-Dunghole, Fan-WangoTago , Fan-DodgeDurango etc. He ended by saying, don’t walk away, I haven’t gotten my movie tickets yet, playing up the Fandango movie ticket service. It was the first interesting segment we’ve seen Fandango involved with. There is something about these angles wrestling promotions do where it’s over the line of good taste and decency, but you’re still inherently drawn to it. That’s what’s going on right now with CM Punk, The Undertaker, the urn and the passing of Paul Bearer. CM doing his Paul Bearer impersonation, then juggling and ultimately dropping the urn, turns up the heat on this match way past the boiling point. The streak is becoming second fiddle to the genuine heat this match is building. It has become to many the most important and exciting match at Wrestlemania, which isn’t good for Cena and The Rock. View the list »
The Undertaker is enraged!

Fight Sports newsletter

WWE Monday Night RAW was live from Pittsburgh tonight and it was a solid night of action. The build towards Wrestlemania continues and we have a couple matches for the show announced tonight. Mark Henry and Ryback were made official. Also, Big E Langston and Dolph Ziggler will meet Team Hell No for the Tag Titles. Is it possible for two teams to break up in one match? I hope so. CM Punk took things to an uncomfortable level tonight, and I loved it. We almost saw Fandango. We saw Ryback and Mark Henry stare down and The Prime Time Players embarrass themselves. Here’s the RAW Report.

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  • There is something about these angles wrestling promotions do where it’s over the line of good taste and decency, but you’re still inherently drawn to it. That’s what’s going on right now with CM Punk, The Undertaker, the urn and the passing of Paul Bearer. CM doing his Paul Bearer impersonation, then juggling and ultimately dropping the urn, turns up the heat on this match way past the boiling point. The streak is becoming second fiddle to the genuine heat this match is building. It has become to many the most important and exciting match at Wrestlemania, which isn’t good for Cena and The Rock.
  • Chris Jericho had a fantastic match with The Miz and Wade Barrett, injecting some much needed excitement into the Intercontinental Title. It was an action packed three way match that saw multiple near falls. Jericho was in rare form, and he’s building up to something special at Wrestlemania. It was a great match for The Miz and Barrett also, but Jericho gets a nod here for another segment on tonight’s program. He had a hilarious moment with Fandango in which he called him, Fan-Dumbo, Fan-Dunghole, Fan-WangoTago , Fan-DodgeDurango etc. He ended by saying, don’t walk away, I haven’t gotten my movie tickets yet, playing up the Fandango movie ticket service. It was the first interesting segment we’ve seen Fandango involved with.
  • It definitely started out slowly, as Paul and HHH talked back and forth for about ten minutes. Paul Heyman eventually crossed the line, disrespecting Stephanie. HHH tossed Heyman down and dispatched of his security with extreme prejudice. After that, he attacked Heyman, and it was physical. HHH smacked him around, slammed him into a table and smacked him hard in the face more than once. Heyman was screaming, calling for Lesnar, as he continued to take a beating. Heyman was cut on the forehead and his cheek was turning black and blue. Finally HHH signed the contract and out came Lesnar. Nobody matches Lesnar’s intensity and the feeling that something incredible is going to happen when he comes out. Lesnar came out with a chair, but was met by HHH having hid his sledgehammer under a table. Lesnar wanted to engage but did not. When Lesnar and Heyman got to the top of the stage they stated the match was no holds barred, and was for HHH’s career. Nice segment once it heated up.
  • If you’re going to book this whole racist/white supremacy angle, at some point, it should heat up. It heated up tonight. After Alberto Del Rio and Cody Rhodes wrestled, Swagger and Jeb Colter came out and attacked. Del Rio nearly attacked Colter but Swagger made the save and beat Del Rio down, and tossed him over the announcer’s table. Things got a little awkward when a “USA/USA/USA” chant broke out, I mean, I’m all for Patriotic pride and whatnot, but you’re cheering racism here Pittsburgh, get it together. The end came when Swagger appeared to break the ankle of Ricardo, upping the ante. The announcers really sold the injury, and Ricardo was taken away on a stretcher.
  • I honestly don’t get this at all. It’s Wrestlemania season and Jon Cena gets interrupted by The Primetime Players, and Titus O’Niel has created a new character called Pancake Patterson. This went NOWHERE fast. I have no idea why they had this interaction in the first place, and why they then choose to have John Cena squash Darren Young. It seemed like they have no plans for Cena so they patched this together last minute. Should have scrapped it altogether.
  • Second week in a row these two have made this dubious list. Seriously WWE, Feed us less. Ryback is stuck in neutral and Mark Henry is the moster than you simply can’t get over. He has no charisma as a face or heel, and draws no interest from the crowd. He can not get over, not how he’s currently packaged. He’s a 400 pound anchor swinging from Ryback’s neck. Just because Ryback can support the weight, doesn’t mean he should be saddled with it. He would be more interesting in the three way with Orton/Sheamus against The Shield. Let The Big Show work with Henry, they are both stuck in the mud.
  • Consistent teases only work if the fans are interested in seeing it in the first place. Fandango needs to get in the ring, and fast or he will 100 percent die on the vine. It would be refreshing if once he steps into the ring, he’s a brutal killer in there, but I suspect that isn’t going to be the case. We haven’t been on the hook for Fan-Dan-Go since he started this, and now, we’re just tired of the tease.
  • So Team Hell No whose breakup is about five weeks overdue, will no be paired again at Wrestlemania against a team who seem just put together and mismatched in Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston. I feel like both teams are in need of splitting up and if this match results in that, then sign me up as satisfied. Not sure how it can happen as SOMEONE has to leave as tag team champions, right? We have three big matches at WM included four guys who are not full time. The Rock, HHH, Lesnar and Taker are all in the big matches and meanwhile, Orton, Sheamus, Big Show, Ziggler, Kane, and Daniel Bryan are locked into tag matches. Seems like uninspired booking. I feel like the WWE should either focus on giving the Tag Titles to genuine tag teams, or scrap them for awhile.
  • This close to Wrestlemania and we’re seeing matches like Cena/Darren Young, Damien Sandow/RTruth, Ryback/Otunga, and Orton & Sheamus/3MB. These are patchwork matches featuring guys that have had zero to do with each other. I just feel like the matchmaking and booking heading into this year’s Wrestlemania is way off what it was last year. We’re three weeks from the biggest show of the year. Let’s spend that time telling stories that are relevant to that show.
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, Las Vegas MMA Examiner

Dan Rose has been covering the sport of mixed martial arts for more than a decade. He's traveled the world reporting on events, doing interviews and shooting photos for sites like Sherdog.com, MMA Magazine, NHBSpot.com and MMAValor.com. Dan has run a successful radio show as well, interviewing...

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