We are on the Road To WrestleMania and The Big Dog officially cemented his spot at the Show Of Shows against Brock Lesnar. It wasn’t easy to get done, but Roman Reigns found a way.
Ronda Rousey is also a full-time WWE Superstar now and she was all smiles, especially then putting Triple H through a table. It looks like Kurt Angle is headed toward calling Rousey his partner at Mania against Triple H and Stephanie.
Only time will tell what will happen with Braun Strowman and some of the other key ingredients to the recipe. But WWE never disappoints, but at least when they do it’s entertaining.
Opening Segment
Alexa Bliss and Mickie James came walking out and Bliss still had her Raw Women’s Championship around her waist. Michael Cole said Asuka will face Alexa Bliss at Mania so apparently, The Empress Of Tomorrow doesn’t get to choose like we thought.
Bliss cut a promo where she put herself over and it was masterful as she riled up a crowd who still seemed to love her. Mickie James stood by her side the whole time not saying anything while Bliss talked about changing the game then, now, and forever.
Alexa gave credit to Mickie James and put her over as a 6-time champion and future Hall Of Famer. Bliss said she learned a lot from James and Mickie looked kind of blown away. Then Alexa ran through everyone else in the match and threw some trash on them. She called Bayley a sad situation which was both funny and truthful.
Alexa said she’s going to break Asuka’s streak at Mania and then The Empress Of Tomorrow came out to join her. She didn’t seem to waste any time getting to the ring either.
“Asuka’s gonna kill you” chants broke out which is always a good sign for whoever is in the ring with her.
Alexa said Nia deserves to be in the WrestleMania match and she said Asuka knows it too. Bliss started to mock Asuka for not having good English language skills and it drew some huge heat from the Anaheim crowd. Then Alexa said, “you’re cute you know maybe you should wipe that smile off your face before she does”… insert Nia Jax here.
Asuka took out Mickie and Bliss and they powdered out of the ring. Nia picked up Asuka and she counted with a triangle lock. Bliss and James jumped Asuka and then Bayley and Banks ran down for the save. Nia took out Banks and Bayley with a double clothesline and Asuka started laying kicks to Jax which she no-sold.
Then Bliss got up and took Asuka out so the heels left while the babyfaces remained in the ring.
Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Asuka vs Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, and Mickie James
Bayley took some abuse to start off this match which is expected. Then just as she was about to take control Bliss tagged herself into the match but it didn’t turn out well for her. The Boss was steamrolled by Jax on the outside and then took some more punishment from Bliss on the inside.
Alexa tossed Sasha to the outside as you could head a fan yell at her, “why are you such a bad friend?!” That was rather amusing. Once they returned to the ring, Nia Jax tagged in so she could continue punishing Sasha Banks. Then Mickie got the tag to add pressure on The Boss.
Banks broke free and just as she was about to tag Bayley in, The Hugger jumped down and avoided the tag. But Asuka still got the tag and lit up Mickie James, kicked Nia off the apron and kneed James’ head off. Then Asuka proceeded to kick the crap out of Mickie.
Bliss broke up a pinfall and then Bayley jumped in the ring and took out Bliss so The Hugger was still in this match but just not on Banks’ side. Then Asuka locked in an armbar on James and she tapped out.
Bayley smiled at Asuka and then looked over at Banks in disdain as she laid against the barricade.
John Cena Doesn’t Have A WrestleMania Moment
Cena came out and walked directly over to Jonathan Coachman to say hello because he does that every time now. When he got in the ring he paused for a long moment to let the crowd make noise before saying “last night I failed.”
Cena said you go through failure alone and he knows where he’s at because a person’s character isn’t judged during success but when your back is against the wall. “And for me, that time is now,” he said to quote his entrance music.
John said he will figure out his Road To WrestleMania. He failed at the Royal Rumble, the Elimination Chamber, and so on but he never gave up. He said nobody else will get in the ring and say “I failed” while he paused to soak in all the boos. He said those were boos of disappointment.
Cena said failure has two options, you either get up and move on or you lay down.
Then he threw down a WrestleMania challenge to The Undertaker. 39 WrestleManias between the two of them and they have never stood face to face at the Show Of Shows. “You want WrestleMania? That is WrestleMania,” Cena said. “And that match is not happening. I don’t make the matches and as obvious as that seems that match is not happening because that match is impossible.”
Then everyone booed once again as Cena explained he was going to SmackDown Live tomorrow night to do whatever it takes to earn a spot at WrestleMania. “See you tomorrow night,” mic drop.
Bray Wyatt vs Heath Slater
Wyatt jumped in the ring and took out Rhyno with a Sister Abigail and then he destroyed Heath Slater. He did his little spider walk thing and clotheslined Slater in the corner. Then he started dancing with Heath’s limp body, hit a Sister Abigail, and posed.
This was never actually a match because the referee never called for the bell to start the contest. Bray grabbed the microphone and said it’s all Matt Hardy’s fault and he led them to slaughter.
“The Great War is far from over my friend,” Wyatt said, “you will face me again but this time I will make sure that your Woken eyes stay shut forever.” Then he laughed and laughed before saying, “I’m coming for you Matt… run.”
The Miz Is Awesome
The A-Lister came out and insulted the crowd and said he’s not surprised he’s in such a terrible city because Kurt Angle takes his stars for granted. He said in 62 days he will be the greatest IC Champ of all time.
The Miz said his star shines so much brighter away from WWE through his reality tv show, his movies, and so on. Then he said he will repeat that information once again and ordered people to cheer… they kinda did.
He started to complain how he’s not on advertising and doesn’t have merchandise. The Miz said he should be going to the main event at Mania to become the first-ever Intercontinental and Universal Champion. But Kurt Angle made him start the match with two people who shouldn’t have been there in the first place in Rollins and Balor.
It really was a great promo and The Miz was seething as he raised his title up high and called it the most prestigious and honorable title in all of WWE. The Miz said he asked Kurt what he’s doing at Mania and said Angle told him, “Miz your opponent might determine who you face at WrestleMania.”
The Miz didn’t seem to like that response at all. “I’m The Miz I’ve been here for 12 years and might is all you’re gonna give me?” he screamed. Then he said whoever comes out is gonna get a beating and out rolled Seth Rollins.
The Miz vs Seth Rollins
The Miz still doesn’t know who he will be facing at Mania, but Seth Rollins came out so let’s have a match!
Rollins took advantage early on, but The Miz rolled away to stop his momentum. They continued and bounced off the ropes a little bit before Rollins no-sold a hip toss by blocking it and took The Miz out of the ring with a clothesline.
The Miztourage pulled The Miz to safety avoiding the suicide dive. Dallas distracted Seth on the apron and The Miz knocked him off of it as Seth flew into the barricade.
The back and forth match continued for a while until The Miz started laying in the It Kicks but he didn’t land the last one because The Miz never lands the last It Kick.
Seth mounted a comeback but was soon lifted over the top rope which sent him crashing to the floor.
The two fought on and ended up on the top rope where Seth hit his superplex into falcon arrow he does for a near fall. The crowd was really into this match as these two guys tore each other apart and survived to press on for even more.
Axel grabbed Rollins’ feet when he was going for a Blackout so he took out the Miztourage with a dive. Then Rollins sent The Miz outside too and he hit a suicide dive on all three of them.
Rollins landed the Revolution Knee and hit a frog splash from across the entire ring like he was Superman. 1-2-3 and Seth Rollins picked up the victory.
Winner: Seth Rollins via pinfall
As Rollins’ hand was raised, Finn Balor came out to say hello. Balor walked to the ring by himself and walked up to the ring in his usual way during his entrance. Seth Rollins looked very confused as to why Balor was out there and then Seth just left.
The Miz vs Finn Balor
This match was booked next for some reason but The Miz wanted no part in it so Dallas and Axel jumped Balor from the get go and the referee called for the bell. Then Gallows and Anderson ran down to help their good brother.
The Balor Club ran Miztourage out of the ring as The Miz stalked Finn Balor. Kurt Angle spoke up but he was on the big screen and ejected Miztourage and The Club from ringside. He said the match will be restarted and there will be a winner of The Miz isn’t going to WrestleMania.
The Miz hit a jumping clothesline in the corner and a DDT for a two count to start the match out and he kept the pressure on the former NXT Champion until allowing him to retreat to the outside.
When they returned to the ring, Balor kept selling as The Miz piled on the punishment. But the first-ever Universal Champion kept kicking out of everything The A-Lister could throw at him.
Finn Balor started to take control and landed some It Kicks of his own and topped it off with a basement dropkick. Balor got The Miz in the drop zone and climbed up to hit a Coup De Gras.
What are they proving with The Miz losing lke this?
Winner: Finn Balor via pinfall
Seth Rollins said he didn’t know if Balor was upstaging him by coming in and beating The Miz after him. It was all confusing. Seth said he’s learned there is more than one Road To WrestleMania and if history is any indicator then he knows how to pave his own way. Rollins said he wanted The Miz and his title at Mania.
Roman Reigns Cuts A Mean Promo On Lesnar
Reigns came down and people just booed him like nobody’s business. “I’m a man of my word,” he said as they booed even louder. Then he said he’s telling the truth about being able to beat Brock Lesnar.
Roman said he’s going to stop covering for Lesnar and then he said Brock isn’t there and he thought he might show up until 30 minutes ago. Reigns said Brock’s an intitled pieced of crap and even threw him under the bus for taking pictures and hanging out with Dana White during Elimination Chamber.
Roman started to turn the crowd around a little bit as he said he’ll work any town because he said he’ll be there. Brock may be a businessman but Roman was born in this business and he doesn’t respect Brock Lesnar.
“I don’t respect Brock Lesnar and I damn sure don’t fear that bitch,” Roman said. He said he’s said enough and is gonna take his ass chewing like a man because unlike some people he actually respects this place. Then he sat the mic down and left.
The Bar vs Titus Worldwide (2 out of 3 falls match for Raw Tag Team Titles)
Right from the beginning, Sheamus landed a Brogue Kick on Titus and scored a pinfall. The Bar celebrated going up 1 fall to 0 as Titus tagged in Apollo and shook it off.
Cesaro took Apollo down and tagged Sheamus but Apollo was all over the place with pinning attempts and dropkicks. Titus was tagged back in and didn’t let Cesaro muscle him around.
Then they fought on for a little bit longer and Apollo ended up taking the second pinfall as The Bar retained the Raw Tag Team Titles
Winners: The Bar
After the match was over Sheamus and Cesaro said they had Titus Worldwide’s number and it was zero. They told a joke, “two men walk into a bar”… and they finished saying nobody gets back up.
They ran through everyone they had put down including Jason Jordan and Dean Ambrose. Sheamus said he has a feeling they’re going to be punished because they’re so dominate because there’s nobody left to face if there’s nobody left to beat.
Welcome To WWE, Ronda Rousey
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon came out to clear the air about Ronda Rousey. But instead, Steph and Trips cut a heel promo saying Angle was hallucinating and that Ronda took action that wasn’t appropriate.
Then Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey came out and they didn’t look happy at all. Well, Ronda came out and Angle chased after her. Rousey said she refuses to be disrespected and is nobody’s property. She also said she’s never been slapped before in her life which is hard to believe.
Angle told Rousey that he needs this job and he told Ronda that he lied about what Steph and Triple H said. Stephanie thanked Kurt for apologizing and said they’re good people no matter what she reads on social media.
Rousey said they still didn’t address the slap from Steph and she told Stephanie to give her a reason not to rip her arm out of its socket if she didn’t apologize. “Rip it off” the crowd chanted.
McMahon said she was sorry and welcomed Ronda to WWE. Suddenly, as they were leaving Triple H took Angle down with a right hand and they left Rousey checking on the Raw GM while Trips’ music played on.
