RAW Thread 03/28/16: No Sleep Till Dallas

[Steveweiser]

It's finally here - we've reached the go-home show for WrestleMania XXXII! RAW is live tonight from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and all the major players will be in attendance, as the final puzzle pieces fall into place ahead of Sunday's massive show at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The last two weeks have seen challenger Roman Reigns viciously attack WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, and last week saw him cut Hunter and Stephanie McMahon off as they tried to leave the show. Reigns continued his aggression on SmackDown, pulverising both of the Dudley Boyz, and he seems focused heading into the biggest match of his career. But will Hunter have one final trick up his sleeve to regain momentum?

The Undertaker faces massive pressure this Sunday inside Hell in a Cell - if he loses to Shane McMahon, he both hands control of RAW over to Shane, and he will never compete at WrestleMania again, the show he defines. So you better believe if he sees Shane tonight on RAW, he'll do something about it. The Undertaker is 22-1 at The Show of Shows, but Match #24 seems like it'll be the biggest one for him yet with the stakes so high. On paper, he'll be too much for a corporate individual who hasn't competed in seven years, but anything can happen at WrestleMania...

Dean Ambrose has been tooled up by Hardcore Legends in recent weeks, receiving a barbed wire baseball bat from Mick Foley and a chainsaw from Terry Funk, ahead of the Lunatic Fringe's Street Fight with Brock Lesnar. Ambrose tried using a Kendo Stick on Lesnar on SmackDown, but it barely fazed the Beast Incarnate, who popped right back up and hit Ambrose with an F5. Looks like Ambrose will need all the weapons he's been given and then some on Sunday, will he receive anything else tonight?

There's one match outstanding for Sunday - AJ Styles has challenged Chris Jericho following the collapse of Y2AJ, but Jericho has so far refused the request. Given time is running out ahead of the biggest show of the year, what will The Phenomenal One do to ensure he gets his man?

Momentum appears to be with Becky Lynch heading into the big Three Way match for the Divas Title - although Sasha Banks scored a huge non-title win over champion Charlotte on SmackDown in her home city of Boston, the Lass Kicker then came in and gave both her rivals the Bexplex, though Banks then recovered to give Charlotte the Banks Statement. Who will get the last say heading into Sunday?

The war between the Total Divas and Team Lana is still lobsided - even though it appeared a 4 on 4 match was agreed on last week's RAW preshow, Lana changed the complexion on Main Event by reintroducing Emma into the mix. It's now Lana, Naomi, Tamina, Summer Rae and Emma, whilst the other side has Brie Bella, Alicia Fox, Paige and Natalya. The Total Divas will have to find one more - who will it be?

Of all the seven combatants in the Intercontinental Title Ladder Match this Sunday, who'd have thought it would be Zack Ryder who would be on top right now? On SmackDown, following the tag team match with Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn against champion Kevin Owens and The Miz, all seven men got into it, but Ryder was the last man standing, giving Owens the Rough Ryder. It's those five plus Sin Cara and Stardust who will be climbing ladders and falling off them on Sunday, who will be on top heading there?

All this plus stuff with the New Day and "The Lads", and Kalisto and Ryback, and any other festivities, tonight on USA from 8/7c!

[Deleted]

Dunno if I'll watch tonight or not. For reasons I'd need to go a bit out of my way to do so, and I imagine tonight's mostly going to be a lot of talk and a lot of video packages without a whole lot in the way of actual content.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

OK, last RAW before Mania... Can we top last year's epic tug-of-war as the closing shot?

[CeilingFan]

Next week's Raw will be better.

[Deleted]

Mar 28, 2016 6:46:40 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

OK, last RAW before Mania... Can we top last year's epic tug-of-war as the closing shot?

This year the show ends on the League of Nations connecting the tag belts and playing jump rope with them.

[King Devitt]

Mar 28, 2016 7:02:16 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Mar 28, 2016 6:46:40 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

OK, last RAW before Mania... Can we top last year's epic tug-of-war as the closing shot?

This year the show ends on the League of Nations connecting the tag belts and playing jump rope with them.

Imagine the look of glee on Wade Barrett's face as he jumps rope with the tag belts while Rusev and Sheamus twirl them.

[Harry The Arrow was Wrong!]

Mar 28, 2016 6:46:40 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

OK, last RAW before Mania... Can we top last year's epic tug-of-war as the closing shot?

They'll have to do something huge to top that. That was a sight to behold.

[Topher is Human]

Mar 28, 2016 7:24:33 GMT -5 Harry The Arrow was Wrong! said:

Mar 28, 2016 6:46:40 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

OK, last RAW before Mania... Can we top last year's epic tug-of-war as the closing shot?

They'll have to do something huge to top that. That was a sight to behold.

Roman knows that the belt was actually Lesnar's right?

Like even if he did successfully win that little struggle, Lesnar would still be the holder.

What an awful buildup that was.

[Jeff Mangum PI]

Calling it right now: Roman turns heel on next week's Raw.

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

Alternate title: The Final Raw until The Post-Mania Raw

[unc40]

Expect to see a lot of the McMahons tonight.

[Deleted]

Mar 28, 2016 8:31:00 GMT -5 Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast said:

Alternate title: The Final Raw until The Post-Mania Raw

I was wondering about making the thread and calling it either Rest Stop to WrestleMania or Last Potty Break Before WrestleMania.

[burdette25159]

UCONN's elite 8 women's tournament game and another game nobody will care about is on ESPN tonight as raw counter programming

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

Mar 28, 2016 8:53:35 GMT -5 unc40 said:

Expect to see a lot of the McMahons tonight.

They might even power up the Lin-droid.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

If Shane/Taker closes the show tonight, it's going to be hard to sell the Title Match as the Main Event of the card...

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Considering I'm going tonight I hope they do something "crazy" in regards to final hype for mania but I'm pretty sure they going to play it safe.

A Roman/HHH brawl, AJ and Jericho, and probably Taker attacking Vince. It's going be a long 3 hours but It will be fun.

[Alice Syndrome]

It's the last RAW before the Raw after Mania Pre-show.

[The Kevstaaa]

With an extreme arsenal of WWE Hall of Famers’ weapons of choice — including Mick Foley’s “Barbie” and Terry Funk’s chainsaw (yes, a chainsaw) — Dean Ambrose seems more than prepared to conquer Brock Lesnar in their No Holds Barred Street Fight at WrestleMania. Yet, as we witnessed on SmackDown, the only weapon The Anomaly might need at The Show of Shows is the F-5, a move that has felled the likes of John Cena, Triple H, The Rock and even The Undertaker.

The Lunatic Fringe’s kendo stick attack ended painfully for Ambrose on SmackDown thanks to Lesnar’s feared finishing maneuver, but the unstable Superstar won’t be able to resist a potential opportunity to get a piece of The Beast before their hardcore brawl on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Expect Ambrose to bring mayhem to Brooklyn, live on Raw.


WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H might have evaded Roman Reigns last week on Raw, speeding away in the back of an SUV, but The Game won’t have a getaway car when he defends his title against The Big Dog at WrestleMania. But six nights before that anticipated Show of Shows main event, Reigns and Triple H will cross paths in Brooklyn.

Reigns made a statement Thursday night on SmackDown by mercilessly laying out both Dudley Boyz, reinforcing his assertion that he’s the real “authority” in WWE. How will The Cerebral Assassin respond to that startling show of aggression?


As if the stakes weren’t already high in the anticipated Hell in a Cell Match between Shane McMahon and The Undertaker at WrestleMania, Mr. McMahon added a startling stipulation to the bout: If The Deadman doesn’t defeat WWE’s prodigal son, this will be his final appearance on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Now, the WWE Universe faces two potential realities in the aftermath of The Show of Shows that could shift the landscape of sports-entertainment. Either Shane assumes control of Raw — and, by extension, WWE — or The Phenom walks away from WrestleMania forever. How will both combatants respond to The Chairman’s bombshell announcement Monday night?


Everyone wants AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho IV at WrestleMania … except Chris Jericho. After The Phenomenal One threw down the gauntlet for a battle on The Grandest Stage of Them All, “The Best in the World at What He Does” vehemently declined the challenge in a WWE.com interview, saying he would rather “sit out” at WrestleMania than face Styles again.

Despite Jericho’s refusal, will Styles continue his pursuit of a rematch on Raw? If not, what awaits Styles as he approaches the first WrestleMania since he joined the WWE roster?


The Divas division underwent a sudden shakeup on Tuesday night, when Emma and Summer Rae joined forces with Lana, Naomi and Tamina to form a formidable alliance against Brie Bella, Paige, Alicia Fox and Natalya.

Clearly, the five-Diva squad has a numbers advantage against the stars of “Total Divas,” changing the complexion of what was originally shaping up to be a 4-on-4 clash at WrestleMania. Will the reality TV stars find a new ally to even the odds? If so, who will it be?


This whole #KOMania thing seems to have blown up in Kevin Owens’ face. After attempting to deny Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and Sami Zayn an opportunity to challenge him for his Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, The Prizefighter has found himself in the unenviable position of having to defend his title in a Ladder Match against all three of those Superstars, along with three additional challengers: Zack Ryder, Stardust and Sin Cara.

Owens talked a big game in his WWE.com interview with Michael Cole on Wednesday, dismissing his six opponents — namely Ryder. Yet, it was “Zack Daddy” who left the boastful champion staring up at the lights in a seven-man melee on SmackDown. Will The Long Island Iced-Z continue to ride this momentum to WrestleMania, or will another one of these seven Superstars break from the pack before The Showcase of the Immortals?

Don’t miss Raw at 8/7 C on USA Network, and be sure to tune in to Raw Pre-Show at 7:30 ET, only on the award-winning WWE Network. Not a WWE Network subscriber?

[Push R Truth]

Will Roman even appear in front of a live audience with live audio? Or will it be all "backstage" stuff where it's edited to fit the narrative.


Or will his music be loud as all shit and they never stop playing it while he's in front of the crowd.

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]