This CHAOS COLUMN is a recap of WWE’s “RAW” at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, February 10th. Every seat at Staples Center was essentially filled, except for the upper section where viewing would otherwise be obstructed by the big WM30 logo hanging up above the crowd on hand. As expected with any WWE California event, there were plenty of PWG fans. However, being stuck several rows back on the floor section obstructed my own view of the action at times, especially with a few of them carrying signs, and a big Cena fan holding up his HLR foam poster. The result is the relatively small amount of photos taken. This is why I either go for the first three floor rows, or the lower elevated section.
* Did you guys catch the Macho Man impersonator on TV? He drew plenty of pop from the fans in attendance.
SUPERSTARS MATCHES
* On Big E. Langston p. Drew McIntyre with the Big Ending: Decently good match IMO.
* On Natalya making Tamina Snuka tapout to the Sharpshooter: Good, even Divas match.
RAW
* The opening segment was decent enough for me, which got better when Daniel Bryan came out to get the going.
* On The Wyatt Family beating Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes, & Goldust: Strong opening Raw match for me, and I liked how Bray Wyatt tagged himself in, and countered Rey’s 619 attempt with Sister Abigail. They really should give Erick Rowan & Luke Harper a shot at the tag team titles, and Bray Wyatt can go for the U.S. title.
* On Fandango (w/ Summer Rae) p. Santino Marella (w/ Emma): Could’ve been a bit longer for those fans taking a bathroom break, but I like how they’re working out a possible feud between the two duos.
* On Sheamus & Christian beating The Real Americans: This was about as divided of a house as I could piece together, although there were quite a strong Pro-Cesaro crowd in my section. Again, being several rows back on the floor section meant I couldn’t get a good shot at the 10-sec. Cesaro Swing. At least the finish was good, with Sheamus bouncing off the ropes to add more pop to the Brogue Kick on Swagger.
* On the ADR segment: They really are burying Ziggy, aren’t they? The short match was OK for me, but the Batista run-in was decent enough to work in the Batista/ADR match into the EC PPV.
* On The Usos beating Ryback & IC Curtis Axel: Another decent tag team match to me, and the Usos’ finish is always a sight to see. The angle with Billy Gunn selling the effects of the spiked drink that Betty White swapped in the prior backstage segment was funny.
* On the Dean Ambrose/Mark Henry match: The match for the U.S. title was OK, but I liked the stare-down between The Shield & The Wyatt Family better. Hate to say it, but the Shield/Wyatt Family match at EC has the potential to steal the whole PPV.
* On the 6-Divas Tag Team Match: Decent “bathroom break” match. It was nice to see Nikki Bella back in action, because I otherwise couldn’t stand Eva Marie being in there myself. Cameron’s DDT finish on Aksana for the pin was nice, though.
* On Cena p. Orton with the 2nd Attitude Adjustment in the TV Main Event: Reasonably divided house. The match, to me, started slow, but picked up enough for me to make it worthwhile.
* Dark Main Event: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, & Batista scored a DQ-win over The Wyatt Family in a short but effective nightcap. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper thwarted a pinfall attempt by Batista after he Batista-Bombed Bray Wyatt, drawing Cena & DBry in. Bray & Luke were cleared out of the ring, leaving Erick Rowan to eat an Attitude Adjustment/Batista Spear/DBry Running Knee Strike to close it out. Of course, Justin Roberts reminded the fans about the return of SummerSlam to Staples Center on 8/17, with tickets going on sale publicly on 3/15 (and a likely presale the prior Monday).
Shot of the Night 02-10-14
Good Raw showing for me. They did a decent job continuing the build-up to the EC PPV, and shed some details on what to expect with the new WWE Network. MOTN, for me, was the Sheamus & Christian/Real Americans match, followed by the Cena/Orton match.
For more photos, please visit my gallery here…
February’s Wrestling 2014 schedule:
Feb 11th – WWE Smackdown
Feb 15th – AWS “No Time For Valentines Love”