5 things that needs to happen on Raw tomorrow to get fans invested!!!

[That N Word]

This has been kind of a lackluster build to Mania this year. It is mainly due to the fact of a short amount of time to build with Mania and the build to it beginning in the same month and part-timers (including Orton) barely around or returning rather late. Here are 10 things that need to happen to get the RTWM into high gear in the last two weeks...

#1- Randy Orton revealing his true colors- Randy Orton has been playing the role of "hold friends close, enemies closer" in his feud with Rollins. However, Monday it is time to snap because there is only two weeks to Mania. Randy not only need to snap but do it in a big way.

#2- Sting needs to return - What pisses me off is Sting has only appeared twice on the RTWM. He NEEDS to appear and he NEEDS to speak on the final two shows before Mania and even do a Smackdown to sell the feud more. If he doesn't show up, I will have no interest in this feud as I already don't.

#3- A Brawl with Lesnar and Reigns needs to happen and in a big way. This feud has mainly been a friendly rivalry between Heyman and Lesnar. It is time to get personal at this point and make fans beg for more. I would have this segment close the show, either that or Undertakers return. I would actually have Wyatt vs. Reigns main event Raw. Have Lesnar cause the DQ and the two jump Reigns before (Gong) Taker is back and brawls with Wyatt knocking him out the ring before setting his sights on Lesnar. Lesnar goes to F-5 Taker but falls victim to a spear. Bray hits sister abragail on Taker before getting speared as well. With Lesnar standing tall the next week.


#4-Undertaker returns- (See above)

#5- Cena/Rusev made official with a stipulation, and other matches to fill up the card are made official- It's time IMO for Cena vs. Rusev to be made official. I would have Rusev in a match with Axel and have him beat Axel before Cena brutally beats him with a chair and later in the night Cena comes out to talk. Rusev would then interrupt and say's "I will fight you John Cena...one two conditions.... 1. Make this a I Quit match, and 2. Put your career on the line." Also matches such as the tag title,diva's tag,and others NEED to be made official for Mania.

What are 5 things in your opinion needs to happen???

 

[L@RISANO]

This has been kind of a lackluster build to Mania this year. It is mainly due to the fact of a short amount of time to build with Mania and the build to it beginning in the same month and part-timers (including Orton) barely around or returning rather late. Here are 10 things that need to happen to get the RTWM into high gear in the last two weeks...

#1- Randy Orton revealing his true colors- Randy Orton has been playing the role of "hold friends close, enemies closer" in his feud with Rollins. However, Monday it is time to snap because there is only two weeks to Mania. Randy not only need to snap but do it in a big way.

#2- Sting needs to return - What pisses me off is Sting has only appeared twice on the RTWM. He NEEDS to appear and he NEEDS to speak on the final two shows before Mania and even do a Smackdown to sell the feud more. If he doesn't show up, I will have no interest in this feud as I already don't.

#3- A Brawl with Lesnar and Reigns needs to happen and in a big way. This feud has mainly been a friendly rivalry between Heyman and Lesnar. It is time to get personal at this point and make fans beg for more. I would have this segment close the show, either that or Undertakers return. I would actually have Wyatt vs. Reigns main event Raw. Have Lesnar cause the DQ and the two jump Reigns before (Gong) Taker is back and brawls with Wyatt knocking him out the ring before setting his sights on Lesnar. Lesnar goes to F-5 Taker but falls victim to a spear. Bray hits sister abragail on Taker before getting speared as well. With Lesnar standing tall the next week.


#4-Undertaker returns- (See above)

#5- Cena/Rusev made official with a stipulation, and other matches to fill up the card are made official- It's time IMO for Cena vs. Rusev to be made official. I would have Rusev in a match with Axel and have him beat Axel before Cena brutally beats him with a chair and later in the night Cena comes out to talk. Rusev would then interrupt and say's "I will fight you John Cena...one two conditions.... 1. Make this a I Quit match, and 2. Put your career on the line." Also matches such as the tag title,diva's tag,and others NEED to be made official for Mania.

What are 5 things in your opinion needs to happen???

I'm assuming that Orton-Rollins gets a slow burn, and doesn't finish at Mania. Thus, I can see more teasing happening tomorrow night. Not the ideal, but I think they might as well keep it slowly going now as they already lost the chance they had immediately on Orton's return.



Sting does need to appear again, however, I'm not sure he needs to speak just yet, or at all. I guess, HHH's conspiracy theories will have to be shot down, however... Oh, and I doubt he ever shows up on SmackDown! Not happening.


Obviously, some sort of Brock-Roman interaction absolutely needs to happen tomorrow night, or they could as well kiss the Main Event goodbye and call some sort of audible. Nothing else to add here... Including Taker sounds good but(See next point)



I think Bray Wyatt can contiue his calling out of Taker until Mania, and leave it as a will he, won't he? sort of thing. If anything, have some of Taker acceptance of some sort like there was a decade ago when Deadman Taker returned to fight Kane at Mania. I don't really see it as neccessary that Taker returns at all, however.



Cena-Rusev will happen. Of that I have no doubt. Just let it play out as it is, I say. The best built feud for Mania thus far, but it is for Cena, so that was expected.

 

[jholcomb22]

The Orton tweeter thing is progressing fine. I'd much rather see this, instead of an attack on Rollins and then two weeks of him getting his ass kicked in 5 on 1 scenarios until Mania.

Sting is not needed. HHH is perfectly capable at stressing the importance of the match, and the intrigue builds the more Sting stays out. Also, if he does show up, he should not talk. He has always been more intimidating being silent.

Cena will find the way to make Rusev accept. We all know it. Whether it happens tomorrow or on the preshow at Mania we know the match will take place. I don't care when they announce it.

For most of your scenarios, you are risking matches at WrestleMania. Nobody is going to do that. WWE feels they have the names, the matches, and the story told to get all the sales they can. The next three weeks will be very formulaic. Sting, HHH, Brock, Bray and especially Undertaker will not wrestle once. They will not take any bumps. They will wait until March 29 when its worth it.

 

[John McCass]

#1. Randy Orton needs to turn face. Yes, this badly needs to happen. As there are only 3 RAWs left and it needs a solid buildup for this feud to get the fans interested. But, the problem I have with this feud is if Randy doesn't get some big wins before mania, it is going to worse than ever. Orton survived more losses than victory last year and if he is scheduled to face Rollins at Mania, it is obvious that Rollins will win and so, Orton needs to win some big matches to look like a credible threat for Rollins.
#2. Sting appears : This may also happen. As stated, Sting has signed a 6 appearance deal, in which 3 of them had been done, 1 is scheduled for Mania and 2 is the number which Sting will appear on TV (whether it be RAW or SD!). But, I think these 2 appearances would be after the tonight's raw. He must appear consecutively to make the feud look intense and last 2 RAWs are ideal to make it happen. Anyways, this may or may not happen tonight.
#3. Some interaction is sure, if Lesnar shows up tonight. Because, he walked out of last RAW so, he may appear tonight. And this is more than possible that the brawl will happen. But, if he does not appear then, it will be some sort of promo between Reigns and Heyman. I don't care about this match. But, they can make some build going into this match to get me (I know, its not important) invested in this feud.
#4. Undertaker returns - Cagesideseats.com and some other sites have stated that there will be some action regarding or involving Taker. He may appear live or on the titantron to send a message to Wyatt. But, I'm okay with Taker not appearing. It can add some extra interest to the Mania match. Whether he appears or not, I'm okay with this. But the question is, if the Undertaker is not fit, What will Bray Wyatt do ? Hmm, let me watch the following shows. This is the excitement. And, I know there will be some secondary plans for Wyatt, if Taker doesn't appear.
#5. Finalising the card - They have enough time to do this. It can be done on all coming shows. If the card is finalised tonight then, the coming RAWs will feel like completely thrown away shows. They can do some more teasing between Cena and Rusev, and also include Axel in some way.
Thats all I think about tonight's RAW.

 

[Navi]

Pretty much agree that a lot has to happen between now and Mania. With over 10,000 seats still available they have to get those asses in the chairs somehow.

This RAW also had better start the ball rolling, or might as well just not bother and leave it as it is. So for the five things that need to happen.

#1- Randy Orton revealing his true colors- Randy Orton has been playing the role of "hold friends close, enemies closer" in his feud with Rollins. However, Monday it is time to snap because there is only two weeks to Mania. Randy not only need to snap but do it in a big way.

I agree that Randy has to snap, but I would wait until the RAW before Mania. He has to keep acting like he's part of the Authority, but he's like the stone in their shoe. You know interrupting matches, causing them to lose not really being there to help out, stuff like that. Then when they get pissed at him, that's when we'll see the fireworks.

#2- Sting needs to return - What pisses me off is Sting has only appeared twice on the RTWM. He NEEDS to appear and he NEEDS to speak on the final two shows before Mania and even do a Smackdown to sell the feud more. If he doesn't show up, I will have no interest in this feud as I already don't.

I doubt we'll see him until the RAW before Mania as well. With the limited schedule he has, they probably don't want to waste any of his appearances. A lot of people only want the match to happen to see Sting in the WWE ring. The youngsters in the crowd have no idea they are watching history happen, and the sad part is they don't give a shit.

#3- A Brawl with Lesnar and Reigns needs to happen and in a big way. This feud has mainly been a friendly rivalry between Heyman and Lesnar. It is time to get personal at this point and make fans beg for more. I would have this segment close the show, either that or Undertakers return. I would actually have Wyatt vs. Reigns main event Raw. Have Lesnar cause the DQ and the two jump Reigns before (Gong) Taker is back and brawls with Wyatt knocking him out the ring before setting his sights on Lesnar. Lesnar goes to F-5 Taker but falls victim to a spear. Bray hits sister abragail on Taker before getting speared as well. With Lesnar standing tall the next week.

No there is too many balls in the air in this scenario. I would take Wyatt and Taker out of the equation completely and let this be between Lesnar and Reigns. God knows you already have Heyman in there. I really don't know what they could do other than have Lesnar F-5 Reigns for no reason to ignite this feud. They have no history together, and no real reason to be going at each other. It's the most boring build up to a main event I've ever seen. But something has to happen on RAW tonight otherwise the main event is toast.

#4-Undertaker returns- (

I would love to see Wyatt out there rambling on (I lied there, would rather staple my tongue to the table than listen to him again) but anyway. Wyatt is out there doing his thing, and Taker comes on the tron. He doesn't say a word, but rolls his eyes back and draws this thumb across his neck. Nuff said. That would build the match for me.

[#5- Cena/Rusev made official with a stipulation, and other matches to fill up the card are made official/B]- It's time IMO for Cena vs. Rusev to be made official.

Somehow they are going to drag this out till the bitter end for some reason. I have no idea why but that's the WWE. All Cena has to do is ask for a match with someone else, and say to Rusev, "Okay you won't fight me, I'm fighting someone else, have fun in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal". In other words fight me or you're lumped in with everyone else.

I still don't have high hopes for this all happening on one RAW though. It seems that the WWE is crawling along at turtle speed here, not fully realizing that their Biggest Night of the Year is a mere two weeks away.

 

[JoeMallard]

I'd like to add something. If Bryan is to be in the ladder match, he needs to be added on Raw. If Sheamus is supposed to face Bryan, he needs to return tonight, so they can actually build a story.

 

[Dave]

This has been kind of a lackluster build to Mania this year. It is mainly due to the fact of a short amount of time to build with Mania and the build to it beginning in the same month and part-timers (including Orton) barely around or returning rather late. Here are 10 things that need to happen to get the RTWM into high gear in the last two weeks...

#1- Randy Orton revealing his true colors- Randy Orton has been playing the role of "hold friends close, enemies closer" in his feud with Rollins. However, Monday it is time to snap because there is only two weeks to Mania. Randy not only need to snap but do it in a big way.

#2- Sting needs to return - What pisses me off is Sting has only appeared twice on the RTWM. He NEEDS to appear and he NEEDS to speak on the final two shows before Mania and even do a Smackdown to sell the feud more. If he doesn't show up, I will have no interest in this feud as I already don't.

#3- A Brawl with Lesnar and Reigns needs to happen and in a big way. This feud has mainly been a friendly rivalry between Heyman and Lesnar. It is time to get personal at this point and make fans beg for more. I would have this segment close the show, either that or Undertakers return. I would actually have Wyatt vs. Reigns main event Raw. Have Lesnar cause the DQ and the two jump Reigns before (Gong) Taker is back and brawls with Wyatt knocking him out the ring before setting his sights on Lesnar. Lesnar goes to F-5 Taker but falls victim to a spear. Bray hits sister abragail on Taker before getting speared as well. With Lesnar standing tall the next week.


#4-Undertaker returns- (See above)

#5- Cena/Rusev made official with a stipulation, and other matches to fill up the card are made official- It's time IMO for Cena vs. Rusev to be made official. I would have Rusev in a match with Axel and have him beat Axel before Cena brutally beats him with a chair and later in the night Cena comes out to talk. Rusev would then interrupt and say's "I will fight you John Cena...one two conditions.... 1. Make this a I Quit match, and 2. Put your career on the line." Also matches such as the tag title,diva's tag,and others NEED to be made official for Mania.

What are 5 things in your opinion needs to happen???

As much as I agree with your 5 things, and I do personally think that those will happen at some point. I don't think that all 5 of those are going to happen on the next edition of Raw, rightly or wrongly.

You see, the WWE seem to be going for a slow burn on the road to this WrestleMania. And as much as I agree with the 5 points you have listed, I don't think that this is going to be the Raw where we get all of that. He'll, if we even get two of those 5 points I'd be happy. With almost 10,000 seats left to sell for WrestleMania, you'd think that the WWE would be bringing out the big guns to get those tickets sold, huh? Well, that doesn't seem to be the case. Give the people those 5 things and the tickets will start to go. Hold off for a lot longer and you might find patches of empty seats in 3 weeks time.

As for what is likely to happen, I think we might get from your list. The first thing that is likely is that Reigns and Leanar ought to have their first physical contact with one another. This is one of Lesnar's scheduled appearances. And barring another no-show fiasco, we will likely get to see Reigns put Lesnar in his place somewhat and set up the match at WrestleMania. The second one we are likely to get is the confirmation of the match between Cena and Rusev. Cena is a huge draw in the WWE, make no doubt about it. He sells tickets. And for the WWE to be teasing about him "sitting it out" is not helping their cause. Once his match is confirmed, and soon, tickets will start to flow.

The other three, I just don't see happening tonight. The Undertaker seems likely to appear on key at WrestleMania, Orton seems to still be towing the Authority line for a another couple of weeks and the same goes for Sting as it does for The Undertaker unfortunately. As much as I would love to see these things happen, it seems like we might only get 2 at the most.

 

[Mustang Sally]

#4-Undertaker returns

Many good points in this post, but this one sticks out. Consider the logic: Undertaker needs to accept (or reject) the challenge. Until he does, all we're seeing is Bray Wyatt popping out of coffins and otherwise spewing his weird messages.

That's all fine, but even as we figure there is going to be a match between these two, we don't know for absolute certain, do we? Which is to say, the true fans of wrestling (like us!) know it, but WWE doesn't have to worry about the bulk of us, anyway....we already subscribe to the WWE Network and we'll be watching WM31 whether Undertaker is there or not......but what about the casual fan who doesn't subscribe? He/she is deciding whether to buy a ticket for $60 and may not want to buy if Undertaker isn't part of it.

Like the OP, I'd like to see more of Sting before the event, too......but at least he's committed to appearing. Undertaker hasn't....and he needs to show up in a non-violent appearance and tell us he's gonna be there.

 

[Hem]

This wrestlemania just doesn't feel right..I mean you have a few huge matches on the card but what has been the build up to them? LITTLE TO NONE.

1) Bray Wyatt faces The Undertaker - If the UT Vs. Wyatt match is to take place then it is time we at least get some sort of indication from the dead man that he accepts. Bray Wyatt cannot keep calling him out without getting a reply. You have to have it so that Bray knows first hand what he is playing with. Sure Bray has done a good job thus far with his promos but you can't clap with one hand.

2) Lesnar/Reigns BRAWL - No I don't want to see Reigns spear Lesnar and back away or Lesnar F5 Reigns and leave. I want to see both men show that this match can deliever as a hard hitting match. They need an intense brawl all over the ring and arena to close the show with and it has to be both of these guys.

3) Sting & HHH MUST SPEAK - We've yet to hear Sting speak and while its great because it adds to his mistique, it is also bad because you can't build a feud without any reason being given. HHH kept quite last week on RAW which was a good way to sell his shock but you honestly couldn't have had Stephanie at least comment once about him and his match? A great back and forth promo must take place between both of these guys.

4) Randy Turns - Randy Ortons return has been lackluster for sure. I don't like the booking of it at all. The guy who punted people and became the legend killer now just forgets his anger so that he can help out Rollins and make him the future? NO. Randy has to turn against the Authority, most importantly - Seth Rollins. I think the best way to do so is take out the army. J&J have been at Rollins' side and I think a punt to the skull for each could add a nice touch of intensity to the feud. Next week I wouldn't mind seeing both Big Show & Kane also get taken out so that Rollins is left alone for his match.

5) Make Matches Official - The only matches fully set in stone are HHH Vs. Sting & Lesnar Vs. Reigns. Besides that The Undertaker has yet to answer to Wyatt, the IC ladder match still doesn't have all of it's participants, Rusev needs to accept Cena, the BRC Vs. Usos feud needs a match up, Divas need a match, rest of the Battle Royal guys need to be announced, Randy and Rollins isn't official either...WTF is going on??

 

[Navi]

This wrestlemania just doesn't feel right..I mean you have a few huge matches on the card but what has been the build up to them? LITTLE TO NONE.

5) Make Matches Official - The only matches fully set in stone are HHH Vs. Sting & Lesnar Vs. Reigns. Besides that The Undertaker has yet to answer to Wyatt, the IC ladder match still doesn't have all of it's participants, Rusev needs to accept Cena, the BRC Vs. Usos feud needs a match up, Divas need a match, rest of the Battle Royal guys need to be announced, Randy and Rollins isn't official either...WTF is going on??

I agree with your statement that there has been little to no build, that's why it has to start tonight. Lesnar should be there, so there has to be a confrontation between him and Reigns or forget it. Lesnar only has one more appearance before Mania, and that will be much too late, if it isn't already.

I think the matches are official otherwise they wouldn't be bothering these feuds right now. I understand everyone wants the WWE to say, "Yes you will have a match with so and so at Mania". But lets face it would Cena and Rusev even be bothering with each other right now if they weren't having a match. Orton looks ready to go off on someone and that someone will be Rollins.

Tonight and next week's RAW will finalize the rest of the card. Still don't have a lot of hope for it. It's very weak.

EDIT: The wwe.com has officially announced that the Diva's match will take place at Mania. It's Paige/AJ vs The Bella's. So there's one that's been finalized.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Well, last night gave us the answer as to whether Sting and Undertaker would make in-person appearances.....at least for this week.

We got Sting on a recorded vignette......and, finally, a signal from Undertaker that he was at least aware of Bray Wyatt.....along with a "sort of" acknowledgement he would be accepting Bray's challenge.....although, when you think about it, he didn't actually accept, did he? Just: "The man comes around."

So far, the build-up to WM31 is for shit. There are still 19 days left; I hope WWE uses them effectively.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As of last night, it looks as though a few of the 5 things have happened.

Orton's true colors have been revealed as he got medieval on Seth Rollins' ass last night.

Cena vs. Rusev is official and Cena delivered a pretty brutal beating of his own. Cena showed a ton of aggression last night and the result was you had adult males, women & kids all chanting "Cena!!! Cena!!! Cena!!!" instead of the usual "Let's Go Cena - Cena Sucks" dueling chants. However, a title vs. career match already telegraphs the ending, as does an I Quit match. While most of us predict that Cena will win anyhow in order to avenge his loss at FastLane, there's still enough doubt as to make the outcome interesting. Making it an I Quit match and doing the whole title vs. career thing dissolves that because we know Cena ain't leaving WWE and it's foolish to try to build a match like this in order to convince people otherwise because nobody'll buy it.

As for Taker, if reports are accurate, he won't be appearing on TV. Reportedly, Vince wants Taker kept off television in order to generate speculation & interest as to how Taker looks, how he's doing, what his physical condition is, etc. as part of building up the match. Last night, they used some old school Taker theatrics as part of the build. I don't know how well it's going to work, but I do admit that I'm curious to see how Taker looks and all.

As for Lesnar vs. Reigns, a big brawl will almost certainly happen within the next few weeks, but the problem is that won't help alleviate any doubts some fans have in regards to Reigns' personality, charisma, promo abilities and establishing a rapport with the audience. Reigns isn't being booed out of the building now, which is a good thing, but I don't think it's because all the doubters have gotten behind him. While some have I'm sure, I think that some have resigned themselves to the fact that it's Lesnar vs. Reigns and there's nothing to be done about it.