Welcome to the "get all the diehard fans left over from WrestleMania in the same building and watch the fun that ensues" edition of The Wrestling List. I was entertained as could be by last night's Raw. That crowd was amazing last night. It felt like watching an old school ECW show with the chants and loud pops.
There were two major points about the show last night. Brock Lesnar returned to WWE. The rumors have been flying for several days that he might even appear at WrestleMania. He obviously didn't. I did laugh at the fact that during Cena's promo to close the show, Cena was calling for The Rock to talk to him and congratulate him. The fans knew what they wanted. They had all heard the rumors and were chanting "we want Lesnar" and it was loud. Lesnar's music hit and the roof blew off the buliding. Lesnar made his way to the ring and got another chant as he walked around ringside. I won't say what it was but think a surprised reaction chant. LOL. Lesnar walks into the ring and Cena goes for a handshake. Lesnar grabs him and puts him for the F5 and the fans go nuts. F5 lands and Lesnar makes his big return. It should be pointed out that it was ten years ago that Lesnar made his debut for WWE. He debuted on the Raw the night after WrestleMania X-8. I am not a Lesnar fan at all. That is no secret. I still am not. However, seeing that crowd pop and react so huge like it was something from back in the day was just great. I had goosebumps watching those fans just going nuts. So, what about Brock? How they use him for the next year will be interesting. The fact that Lesnar is back in WWE is quite amazing considering all the bad blood between him and the company since 2004. It involved him leaving when it was time for him to start putting people over and also involved legal action when he decided he wanted to wrestle after his football career didn't work out. WWE made him sign a hefty no compete when he left cause of how he just up and left them. What kind of Brock are we going to have behind the scenes there?
Point two was the fan backlash over the Daniel Bryan squash at WrestleMania. Fans were furious at WrestleMania over the squash to the point where stuff was flying through the air. The word seems to be that the reason it was done was to do a shock moment to start the show off. Well, it shocked people. Shocked people into a near riot. Last night was the opportunity for those fans there in Miami to continue to voice their frustration. They voiced it...all night and it was tremendous. There were Daniel Bryan chants all night and the crowd turned "yes, yes, yes" into the chant of the night. This wasn't just a small section of fans. It was most of the building. It was loud! Sheamus was brought out and introduced as the new champion last night and the fans got to take out some more frustration on him. It wasn't the fans didn't like Sheamus. They were still using him as a vocal target. Del Rio made his return during that segment and the fans still chanted Daniel Bryan's name all through it. Well, except when they jumped in for some fun Del Rio chants too. They cut backstage after the segment to show Bryan and AJ watching on the monitor and you could hear the huge pop in the building as it appeared on the screen for the crowd. Daniel Bryan chants and 'yes, yes, yes" chants were ringing out during John Cena's promo too and also The Rock's. After the show, Bryan wrestled in a multi tag match and got a HUGE pop as he was introduced. I have seen video of it and it was awesome to watch the fans chanting "yes" every time Bryan pointed up. It was tremendous. He did a promo for the crowd after the show thanking them saying the previous night was the worst night of his career but that this "yes" thing by the fans had likely gotten him a t-shirt deal. He kept playing heel kicking AJ out of there to the back. He did the "yes" pose as he left to run to the back as the fans went nuts. I said it already that I was annoyed for the whole first hour of WrestleMania over that finish. It took the cell to get me back on the right page. Fans were pumped for it and were chanting. These fans have been vocal about it as well. It was a bad idea. I see that they wanted to go for a surprise but that wasn't the match to do it with. The fans didn't want it and they about had a riot on their hands. This could end up being a really good thing for Daniel Bryan cause now the fans have gotten vocal for him.
What about Rock? Well, his promo last night teased that he was looking for WWE championship gold in the future. Rock will be sticking around from time to time like he has done over the last year. When his schedule allows, he'll be back. I've already heard rumblings of people curious if we'll see something between Rock and Brock since we are coming up on the ten year anniversary of their match. Just speculation of people wondering. Nobody really knows anything at this point what lies in wait for either of them. We're all just waiting.
I mentioned the crowd last night but they again they were just amazing. Off the charts awesome. They made the show so much fun. You always get that on the Raw after Mania cause it's held in the same city and the diehards stick around for one more day. You're also going to be a different reaction about things too from that crowd. It really reminded me of an ECW crowd. They were just awesome all night. The sad thing is that next week we go back to the normal crowds. Nothing against those crowds but you've got all the diehards packed into a venue last night and they're going to make a lot of noise. Chanting all night and they were just having a great time.
Other thoughts on Raw. The artist formerly known as Albert and A-Train made his return as Lord Tensai. Alex Riley was the one fed to him. I've had this question for a year now but who did Alex Riley make mad behind the scenes? He had all sorts of momentum a year ago and now he is a squash guy whenever he does appear on TV. Punk and Henry was what it was. Big reaction for Punk which was awesome. Colt Cabana chants from the crowd always make me smile. The Jericho attack with the alcohol reminded me of the Punk/Raven feud from Ring Of Honor.
Chief Jay Strongbow has passed away. No word on details. Jim Ross mentioned his passing earlier today on his Twitter account.
Vince Russo will be doing a live You Shoot interview for Kayfabe Commentaries. Wow, does that sound dangerous. Have I mentioned that Russo is gone from TNA? Have I done a List since that happened? I don't think I have. Vince Russo is gone from the company. He has been for probably a month or so now.
WWE Classics On Demand did a great Legends roundtable show recently talking about celebrities in wrestling over the years. The panel was Jim Ross, Gene Okerlund, Michael Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Diamond Dallas Page. Now, that is a story telling panel and they did not disappoint. Speaking of Russo, things got interesting and a bit heated when David Arquette's name was brought up. JR was pretty vocal against it. Page was someone that stuck up for Arquette. Not because of the idea. He said the idea was terrible. He just didn't want Arquette taking the heat over it. Page said that Arquette got told that he was winning the title and wanted nothing to do with it. He was a huge fan and had all the respect for the history of the business. He did not want to do the finish and told Page that he didn't want to. He obviously had no say so about it. One thing that he mentioned that I've heard for several years is that Arquette gave all the money that he made in wrestling to the widow of Brian Pillman. He didn't keep any of the money. Very interesting roundtable. I don't think it is airing anymore on Classics but it was a really good one.
The WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony special aired last night as well. Edge's speech was just awesome. A guy that grew up loving this business and had to quit way before he was ready. You could see the emotion in him and he teared up a bunch during his speech and also at his appearance at WrestleMania. The Horsemen speech was great as well. Wild to see Ric Flair back on the WWE stage. Feels like I haven't seen him in forever cause I haven't watched TNA very much lately obviously. Great speech given by all. Tyson had fun up there and is a big fan as well of the business. He was taking pictures with some of his idols over the WrestleMania weekend that he ran into. Many more inducted but we didn't see them on the special. Wait for the DVD next month or for the ceremony to air on Classics a few months down the line.
Anyway, that is it. Just thought I'd type up some thoughts on last night's Raw since it was so fun. Have a great day! Take care and God bless!!
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