WWE Raw Recap, March 30, 2015: Brock Lesnar Destroys Raw in San Jose

WWE Raw recap: Brock Lesnar in 2015 and the night after WrestleMania

The Raw after WrestleMania is always the loosest show of the year, and the March 30, 2015 edition from San Jose pushed that to an extreme. The crowd at the SAP Center started loud and grew steadily wilder, until the fans were chanting over the action, starting a Wave and heckling nearly everyone who walked through the curtain. By the time the Wave reached the ring during the main event, Seth Rollins was yelling at the stands.

The crowd was part of the story, so some of its greatest hits belong in the record. “You suck” chants were aimed at Nikki Bella, Natalya, AJ Lee, Brie Bella and Naomi, depending on who was in the ring, which prompted more than one wrestler to shrug and carry on. Roman Reigns heard “worse than Cena”. Big Show heard “please retire” and kept moving without breaking stride. Rollins heard “Lesnar’s gonna kill you” as he made his way out to face Brock. The room also chanted “we’re so awesome” at itself, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T were on commentary at the start of the show. They would not all make it to the end. That is the thread running through this recap: a very loud room, a title picture in disarray, and one man who was in no mood to be told no.

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman open the show

Lesnar came out to a huge pop, with Paul Heyman at his side. Heyman called his client the biggest ass-kicker of the PG era, and when the crowd began a “Suplex City” chant, he corrected them with his client’s version of the phrase. He recapped how Rollins had cashed in the Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania and stolen the title.

Heyman said the rules had not been clear and that Lesnar could go to court and hold WWE up in litigation for months. He then added that Lesnar thinks all lawyers are scumbags, so that was not going to happen. All Lesnar wanted was to invoke his rematch clause, and it would happen that night.

Stephanie McMahon came out, praised WrestleMania, and, as the crowd chanted for Ronda Rousey, told the fans to be quiet if they wanted the rematch. She said Rollins would arrive soon and be ready. Heyman closed with a prediction: Lesnar would destroy Rollins and be the reigning, defending, undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion again.

Bryan retains, Sheamus returns, and Neville arrives

The first match was Daniel Bryan defending the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler. The crowd chanted for both men and called it awesome long before it was. Bryan hit a Super Side Suplex and Ziggler countered a flying knee with a superkick for a near fall, before Bryan won with the Running Knee after just under twelve minutes. Afterward Bad News Barrett attacked Bryan, Sheamus ran in with a mohawk and a long beard, then turned on Bryan and dropped Ziggler with the Brogue Kick. The crowd chanted that he looked stupid. Sheamus took the mic and said he was back.

Later, Neville made his debut. Curtis Axel was in the ring, and Neville attacked before the bell, tossing him out and flying onto him. Back inside, a few lariats and quick kicks led to the Red Arrow and a win in 1:11. The announce team was by then reduced to Byron Saxton, who sounded about as excited as a Speak n’ Spell.

In another tag, Stardust faced Damien Mizdow. Mizdow won in 2:23 with a counter. After the bell The Miz attacked his former stunt double and hit his finisher, leaving the crowd to decide whether it cared about Mizdow at all.

Rollins runs, and Lesnar destroys everything in sight

The turning point came after the 8-man tag, in which Lucha Dragons and The New Day beat Cesaro, Tyson Kidd and The Ascension when Kalisto hit the Salida del Sol after just over ten minutes. Lesnar came out for the championship rematch. Rollins followed, taunting Lesnar with the belt. When the bell was about to ring, Rollins bailed. He said he was jet-lagged and that he was pulling the rematch.

Lesnar did not accept. He grabbed Rollins and tried a German suplex, but Rollins landed on his feet and ran again. Lesnar chased and went for an F5 before Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury saved him. Rollins got away, and Lesnar turned his rage on whoever was nearby. He flipped the announce desk onto Cole, JBL and Booker, destroyed ringside staff, and caught Cole as he ran for his life. Heyman begged him to let go.

Lesnar hit Cole with an F5 to the crowd’s delight, then grabbed a camera operator and F5’d him too. Stephanie ran out to stop it, Lesnar ignored her, and she suspended him and walked off. The crowd chanted that it was nonsense.

EMTs checked on Booker and JBL, and Cole left on a stretcher. Backstage, Stephanie told Renee Young that Lesnar was suspended and would be fined, but would still receive his rematch, because he was an employee under contract. From that point Saxton called the rest of the show alone.

Cena and Ambrose, the Divas tag and the main event

John Cena came out to a chorus of boos and a crowd singing his theme song. He told the fans in San Jose they were the best audience of the year, then issued an open challenge for the United States Championship, dressed all in black. Dean Ambrose answered. They traded moves, Ambrose came close with a Dirty Deeds attempt, and Cena survived several counters before hitting the Attitude Adjustment to retain after just over fourteen minutes. Afterward Ambrose accepted the post-match handshake, grudgingly.

A six-Diva tag followed, with AJ Lee, Paige and Naomi against Natalya and The Bella Twins. The crowd got behind AJ when Nikki worked her over. Natalya suplexed Paige. Nikki went for a forearm on Naomi and hit Brie instead, and Naomi finished with the Rear View for the win at 13:07. Rusev beat Goldust in 2:18 without Lana at ringside, with the Accolade.

In the main event, Seth Rollins, Kane and Big Show faced Randy Orton, Ryback and Roman Reigns. Orton and Rollins had a history from WrestleMania, and Rollins had asked Orton to find two partners. The crowd chanted about everything from Breeze to CM Punk, and started a Wave, which the camera followed around the arena. Reigns got the hot tag, hit Kane with a Samoan Drop and a Superman Punch, and Orton hit an RKO on Kane. Reigns got the pin at 13:00. The show ended with a staredown.

Raw results, March 30, 2015

Brock Lesnar’s rematch with Seth Rollins did not take place.

Raw review: a pile-of-bodies show with one great segment

As a show, this Raw was a mixed bag. Three matches were decent, the rest were brief or interrupted, and nearly twenty people were involved in what felt like a pile of bodies. The wrestlers seemed misused in general, and the hot crowd made some of the work harder to judge, since it killed most of the main event.

The best match was the 8-man tag, where Lucha Dragons looked like the only team that wanted to be there. The Bryan and Ziggler match was better before it was interrupted, and the Cena and Ambrose match was solid, though it raised the question of whether anyone should still pretend Cena was a small-time mid-carder. Neville’s debut was the right kind of quick and impressive.

Still, Brock Lesnar in 2015 was always going to be the draw, and the show delivered exactly what its opening promised. Lesnar wanted a fight, the champion refused, and the people in the way paid for it.

Sources

• WrestleMania 31, Wikipedia — Checked against: event date, venue and results.