LIVE Raw thoughts - March 2, 2015

11:05 - Wait, really?  You're really going to make Rollins lose now?  But that plancha was prettttttty awesome.

10:55 - Alright, I'm kinda getting a kick out of this Orton routine.  If ONLY they hadn't already turned on Orton, I would consider it completely acceptable.  But other than that, I'm finding humor in Orton coming out to distract Rollins right before he's about to gain an advantage or do something diabolical.  And Orton is fully aware of what he's doing.  The fans are fully aware of what he's doing.  Even Kane, Big Show, and J&J Security are aware of what he's doing.  Yet he sometimes manages to make it work.

10:45 - So Paul Heyman gives a 10 minute promo about how everybody believes that Roman Reigns beating Brock Lesnar is a foregone conclusion, but they're wrong.  The second it ends and Reigns comes out, Michael Cole asks "Do you think Roman Reigns is tired of everybody saying he can't beat Brock Lesnar?"  Geez, get it together.

10:30 - Another pet peeve:  WWE either announcing their inductions before Raw or outright spoiling them.  They've done this with every single inductee this year.

10:19 - "Daniel, I know you spent almost a year out of action due to neck and other severe injuries, but we'd like you to wrestle in a ladder match at WrestleMania."  "Really?  Hmmmm.  Is it for the World title?"  "Well, no."  "Oh.  Maybe a number one contender's shot, where the winner faces the champion at Extreme Rules?"  "Unfortunately not."  "Are you guys doing another Money in the Bank match?"  "No."  "Then what am I fighting for?"  "Get this....you'll be risking it all -- haha, literally! -- for the INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP!"

10:10 - I will say this.  Jon Stewart cuts an awesome promo.  And he knows his wrestling history.

9:53 - Thrilled to see AJ Lee back and it would've been an awesome surprise if it wasn't spoiled for me by a website that did not offer a spoiler warning.  Actually, that's another rant.  There will be one link that says "SPOILER:  Superstar returning tonight."  And then higher up on the page there will be another story with no spoiler warning that will say "as noted earlier, AJ Lee is backstage at Raw and expected to return tonight."

But yes, I approve of AJ and Paige vs. the Bellas at WrestleMania.  They're pretty much the only four Divas who have received a push this year, so they might as well be the ones that get the WrestleMania treatment.

9:42 - Every voice in that Flintstones cartoon sounds strange.

9:27 - In all of the dream matches that came up, did anyone ever say "Sting vs. Triple H"?  This isn't a shot at Triple H, but I just don't think their careers ever intersected in a way that people said they wanted to see that match.  Their characters were never similar and they don't really have similar styles.  It's just not something that, I think, people ever wanted to see.  The inherent interest isn't there.

9:13 - I gotta admit, I did laugh when Axel noted that he's been in the Royal Rumble for 35 days.

9:07 - I understand she's a heel and that she's not SUPPOSED to be right, but this promo would make a lot more sense if Cena said anything that might even remotely be considered derogatory against Andre the Giant or the Battle Royal.  He seemed quite honored.

9:02 - Criticize Cena all you want, but this is the type of promo Reigns should have been delivering.

8:53 - Having said that, how awesome is it that Tyson Kidd might be in a featured match at WrestleMania?  Well deserved.

8:48 - The Usos vs. Cesaro/Kidd always deliver awesome matches and there's an actual story there.  But we've seen them fight every single week for the past couple of months.  Again, what's the thrill in seeing them fight at WrestleMania?

8:35 - Similar to my complaint about Ziggler and Ryback feuding with the Authority but not having that pay off at WrestleMania, the same is true with this Miz/Mizdow thing.  This is a feud that actually has people invested.  They love the Mizdow act and they can't wait for him to turn on him.  Yet, at the moment, Miz is scheduled to be in the Battle Royal.  Can you imagine if Virgil/Ted Dibiase was paid off in a 30 man battle royal?

8:30 - What's the end game with this Intercontinental Title story?  If Barrett ultimately wins, EVERYBODY looks like a loser.  If anybody else wins, then what's the appeal?  I mean, let's say Ambrose wins.  He's already beaten Barrett before, so the victory doesn't mean much.  He's already physically appeared with the title, so seeing him holding the title doesn't give us much pleasure either.

8:02 - This whole Seth Rollins/Jon Stewart thing is great, but it accentuates what is wrong with WrestleMania right now.  They have a pre-written story with Randy Orton and Rollins and people ARE invested in it....but instead of just going with that, what are they doing?  They're having them team again (which can really only potentially make people less invested in Orton as a face) so that Orton can turn on him and, as a result, the match just seems more rushed.  And instead of moving forward with that Orton/Rollins match, they're having Rollins spend time on Jon Stewart -- which I can't imagine will play into a WrestleMania match.

And that's not all.  For the past six months, Dolph Ziggler, Ryback, and Erick Rowan have been feuding with the Authority.  Will this pay off with these three banding together to face the Authority at the biggest show of the year?  Perhaps Kane and Big Show take out Rowan (the weakest of the three) and Ziggler and Ryback team up to defeat them at WrestleMania, finally getting their revenge for getting fired?  Nope.  Instead, we have Ryback in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, you have Ziggler likely battling for the Intercontinental title (a title he's held, like, three times in the past year) and Rowan not doing anything.

And then you have Daniel Bryan, who has been feuding with the Authority in some capacity for well over a year.  And will he be doing anything involving the Authority?  Nope.  He's set up to participate in the Intercontinental title match as well.....a title he has had nothing to do with in years against competitors he hasn't had anything to do with since his return.

Where's the logical build for anything?