Raw – February 29, 2016

Last week the Road to WrestleMania gave us one of the most memorable moments in recent Raw history. Shane McMahon appeared on Raw for the first time in years for a big, needed, shot of momentum as WWE heads towards possibly the largest crowd in its history.

WELP…that momentum died a little bit last night.

No Roman Reigns, no Brock Lesnar, no Shane McMahon, The Undertaker in the ring for roughly 3 seconds-ish…that leaves a lot of time that needs to be filled.

The obvious star of the night is the man who has seen his stock soar since the start of 2016, Dean Ambrose. Ambrose’s casual confident approach to promos sets him at the top of the promo list this side of Bray Wyatt (more on him in a moment). The Lunatic Fringe seems to have to biggest mixture of mic work and in-ring skills on the show right now.

The interaction between Ambrose and Triple H to start the show took me back to 2011. The Game hasn’t had mic interaction that smooth since he went up against CM Punk.

This altercation ultimately led to a title match between Triple H and Dean Ambrose at what is being called “WWE Roadblock” on Saturday, March 12. The fact that last night’s Raw really seemed to put storylines for two major WrestleMania matches on hold and focus on the live network special raises the “what if” factor.

WHATIF – Ambrose has a solid showing against The Game and there is no decisive winner? Could we see Ambrose find his way into the main event at WrestleMania in a triple threat against Roman Reigns and Triple H? Could this bring us back to the original Lesnar/Wyatt plans?

WHAT IF – Ambrose WINS the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and goes on to WrestleMania to defend against Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar? And the reason he won…Triple H was distracted by The Wyatt Family which leads to Triple H vs Bray Wyatt in Dallas? Bray did talk about “saving the world” in his cryptic promo last night – could that mean taking out The Authority?

WHAT IF – Triple H wins and everything stays the way it is now? Yeah, that’s what will probably end up happening.

But still, playing the what if game is fun and could lead to some interesting turns on the Road to WrestleMania.

Ryback continued his transformation with a convincing win over Adam Rose (which apparently means something, I guess). After the match, Ryback got up and immediately walked to the back without uttering a word.

In a COMPLETELY unrelated story – I just happen to be watching some old Monday Nitro’s right now – specifically in the fall of 1997. This is when Goldberg made his debut…and would just walk to the back without uttering a word after his convincing wins.

So…is WWE just not even trying to avoid the Ryback/Goldberg comparisons now? I’m sure the Godlberg chants were annoying them before, what they’ve done is sure to raise the volume of those chants.

Although…time to play that game again…what if? What if WWE came to an agreement with Goldberg who has said he would like one more match. What if Goldberg is the next to make a surprise return for a match against Ryback?

Wishful thinking I’m sure, but again, what if?

Notice how I haven’t really mentioned The Undertaker’s return to Raw so far? Well, why should I? The entire segment was a disappointment! What a waste of The Undertaker. It was all just to lead up to Vince calling Shane an SOB? Shane-O-Mac will be in Chicago for Raw next week, hopefully he will be able to add some needing fuel to this match’s fire.

Other notes from last night …

• Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks put on a great match…to nobody’s surprise. This seems to be leading up to a triple threat match between the two and Divas’ Champion Charlotte. For the first time in a long time, the woman’s match has “steal the show” potential.
• The Miz won a match! How long has it been since THAT’S happened? Word is that The Miz is in line for some kind of “key match” at WrestleMania. This time last year that would make me groan, but the work that Miz has put in with Jericho and AJ he deserves to have a bone thrown his way.
• Speaking of Y2AJ, their newly formed friendship will take them to a Tag Team Championship match next week against The New Day. I’m still wondering where they are going with this new team.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF RAW? DOES DEAN AMBROSE HAVE A CHANCE TO DEEFAT THE GAME AT WWE ROADBLOCK? WILL WE SEE SOME CHANGES AT THE TOP OF THE WRESTLEMANIA CARD? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @FROM_THETOPROPE AND LET US KNOW!