Last nights Raw featured a 3 song concert by Wiz Khalifa and the two top tag teams losing to The New Day and Los Matadores, respectively. Sting finally “spoke” in response to HHH’s challenge and general bashing of himself and WCW, and even that was weird. It would have been a sub par Raw in general, but since we’re less than three weeks away from WrestleMania, it felt especially stale. There’s no way I could pick five things that I liked about this episode, but I’ll try my best.

1. At Least the IC Title Picture is Interesting

After another talking segment to open Raw, we were treated to two matches featuring four superstars who be vying for the IC title at WrestleMania. The first was BNB vs. Daniel Bryan and the second was Dean Ambrose vs. Stardust. While the merry go round of competitors for the IC title has been fun, I can’t help but think how much better this whole thing would be if the IC belt itself wasn’t treated like garbage for the last 1-5 years. WWE is making up for this by putting pretty much all their  best workers in one match, and the build up has been fun because you know the in ring product will be great no matter what. R-Truth on commentary for almost a half hour was a little much, but both matches were solid, and a multi person MITB style ladder match that includes Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper and a face painted Cody Rhodes can’t possibly be bad.

2. Paul Heyman, The G.O.A.T.

I have a feeling someone backstage is purposely messing with Heyman’s microphone because they know how much it’s going to piss him off and unleash his inner verbal beast. This was one of Heyman’s  best promos EVER, and I hope no contract talks leak out ahead of Mania because after this promo I really can’t see Brock losing the title. If news leaks out that he’s definitely going to UFC then we’ll know he’s losing, but it if doesn’t, I’m having a hard time picturing a scenario where he loses. Heyman is the ultimate hype man, and here he mixes some old school pro wrestling theater with a little bit of shoot promo skills and sells the main event at the same time. It’s refreshing hearing Heyman speak so passionately especially after the rest of the show’s promos from Rollins, Orton and The Authority were so emotionless.

3. Bray Wyatt & The Undertaker

Yesterday I wrote about The Undertaker possibly coming to Raw last night to answer Bray Wyatt’s challenge, and I’m glad he showed up (sort of). The Undertaker’s nemesis’s stealing his urn is one of those turning points in Undertaker feuds. Mankind did it. Yokozuna did it. CM Punk did it. Every time somebody took his urn, his essence, they thought they had the upper hand on Taker, but he’d always resurrect and defeat them. This time’s it’s different, obviously. Undertaker is as close to the end of his career as he’s ever been, and he hasn’t faced a competitor as young and in need of a giant push since Randy Orton in 2005. Regardless of the outcome, Undertaker feuds are just so much fun to watch. They’re different than everyone else’s matches entirely, and almost seem to exist outside the WWE Universe. When Seth Rollins and Orton feud, you know you’re going to get duel promos and a brawl at some point. With The Undertaker, you have smoking urns and lightning being shot from the ceiling and thunder and voice overs from beyond the grave. It’s awesome. I think Wyatt should win at Mania, but I’m also just happy to have the Deadman back again.

4. Randy Orton

This probably should have happened the day after Fast Lane, but it was still a good brawl. My only question is where does Orton/Rollins go from here? I’m assuming they’re going to fight at Mania, but what’s the point? Orton got his revenge. He drew Rollins in, played him like a fool, destroyed him and forced him to leave the arena on a stretcher. What would they be fighting for at Mania? Unless a stipulation involving the briefcase is added, I’m not sure what kind of drama would surround this match. With that said, it was nice to see some aggression from Orton. When he’s on, he’s still one of the best guys on the roster with one of the best and most unpredictable finishing moves.

5. Connor “The Crusher’ Michalek

You can’t say enough about the WWE for doing something like this, and that video package made me cry some serious man tears. Congrats to Connor’s family, and congrats to the WWE for being awesome.

– Ryan