WrestlingThe final Raw before WrestleMania started off on a huge note, as Sheamus teamed up with former arch-rival Randy Orton to take on the team of Kane and the World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan. Bryan got the upper hand to Sheamus with a series of knee strikes to the gut and a flying knee to the face. Bryan missed while going for a second flying attack, giving Sheamus the opportunity to tag Orton in. Orton ran over Bryan with clotheslines and a powerslam, and then hit the middle rope DDT. Orton was getting ready for the RKO, but Kane distracted him, allowing Bryan to dropkick him through the ropes, gaining back some momentum. Kane tagged himself in and hit Orton with a sidewalk slam followed by a flying lariat. Sheamus and Bryan got tagged in, and Sheamus exploded on Bryan with hammer blows and shots to the mid-section. Orton and Sheamus clotheslined Kane over the top rope, but when Orton tried to RKO Kane on the outside, Kane shoved him into a ringpost. Meanwhile in the ring, Sheamus tried to hit the Brogue Kick on Bryan, but AJ got in the way, distracting Sheamus long enough for Kane to come from behind and nail the chokeslam on the Celtic Warrior, allowing Bryan to get the pin-fall.
John Lauranitis and Theodore Long were at ringside as the captains of their WrestleMania teams faced each other in a singles match. Before the match, Vickie Guerrero and Hornswoggle were announced as the flag-bearers for team Johnny and team Teddy, respectively. Otunga took control early in the match with some good mat-based wrestling moves, and then decided to pose around with his team's flag. Hornswoggle decided to do some posing of his own and Otunga tried to snatch the flag from him, hitting himself with the flag in the process. This allowed Santino to recover and hit the Cobra for the three-count. After the match, the Miz ran into the ring, dropping Santino with the Skull-Crushing Finale and was welcomed into team Johnny by Lauranitis.
Eve Torres was back in action as she was accompanied to the ring by Divas Champion Beth Phoenix as she faced off against Kelly Kelly, who will team up with celebrity Maria Menuonos to take on the team of Torres and Phoenix at WrestleMania. Eve dominated in the early goings of the match, but Kelly fought back with a tornado DDT, and followed it up with the K2 for the victory.
WWE Champion CM Punk was scheduled to face Christian in singles contest, but as the champion was making his way to the ring, Chris Jericho appeared on the Titantron, this time with some disturbing information about Punk's mother. This distracted the champion, allowing Christian to attack him from behind, but Punk recovered with multiple elbows to the head and threw Christian on the steel steps. Punk then locked in the Anaconda Vise, refusing to let go and screaming "This is you, Jericho". Trainers and medical staff had to check in on Christian, and the match could not happen at all.
Two very short matches happened afterwards. In the first, Brodus Clay faced Kurt Hawkins in a rematch from last week. Hawkins showed some improvement when he succeeded in knocking Clay off his feet, but Clay got back on top with a quick headbutt and a high knee lift. Clay capitalized with a T-Bone suplex, and then nailed the Funk it splash for the victory.
In the other match, Big Show knocked out one half of the tag team champion, Primo, in less than a minute with a huge chokeslam. After the match, the Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes taunted the giant some more, suggesting that "Big Show" be turned into a verb synonymous with failure. The World's Largest Athlete turned red at this, and since Rhodes ran out of the arena, Primo had to bear a savage beatdown from the Big Show.
The two giants from team Teddy and team Johnny faced off as The Great Khali went toe-to-toe with Mark Henry. The Punjabi giant tried to gain control of Henry with his axe chops and elbows on the corner, but Henry fought back, and in a feat of strength nailed The World's Strongest Slam on Khali, getting the victory. After the match, both teams faced off in the ring, and team Teddy looked to be losing the brawl that ensued, until Booker T joined in on behalf of team Teddy. Booker was announced as the final member of Long's team, and he celebrated with a spin-a-roonie.
Throughout the show, the Titantron kept showing video packages of the buildup leading to two of the greates WrestleMania matches ever: The Rock vs John Cena and The Undertaker vs Triple H. The careers of all four of these men were shown, with their finest WrestleMania moments. While Undertaker and Triple H were busy preparing for the big night, The Rock and Cena decided to have one final confrontation in the ring before their match.
The Rock entered the ring first, recalling how he thought that his match at WrestleMania XX was supposed to be his last appearance at WrestleMania, but how everyone around him kept asking him when he would get back in the ring. Pausing for the occasional "Boots to A**es" chants, The Rock acknowledged that Cena had become the biggest superstar in the industry, but also guaranteed to add him in the list of the legends like Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Stgeve Austin, whom he had beaten at the Showcase of Immortals.
This brought Cena down to the ring, amidst boos and jeers from the crowd that seemed to be going nuts over The Rock. Cena reminded the People's Champ that he was not the first one to talk trash at his face, and he had always 'risen above' and defied all comers. Cena then prided himself on sticking with the business when 'it was not very cool to be a WWE star' and admonished The Rock for leaving the industry for making movies. Both men agreed on one thing, however: to give the fans the greatest wrestling match of the decade, and the trash talking went on as Raw went off the air.
With all the mind games being played, will the scenario in the WWE remain the same post WrestleMania? We will find out next week on Raw.
