It’s our last stop of the road to Wrestlemania. We have titles on the line, and Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan to determine who faces Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania. How did the show go? Let’s find out!

Pre-Show: Miz TV – Miz, Damien Mizdow, Paul Heyman
Short version is Heyman doesn’t care who wins tonight since Brock will destroy either one of them. The Miz heaps more abuse on Mizdow: Go sit in the corner. Heyman doesn’t like how you are looking at him… face the turnbuckle. It’s amazing how much heat Miz gets for this, and it will be an amazing amount of momentum once Mizdow stands up to him. I am betting on this being a Wrestlemania match.

Big Show, Kane and Rollins defeat Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback
This was a decent enough match but the guys who were abused by The Authority vs Team Authority is getting very old. Rowan continues to impress week in and week out, and this was no exception. Kane pins Ziggler after Big Show hits a running jumping knock out punch from the outside. That move was cool enough, but this feud has gone on too long, I don’t think, and hope they don’t stretch this out until Wrestlemania. Post match Authority beat down is interrupted by Orton’s returns.

Goldust defeats Stardust
Cody has always been a great wrestler but tonight he shined. He had new attire this week, the stardard Stardust trunks, but no top, and elbow length gloves. His face paint was modified almost in the style of a lucha mask to leave his mouth exposed. His over the top antics as Stardust off set the more grounded Goldust who was trying to win but not hurt his brother. In the end Goldust takes the win with a very unsatisfying backslide. Backstage we get a family reunion, where Stardust attacks Goldust again, and then screams at Dusty that bringing back Goldust is what killed Cody. He goes through all of the incarnation of Cody Rhodes, and then says he is not longer living in the shadow of Dusty, Dusty is living in the shadow of Stardust! This match was a teaser for the post match segment. This is finally gaining the traction for a good Wrestlemania feud.

Tyson Kidd & Cesaro defeat The Usos – WWE Tag Title Match
This was a great back and forth match. In the end the Kidd gets the victory and we have new Tag Team Champs! This match was everything a tag team match is supposed to be. It didn’t get to bogged down in the Natalya vs Naomi story but it wasn’t forgotten about. It will be interesting to see who the next challengers would be. I was thinking the Ascension, but someone suggested the Prime Time Players, and that would make more sense for a classic heel / face match. Not sure if we will see that for Mania or not.

Triple H calls out Sting
This segment was up and down, but mostly up. Triple H calls out Sting and proceeds to rant and rave at him like a paranoid lunatic. Triple H thinks Sting is here to finish the WWE vs WCW battle from the Monday Night Wars. Sting says nothing. Triple H offers to make sure everyone always remembers Sting if he just walks away. He can put him on the WWE Network, release DVDs, and action figures. Sting says nothing. Triple H says he can see Sting wants to do this the hardway. He starts to brawl with Sting. Triple H gets the upper hand, and lays out Sting. Triple H rolls out and grabs the sledgehammer, he returns to the ring to end Sting. Sting has a bat and disarms Triple H. He hold Triple with his bat at his throat and backs him into the corner. He then points to with bat to the Wrestlemania sign. Triple resists and then agrees. This was a perfect segment. Sting never said a word. My only problem with the build up and the hype for this match is they are acting like Sting disappeared after WCW went under. I know they don’t want to talk about TNA, but acting like he was just gone is strange.

Nikki Bella defeats Paige – Divas Title
This started off with Paige in control and quickly shifted in Nikki’s favor, where is stayed for the majority of the rest of the match. In the end Nikki got the win with a quick roll up. This made almost no sense to me. Nikki and Brie have been running roughshod over the Diva’s Division. Between their constant bullying and the B.A Star Alliance anti-bullying campaign I thought this was Paige’s moment to over come. I don’t know where this is going.

Wade Barrett defeats Dean Ambrose – Intercontinental Title
This was an okay match but I don’t think this match was built properly. There wasn’t much hype, and they played clips over and over again with everyone disputing the validity of the contract. In the end Wade gets the win by DQ since Ambrose wouldn’t let up on Wade in the corner. I don’t think they are done yet, we will probably see another rematch, maybe at Mania.

In-ring Segment – Bray Wyatt
We hear the chants and druids come out bearing torches.  They wheel a casket to the ring.  The casket is opened and Bray Wyatt is inside to challenge the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.  This was an amazing promo.  I am sold on a Taker/Wyatt match based on this promo alone.

Rusev defeats John Cena
This match was way better than I was expecting. Rusev looked like a power house going toe to toe with Cena. I don’t think I have seen anyone get this much offense in against Cena in a long time. Rusev gets the win with a low blow after Lana distracted the ref. This was the perfect way to build Rusev. I think he is turning into a modern day Iron Sheik. The only thing that I think that is holding him back in the undefeated streak. I think we will get the rematch at Mania, probably a No DQ match.

Roman Reigns defeats Daniel Bryan
This was a much better match than I expected. This was great match of each guy showing off his strengths and his how deep his reserves were. They all hit their signature spots and they were kicked out of. In the end Daniel Bryan went for the running knee one more time, but Reigns countered with a spear for the victory. Post match Daniel Bryan gets up in Reigns’ face and tell him that he better “Kick Brock Lesnar’s Ass”. I think it was a nice character hand off. We all know the internet fans wanted to see Daniel Bryan in the main event at Mania, and that this won’t satisfy them. But for the rest of the fans this was a great passing of the torch.

Final Thoughts:
I went into this PPV expecting an over glorified episode of RAW and I was pleasantly surprised. I think a February PPV is always going to be weak. We expect to set our major feuds to be set at The Royal Rumble. So there aren’t any major changes for February PPV. I do see that you are building a behavior that people expect a monthly PPV so you can’t leave it off. But this show I think took the ball and moved it forward pretty well. There were too many unclean wins for my taste but still was a pretty good show.

Wrestlemania Predictions
AJ Lee vs Paige
Miz vs Mizdow
Orton vs Rollins
Stardust vs Goldust
Kidd and Cesaro vs Prime Time Players (Maybe)
Wade Barrett vs Dean Ambrose (Maybe)
Wyatt vs Taker
Rusev vs Cena No DQ Match
Reigns vs Lesnar