WWE RAW Results (2/23/2015): Nashville, Tennessee
Randy Orton & The Authority Kick Off RAW
The post-Fastlane edition of WWE RAW kicks off with Randy Orton’s theme music. “The Viper” makes his way to the ring to a big pop from the fans in attendance. Highlights are shown of Orton’s return at last night’s Fastlane PPV as he makes his way to the ring live on RAW.
Orton stands in the middle of the ring with a mic as the fans begin to chant “Randy! Randy! Randy” Orton says he’s not here to talk forever, but there is something he needs to get off his chest. He addresses the fact that he’s been on the sidelines for the last four months. He says it’s because of Seth Rollins and The Authority. He shows a video package which shows Rollins injuring Orton four months ago.
After the video, Orton says he’s replayed that scene in his head over and over again for the past four months. He warns The Authority that what he did last night was only him getting started. Orton says starting tonight, he’s done talking. He orders Rollins to come down to the ring.
Instead of Rollins, “King of Kings” hits. With that being said, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Big Show and Kane all come out. All four make their way to the ring. Stephanie decides to be the talker of the group. She welcomes Orton back.
Stephanie talks about the Randy Orton she wants as the face of WWE. Orton tells Steph to stop it. He informs her that he’s not part of their party anymore. He warns Steph and promises to bash Rollins’ head in. Steph tries to reason with Orton. Steph asks Randy to “come back home and join The Authority.” She sticks her hand out for Orton to shake. Orton says it’s tempting, but he’d rather kick some ass than kiss some ass.
Big Show takes the mic from Steph and now he tries to reason with Orton. The fans boo loudly as Big Show tries to speak. The fans chant “You Sold Out” as Big Show as he tries to tell Orton that joining The Authority was the best thing he’s ever done. Big Show tells Orton that him coming back to The Authority is the best decision he could ever make. Orton says “and by coming back to The Authority, you mean — selling out?”
Steph tries again. She gets in Orton’s face and tells him to look in her eyes. Steph tells Orton that he’s not a good guy. She talks about some of the deplorable acts Orton has done in the past. She tells him he’s a bad guy. She brings up Orton’s past with her family and some of the crazy things he’s done there. Steph tells Orton to have a business meeting with them so they can talk like professionals.
As they go to leave, Triple H stops and stays in the ring by himself, staring a hole through Orton. Finally, he leaves with the rest of The Authority. Orton remains in the ring by himself.
Orton stops The Authority when they get to the top of the stage. He says, “fine, I’ll be there. Business meeting.” The Authority smiles, all except HHH, who is still staring at Orton from the top of the stage. Orton looks at them and smiles. That ends the opening segment for this week’s show.
Bad News Barrett vs. Dolph Ziggler
From there, Bad News Barrett’s theme hits. Out comes the WWE Intercontinental Champion without his title, as it was stolen by Dean Ambrose at last night’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view. As Barrett makes his way to the ring, we head to our first commercial break of the evening.
When we return from the break, Barrett is in the middle of cutting a promo, basically complaining about his I-C title being stolen. From there, Dolph Ziggler’s music hits to interrupt him. Ziggler makes his way to the ring as we find out R-Truth is on commentary for this one.
The bell rings and here we go. Truth talks on commentary about how he deserves a title opportunity, and how he beat Barrett recently. Meanwhile, Barrett is dominating the action on Ziggler inside the ring.
Truth certainly is acting strange on commentary. Anyways, the match in the ring has literally been all Barrett thus far. Ziggler finally starts to try and make his first comeback attempt, however Barrett cuts him short. On that note, we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return, we see Barrett still in control of the action. Truth is still goofing around on commentary while Ziggler finally starts mounting his first offensive series in this contest.
Ziggler turns a Wasteland attempt from Barrett into a DDT. We see — via the WWE App — that Barrett threw Ziggler right into Truth outside the ring during the commercial break. Back in the ring, Barrett catches Ziggler coming in with a super kick. He follows that up with a powerbomb for a near fall.
Barrett hits the Winds of Change for a close pinfall attempt, however Ziggler manages to survive. Barrett starts stomping Ziggler in the corner. Barrett goes for Wasteland again, but this time Ziggler reverses it into a pin roll up. He hits the Zig-Zag and then covers Barrett. 1-2-3. Ziggler wins.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
After The Match: Dean Ambrose Strikes
After the match, while Ziggler is celebrating, Dean Ambrose’s theme hits. Ambrose comes out with the Intercontinental Championship. He makes his way to the ring. Ambrose gets in the ring and stands right in front of Barrett, taunting him with his own I-C title. Now, Ambrose and Ziggler start staring at each other. Ziggler looks down at the I-C title. Ambrose shoulder-bumps into Ziggler as he walks past him. He exits the ring and leaves up the ramp still holding the I-C title. We head to another commercial break after the match.