The road to WrestleMania continued Monday night on RAW live from Des Moines, Iowa and it was an epic ending as "The Vigilante" Sting made just his second appearance on the flagship show and fourth overall in the WWE.
Complete WWE Monday Night RAW Results as Road To WrestleMania Continues
Sting helped Randy Orton thwart off an attack by The Authority to once again get under the skin of Triple H ahead of their bout at WrestleMania 31 in 12 days on Mar. 29 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
The WWE continued to build toward the biggest show of the year by showcasing its major feuds on the flagship show, but some things remain disjointed despite how close the company is to its cornerstone event.
Countdown to WWE WrestleMania 31: 3 Best Moments From WrestleMania X-8 (18)
Here are the Sports World News power rankings coming out of Monday Night RAW.
10) Paul Heyman (last week: 1), Roman Reigns (5): One of the major problems heading into WrestleMania is that Reigns is once again not the top draw on the program, which leads to questions over whether or not he should be headlining the biggest show of the year at this point. Heyman was great on the microphone as usual, but his praise of Reigns in an obvious transparent attempt to put him over isn't something that everyone is going to be able to buy. Reigns has done his part to try to sell the main event but his whole, "I can, I will" thing is taxing. It's hard to sell a main event when Brock Lesnar -- the WWE World Heavyweight Champion -- isn't on-hand in the flesh and is held to a brief video to build up the bout. Maybe next week this will turn a corner.
9) Bad News Barrett (N/A): The Intercontinental Champion was once again booked to look like an absolute paper champion this week, this time losing a six-man tag team match for his team. Barrett absorbed the pin from Dean Ambrose in a match pitting "The Lunatic Fringe," Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler against Barrett, Stardust and Luke Harper as a preview to the Ladder Match. Barrett was once again booked questionably, but at least he finally got his belt back.
8) Seth Rollins (10): "Mr. Money in the Bank" once again showed why he's one of the top heels in the company. While Rollins' plan to make it seem like there was a rift in The Authority to fool Orton backfired (more on that later), he still had some great promos and really helped build up his WrestleMania match with "The Viper."
7) The Bella Twins (N/A): Nikki and Brie had a good night on RAW as Nikki, the reigning Divas Champion, had a lengthy opening match with AJ Lee and won it after the Rack Attack. Brie Bella also had a good showing, knocking out Paige on the outside of the ring to build some momentum for The Bella Twins heading into the clash between these four ladies at WrestleMania.
6) Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (N/A): In what is a rare feat these days, a couple of reigning champions were actually booked to win a match as Kidd and Cesaro defeated The New Day. Los Matadores eventually got the better of the duo after the match, but Kidd and Cesaro at least had a big win.
5) Bray Wyatt (2): "The Eater of Worlds" was relegated to a backstage segment to talk about his match with The Undertaker, but it was once again one of the best segments on the show. Wyatt spilled out the contents of an urn and told 'Taker that his demise would come at WrestleMania.
4) John Cena (4): The "Cenation" leader is in the No. 4 position for the fourth straight week after having another solid outing. Cena cut a promo from the heart where he promised to rip the United States Championship away from Rusev and bring it back to America at WrestleMania 31 in two weeks.
3) Dean Ambrose (N/A): While it wasn't a good week for Barrett, it was a great one for the "Lunatic Fringe" as Ambrose got the pin over the reigning Intercontinental Champion in the six-man tag team match to pick up a huge victory heading into the Ladder Match at Levi's Stadium.
2) Randy Orton (3): "The Viper" started off RAW with a great promo where he responded to Rollins and threatened to kick his ass again. Orton then didn't back down from The Authority at the end of the show, grabbing a steel chair and getting ready to knock them all out.
1) Sting (N/A): Sting coming out on the show was a very rare occurrence and it was also something that really helped the build toward WrestleMania, which has been lagging in recent weeks. Sting came out to help Orton when Rollins and The Authority came to attack and "The Vigilante" looked great in the process as he was finally there in the flesh to build toward his match with Triple H in California.
Coming out of Monday Night RAW, here is the updated card for WrestleMania 31 on Mar. 29 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.:
WWE World Heavyweight Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns
Icon vs. Icon:
Sting vs. Triple H
United States Championship:
Rusev (c) vs. John Cena
Singles Match:
The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt
Singles Match:
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal:
Participants: Kane, Big Show, Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Ryback, Curtis Axel, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Erick Rowan, Sin Cara, Damien Sandow, Goldust, Mark Henry, Heath Slater, others TBA
WWE Intercontinental Championship Seven-man Ladder Match:
Bad News Barrett (c) vs. R-Truth vs. Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Stardust
Tag Team Match:
The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie) vs. AJ Lee and Paige
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