Old School Raw Reax - 1/6/14

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Old School Raw.

That was a pretty good opening segment. I'm not really surprised they used Flair like that, but it made sense for WWE to go that route.


I hope Lawler's OK. I can dislike his commentary and still want him to be in good health.

I liked the opening match well enough. Kind of weird to see Bryan wrestle before there being any kind of backstage segment or promo from the participants, but I suspect we'll get more storyline development shortly.

Fine little post-match. Looks like we'll have to wait for more from Bryan.
I can't wait to see The Shield in Piper's Pit.

Oh, no. Another Khali/Sandow match. I can see Khali getting the win with the special ref added.

Good stuff between Kane and Maddox. When Kane does go back to being the monster, I think it could be a big deal if they build the story right.

Can't say I'm surprised with the silly Big E segment.

Langston vs. Axel was OK enough. Langston vs. Ryback could either be clunky or surprisingly good.

That was a pretty good Piper's Pit segment. That's how you use part-timers and legends.

A little surprised Del Rio beat Sin Cara given their recent encounters, but I can't really complain. Hopefully both men have good futures in WWE. I liked the match itself.

Good Del Rio promo, but I don't think anyone thinks he'll win the Rumble.

Good little segment with the Wyatts and Bryan. But I guess he counts as a Wyatt now. Right now, Bryan feels defeated. As long as he snaps out of it and goes back to kicking ass on the way to being a top guy, this angle makes sense.

Very impressive tag match between Cody, Goldust and the Real Americans. I hope the string of enjoyable matches continues involving the champs.

Always good to see DDP's still in top shape. I kind of want to see one more DDP and/or Booker match.

Not really shocked to see Khali win there. At least Sandow has the out of his foot being on the rope. I wouldn't have been surprised by a total squash on Sandow.

Not surprised by Sarge "going over" Sandow either. Sandow can recover in time. WWE just has to put effort into him doing so.

I really enjoyed Heyman's promo. I'm glad he took a break from TV for a while to keep him fresh, but he's still one of my all-time favorites on the mic. I also enjoyed the big man battles in the segment. The Rumble could be quite the war zone.

Not a bad Divas match at all. Aksana's growing on me.

God, I missed Too Cool.

Another outcome I'm not shocked with. This match (and this night) are more about nostalgia than getting certain performers over. 3MB will be fine, since they're pretty much a comedy act people expect to lose anyway.

I look forward to what goes down with Bryan and Wyatt next week. Glad WWE promoted it in advance.

I wonder if Virgil's upset about Barrett's comments. They were pretty harsh, but I guess that's the point of a heel.

Ahhh, New Age Outlaws. That brings back some memories.

I liked Reigns vs. Punk a good deal. It continued the dissension with The Shield as well as making good use of the legends.

I did NOT see Roberts coming back tonight. Wow. All in all, a pretty good show (other than, notably, the Sandow segment).