WWE Monday Night RAW (1st April 2013) - Coverage, opinion, review and more!

In the final RAW before the highly anticipated WrestleMania, Washington, DC. was home to a jam-packed edition of Monday Night RAW that featured Brock Lesnar, The Rock, The Undertaker, CM Punk, Triple H and John Cena. With six days before WrestleMania 29 in the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, things were to reach an epitome.

Eagle has landed - DC. Tonight will be the most meaningful @wwe RAW of my career. Honored its in our nation's capitol.. #BringIt
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 1, 2013

Headed to DC for #Raw, last stop on the road, first stop for an epic week! #WRESTLEMANIA29 #readyforwar
— Triple H (@TripleH) April 1, 2013

Hello @wweuniverse! The Chairman is now on @twitter. Get ready for #BigReveal on Friday night. In the meantime…#RAW
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) April 2, 2013

John Cena vows to beat The Rock. (Picture:WWE.com)

The fans crammed into the Verizon Center gave John Cena a mixed reaction as he made his entrance to kick off the show. But something seemed especially vibrant about the night, as Cena entered the ring coming off being Rockbottomed by The Rock last week. John Cena was fired up, near certain for redemption at WrestleMania, talking about how The Rock will realize he will fail, and "The Great One" will fall. Cena looks ready for WrestleMania, but will he beat The Great One this time round?

Big Show knocks out Mahal. (Picture: WWE.com)

Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show further enhanced their solidarity as they picked up a win with an excellent display over the team of 3MB. Big Show scored a victory with a KO punch to Jinder Mahal, but the work was not over. The Shield then interrupted the celebrations, but they did not engage in physical conflict, just insulted the team, and they will be scraps to the "Hounds of Justice" at WrestleMania on Sunday. Are The Shield right? We will find out on Sunday.

Big E and\Ziggler look on at Team Hell No whilst holding the titles. (Picture: WWE.com)

Ahead of their collision for the Tag Team title match on Sunday, combatants Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler squared off. The chemistry between the two was clear, as they went at it to get the momentum towards WrestleMania. Kane was victim to an attack from Big E Langston as he was distracted by AJ, and Big E ran straight into him. Meanwhile, Ziggler picked up the victory, followed by a prolonged attack by Big E to Daniel Bryan. Kane attempted to fight off Ziggler and Langston, but the Chokeslam was stopped by Big E and he manhandled Kane. AJ stood between Big E and Ziggler, as they stood triumphant holding the titles. Could this be the sight at WrestleMania?

Shawn Michaels and Triple H look on at Brock Lesnar. (Picture: WWE.com)

Shawn Michaels made a special appearance in the ring in Washington to address the situation between Brock Lesnar and Triple H at WrestleMania. The Heart-Break Kid admitted he was concerned about Triple H's career being on the line, but as Triple H got in the ring, he told him that he MUST win. The two looked like they were ready for the Showdown, and Shawn Michales revealed that he will be in Triple H's corner at WrestleMania. Michaels and Triple H hugged before the trademark DX quote "...And if you're not down with that, we've got two words for ya..." and then out comes the Beast, Brock Lesnar accompanied by Paul Heyman. Heyman did all the talking of what is to come at WrestleMania and even hit Triple H with a big insult regarding him disappointing his wife. Michaels and The Game looked on in the ring, ready to fight, but there was no conflict, just tension, ahead of WrestleMania. The stakes are high, Triple H's career is on the line at WrestleMania. Will The Game be over?

Barrett lands an elbow on Ryder. (Picture: WWE.com)

The Miz scouted his WrestleMania opponent, Wade Barrett as he was in action with Zack Ryder. Wade Barrett agressively fought Ryder, but his lack of focus almost came back to haunt him, as he looked towards The Miz on commentary. Ryder managed to land a vicious Broski Boot to Barrett, however that was not enough, and Barrett went on to knock off Ryder, taking the victory and ready to defend his title at WrestleMania. Does The Miz know what it takes to beat him on Sunday?

Henry destroys Santino. (Picture: WWE.com)

Santino Marella was back in action after a two-month hiatus due to an injury. But the odds were not good, not good at all. His opponent was the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry. Henry was looking to destroy Marella, after the benchpresss contest on SmackDown went sour. The predicted outcome ensued, as Henry dominated Marella, but his celebrations were cut short, as Ryback interrupted. Mark Henry managed to use the "No Contact Clause" to his advantage so Ryback would not attack him, but he found a loophole. He used Marella to knock Mark Henry out the ring, before throwing him on to Henry again. But at WrestleMania, there won't be any Santinos to throw, only their strength to annihilate one another. Who will win in this ultimate battle of the beasts?

Swagger and Colter attack Del Rio with the crutches. (Picture:WWE.com)

Zeb Colter, manager to #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, Jack Swagger was to possibly regret some of his offensive words to Alberto Del Rio, as he made his wrestling debut in a match with the Mexican Aristocrat. Colter looked petrified as he stepped in the ring with Del Rio, also Ricardo Rodriguez was reluctant to stay and watch at ringside. But that was to be his downfall, as Swagger launched a savage attack on Rodriguez. As Del Rio was distracted, he kicked Swagger, but then Colter attacked him with the crutches that Rodriguez used to get to the ring. Del Rio caught the crutch, and was moments from attacking Colter before Swagger attacked Del Rio. The two then relentlessly inflicted pain on Del Rio with more attacks with the crutches. Rodriguez was a wreck outside the ring, Del Rio was down in the ring battered, and Swagger and Colter looked confident for WrestleMania. Will Del Rio and Rodriguez be able to handle the duo come WrestleMania? 

Energy high.. Seconds away.. #ElectrifyingOurNationsCapital #BringIt twitter.com/TheRock/status…
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 2, 2013

The Rock looks on at the crowd (WWE.com)

The WWE Champion, The Rock - hot on the heels of the great success of GI Joe - was to address the WWE Universe in attendance in Washington. The Rock said he is ready to kick Cena's ass at WrestleMania, and even got the crowd rocking when he visualized The Rock being the President. The People's Champion stated that this is not passing the torch down, and even said he is going to curb stomp John Cena.The Rock looked like he was ready for John Cena, passionate and determined to retain his WWE Championship. "If you smell... What The Rock is cookin'!" Could we be smelling a butt-kicking come Sunday?

Getting Ready for the last #Raw before #WrestleMania! Gonna be some big things happening tonight…@wwe twitter.com/IAmJericho/sta…
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) April 2, 2013

Chris Jericho was in action against the United States Champion, Antonio Cesaro. The two had an excellent match and proved they are great in-ring talents. The match drew to an interval following a hurricanrana from the top rope by Jericho, when Fandango interrupted. He looked on at Jericho from the stage, meanwhile the match continued. Fandango in fact scored each of the moves in the match, quite peculiar yet interesting. Antonio Cesaro managed to damage Jericho with brutal moves such as throwing him into the barricade. However, as Jericho recovered from a Guttrench Powerbomb, Jericho was able to lock in the Walls of Jericho and tap-out Cesaro. But immediately after, Fandango attacked Jericho, before a leg drop from the top rope, not one, but two. Fandango's aggression was on full display on RAW, will he be successful in his debut at WrestleMania?

Closing off the show, was The Undertaker eviscerating CM Punk. The Undertaker admitted that CM Punk may have gotten into his head, and he may beat The Streak, but will not live to tell the tale. The Undertaker was furious with CM Punk's disrespect. Then he was shocked with the arrival of the druids, as they mysterious awe surrounded the arena, out came Paul Heyman imitating Paul Bearer. Undertaker immediately grew very angry, and went straight to get Paul Heyman, before realizing one of the druids may have been CM Punk. He attacked a few, but then CM Punk attacked him and savagely beat down The Undertaker. Then, he used the urn as a weapon, and poured the ashes in the urn over The Undertaker. This is the ultimate act of disrespect, but could the Streak truly be in jeopardy come Sunday?

Awesome jam-packed edition of #RAW tonight. Really enjoyable stuff, great how they built up and covered most of the matches booked for WrestleMania. However, a face-to-face Cena and Rock confrontationw was needed to hype up the match for WrestleMania. RAW was not as epic as expected, but still an awesome show to watch that has built up WrestleMania. The final segment may come across quite controversial with the disrespect to Bearer, but it was epic build for the Taker vs. Punk match at WrestleMania. Overall, a RAW that sets the tone for WrestleMania!

With less than six days until the Grandest Stage of Them All, WrestleMania, RAW has hyped up all the matches. WrestleMania should be an epic night of climaxes, with RAW jam-packed and setting up WrestleMania to be epic. What about the ending, is the streak in jeopardy? Will John Cena get redemption? Will Triple H's career end?

Hell lot of questions. One night to answer them.

WrestleMania.

Twitter: @iNisarKhan
Image credit to WWE.com - No copyright infringement intended.
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