PROGRAMMING NOTES

• This series is here to serve as a weekly recap for everything WWE related; including results and storyline progression, as well as the hottest news and rumors of the week. Essentially, it's your one-stop-shop for everything WWE – on and off your television!

• Due to space limitations, I will only recap Raw this week; from here on out I'll be able to cover Main Event and Smackdown as well. Also, sorry that this was late; I'll have Issue #003 on Friday, and Issue #002 of TNA on Thursday. (I made the mistake of posting this last night as the April Fool's stuff started, so here it is again)

THE RECAPS

• Monday Night Raw kicked off with an in-ring segment with Stephanie, Orton, and Batista. No folks, this isn't a rerun, despite last week's episode opening in an incredibly similar way. Aside from Stephanie mentioning that Bryan wouldn't be here tonight, this segment was a wash, rinse, and repeat of last week's, including Batista attacking Orton. This time, however, Batista's pants didn't survive the battle.

• With Big E at ringside, we had a Fatal 4 Way to determine who would challenge for the Intercontinental Championship on Main Event. Christian defeated Ziggler, Sheamus, and Del Rio for the title shot.

• Sin Cara w/ Scooby Doo defeated Damien Sandow. Too bad Sandow doesn't really have a gimmick anymore, because a pre-match promo about the absurdity of it all would've been awesome.

• Los Matadores and Ryback/Axel went to a no contest after the Shield interfered. They gave Ryback a triple powerbomb.

• In a sit-down in-ring interview, HHH told Michael Cole that before he was the COO, he was the Game. Stephanie pretty much told us all this already, but HHH did get in a line about how he's ushering us in to the Reality Era. (Steve Blackman reality show confirmed?!)

• Cody Rhodes defeated Fandango with the Disaster Kick.

• Next up was an in-ring segment with Hogan, Arnold, and Joe Manganiello to promote their movie release. Miz interrupted and got punked out by Joe and Arnold, before Hogan tosses him out of the ring.

• John Cena and Luke Harper went to a no contest, after the Wyatt Family interfered just as Cena was closing in on a win. When the lights came back on, Cena was tied up in the ropes wearing the sheep mask and the Wyatts were surrounding him. This visual got a “This is awesome!” chant from the crowd.

• AJ Lee and Naomi never happens, as AJ wimps out and gets counted out. After the match, Vickie showed up and announced that AJ will defend the Diva's title in a Vickie Guerrero Diva's Invitational, featuring Naomi, Cameron, Brie, Nikki, Natalya, Eva Marie, Emma, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Summer, Rosa, Layla, and Tamina.

• Razor Ramon was announced as the next inductee to the Hall of Fame Class of 2014. With him, Warrior, and Jake, this ceremony is shaping up to be a can't miss event!

• In a match announced earlier in the show, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose defeated the Real Americans. The finish came as Rollins hit Swagger with the Blackout. Oh, and this happened. After the match, Swagger ate a triple powerbomb through a table.

• Heyman and Brock call out the Undertaker. A gaggle of druids bring out a casket, and the camera prematurely shows us the apron wobbling just as Undertaker slid out. Whoops. Brock opens the casket and no one's inside. He freaks out on the druids and slams the casket shut. Moments later, out pops Taker! Taker and Brock breifly brawl before Brock retreats. Raw concludes with a staredown between the Phenom and the Beast.

SCRAPING UP THE DIRT

• When are you coming home?: Apparently, that's the question that HHH asked Hogan a few years ago at a charity event in NYC. Hogan mentioned that TNA's PR guy, Mike Weber, was right next to him when the conversation happened.

• Could Owen Hart be in the HOF next year?: During a show in Manchester, Bret Hart was asked about Owen going into the Hall of Fame. Hart said that he believes next year's HOF could be when we see it happened. The issue, as always, is Owen's widow, who claims that Own hated being a wrestler. Bret says that this claim is a lie, and that Owen likely complained to her about his work as all men do with their wives.

• And the newest inductee to the HOF is...: As has been long rumored since the announcement of Jake the Snake in the HOF class this year, WWE announced that Razor Ramon would also be joining the class this year. They join the Ultimate Warrior, Lita, Mr. T., Paul Bearer, and Carlos Colon. Interestingly enough, when they announced Ramon, they announced him as the “next” person to be inducted into this year's class, not the last. No word on who the last name will be, or if anyone else will be announced.

THIS WEEK IN WWE HISTORY

• March 23: On this day in 2009, Raw took place from Kansas City and was headlined by a handicap match between Orton and DiBiase Jr. against HHH. Former WWE/TNA wrestler Travis (Tyson) Tomko was born in 1976.

• March 24: Wrestlemania VII was headlined by Hogan defending the WWF title successfully against Sgt. Slaughter. The Undertaker made his first Mania appearance, defeating Jimmy Snuka. Undertaker was also born on this day in 1965.

• March 25: in 1977, former WWE wrestler Sylvain Grenier was born. In 2002, Raw was headlined by HHH defeating Jericho and Stephanie McMahon in a handicap match.

• March 26 In 2012, Raw was headlined by Mark Henry defeating The Great Khali in the main event.

• March 27: In 1988, Wrestlemania IV featured a tournament to crown a WWF champion. Randy Savage beat Ted DiBiase in the finals. In 1972, Charlie Haas was born.

• March 28 This day saw two Wrestlemanias over the years; the first in 1999 (WM XV), headlined by Austin defending his WWF title against the Rock. The second, in 2010, was the home of WM 26, headlined by The Undertaker ending Shawn Michaels career. In 1958, Mr. Perfect was born. In 1973, Umaga was born.

• March 29: In 1987, WM 3 was headlined by Hogan defeating Andre the Giant. In 1998, WM 14 was headlined by Austin winning his first WWF title against HBK. In 1959, Michael Hayes was born. In 2013, Reid Flair passed away.

SCRAPING UP THE DIRT – ONE YEAR AGO (3/23/13 – 3/29/13)

• According to the Wrestling Observer, there is concern in the WWE that Punk might be more injured than he's letting on, and also there have been claims made that Punk is creatively frustrated with the WWE and is burnt out. A day prior to this news bite, Punk did an interview claiming that he does not want to be a lifer, and if he wasn't having fun, he'd go home. (One year later, Punk has notoriously 'taken his ball home' and will, barring some major swerve, be sitting WM 30 out.)

• Mick Foley released a video hyping up who'd induct him into the WWE HOF. He initially joked that it would be the legendary Al Snow, before finally revealing that Terry Funk would induct him.

• F4Wonline reported that the WWE crew is dreading Raw every week due to the three hour show. The show is expected to remain 3 hours through SummerSlam. Any changes to the length or format won't be considered until fall. (Nowadays, it seems like the 3 hour Raw is here to stay, especially with the additional pre/post shows featured on the Network.)

• Ric Flair was supposed to be involved in this week's episode of Raw, but was taken to the hospital hours before the show started. Flair suffered from complications stemming from a blood clot in his leg. He was supposed to be in a segment with Bret Hart talking about the upcoming Rock/Cena rematch. Instead, the segment featured Hart, Booker T., and Mick Foley.

• Stephanie McMahon was interviewd by a local CBS station, in which the heiress to WWE came out in support of gay marriage.

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