The Good, the Great and the Awesome from Raw 3/17/14

The March 17 episode of Raw was some of the best television WWE has produced in a long time with compelling story developments, good in-ring action and a sharper focus on building the WrestleMania card.

The Daniel Bryan-Triple H story took center stage again this week with Triple H repaying Bryan for his Occupy Raw shenanigans last week. It was a brutal beating that reintroduced the WWE Universe to the violent and cerebral competitor that is Triple H.

John Cena once again watched from the ring as Bray Wyatt denounced heroes and vowed to end Cena's legacy at WrestleMania. Later in the night, the Wyatt Family leader sent a message to his April 6 opponent when he defeated Kofi Kingston.

Batista and Randy Orton voiced their displeasure with the idea of Daniel Bryan being interjected into their WWE title match before having yet another wrinkle added in the form of Triple H potentially joining them instead.

The Real Americans threw their names into contention for a tag title opportunity, Naomi returned and knocked off Divas champion AJ in tag team action and Sheamus continued rolling into the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal only to be dropped on his face by rival Christian.

Which of these events made this week's Good, Great and Awesome?

Read on to find out.

The Good

Credit: WWE.com

"Death itself is slowly dying"

The promo alone probably deserves inclusion in the "Awesome" section of this article, but the fact that Paul Heyman's mic work, coupled with the video package he introduced, felt more like a placeholder than any real advancement in the story devalued it significantly.

Heyman is excellent and, like Bray Wyatt, can carry a feud on his own.

Unfortunately, outside of the stellar contract signing segment from three weeks ago, there really has been no substance to the feud outside of "Brock Lesnar will end the streak" talk.

Heyman was outstanding on Raw again, but with Undertaker appearing in an off-air segment later that night, it makes one wonder why the company did not do more to further the story than they did.

Eight-man tag match

With the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal being this year's match for Superstars without anything better to do, the company did their best to hype the match with what turned into a very good eight-man tag team match.

Big Show, Mark Henry, Big E and Dolph Ziggler took on Damien Sandow, Ryback, Curtis Axel and Alberto Del Rio in what proved to be an entertaining match that put heat on the battle royal and killed some television time in the process.

Any time eight workers with the talent and experience of those men are put into the same match, it makes for good television. That is what Monday night's bout was, nothing more, nothing less.

The Great

Credit: WWE.com

Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton

While Monday night's match between Bryan and Orton may not have been anything that fans have not already seen a million times, it was a solid match from two of the better main event workers in WWE.

They have exhibited phenomenal chemistry with one another over the last eight months and have settled into a specific territory in which even their lesser matches are better than most other stars are capable of. 

Bryan's win means very little since it came following a Batista Bomb from The Animal, who returned to the arena after walking out earlier just to get a measure of revenge on Orton.

The company has done an excellent job of setting up Bryan's match with Triple H, but it seems as though the title match at WrestleMania will suffer from a lack of heat due largely to the fact that fans simply do not accept Batista or Orton and are unsure of whether Bryan will definitely be interjected into the match to make it slightly more watchable.

There is a lack of heat surrounding the title feud right now, resulting in a scenario where it is further down the totem pole of importance than it should be.

"The Shield always does what is best for business"

The sudden baby face turn of The Shield has seen the group become stronger than ever just weeks after it appeared as though they would split and go their separate ways.

The unlucky recipient of their renewed focus?

Director of Operations Kane, who once again found himself on the receiving end of a beatdown courtesy of the Hounds of Justice.

Kane calling Jerry Lawler into the ring and blaming him for the events that unfolded in his hometown of Memphis, events he had no connection to, was a bit confusing, but it was necessary for the success of the segment.

The Shield backing Lawler into a corner only for Seth Rollins to tell the Hall of Famer that, "The Shield always does what is best for business," was very well done. Even better was the slow turn that Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns made as they focused their attention on Kane, who has deflected heat from himself to the trio in recent weeks.

They beat Kane down, planted him with a triple power bomb and stood united over him to a fairly positive reaction.

Expect Kane to find backup in the coming week and a six-man tag match to be booked for WrestleMania on April 6.

The Awesome

Credit: WWE.com

Triple H destroys Daniel Bryan

While last week's Occupy Raw segment fell flat with this writer, this week's show-closing angle was a major hit.

"The Cerebral Assassin" Triple H showed fans just why he earned the nickname in the first place as he perfectly lured Bryan into a false sense of security, then capitalized on a handcuffed and detained Bryan and beat him senseless for several minutes, finishing the assault with a Pedigree.

The beating went a long way in creating doubt as to whether or not Bryan can actually defeat Triple H at WrestleMania and earn a WWE Championship opportunity. While most expected Bryan to have his crowning moment on April 6 in New Orleans, there is now doubt that he can go toe-to-toe with someone as diabolical as The Game and still be anywhere near ready to compete later in the night.

If he even makes it that far.

It was a great old-school heel beatdown that would have fit right in the Attitude Era as well as it does the PG Era.

The end of Raw, in which Triple H and Stephanie posed and kissed over Bryan's motionless body, was phenomenal and only put more heel heat on them.

This is the type of segment that makes fans want to buy WrestleMania on pay-per-view or subscribe to the WWE Network to see Bryan finally get his hands on Triple H and beat his main tormentor.

The Aberdeen native was sympathetic as he was beaten from the ring to the arena floor and back again, and Triple H rediscovered that aggression and intensity that makes him one of the more believable bad guys of the last 20 years.

It was an expertly executed segment by all involved, including the outstanding Stephanie McMahon.

"Legacy"

The video package previewing the John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt match at WrestleMania set to Eminem's "Legacy" was yet another example of the WWE production team doing what it does best. It summed up the entire rivalry via soundbites from Bray Wyatt, used powerful and striking images to capture the attention of the audience and perfectly synced to the music for effect.

This great video catapulted the match ahead of the Bryan saga as the most interesting aspect of this year's WrestleMania.

At least in this writer's humble opinion.

Bray Wyatt Promo

The second appearance of Bray Wyatt in "The Awesome" section this week should indicate just how truly special Wyatt's promos leading into his match with John Cena have been.

This week, he was decked out in John Cena merchandise and again spoke on the fallacy that is a hero. He mentioned Cena fans buying his merchandise and made a point to mention the former WWE champion's "plastic girlfriend" and his "giant castle."

Again, the delivery and the conviction with which he spoke brought legitimacy and realness to the words that others on the show just have not been able to convey. 

Just an outstanding promo that, again, sold the match more than any physical encounter of any kind ever could. 

The Usos vs. The Real Americans

The WWE Tag Team champions watched the momentum they garnered from capturing the titles and winning a few matches shortly thereafter disappear as Cesaro and Jack Swagger worked together long enough to score a huge victory and throw their names into contention for a tag title shot at WrestleMania.

The finish was great as Cesaro caught a diving Uso with an uppercut and the Neutralizer for the win in a great, energetic tag match to kick off the evening's in-ring festivities.

Up until a week ago, it appeared as though The Usos were on a crash course for a title defense against the New Age Outlaws. Then, an injury to Road Dogg's back seemingly put those plans on hold. Now, Cesaro and Swagger are poised to challenge for the gold.

Will they be able to coexist long enough to capture the championships or will a loss on the big stage spell the end for the Zeb Colter-led team?

Opening Promo

The confrontation between Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton to kick off Monday's show was not only a reunion of former Evolution teammates, but it also was an excellent way to bring Orton and Batista into the fold as they had gone somewhat forgotten with all of the developments in the Bryan-Triple H segment from last week.

Batista and Orton were understandably upset about the potential for Bryan's inclusion in their WWE title match on April 6. The verbal exchanges between the Superstars and the COO resulted in some very good lines from both Batista and Triple H.

"When this is all said and done, this your fault," Triple H said to the crowd. He again reiterated that he was attempting to protect Bryan and that everything he had done was in the best interest of the business.

After interrupting his boss and mentor, a fairly angry Batista warned The Game, "Now you may have problems with Daniel Bryan, but you've got bigger problems with me."

Addressing both Batista and Orton, Triple H asked, "Has Bryan really gotten that far into your heads?"

Batista, who always had a better read on the Evolution leader than any other Superstar, responded with, "Apparently not as much as he's gotten into yours."

Triple H and Batista were great on the microphone while Orton's RKO of Batista ended the segment on a high note. That action by Orton would come into play later in the evening.