February 23 , 2015 Monday Night RAW results The February 23 , 2015 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE ' s RAW brand , which took place on February 23 , 2015 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville , Tennessee . This was the RAW following Fast Lane . Summary . All jokes aside , Randy Orton ’ s unexpected return at WWE Fastlane really was — ahem — outta nowhere . But the surprise of seeing Orton back in action and RKO ’ ing anyone whose name began with a “ J ” had nothing on Stephanie McMahon ’ s reaction to the return of the Superstar she ordered to be destroyed the last time he showed his face . She welcomed him right back . Incredulous as it sounds , McMahon — flanked by Kane , Big Show and Triple H — was more than willing to allow the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion to rejoin The Authority and take his place as The Face of WWE once more . Even more incredulous was Orton ’ s eventual reaction to the offer : a tentative , if somewhat sinister - sounding , commitment to attend a backstage " business conference " to formally cement his re - induction via a tag - team bout against Daniel Bryan & Roman Reigns , with Seth Rollins as his partner . The good news , more or less , for Bad News Barrett is that he ’ s still technically the Intercontinental Champion . That ’ s a silver lining that ’ s hard to catch , though , since Dean Ambrose absconded with the Brit ’ s title after being disqualified out of his questionably legal challenge at WWE Fastlane . Being filched left Barrett with a less than sunny disposition , one that didn ’ t exactly endear longtime foe Dolph Ziggler to him during a non - title match on Raw . With R - Truth on commentary to demand the WWE Universe # GiveTruthAChance for a title opportunity off his win on SmackDown , Barrett dismantled The Showoff with clubbing blows from his fists and feet in equal measure . A reversal of Wasteland into a DDT gave Ziggler some space , and Barrett was right there to catch him with the Winds of Change off a ping - ponging sprint between the tables . Barrett was unable to connect with the Bull Hammer elbow , however , as Ziggler rammed him into the turnbuckle and pounced with the Zig Zag for the win . Ambrose materialized moments later with the Intercontinental Title in hand and trash talk spewing from his mouth . Barrett , of course , was in no position to throw down with “ The Lunatic Champion . ” Ziggler , however , seemed interested … The Ascension ’ s run through WWE ’ s tag team division ended up being cut short long before it reached the highs of their NXT streak , all thanks to the freshly reformed Prime Time Players . Anyone in the WWE Universe who questioned whether Darren Young & Titus O ’ Neil could truly let bygones be bygones got their answer in emphatic fashion on Raw . The Big Deal provided the saving grace for Young , who had been smothered from the get - go by Konnor & Viktor ’ s offense and was about a second from getting defeated before O ’ Neil put the boots to Viktor . Mr . No Days Off sprang with a rollup after a brief fracas to get the pin , but millions of dollars brought millions of problems , as the big men jumped O ’ Neil and obliterated Young with the Fall of Man . A win is a win ? Well here we are again . And this time , there ’ s no studio and snowstorm to enforce any kind of civility from Roman Reigns , who — after a final concession to The Big Dog from a wistful Daniel Bryan — finally stepped into a WWE ring as the honest - to - goodness No . 1 contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship . Paul Heyman was right there to meet him , spouting rhetoric and visibly relieved to be rid of Bryan , talking up the potential of Reigns and predicting his ultimate downfall at the hands of Brock Lesnar . Despite Heyman ' s bravado , Reigns ’ eagerness to throw down with The Beast Incarnate either forecasts a bright future for the No . 1 contender … or the ultimate downfall of a Superstar who doesn ’ t understand what he ’ s gotten himself into . Thirty - four days until the answer is revealed . Among the more unexpected facts that dropped at Fastlane was the coronation of Cesaro & Tyson Kidd as Tag Team Champions , a development that seemed as likely as cats and dogs living together when they started teaming on a whim only two months ago . But there they were as champs one day later , defending their titles against The Usos , who didn ’ t waste any time evoking their rematch clause or putting “ The Professionals ” against the ropes in pursuit of their third run with the twin titles . Even Cesaro & Kidd ’ s signature , on - the - fly tandem maneuvers weren ’ t enough to slow The Usos down . It took some chicanery from Natalya , of all people , to get the job done when she tripped Jimmy Uso off the top rope following an altercation between her and Naomi that landed Kidd in the crosshairs of a top - rope splash . The Queen of Harts ’ interference stopped the match at a disqualification , ensuring The Usos won but the titles remained in the land of cats , facts and Kings of Swing . We , the people , may not be setting foot on Mars anytime soon . But give Jack Swagger credit for the biggest step for mankind since Neil Armstrong after his upset defeated of Stardust , who ’ s all but gone supernova in the wake of his controversial loss to brother Goldust at Fastlane . Torn between the specter of his former self , Cody Rhodes , and the space - creature he has transformed into , Stardust took out his aggression on The Real American , whose defense of Dusty Rhodes on Twitter landed him in this bout in the first place . Stardust made sure Swagger regretted it , but Goldust was there to apply a little smoke and mirrors to distract baby brother with a sudden appearance . Swagger sprang into action with the Patriot Lock to notch a quick tapout , but it seems the stars of the Rhodes family have not quite aligned yet . Call it a technicality if you must , but the record books don ’ t lie : John Cena submitted to Rusev at WWE Fastlane . Granted , there were some events that led to him being locked in the Accolade into unconsciousness that weren ’ t exactly on the up - and - up , which is why a dumbfounded Cena is officially on his road to redemption . The first stop ? A potential rematch with The Super Athlete for the U . S . Title at WrestleMania . Only Rusev wasn ’ t exactly jumping at the chance to face the Cenation leader again . Instead , he settled for kicking the 15 - time World Champion while he was down , rubbing the loss in his face , rejecting his challenge and posing from the stage as the Russian flag descended over Cena ’ s head . Hey , no one ever said The Road to WrestleMania always got off to an easy start . The Bella Twins ’ admiration for the NXT women ’ s division apparently does not extend to taking it easy against two of its most prestigious alumnae : Paige & Emma . The duo , who battled for the NXT Women ’ s Championship at the very first ArRIVAL pay - per - view , couldn ’ t get the job done when they combined their strength against the main roster ’ s resident mean girls . There wasn ’ t even a match to speak of , really . Brie knocked Paige off the apron and defeated Emma with a facebuster . When Paige stormed the ring for payback , she was dealt with quickly . Better luck next time . Ryback & Curtis Axel dissolved their partnership as RybAxel on ostensibly friendly terms , yet The Big Guy showed his old buddy no quarter in a friendly yet firm decimation of “ The Ax Man ” on Raw . They squared off moments after the two bros declared they would join The Miz in the second annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal . Despite a smothering opening attack from Axel , Ryback ’ s quick one - two of the Meathook Clothesline and Shell Shocked got the road to # AxelMania off to a rough start . Anyone expecting another explosion of physicality between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns on Raw can settle down . The two most volatile elements in WWE remained at rest 24 hours after they blew the roof off WWE Fastlane , instead focusing their collective energy on the returning Randy Orton and Seth Rollins . All in all , the bout was a tale of two teams , one that buried their hatchet and another that maybe , juuust maybe had not . When Rollins ( with Kane & Big Show on the outside , supporting Rollins before their Fastlane rematch against Dolph Ziggler , Ryback & Erick Rowan on SmackDown ) tagged himself in during Orton ’ s decimation of Reigns , the former World Champion threw a fit and stormed off . Yet when Bryan tagged himself in after Reigns laid Rollins out with the Superman Punch , the 2014 Superstar of the Year happily ceded the floor while The Beard annihilated Rollins with the Running Knee . Teamwork makes the dream work , but it seemed as though Rollins was headed for a waking nightmare when he found himself in the sights of The Viper ’ s punt . Instead of kicking Rollins into next week , however , The Viper offered a rough , if seemingly genuine , pat on the arm . Probably best Rollins takes that with a grain of salt , though : Orton ’ s mood can famously change , well , outta nowhere .