Rollins, Murphy and AOP celebrating backstage. Interviewer Girl comes up, Rollins says last week Murphy was struggling with Aleister Black but now he is fighting the good fight. This Sunday at the Royal Rumble they will cement their dominance when he wins the Royal Rumble for the second year in a row. They go off to party. Street Profits have a Monday After Weekend Update. It’s a buncha goofy jokes. Nothing of value is established. R-Truth is a guest and informs us that being F-5’d hurts. We then close with a sexy Otis Dozovich vignette set to Val Venis’ actual theme. Matt Hardy out now! And his opponent, sad for him, is Erick Rowan.
It sure did take a long, long time for Rowan to wrestle somebody with a name.
Erick Rowan vs. Matt Hardy
Lock-up, Matt taken to the corner, catches Rowan with a boot on a charge, goes up top but Rowan grabs him! Yanks him to the mat, series of elbows, big running splash! Clubbering blow, throws Matt over the top, Hardy hangs on but a running big boot takes him to the floor! Leaves the ring and asks Matt if he wants to see something! Pulls him by the hair over towards the cage. Then just rips him away. Takes his hand into the cage and gets ‘bitten’ again, some fake blood on the palm of his hand.
Rowan is in a rage, grabs the cage and slams it against the steps over and over, yelling “Not again!” Hardy surprises him with a charging shot but Rowan nails him with a crossbody! Throws him into the ring, Iron Claw Slam for the victory.
Winner: Erick Rowan
Obviously we can’t be certain of things like this. But I feel like there’s a non-zero chance that this was the last time we’ll ever see Matt Hardy compete on Monday Night Raw. His contract is coming up soon and he really only got slightly more offense than the usual straight-up actual local jobbers that Rowan usually goes against. It’s pretty clear that he’s on his way out unless something significant changes. It’s not a particularly glamorous ending if that’s the case, but here’s to ya anyway Matt. Quite the storied career in WWE, let alone pro wrestling as a whole.
As far as Rowan goes, Jerry Lawler finally has a guess as to what’s inside, he seems certain it’s a snake in there now.
