The final WWE Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania 29 had a lot of big time moments as the WWE looked to give their major storylines one last major boost before April 7's Show of Shows at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
CM Punk and the Undertaker closed out the show Monday in another heated segment involving Paul Heyman dressing up as the late Paul Bearer, Undertaker's longtime friend and manager, and Punk assaulting Taker with the stolen urn that belonged to Bearer, then pouring the ashes of the urn-almost symbolically-onto the prone Phenom's body as the two draw closer to their highly-talked about WrestleMania encounter.
Apparently, the stunt was taking it one step too far for the family of Bearer, whose real name was William Moody. His son, Michael Moody, posted a message on his Facebook page following the conclusion of Raw to voice his disapproval of the closing skit of Raw.
"If anyone is wondering, yes WWE did come to us wanting approval for tonight's storyline. The way it was presented to us was ok. Seeing it on screen was a different story. I don't even know what to say," the message tweeted.
The Moody family had reportedly given the WWE the go-ahead to use their father in the storyline in advance. However, it is not the first time WWE has used a posthumous Superstar in a storyline in a controversial way. The company drew criticism for the way that they used Eddie Guerrero, a popular ex-WWE champion who died in November 2005 from a heart attack while still working with the company, in a world title angle featuring Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton, with Orton badmouthing Guerrero onscreen as a way to draw heat with the fans.
In other news, John Cena and the Rock cut individual promos, Cena in the beginning and Rock near the top of the last hour, to hype up their big WrestleMania main event rematch for the WWE Championship. Cena drew heat with the crowd, as usual, and even got a few "Boring" chants (which probably didn't make Vince McMahon very happy) while the Rock drew a singles promo of his own promising to repeat his victory over Cena last year.
Big Show Randy Orton and Sheamus defeated the 3MB in a tuneup to their six-man tag match with The Shield at WrestleMania; and their WrestleMania opponents interrupted them with a message that the "Hounds of Justice" will feat upon them on April 7.
Dolph Ziggler got ready for his tag team title match with Big E Langston against Team Hell No at WrestleMania by defeating Daniel Bryan with an assist from Big E and AJ.
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels also made his return to Raw for the first time since August, when Brock Lesnar assaulted Michaels prior to Summerslam. Michaels was there to support his beset friend Triple H, who will put his career on the line against the former UFC champion at WrestleMania. Lesnar and Heyman interrupted Michaels and Triple H, Heyman promising that the 13-time World Champion would be in for a disappointing loss on Sunday.
Wade Barrett defeated Zack Ryder in singles competition with the Bull Hammer elbow.
Mark Henry defeated Santino Marella one-on-one as the World's Strongest Man prepares to face the powerhouse Ryback at WrestleMania 29.
World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio earned a DQ victory over Zeb Coulter when Jack Swagger, who will face Del Rio for the title at WrestleMania, assaulted Del Rio's friend and personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez outside the ring.
Chris Jericho defeated Antonio Cesaro, and afterwards, he was attacked by Fandango (the wrestler, not the movie ticket system) putting extra heat on their match for WrestleMania.
The Bella Twins defeated the Funkadactyls, whom they will meet again at WrestleMania when the Bellas team with Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow to take on Brodus Clay, Tensai and the Funkadactyls in a mixed tag match.
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