OPENER
RAW begins with Vinnie Mac pulling up in a limo and getting his chauffeur to clean it after the drive. Was pretty funny.
Then Braun Strowman, who blocked me on Twitter this week, came to the ring and declared himself as cleared to compete and addressed his “Beastie Boi”, Brock Lesnar, to say he’s gonna get the Universal Championship and then Lesnar is gonna “Get These Hands”. God, I hate that catchphrase so much. Then Baron Corbin came out and got berated for being fired, but then Corbin said if he “stands here for 5 minutes it’ll be longer than you lasted against Brock Lesnar.” Ha, burn. – Then Strowman ran after Corbin and he disappeared backstage, so Elias plays a Little ditty about the situation and in the song he told Braun that Corbin was hiding in a limo a few feet away, so Strowman kicks the wing mirror off and pulls the driver out and throws him, smashes the window and pulls the door off, Corbin ran away and Strowman was confronted by the owner of the limo.. Vince McMahon who said he’s have to pay $100,000 dollars for it, when Strowman disputed this he was then stripped of his title match in 2 weeks at the Royal Rumble.. Strowman was so angry he tipped the limo over on its roof. Awesome start to RAW.
Tamina and Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey and Sasha Banks
Before this Strowman was escorted out of the building by security and a laughing Corbin.
So.. mid match, Renee was talking and she was cut off by an advert for the new movie, Glass, with the match playing in a spineless mini window at the top of the ad. What in the ever-living hell was that about!? How rude to the wrestlers and to Renee who was in the middle of talking! Come off it, WWE. So disrespectful. It even returned with Cole saying “what were you saying, Renee?” with Renee saying “Well what I was TRYING to say.. was..”. Not cool, that must’ve been embarrassing and seriously insulting.
The match itself was okay, nothing special, Banks got the win and after had an interview with Ronda and Charlie Carusso, but Ronda and Banks blew up and Banks turned into “The Boss” again. Like, NXT Sasha Banks. It was awesome, I hope she turns heel soon, she’s so much better as a Heel. Rousey ran after her to explain herself.
Backstage
Jerry Lawler is seen leaving Vince’s office. Lovely to see him again. It made me smile to see him looking well after the 2018 he had.
Backstage
Sasha and Ronda are being held apart by Nattie and Bayley and then Bayley and Nattie blame eachother’s BFF and then they bicker and get challenged by Riott Squad later but they have to find a 3rd person first.
The Revival vs Lucha House Party
The match was fun and ended with Metalik’s foot being knocked off the rope so the Ref missed the rope break. During the match we got another mini window and it showed something relevant, so it wasn’t awful, but still not great to the people in the match. It just seems like they’re telling us not to get invested in the matches when they do that. But it was people lining up outside Vince’s office to see who will take Braun’s place at the Rumble and we saw Apollo, B Team, Curt Hawkins and EC3 lining up.
Vince McMahon Announcement
Before he gets to speak, Cena comes out and interupts him. He talks to Vince and says he did everything for Vince and always has ever since he first told him he wouldn’t let him down. Cena says he has “Ruthless Aggression” – Then McIntyre interupts – the two chosen ones – he says he doesn’t care what Cena does outside of this, but he cannot say he still has Ruthless Aggression. McIntyre says just like Lesnar, The Rock and Stone Cold, he can leave. He wants Lesnar, but Corbin interupts and says he’s after the title, then Balor interupts and gets a huge pop. Finn says he won’t beat around the bush and that knows that Vince has never believed in him, but he will show him, so he attacks Corbin – McIntyre dishes out Claymores and stands tall as Vince announces a Fatal 4 Way match for the new number 1 contender.
Backstage
Jinder talks to Vince and gets himself a match with Balor later..
Riott Squad vs Bayley, Natalya & ???
Those question marks turned into the Twisted Sister of Monday Night Raw, Nikki Cross!! I popped so hard! Love me some Nikki Cross!
Great performance from everyone. Nikki helped with a Purge setting up BaYou yley for the Elbow Drop finish. Awesome to see Nikki on Raw.
Backstage
Balor is walking backstage and Lacey Evans is there and we get some clarity on what Vince McMahon said earlier. If Jinder Mahal beats Balor he takes his place in the Fatal 4 Way later.
Jinder Mahal vs Finn Balor
Jinder attacked Balor before the match and it went on for a while, Jinder looked really good here too. But Balor came away victorious and still heads to the Fatal 4 Way later.
Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins vs Bobby Lashley w Lio Rush for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
This was a fantastic match and had some awesome moments. A Doomsday Device into a countered superkick and into a Stomp attempt but Lio Rush pulled the rope down and Rollins fell out leaving Ambrose primed and prepped for a Spear that leads us to the first ever IC Title reign of The Almighty Bobby Lashley. Fair play to him, he’s done a lot of reformation since rejoicing and this could be a cool reign for him and hopefully elevates the title again like Rollins did.
Random bit
So Alexa Bliss’ assistant for A Moment of Bliss walked into her dressing room with her latte and she was topless, she got angry and he left. To be fair he knocked loudly and shouted her name twice.. I thought we’d be way past that kind of content by now.
A Moment of Bliss
Alexa unveils the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships! They’re gorgeous. Plus, the match to crown their inaugural holders will be inside the Elimination Chamber (my favourite match type) where 3 teams from RAW and 3 teams from SmackDown Live will compete! Paul Heyman came out to talk about Lesnar vs whoever wins the Fatal 4 Way. Then.. Otis Dozavic walks onto the screen and starts talking crazy and I think he maybe wanted the Tag Titles..But it was hilarious, I love Otis, he’s such a throw back! Then out came Tucker Knight and some other staff to hold him back. Random but so funny.
Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre vs John Cena vs Baron Corbin
Outstanding back and forth from these guys. Everyone hit finishers and signatures and had very near falls but in the end, after kicking out of a top rope AA and receiving everyone’s finishers Finn Balor climbed the ropes and hut that fabled Coup De Gras to pin 16 time World Champion, John Cena! Amazing! Balor vs Brock! DEMON VS BEAST! I’m pumped for that. Cena also endorsed him after the match.
Conclusion
Solid 9/10🌟
The matches were all given their fair time, the branches that extended outward from the matches were all very visible and clear, despite the disrespect shown to the talents in the ring and to the talents commentating throughout the advertisements, this show was fantastic. I really loved it. Every NXT callup except Lars Sullivan showed up for a brief moment or a match, Lars has been suffering from Anxiety attacks as of late and it has halted his debut as he has had to leave the arena due to the attacks & as a sufferer of Anxiety myself I fully empathise with Lars and wish him nothing but the best of good things, I can’t wait to see him kick everybody’s ass!
Match of the Night – Tough because they were all good but I really enjoyed the Fatal 4 Way and think that they have made such a wonderful decision in putting Finn in the main event of the Rumble.
Annoyance of the Night – Those stupid advertisements though the matches. They’re downright disrespectful to everyone involved in the match being shown. Why not just show a picture or a little banner along the screen? It’s a bad move and it was annoying. Like A YouTube ad that you have to sit through. Stop it.
