Opener
Raw kicked off with Stephanie and Trips talking about the Elimination Chamber and hyping up the matches for this Sunday. Then they talked about Ruby Riott vs Ronda Rousey for the title in 6 days, which will be an awesome match, but this lead the corporate pair to swiftly change focus to Wrestlemania and Becky Lynch. Becky Lynch came to the ring, she has seen her doctors and will be able to compete after a few weeks of rest. So the suspension is lifted and the match is on,… IF Becky apologises to Trips and Steph.
Becky said she knows they’re just trying to steal her moment, she said she won’t apologise and if anyone tries to stop her, including Vince, she has no problem fighting them. Triple H levelled with her and said she needs to apologise by the end of the night or she won’t have her match, he said telling her what to do obviously doesn’t work, so this is her choice. Go to Wrestlemania, or don’t. But the apology is the only way to get there.
Boss N Hug vs The Samoan Slaughterhouse vs Riott Squad w/Ruby Riott
The loser of this match will enter the Elimination Chamber first, which is a huge disadvantage. But this match was absolutely great! There were some really cool moments. Sasha Banks is still hurt and so she did very little on terms of Wrestling, she got taken out and taken backstage for medical treatment so Bayley was left alone and this lead to the fans getting behind Bayley and she pulled off two false-finishes and an HBK level comeback, it was ace! The match ended with a Superkick to Bayley’s face after she’d hit a Bayley to Belly, Tamina dragging Liv Morgan’s limp and snoozy body over to Nia who then tags herself in and pins Bayley after a Samoan Drop. Bayley lost and Boss N Hug are first in the Chamber but this match seriously heightened Bayley’s appeal.
Every team has their own thing, the chaotic cluster of crazy in the Riott Squad, the dominant super Heels in Samoan Slaughterhouse and Boss N Hug have that nauseating BFF love thing they do. It’s character building, guys!
Elias Performance
Elias gets annonced, then Becky Lynch and Finn Balor are on the screen and it takes us backstage to them, Finn asked Becky what she gonna do, he told her not to let pride get in the way of her dream and not let it get the better of her.
Elias gets announced again, then an ad break happens…
Elias gets announced again… but the Lucha House Party show up. Elias is mad.
Elias gets angry at them and they say that they just wanted to walk with Elias. So Elias plays a heel song and got some real heat for it, then Kalisto has a go on his guitar and plucks an A chord, quite badly, but Elias said they should they, so he went and got his second Guitar and smashed Kalisto with it before running off.
Stupid segment. What a mess. Why is Elias a Heel now? He was such a great and organic baby face. The people turned him and it was such a sweet spot where he could do whatever he liked. But now he’s a Heel again for some reason.
Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre
Lashley & Rush are outside the ring too. After they got involved one too many times, the ref called a DQ so Lashley and McIntyre beat up Balor, Kurt Angle makes the save and then Corbin comes out to attack, then Braun Strowman comes to save his fellow babyfaces with his hands. Thus resulting in a 6 Man Tag Match between the 6 men.
Finn Balor, Kurt Angle & Braun Strowman vs Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley w/ Lio Rush
Weird, the match ended with Balor getting pinned and having his foot on the rope, then another ref came out and told the current ref about it so they decided to continue the match… that’s not what happens ever! But then they all do their stuff and it all works out fine, Balor pinned Lashley and everyone rejoiced. Aside from the losing team.
Nikki Cross vs Ruby Riott
Huge fan of both of these ladies. Each time they step in the ring together, they bring out the absolute best in one another. The match itself was pretty fun, not the 20 minute classic they’re capable of and should be putting on, but it was good. Ruby Riott won clean with a Riott Kick. Looking strong going in against Ronda Rousey this Sunday.
Seth Rollins promo
He recaps his last 12 months and man, he’s had a hell of a year! The Gauntlet match that earned him the longest match time in history, winning the IC Title at Wrestlemania and getting to defend it on 6 continents all over the world and finally winning the Rumble this January.
He then moved into talking about Brock Lesnar but before he could say anything, Paul Heyman showed up. His voice cracked so many times. It was hilarious.
Heyman trolled everyone by making out Lesnar was there, but he wasn’t. What a surprise. Rollins got a lesson on Lesnar from Heyman and Heyman said that Seth Rollins is one of, if not THE best, he’s ever seen in the ring. But he says going into Wrestlemania and trying to take the Universal Title from Lesnar, is a suicide mission. He said that wasn’t a prediction, it was a spoiler. Which so far, has always seemed to be the case.
Rollins says he’s right, but Paul doesn’t understand that he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care that it’s a suicide mission. He said he will be that martyr for the masses. Because Lesnar has held this industry and the title hostage for 2 long years and he won’t stand for it anymore. Rollins ended this with one of the coolest things anyone has ever spoken in the WWE. He said “I will sacrifice everything. I will sacrifice my body. I will sacrifice my heart. Paul, I will sell my soul to the devil. I will burn in Hell if it means that Brock Lesnar does not leave Wrestlemania the Universal Champion, and, Paul, that is not a prediction, it is a spoiler.”
Dean Ambrose then shows up as Heyman leaves. Rollins looks confused as Ambrose asks for the microphone. Ambrose says “I’ve only got one thing to say to you. Slay the beast.” then got out of the ring to wait for his opponent. Rollins smiled a little, then left. Weird, but cool too see the support from even his greatest enemies to gain the title back.
Dean Ambrose vs EC3
This match was a bit longer than last week but it ended with a roll-up from Abrose this week. I get what they’re doing. It’s just annoying. I just want to see the dudes have a decent bloody match!
Roode & Gable vs The Revival for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships
The fact that I could use my phone’s suggested words to write the title tells you this match has been seen too many times lately. So much so that even my phone is getting tired of it repeating. But this was no replay.
I love these two teams and this was the match we’ve all been crying out for. Absolutely amazing match. Possible tag match of the year so far! Plus, after a beautiful reversal into a Shatter Machine, the Top Guys are the NEW WWE RAW Tag Team Champions! I was ecstatic for them! No team deserve this more in my opinion. We got there finally!
Becky Lynch’s decision
Ugh. She said she doesn’t trust Trips and Steph, but she apologises for hitting them and stuff. Then they go to leave and we see Rousey come out for a showdown, but then out of nowhere Vince came out and said that he doesn’t accept the apology, Becky is suspended for 60 days, which means she will miss Wrestlemania and he chose Charlotte Flair to replace her.
Well, what was that? Why would you end the show that way? Why frustrate your audience? Why make the whole show about Becky apologising and when she does just change it all around? – to keep people talking and buying into it. My only legitimate gripe with this is that Charlotte is in this match now. She’s like the stand-in Roman Reigns in terms of booking then basically.
But the analyst in me is saying that this is only going to further elevate Becky and get the fans on her side. This is all very reminiscent of Daniel Bryan vs The Authority. She will 100% be in the match at WrestleMania and will more than likely win it, Charlotte will probabky take the fall too, so I guess it’s all okay, but as a fan, this was so annoying.
Conclusion
7/10 🌟
