Raw begins with Triple H in the ring, talking about the Chamber. He said that Becky showing up was bad and she will be arrested next time, but said personally he thought it was pretty cool. He said that Kofi Kingston stole the show and Bayley and Sasha are the new women’s tag champs and he is proud. He then announces that D Generation X are the first announced for the Hall of Fame this year. Including Chyna, which is just beautiful. She deserves it, as does the rest of the Motley Crue being inducted, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, X Pac & obviously Trips and HBK (HBK becoming a 2-time Hall of Fame inductee)
Triple H then says the fire that is the Road to Wrestlemania is about to have gasoline poured on it, he said that, as we know, he oversees NXT and there will be some new guys and gals making their debut tonight! Starting with the One & Only, Ricochet!! – (I literally marked the F out here.) – we are also gonna see Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa!!!
He said all hell is about to break loose, in a tables match!
Baron Corbin vs Braun Strowman in a Tables Match
Strowman looked like he was going to seriously harm Corbin.. He looked beyond angry after the 3 on 1 assault he took at the hands of Lashley, McIntyre & Corbin last night.
The match was Braun heavy until Corbin exposed the taped up ribs of Strowman and started attacking them. Taking the action to the stage, using every item at their disposal, even clearing the announce table, but it fell over after Strowman got thrown into it. The tables turned on Corbin when he was taken out of the air by Strowman and some steel steps! Then Corbin took one of the stiffest steps shots I’ve ever seen. Which lead into Corbin getting Powerslams through a table in the corner. Strowman gets the victory after this gruelling contest. I thought this whole opening sequence was incredible and what a way to keep people watching!
Paul Heyman walked out as Strowman has leaving and got grabbed by Braun.. The fans were chanting for him yo go through a table, but Strowman let him go.
Paul Heyman promo
He said that he’s not surprised Strowman did that, as everyone should be jealous of his client. He put together a video reel to “ed-u-cate” us all on Lesnar. The video package was absolutely awesome, Heyman was narrating the story of Lesnar’s upbringing and his accomplishments, this really painted Lesnar as a bonafied Monster. They went into the UFC and showed how he’d slaughtered the competition in every place he’d been in such a short time. He ended up talking about the Undertaker’s Undefeated Streak and then took a survey asking the audience “who thinks Rollins can beat Lesnar at WrestleMania”? He says that Rollins doesn’t have enough fire in his soul to burn down Suplex City, then.. the new WWE Intercontinental Champion, Finn Balor interrupted him.
Finn Balor promo
He says he plans on defending the Title as often as he can but is interupted by a very sombre looking Lio Rush.
Lio says that Balor doesn’t deserve to be the champion, then Lashley attacks him from behind. After Balor takes a Frog Splash, he’s saved by the debuting Ricochet! This is so surreal. Ricochet, Prince Devitt & Lio Rush all in a segment on WWE Raw together. Adding Bobby Lashley to the mix and it’s like a living DLC pack!
Lio Rush & Bobby Lashley vs Finn Balor & frickin‘ Ricochet.
Lio and Ricochet started and put on an aerial clinic! Mesmerising the audience, Lashley gets frustrated with Lio and his lack of attack, so tags himself in. Gets the upper hand for all of 2 seconds and then gets schooled by Ricochet who ended it with that feint suicide dive superhero pose thing he does. It was awesome.
Lashley shouting at Rush as he’s getting his ass handed to him by Finn. They set up a really cool hot tag sequence for Ricochet too, he came in like a bloody rocket! This was astonishing! Even with the obvious nerves, he pulled off the 630 Senton and pinned Rush. The legit love and support from his friend, Finn Balor, after the match was so cool to see too.
Backstage
Drew McIntyre find HHH and says he wants Rollins tonight so he can prove that he should be in his spot to headline Wrestlemania. Ambrose walks up and says he’s free this evening and slapped McIntyre in the face so hard that his ancestors must’ve felt it! So he says to HHH to change the match.
Lucha House Party vs Ryder & Hawkins
Gran Metalik paid homage to the white Power Ranger in his attire, it was awesome. Hawkins is so good. He is ridiculously good. He deserves this storyline, ridiculous as it is.
Stage Interview
Ridiculous. Heavy Machinery came out to talk about Steaks and Weights. I have no idea why they’ve made them so cringe on the main roster, but Lacey Evans came out to do that weird catwalk thing she did at Elimination Chamber, then she stood between Heavy Machinery and they did a catwalk to their own music, it was ridiculous. Although these two massive, hairy beasts with the classy lady Lacey Evans as their manager could be a reallt cool dynamic.. but out of context, this whole thing was stupid.
Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa vs The Revival
From stupidity to stupendous! 2 time match of the year winners, these 4 guys stole every single NXT TV or Takeover they were on together. This is the best Raw in years! Before the match, Gargano and Ciampa were met by Roode and Gable who said they’re confused as to why they’re facing The Revival, but Gargano says they’re facing them because they’ve been running the hottest brand for 2 years and it’s time to “take over” – The Revival come out of their locker room and reminisce on their glory days of NXT with #DIY, but Ciampa says they’re here to make an impression at their expense.
So awesome to see this. Such a pleasure to watch. The energy started low in the crowd and they left everyone standing. There were call backs to their famous rivalry in NXT and there was a wonderful flow to this match,it wasn’t just a tag match we all wanted, it was THE tag match we all needed. I sense a resurgence in the tag division and Tomasso Ciampa & Johnny freakin’ Wrestling beat the RAW Tag Team Champions for God’s sake!! What does that mean for them? Are #DIY back? Are they gonna get a title shot? What’s happening? Now, this is great storytelling!
Ricochet & Finn Balor interview
Ricochet gets welcomed to Raw, not sure if that means he’s now there permanently or not but he says it’s just the beginning and that he will show us all why there is only “one and only” Ricochet. – Perfect.
Boss N Hug celebration
Sasha Banks and Bayley are finally the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, I know I called this happening last year, as did a lot of you, but honestly I was a little choked up when they won. I just felt so proud to be watching this unfold. The age of equality and unity is so satisfying to see and let’s face it, no one else would have felt right as the first ever Women’s Tag Team Champions. Also it does mean that The first ever Raw Women’s Champion was Charlotte Flair, first SmackDown Women’s Champion was Becky Lynch and now Bayley & Sasha Banks are the first Women’s Tag Champs. The 4 Horsewomen of the WWE are reigning supreme in terms of inauguration. That’s pretty cool, eh? They also said they will defend against any women, across Raw, SmackDown & NXT from past, present or future. Nice!
Nia Jax and Tamina came out though, and challenged them, tried to attack them, failed and stomped to the back. This wasn’t needed, but I get why it happened.
Dean Ambrose vs Drew McIntyre
Pretty much just a “Dean’s not re-signing and probably is going to AEW so he gets destroyed” match. Nothing to it. Lasted 3 minutes.
Elias Segment
Elias said he was the most successful person to come out of NXT and the guys showing up aren’t worth half of what he is. Then Aleister Black comes forth from the darkness to destroy The Drifter. Aleister tells Elias he will fade to black.
This was a really cool showing from both men actually. I half expected this to be a bellring Black Mass win, but it was awesome! There were some harrowing shots from both men and Aleister Black looked so comfortable too. Black Mass and it was done but… they showed a replay of the Black Mass too and, my word, it was a slow-mo shot of Elias getting KO’d for real. Ouch.
I’ve loved the influx of NXT talent. Tomasso Ciampa was the most captivating though. He’ll have no problems getting over on the main roster.
Ronda Rousey vs Ruby Riott w/Riott Squad for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship
Ruby didn’t get an entrance, nor did we hear a hometown pop for her. They literally just started it and Riott got a 3 count on Rousey easily when she countered an armbar but the Ref was too slow. Riott did really well against Rousey but if you thought she would beat her, you’re dillusional. They were never gonna scrap the Main Event of Mania. This was the match that should have happened on Sunday is all. Great match though.
Conclusion
9.5/10 🌟
Well, what a turnaround that was. This Raw started strong and ended strong, showed off 4 new talents in actual matches that lasted decent times and it was just 110% a better product. If it stays like this, AEW are in trouble.
Match of the Night: The Revival vs Ciampa & Gargano. How could it not be? Just go watch it. It was phenomenal.
Annoyance of the Night: The randomness of Ambrose’s booking is what’s dropped it for me, other than that it was rock solid Raw.
Thanks for stopping by, guys and gals. Have a wonderful day/night depending on when you read this.
Peace and love ✌🏻💚
CB
