Oh it’s getting hot on the road to Wrestlemania!
Ronda Rousey begins Raw this week and got a very mixed response from the Boston crowd. She opens her mouth to speak and the place erupts in boos – she nearly stumbled on her lines but got a pop when she explained that the women’s division will be headlining Wrestlemania and as a result Becky, Charlotte & Ronda will all take part in a Beat the Clock challenge against individual members of the Riott Squad. Ronda was properly going for the fans’ jugular eventually, but before that she kept saying a thing, dropping the microphone and saying she was done talking, then picking it back up and saying “wait.. I do have more to say” – honestly, it just looked like she’d forgotten her lines – but she then said she has no idea what a “Beat the Clock” challenge is but says it just sounds like another “gimmick” we have around here, “so let’s get this farce over with”.
Ronda Rousey vs Sarah Logan
After the Squad appear, Becky Lynch shows up on stage and berated “Ronnie” for taking hangouts since arriving and she says she knows how this ends, with Becky holding the title above her head and Ronnies head beneath Becky’s foot. Charlotte appeared after this in a really weirdly coloured jacket that had a collar that made her hair look as though she’d been hit in the back of the head with a water balloon and then it immediately froze. She said she would win at Wrestlemania.
Ronda Rousey and Sarah Logan lock up for 1 minute 25 seconds before Logan taps to Rousey’s Armbar.
Charlotte vs Ruby Riott
Charlotte managed to lock in the Figure 8 with only 4 seconds left, but Ruby didn’t tap so the timer ran out. Charlotte failed, so she booted Becky in the face before her match started. – Heel Charlotte is the best Charlotte.
Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan
1 minute 25 seconds is the time to beat. Morgan got a huge advantage in this as Becky was recovering from having her head kicked off. However, Becky won via a Jacknife cover and beat the clock. Rousey wasn’t impressed and said “she laid down for you.. that’s not impressive.” – which made me really quite cross as a fan.. which I guess is actually good! That’s the reaction they’re trying to get, right? So it’s working, but.. grr.
2 on 1 Handicap match – Finn Balor vs Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush if Finn wins he goes to Wrestlemania to face Lashley again.. for the title. Why bother taking the title off of him in the first place!?
This seems like the longest possible way to get this feud settled at Wrestlemania. I’m not really bothered anymore. The IC Title feels almost irrelevant in this rivalry at this point; which sucks. Also, Michael Cole likened this match to Kofi Kingston having to run The Gauntlet last week on SmackDown. – which it obviously is nothing like..
Lio Rush got on the Mic and said he won’t be able to compete because Braun wrote him off after his smash through the barricade last week. So instead… dramatic pause.. they called in the big guns to take Rush’s place, yep! You guessed it. It’s the road to Wrestlemania! Anything can happen and this just proves it! The replacement was…..
Jinder Mahal?… really. It was Jinder Mahal. I don’t mind him, but he has no business here. However, seeing Lashley and Mahal being followed by the Singh Brothers and Lio Rush was a daunting sight to be fair.
The 3 boys on the outside got involved left, right and centre – (FYI – I love Managers who get involved!) So I obviously thought that was great. It really made the match seem like a steep old mountain to climb for Balor. But climb it he did! Really quick match, but a pleasant one none the less. The Almighty vs The Demon at Wrestlemania then! That’ll be awesome! Lashley destroyed Jinder & The Singhs after.
Elias Segment
He’s in Times Square and he insults some busker dude. Not the best..
Aleister Black & Ricochet vs The Revival
The two teams attack eachother before the match and as Black and Ricochet get the upper hand a huge NXT chants ring out in the arena
Oh this match was so fun! So many kicks and strikes and flips and flops and stiff shots and it all culminated in a Double Black Mass into a 630 Senton and a victory for the NXT guys again! Title match for them in the works then!
Drew McIntyre promo
The Scottish Psychopath says he doesn’t care if anyone likes him, but everyone must respect him. – he’s having a go at Roman Reigns again for not declining his Mania challenge yet. He said he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t said no yet, said he’s beaten him before, he dismantled the Shield already, squashed Ambrose and took out the Number 1 Contender for the Universal Championship Last week and pinned him 1. 2. 3. He focused on Roman’s kids watching him fight for his life already.
Roman comes out, accepts the challenge and beats Drew down for talking about his family. Until Drew hits a low-blow on Reigns and destroys him with the best finisher in WWE today, in my opinion, the Claymore. He said “you shoulda said no.” & leaves up the ramp.
He is walking backstage and sees Dean Ambrose!? I thought he was gone! Forever! But nope, he’s back for a Last Man Standing match later on! McIntyre says he doesn’t know how Ambrose is still standing right now, but he won’t be after tonight.
Sasha Banks w/ Bayley vs Natalya Neidhart w/ Beth Phoenix
The match was great in terms of technicality and wear-down submissions. It ended when Samoan Slaughterhouse interfered and took Bayley, Sasha & Nattie out.. But the Badass Beth Phoenix came in and whooped the Slaughterhouse, even hitting a Glam Slam on Tamina, which made me happy.. she’s not missed a step!
Hart Foundation HOF announcement
The original Hart Foundation, Anvil & Hitman, are heading to the Hall of Fame!
A Moment of Bliss
Ugh. I hate this type of stuff. Braun Strowman and the SNL guys are on. I reiterate, ugh. Basically Alexa stitches the SNL guys up, because she officially announced they are in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal now. With Braun Strowman. That could be a decent comedic buffer to be honest!
Baron Corbin vs Apollo Crews
Apollo is amazing. He held the stage like an absolute champion this evening. Apollo Crews was flippin’ and hand-springin’ all over the shop! He executed every single motion with meticulous precision; but alas, one of his flips spelled the end for Apollo, as he was caught off-guard and was planted by a beautiful and brutal End Of Days for a 3 count.. Then another one after. Y’know, because Heel.
Announcement
ESPN Sportscenter LIVE! today (26th) Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Ronda Rousey. Now tell me you don’t want to see what happened on that show! The utter irony in this angle is so effing perfect and it’s amplified so loudly by the fact that it’s intentional irony! Check it, so Ronda is “breaking kayfabe”, yes.. But..
She’s breaking it in kayfabe!
They’re even branching out to ESPN to enrich the story and cast the spell of realism on the audience whilst Rousey goes on the non-kayfabe stuff BUT all the while keeping kayfabe stronger than anyone has in over a bloody decade!
This angle is a work of genius (Ha. Wrestling pun) and each woman is executing this as scrupulously as hell, most of all being Ronda Rousey and she’s the one who’s meant to be doing all the breaking of the kayfabe!! See!? Genius!
Seth Rollins promo
The Beastslayer is out to a roaring ovation and cuts a fantastic old school promo delivered with such intensity that it’d make King Ezekiel proud; he says he realised that he doesn’t just want to win, he has to now. We are all depending on him to bring the future of the industry back to the WWE and he has his “army” behind him (that’s us) and we will march into Suplex City and BURN. IT. DOWN. – Paul Heyman had some words on the contrary though.
He waltzed out and did his whole “My name is Paul.. Hhheyman… Reigning! Defending! Undisputed! BRRRROCK! LLLLLESNARRR!” thing where he looks like he’s about to pop every blood vessel in his face and then ends up telling Rollins he has no hope and will let everyone down and he likes that idea of Brock Lesnar defeating Seth Rollins & the WWE Universe. – Rollins marches after Heyman who’d just Mic dropped him and Heyman falls to the ground screaming “I’m just an advocate! I hope you win! It was all Lesnar’s words!” – Rollins repeated himself and the whole crowd with him. BURN. IT. DOWN. *Mic drop*.
Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe
We have Joe vs Angle on RAW & Angle vs AJ Styles on SmackDown Live…!? What in the name of Jeff Jarrett is going on here!? It’s like TNA from 10+ years ago! I have to say that this “Fairwell Tour” that Angle is doing is so, so cool! We have had some dream matches & some classic rivalries from a rival company revisited and I hate to say it, but it kind of sucks that Baron Corbin is Angle’s Mania opponent. I really thought it’d come full-circle and John Cena would be his Wrestlemania retirement match. I feel awful for saying it because Baron deserves something this level at Wrestlemania, but it almost feels like poetic injustice to end the storied career of Kurt Angle with a man he’s had history with for 5 minutes. – that being said, I’m not saying Baron Corbin doesn’t deserve it, I just feel like it shouldn’t be him because of the magnitude of this very last match for Kurt Angle.
As for Samoa Joe, these two put on a good match and worked with eachother well just as they always did. In a surprise counter to the Coquina Clutch, Angle pinned Joe in a roll-up! Great way to win, keeps both men looking good and even progresses the story on SmackDown as we all know that Joe lost via a roll-up to Mysterio a few weeks ago!
Triple H promo
He reads a letter from Batista’s Lawyer who said he won’t be competing unless Triple H agrees to put his career on the line. Which he does. He also says he’s obsessed with kicking Batista’s ass, which was a bit weird.
Dean Ambrose vs Drew McIntyre in a Last Man Standing match
The match didn’t go for long but they came out with some scrapes! Ambrose had a massive welt across his chest and McIntyre had a cut on his back and welts all over. Ambrose went through a table and had his face gouged with a broken Kendo stick, it was alright but not the match is hoped for. McIntyre won after a Claymore.
Conclusion
7/10 🌟
All in all it was a fairly good show, it was fun and had some memorable moments in it. The heat is building for Wrestlemania, it’s about damn time too.
