Raw kicks off in Montreal, Canada with Steph in some slick lookin’ acid wash jeans! She introduces Shane McMahon, who received thunderous boos. Steph made fun of the hatred and Shane made Mike introduce him properly and then asked him to say it in French. We got CM Punk chants and Shane actually let them do it. They hyped the shakeup and Shane made the guys in the back show some footage of Miz’s dad getting hurt, then Miz’s music hit! Miz is on Raw! I like that. He attacked Shane with a chair and somehow ended up cutting his own head open. So… blood in the opener of Raw.. That’s new! Miz being on Raw is a good call. I hope he gets a main event push this time around!
8 Man Tag Team Match (everyone in the match is officially on Raw now) – Ricochet, Aleister Black, Hawkins & Ryder vs The Revival & The War Raiders
For some reason they have called The War Raiders “The Viking Experience” & renamed them Ivar & Erik. I was almost sick in my mouth. But… The current NXT Tag Team Champions on Raw!? What!? I was on my feet at home! The match was okay, felt a little flat, but it was still pretty great! Ivar and Erik got the win for the team and they pinned the Tag champs too!
Cedric Alexander picked
Yep. Cedric Alexander is coming to Raw! That’s going to be awesome! Hopefully he gets a push like Ali got!
Finn Balor vs ???
It was Andrade & Zelina Vega!! I knew it! They were one of my picks! Zelina cut a promo and then Andrade took shots at Balor in Spanish and it wasn’t respected in Canada and I have no clue what he said, but he said it with such conviction that I knew he meant everything he said. El Idolo came out swinging! He hit his corner Meteora thing almost immediately, he nearly knocked Balor off, he used Zelina as a shield which was a killer Heel move and finally nailed his Cartwheel Pele! Andrade was very strong in this match & thanks to a Hurricanrana from Vega whilst the Ref was distracted he won! I’m excited to document this feud! This little taster was incredible!
Elias segment
He is talking about interruptions and how he was disrespected by Cena and Undertaker last week so he was interupted by Rey Mysterio who botched a West Coast Pop, which was pretty funny, but I hope he didn’t hurt himself. But after he cleared the Ring of Elias, Lars Sullivan’s music hit and he came to the ring, but Rey got the best of him for 2 minutes until he hit a Freak Accident out of nowhere. So, that’s Kurt Angle, The Hardy Boyz and now Rey? He’s going after the living legends then it seems. Cool segment and am excellent draft pick!
Roode & Gable vs The Usos
They flashed “The Usos” across the screen when Gable & Roode were in the Ring cutting a promo. Someone is getting fired over that I bet. The two guys issued an open challenge and The Usos answered! They have a new red themed banner, tron and ramp animation too. They got a huge reaction too! Canada was loving The Usos! As you can imagine, this match was really cool to see! The Usos dominated and ended up winning after a double Splash and that was great, but the fans made it so much better!
A Moment of Bliss
Sami Zayn is the guest. He’s in his hometown and the fans were absolutely out of their minds when his music hits – they played it three times.. he danced like crazy and it was all happy and fun until he showed that he was actually just making fun of the audience, he made them chant for him to show just how easy it is and said he loves the city, he name dropped for a cheap pop and then turned on them! He said he didn’t want to be on the show, offended Alexa and then said he hates the people and the chants make him sick bow. Alexa Bliss made a face turn it seems too! She hit back at Sami and told him that his people aren’t the problem, he is. He said they’re not “his people” – he said he may have been born there, but he doesn’t even live there any more, he lives in Orlando. Which got a nasty reaction and then he said that leaving was the best thing he ever did and he was going to do the same thing again now. A chorus of “Nah nah nah nah! Hey hey hey! Goodbye” broke out in Montreal and Sami laughed it off and said “Yeah, see you in Hell.” – I think that might mean he’s a full-time Raw star now too..
IIconics vs Bayley & ???
A video was shown from WWE.com where Bayley was trying to get ahold of Sasha Banks on the phone, but she’s probably in a meeting with Brandi & Cody so obvs won’t have her phone on, Bayley. – but still, The Iconics say Sasha isn’t there and that they can be her friends, Bayley said to keep Sasha’s name out of their mouths and that she will find another partner for a match later. – Bayley was actually really convincing for a change! She’s dropped that stupid half-grin she used to do in every single promo. I liked it. So Bayley’s partner..
Naomi! Naomi is on Raw! I didn’t see that happening. The match was short as anything, Naomi and Bayley put the Tag Champs away inside of 5 minutes! Is Naomi going to be the reason for a Sasha Banks Heel turn? Because I’d be on that. But I actually think this could be the end for Banks & the WWE.
EC3 vs Braun Strowman
Before the match, another vignette featuring the weird Lizard Turkey thing in a box is shown. Need more than a repeat of the same video, WWE. Lazy.
Strowman squashed EC3 & Chokeslammed him through the stage, that was it. What the hell are they playing at with EC3? Why bring him up to just not use him? Or worse, use him as a Jobber!? I did not like this at all. What a waste. EC3 is on Raw now I
Becky Lynch vs Ruby Riott w/ Riott Squad
Before the match Eric Young was announced for Raw!? SAnitY are no more it seems.
The match was actually quick, but it was good. Lynch overcame interference from Logan & Morgan to win via submission. Then Natalya came out for some reason. She listed why she is proud of Becky and all she did for Women’s Wrestling in WWE. Natalya challenges Becky and as Becky accepted, Lacey Evans came out and cut a very classy promo with some bite, she explained that she is officially on Raw and that she knows how to get what she wants. So, as per the McMahon Family, Lacey vs Nattie right now and the winner will be number 1 Contender. Lacey and Nattie had a really great match! Lacey won after a Woman’s Right & a picture perfect B.M.E. – she looked to have hurt Natalya’s ribs on impact too! But it was awesome!
Bray Wyatt returns promo
We got two of them in one show!? This one was different. It was creepy. We saw a doll rocking in a chair and it stopped dead. Eyes moved. Laughed and then did the Wyatt flashy thing. That one was creepy.
Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin & Drew McIntyre vs Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and a Mystery Partner
The stage was set for the mystery to become solved and it was a Hell of a good pick! AJ Styles is on Raw!
This match was a bit of a showcase. It was actually really entertaining. AJ worked well with The Shield lads and ended up pulling off some really cool signature moves in a sequence with Rollins and Reigns. I liked the finish to it. Rollins stomped Lashley, Roman Speared him and then AJ layed him out with a Phenomenal Forearm for a 3 count. Reigns hit an awesome Dropkick on the apron whilst Corbin was mid slide around the post too. That was cool.
Conclusion
8/10 🌟
Overall was a decent show with lots of stuff to offer! Had it’s down bits like virtually every Raw episode ever, but I really enjoyed this overall. Really enjoyed that main event and really hated what they did to EC3.
Drafted to RAW was: The Miz, Andrade, Rey Mysterio, War Raiders, EC3, Lacey Evans, The Usos, Naomi, Ricochet, Cedric Alexander, Aleister Black & AJ Styles!
Now that’s a decent haul if ever I saw one! Buddy Murphy to SmackDown Live tonight I hope!
I hope you had fun watching too! I got 3 out of 5 predictions correct, so that’s not too bad!
I’m really excited to see how this all unfolds in the coming months and how this shapes Money In The Bank up. Well done, WWE. Well done.
So that’s all from me this week. Thank you for reading as always and I will catch you next time! Peace and love!
CB
