Opener
5/5⭐ WWE Monday Night Raw is coming live from Madison Square Garden and kicking off with the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin! Massive pop from the crowd too. Straight into the beer chugging. First time in 20 years ole’ Stone Cold graced the Garden and Steve told a cool story about dropping Vince with the first ever Stunner Vince ever took in the Garden. Mentions AEW Ref, Earl Hebner too.
When the contract signing gets underway there is an eerie feeling amongst the scene. I’m waiting for The Fiend to appear, as my theory went last week..
Rollins chats a bit about Strowman’s conspiracy theory, then has fun with the crowd’s “what!” chants with Stone Cold. Rollins proclaims himself the “Best Wrestler in the World” and the crowd boos heavily. “Ospreay”, “CM Punk” & “AJ Styles” chants could be heard. Pretty sure I heard some “Omega” chants too, but it was hard to decipher the multiple different ones.
Strowman is told that he needn’t worry as no one is stabbing him in the back & then signed the contract. Strowman says he isn’t turning his back on Rollins, he likes being Tag Champs, but will love being Universal Champion more. Rollins laughs with Stone Cold when Braun awkwardly quotes Stone Cold’s “Can of Whoop Ass” catchphrase and then Braun write his name.
Then AJ Styles and the OC make their presence known and cut the most amazing promo. Again and does the best Stone Cold impression, AJ mocks the crowd and Stone Cold and tells him to sit this out or he night get hurt. Then the crowd hijack his promo after he mocks the “Whats”! He can’t even talk. It is hilarious! AJ then shuts them down and gets booed to all hell when he says “this is why no one likes coming to New York.”
Stone Cold starts laughing and says maybe AJ should put a bit of bass into his voice and AJ just looks him dead in the eye and says “Why don’t you shut up, Steve!?”. Killed me. The crowd still hijacking him and chanting that he’s an asshole and Austin tells him that its 18,000 people calling him an asshole. AJ gets personal with Austin after this and berates him for his age.
Stone Cold moves the table and and then a brawl ensues that ends with AJ getting a Stunner! Great moment! Stone Cold then celebrates with beer. Great opener. No Fiend though. I was wrong.
Cedric Alexander vs AJ Styles
5/5⭐After the beat down from the OC cost him the KOTR last week, Alexander had a score to settle and he whooped AJ’s ass! Until the OC came and attacked Cedric and a 3 on 1 assault ensued.. until the VIKING RAIDERS made the save!.. I know! Random. But damn did it work! They came out and took out the OC including AJ with their signature moves that they are known for. They got a HUGE reaction! Finally something is happening with The Raiders!
Connor’s Cure Warriors
5/5⭐ Roman Reigns presents a beautiful segment and brings out 6 kids who are survivors of Paediatric Cancer, in their own wrestling character costumes too. It was lovely. Please donate anything you can to help these little warriors and those who are just starting their fight, please visit www.connorthecrusher.com for information or donation.
Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs Boss N Hug Connection
The Four Horsewomen of WWE finally throw down. Becky being the only Babyface in the match put her in an obviously compromising position. Heel Bayley is the best Bayley, but personally I hope she drops the hugging gimmick now. New attitude, new music, new aesthetic, just a total reinvention.
6/5⭐ The Boss and The Hugger beat down Becky before the match and Charlotte gets a chair to get them away from Becky. Then the match starts properly. Absolutely fantastic match, they pulled out all the stops and it had a really NXT feel to it. The crowd went crazy for it and they got “This is Awesome!” chants. It really was. Hot tag sequence for Becky was epic too. Charlotte was incredible in the battle to get to her. Banks missed her que to stop a moonsault but it didn’t mess the match up, Charlotte just ended up botching the impact on Bayley was all. The tag moves and sequences from these guys is amazing. Outside moves, Bayley hit a Bayley to Belly into the barricade and then a German Suplex on Charlotte on the outside too! They tore eachother apart and the fans went insane for it. Charlotte hit a Natural Selection out of nowhere and beats Bayley. Wooo! What a match! Everyone got their signatures in and the match flowed like a contradictory tranquil river of chaos and pain!
The OC backstage
5/5 ⭐ AJ is asked by Sarah Schreiber about what happened. AJ says the OC run the place and they wont be beaten by.. then Ziggler and Roode show up and offer their help to The OC and they take it. Praise be to continuity!
Gran Metalik vs Rey Mysterio
5/5⭐ Oh. Yes. This is EXACTLY my type of match. Lucha Libre style with two of the best Luchadors in the world. It. Was. Incredible! Blink and you’ll miss it type match! Rey Mysterio won with a 619/Frog Splash.
Street Profits Hype
2/5 ⭐ They hype the show. Very well. They are fantastic at comedic timing and they talk so well. But.. I’m getting a little tired of never seeing them wrestle. Why have them on if they’re not going to showcase their wrestling? They’re not even advertising NXT making its TV debut next week! Meh.
Baron Corbin vs Ricochet vs Samoa Joe KOTR Semi Final Match
5/5⭐ This was crazy! Go watch it if you haven’t already. No explanation needed. Absolute perfection. Great action, great spots, great crowd, great win from Corbin! Stealing the win after a 630 Senton from Ricochet. The crowd popped for it too! New York loves Corbin apparently. Chuffed to bits with that decision. Corbin’s my guy!
Lacey Evans vs Natalya II
3/5 ⭐ The second time in as many weeks we’ve seen this match. Lacey won last time and I thought it was a great match. This one got hijacked by CM Punk chants. Which is stupid, because they had a decent showing again! Lacey brings out the best in Nattie it seems. Fucking commentary dont shut up during their match though which let it down a lot. Sharpshooter ended the match. Natalya 1 Lacey 1. I guess 2 outta 3 matches? Clash pre-show maybe? Probably.
Firefly Funhouse
5/5⭐ Great stuff again. Bray talks about strangers because Stone Cold was there. He says Strangers are friends that we haven’t met yet and says Viking Raiders and Cedric made friends with Braun and Seth earlier and now they are facing the OC and Roode and Ziggler! Bray said Seth and Braun took something dear to him and that friends forgive, but The Fiend never forgets. He ends with “See you in Hell.”.
Viking Raiders, Cedric Alexander, Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins vs The OC, Robert Roode & Dolph Ziggler
5/5⭐ this was again absolutely must-see! Theres a real indie vibe going on in WWE right now. They’ve taken much note of NXT/ICW/ROH style stuff and it’s working so well for them. Erik and Ivar absolutely kicked ass and the winner of the match after reversing a Phenomenal Forearm into possibly the best Lumbar Check ever, was Cedric Alexander and Stone Cold came back to celebrate with them. Looks like itll be Cedric Alexander vs AJ Styles for the US title at Clash this weekend then! I’m all for that.
Conclusion
Stars Achieved: 50/55 ⭐
RAW SCORE: 90.99%
YOWIE WOWIE! What an improvement! This is consistency, careful planning, longer matches and less people on the show. It makes everything feel so much more important and it has shone a big bright spotlight on Cedric Alexander and The Viking Raiders this week as a result. Absolutely fantastic show with only some minor gripes. This is proving to be a fresh start indeed for the WWE. Biggest score yet by a .99! – CB
