Hello everyone, and welcome to this week\u2019s RAW Review. I\u2019m filling\nin for CB this week for my first RAW Review but anyways, let\u2019s get right into\nthe review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Big Dawg<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n RAW was kicked off with Roman Reigns who was greeted by a\nwarm reception from the Philadelphia crowd. Reigns started his speech by\nproclaiming that he was going to reclaim \u2018our yard\u2019 and to mark his return to\nthe top he needs to go through one man, Seth Rollins. Rollins comes to the ring\nwith a massive burn it down before raising the microphone. Rollins goes on to talk\nabout how happy he is to hear of Reigns\u2019 cancer being in remission and that he\nis going to fuel that fire all the way to WrestleMania where he aims to slay\nthe best and win the Universal Championship. After Rollins\u2019 speech, Reigns announces\nthat he wants to get the band back together (referring to The Shield),\ndispleasing Rollins to say the least. The two go back and forth about The Shield\nfor a bit before Rollins eventually agrees to bring The Shield back together. Rollins\nand Reigns call out Ambrose who stands at the ramp ready to make a speech\nbefore Elias swings a guitar into Ambrose\u2019s back. Reigns and Rollins run down\nto the ramp to accompany a hurt Ambrose who runs backstage before confronting\nhis Shield brothers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finn Balor, Braun Strowman & Kurt Angle vs Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin & Drew McIntyre<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This match was kicked off with long time rivals Corbin and Strowman squaring off. Strowman sends Corbin outside early before getting to full pace and nailing him into the barricade. Corbin tags in McIntyre who gets charged into a corner by Strowman, Strowman beats him up a little before tagging in Balor for a double axe handle from the top rope. Balor tries gaining some momentum which is stunted by a huge knee to the midsection from McIntyre and a subsequent tag to Lashley. Lashley hits Balor with a few shots and tags in Corbin. McIntyre, Lashley & Corbin are all thrown to the outside by Balor who runs back looking for a tope con hilo but Lashley\u2019s hypeman, Lio Rush pulls out the leg of Balor, allowing all three men to recover. Corbin rolls back in the ring and Balor goes for a slingblade only to be caught by a DEEP SIX! 1, 2, kickout by Balor. Corbin decimates Balor for the next minute or two before tagging in McIntyre. McIntyre displays his strength with a deadlift suplex and he continues to wear Balor down for a while longer. Balor seems out of it but he manages to get out of the corner, evade some strikes from McIntyre and tag in Angle. Angle comes in hot with a trio of German suplexes and he proceeds to lock in the ANGLE LOCK on McIntyre, Lashley comes in but receives a German suplex as well for his efforts. As McIntyre gets back to his feet, he nails Angle with a huge headbutt and tags in Corbin. After Corbin is in control for a while, Angle manages to tag in Braun Strowman who causes havoc as he takes out everyone in and outside the ring. After a splash in the corner, Strowman lifts up Corbin and connects with a RUNNING POWERSLAM! Strowman tags in Balor who hits Corbin with the COUP DE GRACE for the 1, 2, no! Lio Rush pulls Balor off of Corbin to break up the pin. Balor chases Lio Rush but he gets caught and rammed into the ring post but Lashley. Strowman comes from around the corner and sprints towards Lashley but Rush shoves Lashley out of the way and takes one for the team as Strowman takes himself and Rush out as both men go through the barricade into the time keeper\u2019s area. McIntyre and Lashley throw Balor into the ring and Lashley folds Balor in half with a massive spear. 1, 2, 3 (@14:55). Lashley, Corbin & McIntyre are victorious. This match was pretty good actually, I quite enjoyed it. Lashley, Corbin & McIntyre continue to inflict damage to their opponents, throwing Angle head first into the steel steps and decimating Balor. McIntyre nails Balor with a claymore before Corbin & Lashley hit a huge double chokeslam onto the steel steps, adding insult to injury and making it a really, really bad day for Balor. Lashley, Corbin & McInytre stand in the middle of the ring, victorious and happy with their handiwork. As I was saying before, this match was quite entertaining. There wasn\u2019t really any great wrestling or sequences but overall, everything flowed nicely together and there were some really close calls throughout. Lashley, Corbin & McIntyre look like absolute machines and it\u2019s only a matter of time before one of them enters the world title picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Natalya vs Ruby Riott<\/strong> The Game & The Animal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Next up, The Game, The Cerebral Assassin, the shovel bearer, the COO of WWE, Triple H comes to the ring. He is interrupted by Dave Batista who\u2019s rocking a pretty snazzy new nose ring who has a few things to say. He greets Triple H, says he really couldn\u2019t be bothered rocking up at RAW as he really just doesn\u2019t like Philly (no offence), he also really doesn\u2019t like Pittsburgh (no offence), and he wants to play The Game by his rules (Dave was really happy with that one) and that The Game is over. Triple H then goes on to roast Dave for being a quitter and telling him he needs to get some balls. Triple H proceeds to cut a pretty mean promo where he says that Dave has gained his attention. This segment was bloody fantastic. I absolutely loved this, I don\u2019t know why, but I loved this (no offence). For those who don\u2019t get the repetition of (no offence), Dave seems to hate every city before following it up with a (no offence). It\u2019s pretty fantastic really. Triple H\u2019s promo was pretty fantastic as well. No offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tag Team Gauntlet\nMatch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First up, Heavy Machinery dispatches of B-Team. Nothing notable\nhere really, sad how they\u2019ve just buried some former tag champs. Ah well. Next\nup, Otis Dozovic delivers a splash to Viktor to continue on in the gauntlet\nmatch. Otis Dozovic then hits the caterpillar elbow drop to eliminate Zack\nRyder & Curt Hawkins. Heavy Machinery wins (@5:55). Throwaway match really,\npretty tragic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A bunch of segments later and Elias roasting everyone in\nPhiladelphia and their mothers (this wasn\u2019t a joke, he called every Philly\nmother googly-eyed slop), we\u2019re onto our next match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elias vs Dean Ambrose<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After some back and forth action, some brawling on the\noutside and an old school by Elias, we get to the point where Ambrose is in\ncontrol. After some clotheslines in the corner, Ambrose goes for a bulldog but\ngets driven into the corner by Elias. Elias stomps away and inflicts some damage\non Ambrose. Ambrose manages to get a small package in\u2026 1, 2, kickout. Ambrose connects\nwith a neckbreaker and goes for a lunatic elbow from the middle rope before getting\ncaught with a high knee from Elias. One drift away later and Elias is\nvictorious (@8:12). This was good, lots of brawling on the outside but the match\nitself was entertaining and had some good moments. The length of the match was\njust right and made for some enjoyable action. It might not be much but for a\nrelatively throwaway singles match, I thoroughly enjoyed this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Echo, Lima, Delta\u2026 The\nShield<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After the match for what I believe was now the 4th<\/sup>\ntime in the night, Rollins & Reigns unsuccessfully get Ambrose to join The\nShield again. Ambrose storms out of the ring and Baron Corbin\u2019s theme hits. Corbin\nis joined by McIntyre & Lashley as the three men proceed to start a brawl with\nReigns and Rollins. Just as Rollins & Reigns seemed out of it, Ambrose joins\nthem and The Shield get rid of Lashley, Corbin & McIntyre. The Shield touch\nfirsts and they are reunited\u2026 again. After this albeit generic reunion moment, The\nShield vs Lashley, Corbin & McIntyre is announced for Fastlane. Whilst I\u2019m\nnot overly pumped for this match, I am happy to see Reigns back in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have been graced by the presence of the single greatest\nsuperstar of all time, the daughter of \u2018Superfly\u2019 Jimmy Snuka, Tamina Snuka.\nWith elegance, grace and a bit of inte\u2026 Nia Jax, Tamina Snuka rose to the\noccasion as she dominated Banks & defeated her with her own original, non-generic\nfinisher, the Superkick (@3:15). What can I say, Tamina Snuka carried Sasha Banks\nin this excellent display of style and grace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ricochet &\nAleister Black vs The Revival (c) for the RAW Tag Team Championships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kick, flip, roll-up, backslide, elbow, double-team, near-fall,\nrepeat. These 4 men put on a great match until Bobby Roode & Chad Gable\nattacked and dropped Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson, costing Ricochet &\nBlack the titles. The attack led to an immediate disqualification giving The\nRevival the victory (@6:52). An understandably pissed off Ricochet & Black\nexchange blows with Roode & Gable before knocking them out of the ring and\nhitting their signature flips and handsprings back in the ring. Whilst they may\nnot have won the titles tonight, Ricochet & Black are the last men left\nstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair Contract Signing Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, my rating of this episode is a 5\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This episode was gross. Probably the wrong word for this but\nerghhh\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n The opening segment, opening match, Elias vs Ambrose & the\n6 minutes of the main event we saw were all good. Everything else was pretty terrible.\nPretty bad go home show before Fastlane but I\u2019m happy there was a match or 2\nthat was actually worth my time. It\u2019s not all bad so as far as an episode of\nRAW goes, that\u2019s pretty good. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello everyone, and welcome to this week\u2019s RAW Review. I\u2019m filling in for CB this week for my first RAW Review but anyways, let\u2019s get right into the review. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[194,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-raw","category-wwe-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9jnWd-30R","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/raw.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11586,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11585\/revisions\/11586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowrestlingjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Again\u2026 I know. Riott starts off with some vicious punches and kicks before locking in a side headlock. Natalya escapes, attempts a discus lariat but gets caught, Natalya somehow manages to transition a really stupid looking botched spot into a release fisherman suplex. Natalya follows it up with a discus lariat before locking in the sharpshooter. Riott manages to escape but Natalya gets the small package for a 1, 2, 3 in an extremely short match (@2:15). Um\u2026 er\u2026 After Natalya\u2019s win, Lacey Evans comes out, walks the catwalk, heads back and this very confusing match and segment combination is done, I\u2019m still not sure why WWE is mistreating Riott & Natalya like this. Next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sasha Banks vs Tamina Snuka<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>After a very boring encounter, Rousey comes to the ring, takes her title & Stephanie McMahon gets roasted (very poorly at that) by a now heel Ronda Rousey who assaults Becky Lynch, probably breaks her arm and continues to pummel Lynch as Charlotte Flair looks on. A heel Rousey grabs her title & poses with it as we transition into the end credits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n