RAW Review and Reactions
One of the biggest shocks of this weeks Monday night RAW was the opening to the show. I can't believe I am actually able to type these words but last night Monday night RAW kick started with an actual match and not just any match, a championship match. That's right people the WWE, a wrestling company, actually kick started with an actual wrestling match. I honestly cannot even remember the last time we saw a match open the show but it was so refreshing and put me in the greatest of moods. Now, over the past week we have seen the New Day defend their tag team championships both on RAW and at the Roadblock WWE Network live special. Taking out both Y2AJ and Sheamus and King Barrett the New Day were able to keep their titles wrapped around their wastes as Wrestlemania edges closer and closer. After their championship victory at Roadblock Alberto Del Rio and Rusev hit to twitter to express that they believed that if it was them instead of their fellow League of Nations members competing in that match on Saturday than there would have been new tag team champions. The twitter comments were what led to last nights opening match as the New Day for the third time in a week defend their tag team championships and this time it was up against former US Champions Alberto Del Rio and Rusev.
Usually we see Big E and Kofi Kingston defending the tag team gold but also following tweets made by the League of Nations Xavier Woods stepped up to the plate last night replacing Kofi Kingston in this rather important tag team championship match. Despite the change up in competitors in this match the New Day were able to hold their own well in this match particularly Xavier Woods who found himself carrying the match for he's team after Del Rio too out Big E previously in the match. In all honesty I don't think Woods gets enough credit. We see and hear him talk a lot and use that damn trombone but not many talk about he's in ring capabilities and we all really should be. He has a great in ring style and is more than capable of pulling out a thew impressive moves, providing us with a brilliant match. He's performance last night may not have spectacular and a part of me did miss Kofi competing just because I'm so used to it by now but he did a great job fighting off the two bigger opponents in Del Rio and Rusev. He took a strong beating but came back fighting and held he's own perfectly well. A distraction from Kofi Kingston meant that Woods could time everything perfectly and get a quick roll up and with the grab of the tights the New Day were able to score the win and retain their tag team championships once again. However, after the match "the lads" of the League of Nations decided to send a message attacking all three members of the New Day in a beat down that went on far too long. I'm going to assume that the New Day are now working as baby faces. I'm not a fan of this rivalry at all and how a match is booked between the two team whether it will be another tag team championship match or a eight man tag team match it's going to have to be a great one because the rivalry itself isn't doing it for me at all. But this was a nice start to the show, something different, and it was good to see the League of Nations gain some momentum back at the end.
With Roadblock done and dusted the Lunatic Fringe must now focus on Wrestlemania and he's huge match against the Beast Brock Lesnar. During last nights show Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar himself came out to remind Ambrose of their huge no holds street fight match at Mania in three weeks time during a moment that saw Dean attempt explain and address what had happened on Saturday night at the Roadblock network live special in he's WWE World Heavyweight championship match against Triple H. Of course Ambrose being Ambrose decided that he was not going to shy away from another fight last night and despite Heyman's instructions to leave the fight until Wrestlemania and walk away, the beast had other ideas and attempted to call Ambrose's bluff. However, the lunatic came prepared this week hiding a crowbar in he's jacket witch would eventually be the object to keep the beast away. For now anyway. Later on in a backstage segment with the legendary Mick Foley Dean Ambrose was presented with a gift from the hardcore legend, the most dangerous and extreme weapon used in WWE. Advising Ambrose to use it Mania to slay the beast this feud just got a whole lot more entertaining and interesting. It was great to see Ambrose find he's way to scare off the beast for a little and also reveal a little game plan. Ambrose knows fists and elbow drops wont be enough to keep this beast down long enough for a three count and so he is using the stipulation to he's advantage and last night he made the playing field a little more even. I have to say I really liked this last night and I of course loved the passing of the torch segment backstage with Foley. A nice little highlight of the night for me.
Following he's comments made last week Ryback was in action next taking on Sin Cara in one on one action. The booking wasn't a surprise. Last week the big guy made it clear that the big guy deserved a big opportunity. He also advised United States Champion Kalisto to ditch he's Lucha Dragons tag team partner and go at it alone - because we all need career advise from Ryback- It would be these comments that would lead to he's one on one match last night against Sin Cara. The match was short and sweet and Ryback was of course very very dominate hitting not one but two shell shocks to pick up the obvious victory. After the match up the big guy hit to the mic to challenge Kalisto to a US Championship at Wrestlemania. I'm not going to lie, I hate this. I have made comments recently that I feel as though we are finally seeing star potential in Ryback and he has been in my good books but I really do not want to have to be forced to sit through a one on one between Ryback and Kalisto at the biggest event of the year. This does not scream Wrestlemania quality and Kalisto deserves so much more. They don't have great chemistry, I don't believe we could get something phenomenal from the two of them and this would be a bathroom break match without a doubt. What we should be getting is a multi person ladder match for the US Championship and a one on one for the IC title. It makes much more sense and is what the fans want to see. So make it happen!
Dolph Ziggler has always been one to stand up against Authority. In recent weeks he has gotten himself in hot water over comments made on TV and social media and we have seen him of course punished by Stephanie McMahon. Last night saw the show off continue to push the buttons if the Authority when he interrupted a brilliant promo made by Triple H who spoke about he's victory over Dean Ambrose at Roadblock this past Saturday. Despite the harsh words delivered by Ziggler and the interruption the Game was prepared to offer Ziggler a spot on the dark side and the chance to change his fortune. However, sticking to he's loyalties and beliefs Ziggler stuck to he's gut and told Triple H that he would never side with him and insulted Stephanie in the centre of the ring. However, once
Since arriving back on Monday night RAW one week ago to confront Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn has been turning the WWE into he's own little playground as noted by the WWE itself. After taking out Owens last week and then defeating Stardust in a solid match at Roadblock, Zayn walked into he's one on one match against the Miz this week looking to keep that momentum going but with the Intercontinental Champion at commentary inches away from the ring the former NXT Champion was going to have to have eyes at the back of he's head during this match. I was expecting the Miz and Zayn to clash last night, I predicted it in this weeks RAW Prediction post so I wasn't surprised at all but I didn't mind watching this match. It made sense following what we saw on Smackdown last week and it was exactly the type of booking Sami needs this early into he's arrival on the main roster. Again, the match wasn't very long but I did enjoy it and Owens' commentary kept me very very entertained throughout. They both had a couple of highlight moments and got some great spots out of each other. It was a nice little match to once again show the WWE universe what Zayn is made of, what he's style is, and what he is capable of in the ring. The closing moments were interesting as they showed that Owens has more than one enemy heading into Wrestlemania. Attempting to breakup the match turnt out to be a complete fail on the side of Owens as Zayn added another victory to he's name hitting a perfect Helluva kick on the A-lister. It wasn't Zayn who suffered the downfall of a distraction from Owens but the Miz making the chances of a multi person ladder match for the IC Title at Mania much more likely despite the fact that I and many many others would much rather see Owens and Zayn go one on one witch does make much more sense and would go down a heck of a lot better.
Despite the handful of backstage diva segments we only had one actual match from the division this week on RAW as Brie Bella and Alicia Fox teamed up to take on Naomi and Tamina in what was a very short tag team match that I personally failed to gain an interest in. Before any action could even get started Lana made her way down to the ring as expected to watch on as Brie Bella, the women she has picked a problem with in recent weeks. To be honest it wasn't the match that was the big deal here and wasn't really what we were supposed be paying attention to. The addition of Lana at ringside threw team Bella of their game a little and after the ravishing Russian attempted to get into the ring during the match it allowed Naomi and Tamina to gain the advantage and more importantly score the victory of the night. What was interesting here was how willing team B.A.D were to back and protect Lana. Taking out Alicia Fox and confronting Paige during a backstage segment after the match up. It does now look as though Paige, Alicia Fox and Brie Bella will be taking on the team of Naomi, Tamina, and Lana very soon most probably at Wrestlemania and to be honest I don't mind it. A nice little filler and it will be good to see two divas matches on the Mania card if it happens. It's interesting seeing team bad side with Lana but I think the WWE could make a good story out of this. She has found herself with two veterans on her side and this could be something that really works for Lana.
Another filler match of the night saw the Usos take on Bo Dallas and Adam Rose with the Dudley Boyz at commentary. If you have been reading my RAW Review posts for the past thew weeks than you will know that I actually do like the idea of the Usos vs Dudley Boyz feud but in recent weeks I have started to loose some interest just because how it has been booked. They can still turn things around without a doubt but we are going to have to see more physical action between the two teams. Last night the former tag team champions were able to walk away with a victory over Adam Rose and Bo Dallas gaining some much needed momentum as they looked into the eyes of the Dudley Boyz as they picked up their win.
The match of the night was without a doubt WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H VS Dolph Ziggler. Following their previous segment earlier on in the show, Stephanie McMahon made a deal with the show off that if he could defeat Hunter in a one on one match than he would be able to choose any match against any opponent besides the main event at Wrestlemania. I along with everyone else was very very happy with this booking decision. It made sense, it continued on from a story really well and it was great to not only see Ziggler booked so strongly but to see Triple H compete on Monday night RAW. I commented in my review last week that I felt as though Triple H needed to start competing more to gain more in ring momentum heading into Wrestlemania and over the past week he has fitted in two fantastic matches and two big big victories. The match started off rather slow paced. We saw a lot of arm drags and headlocks as both superstars tried to scout the other and gain an early advantage. This slow paced start was identical to the slower pace that Triple H had in he's match against Dean Ambrose at the start on Saturday at Roadblock. It was this pace that worked in the favour of the game. With he's move set it worked to he;s advantage to have a slower pace, the last thing he wanted was for Ziggler to speed things up because once that had happened the show off would gain control of the match and edge closer to a victory. The early parts of this match saw Triple H in control. He worked on wearing down Ziggler keeping him grounded and using he's size to he's advantage. However, with the fans rallying him on he was able to eventually turn things around and hit a famouser, a huge DDT, and a super kick all of witch leading to three very close falls but it would be sharp pedigree from the champ that ended this match and once again Triple H was left standing tall. However, before having time to celebrate he's victory the game had a little surprise...
Three weeks ago Triple H took out he's Wrestlemania opponent during a brutal beat down that left Roman Reigns needing he's face reconstructed. Last night as predicted the number one contender made he's much needed return and came back with a game plan and a new attitude. Surprising Hunter and showing he was one step ahead Reigns stood at the top of the ramp as the champ looked up into the crowd waiting for Reigns to make he's unique entrance. Slowly coming down to the ring with nothing he's game face Reigns charged into Triple H giving him a taste of he's own medicine. Throwing the king of kings around the ring and outside, he sent hunter flying over the announce table after smashing he's head into the board, identical to what Triple H had done to him only three weeks back. Roman then took things backstage where things grew even more barbaric after Reigns busted open the game. He even took out a couple of officials and security during the beat down. Eventually it took the Usos, Jack Swagger, and Mark Henry to stop Reigns telling him to leave it for Mania. Now, this was exactly what Reigns needed. He looked like a bad ass, he got even and he showed a side to him we haven't really seen before. The problem is he was still getting booed. Like I keep saying, it feels like the only option the WWE are going to have is to eventually turn him heel for things to work out the way they want them to for him in the long run.
With AJ Styles getting all the attention in the world at the moment Chris Jericho is far from a happy man and he seems to be almost out of control. Taking on Neville last night, the future hall of famer showed the former NXT Champion no mercy as he looked to pick up another important victory. However, after shoving the the offcial the match ended in disqualification. Ordering Neville's music to stop playing he once again took the mic and cut another little promo edging the fans on to chant for AJ Styles and eventually the phenomenal one made an appearance. Without saying a word Styles picked up some momentum when he took out Jericho to close this part of the show. It looks as though Jericho VS Styles at Wrestlemania in three weeks time is sure to be a thing.
We are just three weeks from Wrestlemania, the biggest wrestling event of the year and all month long all anyone has truly been talking about is the return of Shane McMahon and he's huge hell in a cell match against the Undertaker. A victory of the dead man will result in Shane gaining owner ship and so with so much on the line everyone is fully invested in this storyline and what a brilliant storyline it is. Last night both opponents and Vince McMahon closed the show in a fantastic segment that saw Shane and Undertaker get physical for the first time since this match was announced. Prior to this Vince spoke again about the damage he wanted inflicted on he's son at Mania and promised the Shane's idea of a new era starting in the WWE the night after Mania will remain just a dream. Eventually we had all three men standing in the ring together and what a moment it was. This was a predictably intense segment. Things heated up a whole lot more when Shane insulted the phenom declaring him Vince's puppet and well he's little bitch. The two future opponents collided for the very first time in their feud and while Shane looked to be proving himself it was Vince who threw he's son in the arms of the dead man resulting in Shane taking a chokeslam that could have been avoided. Taker after made it clear he was no one's puppet and attempted to teach Vince a little lesson but the chairman was able to slide out of the ring avoiding the same fate as he's son. It was great seeing Taker do more in this feud and make he's place known and so I thought this was a fantastic way to close the show.
I really did enjoy this weeks show. I tweeted out last night that I really liked the order of this weeks RAW. The WWE gave us a reason to keep our TV's on with each major feud being separated throughout the show rather than leaving all the big segments at the top of the show and giving us no reason to keep watching. I was entertained, there were plenty of things keeping me watching, and yet again it felt like Wrestlemania season. We have a couple of interesting things coming up on Smackdown this week and you can see what I think about all of that in this weeks Smackdown Review and Reactions on Friday. Until then you can let me know what you thought of this weeks Monday night RAW by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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