WWE RAW Review and Reactions
Unfortunately the WWE did not repeat their actions from last weeks Monday Night RAW as we were straight back to Authority promo's kick starting the show instead of matches. It was nice while it lasted and at least now we can have the hope that an actual match opening the show can happen once every two years at least. Following Roman Reigns' brutal attack on her husband seven days ago Stephanie addressed the WWE universe announcing the World Heavyweight Champion would not be appearing on this weeks RAW due to corporate demands. Focusing her attentions on Roman Reigns Stephanie delivered her usual dish of insults to the WWE universe but the promo had a much deeper meaning. Throughout this entire opening Stephanie's main focus was to create a connection between Roman Reigns and the WWE fans, attempting to show us all that we indeed have a lot in common with Reigns and should therefore back him, kind of like he was or little hero going into Wrestlemania to fight Authority and send a message to fans around the world. A smart little tactic to attempt to get the WWE universe behind Reigns in time for Mania but as time showed the plan did not work and the Philly crowd gave the number one contender a not so happy welcome as he made he's way to the ring via the entrance ramp. This is something that is still interesting me. Both on RAW and Smackdown last week we saw Reigns came down to the ring via the ramp instead of through the crowd like he has done since he debuted on the main roster. There may not be a huge reason behind this but it has got a lot of people questioning whether or not a heel turn could be waiting around the corner. Talking of heel turns this remains exactly what I believe is best for Roman despite continuing to look strong throughout the segment last night where he did once again attempt to get the fans on side. The opening was kept short and sweet this week and there wasn't really a development in this storyline, so if you missed the first ten minuets of the show than you didn't miss anything major at all.
Last Thursday on Smackdown AJ Styles challenged Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens in a non title match up that would main event the show. The former indie stars provided us with a fantastic match that met some of the expectations from fans. However, a distraction from Chris Jericho meant that Owens was able to score a cheap victory and following the ending to that match on Smackdown Styles looked for some redemption last night as the pair collided for the first time on live television. Owens kick started this match wasting no time to gain early control. Locking a strong headlock, the IC Champion brought the phenomenal one to the ground wearing he's opponent down. The quick pace and high agility of Styles meant that Owens was left on he's toes throughout the match up but regained control after he sent Styles crashing into the apron as the first of two commercial breaks to take place during this match appeared. When the cameras were back on we saw Owens still firmly in control of this match but it wouldn't take long for Styles to soon gain some momentum and change up the pace of this match and it was hear that the action really did heat up a little more. Close calls and epic man-overs from the former ROH and TNA talent left us all on the edge of our seats hooked on the action. Owens too showed off that brilliant move set reminding us all why he is one the best on the roster giving he's opponent a real fight. This very quickly became a must see match and while the whole world did want to see these two clash at Mania one on one it was great seeing such a high profile match take place on Monday night RAW. The closing moments of this bout were identical to what we had seen on Smackdown just several days back as Chris Jericho's distraction meant that Owens was able to wait for he's perfect moment to pick up a sneak roll up victory.
After that fantastic match up Kevin Owens took to the centre of the ring to address something we have all been talking about over the past couple of weeks, he's Wrestlemania Intercontinental Championship opponent. In recent weeks we have seen several WWE superstars claim rights to a title match at Mania and last night Dolph Ziggler, the Miz, and Sami Zayn all came down to the ring demanding a match at the grandest stage of them all for one of the most respected championships in WWE history. The segment would lead to Stephanie McMahon making a triple threat number one contenders match official during a backstage segment with Kevin Owens.
Last week we found out that tag team champions, the New Day will face off against the League of Nations in two weeks time at Wrestlemania. The championships may not be on the line and this may not be the most interesting and must see matches on the card but the WWE and these seven superstars are sure putting the effort and time into making this an entertaining build up and while I will admit I'm not a big fan of the match up the more attention I pay to what is going on the more I look forward to actually seeing what they have to offer at Mania. During this weeks Monday night RAW Big E was scheduled to take on Rusev in one on one action but when the New Day are in action you can expect to see some smack talk from the tag team champions and my three favourite unicorns did not waste any time in degrading their Wrestlemania opponents who stood at ringside as they listened to the savage words the New Day had to offer. Honestly, I don't think I could ever get bored of these three. That Sheamus joke from Kofi had me cry laughing at one A.M! Personally, I do love the New Day as heels more than anything and there is a part of me that worries for them as they work as baby faces but they remained one of the most entertaining factors of the night and so I don't really have a reason to worry at the moment. The match itself last night wasn't the best in the world. There was a lot going on outside of the ring so it was difficult to focus on the action inside and get into the match but there were some great spots and as usual Big E was very very impressive. The New Day managed to turn things around after suffering a beating at the hands of the League of Nations who do have the numbers advantage. In fact, talking of numbers advantage it was the New Day working as a cohesive team that led to Big E picking up an important victory during this weeks Monday night RAW.
The Andre the Giant Memorial battle Royal is something that I haven't really been paying attention to this year. In the first year it started I was actually pretty excited for it and I liked the idea of a battle royal being on the Mania card every single year. However, last years just didn't appeal to me at all and with so many superstars out of action at the moment I'm literally wondering if there is even
You will probably remember that a couple of years back Fandango defeated Chris Jericho in he's first WWE match and he's first ever Wrestlemania. Oddly the WWE decided to remind us of this fact as the two competed in a Wrestlemania rewind match last night on RAW. Yep, this actually happened. It was pretty obvious what was going to happen here but I tried my very best to keep my eyes on my TV screen and pay some attention. The match of course was very short lived. Fandango got a touch of offence but this was all about Chris Jericho of course. AJ Styles made predicable appearance when he used the same tactics that Jericho had used early on in the night on him. When the match was over however things did not end and instead we saw Styles make he's way to the ring to send a message to Chris Jericho and challenge the former World Champion to a one on one match at Wrestlemania in twelve days time. You can check out my predictions for this match next week during Wrestlemania prediction week on my blog.
As we had seen earlier on in the night, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, and Sami Zayn were all set to compete in a triple threat to earn the right to compete one on one against Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, Kevin Owens himself had other plans and instead introduced Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, and Stardust as the three opponents competing for number one contendership. If you follow me on twitter than you will know that this pissed me off far more than it should have. I honestly cannot put into words just how much it frustrates me seeing Kalisto VS Ryback booked for Wrestlemania, the biggest event of the year, for the US Championship and we are stuck with a multi person ladder match for the IC championship when we should have gotten a one on one for the IC title. I honestly makes no sense what so ever and they should have turnt it around completely. The change in triple threat made it clear that we would be getting a multi person ladder match at Mania and so my hopes and dreams of Kevin Owens VS Sami Zayn at Wrestlemania (witch would have been epic) were trashed and thrown away in seconds. The match was difficult to watch. There wasn't much going on and it was only a matter of time before the original triple threat members came down to the ring to confront Kevin Owens and cause some havoc and that is exactly what they did. Eventually all six superstars would focus their attention on the IC champion and a backstage segment later confirmed my worse Wrestlemania nightmares....
Another brawl between Triple H and Roman Reigns broke out last night also when Stephanie and Hunter met together to leave the arena. While the brawl was everything Reigns and this feud needed the whole thing ended with Roman Reigns standing alone and nothing but an echo of brawls closed this moment of the night. I said it last night and I will say it again, those boos are so so intense and so strong, if that is what we hear if Reigns walks out as Mania the WWE World Heavyweight championship than it is not going to be a great for both Roman Reigns and the WWE.
Finally we got some divas action as Charlotte and Natalya went one on one with Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch at commentary. I will admit that I have been disappointed with the build up for the Wrestlemania divas championship. The WWE have made it perfectly clear that this will be the biggest Mania event for the history of the division and while I do believe that this is true and these three women will put on a phenomenal match at Mania the WWE really could have done a lot lot more to create a stronger more gripping story heading into this huge pay per view. I wasn't expecting anything amazing from this one on one last night but it made a good filler and a nice way for Charlotte to gain some momentum before Wrestlemania. What is so great about Natalya and Charlotte is their brilliant in ring chemistry. Honestly, it is something that always impresses me. I still to this day believe they have the strongest in ring chemistry we have ever seen between two female competitors and the strongest in ring chemistry we have seen amongst any competitors. Its honestly amazing. Nattie did get some offence during this match up but again, it was all about Charlotte and the bout didn't touch their previous much longer matches we have seen in the past including their incredible championship match at WWE Roadblock. Charlotte of cause picked the victory after pinning Nattie in the middle of the ring. We also learnt early on in the show that Paige, Nattie, Brie Bella, and Alicia Fox had all challenged Lana, Tamina and Naomi to a eight diva tag team match at Wrestlemania and of course it's likely that Summer Rae will be the fourth women for Team Lana. It's a pretty big deal for Lana to have her first ever match at Wrestlemania and I cannot wait to see what these eight women can bring to the table at Wrestlemania in a couple of weeks time.
Bubba Dudley scored a quick victory over R-Truth and despite Goldust coming down to the ring to save Truth from a beat-down at the hands of the Dudleys it took former tag team champions the Usos to send the Dudley Boyz trailing off backstage. They may have attempted to bring tables to RAW last night but will they The Usos throw a spanner in the works and bring their new friends to Wrestlemania?
All night long the WWE had been telling us all that Vince McMahon had a huge announcement to make regarding the Hell in a Cell match up between his son Shane McMahon and the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. This is a brilliant storyline. Honestly, I have been enjoying this so much over the past month or so and in recent week the development of the storyline has been great. Throughout the whole build up Vince has seriously been fantastic to watch and played he's role damn strong. The announcement last night was huge and it really did make things very interesting. Vince stood in the ring and made it perfectly clear that the Undertaker had no choice but to send Shane to hell as if he failed to walk out of Mania with a victory this year than this would be the dead mans last ever Wrestlemania. Now, I already had no idea how this match was going to end and this just makes things even more interesting. For the first time in a long time I have no solid prediction for this match and it's end result and the announcement last nights only makes me anticipate it even more and I honestly cannot wait for this match to take place. Hurry up Wrestlemania!!!
The nights main event was an odd one as Dean Ambrose took on Braun Strowman in one on one action. Now, you know me, I absolutely love seeing some different in the main event. We are always stuck seeing the same thing week after week and it's always refreshing seeing something new and different. One thing I have picked up recently is the amount of negative attention Braun Strowman picks up from fans and I honestly do not get it at all. We haven't seen enough of him yet at all for anyone to start hating on the guy or giving him too much heat. This is a man who was working he's butt off performing at NXT live events/house shows working he's way up who got a call with a seriously huge opportunity and he grabbed it. He's a big guy with a good look and great potential so give him time. Earlier on in the night we saw a little video that involved Terry Funk giving some advice to Dean Ambrose and passing he's own little torch onto the lunatic fringe. I have really liked
This wasn't the best episode of RAW. The matches were weak and it didn't feel like we were only thirteen days from the biggest wrestling event of the year. However, I liked that all three of the major Wrestlemania storyline's were spread out throughout the show, I loved the AJ Styles/Kevin Owens match at the start of the show and the main event was something I actually really liked and saw great meaning behind. As always you can let me know what you thought of the show by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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