RAW After Mania Highlights
Roman Reigns Makes the WWE his Yard Now
The opening to this weeks episode of Monday night RAW was truly fitting and honestly I wouldn't have wanted the show to have started an y differently. With the Undertaker making it clear at Wrestlemania that he was most likely retiring following his Mania main event against Roman Reigns, the RAW crowd took an amazing five minuets to honor the dead man with Undertaker chants echoing around the arena for a straight five minuets. It was a beautiful sight and really did go to show just how influential the dead man is. While his time in the ring does now look to be over, The Undertaker will forever remain one of the most iconic, captivating, popular characters in pro wrestling and one of the most respected and strongest all round performers in the history of this business. Hearing the respect from the fans was brilliant and taking a look online you could really see the impact one man had on so many peoples life and this years Wrestlemania and the night after will be remembered as one of the most heart breaking and memorable because of Taker. So, we did have those brilliant few minuets at the top of the show but as the time passed we began to see that passion heat up and the attention slowly moved onto the man who looks to have retired the man himself, Roman Reigns, and as per usual the WWE universe had a few not so nice words for the former World champion. As Reigns made his way to the ring holding a live mic the RAW after Mania crowed proved why they are the hottest of the year and why they are such an entertaining group of fans and boy did they give Roman a tough night. Chanting everything from you suck to shut the fuck up, to fuck you Roman. The passion was so strong with over fifteen thousand people yelling all kinds of abuse at Roman refusing to let him actually speak. In the end he finally got a few words out and literally said the words I was one hundred percent expecting him to say; looking straight down the camera he simply said "this is my yard now" dropped the mic and headed back to the locker room. Brilliant. Honestly, this was fantastic. I cannot believe I'm actually saying this but I think I may actually be becoming a Roman Reigns fan. I just feel as though I have nothing to complain about. The Undertaker would have had no problem putting over a young up and comer passing on the torch and to be fair Roman is proving himself time in and time out. I am hoping however, that we are now going to be seeing a heel Roman. It's the right time and one hundred and ten percent the next best move. What we saw from him last night was hundred percent the actions of a heel and not a baby face and as I said last night, Roman has all the credentials to be an amazing heel and I really hope the WWE jump on what could be something amazing here and the chance to really make him a huge star.
Mustafa Ali Grabs the Attention of the WWE Universe
Honestly, I did not expect to be talking about the Cruiserweights in today's blog post but I'm so glad I have been given a good reason for once to actually mention them in a RAW review. It feels as though the only time I'm talking about the Cruiserweight done division is because of bad reasons. However, at Wrestlemania Neville and Austin delivered a fantastic opening match on the pre-show setting the bar and last night the champ was back in action, this time against a name not as popular but sure one to watch in the future, Mustafa Ali. Now, I'm not someone who watches 205Live every week. Its rare that I will tune into the show but after last night I may just have to start doing so. Now, I'm aware that Mustafa has been making an impact over on 205Live. I've heard some amazing things about his matches there and I ave cached a couple myself and trust me this guy is good. During the show last night Ali went toe to toe with the champ in what was the match of the night without a shadow of a doubt. I was completely hooked and entertained from the start all the way throughout. The crowd were invested in most of the match (the beach ball kind of stole the show at this point) and everyone at home was praising Ali like crazy. I know we haven't seen all that much of him but after last night I really hope that changes because he really is such an amazing talented and the man deserves the spotlight.
Returns and Debuts
The RAW after Wrestlemania is always sure to provide us with two things, returns and debuts and last nights show was no different. Throughout the show we got to see two three returns and debut, all done perfectly and all pretty much seeing me mark out like an eight year old again. First up we had Emma. If you read my blog post last week where I listed five things I want to see happen on the RAW after Mania show you would have seen that the return of Emma featured in that blog post and so I was over the moon to see her finally make her in ring return. I was surprised at the reaction she got. She picked up one of the biggest pops from the women's division last night. I also loved that they didn't use that terrible new gimmick they were trying to go with for her. The WWE made a huge mistake with that idea, there was no need what so ever to change her character up and last night proved that,. She looked fantastic in the ring, she was over with the fans and got a brilliant reaction from the live crowd. It's nice to see a new face in the division, the women of Monday night RAW really needed Emma and I'm so glad shes back. During this match we got hints of a baby face Nia Jax which is something I can invest in for sure. I've always said I would love to see Charlotte and Nia go toe to toe and it looks as though that will be happening. Trust me, we could get some really special stuff between these two women.
We also saw Finn Balor make his much anticipated return to Monday night RAW last during the main event where he was reveled as Seth Rollins new tag team partner of the night taking on the team of Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe. As all four former NXT champions stood in the main event of Monday night RAW I was honestly so proud of them all but the fact that Balor was back warmed my heart. It was such a big shame seeing him injured last year and at that time as well. We have all been waiting for the demon to make his return and while we didn't exactly get demon Finn last night it was brilliant and really special seeing him back in that main event last night. He of course got a huge reaction, one of the biggest pops of the night. Throughout the show the crowd made it clear that they wanted Balor and as the fans in attendance and the fans at home waited for the man himself it was a great moment when his music hit. Of course huge things will be coming his way and I cannot wait to see what the next few months hold for the first ever WWE Universal Champion.
And as far as debuts go we only got one last night but boy was it as a big one as finally the two time NXT Tag Team Champions made their arrival on the big stage when they answered the new days open challenge. I honestly marked out so hard it was ridiculous. You guys know the journey I have been on with these guys. I started out their biggest critic, not a fan of them what so ever but over the past year and a half I have literally become their biggest fan. I love them so much that I honest cannot even. I'm constantly talking about them over on twitter and I have featured them in so many of my previous blog posts. I have no doubt in my mind that they are the best tag team in the world and if you disagree with me you're simply wrong. They got a huge reaction from the crowd, possibly the biggest of the night or at least one of the biggest crowd reactions of the night. After picking up a win over the New Day they continue to make more of an impact attacking Kofi Kingston. The debut was done so well, a touch predictable but you won't be catching me complaining. The tag team division on RAW right now is red hot! There's so much to be excited about with the Revival and the Hardy Boyz both on the same roster. The division was booked so well last night and with Cesaro and Sheamus new number one contenders there is a lot to look forward to and it appears as though tag team wrestling has been saved.
A Draft Shakeup will Take Place Next time
During the show last night Vince McMahon announced that there will be superstar shake up next week and so a change to the RAW and Smackdown LIVE rosters will be happening. I'm so so so glad this is going to be happening. There really are a bunch of superstars that do need to swap brands including the likes of Sami Zayn, Carmella, and Sasha Banks to name a few but I will be uploading a full blog post next Monday where I will list seven superstars who should switch brands. Part one of this post has already been uploaded and will be linked bellow.A New RAW General Manager
Also featuring in my "Seven things We want to see on the RAW after Wrestlemania" post I uploaded last week was a new RAW general manager to be announced and that is exactly what got. During the show we saw a limo pull up outside the arena and just they cut to a commercial we saw the chairman Vince McMahon step out and moments later he was making his way down to the ring. Taking the time to thank the WWE universe as well mentioning Wrestlemania he addressed the fact that due to going through a table at Wrestlemania his daughter and the commissioner of Monday night RAW would be away from TV for several weeks and with no general manager around thanks to Stephanie firing Mick Foley a couple of weeks back he needed to appoint a new RAW general Manger and after announcing the role would be going to one of the new hall of fame inductees I literally stood up from my seat at home in pure excitement. They did make us wait a little with Teddy Long making an a b brief appearance but in the end it was announced that Kurt Angle would be the new active RAW general manager. I mentioned in that blog post just how much I wanted to see Angle as the new RAW GM and so I was over moon when he's music hit last night. This is the change that RAW really did need and I'm honestly so excited to see where this is going to go and what Kurt is going to be bringing to the table. He was apart of a couple of really entertaining segments last night including one rather entertaining segment with Enzo and Cass.
As always I really really enjoyed the RAW after Wrestlemania show last night. So much happened and I feel like there is still so much more to talk about but I think I'm going to leave it there for now! As always you can let me know what you thought of the show and Wrestlemania week as a whole by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
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