Vince is the star of Monday Night Raw. But enough room is left for someone else to get a bit of attention.
Raw Thoughts
- Vince McMahon is shown getting out of a limo and has the driver clean up a couple smudges on the car.
- Brawn Strowman comes out and cuts a promo about Brock Lesnar being afraid of him. He's all healed up. No one will save Brock Lesnar from him. His biggest fear will come true: Strowman is going to get the Universal Championship while Lesnar will get those hands. Then Baron Corbin comes out. Strowman interrupts him a couple times. Corbin says he can talk for five minutes and last longer than Strowman did against Brock Lesnar. Corbin is going to win the Royal Rumble and go to the main event of WrestleMania. Strowman chases after Corbin through the backstage area. Strowman throws one of the Singh brothers over a table. Elias is shown singing and gives Strowman the info he needs to know: Corbin is in the limo. Strowman runs to the limo and starts tearing it apart. The driver gets destroyed. Strowman gets a pipe and smashes the windshield. Then, he rips the door off! Vince sees it and is upset, angry, and bewildered all at once. Lol.
After the break, Strowman tries to put the door on its hinges again. Lol. Vince tells him he's a danger zone. Vince fines him $100,000. Strowman tells him it is not worth $100,000. Vince pulls him out of the match at the Royal Rumble! Strowman responds by FLIPPING THE LIMO OVER!!!!!!! (I don't care how they work that. I know it's staged, planned out, and propped. It still looked impressive.)
Before the next match officially starts, Brawn Strowman is escorted out of the ring while Baron Corbin looks on laughing. Corbin basically wins here as he got Strowman removed from the Universal Championship match.
- Ronda Rousey comes out next for her tag team match.Sasha Banks and Ronday Ronday Rousey take on Nia Jax and Tamina. Sasha starts off with Nia and Tamina. Ronda gets tagged in and almost gets the armbar on Tamina before Nia pulls her (Tamina) out of the ring. Nia and Tamina play around with getting in the ring for far too long here. Sasha hits a Meteora off the apron on one of the heels as Raw goes to commercial break. (It seemed to me that there was a timing issue here as the pullout happened about a minute before the commercial break. And the stalling on the outside was likely meant for the live crowd during the commercial break.) We return, and it takes about one minute for Sasha to lock in The Bank Statement on Tamina for a tap out. (Though, in a twist, she used a Side Russian Leg Sweep to do it instead of a backcracker.)
After the match, they are interviewed in the ring. Rousey talks about having to tap out Sasha Banks at the Rumble in order to prove herself a worthy champion. Sasha asks Rousey to ask Tamina and Nia what it's like to tap out. She's going to teach Rousey how to lose by class. Rousey doesn't want to be the world's classiest loser like Sasha. Sasha takes exception to that. Sasha will make Rousey tap at the Royal Rumble. Rousey chases after Sasha, and Sasha tells Rousey she's going to prove that she's the best.
Well, this is definitely better than the "We're all friends. Let's have a great match" routine. And I liked how Ronda was slipping over her own words.
After the break, Rousey and Sasha are pulled apart by Natalya and Bayley backstage. Bayley and Natalya start arguing over who is to blame. The Riott Squad interrupt and suggest a 6-Woman Tag if Bayley and Natalya find a partner. (Well, we now that Ember Moon will be on TV tonight. She loves being in tag matches with Bayley and Natalya and definitely in matches against The Riott Squad. As in it happens 2-3 times a week.)
- We see a line of people outside of Mr. McMahon's office. Jerry "The King" Lawler walks out. No Way Jose is shown parading outside McMahon's office with his dance party. (Lawler just signed a 2-year deal with WWE today apparently.)
- The Lucha House Party come out to face The Revival. The Revival cut a promo talking about being screwed last week while the Luchas just stood and watched. So, there will be a price to pay. (For all of us apparently, since we have to watch this match and relive the bad memories of November and December 2018. OH. THIS IS CHANGE! Thank you Vince, Stephanie, Shane, Triple H, and the 20-something Hollywood-wannabe writers for this development.) And what makes this better: during the match, a promo is shown from outside Mr. McMahon's office with superstars in the lineup, including EC3 who just stands there and smiles, saying why they deserve the spot against Lesnar).
Oh, by the way, did you realize there's a match going on? I forgot. There's 2 minutes of this match I missed while watching EC3 being completely misused on his Raw debut as a standing dork who just smiles and did nothing. And The Revival win by pushing Metalik's foot off the rope during a pinfall. But who cares? Mr. McMahon is the star of this show and everyone else be damned.
(I hated EVERYTHING about this segment. The fact that the Luchas and The Revival wrestled again is bad enough. Then, you double screen the match with stuff going on backstage, which basically makes the audience realize this match doesn't matter. Then, you introduce EC3 on a main roster after weeks and weeks and weeks of promos... and he doesn't say one dang word! He just stands there and smiles to little fanfare from the commentators (much less the live crowd who must not have even seen the backstage stuff). And let's not forget the real star of this whole show: Mr. McMahon. This whole 1st hour has been all about him directly or indirectly. Ok. They did something with Ronda Rousey, but Mr. McMahon made sure he took back center stage immediately afterward, didn't he? Oh, by the way, The Revival won a match. No one gives a damn though. Again, this company's idea of change is starting to be exposed for the inconsistent garbage many feared.)
- Speaking of Mr. McMahon (the star of this show), he's coming out to the ring to announce Strowman's replacement. As soon as Vince gets in the ring, John Cena comes out. He's saving Vince the trouble: He's ready to step up just like he did 14 years ago when everyone else around Vince bailed on him. He wants the chance. He can beat Brock Lesnar because he has something no one else has: Ruthless Aggression. Drew McIntyre interrupts and takes issue with Cena saying he still has "ruthless aggression." He shows McMahon his face to demonstrate "ruthless aggression." His time is up, and McIntyre's time is now. He tells Cena that he can leave. Then, out comes Baron Corbin. (Oh great. Another one of THOSE segments. Everyone gets a microphone, right?) Corbin says he's best for business for a Universal Championship spot. Then, here comes Finn Balor. (God, this is tedious.) He claims that being the only man in the ring that was Universal Champion makes him qualified. Vince puts down his size. Finn tells Vince he's never believed in him, but the fans always have. All four men brawl with McIntyre taking out Balor and Cena with Claymore Kicks. Vince gets on the microphone and makes a Fatal Four Way match for the spot to face Lesnar.
(I hate these type of segments. It's so unnatural to have four talent come out with microphones and just talk over each other. Yet it's a trope that WWE perpetuates over and over again.)
- Jinder Mahal complains about not getting an opportunity to face Brock Lesnar. Vince tells him that if he can defeat a member of the Fatal Four Way match, he will get his opportunity to go to the Rumble. Mahal chooses Finn Balor to face later tonight.
- The Riott Squad takes on Bayley, Natalya, and...IT'S NIKKI CROSS!!!! YES!!!! (NXT talent are announced as being on both shows for the first few weeks until their permanent homes are determined. I'm not complaining here. I'm just glad it's not the rinse and repeat of Ember Moon being in this formula.) Nikki goes nuts and wins over the live crowd. Nikki wants to play. She goes after all three members of the Riott Squad. She does this great spot with Ruby Riott where she pulls Riott into the ring skirt and begins assaulting her as we go to commercial break.
We return to see Bayley being worked over by The Riott Squad. Natalya gets the tag and works on the hot tag for a moment. Then Cross gets the tag and works with Natalya in assaulting the Squad. Nikki gets a Magic Killer using the top rope and Bayley gets the elbow drop for the win. (The commentary team put over Nikki Cross excellently in this match, and Nikki got a really good reaction from the live crowd at the beginning of the match. Good start for her on the main roster.)
Finn Balor is walking backstage and is distracted for a moment by Lacey Evans who is talking with Dana Brooke and someone else (may have been Mickie James). I guess this means we're getting Lars Sullivan and Heavy Machinery on SmackDown tomorrow night.
- Dean Ambrose pretends again to be the moral authority. He's having to defend his title against two opponents which is wrong. Having to defend the title in Memphis is wrong. But no one is taking his title.
- Jinder Mahal takes on Finn Balor next. The Singh Brothers distract Finn Balor which allows Jinder Mahal to begin the attack. Mahal demands that the match begins, but the referee asks Finn first. Balor says he's ok. The bell rings. Big boot by Mahal gets a 2. He continues to work over Balor in the ring. And for some reason, this match gets a commercial break. We return and Finn Balor is able to fight off the Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal. Finn hits a suicide dive over the top rope to the heels on the floor. Sling Blades are out. Go Finn! Dropkick and Coup de Grace later. 1-2-3. Finn Balor keeps his spot in the Fatal Four Way.
(For all the criticism I gave for the first hour, I enjoy this attention that Finn Balor has gotten in the last hour. The second hour has, for me, surpassed the first.)
- Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship is next featuring Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley is next. Seth in interviewed backstage. He goes back over what Dean Ambrose did on that fateful night in October, once again mentioning Reigns's leukemia diagnosis. (Must we continue to bring that back up again and again to make a storyline more heated? Here's hoping Reigns is doing ok.) Soon enough, in the match, it ends up being Rollins facing Ambrose and Lashley in a pseudo-handicap match. Rollins does a Suicide Dive to both men. Soon after, Lio Rush distracts Rollins which allows Lashley to take advantage and beat up both Rollins and Ambrose. Commercial break.
We return from break to see Rollins and Ambrose team up momentarily to beat up Lashley. Then, Ambrose and Rollins go at it for a few moments. Lio Rush runs in the ring to break up a pin attempt by Rollins. Lashley gets back in and goes after Ambrose. Rollins says something to Lashley to set up a move. Enziguri followed by a Frog Splash on Lashley by Rollins. Ambrose throws Rollins to the floor and ALMOST gets the win on Lashley. ("This is awesome" chants. It's good.) Lio Rush stops Rollins from hitting the Curb Stomp on Ambrose, which allows Lashley to hit the spear on Ambrose to win the Intercontinental Championship. Thus ends the push of Dean Ambrose. (Bobby Lashley winning the Intercontinental Championship is a great move as he can do some things with this title especially with Rush doing the underhanded tactics he did tonight. Dean Ambrose has been a lost cause as Intercontinental Champion, and I really don't know where he goes from here. As for Rollins, you would think he's going for Lesnar next. Still, the main event scene seems to be in a state of flux especially given what happened earlier tonight.)
- Alexa Bliss's Moment of Bliss is next. She's shown backstage before commercial break trying to get prepared without her top on. The coffee guy walked into her room trying to give coffee, and he walks in on her covering herself up trying to be prepared. Ok then.
A Moment of Bliss features The Advocate himself, Paul Heyman. Alexa Bliss announces that in 6 weeks at the Elimination Chamber, 6 teams (3 from each brand) will walk into the Chamber. 1 will walk out the first ever "WWE Women's Tag Team Champions." Paul Heyman asks to be welcomed by the audience. It's her "moment of Bliss" to interview him. Bliss. Heyman says his strategy, regardless of the challenger, will push Lesnar to successfully defend his championship. He runs through all the men in the Fatal Four Way. Then, Dozovic of Heavy Machinery comes out and interrupts. He's doing a bunch of weird gyrations. Tucker Knight comes out with agents to pull him away from Bliss. Um... ok.
(That was just bizarre. And I'm going to say it again: A Moment of Bliss is a terrible terrible terrible... terrible idea. And two weeks in, I can call it an absolute failure.)
- The last match of the evening is the Fatal Four Way for the right to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. Baron Corbin vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor vs. John Cena. Nothing really of note to report from the first few minutes of the match. Fatal 4 Ways can be really good, but they can also be very tedious at moments. This had a couple of those "wrestler disappears and magically reappears when needed" moments. And as McIntyre cues up for a Claymore Kick... we go to commercial.
As soon as we get back from break, McIntyre has to stop Baron Corbin from getting the pin on an "End of Days." Glasgow Kiss to Corbin followed by A BIG SPINEBUSTER TO A TOP ROPE FLYING JOHN CENA! Corbin works on Balor while McIntyre continues to attack Cena. Cena and Balor fight off their aggressors and go at themselves. Cena gets Balor on the corner. Balor gets AA'ed off the top of the corner! Corbin throws off Cena from the pin attempt and ALMOST gets a 3. Corbin gets a chair and goes to work on John Cena and Drew McIntyre. He brings it in the ring and works on Balor with the chair. Cena breaks up a pin attempt by Corbin. Cena grabs Corbin and hits the AA. CLAYMORE KICKby McIntyre! Balor hits a Tilt-A-Whirl DDT on McIntyre! COUP DE GRACE ON CENA! 1-2-3! Finn Balor goes on to los... I mean FACE Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble! (Well, that was a good TV main event. It wasn't great, but it was good enough to be worth a watch. The right call here as Finn Balor received a good bit of attention on this show tonight. Balor is not beating Brock Lesnar this close to WrestleMania. That's probably Seth Rollins' role. But this is nice to see Finn get some good wins tonight and TV time to be elevated to this position. My question is whether Vince McMahon will continue to push Finn Balor after he loses at the Royal Rumble.)
John Cena gets on the mic and puts over Finn Balor. He believes in Finn Balor. He holds up his arm and hugs him.
Overall, this was a very mixed bag show for me. I really hated the way that the first hour played out. There was too much focus on Vince McMahon and too little on the actual wrestling. The Revival/Lucha House Party match just killed me in the bad signals that were sent out. But the second hour did some really smart things to win me over as a regular viewer: putting the focus on Finn Balor and featuring Nikki Cross (with good commentary to build her up). The third hour had two good TV matches to conclude the show with a nice title change and a further elevation of Finn Balor. Then again, we got that really bizarre and momentum killing "Moment of Bliss."
Still, I'm going to give the show a thumbs up because it did a bit of a course correction in the second and third hours in my opinion. Like I said, I have my doubts about Finn Balor's "push" being a permanent thing. But they did enough to win me over.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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