Raw proved that WWE can put together a good 2 hour show to promote WrestleMania. Unfortunately. Raw is 3 hours. And for all the change that was promised, the main event was a reminder of the "glory days" of the Corbin era Raws from late 2018.
Raw Thoughts (4/1/19)
- Stephanie McMahon comes out first. She makes the announcement that the Triple Threat Match between Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair will be ALL titles on the line. WINNER TAKES ALL for both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships.
(Right call. If you are going to take a championship match from Asuka, this was what needed to happen to validate that decision. So, now, will Charlotte be the first Unified Women's Champion?)
- Brock Lesnar comes out next with Paul Heyman. (Hot opening to this show so far. Stephanie is done in 4 minutes. And just like that, Heyman and Lesnar are out.) Heyman works in the "Winner Takes All" announcement for his promo, saying Brock (the winner) will take ALL Seth Rollins can offer and has in life. Brock takes everything from his opponents, just like he took "The Streak" and the hopes of Roman Reigns of WrestleMania's past. Sunday will be Seth Rollins' last match. Brock will violate Seth Rollins and desecrate the name of WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman will go to dinner after WrestleMania and discuss the future. Seth is an afterthought....
Here comes Seth Rollins. He gets in the ring and gets a mic. Seth says it is the biggest match in Brock's career. Seth is ending the era of Brock Lesnar making demands. No one wants Brock around anymore: the locker room and the fans alike. Brock Lesnar has made a lot of money off of being Brock Lesnar. Seth says it may be improbable, but it is not impossible for him to beat Brock Lesnar. Seth is going to take the title from Brock Sunday. Brock shoulders into Seth disrespectfully. Seth low blows Brock. A German Suplex by Brock is met with another low blow. A superkick by Seth and a Curb Stomp follow!!
(A very good opening to this show by WWE here. Stephanie didn't overstay her welcome with the announcement, and it seemlessly transitioned into another huge match for WrestleMania. Heyman was gold in this segment, doing his best oversell for the match. Lesnar seemed to be having fun being out there and not "disinterested." As of now, I don't see Seth Rollins winning the Universal Championship this Sunday, but it will be a fun match to watch while it lasts.)
- Seth is asked about low-blowing Brock. He'll be DQed if he does that Sunday. Seth says he's not champion... yet.
- Our first match is an 8 Woman Tag Match featuring Jax/Tamina + The IIconics vs. Sasha/Bayley+ Natalya/Phoenix. Sasha stumbles through a couple moves and tag in Bayley to work on Peyton Royce. Peyton tags in Billie Kay, but she gets put into the face corner. Natalya gets tagged in, and she quickly tags in Beth Phoenix. The faces start to argue with each other as we go to break. We return to see The IIconics isolating Bayley in the ring. Billie Kay and Peyton take turns working on Bayley while Nia and Tamina do next to nothing. Phoenix gets the tag and goes to work on The IIconics. Tamina trips up Beth coming into the ropes. Beth falls to the floor AND SPEARS TAMINA THROUGH THE BARRICADE!!!! Peyton Royce brings Beth back into the ring. She slaps Beth only to suffer the Glam Slam. 1-2-3!
(A sloppy but good match to preview the Women's Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania. Beth Phoenix looked awesome here towards the end. I don't expect the Women's Tag Team Championships to go to Natalya and Beth despite all the foreshadowing WWE is trying to pull off. In fact, I don't expect this match to break 10 minutes on WrestleMania. But I do expect that these 8 will work their hardest to put on a memorable match. If any team is winning this other than Sasha and Bayley, it's Tamina and Nia.)
- Batista is shown arriving backstage. He's up next.
- Batista comes out to a great reaction from the crowd. A lot of "Welcome Back" chants and cheers for him once the music starts. He simply motions to the back to play a video montage of Batista beating down Triple H from 2005's trilogy of matches. "Hunter, kiss my (bleep)." Batista drops the mic, puts on the sunglasses, and poses in front of the WrestleMania sign.
(Less is more. Would you rather have a 10 minute Batista promo or something that accomplishes everything that needed to be said in 3 seconds? Batista has always been better as the quiet type on a live mic. This was exactly what it needed to be.)
- Elias cuts a promo from outside Met Life Stadium. He's promising to give the performance of a lifetime uninterrupted. Elias is going to outshine everyone who has ever performed at Met Life or anyone performing at WrestleMania.
- Apollo Crews takes on Jinder Mahal in a Lumberjack Match surrounded by participants in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. (EC3 is outside, waiting to be called back up to NXT at this point.) Frog Splash by Apollo gets the win in about 90 seconds. Everyone runs in to give the WrestleMania preview mass carnage spot. Apollo throws out The Singh Brothers and Jinder over the top rope. And he celebrates.
(Yes. This match is happening Sunday. But these guys don't mean a thing compared to the SNL guys,who mean less than some would have you believe, and Braun Strowman. I'm starting to believe that one of those SNL guys are winning this match. Andre... start spinning, boss. )
- Kurt Angle comes out for the "Farewell" on Monday Night Raw. "Thank You Kurt" chants from the crowd. Kurt thanks the crowd for always having his back and cheering him. A video is played celebrating Kurt's career. A really well-put-together package plays. Kurt Angle starts crying in the ring, and here comes Baron Corbin.
Corbin heels on Angle and his generation. Corbin's better than anyone of his generation. Corbin is sick of hearing that Angle deserves a better opponent. The fans erupt and start cheering other names. Corbin says it's not going to happen. The last image of Angle will be an old man laying on his back this Sunday. Angle demands having an exhibition match tonight. Corbin refuses to wrestle. Mysterio comes out and runs to the ring. Mysterio says he wants to teach Corbin a lesson of respect. Corbin decks Mysterio. But Mysterio and Angle team up to dispatch Corbin from the ring.
- Charlotte Flair is interviewed backstage. Charlotte is not blindsighted by this decision. Charlotte keeps changing the game. She will be the winner that takes all at WrestleMania. She then warns Becky and Ronda to stay away from her tonight, or they won't make it to WrestleMania.
- The next match is the Raw Tag Team Championship match between Aleister Black and Ricochet and The Revival. The Revival are able to isolate Ricochet from Black for a few moments, but Black and Ricochet reestablish control soon. But Black gets caught on the apron by a double team by The Revival sending us to the commercial break. Black gets double-teamed by The Revival until Ricochet gets the tag. Ricochet does his quick offense, giving The Revival fits trying to avoid the pinfall. Wilder gets a cheap shot on Ricochet, but Dawson isn't able to capitalize and get the 3 despite hitting a Gory Special. Black stops Dawson from getting a tag. But Wilder gets a Tornado DDT on the floor using the barricade. Ricochet dives over the ring post onto The Revival on the floor.
Wilder gets in the ring, but Dawson grabs Ricochet's leg keeping him from getting back in the ring by 10. The Revival retain by count-out. The Revival get beat down on the floor and in the ring after the match.
(A good match here with The Revival finally seeming to get a groove going as Tag Team Champions on the main roster. It doesn't matter that they aren't getting clean pins. They are heels after all. They got a very cheap win on this show, and that's all that really matters. Ricochet and Aleister Black were robbed, not defeated. And that helps them out going into this weekend as they "challenge" for the NXT Tag Team Championships.)
- Ronda Rousey doesn't care about stipulations. She doesn't want to be interviewed. Sunday is Judgment Day. Unless Becky and Charlotte provoke her. Then, Judgment Day will be tonight.
- Alexa Bliss is talking with Tyler Breeze and EC3 about her hosting job at WrestleMania. EC3 starts laughing (really fake laughing) and Braun Strowman comes in. They tell him that people are laughing at Weekend Update. Braun walks up to two guys backstage who were laughing at Weekend Update. He tells them to meet him in the ring tonight, and he's going to pretend that they are the SNL guys. (God...)
- Roman Reigns is interviewed next. He's asked about whether he is healthy enough to wrestle Sunday. McIntyre jumps Reigns from behind and beats down on Roman. He throws Roman into some equipment. Roman has 6 days.
- Becky Lynch is interviewed backstage. She talks smack about Charlotte and Ronda Rousey. She sees this as The McMahons trying to screw her out of the Main Event Sunday. She has no choice but to make history Sunday and win both Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships.
- The Riott Squad are out first for their 6 Woman Tag Team Match against Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Ronda Rousey. (Rousey, Lynch, and Charlotte look like the group of students in gym class forced to play on the same team despite hating each other's guts.) Charlotte starts off for her team against Ruby Riott. Charlotte gets the advantage and gets tagged out by Becky Lynch. Becky mocks Charlotte and goes on the attack on Ruby Riott. Commercial break as Ruby goes to the floor. We return to see Becky being beaten down by The Riott Squad. Becky doesn't tag out but starts going after The Riott Squad instead with some hot-tag offense of her own. Becky gets tagged out by Charlotte, and Ronda tags out Charlotte. Armbar to Liv Morgan. Tap out!
After the match, Ronda goes after both Charlotte and Becky. They start going at it, but security is there to break it up. The security officers get beaten down by the women. Law enforcement via local independent promotions come out to keep them separated. Rousey gets cuffed for knocking down a security officer. Becky goes after Rousey while she's handcuffed. Lynch gets handcuffed. Charlotte attacks Rousey while she's handcuffed! Charlotte gets handcuffed! (Is Oprah a police officer? YOU GET HANDCUFFED! YOU GET HANDCUFFED! YOU GET HANDCUFFED!)
Charlotte and Rousey are actively fighting the security guards going into the police cars. The police make the mistake of putting Ronda and Becky into the same backseat of a car. They start kicking each other so intensely that they destroy the back window of the car. To make matters even worse, Charlotte and Becky start going at it once Becky is pulled out of that backseat. Meanwhile, Ronda gets into the driver's seat of the car she was in and rams the car into the other police car. Becky is finally put in the police car while security holds off Charlotte. Ronda is put in the backseat of her car and is yelling out the broken window of the car. Charlotte boots the hell out of Rousey's face. FINALLY, the police get Rousey and Lynch out of the building.
(This was intense and hilarious at the same time. This was a great way to finish off this angle on TV. Now, you just have to see what these three will do on the main event of WrestleMania. This type of intensity is exactly what will carry them through in that spot.)
- Our "come-down match of the evening" is Heavy Machinery vs. Bobby Roode and Chad Gable. And the real reason for this match: Lacey Evans comes out and does her strut around the stage. Who really cares about this match when we can just get random walk-outs? Meanwhile the greatness that is the love of Vince McMahon for Otis proves strong as the caterpillar and The Compactor finish off Roode and Gable.
(I wish I could say I am surprised. Yet, I am not.)
- Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston hype video is shown.
- Braun Strowman vs. Two Schmoes is next. (So much for these guys just being regular dudes. They got their tights on.) Strowman dumps both men over the top rope and does the Locomotive Attack on the floor. He hits a Double Powerslam on them at the same time in the ring to end the match.
(Can I just skip this match Sunday? No? I was afraid of that.)
- Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush are in the ring to talk about the Intercontinental Championship match Sunday against Finn Balor. Rush puts over the fact that Balor couldn't even pin Lashley. He pinned "Dead Weight" Jinder Mahal. "The Demon" is mentioned, but Lashley is not afraid of Irish Fairy Tales. The Demon and Finn Balor are the same. Lashley says he's beaten Balor everytime. He'll do the same to The Demon. Finn Balor shows up on the screen and promises "My Demon will be your nightmare." Smoke appears, and Finn Balor has Demon makeup on.
(I wish I could say I liked this, but I'm a bit cold to it to be honest. We really don't need the "Demon" persona for this feud. This feels like just another flavor put on a feud that really didn't need it.)
- The main event is Baron Corbin vs. Rey Mysterio. ( I smell something happening here.) Mysterio and Corbin go at it with Corbin ending up on the floor a couple times. Mysterio dives at Corbin but eats a forearm to send us to a commercial break. Mysterio grabs at both his knee and ankle in the ring, but the match is continuing as Corbin just continues to beat down on Mysterio. Mysterio makes a comeback against Corbin and hits a 619. Frog Splash misses. Deep 6 puts Mysterio away.
(God, that main event was BORING. Everything Baron Corbin does is boring, but this just sucked. You can feel the energy of this show just being sucked out of the building during that match.)
After the match, Angle gets Corbin from behind and puts him in the ankle lock. THIS IS HOW YOU END A SHOW BEFORE WRESTLEMANIA?!
They replay the angle between Rousey, Charlotte, and Lynch from earlier tonight.
What I Liked
- 2/3 of the Overall Show
- Rousey, Charlotte, Lynch confrontation
- Opening Segment
- Energy of the Live Crowd Through First 2 Hours
- Batista Keeping It Short And Sweet
What I Didn't Like
- Baron Corbin main-eventing another Raw
- Corbin vs. Mysterio in general
- Strowman vs. Enhancement Talent
- The Demon Returning For What?
Overall, this was a Go-Home Show that had a lot going for it that seemed to fail miserably towards the end. Still this was a very good show for the most part. But I can't say that I enjoyed that last hour especially Baron Corbin main eventing another Raw. It's obvious that this go-home show was booked like a Saturday Night's Main Event with the main event going on well before the end of the show. Hopefully, the HULU version of this show will just edit out everything past the Charlotte/Becky/Ronda brawl and save many people the trouble.
We are officially heading into WrestleMania, but tonight's show proved that several of the matches on that card have some weak spots for sure. Here's hoping SmackDown is a better overall 2 hour show to get us to Mania.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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