There's a whole lot of SmackDown Live infused into Raw going forward. Let's see how the show changes as a result...
Raw Thoughts (4/22/19)
- Seth Rollins and Triple H come out first. (Dark Thought that came through my head was "Oh God. Seth is hurt, isn't he?") Seth puts over his accomplishment at WrestleMania, as does Triple H. The crowd is ridiculously hot for its homestate boy, Seth Rollins. Triple H puts over the fact that everyone is gunning for Rollins and the Universal Championship. Money in the Bank is brought up. Seth promises never to let anyone cash in Money in the Bank on him again.
They bring up the Triple Threat Matches mentioning it as if it is a big announcement, which Michael Cole/Kevin Dunn already brought up in the intro for this segment.
Samoa Joe comes out and declares himself a member of the Raw roster. Samoa Joe tells Seth that he has room for another championship on his shoulders. Cue the trope of interruptions of wrestlers saying stupid generic stuff to put themselves over as Rey Mysterio comes out to say HE'S facing Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank. And then, Drew McIntyre comes out to plead his generic case. Then The Miz follows through with his generic case. Then Baron Corbin (God, just put me to sleep already) comes out to plead his SUPER generic case. And finally, AJ Styles decides that he needs to follow suit and plead his generic case to put the icing on the cake. The crowd chants "AJ Styles" loudly. Seth tells them all that it doesn't matter who wins. He's going to burn in down.
(I hate these segments SO much. I can't give this a thumbs up despite the crowd being somewhat warm for it. It's been 2 minutes since the segment, and I literally remember nothing that anyone other than Seth Rollins said. Just another bland "Royal Rumble/Elimination Chamber" style segment. Thumbs down.)
- The first match is the first Triple Threat Match for the Universal Championship Opportunity between Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Rey Mysterio. A decent TV match with Rey and AJ getting Joe out of the ring to do some individual work in the ring. Rey hits a sick Snap Hurricanrana out of a Styles Clash position for a 2 count only. Joe broke up the pin and starts beating down both men. Joe goes to work on AJ specifically as we go to another commercial break. When we return, The three men are trading moves back and forth. A Snap Slam by Joe to Rey and moments later a Pele Kick to Joe by Styles. Mysterio hits his Flipping Bulldog on AJ and dives out on Joe on the floor with a Corkscrew Plancha. JOE HITS A DOUBLE BACK BODYDROP OFF THE TOP ROPE ON STYLES AND REY. We head to ANOTHER commercial break.
They continue to go at it after the break with Mysterio twisting Joe around and hitting a Tornado DDT. 619 is avoided by Joe with a Clutch locked in. Styles gets hit with the Clutch as well, but he gets out. Another Pele Kick by AJ. Rey hits 619 on Joe, but AJ catches Rey jumping on him. Rey gets powerbombed on Joe and hit with the Styles Clash on top of Joe. Joe is done as AJ covers for the win.
(A good TV match here overall that could have been better if it were kept shorter. A great debut for all three men on the brand though as Joe was legitimately shown to be a badass despite taking the pinfall loss.)
- Naomi is next as she takes on Billie Kay of The IIconics. The IIconics cut a promo on Naomi being all alone thanks to Bayley leaving Raw for SmackDown Live. Naomi wins a 1 minute match (ala Diva's era) with a Sunset Flip Roll-Up.
(Um yeah. That happened. I guess this is the Ultimate Warrior style of wrestling for The IIconics: shorter is better.)
- The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin happens next. The winner faces AJ Styles with the winner of THAT match going on to face Seth Rollins at Money in the Bank. Corbin and McIntyre, as expected, take turns beating down on Miz. Eventually problems happen between McIntyre and Corbin, allowing Miz to get some momentum going. Corbin powerbombs McIntyre while he has a Samoan Drop on Miz off the corner as we go to the much-beloved commercial break. GUMMY BEAR COMMERCIALS RULE!
Miz dives off the top onto Corbin and McIntyre on the floor as we return from break. Back in the ring, McIntyre hits his REVERSE Alabama Slam for a 2 count. Corbin hits Deep 6, but he only gets a 2 on Miz. Corbin misses Miz on the floor with an attack, but Miz gets hit with a Jackknife Spinebuster pin for a 2 count. Miz hits DDTs on Corbin and McIntyre. CLAYMORE KICK TO MIZ! Corbin throws McIntyre off of Miz and scores the pin. I think it's safe to say that alliance is dead. But Corbin gets the win.
(Decent Triple Threat Match. We may have gotten a bit of a face moment for McIntyre. By the way, can we mention how "change" was supposedly coming to Raw yet Baron Corbin has main evented more Raws than anyone since that December proclamation?)
- AJ looks forward to winning tonight.
- Sami Zayn does his over the top dance to the ring in glorious fashion. Sami starts talking about how awesome it was NOT to be in WWE for 10 months and shows off some Instagram pictures of traveling around the world, being happy with not being performing for the undeserving WWE fans. He got depressed as time drew closer for him to return. It's not the corporate structure or the egomaniac WWE Superstars. The truth is that it's the toxic culture of the fans that makes him not want to be here. He will hold the fans accountable for their actions. He'd much rather be anywhere than Iowa. He tells the fans to take a trip. That's right: they can all go to hell.
(Another fun heel promo from Sami Zayn. Zayn is an underappreciated performer who is showing some greatness on the mic with this heel character.)
- Cedric Alexander is next as he takes on Cesaro. Match is joined in progress thanks to some streaming issues from my cable provider. Alexander seems to hold his own against Cesaro. A Michinoku Driver only gets a 2 for Alexander. Handspring Back Kick by Alexander sends Cesaro to the floor. Running Somersault Dive by Alexander to Cesaro on the floor. But Cesaro catches Alexander in the ring with an uppercut to a flying Alexander. 1-2-3. Wow.
(I can't honestly say I saw that coming. Good match from what I saw. Unfortunately, I didn't see as much of the match as I wanted to.)
- The Usos are interviewed backstage. They start talking smack about the other tag teams, but they are interrupted by The Revival. The Usos mock them and tell them their catchphrase.
- The Viking Raiders (THANK GOD THEY CHANGED THAT NAME FROM THE VIKING EXPERIENCE) come out next. And The Lucha House Party are the lambs fed to slaughter. There's not even a match as The Raiders completely decimiate The Luchas before the match even started. They apparently are already trending on Twitter.
Ryder and Hawkins are interviewed backstage and say they aren't going to let these guys run all over them.
(More Viking Raider awesomeness. Glad to see these guys are not saddled by that horrible name from last week anymore. If things weren't so busy for me the last couple weeks, you better believe I would have eviscerated that name on here.)
- Becky Lynch/ Becky 2 Belts comes out next. She's taking on Alicia Fox next. Becky puts down Lacey Evans who is officially her first challenger. Lacey comes out and tells Becky off. Becky responds in kind saying her Irish blood wants her to slap Lacey's head off her shoulders. Alicia Fox, Arn Anderson's favorite worker (Yeah. I went there.), is out for the match.
Fox and Becky start the match off slow with some rope-running and one-up-"woman"-ship. On the floor, Alicia throws Becky into the barricade to gain the advantage. The commercial break is next.
When we return, Alicia Fox and Becky botch a leg scissors takedown spot. (Live wrestling folks. Or as I call it, an Alicia Fox match. Whatever floats your boat. I'm not convinced you would be wrong either way.) Becky gets a couple Becksploder Suplexes and the Dis-Arm-Her for the submission. As soon as the bell rings, Lacey Evans hits The Woman's Right on Becky to little to no reaction from the crowd. Becky chants start slightly building until another "Woman's Right" connects.
(That match was pretty bad to be honest. I love the character and performance of Alicia Fox in that character. But
- Baron Corbin hates the greaseballs typing in their basements at home who hate on him. (I feel like going Jim Cornette on Corbin for that comment. Damn. I want Dairy Queen now. :) )
- Ricochet is out next as he takes on the new "GLORIOUS" ROBERT Roode. I'll give this new Robert Roode credit: he can make it through a commercial break wrestling Ricochet. Bobby Roode couldn't do that. Ricochet hits his classic moves, including the running moonsault off the corner to the floor. After the break, ROBERT ROODE is TRENDING on Twitter! But Ricochet doesn't give a damn! Ricochet starts mounting offense and does his springboard attacks. However, Ricochet misses the 630 attempt. Roode gets the GLORIOUS DDT in on Ricochet and WINS a match!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Ricochet just got buried. I know that's what people are going to write on Twitter. It's good to see Roode get a win on TV which will hopefully lead to better things for him going forward. Ricochet has been protected enough to take this loss. If it continues, then it will become a problem.)
- Bray Wyatt debuts a "Firefly Playhouse" which is a play off of the Pee-Wee's Playhouse show. They show the Buzzard Puppet and the doll in the window. Wyatt apologizes for being so dirty and ugly in the past. He takes a chainsaw to a cutout of himself, which came off as extremely creepy. (I'm not sure that this is going to work any better than the other incarnation of Wyatt. But I'm willing to give it a shot.)
- The Main Event is AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin for the shot at the Universal Championship at Money in the Bank. Corbin gets the advantage several times in the opening moments with a big punch to Styles as he was springboarding towards him. Corbin continues the attack on the floor on Styles as we go to our beloved commercial break.
We return to see AJ Styles finally get some momentum going against Corbin. Corbin gets rolled up for a 2 count. Pele Kick is missed by Styles, and Corbin responds by getting Deep 6. 2 count. Calf Crusher is put on Corbin. Corbin smacks Styles' head against the mat. Phenomenal Forearm connects seconds later. 1-2-3! Styles is facing Rollins at Money in the Bank!
(Good match here with Styles pulling Corbin up to his best Raw match in the main event as a singles wrestler. Styles took a lot of Corbin's offense and made him look better than he had any right looking.)
After the match, Rollins comes out. He offers his hand to Styles. Styles shakes it. This is going to be a fun match to watch May 19th or May 20th (Last episode of Game of Thrones airs that night. That Money in the Bank review may have to wait a day.)
What I Liked
+ New Matches and New Superstars
+ AJ vs. Joe vs. Mysterio
+ The Woman's Right as a Finisher
+ Viking Raiders Renamed/Kicking Butt
+ Heel Sami Zayn
+ Seeds of Problems between McIntyre and Corbin
+ Robert Roode Revamp
+ AJ Styles= A Big Deal on Raw
What I Didn't Like
- Fox vs. Lynch
- Lacey Evans being skyrocketed to a Women's Championship match.
- Naomi vs. Billie Kay being a Diva's Era match.
- Corbin in a main event... again.
What I'm Not Sure What The Hell To Think
- Bray Wyatt's Firefly Playhouse
Overall, I thought this was a good, fresh episode of Raw. WWE did an excellent job with the Superstar Shake-Up creating 2 new rosters to truly mix things up. Styles was displayed as a big deal on Raw and not just another wrestler, which was something I was quietly fearing when the shakeup happened. This did a lot to calm my fears.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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