Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa VS The Street Profits, Cody Rhodes VS Chad Gable
Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa kicked off the show and Jimmy told the audience that they were going to remind everyone that they run Monday Night Raw. The Street Profits then came out and asked where Jey was before they had a tag team bout. This was a totally fine tag team match, but I just couldn’t enjoy it. Triple H has done a brilliant job as head of creative for WWE, but one thing he really needs to sort out is he needs to stop doing rematches. I’ve seen the Profits fight the Bloodline about 26 times now and I’m also not a fan of the Street Profits as a tag team. Solo eventually picked up the win with the Samoan Spike (on Dawkins). After the match, Sikoa tried to injure Montez Ford, but Kevin Owens came out to make the save as he laid out the two brothers.
Grade: C
Brock Lesnar came out early for the VIP Lounge so he told MVP to come down to the ring. P did do this after Brock promised that they’d be no suplexes. After a bit of back and forth that I think was meant to be funny, Brock Lesnar accepted Omos’ WrestleMania challenge before he drop MVP with an F5. I didn’t think this was a good segment and I think Lesnar-Omos is a terrible choice for a WrestleMania match. Becky Lynch and Lita then talked backstage about how it’s been a secret bucket-list dream for both women to hold Tag Team gold in the WWE. We then got our second match of the night as the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes took on the former Olympian Chad Gable. This was the first good thing on this show, both men are excellent technical wrestlers and they put on an entertaining contest. Chad Gable was well in the fight, but he seemed to get distracted by Otis looking around for Maxxine Dupri and this ended up resulting in the Master being met with an awesome Cody Cutter before the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble winner picked up the W with the Cross Rhodes (Gable sold it perfectly). After the match, Cody Rhodes made it clear that he was coming to SmackDown this Friday to confront his WrestleMania opponent Roman Reigns.
Grade: D for the VIP Lounge, B- for Rhodes-Gable
Asuka VS Carmella, Piper Niven VS Candice LeRae, Miz TV
Baron Corbin was in the middle of an interview with Byron Saxton before he was once again cut off for more important things. I actually feel quite sorry for Baron because the backstage guys are being pretty rude to him. Instead, Byron Saxton ran over to ask Kevin Owens why he attacked the Bloodline tonight which Owens responded by saying he won’t stop to the Bloodline’s dominance is over. The Judgment Day then cut a promo where Dominik Mysterio said he’s coming to SmackDown to confront his father, Rhea Ripley said she’s going to beat Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania and Finn Balor challenged Edge to a WrestleMania match. I took three things from this. One, these guys are cool. Two, I can’t deal with anymore rematches or alterations from the same feuds and three, I felt sorry for Damian Priest as he was the one left out. Otis was then pacing outside the trainer's room before Maxxine Dupri and the Maximum Male Models told Otis to get a match so he could impress them. Otise made sure that he would do that.
Asuka then made her way down to the ring as she was about to take on Carmella. I’m not joking when I say this, I thought this was pretty good. This was genuinely one of the best Carmella matches I think I have ever seen. Asuka was on top for the most part, but Mella did get some offense in and she nearly picked up the win after delivering a Superkick. In the end, though, Asuka picked up the win with maybe the most horrific finishing move I’ve ever seen. After the match, Asuka called out Bianca Belair and the champion responded. However, Carmella pushed Asuka into Bianca Belair to end the segment. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised with this contest.
Grade: B-
WWE then went straight into another women’s match as Piper Niven took on Candice LeRae. Candice has brand new entrance music which I’m not happy about as that was sort of the last connection to the Way in WWE and also, Nikki Cross was following LeRae. This was a pretty short contest that saw Piper Niven rightly dominate. However, she went outside the ring to deal with Nikki Cross and this ended up resulting in her losing the match as LeRae picked up the big W with a roll-up. I really like Candice LeRae, I think she’s one of the most underrated women’s wrestlers WWE has, but she cannot be winning this match. Having Niven lose gets rid of basically all of her credibility as a threat. She should/should’ve been booked like the female version of Bronson Reed, but unfortunately, that just hasn’t happened.
Grade: D+
We then cut to Bryon Saxton interviewing Johnny Gargano and he announced that he was going to be having a match with Otis later after the former Money in the Bank winner asked him for a singles contest. The Judgment Day then came up to him and laughed at him before Finn Balor said that if he survives Otis, the Prince will be waiting for him next week. Now that’s a feud I want to see. The Miz then made his way down to the ring to host a very special “WrestleMania” edition of Miz TV. The Miz made his special announcement that he will be the host of this year’s WrestleMania. I personally think that’s a great choice as he’s great on the mic and he is also a genuine Hollywood movie star. Seth “Freakin” Rollins then came down and interrupted proceedings before he asked the Miz to call Logan Paul. Miz said no and this resulted in Seth dropping the A-Lister before he called Mr. Paul. Logan picked up thinking it was Miz so he was pretty horrified to see Seth “Freakin” Rollins’ face. Seth told Logan to check on his brother for him before he challenged him to show up on Raw next week. Like I said a few weeks ago, Seth Rollins and The Miz work really well together and I think Logan Paul is a terrific heel.
Grade: B-
Bobby Lashley VS Elias, Johnny Gargano VS Otis
Damage Control were being interviewed by Cathy Kelley backstage and Bayley made it clear that it’s Dakota and Iyo’s time to shine. As they left, Austin Theory walked in and he made it clear that he was going to show respect to John Cena next week as long as he gets the same back from the 16-time World Champion. We then got a match between Bobby Lashley and Elias and this was the definition of a squash match. Elias must’ve only hit about two moves on Lashley before the All Mighty picked up the easy win with the Spear. After the match, Bobby Lashley made it clear that he isn’t in the mood for playing games at the moment and as he was about to walk backstage, the Firefly Fun House graphic appeared on the titantron and the Muscle Man Dance then started playing. The Muscle Man Dance is definitely one of the iconic episodes from the FFH and it was the same video from years ago except Bobby Lashley was edited into it. Lashley-Wyatt is such a strange feud on paper, but when you really think about it, it’s just two stars wanting to prove that they’re the best.
Grade: C
Chelsea Green was complaining at Adam Pearce backstage about how horrible Ottawa, Illinois is and when she said that she didn’t know there was an Ottawa in Canada, Pearce brilliantly responded by saying “Your from Canada”. Carmella then came in and Adam Pearce announced that Mella would be fighting Bianca Belair next week before he made the right decision to get out of there. Chelsea Green and Carmella then introduced themselves to each other and I’m once again not kidding, they could actually work really well together. Johnny Gargano then made his way down to the ring as he was about to take on the number 1 guy, Otis. Otis was accompanied to the ring by the Maximum Male Models and when it looked like the number’s game was going to become too much for Johnny Wrestling, Dexter Lumis appeared and tried to kidnap Mace. This distraction allowed Gargano to drop Otis with a DDT on the apron before he delivered One Final Beat in the ring to get the victory. This was a fine match that furthered the Otis-MMM’s storyline whilst also giving the NXT Triple Crown Champion the win.
Grade: C+
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Damage CTRL VS Becky Lynch and Lita
The main event of this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw saw Damage CTRL’s Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky put their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against the Man Becky Lynch and WWE Hall of Famer Lita. They got a decent time to show what they’ve got, but this match just felt a bit sloppy at times. Lynch and Lita were on top for most of this match, but the Champions were able to stay in the contest due to help from Bayley. However, the odds were then evened as Trish Stratus made her return to WWE by taking out the Role Model. This then allowed Becky Lynch to lock in the dis-arm-her onto Dakota Kai on the ring apron whilst Lita delivered a Lita-sault to Iyo Sky to pick up the victory meaning we have new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. I think when I’m older, I’ll probably get more excited when legends show up and win things as it’ll be the guys that I grew up watching. However, right now, I have no interest in seeing legends returning and taking titles of the talent that need it a lot more. I get on paper having Lynch, Lita and Stratus teaming up at Mania is really cool, but it just feels like a kick in the teeth to everyone who has worked their hardest the past 12 months.
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