The Bloodline Start the Show
WrestleMania Raw kicked off this week with a recap of the end of last week’s show before The Rock came out to a loud, but also very mixed reaction. The Rock talked about how he’s done everything he said he was going to do before he talked about some kids’ reactions to him beating up Cody Rhodes last week. Whilst Rocky seemed generally upset by this, he also made it clear that the kids need to stay tuned for what “Uncle Rock has to say.” The Final Boss then brought out the rest of The Bloodline as Roman Reigns arrived to demand Acknowledgment from the WWE Universe. Roman also said that this year’s WrestleMania is going to be his “easiest yet” before Seth “Freakin” Rollins interrupted by cutting a promo in the crowd. Seth took shots at both The Rock and Roman Reigns before he challenged either one of them to a match in tonight’s Main Event. In the end, it was Solo Sikoa who actually accepted the challenge! This was pretty good stuff from everyone involved, The Rock’s promo was good, Reigns’ promo was good, and Seth Rollins’ promo was also really good. I’m also glad Seth got this opportunity as it’s kind of been the one thing missing from this whole feud.
Grade: B
The Judgment Day VS The New Day and DIY, Bronson Reed VS Sami Zayn, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell VS Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri
After Becky Lynch confronted Rhea Ripley on the “MMA Show by Ariel Helwaini”, Becky made it clear that she would be waiting for Rhea in the ring later on tonight. Before that though, it was time for the first match of the night as The New Day and DIY teamed up to take on The Judgment Day in 8-man Tag Team action. This was decent, but it went a lot shorter than I expected. DIY looked sharp in particular, but like I said, it only took Damian Priest to run wild for 30 seconds before he dropped Tommaso Ciampa with the Razor’s Edge to score the victory. DIY to win on Saturday then?
Grade: C+
Roman Reigns said he was going to leave the arena to focus on writing Paul Heyman’s Hall of Fame Ceremony speech which is quite cool before we got a really funny and well-done video where Chad Gable was helping train Sami Zayn. This is well worth a watch, and made quite a lot of sense. The Judgment Day were then hanging out in their Clubhouse before Legado Del Fantasma arrived to the delight of Dominik Mysterio, but to the disgust of everyone else. Damian Priest seemed particularly annoyed before he said he was “going to make a call!” Remember that, that could prove to be quite important down the line. Sami Zayn then made his way down to the ring as he was scheduled to take on Bronson Reed in a rematch from last week. I like both of these guys so I had no problem seeing this match again, and the action was totally solid whilst it was going. However, the aftermath is the real talking point. As Sami Zayn looked to have the match won, Gunther arrived on the stage again, this time dragging Chad Gable along with him before Sami ran down to check on his friend. This resulted in Zayn getting beaten up by The Ring General, and despite Sami doing his best to keep fighting, he was eventually floored by the Intercontinental Championship. This was well put together, and I’m now very excited to see this match on Saturday.
Grade: B- (Just for the Aftermath)
Jey Uso was happy backstage despite his “so-called friend” getting beaten up before it was time for more Tag Team action as Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell took on the pairing of Ivy Nile and Maxxine Dupri. To my surprise, this match got a decent amount of time which is always good to see, and the story that was told was also quite good. Candice LeRae was able to control the proceedings because she wouldn’t hesitate to cheat, but the same couldn’t be said about Indi Hartwell. This ultimately cost Indi Wrestling the match as Maxxine Dupri was able to “steal one” by rolling up Hartwell to the disgust of The Poison Pixie. I’m enjoying this storyline, it’s nice to see WWE doing stuff in the women’s division that isn’t just for the Title.
Grade: C+
Ivar VS Ricochet, Becky Lynch Calls Out Rhea Ripley, Damage CTRL VS Tegan Nox, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark
Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Jey Uso had a chat backstage before we got a superb video where Drew McIntyre cut a promo from a church in front of a casket which was for CM Punk’s WrestleMania Main Event! If there’s one match that I could fix who wins this weekend, it would probably be this one as Drew deserves to be Champion again! Ricochet was then in the ring as it was time for The One and Only to go one-on-one with Ivar. This was a pretty decent match, both guys are good in-ring competitors, and whilst it wasn’t very important compared to other things on this show, it served its purpose well. Ricochet even managed to body slam Ivar at one point which was very impressive, before The Highlight of the Night hit the 630 onto his Viking opponent to score the W!
Grade: C+
The Judgment Day were getting annoyed at Legado Del Fantasma still playing darts before Andrade walked in to say that he can deal with Ricochet on Friday. I wouldn’t trust that guy! Becky Lynch then stormed out to the ring to make one thing crystal clear; she wanted a fight with Rhea Ripley and she wanted it right now! Whilst Adam Pearce and security tried to prevent this from happening, they were utterly useless (as per usual) as Ripley and Lynch got into before the segment just ended. All of this was very, very odd!
Grade: C
Dakota Kai cut a promo saying how great Damage CTRL are before we saw Becky Lynch and Rhea Ripley still fighting in the back! It was then time for more Tag Team action as Damage Control’s Dakota Kai and The Kabuki Warriors took on the random pairing of Tegan Nox, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark. This was done simply to give the Heels one more win heading into WrestleMania, as they dominated this contest for nearly the entirety before Kairi Sane delivered the assisted InSane Elbow to pin Lady Kane (Nox). I so hope Damage CTRL wins on Saturday, but I know they won’t.
Grade: C+
Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS Solo Sikoa: Bloodline Rules
After Drew McIntyre laughed at Seth “Freakin” Rollins, it was Main Event time as the World Heavyweight Champion clashed with Solo Sikoa in Bloodline Rules. To be honest, Bloodline Rules is no different to a No Disqualification Match, as tables, chairs, and other weapons were used to try and hurt their opponent. Both Seth and Solo went through tables at different points of the contest, before Rollins had the match won when he dropped Sikoa with a Stomp. However, Jimmy Uso arrived to floor the World Heavyweight Champion with a Superkick before Jey Uso’s music hit as Jey started a brawl with his twin Brother. In the end, it was The Rock who stood tall out of all of them before Cody Rhodes ran down to make the save, only to be taken out by Roman Reigns, who clearly hadn’t left the arena (or at least Brooklyn). Reigns and The Rock then destroyed Seth and Cody with multiple belt shots to once again stand tall looking completely and utterly dominant. It’s simple, The Bloodline have to win at WrestleMania XL! In terms of the closing angle, it was pretty good, but why was the match thrown out?! That’s very stupid in my opinion!
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