WWE Monday Night RAW Review // 12th March 2018

With four week's til WrestleMania, this week's RAW saw a number of new matches formed and storylines developed. After a segment on Miz TV, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor would face off one on one, the RAW Women's title picture began to thicken as Mickie James faced Asuka and Alexa Bliss accidentally told the world how she felt about Nia Jax, Braun Strowman inserted himself into a battle royal to find a Number One Contender to Cesaro & Sheamus' RAW Tag Team titles, John Cena challenge The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania, Roman Reigns confronted Vince McMahon about Brock Lesnar no-showing for the third week in a row and Sasha Banks went one on one with Sonya Deville as The Boss' issues with Bayley continued...but was it any good? Lets take a look.

Commentary - Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman, Cesaro & Sheamus
Interviewer - Renee Young & Charly Caruso
Ring Announcer - JoJo

The Miz, Seth Rollins & Finn Balor segment

A really fun edition of Miz TV saw the relationships between The Miz, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor fleshed out ahead of their Intercontinental Championship match on 8th April. The segment had similar elements to what we've seen Jinder Mahal doing over on SmackDown in the United States title feud between Bobby Roode and Randy Orton, but did it without needing a lame top 10 ranking list. Miz attempted to find friendship with both men, whilst simultaneously throwing out insults, especially towards Balor who he called a "great up and comer" and "The Man...in bingo halls", whilst the issues bubbling under between Rollins and Balor came to the forefront as well to a big pop. The segment was built nicely to it's conclusion with three strong performances, with Balor bringing some fire when getting in Rollins face and offering to fight him right there in Detroit and Rollins doing the same as he talked about the importance of the title and the match at WrestleMania, but it was Miz who owned the segment as he looked on with glee, rubbing his hands together as Rollins and Balor looked to come to blows. They'd eventually notice Miz and beat him down, before Rollins took the opportunity to blindside Balor at the close of the segment. These three put on the best action of the Men's Elimination Chamber last month and if WWE keeps adding fuel to the fire over the next three episodes then they should have a great three way at Mania.

Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor 

Finn Balor got the better of Seth Rollins this time round, with the two showing glimpses of what we know they can do together, but taking quite a while to get there. The earlier portion of the match seemed to go on way too long and I honestly couldn't tell you all that much about the first six, seven or eight minutes, because not that much happened at all. Rollins controlled for a bit, Balor controlled for a bit, it was a run over of the trope of the match between two guys who respect each other, but not done all that well. It took way too long for things to heat up, but when they did, as the pair started trading stiff forearms it became a real enjoyable watch, as the two went back and forth resulting in a Pele Kick from Balor being answered by a jumping enziguiri from Rollins. Had this started a little earlier, it would have been great to see the intensity continue to be ramped up, but unfortunately the match was over soon after as Balor countered a Falcon Arrow from Rollins with a small package to pick up the win. The finish was a real nice piece of business, however, playing off a spot we've all seen from Rollins multiple times, whilst also boosting Balor after he'd had to face The Miz second a few weeks ago. 

Asuka, Alexa Bliss & Mickie James segment 

No real surprises from this segment with Alexa Bliss and Mickie James interrupting an in-ring interview with Asuka, as the Empress of Tomorrow gave her reasons for choosing Charlotte Flair as her WrestleMania opponent. Some jokes about Asuka's English being bad, Asuka's reasoning being that she wanted to face someone she hadn't already beaten and the crowd being impatient with Asuka's promo, despite it being pretty clear what the Osakan was saying. In fact, it was Bliss who seemed to struggle the most with her English! A perfectly fine segment, with good performances all round, but it played out exactly as expected and perhaps wasn't even that necessary considering Asuka is shifting over to SmackDown now. The most interesting part came at the conclusion as Bliss tried calling out an opponent for Asuka, who I'm sure we're supposed to assume was Nia Jax, leading to Mickie James blindsiding the 2018 Royal Rumble winner and this match taking place. 

Asuka vs. Mickie James 

Asuka goes to 38-0 in televised singles competition, tapping out Mickie James with the Asuka Lock at the conclusion of a short, yet enjoyable match, in front of a disrespectful Detroit crowd. This match was above and beyond my expectations, because honestly I'm not the biggest Mickie James fan and have found her increasingly sloppy since her return last year, but this was probably one of her most accomplished performances since then. Building around an injury suffered by Asuka, as her leg connected with the ringpost after James ducked a kick, the match did a good job at lifting up James' chances of victory and even if most fans know WWE wouldn't have Asuka lose 4 weeks out from WrestleMania, the injury at least allowed for a stronger and more impressive victory. The strongest part of the match was a lovely sunset flip powerbomb out of the corner from James, that landed with real impact, but unfortunately garnered a "CM Punk" chant from Detroit. This was a problem throughout the match and promo, as the crowd for whatever reason wasn't interested, chanting "Rusev Day" as well during the match. I'm not sure why Detroit didn't want this, but it didn't come across well on camera, especially considering they were ruining a perfectly good match by not paying attention.  

After the match - Alexa Bliss confronted Nia Jax about not coming out when they called, whilst continuing to play the act of the manipulating boyfriend, with it also being revealed that Jax had a match next and that Bliss would be facing Asuka on RAW next week - Nia Jax squashed the debuting Joan King, winning with a Samoan Drop in under a minute 

Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss and Mickie James segment

In a superb piece of television, following Jax's squash victory, Alexa Bliss and Mickie James appeared on the screen in the lockeroom and proceeded to bitch about Jax for a number of minutes, with the idea being that we could hear and see them because they were waiting to interviewed by Charly Caruso. At points this was a real uncomfortable watch, as Jax stood in the ring watching the screen, as James seemed to goad Bliss into saying increasingly cruel things about the Irresistible Force. With jibes about Nia's weight, including Bliss calling her "shrek" and saying she was as "dumb as she is big", WWE has to be careful how it presents this feud over the coming week's, but I think at this point its just about toeing the line and if Jax is presenting a successful and able to use her size to her advantage then we've got a real positive story here. The moment when Jax stood on the ramp, looking at the screen and then wiped away a tear before looking back up with rage and power gave me genuine goosebumps and a feeling that shit was about to go down. Bliss and James would eventually bail when Caruso informed them of the mistake, leading to Jax smashing the shit out of the lockeroom in a Braun Strowman-esque moment of fury. It's a shame that WWE hasn't had such a clear plan for Jax and Bliss over the last couple of months, because with some more clarity in the storytelling this would've been an even more impactful moment. That being said, I'm still very excited to see where this goes over the next three weeks and more than looking forward to seeing Jax finally get her hands on Alexa and the RAW Women's Championship.

RAW Tag Team Championship #1 Contendership // 

Over-the-Top Battle Royal // 

Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder vs. Rhyno & Heath Slater vs. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel vs. Apollo & Titus O'Neil vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Braun Strowman 

Before the match -  The entire RAW Tag Team division answered Cesaro & Sheamus' open invitation, leading to a big brawl - Cesaro & Sheamus demanded to be traded to SmackDown, but Kurt Angle refused and booked a battle royal with the winner facing The Bar at WrestleMania

What a bizarrely booked match this was, as Braun Strowman became the #1 Contender to the RAW Tag Team Championship. That fact alone should be enough to make you wonder what the hell WWE where thinking when they put this together, but there were so many moments that had me shaking my head throughout this. The story of the match wasn't all that bad as the various tag teams tried to work together to eliminate Strowman, but everything felt a bit heavyhanded in its application, including having the Miztourage and The Revival repeatedly ram Strowman with the steel steps on the outside. This wasn't helped by the commentary team pointing out that it was pretty stupid because Strowman couldn't be eliminated on the floor, no matter how much damage was done. Moving past Strowman there was a number of questionable eliminations, the most obvious one being The Revival being sent out by The Miztourage, moments after Dawson & Wilder had gotten some good heat for eliminating hometown boy Rhyno. The spot wasn't helped by a botch that saw Axel unable to get Wilder over the top rope first time round.  I can't figure out what WWE is doing with The Revival at the moment, but its clear they don't see much of a future for what was one of the most entertaining teams in the company not all that long ago. The majority of this match was a mess and as much as I enjoy Strowman's destruction, I'm not sure I'm interested in seeing him run through an entire division and have a handicap match at WrestleMania. How does this division recover after WrestleMania? 

John Cena segment

It's official, after week's of "will they? won't they?" John Cena finally challenged The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania. Did Big Match John hold back when challenging one of the most respected professional wrestlers in history? The fuck did he! Whilst the bait and switch stuff with Cena saying he was going to Mania as a fan and drinking some blokes beer was fun, this segment was all about what the 15 time World champion had to say about Taker. The set-up to challenge with Cena referring to something he wasn't "supposed to do" was another case of WWE attempting to add elements of reality into their fiction and whether you bought that Cena was being a rebel or not by issuing is by the by, because the challenge go and enormous pop from Detroit. We've seen Cena throw bombs over the last few years at The Rock and Roman Reigns, but never at someone as universally beloved as The Undertaker, so his comments about Undertaker being a "self-centred, conceited egomaniac" really hit home and produced some fascinating viewing. The line about Undertaker not being "beat-up" because he posts "work out videos on [his] wife's Instagram" got a big reaction from the live crowd as well. With the challenge from Cena at this point going unanswered, it means we've got something to look forward to next week and considering the strength of Cena's comments, we know that The Undertaker won't take that kind of shit lying down. Who knows what their match at WrestleMania will look like, but when it comes to the build-up over the next three weeks, I'm all in.

Kurt Angle, Roman Reigns & Mr. McMahon segment 

A real hot segment to kick off the show with, as Roman Reigns' on-going storyline continues to blur the lines between reality and fiction. This saw Reigns storm into the gorilla position to confront Mr. McMahon, after Kurt Angle announced Brock Lesnar would be missing the show for the third week in a row. Gorilla has rarely been shown on WWE's TV product, only occasionally getting glimpsed in documentaries, like WWE 24, so when it became clear what was happening it was actually pretty exciting to watch it go down. Wrestling fans love seeing the curtain pulled back, so seeing Reigns storm up to Vince, with Shane McMahon next to his Dad, despite being the storyline Commissioner of SmackDown, being a good touch to give the moment that "Ooh, is this real?" feel, as did Vince furiously telling someone to "Cut to commercial". WWE seems to be going through past elements of booking that have been successful for Reigns, including how Mr. McMahon was used to boost a failing feud with Sheamus and the worked-shoots and part-timer angle that helped make Reigns' feud with John Cena last September so fun to watch. Will it work and lead to Roman getting cheered against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania? Time will tell.

After the segment - Roman Reigns walked out of Mr. McMahon's office, before McMahon told Renee Young that he'd told Reigns to "Know his role and shut his mouth", before giving his word that Brock Lesnar will be at RAW next week and temporarily suspending Reigns. 

Sonya Deville (with Paige & Mandy Rose) vs. Sasha Banks (with Bayley)

A poor match from Sasha Banks and Sonya Deville here, as Banks got the submission victory with a Banks Statement. The action was weak throughout, with the two failing to connect with each other and running through a number of sloppy sequences, with Banks in particular looking out of sorts. This was extremely evident during a sequence that saw Sasha use the ropes to hit a knee from the apron to Deville inside the ring, with Banks seemingly struggling with the ropes and the knee looking nowhere like connecting as the commentary team described it as a "glancing blow", whilst the follow-up meteora also wasn't one of Banks' best attempts. The highlight of the action was a big roundhouse kick to the chest from Deville, but I'd struggle to pick out anything more from this one. The finish involved Bayley pulling Mandy Rose off the apron, causing the distraction that gave Banks the win, as the Bayley vs. Banks story continues to burn slowly. Out of everyone I thought Bayley had the best performance in this match, standing on the outside, as she looked completely different to her usual bubbly self and appeared to want to be anywhere else. With three episodes left to set up the match, I wonder how long it'll be before WWE pulls the trigger and who actually comes out of this as the villain.

After the match - Bayley left ringside, allowing Absolution to beatdown Banks, opening up more questions about their friendship. 

Also on the show 

- We got a preview of The Ultimate Deletion as WWE showed us more of The Hardy Compound, alongside the debuts of Reby Hardy, King Maxel, Lord Wolfgang, Senior Benjamin and Vanguard1, before Bray Wyatt cut a chilling promo threatening Hardy's family - Kurt Angle would later appoint a referee for the match, which will take place next week. 

- Kid Rock was announced as 2018's inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame celebrity wing. 

- It was controversially announced that there would be a Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. Considering the backlash, due to Moolah being trash, it will be interesting to see if WWE goes ahead with the name.

- WWE celebrated Indira Gandhi, India's only female Prime Minister, as part of Women's history month.

- Elias blamed the crowd for the injuries he suffered during last week's Symphony of Destruction match, before walking out.

ATPW Scale Rating // 5.36 out of 10  

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE Monday Night RAW Review // 26th February 2018

With Elimination Chamber now in the rear view mirror, the road to WrestleMania for the RAW brand was beginning to clear, as this week's show featured the Intercontinental and RAW Women's titles heavily. As The Miz demanded to find out his opponent for WrestleMania he competed in back to back matches with Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, whilst a number of women's divisions storylines and developments were included in a six man tag team match as Mickie James, RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax clashed with Sasha Banks, Bayley & the undefeated Asuka. But how did it all go down in Anaheim? Lets take a look! 

Commentary - Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Jonathan Coachman 
Ring Announcer - JoJo 
Interviewers - Renee Young & Charly Caruso

The Miz demanded to know his opponent for WrestleMania 

This week's main storyline revolved around the Intercontinental Championship, beginning with The Miz discussing his plans (or lack thereof) for WrestleMania XXXIV. The main idea of the segment was that Miz didn't have a scheduled opponent and that General Manager Kurt Angle was doing some mad shit, that might've involved whoever Miz's opponent was on the show. Miz was on good form here, making the most of his time on the mic, as he took the audience on a real journey through a number of clearly identifiable topics, such as being 62 days away from being the record holder for combined days at IC Champion, the lack of his merchandise available at the show and how Angle not having a clear plan for him at The Grandaddy of Them All was a disgrace. Like all good heel promos it was easy to see where Miz was coming from, but also easy to dislike the way he chose to voice those opinions, as he used a variety of vocal levels to keep the crowd engaged, including loudly shouting his point towards the end. The section where he complained about his merch, felt eerily similar to CM Punk's pipebomb promo, whilst having the character also moan about not being in the main event of WrestleMania also felt like a sly dig at the Best in the World from WWE.

then...

Seth Rollins def. The Miz // Pinfall

With the idea that Kurt Angle was considering him for an Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins continued his rich vein of singles form with a victory over The Miz, following the Revolution Knee and a ridiculous Frog Splash in the best match on the show. The fight built well from a simplistic base of dropdown, leapfrog, hiptoss sequences, with plenty of interference from Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel at ringside and loud invested audience. Seriously, Anaheim reacted to every movement of Rollins' comeback and it was magnificent to watch, making all the difference and showing just how over he's became following last week's superb gauntlet match performance. The action wasn't overly complicated but was done well, but it was the structure of the match that drove it, with match being paced properly and the big moments seeming to come at the extra right moment for the crowd. The energy for the finish, which saw Rollins on an absolute rout as he took out the constantly interfering Miztourage with a suicide dive was off the charts, as Seth continues to be on fire right now. It could've gone a little bit longer, but with the time constraint the two did a bloody good job. Hopefully the hip injury that seemed to occur off a slingblade on his original comeback sequence isn't too serious for Seth Rollins as he's in a great position to do something big over the next 6 months.

After the match - Finn Balor headed to the ring, leading to Seth Rollins walking out of the ring as he shook his head - The Miz vs. Finn Balor quickly ended in disqualification as Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel interfered with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson evening the odds, before Kurt Angle restarted the match with everyone banned from ringside 

then...

Finn Balor def. The Miz // Pinfall

Finn Balor gave The Miz his second loss of the evening, picking up a pinfall win over the Intercontinental Champion following a Coup de Grace, after an alright match. This match would've been better off if it had taken place next week, for a number of reasons, as whilst there was nothing wrong with the action, I felt a little uninterested in what was going. Firstly, having the heel Miz battle in two unannounced matches in a row felt like a misstep as the first note of this story, because it undoubtedly creates sympathy with a character I'm not supposed to like, whilst also damaging the victory for Balor in the process. Secondly, the match felt like a step down from the Rollins match, because as much as I like Balor, he isn't in nowhere near the same form as Seth is right now, either in the ring or with the crowd. Thirdly, having the Miztourage banned from ringside removed some of the fuel that has been firing Miz's matches lately and after having already lost one match made it more difficult to believe that the A Lister would be able to be competitive with Finn. That being said, there were a couple of nice sequences in this one, including Balor going for a reverse slingblade with Miz blocking and setting up for a Skull-Crushing Finale before Balor rolled through for a good near fall and Finn using the "Yes" kicks on Miz as Corey Graves exploded on commentary.

After the match - Seth Rollins was interviewed putting down Balor for interrupting him, before challenging Miz to an Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania

Mickie James, Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax attempted to spring a trap on Asuka

An interesting opening segment, began with Alexa Bliss officially reconciling with Mickie James and boasting about her Elimination Chamber victory and concluded with the RAW Women's Champion nailing Asuka with a right hand that knocked the Empress of Tomorrow to the mat, with Nia Jax, Bayley and Sasha Banks all getting involved. The structuring was a little awkward and felt a little bit forced, but in the middle of it all was a great promo from Bliss who excels when given this kind of character work to do. Bliss can simultaneously come across as a bad ass and an annoying brat when on the microphone, which is a real talent and she did a very good job of controlling a crowd that seemed a little rowdy at the start of the show. She put over James's history in WWE, called Bayley a "sad situation" and claimed she could break Asuka's streak at WrestleMania, all with that trademark Bliss swagger and attitude. I'd like to see more of that permeate her matches. The heat she got for talking loudly and slowly at Asuka was brilliant and managed to fall just the right line of "I'd really like to see you get punched in the face". Indeed, however it was Bliss who'd get to hit Asuka in the face, after it turned to all be a trap for a Nia Jax attack, even after Sasha Banks and Bayley had tried to make the save. 

then...

Sasha Banks, Bayley & Asuka def. Mickie James, Alexa Bliss & Nia Jax // Submission

We weirdly shifted to a six woman tag team match out of the break, which ended up being a real mixed bag, as Asuka tapped out Mickie James with an arm and knee bar combination to win it for her team. There were a number of different storyline developments going on, there was some good wrestling, there was some sloppy wrestling, this was a very busy trios match. The main culprit of the sloppiness was Alexa Bliss, who had a number of awkward moments with both Bayley and Sasha Banks, with the Women's Champion seeming to struggle with her positioning a handful of times in the match. Bayley and Mickie James also looked out of sorts at times, but they also opened with a rather lovely sequence, so I'll let them off this time. Banks put in the best performance of the match, flying in with a fun hot tag, that included lots of meteoras, after tagging herself in on Bayley to audible boos. Obviously, the Banks/Bayley storyline continued after the Chamber with Bayley refusing to tag in when Banks had taken a lengthy spell as the face in peril, which was juxtaposed well when Bayley came back into the match to help Asuka when she was being double-teamed by James and Bliss. This felt like a much more important six woman tag than we've seen for months and even when the action wasn't the best I felt like there was at least a reason to keep watching with the various feuds that were involved.

RAW Tag Team Championship // Two out of Three Falls // Cesaro & Sheamus (C) def. Apollo & Titus O'Neil // 2-0

Why Apollo & Titus O'Neil got another shot at Cesaro & Sheamus' RAW Tag Team Championship wasn't clear, but their 2-0 loss was a much better match than the contest the teams had the previous night at Elimination Chamber. The distraction and Brogue Kick getting the pin on O'Neil within seconds of the opening bell could have come across as one of those lame falls you get in multiple fall matches and I have to admit that I was a little worried when that went down. However, that first fall ended up putting some real steam into the second fall, meaning the action was hotter, more physical and felt more important than what we saw on Sunday. It meant that a wicked series of near falls for Titus Worldwide felt like each one could've seen the scores evened, with a roll-up from Apollo and a standing moonsault standing out as the two best moments of the match. It also meant that O'Neil showed a whole new side of his game, displaying real anger when finally getting tagged back into the match, teeing off on Sheamus and producing a much more satisfying hot tag as the Real Deal looked like he had a purpose for once. The 2-0 victory builds up Cesaro & Sheamus as unstoppable when the belts are on the line and opens an interesting question about how Apollo & O'Neil will be handled heading into and out of WrestleMania.

After the match - During a fun interview, Cesaro & Sheamus claimed that they would be punished at WrestleMania, because "there's no one left to beat"

Braun Strowman def. Elias // Disqualification

Before the match - Braun Strowman claimed he was going to perform a symphony of destruction on Elias - Elias cut a promo about noise pollution, citing Corey Graves' commentary as possible cause, before being cut off by the roar of Braun Strowman's music. 

The Braun Strowman and Elias feud got kicked up a gear this week, as the two competed in a match that ended in disqualification, after Elias used a fire extinguisher. The action was solid, if a little lengthy for what it was, as Strowman dominated the Drifter for a good 90% of the match, with splashes, strikes and biels. Elias got just enough offence in to make it no a complete squash, often using Strowman's offence against him by repeatedly blocking a big splash with a boot to the face, but it was clear that Elias didn't have much to stop the Monster Amongst Men for long. Whether this feud has enough legs to last until WrestleMania I'm not convinced, but the two could get a fun match out of a hardcore based gimmick, perhaps involving guitars and 2018 Hall of Fame inductee, Jeff Jarrett in some way. 

After the match - Elias attempted to continue his assault with the fire extinguisher, but after Strowman rallied Elias was able to escape getting powerslam through the announce table by raking Braun's eye and legging it out of the arena, leaving Strowman to scream "I'm not finished with you!" 

Triple H laid out Kurt Angle, after Stephanie McMahon had apologised to Ronda Rousey 

My main takeaway from this segment was that Ronda Rousey is much better on the microphone when she has an issue to work with, than she is simply addressing a crowd as we saw on Sunday. When she headed out, with her hair tied up, to confront Triple H and Stephanie McMahon she felt like she had a purpose and looked like an absolute bad ass, whilst her later demanding an apology from McMahon upped the ante, putting a real focus on the tension that was present throughout the whole promo. The segment was also peppered with a number of comic moments, that got good laughs from the crowd and kept things feeling comfortably entertaining, amongst the tense scenes that were the rest of the segment. Angle saying he needed the job before trying to back out of what he said on Sunday because he had "double pneumonia" got an audible laugh from Anaheim, as did McMahon getting right up in Rousey's face only to apologise for the slap. The segment ending with Triple H punching Angle in the noggin gave us something to tune in for next week as the story develops, with the commentary team doing a good job of getting that over, even if the punch itself didn't look brilliant.

John Cena tried to work out his Road to WrestleMania

Another intriguing promo came from John Cena, who attempted to lay out his plans for WrestleMania, before announcing he'd be heading to SmackDown Live the next night to try and figure out where he fits on the card for the Show of Shows. The promo focused on a theme which WWE doesn't focus on a whole lot, but really should do more often, that being failure. Cena has touched on this in part during the build to his WrestleMania XXIX match with The Rock, but this felt like a much more effective version of that story. Cena has lost two thirds of his PPV matches since WrestleMania XXXIII, unable to win the RAW vs. SmackDown Survivor Series match, the Royal Rumble, the Elimination Chamber and losing a big singles match to Roman Reigns and this theme catapulted the segment, which remained fascinating throughout because it felt like it had no clear direction, suiting Cena's story. The challenge being laid down to The Undertaker to a great reaction, only for Cena to tell us that match is currently impossible was the most captivating part of it all, because why mention it if we're not going to see that match? It feels like its only a matter of time before the Deadman shows up, but for what reason and why he'd return to face Cena is yet to be discovered. Perhaps we'll see Big Match Cena having to put something on the line to tempt the Deadman out of retirement? 

Roman Reigns addressed Brock Lesnar

Hot damn, this episode's promo streak continued with a hella good effort from the Big Dog, as Roman Reigns slayed Brock Lesnar on the microphone for apparently no-showing the event. This was one of his best efforts on the microphone, calling back to his feud with John Cena last September as it blurred reality with fiction, aided by a real fire that seemed to be burning underneath The Shield member. He ripped into Lesnar for not showing, for flirting with the UFC and only defending his Universal title four times since winning it from Goldberg at WrestleMania XXXIII. The reference to the UFC and the lockeroom feeling disdain towards the Beast for his special treatment felt like they came from a very real place of frustration from Reigns and whether it really does doesn't matter all that much. What did matter was that a crowd that was initially against Reigns when he came out, was mostly onside by the end of the promo and if we can pair that with a couple of good matches on TV heading into the event, then we might see a crowd that isn't attempting to steal Reigns' moment from him in New Orleans on 8th April. 

Also This Week

- Bray Wyatt beat the shit into Rhyno and Heath Slater, before cutting a promo saying that the loss to Matt Hardy at Elimination Chamber had forced him to do so...the feud continues!

- Jarius "JJ" Robertson, a 15 year old double liver transplant survivor who has worked to raise awareness for organ donation, was announced as this year's Warrior Award recipient 

- Seth Rollins, alongside Noelle Trent from the National Civil Rights Museum, discussed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, as part of Black History Month.

- Braun Strowman and The Big Show imploding the ring with a superplex from the 17th April 2017 episode of Monday Night RAW was shown for some reason.

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.18 out of 10 

Written by James Marston // @IAmNotAlanDale

WWE Monday Night RAW 1284 Review // 1st January 2018 // Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe

It's Two Thousand and Eighteen, lads. New Year's Day brought us the first Monday Night RAW of the year and WWE put together an intriguing card for the American Airlines Center in Miami. After Roman Reigns got disqualified in an Intercontinental Championship match with Samoa Joe on Christmas Day, this week saw Reigns put the belt on the line once again in the main event, with the caveat being that if the Big Dog was disqualified he'd forfeit his title. Newly-crowned RAW Tag Team Champion Jason Jordan battled former champ Cesaro and the undefeated Asuka collided with RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss in a fascinatingly poised non-title clash, whilst General Manager Kurt Angle, Kane, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins and "Woken" Matt Hardy also made appearances. 

Did we learn anything about the direction of WWE's product for the upcoming trip round the Sun? Let's take a look, ATPDubbers. 

Intercontinental Championship // Roman Reigns (C) def. Samoa Joe // Pinfall 

This week's main event received some heavy build across the opening two hours, with a lengthy hype package (especially for a TV bout), as well as three backstage segments. The hype vid was your regular look at the history of the feud, focusing on Joe's attack on Reign's Shield partner Dean Ambrose, as well as the DQ finish to their encounter last week. I thought the backstage stuff was done well, with the two interviews having some real impact and punch behind them. Reigns looked confident and assured on the microphone (something he seems to have gotten much more comfortable with since the John Cena feud last September), but Joe's promo was utter fire. Joe spitting his words out with a throw back intensity and general bad-assery was just perfect, the kind of thing that makes you wanna see two big lads throw each other around. The line about turning Dean Ambrose into a "stay-at-home husband" whilst being interviewed by Ambrose's real-life wife, Renee Young, got a gorgeous reaction from Miami, with Young selling the comment just right too. Joe has been almost untouchable on the microphone recently. 

The title match was an enjoyable heavyweight collision between two opponents who have become increasingly familiar with each other over the last 11 months. Joe's intense and fiery beatdown from the bell gave the match a real sense of urgency that helped it hold it's sizeable television time and also featured as a driving force for the bout's main narrative. That being that if Reigns was disqualified then he'd lose the title. This stipulation has been used many a time over the years and can often come across as a little lame, with a handful of worn-out spots. Luckily, I didn't get that feeling here, as Joe just seemed determined to rile up the champion as much as possible, playing on the emotional reaction we saw from Roman last week. The only moment that felt a little laboured was Reigns clattering into the referee after a push from Joe, as Reigns pleading with the ref not to disqualify him, and all that went with it, was a bit too pantomimey for my tastes. That being said, it did help create some needed drama down the stretch and the crowd seemed to go for it. 

The highlight of the match was Joe locking in the Coquina Clutch in the middle of a fire-up from Reigns, because it got an amazing reaction from the Miami audience. At that point it felt like the crowd were super ready to see Joe take the Intercontinental title and I'm sure it would've got an even bigger reaction had he managed to grab the title from Reigns. However, after Reigns slipped out of the move and won a few minutes later with a spear, it seems like we're well on the road to another WrestleMania title challenge for the Big Dog (and surely a FOURTH main event in a row), as Joe was only one of two men Reigns hadn't  been able to best this year (The other being Kevin Owens if you were wondering). Where does this leave Joe on the Road to WrestleMania? There's the obvious Dean Ambrose collision on the horizon, whenever he's back, I suppose. 

Jason Jordan def. Cesaro // Pinfall

This match would come about in a frankly confusing opening segment. It began with Kurt Angle announcing the rules for the Women's Royal Rumble match (They're the same as the Men's) and then concluded with Angle booking Jason Jordan vs. Cesaro. Why on earth weren't ANY women involved in the announcement of the rules? This was perhaps a worse move than having Stephanie McMahon the star of the original match announcement...BECAUSE THERE WERE NO WOMEN INVOLVED AND THEN SOME MEN INTERRUPTED THE ANNOUNCEMENT! It's not hard guys. The rest of the segment was super wordy and mostly focused on Cesaro and Sheamus accusing Angle of "favourtism" towards Jordan  and then Jordan looking like a dork and getting booed. Surely, the match that followed up between Jordan and Cesaro would pick things up a notch? 

Actually, yeah, it did. Whilst the crowd weren't particularly paying attention, The Swiss Superman and Chad Gable's former pal wrestled a lovely television match, with a good story that played out nicely across it's ten minutes or so on-screen. The idea that Seth Rollins wasn't really into helping out his fellow Tag Team Champion at ringside, whilst Sheamus' constant interference on the outside allowed Cesaro to control the majority of the match was made clear early on. Whilst Rollins could've been more involved in lifting the crowd, his presence served the storyline well. Now, let's talk about Jason Jordan's selling...because it was sublime here. Cesaro worked the left leg after a distraction aided chop block and from that moment onwards the injury was kept firmly in view as Jordan hobbled through the match, struggled to hit certain moves and even had to use a one-legged bridge after a Northern Lights suplex. It's a shame that Jordan was lumbered with the gimmick of being Kurt Angle's son, because without it he actually has real potential as a babyface. Bringing the story full-circle, Rollins finally came to Jordan's aid, taking out Sheamus at ringside, giving Jordan the chance to hit his as yet unnamed belly-to-back suplex dropped into an elevated neckbreaker finish and only for JJ to completely ignore The Kingslayer after the match!  

Asuka def. Alexa Bliss // Submission

Whilst the women didn't get the chance to be involved in the announcement of the rules for their Royal Rumble match, Asuka and Alexa Bliss were involved in one of the feature bouts of the evening, getting a good deal of time. Completing a hat-trick of good upper card matches, this was another contest with a great story, that played into the strengths of the performers and made Asuka look like a boss without doing a massive deal of harm to Bliss or the RAW Women's Championship in the process. We'd seen earlier in the show that Bliss was doing anything she could to get out of the match or to find some kind of advantage with Kurt Angle and then Nia Jax refusing to offer their help (Jax was taking some soup to Enzo Amore in hospital, because why the fuck wouldn't she be?), so Bliss stalling repeatedly and then clawing her way into the contest, using a modified bow and arrow on the ringpost made perfect sense. It was a shame that Asuka's comeback featured some of the worst looking dropkicks I've ever seen. I'm not quite sure what was wrong with them, but Bliss seemed to be taking the move in a way that I've never seen it taken before and it took a bit of wind out of the sails for me. Of course, the Empress of Tomorrow would get the win with an armbar, but Bliss looked credible in defeat, lasting longer than anyone has on RAW. But what exactly happens next? If Asuka doesn't automatically get a title shot, then there needs to be a damn good reason why found over the three weeks moving towards the Royal Rumble. 

Finn Balor, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson def. Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel & Elias // Pinfall

For the first time since April 2014 in Tokyo, Finn Balor tagged with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and whilst the match was a straight squash, that didn't stop it being a cool moment, that popped the smarks amongst us good and proper. Gallows and Anderson looked reinvigorated as babyfaces, with Anderson even pulling out a slingshot dive to the floor in the closing stages. They've now got the opportunity to really run with their "Nerds" catchphrase for a little while, before an inevitable contest with The Shield. It was a shame that before we got to the match we had a piss-poor concert segment with Elias and The Miztourage. I thought the idea of Elias was that he's actually not that bad at playing his guitar and singing and that, but he just says dickhead-ish things about wherever he is and looks like a hipster twat. This weird Auld Lang Syne parody with cow bells and those bells that come on sticks veered more into the Jillian Hall territory. This is surely more likely to cause people to switch over, rather than give a shit about seeing them get beaten up.

Kane attacked Brock Lesnar 

I was pretty indifferent about the show-closing segment. I'm pretty indifferent about the match it's promoting. Paul Heyman's promo about Lesnar being able to beat everyone in the Royal Rumble in one go was a little odd, but mostly Heyman's usual intensity and vigour was there, so it ended up decent. Kane coming out and just chokeslamming Lesnar was a decent interaction, I suppose. Lesnar sitting up and laughing directly afterwards was a fun call back to THAT WrestleMania match with The Undertaker, who we all know is Kane's brother, so that was decent. Then they had a bit of a scrap and some lower card lads came out to stop it going too far and someone doing the other a mischief, which whilst a little confusing, was in it's own way...decent. To be quite honest, I'm still trying to work out what Kane's doing in a World (Universal) title match in 2018. 

Bray Wyatt def. Apollo Crews // Pinfall

This match made me smile for the sole reason that it was the longest match that Apollo Crews has EVER had since moving to the main roster in April 2016. I mean, it was only just over ten minutes (with some taken up by an ad break), but we got to see Crews actually use some of the offence that makes him stand out, so that's a start right? For me, this competitive match did much more for Wyatt than a 2 or three minute squash would've done, as we were allowed to see him take a bit of a beating, as an impressive 17 stone bloke pulled out Standing Shooting Stars and moonsaults off the apron, only to almost brush it off in the conclusion, rebuffing a spin-out powerbomb and nailing a snap Sister Abigail to seal the victory. I could've done without the Dana Brooke falling off the apron spot though, because it did absolutely nothing for the match or anyone involved. I'm not sure what was dafter about the post-match antics, Matt Hardy turning up on the screen and then the image of him multiplying in the same space or Wyatt acting like he was scared of the editorial wizard in the production booth. This was certainly the weakest part of the "Woken" angle so far. 

Goldust & Cedric Alexander def. Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari

Because Enzo Amore ended up in hospital with the flu, we didn't get to see Cedric Alexander get his advertised Cruiserweight Championship match...instead we got Goldust. Google says Goldust in 260 lbs and who am I to argue with Google. Goldust is 260 lbs. I understand the logic behind putting the character in there with a Cruiserweight division that has struggled to grab the audience (mostly down to awkward and inconsistent booking), as Goldust is a well-loved veteran, whose name may encourage a few extra clicks on the YouTube video. But I'm not exactly sure how this helps anyone in the long-term (or even beyond Wednesday afternoon tbqh). I don't remember Goldie even taking any offence here. He got the hot tag after a minute or so and then Alexander pinned Gulak with a Lumbar Check, after some admittedly cool interplay between Goldust and Alexander as partners. I guess, there's the element of Alexander getting a rub off of tagging with Goldust and being endorsed by a future Hall of Famer, but on the flip side two of the three 205 Live competitors to appear on the show ended up looking like complete chumps. 

Braun Strowman def. Rhyno // Pinfall

This was a magnificent moment. ICYMI - Braun Strowman just kept powerslamming Rhyno and Heath Slater. There was a match, but it's inconsequential when put up against what followed with all the powerslams and that. Strowman did some slamming, his music would play, either Slater or Rhyno would move a toe and then Strowman would slam them again. The crowd was hot as shit for it, I was chuckling my little titties off and my Dad was looking on confused as he tried to take the lights off our plastic Christmas tree. 

Also this week...Whilst a jazzy Auld Lang Syne played in the background, we heard from Bayley then Sasha Banks and then Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville of Absolution on why they're gonna win the Women's Royal Rumble...There was a look at DX Invasion of WCW from April 1998 (because some people hadn't heard about that yet)... We learnt The Miz will be returning next week on RAW... Booker T potentially died when trying to discuss the Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble... 

Finally... 

All in all I thought this was a pretty good way to start the year for the red brand. Yeah, there was some baffling moments like the opening segment, whatever Matt Hardy was supposed to be doing on the tron and Goldust rocking up in the Cruiserweight division. But if you haven't realised you aren't going to like everything on a three hour RAW yet then you're gonna be a pretty miserable person. The three uppercard matches delivered and all told dynamic and different stories, plus we got Finn Balor tagging with Gallows & Anderson, a decent length Apollo Crews match and Braun Strowman powerslamming Heath Slater and Rhyno to death. That's a solid enough haul to keep me happy for this week.

RAW 1277 Review // The Shield vs. The Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus

RAW 1275 Review // The Miz vs. Matt Hardy
RAW 1276 Review // Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose 

When WWE rocked up at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on 13th November, it was the last stop for the brand before Survivor Series. The show featured the return of The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) as they addressed The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) appearance at 1276, before taking on Intercontinental Champion The Miz and RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus, Triple H returned to join RAW Men's Survivor Series team following Jason Jordan's match with Bray Wyatt and Paul Heyman addressed Brock Lesnar's match at Survivor Series with AJ Styles. But was it any good?  

The Shield Addressed the New Day's "Under Siege Part II" // 9:46

Miz TV with Cesaro [Claudio Castagnoli] & Sheamus // 7:36

The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) def. The Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus via pinfall // 11:36

The main story this week was Roman Reigns' returning from illness and joining Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose for The Shield's first match since Payback 2014. This dominated the first two hours of the show, with the group initially appearing in the opening segment, interrupting Stephanie McMahon just as she appeared to firing Kurt Angle as RAW General Manager. The interaction between McMahon and Angle was on a similar level to what we saw at 1275, with McMahon throwing storyline barbs about Angle letting Shane McMahon manipulate him and also including his son, Jason Jordan, on the RAW Men's Survivor Series team. Angle's reply of "He's very talented" made me smile because it came across as a little lame, but quite cute at the same time and opposite the fiery, condescending McMahon this stood out even more. It seemed weird for McMahon to cut off Angle with more derision after he fired up and proclaimed he was going to break Shane's ankle, but that bought out Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose and seemingly planted more seeds for the future. Atlanta was hot for The Shield, popping for Reigns bringing up McMahon going through a table at WrestleMania 33 in April and doing so even more when the challenge was made for a match with The New Day at Survivor Series 2017 on Sunday. There was lots going on here, but the main point is we're getting The Shield vs. The New Day on Sunday, which should be a joy.

Miz TV was an unnecessary segment this week, doing a similar job to what could have been accomplished with a backstage interview. Intercontinental Champion The Miz chatted about Survivor Series opponent SmackDown's United States Champion Baron Corbin, getting a positive reaction from the crowd, after a passionate promo. Miz has been owning it on the mic for some time now and part of that is because he sounds like he believes what he is saying, as opposed to other roster members who regurgitate script. Sheamus & Cesaro's promo was a solid effort, trying to create an issue with The Usos, but also repeating lines we've heard for weeks about "B-Shows". They closed off with a cute line about having a "jailbreak on the Uso penitentiary", before talking a little bit about The Shield. The performances were good, but there was very little new information given out and when you have a segment taking up around eight minutes (plus entrances) off television time you'd expect a little bit more.

The Shield's return to the action in the main event was solid match, that lacked some of the wildness of their memorable contests with the likes of The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper & Erick Rowan at Elimination Chamber 2014, RAW 1084 & Main Event 80), Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) & Randy Orton (SmackDown 721) and Evolution (Triple H, Batista & Randy Orton at Extreme Rules 2014). The bout fit into a basic template, with Ambrose and Rollins taking time as the face in peril, before a Big Dog Hot Tag lead quickly into a brief breakdown sequence. As a build up match for The New Day on Sunday, it did it's job for The Shield reminding us of some of their signature spots and giving them decisive victory over rivals they've had for months as Reigns pinned Miz following a Triple Powerbomb. I'm not sure what it did for Miz, Cesaro & Sheamus ahead of their matches at the PPV though. This was still a good television contest, with the work heading into the ad break, as well as the  pacy breakdown sequence standing out in particular. 

Jason Jordan def. Bray Wyatt // 4:14 

Triple H added himself to RAW's Survivor Series Team // 5:55

Kurt Angle addressed his RAW Men's Survivor Series team, booking Samoa Joe & Finn Balor against Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows, Jason Jordan against Bray Wyatt and after Braun Strowman demanded the match, Strowman vs. Kane.

It seems clear to everyone but WWE creative (read: Vince McMahon) that the way they are booking Jason Jordan isn't working and this was another misstep in what is becoming a storied list of missteps. Jordan worked the match as the never say die babyface, battling against a knee injury to defeat Bray Wyatt with a school-boy roll-up, despite Wyatt being a popular heel, who is already thought of as not getting the opportunities he deserves and also in his first TV match since September. 

After the match, Wyatt attacked Jordan, slamming his knee into the post, leading to the crowd chanting "Thank You, Wyatt" and then singing "Na Na Hey Hey" as Jordan limped away from the ring. In a poor backstage segment, Jordan pleaded with Kurt Angle in the trainers room to let him compete at Survivor Series.

I'm not sure what WWE were aiming for here, but the interaction between Triple H and Kurt Angle was at the least cool to see. The same can't be said for Jason Jordan begging his father to remain on the RAW Men's Survivor Series team. Jordan gave it his best shot with the content he was given, but the content was trash and Jordan has proved that he isn't the best at delivering lines. I understand that the aim was to show the conflict Angle had and to build an issue between he and Stephanie McMahon, but having Jordan out there in particular was a counterproductive move, that resulted in the former American Alpha member looking like a massive loser. The crowd booed Jordan, cheered Triple H's return and pleaded with "The Game" to hit a Pedigree, which is exactly what they got. It seems almost inevitable that Jordan's interference will result in Angle being elimination on Sunday. The RAW vs. SmackDown Survivor Series match now has an average age of over 40 years old...make of that what you will.

Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman addressed AJ Styles // 8:47

What else did you expect from Paul Heyman? Give the man a mic and something to sell and that man will sell it for all that's it worth. Basically, "The Advocate" said "Buy WWE Network, watch Survivor Series, AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar will be lit af", in his usual bombastic style. He made references to Rocky movies and WWE Champion Styles' underdog status, before reminding us that this isn't a Rocky movie and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar would prove that on Sunday. There's not really much else to say, it was entertaining and sold the match well, especially considering the short turn around time with Styles only winning the WWE Championship from Jinder Mahal last Tuesday. I found it interesting that Heyman made a mention to Finn Balor in the middle of the promo, perhaps sowing a few seeds for a programme heading in the Royal Rumble? Also a special mention to Heyman handling a marriage proposal in the crowd, pointing it out and quickly making sure it didn't disrupt what he had to say for all that long. 

Braun Strowman Running Powerslammed Kane through the ring // 5:43 

Kane delivered a direct to camera promo, letting us know that Braun Strowman would find out tonight that The Big Red Machine is worse than death.

Braun Strowman was supposed to face Kane to close the show and whilst the two brawled, the match never officially began and the action quickly became a rough and tumble ringside plunderfest. I'm not sure why WWE didn't simply make the match No DQ or Falls Count Anywhere, but it doesn't really matter all that much. The crowd wasn't massively into it for the most part, obviously tired from a long taping, but the scrap with the steel steps and multiple chair shots was entertaining enough for what it was, except for a weird spot in the corner that lead into the finish. The segment concluded with Strowman hitting a Running Powerslam on the Devil's Favourite Demon, seemingly breaking the ring and another impressive stunt from the former Wyatt Family member. The moment got a good shock pop from the crowd, helped by the fact that a table had been set up on the outside and acted as a red herring. It was a shame that we didn't see Strowman emerge from the hole in the ring on TV as that was the moment the whole segment seemed to be set up for, instead the feed cut off with both big blokes lying in a whole in ring, which was, I suppose, a novel way to end the show! 

Finn Balor [Prince Devitt] & Samoa Joe def. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson // 6:19

Before the match, Samoa Joe shoved Finn Balor to the floor as the pair argued over who would start the match. 

Teaming for the first time since winning the 2015 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic at NXT Takeover: Respect (weirdly not mentioned at all by commentary), Finn Balor and Samoa Joe both looked excellent here, with a finishing sequence that was better than pretty much anything on the whole show. The story played out simply with Balor and Joe playing the reluctant, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson taking control with Balor as the face in peril, before comeback saw Gallows do a Flair flop out a Pele Kick and Joe came roaring in with a fun hot tag and then a flurry of moves concluded with a suicide dive from Joe to Gallows and a Coup de Grace from Anderson to seal the victory. Joe and Balor are now 6-0 as a duo in WWE and NXT, so I'd be interested to see if WWE has them tag up post-Survivor Series, to fill time between that and Balor's programme with Brock Lesnar, especially considering the potential that a clash with Cesaro & Sheamus has. 

Enzo Amore & Drew Gulak def. Kalisto & Akira Tozawa // 4:20

Obviously before his match Enzo Amore got some mic time, saying something about pockets and tostitos, whilst Drew Gulak ended up stealing the segment with some well-timed dead pan comedy.

Firstly, the fact that Akira Tozawa & Kalisto's team weren't called Luch-Ahhhh is a travesty and should lead to someone getting fired, at the very least. Secondly, this was a solid match, highlighted by Tozawa's ridiculous suicide dive and Enzo Amore actually looking competent as he outsmarted both opponents to pin Tozawa following JawdonZo. 

RAW Women's Survivor Series Team Spot // Bayley def. Mickie James and Dana Brooke // 4:02

A decent Triple threat here, but the fact that the Women only got 4 minutes of television time is laughable. Dana Brooke seemingly turned back heel by getting into a scrap and being levelled by Asuka, whilst Mickie James had one of her better performances since returning working a lovely series of reversals with Bayley that would conclude with the Hugger getting the win following a Bayley to Belly. 

Also...

RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss talked about Charlotte Flair taking on Alexa Bliss for the SmackDown Women's Championship the next night, teasing that she might turn up to watch live, in an interview with Charly Caruso.

The Snickers Great Moment in WWE History was Lita winning the WWE Women's Championship from Trish Stratus on RAW 602 from 6th December 2004.

John Cena was shown doing some squats at Hard Knocks Gym in preparation for Survivor Series 

As a Survivor Series go-home when half of the match-ups weren't present, this show did it's job. The Shield set up an enticing clash with The New Day and looked good in victory, Paul Heyman gave Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles the hard-sell and a big name was added to the Men's Survivor Series bout. It's a shame that along the way we got so much of the dire Jason Jordan storyline, filler segments like Miz TV, whilst the Women were once again under-served. There's some leg work to be done on SmackDown with all the Champion vs. Champion matches needing a little bit extra work to get them past the line on Sunday, with the Women's Champion collision in particular lacking any meaningful build. The Braun Strowman and Kane spot will get the most replay time, but I think I got the most out of the Samoa Joe & Finn Balor vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, almost purely on the electric finishing stretch.

Review by James Marston.