WWE Monday Night RAW Review // 26th March 2018

It was the penultimate episode of Monday Night RAW this week, but could WWE keep the push going for the biggest show of the year. With still no reply from The Undertaker, John Cena took on Kane in a No Disqualification match, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman addressed the beating Lesnar gave Roman Reigns last week, Ronda Rousey returned after a two week absence whilst Triple H & Stephanie McMahon trained for WrestleMania, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor were the guests on Miz TV, Braun Strowman took on RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus, Elias faced Rhyno, Nia Jax warmed up for her RAW Women's Championship match at Mania by taking on Mickie James, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson were up against The Miztourage, the Cruiserweights returned to RAW as Mania opponents Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali faced TJP & Drew Gulak and Asuka took on local competitor, Jamie Frost...but was it any good? Here's our review.

No Disqualification Match // John Cena vs. Kane

Before the match - Kane cut a promo in his red rape room, telling John Cena that he should have left The Undertaker alone and he was sending Cena to hell tonight.

A fun and inoffensive house show no disqualification match between two competitors who have faced off 70 times since 2008 (both televised and live events), as John Cena unsurprisingly went over Kane with an Attitude Adjustment through a table. There's very little getting round that this was a house show, complete with a house show finish, with a couple of trinkets added to place it within the current timespan. Cena did a couple of Undertaker's taunts as he tried to get The Deadman to answer his WrestleMania, which got a good reaction and worked for what was needed. It was clear however, that the pair had done this match a number of times before, although the spot with Kane suplexing Cena onto a barricade near the announcers table was a nice addition. The ending took a little too long to come, with two spots that featured a lot of fannying around by tables, but overall this match was exactly what I had expected it to be and nothing more. Cena goes over Kane, the story is moved forward without the need for The Undertaker to appear, the match is watchable, but not worth searching out.

After the match - John Cena cut another promo on The Undertaker, going over some old ground and calling The Deadman a coward for not showing up during the match, despite the No DQ gimmick. This was a solid bit of final set-up for next week, when surely The Undertaker will make his appearance to confirm the match.

Universal Champion Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman address last week's attack on Roman Reigns 

Another strong segment in the Universal title feud this week, as Brock Lesnar left Roman Reigns laying in the middle of the ring for the second week in a row. This week's segment felt very similar to last week's by it's conclusion, but got there in slightly different route, beginning with a good promo from Paul Heyman. Heyman speaks in a way that may go over the head of a portion of the fanbase, but has enough charisma to draw them in no matter what, whilst those who are willing to listen and understand what he's saying get the most out of his words. A sentence that essentially boiled down to calling himself the best speaker in WWE history, but even he couldn't describe the assault last week was magical work, that put over the attack much stronger than simply describing it would have. The build to Reigns' appearance, walking in through the crowd once more, was also very strong with Heyman berating Roman for not being in attendance and blaming his up-bringing, leaving the moment just long enough that it felt like the Big Dog might not show up, meaning the appearance got a lovely crowd reaction. The beatdown was similar to last week, with Lesnar quickly gaining control before setting to work destroying his challenger with a chair and step. All this worked as a nice preview for two weeks time at WrestleMania, although I worry that WWE could go too far with this and end up giving Reigns a "superman feel" which is something we've seen the fanbase push away from in recent times. 

Triple H & Stephanie McMahon prepare for WrestleMania

I wasn't mad about this training montage/interview, mostly because the interview ended up being repetitive and seemed to go on for an unnecessary amount of time. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon must have told us that Ronda Rousey was stepping into "their world" and that this wasn't judo about five or six times across the six minute video. It was cool to hear from their personal trainer, but the whole video felt more like an exercise in public relations than it did a hype package for a match or an attempt to get more heat come WrestleMania. There were two moments that I did enjoy, with the first being Triple H discussing his previous issues with Kurt Angle, with this being an area of the feud that could really do some development, as WWE seems to be missing a trick in mining the past history involving Angle, Triple H and McMahon. The second was the duo discussing how they would "repackage" Rousey following WrestleMania after they had humbled her, with the language used evocative of what we've come to expect from WWE when signing talent who made their name elsewhere.

RAW gets Rowdy 

Basically, Absolution interrupted Ronda Rousey saying some more of the same stuff, before Rousey took out Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville. I didn't really get this segment, to be honest, because Absolution have looked pretty awful as a group since coming up anyway, seemingly dropping in value every time they appear on television, whilst Rousey didn't need to be built up in this manner, because everyone and their dog knows she's tough as nails. The beatdown was fine and having Kurt Angle stop Rousey from breaking Deville's arm was an interesting touch, even if I'm not sure how that can be played into the storyline with Triple H & Stephanie McMahon, but whatever. The segment wasn't helped by an annoying promo from Paige, in which she used the word "babygirl" no less than four times in a couple of minutes, as she attempted to get Rousey to join Absolution, as well as Deville missing her cue leading to an awkward moment where Sonya half-caught Rose off a leg capture suplex. I've probably been a little harsh on the segment, but I just didn't see the point and it did nothing to deliver the on-going story in any way.

Miz TV with Seth Rollins and Finn Balor

Some creative cheap heat from The Miz, some planted seeds for a Miztourage rebellion, some fun babyface work from Finn Balor and Seth Rollins and a crowd that ate up every moment, this was a really good segment in what has been one of the highlights of the Road to WrestleMania. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel turning on The Miz was the angle that I didn't know that I wanted to see, so to tease it here, as Miz used it to lull Rollins & Balor into a false sense of security means that when it does happen it will be a much bigger moment than it was here and hopefully give Dallas & Axel an opportunity to push on up the card. All three men played it really well, with the highlight coming when Miz named Mr. Perfect (Axel's late father) amongst the Intercontinental Champions that he was better than. It was nice to shift the story onto Rollins & Balor trying to cause trouble for The Miz and it has to be said that the two have potential together as a duo, as they showed nice chemistry and bounced off each other well. The segment could have done with a more impactful conclusion, as Balor nailing Rollins with a clothesline, after Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson had taken care of Dallas & Axel and Balor & Rollins had downed Miz, didn't quite feel like the exclamation point that such an enjoyable segment needed to feel completely satisfactory. 

Braun Strowman vs. RAW Tag Team Champion Sheamus (with RAW Tag Team Champion Cesaro)

Before the match - Cesaro & Sheamus demanded to know who Braun Strowman's partner would be at WrestleMania, with Strowman saying he'd tell them...if Sheamus could defeat him next. 

A similar match to what we saw between Braun Strowman and Cesaro last week, with Strowman putting Sheamus away in around four minutes, after dominating most of the match despite plentiful distractions from Cesaro at ringside. The commentary team pushed that Strowman may have hurt his knee on a fall to the outside, but it was never quite made clear by the performers, whilst Sheamus' period of control was mostly a rest-hold which I think even the Celtic Warrior knew wasn't the best course of action in kayfabe or otherwise. Apart from a single Beat of Braun, after the Monster reversed the Ten Beats of the Bodhran from Sheamus and a neat finish where Sheamus missed a cornered Brogue Kick, there wasn't all that much to get excited about here and whilst I'd still describe the match as a fun watch, there's no doubt that it came off as a poor relation of last week's Strowman vs. Cesaro match. 

Elias vs. Rhyno (with Heath Slater)

Before the match - Elias brought his cheap heat musical stylings to Cleveland, ripping on one of their spots teams in song form. Despite giving no shits about any American sports, it was still quite funny to hear how the crowd still reacts to something like this, as I'm sure it would work nowhere other than America. 

Elias went over Rhyno with Drift Away after a nothing match. Yeah, that's about all there is to say, not exactly a squash, but not really anything else either. 

After the match - Elias attacked Heath Slater, delivering another Drift Away.

Nia Jax vs. Mickie James (with RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss) 

Nia Jax continued her build towards WrestleMania with a victory over Mickie James in an okay match. Whilst the match wasn't exactly long, I would've liked to have seen a more dominant display from Jax here, with some of her power moves looking a little relaxed at points, whilst James got in too much offence for what should have been a straight-forward bout. The overall idea was nice with Jax's left leg, that had been injured by an Asuka knee bar a few weeks earlier, giving James the opening to gain a short advantage, which I'm sure will be a similar pattern to what we see at WrestleMania between Jax and the smaller Alexa Bliss. I thought a couple of Jax's power moves looked a little tame, with a couple of biel throws in particular not having as much impact as I would've liked to have seen. However, Jax seems to have gained some traction with the live audience, as she got a good response throughout the match, particularly for the finish where Nia gorilla-pressed James into the air before dropping Mickie into a samoan drop to seal the victory. 

After the match - Alexa Bliss attempted to jump Nia Jax, but ended up having to run away.

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel

I'm not sure why this didn't come directly after the Miz TV segment, but nonetheless Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson picked up Balor Club's third victory in a row of The Miztourage in a simple tag bout. This really was a basic encounter, a paint-by-numbers tag team match with Luke Gallows taking the hot tag for his team after some minor antics from Axel & Dallas, before a near fall off the Boot of Doom lead into Gallows pinning Axel following the Magic Killer. Passable stuff that filled some time on the show, but entirely forgettable and probably unnecessary as well, but what you gonna do? 

Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak & TJP 

The Cruiserweights returned to RAW this week, after a being absent for a month or so, as WrestleMania opponents Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali picked up a quick victory over Drew Gulak & TJP in a straight-forward tag bout. This was a regular tag structure with Ali as face-in-peril and Alexander on the hot tag, producing some fun action, especially through off the Alexander tag. Ali did overshoot on a tope con giro (or perhaps Gulak was a little too far forward) but apart from that everything here looked nice and had an energy behind it. It was a shame to see Gulak & TJP lose so quickly, because they both have a lot to offer the purple brand and will be needed after WrestleMania to help the brands growth, but it makes sense to have Alexander & Ali as the focus, with the match finishing with a game of one-upsmanship as Ali tagged himself in to take the pin on TJP with an 054, after Alexander had hit a Lumbar Check. I'm looking forward to seeing these two lads kill it at WrestleMania and get the credit they both deserve for their hardwork on Tuesday night's over the last year or so. 

Winner of the First Ever Women's Royal Rumble Match "The Empress of Tomorrow" Asuka vs. Jamie Frost

Before the match - Charly Caruso interviewed the debuting Jamie Frost, who was apparently having her first professional match tonight, but was inordinately confident about beating the undefeated Asuka. 

Asuka beat Frost in about 20 seconds.

Also on the show

- After some great verbal back and forth backstage, the issues between Bayley and Sasha Banks finally erupted after Bayley made a remark about Banks being unable to defend titles, leading to a pull-apart brawl. 

- Matt Hardy announced himself as an entrant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania in his own woken way.

- This week's "Hungry for Mania" moment was Edge winning the original Money in the Bank Ladder match at WrestleMania 21 in 2005. 

ATPW Scale Rating // 

4.67 out of 10

 

 

Written by James Marston //

@IAmNotAlanDale

WWE Monday Night RAW Review // 5th March 2018

The first Monday Night RAW of March (and my first episode as a 25 year old) came five weeks out from WrestleMania XXXIV. No one storyline dominated the show this week, instead we saw a number of developments and matches made for 8th April's WrestleMania. The Miz hosted the 3rd annual Mizzies, before teaming with Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel in a 3-on-2 handicap match with Seth Rollins & Finn Balor, Kurt Angle called out Triple H in a segment also featuring Stephanie McMahon and Ronda Rousey, Braun Strowman battled Elias in a Symphony of Destruction match, John Cena addressed his WWE title challenge at Fastlane on Sunday and found himself in a match with Goldust, Nia Jax attempted to break Asuka's undefeated streak in a rematch from Elimination Chamber, Paul Heyman had a reply for Roman Reigns' promo last week before the two came face to face, Bayley & Sasha Banks issues continued as the former faced Mandy Rose, The Revival had a chance to earn a RAW Tag Team title match at WrestleMania if they could beat the champions Cesaro & Sheamus and Matt Hardy had a challenge for Bray Wyatt after the later took on Rhyno. But how did it all go down in Milwaukee? Lets take a look. 

Commentary - Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman & Corey Graves
Ring Announcer - JoJo 
Interviewers - Charley Caruso

The Miz, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Seth Rollins & Finn Balor  segment

It was time for the 3rd edition of The Mizzies this week, as The Miz and his Miztourage had a variety of awards to give away. I'm not sure how WWE chose to present this was the best decisions as they cut away from the Miz in the ring for some pithy comments by a voiceover chap on the nominees of awards like "Superstar who is best at patting themselves on the back" and "Worst Decision by a RAW General Manager". The comment coming from the voiceover guy, instead of Miz himself hurt the segment for me, because the cut-aways felt longer than necessary, whilst Miz didn't really benefit in terms of heat. Obviously, the winners were current Miz rivals Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, as well as seemingly constant Miz feuder Kurt Angle, with Rollins and Balor coming out to interrupt and breathe a little life into the segment. Miz's performance on the mic throughout had been very good, full of character and showing good awareness by the performer in the lack of self-awareness from the character, but it took having Rollins & Balor present to allow him to really shine. Barbs like "Nobody makes losing look better than you" to Rollins and "To be over, you need more than just a hand sign, that's not even yours" to Balor were deliciously cruel and with elements of truth, delivered with flair. Miz would eventually challenge Rollins & Balor to a three on two handicap match against the Intercontinental Champion, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel. 

then...

The Miz, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel vs. Seth Rollins & Finn Balor 

Seth Rollins got a second pin in as many weeks on the Intercontinental Champion as a Curb Stomp was enough to get the pinfall victory for the Iowan. The match was mostly focused around the relationship between Rollins & Finn Balor as the pair playing a game of one up, despite being caught at three on two disadvantage. I think the match could've done more to build up the Miztourage as a threat, because of the numbers, as the match ended up signposting its intentions a little too early and I found myself tuning out for portions of it. There was a nice spot on the outside where Miz managed to taunt Balor into running a gauntlet of lariat before being caught by Bo Dallas, but apart from that the group struggled to look anything more than fodder. I'm not sure how well the babyface pair blind-tagging each other worked, because the original one where Balor tagged in as Rollins was about to go for a suicide dive got zero reaction from Milwaukee, although they at least seemed to catch up with the story by the time Rollins did the same for the finish, when Balor was preparing for Coup de Grace. Rollins & Balor both came out looking good because of the amount of offence they got in, but the match ended up feeling a little paint-by-numbers, whilst also lacking a certain energy. 

After the match - Kurt Angle booked The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XXXIV.

Kurt Angle, Stephanie McMahon, Ronda Rousey and Triple H segment

The show opened with another good segment in the Angle/Rousey/Triple H/McMahon saga, as a match pitting RAW General Manager Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey against WWE COO Triple H and RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon was booked for WrestleMania XXXIV on 8th April. Whilst Rousey still has some rough edges, this was a well-booked piece of WWE theatre that had the crowd with it the whole way through, with a number of interesting twist and turns, as the physicality was upped between the two teams. Promo wise, McMahon was the real star here as she ran down Angle, attempting to keep him on side by reminding him how much he needed the job, referencing his two wives (which is mildly amusing considering Jeff Jarrett is going into the Hall of Fame two days before Mania!) and got some lovely heat when talking about the audience, "These people just take order and they get it done". I'd much rather watch this Stephanie, than the Stephanie that attempts to place herself as the leader of the Women's revolution, a role that actually ends up dampening the effect of her head bitch character. With Angle booking the match, because both Triple H and McMahon have contracts as "WWE Superstars" was a nice touch, that referenced McMahon's leaked talent contract from a few years back and got a good reaction, before some well choreographed scrapping concluded with Angle trapping The Game in an Ankle Lock and Rousey hitting a rough looking samoan drop on McMahon. Considering how they've announcing Ronda's first match will be at WrestleMania and its unlikely that Angle, Triple H or McMahon will compete, I'm intrigued to see how they manage to keep this feud going over the next four weeks without feeling repetitive, but it's definitely heading in the right direction.  

Elias and Braun Strowman segment

Before the segment - Elias tried to get his Symphony of Destruction match with Braun Strowman cancelled by Kurt Angle, but Angle just made the match Falls Count Anywhere to stop Elias from running away. - Braun Strowman cut a handheld promo, proclaiming that tonight marked the "Countdown to [Elias'] extinction"

The Elias vs. Braun Strowman feud continued to be a sleeper hit on WWE television, as Elias attempted to get out of the pairs Symphony of Destruction match. Presented like very little else of WWE, this began with Elias bringing a new version of his regular concert, by also playing the piano and drums, as well as his signature guitar, whilst running down Milwaukee. There was nothing particular new or creative to his concert, but its a formula that works very well with the live audience and therefore tends to create an enjoyable experience for the viewer at home. Doing the concert on the ramp, before asking for a proper introduction, only to leg it once the lights were turned down was a lovely moment, with the cameras quickly catching up with the Drifter backstage, giving the segment energy and a real sense of foreboding as everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Strowman turned up to cause some destruction. This came in the form of holding Elias's car by the back bumper so it couldn't drive off, which could have been much better shot in a rare moment of WWE's production letting down its performers. Either way, Elias escaped back into the arena and the match was still on...

then...

Symphony of Destruction Match // Elias vs. Braun Strowman 

The short Braun Strowman vs. Elias feud concluded with a dominant display from the Monster Amongst Men, as he pinned Elias after slamming a piano on him in a fun squash. Elias got very little offence in and what he did get in (guitar shot, jumping knee and diving elbow drop) resulting in a one count before Strowman smashed some more shit up. The crowd loved the big spots, like the return of the double bass, but wasn't all that enthralled about the action that took place in the ring. The final spot ended up looking a little underwhelming, mostly because the camera shot that was chosen showed Elias clearly safely rolling out of the way of the part of the piano Strowman had kicked away the legs from, before rolling back under once it had been rested on the stage and whilst its obvious to everyone that Elias wasn't going to have been allowed to be crushed by a piano, it would've been nice not to see so clearly how the magician did his tricks. Overall, this was fun way to end the feud, but was poorly shot and the idea behind having all of the plunder set up on the stage seemed a misguided one. 

After the match - Elias was carried out of the arena on a stretcher...here's hoping he's kept of RAW for the next four weeks for a big pop at WrestleMania. 

John Cena and Goldust segment

I have absolutely no idea what happened here. John Cena's promo was trotting along nicely, as he promoted his part in the six pack challenge for the WWE Championship on the SmackDown PPV Fastlane on Sunday, it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was doing a decent job of telling the audience what was happening and making a good use of the "free agent" gimmick that Cena's been given. The idea that Cena wanted to say this on RAW so he would be uninterrupted was a neat one, even if it made the 16 time World Champion look a little cowardly in kayfabe. It set up the notion that Cena could break Ric Flair's "record" and introduced the idea of triple threat match between Cena, Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles if Cena won the title on Sunday, two interesting concepts that will almost certainly be used to drive the Fastlane clash. Then Goldust interrupted and things got weird. The 48 year old Texan seemed really struggle with his promo, appearing to be actively trying to recall what his next line was and making what was already a bizarre promo filled with film references into some unintelligible garbage, whilst Cena look legit baffled by what was happening. Basically, it was a set-up to have Cena vs. Goldust for the first time ever, with the two only being opponents in Royal Rumbles, battle royals and triple threat tag team match on RAW from October 2014, where Cena tagged with Dean Ambrose and Goldust with Stardust, whilst The Usos were the third team.  

then...

John Cena vs. Goldust 

This was pretty much a squash for John Cena, with not a whole lot to talk about, as Cena hit his signature sequence and won clean with an Attitude Adjustment in a couple of minutes. The rest of the action was not good, including a poorly worked distraction low blow sequence that got zero reaction. Perhaps its time for Goldust to step down from active competition.

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

Asuka picked up another victory over Nia Jax this week, tapping out the Irresistible Force with an armbar, after a superb closing sequence. Based on the stretch alone this might have been the best match that the two have had together, as Jax spent an long arse time in both an cross-armbreaker and triangle choke, before eventually tapping out. This sequence made both women look great, as Asuka held onto the hold through powerbombs, buckle bombs and even managed to bounce off the ropes to roll through into another hold, whilst Jax took a silly amount of punishment and attempted everything possible to escape the move. A really sound piece of booking, that judging by the reaction from the crowd afterwards, did wonders for Jax's reputation with the audience and also seemed to set the wheels in motion for a babyface turn in the near future. The match wasn't without its problems however, the most obvious being a pretty awkward moment after Jax had nailed a samoan drop and then awkwardly backed into the cover in order to allow the Empress of Tomorrow space to put her foot on the ropes. Both women are still looking for their signature singles match on the main roster, but those last three minutes or so were wonderful to watch, with the commentary team doing a solid job of putting over both women in the closing stages.

After the match - Nia Jax sold her arm well, whilst receiving a round of applause for her valiant stretch in Asuka's submission holds - Jax was later seen with ie on her elbow as RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss manipulatively ripped into Jax under the guise of friendship, leading to Jax breaking down in tears in a backstage segment with wonderful depth and character.

Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns segment

The rivalry between Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns continued heat-up ahead of their WrestleMania collisions, without the champion even needing to be present this week as Paul Heyman returned to RAW for an impassioned promo. Heyman was on real real good form this week, initially calling "bullshit" on Reigns' comment about how little Lesnar defends the Universal title, pointing out Reigns' biggest career win came against a man who wrestled once that year (The Undertaker), before launching into a dramatic speech about what it means to be Universal Champion. Whilst I wasn't completely sold on the idea that it's not about how much you want the title, but how much the title wants you, Heyman did a massive job at making me believe that he believed it with a rich soliloquy talking about having to put the title before family, with what felt like real emotion in his voice. With references about the championship not being a prop or a belt, that would've popped hardcore fans and the sheer passion that would draw in absolutely anyone on the planet. The segment concluded with Roman Reigns interrupted with perfect timing, making Heyman pick the title up off the ground and telling Heyman to tell Lesnar to be ready for a fight next week when the two final go face to face. Like last week's show closing segment with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle, this segment gave the audience a reason to tune in next week to see what goes down the two finally share the same ring, after two weeks of very good storyline build. With four episodes left to go, this story has been paced perfectly so far, lets hope WWE can keep this on course and peak it with a brutal clash on 8th April.

Bayley vs. Mandy Rose

Before the match - Bayley was interviewed about leaving Sasha Banks in the trios match last week, but was cut off by Absolution, with Paige cutting a horrible promo about Sasha changing Bayley's diapers. 

Despite debuting at the end of November and competing for the RAW Women's Championship at last month's Elimination Chamber match, this was actually Mandy Rose's debut singles match on RAW and whilst she did the honours for Bayley, she actually looked relatively competent in there on her own. There was a lot of rope running, but most of it looked passable, with Rose able to keep up with the much more experienced Bayley, with the match being highlighted by a big jumping knee strike from Rose for a near fall. The finish didn't do wonders for the already weak Absolution stable, as both Paige and Sonya Deville tried to get involved, only for Bayley to reverse a pinfall to pick up the win in around five minutes TV time. Rose is clearly in need of more time in the ring, but she seems to have a solid base on which to build upon if given the opportunity. 

After the match - Sasha Banks made the save for Bayley as Absolution laid in the boots, but Bayley refused to hug Banks after the save.

Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder

Cesaro & Sheamus put an end to The Revival's hope of a RAW Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania as Cesaro pinned Scott Dawson with a Neutralizer, after a curious tag team match. There was a lot of nice stuff going on in the match, but I'm not sure how effective it was to have two heel teams in there, with Cesaro & Sheamus taking on the psuedo-babyface role. The Revival's style is effective with an popular babyface team, as they cut off the ring and work over an opponent methodically, yet when the person they're doing that too is Sheamus, it doesn't quite have the same effect, either with the live audience or when viewing at home. The work was fine, The Revival have a number of nice ways to keep on top and focus well on various body parts, but there was the heel v heel element meant that the match was lacking the ingredient needed to be a compelling piece of TV. The Revival did get a good nearfall off a superplex and frog splash combination and the closing sequence had some nice energy as Sheamus cut off a Shatter Machine attempt with a Brogue Kick, so there was still enough to enjoy in what was a fairly short contest. Now the Revival are out of the picture for WrestleMania, that really only leaves Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson for The Bar to defend the RAW tag straps against at Mania, unless a pair is brought up from NXT or a new team of singles guys is formed for the show of shows. 

Bray Wyatt vs. Rhyno

Squash match victory for Bray Wyatt, with Sister Abigail putting Rhyno away in a matter of minutes. 

After the match - Bray Wyatt claimed his issues with Matt Hardy were far from over, before Matt Hardy arrived on screen and challenge Wyatt to a match at the Hardy Compound, giving the match the name "The Ultimate Deletion"

Also this week 

- Hillbilly Jim was announced as the latest inductee to the 2018 Hall of Fame class, joining Goldberg, Jeff Jarrett, The Dudley Boyz, Ivory and Jarrius Robertson for the 6th April ceremony.

- Timothy Schriver discussed his mother, Eunice Kennedy Schriver's work with the Special Olympics, as part of Women's history month. 

- It was announced that WWE will be doing stadium shows in both Saudi Arabia and Australia later this year, with the Saudi Arabian event being main evented by a 50 man Royal Rumble match.

- It was announced that contemporary R&B duo CHLOE X HALLE will sing America the Beautiful at WrestleMania XXXIV. 

ATPW Scale Rating // 5.40 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.