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 RAW 25th Anniversary Review // 22nd January 2018 // Roman Reigns vs. The Miz

It was the 25th anniversary of WWE's flagship show on 22nd January (okay the actually anniversary was on 11th Jan, but this  as RAW hit the Barclays Center and Manhattan Center in New York City to celebrate. This was also the go-home RAW for the Royal Rumble, so surely it was going to be an epic success and not at all a let-down?...Right?

At a Glimpse

- Roman Reigns vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship 
- D-Generation X and Scott Hall with The Balor Club
- Vince, Stephanie and Shane McMahon open the show with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin 
- Appearances from: The Undertaker, John Cena, AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy

Intercontinental Championship // The Miz def. Roman Reigns (C) // Pinfall

The show's main event came at the top of the second hour and was the only match on the show that felt particularly important or consequential. The match was solid stuff and a very easy watch, but also suffered from feeling a little lightweight, short and overly familiar. The pattern was that of any recent Miz match, with lots of interference and distraction from Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel at ringside, bringing to mind Jinder Mahal's WWE title run, a comparison that nobody would want to be drawn. A couple of cute spots, including a nice moment where Dallas held onto Reigns leg in the corner as the Big Dog set up for a spear, allowing Miz to hit his Awesome Clothesline, but the body of the match featured nothing different and very little in the way of narrative beyond the interference. The last couple of two minutes or so were well done, with Miz getting a well-crafted near fall off a Skull Crushing Finale, after the referee had kicked Axel & Dallas from ringside, for a massive pop. Moments later Miz would dodge a spear, sending Reigns into an exposed turnbuckle, allowing for a second Skull Crushing Finale to pick up Miz's eighth Intercontinental Championship run and first victory over Reigns at the eighth time of asking. Overall, a solid yet unspectacular match, that could have been livened up by having the various General Managers (Daniel Bryan, William Regal, Eric Bischoff and John Laurinaitis) who were on stage before the entrances being involved somehow in the decision to remove Dallas & Axel from ringside somehow, as only having them wave a bit to the crowd was a waste and not particularly interesting for the home-viewer. 

D-Generation X and Scott Hall met the Balor Club 

then...

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson def. Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder // Pinfall

The top segment from the Manhattan Center came in the form of the D-Generation X reunion and their subsequent interactions with Razor Ramon and The Balor Club. There were a few fun moments when Triple H and Shawn Michaels were out there together, but things quickly descended into one of Triple H's pre-NXT Takeover speeches, full of buzzwords and claims about D-Generation X being at the forefront for the next 25 years. Past that the reunion felt like it was the same stuff we've seen time and time again from the group and considering they did a similar segment a few years back at RAW 1000, the only special thing about the reunion was the Manhattan Center setting and the crowd chanting "1-2-3" at X-Pac. Razor Ramon turning up added a little, but Finn Balor, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson at least bought a fresh angle to things and considering that BULLET CLUB leaned heavily on tropes from DX and the Kliq it was super cool to see them interacting here and throwing up the ol' Too Sweet hand gesture. The match that followed with Gallows & Anderson going over the Revival was a deathly disappointing squash. Considering Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder would go on to take everyone's finishes after the match, I'm not sure why they had to lose the match as well, as surely a cheap victory with some underhanded tactics would have given more reason to the beatdown and also not completely cut the legs out from under the former NXT Tag Team Champions. 

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin stunned Vince and Shane McMahon 

The show peaked early with this wonderfully entertaining opening segment featuring Vince, Shane, Stephanie and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Everything from when Vinny Mac hit the ring onwards was a joy to watch as Vince and Stephanie owned their performances, peppering in some comedy around crowd funding and ripping into Brooklyn for being a bit of a shithole. It amazes me how easy it is to get an American crowd to react to stuff like that, with Brooklyn even reacting repeatedly to mentions about plaque (Vince's kids had crowdfunded him a plaque, because....that's just what happened). Once that famous glass smashed, the Barclays came unglued and it was time to head to stunner-ville. Seeing Vince having so much fun inside the ring, as he threw out reasons why Austin should stunner Shane instead, was brilliant. Seeing the joy on the 72 year old's face throughout the whole segment absolutely made this for me. The highlight for me was Vince's apparent ad-lib after Austin had stunnered Shane, as the crowd chanted "One more time" and Vince replied "I don't think Shane can take another time". The build towards Vince taking the stunner was timed perfectly, building the anticipation before delivering on what we all wanted to see.

Elias took out John Cena

Wow, I wasn't expecting to see this on the show. Elias rebuffed a John Cena comeback, nailed a low blow, guitar shot and Drift Away before leaving the 16 time World Champion laying in the centre of the ring. For me, this was the best booked segment on the entire show, as anyone tuning in to see Cena on the special episode, would've seen one of WWE's biggest star get left laying by a relative newcomer, lending the Drifter legitimacy amongst casual fans and reason for those fans to tune in for a regular episode. We also got one of my favourite Elias songs to date as he just bitched about various legends and Brooklyn booed the shit out of him. It was hardly nuanced, but boy did it work! Before the segment, Chris Jericho made a brief appearance with Elias backstage, pulling out a few catchphrases and placing The Drifter on the list. 

The APA returned and played poker with some lads...

then...

Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews vs. Heath Slater & Rhyno // No Contest  

A lot of time went into this weird storyline, that began with the APA reopening their office thing with a door but no walls and concluded with Heath Slater taking a 3D from the Dudley Boyz through a table, and I'm still trying to figure out who decided any of it was good use of time and talent. The backstage segments were poorly produced and whilst appearances from Ted DiBiase, The Usos, Montel Vontavious Porter, Jeff Hardy, Natalya and The New Day were cool to see, no one particularly stood out as the multiple segments came across as incredibly messy and unorganised. There were things that each of those non-regulars could have done that would've been far more interesting and probably taken up less time than whatever the fuck this was. Somehow we got to a match between Heath Slater & Rhyno and Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews and then the match was over. Nothing happened. It just ended because it got a bit rowdy. Slater getting thrown to the Dudley Boyz was also a thing, because it would appear Rhyno doesn't give a fuck about Slater's kids. Did you think about the kids, Rhyno? Shithead. 

Sasha Banks & Mickie James & Bayley & Asuka def. Alicia Fox & Nia Jax & Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose // Submission

Another inconsequential and down right dull match up was the opening contest of the evening. For some reason this bout was stretched across two advert breaks, with the second garnering a groan from this reviewer, but absolutely nothing of note had happened in the first two parts of the match. Asuka had a face shine, Sasha Banks was the face in peril and Banks tapped out Alicia Fox in the Banks Statement, with no hot tag or any particular feeling that such a finish was coming. Michael Cole made a big thing about there being no women's match on the first episode of RAW and to be quite honest there was the same amount of effort put into this women's match as there was back then. At least, Asuka turning on her team and throwing them over the rope after the match was a good piece of business heading into the Royal Rumble.

RAW Moments

Throughout the pre-show and beyond we got a reminder of some of the greatest moments in the shows history. These included Bobby Heenan trying to enter the Manhattan Center, Steve Austin driving a Zamboni, Mankind winning the WWF title, Eric Bischoff's debut, Lita vs. Trish Stratus as the first women's main event, The Undertaker's general career, Chris Jericho's debut, D-Geneation X invading WCW, Seth Rollins turning on The Shield, Brock Lesnar's return and the career of Edge. All well an good, I guess.

Brock Lesnar, Kane and Braun Strowman collided ahead of Royal Rumble

Whilst it seemed like creative had about six ideas for the closing segment of the show and decided to do all of them at the same time, it was Paul Heyman who ended up stealing the moment and giving us one final hard sell on the Universal Championship match at Royal Rumble on Sunday. Heyman coming out and with his usual bombast declaring that Lesnar wasn't there for a nostalgia trip, but for a fight, was delicious stuff that the crowd lapped up and actually made me excited to see the three of them scrap. For reason, the ring had some of the legends from earlier around it and some of the regular roster stood in between Strowman and Kane for a bit, before doing absolutely fuck all. The brawl between the three that will be involved in the Sunday's Universal title match didn't do a whole lot for me, being too short to offer much of an insight into the matches potential. After Lesnar hit Kane with an F5 early doors, it was Braun Strowman who ended the show standing tall following a running powerslam to Lesnar through a table.

Peep Show with Seth Rollins, Jason Jordan, Sheamus & Cesaro 

Jason Jordan has really came into his own since being placed alongside Seth Rollins and it was never more evident than it was here as the pairs uneasy partnership became the focal point of a special episode of Christian's Peep Show (definitely would've been improved by a Super Hans appearance). Jordan's overtly cocky to the point of it almost being uncomfortable to watch character was on full display, making references to his Dad whilst Rollins looked on uneasy. The interruption from The Bar provided us with a good little bit of build for their Tag Title clash at the Rumble, with the two teams scrapping as Sheamus & Cesaro had lead the crowd in a "You suck" chant directed towards Jordan. The last little bit of misscomunication between the champion as Rollins nailed Jordan with the springboard knee gave us the last bit of story development before Sunday, opening up the possibility of a title change. The segment would've been improved by an appearance from Edge as they could've pushed the tag team theme a little further, but you can't have everything in this life.

Bray Wyatt def. Matt Hardy // Pinfall 

The only other match from the Manhattan Center was this disappointingly short and straightforward contest between Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy. This has been built to for a long, long time and then just happened. To my knowledge it wasn't announced prior, which makes things even worse. To be fair, the match was ticking along rather nicely for a while as both men mixed up a number of their signature moves and poses, whilst the Manhattan Center was hot for deleting things. Then it just ended as Wyatt blocked a Twist of Fate, pulled Hardy's throat into the top rope and hit Sister Abigail to earn the win in a couple of minutes. What happens now? Wyatt won, with a slightly underhanded tactic, but in such a quick fashion that it feels like any momentum that was left from the overly long build was killed stoned dead. At least Wyatt won I suppose, that's something. 

The Undertaker said nothing

What on earth was this? Seriously, what was the point? Obviously, there's always a thrill when The Undertaker is on your television screen, but when it's five minutes of the Deadman talking but saying absolutely nothing, then you start to wonder why it's happening at all. Taker mentioned some of his old rivals and then said a cryptic sentence about them being able to rest in peace now. What? The commentary team offered no help at all either. No interaction with anyone, no development to a story and no important announcement, this was five mind-numbing minutes of nothing fucking happening. The Manhattan Center got screwed. 

Also...

Eric Bischoff joined the pre-show panel for a chat about his RAW debut, in which we learnt absolutely nothing new...In another waste of talents, Trish Stratus, Kelly Kelly, The Bella Twins, Maria Kanellis, Maryse, Michelle McCool, Torrie Wilson, Lilian Garcia, Jacqueline and Terri Runnels came out and waved at the crowd...The New Day's hilarious lip sync battle with Triple H & Stephanie McMahon from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon aired on the pre-show...The Boogeyman, Teddy Long, Jonathan Coachman, The Brooklyn Brawler, Brother Love and Harvey Wippleman appeared in a segment in Kurt Angle's office...AJ Styles featured in a fun interview segment with "Mean" Gene Okerlund discussing his WWE Championship defence at Royal Rumble...SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair bumped in RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, before Charlotte's Dad Ric Flair arrived to do some Wooing and what have you...Mark Henry and The Godfather caught up backstage...

Finally...

Lets be honest, RAW 25 was a massive let down, especially if you happened to be inside the Manhattan Center. "Stone Cold" and the McMahons, John Cena and Elias and The Peep Show segments were the only ones that I felt fully delivered, whilst Roman Reigns vs. The Miz was a solid, yet unspectacular main event. D-Generation X and Balor Club was fun, but the squash of the Revival frustrating, whilst all of the matches felt throw away and the legends backstage segments fell flat. Perhaps the most disappointing thing on the show was The Undertaker's appearance, which promised a lot and delivered nothing. Here's hoping the Royal Rumble manages to live up to the hype better than this.