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 // 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 // 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