Following a historic Royal Rumble pay per view, Raw deals with fallout and prepares for their next pay per view, Elimination Chamber.
Sasha confronts Asuka
Stephanie gives a brief recap of last night’s historic women’s Rumble match and welcomes out the winner, Asuka. As Asuka states that no one is ready for her, Sasha Banks interrupts and claims that she is ready for Asuka. Stephanie steps in and creates the match for tonight.
After an impressive showing at the Royal Rumble in which she lasted nearly an hour, Sasha calls out Asuka in a brave manner. Sasha could be slowly turning heel after eliminating her best friend Bayley in the Rumble, and challenging the winner of the Rumble could be beneficial to both of these women. With both of these women’s phenomenal performances last night, this match can only build them up even more.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Braun Strowman vs. Kane (Last Man Standing)
Winner: Braun Strowman
From the get-go, Strowman and Kane utilize tables, chairs, and stairs, and this match doesn’t even last five minutes. The action spills out into the crowd and makes it way toward the announce table when Strowman turns over the entire platform with the announce table on top of Kane.
The winner of this wasn’t a surprise and seemed a bit predictable, but by now it’s just exciting to see what destruction Braun Strowman can cause next.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Elias vs. Matt Hardy
Winner: Elias
Elias comes to the ring and sings about how he’s going to win the Elimination Chamber and beat Brock Lesnar when he’s interrupted by the Woken Warrior. Throughout the match, Elias seems to retain most of the control. Just as Matt Hardy claims he will use the Twist of Fate, Bray Wyatt’s mini vignette blacks out the arena. Matt is distracted, and Elias uses the Drift Away to pick up the victory. Bray Wyatt is on the screen, laughing hysterically.
WWE really seems to like Elias, which is good because he’s talented both in and out of the ring. It’s unclear where Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt’s storyline will go (to a pay per view preshow near you), due to the fact that Bray beat Hardy clean at Raw 25 last week, taking away some of the steam from this rivalry.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: The Miz
Reigns invokes his rematch clause after losing the Intercontinental Championship at Raw 25. After some back and forth in which Miz targets Reigns’ knee, the Miz is laying outside the ring as his Miztourage tends to him. Roman grabs a chair and chases them off, then turning back to his opponent. He resists the temptation to use the steel chair on the Miz, knowing he would disqualify himself and waste his opportunity at the championship.
The Miz regains some momentum, but is shut down by three clotheslines and a boot to the face from the Big Dog. Miz attacks Reigns’ knee injury with the Figure Four leg lock and when Reigns escapes, he tries to remove the turnbuckle but is caught. The ref misses Miz’s thumb to Roman’s eye, and the Miz hits the Skull-Crushing Finale. Roman locks in another Superman Punch. The Miztourage comes back out to the ring and distracts Reigns so Miz can recoup. The referee checks on the Miz and Roman attacks the Miztourage with his two finishers. The Miz gets a rollup pin on Roman and retains the title.
Hopefully, this is the end of Roman vs. Miz. The Mix deserves another decently long reign and Roman can move on to other things. If this rivalry lasts longer, it’ll get tired and fans don’t want to see Reigns win anyway.
The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson vs. Heath Slater and Rhyno
Winner: Dash and Dawson
This match was likely put together to make the Revival look good. Commentators made emphasis on their aptitude to target certain body parts as they attack Heath Slater’s arm. They make a point to talk together about their game plan during the match, and they finish Ryhno off with a Shatter Machine.
Post-match, the Revival cuts a promo on how the fans don’t care about real tag team wrestling and that they just want to get themselves over. I really like this gimmick, and if they don’t keep losing (besides to jobber teams like Slater and Rhyno), they can have an impact in the tag division.
WWE airs a promo about the Dudley Boyz, the newest inductees to the 2018 Hall of Fame. Several superstars talk about how impactful their career was, and clips of their best matches and accomplishments over the years are incorporated.
Sasha Banks vs. Asuka
Winner: Asuka
Asuka controls the match from the beginning, screaming in Japanese as she embarrasses the Boss. When Sasha gains the upper hand, she seems to fight a bit more aggressively, slapping Asuka around and holding submissions for a bit after the referee stops her.
When Sasha attempts a suicide dive to Asuka out of the ring, Asuka kicks her in the head and causes her to land on her head. This move was terrifying to watch, and for a moment, as Banks lay outside the ring motionless, I thought her career could’ve been over. Thankfully, she got up and was hit in the face with a knee that could’ve broken her nose less than a minute after. After more scary looking spots, Asuka locks in the Asuka Lock and Banks taps out.
It is clear that Sasha is passionate and talented in the ring, and she’s willing to endure some ugly moves to prove that. It seems almost common for her to nearly injure herself in every match, and while it keeps fans on the edge of their seats, it’s also terrifying and probably not good for her long-term. Both women put it all out there in this match and they made it clear that they’re the most talented women on Raw. I hope to see more from Sasha’s slow heel turn.
Raw Tag Team Championship Match
The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) vs. Titus Worldwide (Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews)
Winner: The Bar
This match was particularly good for Apollo Crews, as he showed off his flips and There was a scary spot where Sheamus slammed Crews onto his neck, and another where he slammed him shoulder first into the ring post which sounded pretty nasty.
Other than good spots from Apollo Crews here and there, the match was average, not much really stood out, and it seemed like a filler so the Bar could look good as they’re fresh off their title victory at the Royal Rumble. There were a couple good teamwork moments for the Raw Tag Team Champions, but it seemed strange that after losing to Titus Worldwide two times in a row, they would pull off a decisive victory.
WWE recalls the debut of Ronda Rousey at the Royal Rumble, emphasizing the impact she will have on the women’s division. However, she didn’t show up at Raw, completely contradicting her statements that she will be full-time in WWE and won’t just show up to main event big pay per views. This harmed her character and credibility in the WWE and was a missed opportunity for WWE to get more eyes on their product following a surprise appearance at the Rumble.
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Finn Balor vs. John Cena
Finn seems to be getting most of the cheers at the beginning of the match following his impressive showing in the Royal Rumble match, lasting 57 minutes. The match begins with takedowns and holds, and Cena seems a little frustated with Balor’s counters. While the match goes back and forth, John Cena is noticeably allowing the Philadelphia crowd get to his as they boo him heavily.
Distracted by the fans, Cena takes too long executing the Five Knuckle Shuffle, allowing Balor to counter it. Cena takes control again, and tries to put Finn in the AA, but Finn escapes again. Cena finally hits the AA, but Balor kicks out and Cena is visibly upset. We normally don’t see this much emotion from Cena and it looks like he’s about to give up. Balor misses the Coup De Grace, and when he goes up for a second attempt, Cena jumps up and gives him an AA off the top rope.
It feels good to finally see Balor start to get to perform in main event matches with higher profile superstars. While the Bullet Club in WWE is getting a slow rise to prominence, it’s crucial for him to get wins. It seems strange that Balor wouldn’t be included in the Elimination Chamber match, and one can only hope the company has something better for him.
John Cena debuted a new character tonight—it’s not normal for him to be upset when he’s not winning a match and he doesn’t normally complain or show much emotion at all. Could this be possibly leading to something more, such as a heel turn?
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