In this week's edition of Raw, we find out who will fill some of the remaining spots in the men's Elimination Chamber as well as who will challenge for Alexa Bliss' Raw Women's Championship in the women's Elimination Chamber match.
Rather than opening credits and entrances, the show opens with backstage promos from Wyatt and Reigns. Bray says that he’s going to put Roman down and kill his confidence, and Roman responds by saying that no one will stop him (not even Brock Lesnar) from becoming Universal champion.
An unexpected switch from the normal intro, I was thrown off a bit that they’d just go straight into the first segment. However, I kind of liked it. While I’m not sure if it makes the show more sports-like or entertainment-like, I do know that it looks like they’re attempting to change Raw up a bit, with new theme music and graphics (I’ve also noticed a change in Smackdown’s style, with promos taken on phones and added words to them). It’s likely they’re trying to find subtle ways to differentiate the brands, which is kinda cool in my opinion.
Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Winner: Roman Reigns
As the bell rings, the two lock up. Wyatt is sent into the turnbuckle and does the thing where he uses the ropes to flip his head upside down, spooking Reigns a bit. These two have a heated history, and the commentators bring that up a bit. Wyatt sends Roman shoulder-first into the post, gaining him the advantage momentarily.
Matt Hardy is seen backstage several times, watching the match. It seems that Bray has been getting the upper hand throughout most of the match. Bray goes into the Sister Abigail but is countered by the Superman Punch, which doesn’t put him away. He finally hits his finisher, but Roman kicks out too. Reigns spears Wyatt and gets the victory.
I’m sort of surprised that Bray didn’t lose to interference, but I’m also not surprised. Last week, Wyatt’s interference caused Hardy to lose last week, but we are all so used to Bray jobbing to people like Roman Reigns that it’s pretty believable. After the match, Matt appears in the ring to give Bray a Twist of Fate. This rivalry continues, and for once, I hope Bray loses this feud.
Seth Rollins confronts Jason Jordan last week about his little injuries. He says this is their last chance at the tag titles. He’s wearing an “Iowa’s Own” version of his shirt, which is really cool for fans at the show in Des Moines.
Balor Club (Finn Balor and Karl Anderson) vs. The Revival
Winner: Balor Club
The Revival comes out and introduces themselves again as tag team specialists. When the match begins, Dash Wilder quickly goes for the tag to his partner, Scott Dawson. Anderson takes out both Dawson and Wilder, and Balor comes in the ring to help. They clear the ring and give one another a Too Sweet.
The Revival works on the left shoulder of Balor, and Finn counters as both teams get tags. Dawson saves his partner from a dropkick, but doesn’t save himself from a Spinebuster. Balor gives Dawson a slingblade, followed by a Coup De Grace and a 3-count.
I’m kinda surprised by the lack of tag team skill from the Revival in this match. For the amount they boast as tag team specialists, there were very few times they actually worked together as a team. It’s good that the Balor Club got over, but they could’ve helped Dash and Dawson more in the process.
Bayley approaches Sasha Banks in the locker room, who is re-watching her match against Asuka from last week allegedly for the thousandth time. She tells her best friend that she knows how she can beat her now, but when Bayley asks for tips, she keeps them to herself. Here, we see another rift in the friendship—Sasha is just doing what she has to do to get to the top, and if Bayley is in the way, she’s not gonna hesitate to get her out. Bayley says she knows that she can beat Sasha, so she can subsequently beat Asuka.
Small segments like these that question the strength of the friendship between Sasha and Bayley are getting fans more and more excited. Hopefully, we can see these two meet in the Elimination Chamber match and possibly even at Wrestlemania. They’ve stolen the show before, and they could totally do it again.
Drew Gulak and Tony Nese vs. Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali
Winner: Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali
At the start, it’s revealed that Drake Maverick if going to be at commentary. The WWE must have a lot of high hopes and trust for Maverick, and rightfully so. Drake got off to a rocky start last week (not his fault), but putting him on commentary for this match can win over some of the casual fans.
Drew Gulak knocks Alexander off the top rope with a lariat, and Cedric lands roughly on his shoulder. Alexander tags in Mustafa Ali, who delivers a killer dropkick to the face of Gulak. Not long after, Cedric delivers a Lumbar Check to Drew, earning the victory.
This matchup was unsurprisingly fantastic. These four men are probably the best on the 205 Live roster, and even when they lose, they’re entertaining. For the fans who watch these cruiserweight matches, they continue to be impressed and have high hopes for Drake Maverick.
Kurt Angle announces competitors the first ever women’s Elimination Chamber match
Angle announces that Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sonya Deville, and Sasha Banks will join Alexa Bliss in the Elimination Chamber. Surprisingly, Nia Jax is left out of this match. Instead, if she beats Asuka at Elimination Chamber, she can be added to Asuka’s Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania.
Alexa Bliss comes out to the ring, and she is (understandably) not happy. She’s mad that she has to defend the title in the Chamber while the Universal Champion Brock Lesnar just gets to sit out and see who wins the men’s Chamber match. She wonders why she doesn’t get that privilege—“Is it because I’m just a woman?” He tries to counter with the fact that she hasn’t defended her title since October, but she points out that he’s the one making the matches.
Bliss serves some realness when she says “do you value Brock Lesnar more than you do me?”. She is out for equality and calls Angle out for being sexist. Finally, someone points out how Brock Lesnar is put above everyone else in the company! Angle diverts by asking the audience if they want Alexa to be in the Elimination Chamber, which results in surrounding cheers.
This may be Alexa’s best promo yet. While she points all this out for personal reasons (she clearly wants to stay out of that chamber), she definitely has a point—why should Lesnar be able to skip out on a pay per view? Here’s why—because Brock Lesnar gets to do whatever he wants. For some reason, Vince treats him as far above the other wrestlers, even though he’s not nearly as good as them (I’m going to save this tangent for another day).
Bayley vs. Asuka
Winner: Asuka
Bayley starts the match in control, but soon, they’re exchanging blows. Bayley tries to get Asuka in headlocks and armlocks, but Asuka seems to reverse every move. The Hugger resorts to a hurricanrana outside the ring and sending her opponent into the barricade in order to get an advantage.
It isn’t long until Asuka is back to dominating the match with violent kicks to Bayley’s stomach and chest. The two women go back and forth, gaining brief advantages via reversals. Bayley gets a close rollup, but Asuka then locks in the Asuka lock. Bayley taps and Asuka retains her undefeated streak. The two women shake hands after the match, something Asuka and Sasha did not do.
This bout made both women look pretty strong—Bayley held her own against the Empress of Tomorrow. The commentators made note of Bayley and Sasha’s current “friendship” throughout the match. Putting Sasha and Bayley in consecutive matches with Asuka allows fans to compare the two, and it keeps their budding rivalry alive, while still making the Royal Rumble winner look even better.
The Miz vs. Apollo Crews
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match
Winner: The Miz
The match kicks off with several attempted pins by both competitors. Crews displays his usual athleticism with flips and kicks to the face. Is it bad that I’m getting bored of Crews’ incredible skill? It’s entertaining, but it really means nothing if he’s a part of a storyline in which he loses more often than he wins.
The Miz knocks Crews off the top rope and catches him in the Skull Crushing FInale, getting the pin and qualifying him for the Elimination Chamber match. There is now only one spot left in the Chamber match, one that will be made up of a second chance match—Finn Balor, Apollo Crews, Matt Hardy, and Bray Wyatt.
Backstage, Jason Jordan tells Seth Rollins that due to a neck injury, he cannot compete tonight. Exasperated, Rollins doesn’t know what to do, until he looks around. Roman Reigns walks in, and fans cheer for yet another mini Shield reunion. Angle allows Roman to take Jordan’s place in the tag team championship match
The Bar vs. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns
Raw Tag Team Championship Rematch
Winners: Sheamus and Cesaro
Early on, Sheamus and Cesaro utilize the double team to drill Rollins into the corner. When Rollins tags in Reigns, they do the same to Cesaro, looking at Sheamus and seemingly mocking the two.
Roman and Seth didn’t miss a beat after not teaming for an extended period of time. On several occasions, they work together to gain advantage. However, The Bar do the same, and Cesaro distracts the referee as Sheamus kicks Reigns in the face from the apron. Even after more double teaming, Reigns kicks out. As soon as the fans get hyped for a hot tag to their hometown guy, Sheamus attacks Rollins before Reigns can tag him in.
Jason Jordan comes out to the ring, and somehow makes his walk annoying. He helps Rollins up and actually does something right, getting Seth to the apron so Roman can tag him in. He hits Cesaro with a blockbuster form the second rope, and sends both him and Sheamus out of the ring (and Cesaro into the crowd). Cesaro reverses the curb stomp, but gets caught in the Falcon Arrow.
Reigns and Jordan argue outside of the ring, and Jordan goes to leave when Sheamus and Cesaro seemingly retreat. Jason stops them, and when they argue about leaving, Jordan punches Cesaro in the head, giving his “partners” a DQ.
Backstage, Seth Rollins is yelling at Jason Jordan. Angle interferes before Rollins can get his hands on his son, but Rollins admits he’s just upset that he didn’t hurt Jordan himself.
The fans chant “this is awesome”, and they’re right. This was easily the match of the night as both teams displayed great teamwork and power. This match was great on its own in terms of wrestling, but when Jordan came out to screw something up yet again, it furthered the storyline. It looks like Rollins can’t take much more from Jason Jordan—will this come to fruition at Elimination Chamber?
Nia Jax vs. Vanessa Floyd
Winner: Nia Jax
Jax easily disposes of the enhancement talent, further cementing her as the Irresistible Force. Following the match, she speaks with Renee Young, saying she’s the only one in the locker room that’s not afraid of Asuka. When Nia’s done with her, Asuka will be the Empress of Yesterday.
Nia’s character has definitely matured in the past couple weeks. She seems genuinely terrifying, and the more she talks, the scarier she seems. She deserves a singles opportunity at an undefeated Asuka at Elimination Chamber, and it’ll be great to see a women’s singles match that isn’t for a championship at a PPV.
Sonya Deville vs. Mickie James
Winner: Mickie James
Mickie James brings it against the intimidating Deville early on in the match, seemingly throwing her off. Mandy gets on the apron, distracting the referee and allowing her best friend to gain the advantage. Sonya kicks and throws James around. James gets a shocking rollup victory.
Not long after, Absolution is attacking James. Alexa surprisingly comes out to save Mickie, and both of them look confused as they retreat up the ramp. What does this mean, if anything?
Elias vs. John Cena vs. Braun Strowman
Winner gets sixth entrance at Elimination Chamber
Winner: Elias
At the start of the match, Elias dips out of the ring whenever Strowman looks at him. Cena attempts to lift Strowman, but falls on his face. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not, but it makes Strowman look pretty good (not that he needed it). Cena and Elias team up to target Strowman, driving him into the post three times and hitting him with the steel steps and Elias’ guitar.
Cena gets Strowman up on his shoulders again, and this time successfully administers the AA onto the steps. Elias capitalizes on a tired Cena, sending him into the ring and gaining the advantage. Cena gets his burst of energy, but it’s quickly diminished by Strowman, who slams him to the mat. Elias sends Strowman out of the ring and gets the 3-count on Cena.
An angry Braun Strowman gives Elias and Cena a couple more power slams each as the crowd cheers him on. Strowman is able to end the night on top (even though it’s not as crazy and shocking as his last few weeks have been) while still making Elias look good with a main event victory.
It’s good to see Elias participating in Raw’s main event (let alone winning it), especially with stars as big as Strowman and Cena. It seemed predictable that Strowman would win, so fans were shocked when the Drifter pulled off a victory. Elias is a great talent, and he’s especially deserving of this opportunity after holding his own against John Cena and a series of fantastic in-ring concerts.
Originally, I didn’t like how we already were going to find out the last entrant in the Chamber match, even if it created a main event, as I thought it would ruin the surprise that the Elimination Chamber holds. With a surprise like Elias coming in the Chamber last, it makes him less of an afterthought in the Chamber match, and it’s not impossible for him to actually win.
留言