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Raw Recap and Review 4/23/18


source: WWE

On Raw this week, we get a face off between Lesnar and Reigns ahead of their steel cage title match, as well as a 10 woman main event.



source: WWE

Brock Lesnar returns

Lesnar and Paul Heyman come out to the ring, and Paul gloats about how Lesnar conquers everyone he steps in the ring with. He says that Brock looks forward to being in a steel cage with Roman Reigns this Friday at the Greatest Royal Rumble.


Reigns’ music hits, and the crowd cheers for him more than they ever have. Roman admits that he doesn’t know how he’s getting back, but he knows that he’s coming back with the title—then he leaves.


Opinion:

I was surprised when there wasn’t the usual huge pop for Lesnar when his music hit, but I was happy to hear a sort of silence. I’m glad fans are finally catching on to Lesnar’s irritating part time, short matches. Like all of the other fans, I’ll be angry if Lesnar walks away with the title on Friday.



source: WWE

Bobby Roode vs. Elias

Winner: Elias


Highlights:

  • Elias sends Roode shoulder first into the post

  • Roode hits Elias with a clothesline from the top rope

  • Bobby Roode gives Elias a blockbuster off the top rope

  • Elias capitalizes on Roode getting back in the ring by pulling his arm and knocking his head into the top rope

  • Elias rolls Bobby up for the victory


Opinion:

I’m glad Elias was being put over, but with Roode’s transition to Raw last week, the next few weeks will be make or break for his career. I’m worried that if Roode continues to lose, he will join the lower “jobber” card, which would be unfortunate.



source: WWE

Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy vs. The Ascension

Winners: Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy


Highlights:

  • Hardy applauds Viktor’s “wheel of cart” and the crowd gives him a standing ovation

  • Matt Hardy gives Viktor a Side Effect

  • Wyatt delivers a Sister Abigail to Konnor

  • Hardy tags in Wyatt and they double team a modified Twist of Fate for the win


Opinion:

With the backstage promos and combination of theme songs, the “Deleter of Worlds” team has been gaining more and more traction on Raw. The one thing that doesn’t make sense to me is that Sheamus and Cesaro will be in the match for the Raw titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble. We know that the Bar is on Samckdown now, so shouldn’t Kurt Angle take them out of that match? He already lost the United States Championship by trading Jeff Hardy to Smackdown—why would Angle logically allow the Bar to have an opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championships?



source: WWE

The Sami and Kevin Show

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens host their new show to replace the Miz, whom they recognize as one of the best of all time. They advertise that they (together?) will win the Greatest Royal Rumble before singing Kurt Angle’s “you suck” chant to introduce him.


Angle comes out and KO gives him a lawn chair to sit in while he and Sami sit in office chairs. Owens and Zayn make fun of Jason Jordan, “forgetting” that he was one of his six kids and claiming that it’s okay because Kurt forgot about him too.


Kurt tells Sami and KO that he, along with Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho, will be a part of the GRR in Saudi Arabia on Friday. Angle makes a match: Sami and Kevin vs. Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman.


Opinion:

Kevin and Sami's new talk show only brought success. The layout was funny and different from usual segments of that nature, and these men always bring it on the mic. Owens and Zayn seemingly never look weak, even when facing off against Braun and Lashley.



source: WWE

Titus Worldwide vs. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre

Winners: Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre


Highlights:

  • Apollo runs into McIntyre’s boot as McIntyre stands on the apron

  • Ziggler gives Crews a couple kicks in the face and Crews is launched into an Alabama slam by McIntyre

  • Dolph and Drew hit the Claymore into the Zig Zag for the three count

  • In a post-match interview, Ziggler says that he knows Drew has his back

  • McIntyre says that the locker room has no drive or ambition, and the superstars should be afraid


Opinion:

Drew McIntyre is a beast—Apollo Crews is huge but is made to look like a child next to McIntyre. This partnership is mutually beneficial. Ziggler’s career is revitalized, and Drew McIntyre is fantastic in the ring and on the microphone.



source: WWE

Jinder Mahal vs. Chad Gable

Winner: Chad Gable


Highlights:

  • Before the match, Gable thanks Kurt Angle for the opportunity to be on Raw

  • Jinder makes fun of Gable, and their argument leads to a match

  • Mahal whips Gable chest first into the corner

  • Gable catches Mahal in the back of the neck with a rolling kick

  • Chad Gable escapes the Khallas and rolls Mahal up for the win


Opinion:

Based on the way Chad Gable has been portrayed in his Raw debut, it looks like he will be an underdog character. With Gable’s great in-ring skill and his genuinely likable babyface character. If this goes well, he could be similar to Daniel Bryan, and I think that would be great.



source: WWE

Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Winners: Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley


Highlights:

  • Lashley presses his foot on Owens’ neck in the corner

  • Owens sends Lashley out of the ring and hits him with a running senton outside the ring

  • Lashley tosses Zayn over his head and across the ring

  • Owens sweeps Strowman off the apron

  • Braun delivers brutal clotheslines to Kevin out of the ring and Sami in the ring

  • Strowman hits KO and Sami with hard shoulders and a dropkick

  • Sami tries to escape up the ramp but Bobby grabs him and sends him in the ring

  • Lashley holds Zayn in a vertical suplex for almost a minute and drops him

  • Braun gives Sami a running powerslam for the three count


Opinion:

This match was great—Strowman and Lashley both looked terrifying (Braun already did, but this really helped Bobby in his return to Raw), but the beat down of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn didn’t really harm their characters. They got what was coming to them and it was great to watch.



source: WWE

No Way Jose vs. Baron Corbin

Winner: N/A (match never started)


Highlights:

  • Baron Corbin cuts a promo on how Jose isn’t on his level

  • Corbin refuses to have a match with Jose

  • Jose continues the dance party after Corbin exits

  • As No Way Jose is about to leave, Corbin ambushes him and beats the crap out of him on the stage


Opinion:

Not even a month after his main roster debut, No Way Jose seems like a joke. Baron Corbin is a true heel when he refuses to compete because he’s too good to face Jose. Corbin is right: he is on another level (it’s not hard to be on another level than Jose).


Every time I see him, I wonder—why does someone who comes out dancing with a conga line want to wrestle? If he is trying to have fun, why doesn’t he go to a club or a party? Why is wrestling fun to him?



source: WWE

Seth Rollins and Finn Balor vs. the Miztourage

Winners: Seth Rollins and Finn Balor


Highlights:

  • Dallas distracts Balor and Balor runs into a punch in the head

  • Rollins hits Axel off the top rope with a clothesline

  • Seth Rollins hits a stomp on Axel before tagging in Balor

  • Balor delivers a Coup De Grace to Axel for the pin


Opinion:

I like how Rollins and Balor looks like friends so close to their match on Friday, and I like that it’s a ladder match as well. With Bo and Curtis looking for a new mentor, I’m glad the babyfaces declined their offer. What I don’t understand is why Samoa Joe is now in this ladder match. He has 0 ties to all three men; why couldn’t they just put him in the rumble and have him eliminate 5 people?



source: WWE

Alexa Bliss, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan and Mickie James vs. Nia Jax, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Ember Moon and Natalya

Winners: Alexa Bliss, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan and Mickie James (DQ)


Highlights:

  • Ember Moon handsprings into an elbow to Liv Morgan in the corner

  • Moon hits Morgan with a suicide dive

  • Mickie James presses her shoe into Sasha Banks’ face and against the rope

  • Natalya traps James in the sharpshooter but Sarah Logan takes out her knee to break it up

  • James kicks Nattie out of the ring and she lays outside with a leg injury

  • Nia Jax runs off the apron and into every woman in the match outside the ring

  • Natalya gets up and Mickie attacks her

  • Ronda Rousey comes out and James dropkicks her

  • Rousey drops James and gets her in an arm bar, causing a DQ


Opinion:

This main event was one of the best in a while—the women bring it every time they get an opportunity. While 10 women in a match seemed like a lot at times, each superstar was given an opportunity to show what they have in their match.


While the ending with Ronda Rousey did seem like it was fitting all the women in at the end a little bit, I think it was done right. Ronda has been on TV for weeks in a row, and having her interfere in this match to help Natalya makes her look intimidating as awell as builds more of a storyline with her friend, which I assume will result in Rousey’s first singles match.

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