Nice opening tribute to Blackjack Mulligan.
Tonight’s exciting RAW starts hot with Shane McMahon. Yep, despite losing to the Undertaker at WrestleMania, he is running RAW. This, is a good thing. Shane is good on the mic and fans love him. His appearance easily ignites a live crowd. He books some matches for the night, and is interrupted by Kevin Owens. Seeing them mouth off to each other is something I never thought possible. Owens wants a rematch for his Intercontinental Championship, however Shane says he has to go through Cesaro first.
We get a crazy, insane, fast paced, awesome match. The back and forth was so fluid, there were no moments of hesitation. The finish, was fantastic. Cesaro pulls a reversal from the Pop Up Powerbomb and pins Owens.
Favorite moment during the match, Owens knocks JBL’s hat, Owens stops and apologizes. He is so good at the verbal banter during matches.
After the match Owens threatens Shane about hurting Zayn, so Shane just boots him from the building.
Backstage: Dr. Phil chats with Ric Flair and Charlotte. The TV personality offers advice to Charlotte, then “woos” in Ric’s face. Funny, but a bit odd segment.
The New Day are out next, and they announce, sponsored by Booty-Os, the Tag Team #1 Contender Tournamnent. The graphic for the brackets is hysterical. The New Day are hysterical.
Our first tournament match features The Lucha Dragons vs. The Dudley Boyz. Unfortunately this match does not go long as Kalisto appears injured after a nasty spill, leaving the Dudleys dominating Sin Cara for the rest of the match. He eats the 3D. Fun times begin as Enzo and Cass arrive for more verbal jibes. Love it.
Roman Regins comes out to talk, again, and the crowd boos the hell out of him. I think Reigns is trying to make “I’m the guy” a thing for merchandise. I don’t see it working. He can’t really work this gimmick knowing he is hated. You can see him struggling. Out comes the League of Nations, but before they can attack, The Wyatt Family shows up. This is crazy. I never thought I would see them booked as a face. We cheer them no matter what, but this blows my mind. Shane then books Reigns and Bray Wyatt to team up against the League in the main event.
Another promo for The Colons. Come on, you know we just want Carlito! That’s Cool!
We get a solid match between Charlotte and Natalya. Please build this one right. This is a Women’s Championship match. How I love saying that. One of the best things to come out of WrestleMania. Natalya seems to have the match won, except Ric Flair sort of interferes, causing the ref to DQ Charlotte, ignoring the fact she tapped out to the Sharpshooter.
The Usos defeat Curtis Axel and Heath Slater. We don’t care about this. We do care about THE BULLET CLUB members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson storming the ring and completely demolishing The Usos. The crowd exploded. I exploded. We all exploded. Michael Bay would be having a picnic right about now. The Usos are faces, right? We don’t care anymore. WWE needs to understand The Usos are not over anymore. Hell, I could send my kids to beat up the Usos and they would get a crowd pop. But, my kids are not The Bullet Club. While not acknowledged as Bullet Club, it is safe to say everyone by now knows who they are.
This makes things very interesting now. Wow.
Miz and Maryse are backstage, putting more investment into the Hollywood arrogance gimmick. Maryse does a better job than Miz tonight. Blue M&Ms. Sheesh.
Up next should be considered match of the decade. Okay, not quite, but mere descriptions in a recap does not do justice. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn is a must-watch. Again, like the pace of the show, this one is also fast-paced and just so smooth. They feed off the crowd so well, and vice-versa, the crowd just erupted at everything. We got our big spots, the signature moves out-of-nowhere. One thing I noticed, is it seems Zayn is not hitting the Helluva Kick, and winds up getting clobbered in the corner. Can’t be a signature move if he isn’t allowed to connect. AJ Styles wins with the diving forearm for the pinfall win.
Shot of Seth Green in the crowd.
Backstage, Shane McMahon is with Zayn and Styles who shake hands. Please no angle. Just let it be.
Chris Jericho is hosting himself on the Highlight Reel. We know this will be interrupted by his next feud. Praise Primus, it is Dean Ambrose. The guy is freaking hysterical. Sloppy tie, puts a sign over the Jeritron 5000. Ambrose is hysterical, Jericho’s expressions at being flustered are great. Y2J eats the Dirty Deeds tonight.
Apollo Crews destroys Adam Rose. Talented big man, but will all he do is squash jobbers?
Our main event features Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt against Alberto del Rio and Sheamus with Rusev. Yes, no more Wade Barrett. I cry. Call me crazy, but this match was definitely enjoyable. Reigns and Bray actually made a solid team. While not the best trio, the League did a good job of fast tags and even ring time. Sheamus and Del Rio seemed to have the most ringtime. When it seemed as though Bray was about to take the fall, the lights go off, and back on as Strowman and Rowan appear to even the odds. Reigns and Wyatt dispatch their foes, then face off with each other to close the show. Crowd erupted.
Roman Reigns is facing AJ Styles at the next PPV, but now suddenly we are shifting towards Bray Wyatt. I would love to see the WWE Championshp on Wyatt.
