Well, the Elimination Chamber is through and were are setting the pieces together for the Raw portion of Wrestlemania. Overall, this was an enjoyable episode of Raw. There were some good things, but then again, there were some puzzling things. Keep in mind, we do still have about six weeks to go to the big show. Hopefully, everything sorts itself out. Well, let’s get into the thick of things:
John Cena and The Path of Wrestlemania: John Cena is in a peculiar predicament. He was THE guy for the past 10+ years, but has been on a bit of a losing streak as of late. Losses in the Royal Rumble, gauntlet match to Seth Rollins, and the Elimination Chamber has really shaken him up. He’s lost a step and there’s no clear path to Wrestlemania for him (c’mon now. An active John Cena not at Mania?).
Now, in a spirited promo, Cena teased The Undertaker which got a big pop from the crowd. Then, quickly dispelled that idea and announced he was going to Smackdown tonight. Desperate Cena is interesting. He sees that the window is closing – the 17-time championship reign might just stay tied. The logical thing would be for him to challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for his opportunity. This will all lead back to The Undertaker at some point.
Those Damn Part-Timers: I’m not sure what happened to Brock Lesnar this week. He was advertised for Raw, but didn’t show up. Thankfully, Roman Reigns was able to take advantage of this in one of his best promos – probably ever. You know what? Roman had a point. Reigns came down to the ring met with the usual smattering of boos from the crowd, but was able to to bring up a good point.
Roman Reigns is there every week, regardless if you love or hate him. Brock is the guy that comes around every once in a while. Oh, by the way, he was in Vegas with Dana White while the pay-per-view was happening. Remember what Alexa Bliss said about Brock a couple weeks ago? Now, we have to wait and see if this will carry over for the long stretch. For now, Reigns got the fans on his side.
Intercontinental Title Party: If you don’t know by now, The Miz cuts a damn good promo. The Miz has movies, a new reality TV series, and has the title that’s actually been on the show. Yet, he has no merch and not on the promotional material.
Of course, Kurt Angle makes him pay with matches against both Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Rollins is completely on fire right now. Since the gauntlet match, he has made a hard case for being one of the top guys on the Raw brand and logical choice to challenge Roman after Wrestlemania.
This match was no different. This time, the cherry on top was an impressive frog splash that was almost the length of the ring. The Finn Balor match was a little bit more methodical in The Miz taking advantage of the height difference. Balor would get crafty to pick up the win.
There are three elements to this:
The Miz is on the cusp of Intercontinental title immortality in breaking the record. He also wants his (well-deserved) respect. Beating both Seth Rollins and Finn Balor at Wrestlemania would gain that in a hurry.
Seth Rollins and Finn Balor already have history from their Universal title feud that got cut short due to Finn’s shoulder injury. You saw the look of disgust on Rollins’s face when Balor came out. He can make the case that Balor got the win only after he wore The Miz down first. There’s a lot here and it will be interesting to see how they play it.
Let’s Get Rowdy!: For Ronda Rousey’s second night, not bad at all! She came down to the ring with her UFC strut and was much more comfortable on the mic. Rousey gave the impression that she was supposed to give in that she’s supposed to be a bad ass.
Stephanie McMahon apologized for slapping Ronda at Elimination Chamber, but Kurt Angle still recanted what he said. Again, you have this dynamic of The Authority punking the GM. The punch from Triple H to Kurt Angle came off a little weird. Going down the road, you can assume that there will be a tag match with all parties at Wrestlemania. Hopefully, we get to build Kurt’s character back to the confident, Olympic gold metal winner that will stand up for his new talent. It would be something new for an authority figure to conquer the authority.
Who Wants To Run From Braun?: So Braun Strowman, the man who eliminated five other men in the Elimination Chamber gets a fire extinguisher turned on him? Sadly, it feels like both men are the odd men out when it comes to Wrestlemania plans. For these two men, it can’t feel like both are bound for a pre-show match. ESPECIALLY Braun.
Another Six Women Tag: The problem with these six women tag team matches is that they try to fit a lot of story lines into one match. On one hand, you have Alexa Bliss which we can assume be facing Asuka. (Did Asuka officially choose?) I’m not sure why Mickie James was at Alexa’s side. Didn’t she learn from the last time they paired up?
The x factor is Nia Jax. I feel that she gets into the Wrestlemania match somehow. Otherwise, you would have a bunch of talented women who stole the show at Elimination Chamber and almost half are on the outside looking in.
The other underlying situation was Bayley and Sasha Banks. The refusal of the tag was another good step in the eventual match between them two. Sasha eliminated her in the Royal Rumble and broke the truce in the Elimination Chamber. It’s good to see that Bayley is reacting and showing a more aggressive side.
Deletion: The feud between Bray Wyatt and (Woken) Matt Hardy needs a new wrinkle and with the quickness. The WWE has access to the other elements of “woken-ness” now. Bring in Senor Benjamin, Vanguard One, and the Hardy Compound. This cannot just be a conventional match between the two. It has to have some theatrics to it in order to feel different.
The Bar Has Been Set..Now What?: The Bar beat Titus Worldwide in a 2/3 falls match, rather convincingly. So who is next down the line? There is The Revival waiting in the wings. Also, a team from NXT called the Authors of Pain could be making their impact on the Raw roster very soon.
