Monday Night RAW in OKC: WWE Kicks Things Off in a “Big” Way

Monday Night RAW in OKC kicked things off in a “big” way for WWE. Yes, this is an obvious dad joke about the return of SPOILERS The Big Show.

Let’s break it all down:

Brock’s in the Rumble: We were graced with the presence of the Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar. Did you forget Brock was the champ? I know I did. So, since we have no challengers for Brock, he’s entering The Royal Rumble. If he wins, he faces the WWE Champion…or no one…or whomever he wants? None of that was made clear, and frankly I don’t care. The conceit here seems obvious — whomever eliminates Brock or causes his elimination will tangle with The Beast at Wrestlemania. I’m thinking this’ll be Cain Velasquez or Tyson Fury. Honestly, I just don’t care about Brock anymore. He wrestled less than 10 times in 2019 and of those match, just one (his match with Rollins at SummerSlam) went over 10 minutes. I’m tired of the “when he wrestles it’s greaaaat” excuse. Brock doesn’t move the needle for WWE, and it’s time to invest in talent that will.

Bitter Bodkin aside. Who does Brock end up squaring off with at Wrestlemania? While Dave Meltzer has squashed rumors it’ll be Cain Velasquez or Tyson Fury, I’m not ruling it out. I’m not ruling out CM Punk. I’m not ruling out Roman Reigns. I’m not ruling out Braun Strowman.

Andrade vs. Rey: This match was terrific…the ending not so much. These two are like peanut butter and jelly. The ending was just so awkward and bad. You know what wasn’t awkward and bad? When Rey beat the ever living crap out of Andrade post-match after Andrade pulled Rey’s mask off. Keep this feud alive. GIVE ME A HAIR VERSUS MASK MATCH YOU COWARDS.

Tag Team Wrestling Needs Stakes: The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders vs. The OC was a really good match. But did anyone, for one iota even remotely believe the tag titles were going to change hands? After that ridiculous and embarrassing non-title change a few weeks ago, I had zero belief the belt would switch. I have to give it up to Hanson/Ivar who busted his ass throughout this match. Same for Montez Ford. But as good as this was, I just couldn’t get behind it emotionally.

Becky and Asuka is a Money Feud: That’s it. Simple. Effective. I’m in the building for that match.

Erick Rowan Squash: I don’t care about what’s in the cage, outside of shear morbid curiosity. I’ve had to watch this angle for what feels like a year. Pay it off already.

Akira Tozawa is the New SD Jones: AJ Styles dispensed of Akira Tozawa way too quickly. I mean I get that this all about Orton and Styles, but man Tozawa and Styles, if given time, would be great. Tozawa is now a jobber to the stars a la SD Jones, but man he puts on great matches.

Lana is a Main Event Superstar: Well, that’s what Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon, and Booker T will tell you. To be honest, the crowd is into boo-ing her, and cheering her. So they aren’t wrong if you look at the reaction and numbers. But holy Lord, these segments are interminably long, terribly paced, Lana can never remember her lines or marks to hit. It’s just terrible. The best part of the whole thing was easily “Hi, it’s me Rusev from Rusev Day!” Oh, and Liv Morgan will be in Rusev’s corner because that’ll be “something to LIV for.” GET IT EVERYONE? LIV FOR? JFC.

Charlotte Flair and Sarah Logan Need To Feud: This was a brawl. Give this more time, and let Flair get over Logan. She is someone who needs that rub from a star like Flair, who is easily one of the top, if not the top woman in the world (I still think Meiko Satomura is the best).

Drew McIntyre’s New Persona is Gold: 3…2…1….print money. Drew McIntyre as a glib, sarcastic quasi-babyface works. His natural charisma has shined brightly this year, and WWE desperately need to make this change. His brooding, yelling heel persona (especially after all his losses) was getting stale.

Aleister Black Squashes Shelton Benjamin: My favorite match of the night, mostly because my daughter (who could not sleep) was absolutely enthralled with Black’s move set. I don’t mind Black picking up such a quick win — he was off TV so long that they need to do a good job keeping him at the forefront of people’s minds.

Wellllllll it’s The Big Show: So it’s been over a year since Big Show wrestled. I hope, given his multiple hip surgeries over the past year and a half, he’s used sparingly. I’d rather he’d be able to walk than wrestle. Honestly, he looked good here and I like this trio of him Joe, and KO. Rollins and AOP also is a good group. Next week’s “Fist Fight” sounds dumb as hell, but I don’t mind these six tangling for the next few weeks.

Monday Night RAW in OKC is currently streaming on Hulu.