Written by Brian T. McNamara
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman come down to the ring to kick things off for Monday Night RAW 3/2 in Brooklyn. Heyman hypes the packed card of the upcoming WrestleMania but declares the main event fraudulent. It’s fraudulent, in the sense that Drew McIntyre, Brock’s rival in the match, didn’t come about his win clean. He had help in the shape of Ricochet. Heyman holds court on this for quite a while, so long in fact, you’d be hard pressed to know this was the go home show for this weekend’s Elimination Chamber event and not the go home show for Mania. After much ridicule, Drew McIntyre makes his way out.
He has a brief staredown with Lesnar before the two got out. But Drew whips out a claymore kick that levels the champion. This electrifies the crowd who are solidly behind the Scotsman. He quickly leaves; a stunned Lesnar is consoled by Heyman in the ring. The crowd, to their credit, chant “Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Goodbye” and the energy is palpable. When Lesnar reaches the top of the ramp, McIntyre comes out again and levels him with the claymore. And with the crowd chanting “One More Time” he does it again. They’re amazing moments on this road to Mania and it’s going to be real hard to reconcile that Drew took out the champion three times with his finisher as it was a chop come main event of Mania.
The Street Profits vs. Murphy and Rollins (RAW Tag Team Championship Match)
If the Prophets lose they can’t challenge for the titles again
Monday Night RAW 3/2 An all-around fun match, but it never quite seemed to hit its full stride. Montez Ford was great and had some wonderful moments. Early on there was a neat moment where Murphy and Rollins caught Ford out of an outside dive. Dawkins isn’t as much of a presence in the match until some messy outside work plants Rollins on his face and Murphy on his neck. The Authors of Pain show up to monitor the situation and eventually move in to interfere in the match. The ref isn’t having it so he tossed them out, but in the confusion Kevin Owens sneaks in and delivers a stunner on Rollins to help the Street Profits get the win – and the titles.
Winners and new Champs: The Street Profits
Backstage Rollins cuts a promo about wanting to crucify Kevin Owens anywhere, anytime.
Ricochet vs. Riddick Moss (24/7 Championship)
A sort of ho-hum match from one of WWE’s current top performers. It’s fine and watchable, but it feels incredibly low stakes. Moss gets in some pretty interesting offense and so Ricochet’s moveset is a little limited. Quick and painful as Moss retains.
Winner: Riddick Moss
AJ Styles and the OC are out recapping AJ’s chokeslam loss to the Taker in Saudi Arabia. The Sullen Soccer Mom talks about his upset over the loss and his upset over being given “advice” by… Mark Wahlberg? Mr. How’s Your Mother Doing himself is popping in from Spenser Confidential to tell AJ to back off from calling the Undertaker. It’s very odd and stilted and confusing. Why is Marky Mark doing this? AJ says that Taker should watch his match with Aleister Black for a hint of what’s to come his way. As Black make his way to the ring, AJ says that he should have reviewed his contract as Black has to get through Karl Anderson to get to him.
Aleister Black vs. Karl Anderson
The two go back and forth in a faily standard bout. Black gets a lot of his offence in and makes short work of Karl.
Winner: Aleister Black
AJ gets in the ring and says that Black should really read the contract because he also has to face off with Luke Gallows.
Aleister Black vs. Luke Gallows
A slower match, Gallows slaps Black in a few sleeper holds and wrestles him down to the ground a few times. He gets him in the corner and begins to stomp him out. Gallows starts doling out punches before the referee stops him. He traps Black again and the ref calls the match for Black.
Winner: Black by DQ
The good brothers deliver a magic killer to Black before AJ gets in the ring.
Aleister Black vs. AJ Styles
AJ takes advantage of the tired and weakened Black. Alesiter briefly fights back but is taken out with a Phenomenal forearm and an Undertake pin. Not really sure of the point of all this, but it was a good way to do a mini-gauntlet match.
Winner: AJ Styles
Backstage, Ruby Riott is interviewed talking about her upcoming role in the Elimination Chamber before heading out for her match.
Ruby Riott vs. Liv Morgan (Sarah Logan special referee)
The two square off and Liv gets some early leads. Logan gets to officiate the match down the middle for a bit demanding a break. Riott gets in a few good licks, but Liv has the advantage for much the match. Ruby gets in a reverse sto but it doesn’t quite deliver. Sarah drags out a count and then fast counts a roll up by Liv. Ruby and Sarah disagree over the count before Liv dropkicks Ruby and then Sarah takes out Liv, showing no old alliances will be upheld in the chamber.
Winner: Liv Morgan
Backstage, No Way Jose and his conga line cross paths with Eric Rowan, and Jose politely asks to know what’s in the cage. Rowan obliges and chases away Jose and his posse with the world’s most least convincing animatronic tarantula. So… that happened.
The Kabuki Warriors come down before Kairi’s singles match and cut a promo on Shayna Bazler. It’s pretty great. Kairi’s maniacal laugh is something else.
Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler
This was a great match up and the two know each other well. It lost a little something in the second half, but it served all the purposes it needed to. Shayna is a monster submission machine, Kairi is pitbull in pirate regalia. The match flowed well and was a good reminder of the talent at work in the women’s division. Halfway through, Becky Lynch interrupted the match to come out and observe the match and sit on commentary. The match gets a little unwiedly at this point, but rounds out to be a strong outing. After the match, Becky taunts Shayna from announce desk and Shayna tosess Kairi in another clutch hold before leaving.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Andrade & Angel Garza vs. Rey Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo
A fantastic showcase for all four men. There’s a great mix of chemistry and style. Big spots and quick tags. Garza and Andrade in particular feel like a polished tag team. Rey Mysterio’s late tag in comes with a chain of high energy, high risk moves. It’s just a great spectacle, high impact and high flying. The recent emphasis on a Lucha spotlight has meant more time for these matches to breathe and grow and here they have a three segment match that’s just very good.
Winners: Rey Mysterio and Humberto Carillo
Beth Phoenix comes out to give a health update on Edge but is almost immediately interrupted by Randy Orton. Orton lays out exactly why he attacked Edge the way he did. He flashes back to his younger years when his father introduced him to Edge and the WWE roster backstage in 1999. He lays it on thick and Beth Phoenix is in tears. Ultimately, he says Edge is a junkie for the crowd and that Beth has done nothing to stop him, she’s an Enabler. He then says he loves Edge and his daughters more than Beth ever could. She slaps him and then kicks him in the groin, but he shrugs it off and delivers an RKO to Phoenix to a stunned crowd.
Monday Night RAW 3/2 edition was all over the place but enjoyable. Elimination Chamber seems like an afterthought and everything seems a little too quiet as they wait for the road to WrestleMania to begin.
