Welcome to the post-Chamber edition of RAW, where, if you couldn’t tell by now, everything has to do with a little sign everyone has been pointing to lately.
If I point at it, do I get a match?
The RAW 3/9 edition, Becky Lynch opens the show with a good promo to hype her upcoming battle with Shayna Baszler. This will be good. No doubt. Becky cuts a promo, taking a jab at MMA fighters, including one who hasn’t been seen in a long time, while also putting Baszler over as a major contender and main eventer. Have to hand it to Lynch, she does a very good job of verbally putting over others while trash-talking at the same time.
Rey Mysterio defeated Angel Garza. Dude, that ‘stache. Garza is trying to be Rick Rude, isn’t he? It may work, he did try to get some smoochies from the crowd and makes a good fill-in until Andrade returns. I do like this little inner club here, of Rey Mysterio, Garza, Humberto Carrillo, and Andrade. Give them a four-way at Mania. Do it. This match was a quick and clean win for Rey Rey.
Charlotte Promo: This was a bit weird, Charlotte played up being the “Royalty of Raw” bit, however seemed to enjoy the crowd cheers instead of trying to heel it up. Rhea Ripley arrived, and while she is champion, seems to be positioned more of challenger to overcome the RAW veteran. Ripley decks Flair after being disrespected. I want the match, but the build needs to improve.
Uhmmm… Bobby Lashley defeated Zack Ryder. I have no idea why this happened. Maybe Ryder will lose a ton of matches, and then he and Curt Hawkins somehow win big at WrestleMania.
Drew McIntyre defeated Erick Rowan and murdered the giant fake spider-beast
Or at least I presume he did. Rowan has been built up as another “big guy” by defeating a majority of jobbers for the past few months. He has now been dealt a loss from Drew McIntrye. I guess it is a good move, there wasn’t much left for Rowan at this point, and McIntrye is a good choice to clean house on his way to ‘Mania.
The Kabuki Warriors defeated Natalya and Liv Morgan. Interesting pairing, but this was clearly to continue the former Riott Squad feud with Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan entering the fray, but still able to put the Women’s Tag Team Championships on television. My guess is a major women’s tag match will be on the 27-hour long menu.
AJ Styles in-ring promo on The Undertaker: Well, the overseas trip which investors are now filing class action lawsuits over generated one notable moment, the return of the Deadman, and AJ Styles is having none of it. Following his loss last night, Styles took to the mic to make the WrestleMania challenge, but then makes a sharp dig at Michelle McCool, the Deadman’s wife in real-life. This isn’t going to be an ordinary feud. We will see Styles break out some uber-heel promos in the next few weeks to really ramp up the anticipation. No magic and gimmicks, just pure-fueled hate.
Riddick Moss defeated Cedric Alexander in a match where about a dozen people cared. Alexander is sorely misused, his recent tweet with the word “Frustrated” probably didn’t help matters. Seems the 24/7 Title is more “TV Title” now. Good concept, maybe should include more time for mid-carders, but somehow has to be more exciting. Moss isn’t exciting.
EDGE! This is the segment we’ve been waiting for. Dare I say, out of all feuds, title bouts… This will be the most wanted match of the night. Edge vs. Orton. No one cares about Goldberg, we care somewhat about Lesnar, we do have care for Undertaker and Styles… But it’s EDGE. We want EDGE. Tonight he lays waste to MVP who was rambling on about forming a stable and then just gets murdered via chairshot. Orton tries to strike, he winds up eating his own RKO and hightails it.
THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT.
Except, then you somehow un-do it?
Seth Rollins vs. Aleister Black goes to a DQ, then transforms into an eight-man…
Rollins attempted to recruit Black, but this fails and leads to conflict, as most altercations go. Decent match. I felt there was a tease this was going to amp up, but the blatant DQ by Murphy ruined it. Live crowd didn’t like it either. As Murphy and the Authors of Pain came down, the Viking Raiders and Street Profits came for the save.
Team Rollins defeated the Street Vikings to close RAW 3/9. Not a bad match, but I think left everyone confused to why Black was not involved. Change of plans? Or confusing plans all along? It’s good to see tag teams featured heavily when a year or two ago they were non-existent in WWE. After the match, Kevin Owens ran out to stun all heels, until Rollins capitalized with multiple Skull Stomps to close it out.
RAW 3/9 Edition packed in a lot for one night, which overall I felt was a good thing, rather than underwhelm following a PPV. My issue, the only bright spots seemed to be on Styles and Edge. The rest of the show felt like rotation and a marathon to get everyone in and out as fast as possible.
Hopefully WWE finds its pacing as Mania nears… Which isn’t so far away anymore.
