WWE RAW comes to us live from the Thunderdome, Florida with all the fallout from Fastlane – We finally get the long-awaited Main Roster Debut of The Nightmare Rhea Ripley.
Will the Fiend make another appearance?
How will this affect Alexa Bliss?
Will the issues with Fastlane be addressed?
Will McIntyre batter Sheamus about (again)?
Strap in and let’s find out!
We began RAW right away with the entrance of the WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley. Then his opponent for the night, Sheamus made his entrance.
Bobby Lashley defeated Sheamus via Submission (The Hurt Lock)
The Hurt Business made their presence felt mid match, as Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander attacked Sheamus behind the referee’s back. Sheamus did make a comeback, but it still wasn’t enough. Alexander once again got involved and Sheamus went after him. This was a bad choice as Lashley took advantage.
As Lashley was celebrating the win, Benjamin and Alexander went on to attack Sheamus again. Luckily Drew McIntyre decided to make the save for his former best friend.
Then a stare down between the two Wrestlemania opponents went down. McIntyre tried to get Lashley to punch him, but MVP convinced him not to.
After commentary hyped up Randy Orton summoning The Fiend tonight, we took a commercial break.
When we returned from commercial break Lashley and MVP yelled at Benjamin and Alexander. Lashley told them he didn’t want or need their help. MVP got Lashley to calm down and took over. He said they made it seem like Lashley couldn’t beat Sheamus on his own and it was an embarrassment.
Afterwards we got a video recapping what has been going on between Randy Orton, Alexa Bliss, and The Fiend the past few months.
Then we saw what happened to Asuka last month at the hands of Shayna Baszler as Asuka made her way to the ring. We then took another commercial break.
When we returned back from break we saw what went down in Asuka and Shayna Baszler’s match last week. Then a very determined Peyton Royce made her entrance to the ring.
Asuka defeated Peyton Royce via Submission (Asuka Lock)
Royce really showed off in this match, as commentary put it she gave Asuka the challenge she has been asking for. Both women thought they had the match put away multiple times and each competitor got frustrated with the near falls. After getting Royce into an armbar, then transitioning into the Asuka Lock, Royce tapped out.
After Asuka’s victory, Rhea Ripley’s music hit.
Ripley strutted down to the ring with her eyes locked on Asuka. Once Ripley got the mic, she told Asuka she is one of the greatest champions in WWE history. Last Ripley saw Charlotte Flair was challenging Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship, but now Flair is recovering from COVID. Then Ripley laid out the challenge….a championship match at Wrestlemania.
Asuka grabbed the mic and accepted the match!
Backstage Drew McIntyre ran into Adam Pearce. Pearce said Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander came to him and asked for a handicap match against McIntyre. Now Pearce didn’t think it was the best plan, but wanted to bring it to McIntyre first before declining the match.
McIntyre said it probably wouldn’t be wise with Wrestlemania just three weeks away. He said Bobby Lashley did everything to get his WWE Championship and is positive he’ll do everything to keep it. McIntyre said he would agree to the match if there was some sort of stipulation, like Benjamin and Alexander being banned from ringside at Mania. Pearce agreed!
We saw the ring being prepared for Miz TV before we took another commercial break.
Returning from break Miz and Morrison made their entrances. Miz wanted to get something off his chest. He told us he has had a grueling couple of weeks filled with a bunch of highs and lows. The last thing he needed was to be laughed at by Bad Bunny and Damian Priest.
While Bad Bunny maybe a huge star in the world of music, who does he think he is!? Miz said it is one thing to do special performances, but Bad Bunny has just been hanging on and apparently has no respect for The Miz. He then listed his credentials, being a 2 time grand slam champion.
Then Miz showed the promotional poster for Wrestlemania, which Miz and Morrison are not on. Morrison said they have 30 years of combined experienced and more titles than they can count. Miz pointed out that Bad Bunny, who hasn’t been around the business long, is on the poster.
Then video of The Miz hitting Bad Bunny with a steel chair was shown. And I’m not sure how we got here, Miz and Morrison said they are going to release a new song next week: Hey Hey, Hop Hop. Then Miz challenged Bad Bunny to a match at Wrestlemania. The Miz is out to end Bad Bunny.
Miz’s opponent, Jeff Hardy made his entrance to the ring before we went to commercial break.
Returning from break Hardy said if Miz was a real man he would send Morrison to the back. Miz agreed and off we went.
The Miz defeated Jeff Hardy via Pinfall (Skull Crushing Finale)
This could be seen as a big win for the former WWE Champion, especially after the last few weeks. The Miz was able to defeat Hardy after blocking an attempt at the Twist of Fate.
After the match, Bad Bunny got a bit of revenge! He came out of no where and hit Miz in the back with a guitar! While Miz was down on the mat, Bad Bunny got a mic and accepted his Wrestlemania challenge.
Backstage we saw Omos and AJ Styles walking when Riddle went past them on his scooter. Styles was a bit annoyed, but then turned to Omos and said they were going to embarrass The New Day tonight. Then we went to commercial break.
Returning from break AJ Styles and Omos made their entrance. As they did, a video showing what Omos did to Xavier Woods last week was shown.
When Styles got the mic he was hyped for Wrestlemania and Omos’ debut. Mostly he was hyped for Omos being able to tag with him. Then he described what Omos would do to The New Day, something about putting them through the mat and burying them.
Enter The New Day.
Kofi Kingston couldn’t believe Styles said they would beat them for the RAW Tag Team Championships. In order for them to be come an unstoppable tag team, one has to become a team. Kingston said he didn’t see a team in front of him, but a wee man trying to overcompensate for his size. He went on to say he sees a small man hiding behind a giant, a giant whom he commands to do his evil bidding.
Styles wasn’t thrilled. Woods asked Omos to think about what he is doing, Styles is just going to bring him down. Kingston said Styles doesn’t even know Omos and went on to quiz Styles on his favorite things. Styles absolutely failed. I mean everyone knows Omos’ favorite color is mauve and that his favorite WWE Superstar of all time is Andre the Giant.
After a bit more back and forth, we took a commercial break.
Kofi Kingston defeated AJ Styles via Pinfall (SOS)
I don’t think Styles took time to factor in Francesca, Woods’ trustee trombone. While Styles and Kingston were putting on, well a phenomenal match Styles looked to be on the verge of victory. He was setting up for the Phenomenal Forearm, when the sounds of Woods’ trombone spooked him! This distraction gave Kingston enough time to recover and stop the forearm attempt!
Backstage Sheamus was being interviewed. Sheamus he accepted Lashley’s challenge because he lives for the fight. When asked about Drew McIntyre and his help earlier tonight, he said that was about respect. He still can’t stand the ground McIntyre walks on.
Before Sheamus could finish he was interrupted by Riddle. Riddle asked him odd questions and you could tell Sheamus was getting annoyed. Sheamus asked if his scooter was easy to ride, which got Riddle going again. Then Sheamus used the scooter as a weapon to take Riddle out.
Before going to commercial, Drew McIntyre made his entrance.
Drew McIntyre defeated Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin via Pinfall (Claymore Kick)
Well there goes Benjamin and Alexander’s plan of trying to make it up to Lashley. They started off the match doing pretty good, with quick tags and offense, but McIntyre is not easy to keep down. A Future Shock DDT to Benjamin, a neckbreaker to Alexander and McIntyre had the match under control again.
After returning from a commercial, MVP was yelling at Benjamin and Alexander. He couldn’t believe that with a 2 on 1 advantage they couldn’t get the job done. Lashley barged in and said if they couldn’t get it done, he would find someone who could. Then they walked into the locker room where guys like Drew Gulak, Gran Metalik, and Akira Tozawa were. Lashley told them to step up and take out McIntyre and he would give them a championship opportunity.
Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose via Pinfall (Samoan Drop)
Reginald once again inserted himself where he doesn’t belong. Rose really didn’t appreciate it and went after him a few times. This unfortunately wasn’t the thing to do. As she was yelling at Reginald, Baszler took Rose out on the outside leaving Brooke by herself.
Backstage we saw Alexa’s Playground! Then we saw Alexa Bliss at her swing set. She told Orton that he should be careful what he wishes for tonight. LET ME IN.
Then another commercial break.
Returning from break, Elias was in the ring with Shane McMahon and Jaxson Ryker. Elias and Shane O wrote a song for Braun Strowman entitled, ‘Braun is Stupid.’ Probably not the wisest thing to sing before a match with the Monster Among Men.
Braun Strowman defeated Elias via Pinfall (Running Powerslam)
See I told ya singing that song definitely didn’t do Elias any favors.
After the match, Shane O tried to attack Braun with his crutch….it didn’t work out. Shane fled before Braun could do anything and his knee seemed just fine.
Braun then got a mic. He told Shane he was done with all of the games and being called stupid. Then he challenged Shane to a match at Wrestlemania. Shane agreed to the match and even said Braun could pick any kind of match.
Randy Orton was walking backstage when we went to commercial break.
When we returned from break we found out a few of the Wrestlemania matches that would be happening on night one: Bobby Lashley versus Drew McIntyre, Sasha Banks versus Bianca Belair, and Miz versus Bad Bunny. On Night Two: Romans Reigns versus Edge and Asuka versus Rhea Ripley.
Then Randy Orton made his entrance and we saw him holding some sort of black bag. Orton said he felt like it was just yesterday that he watched The Fiend burn. Tonight the games truly end.
Alexa Bliss then came out and had a jack in the box….a little Fiend popped out of it. Then the lights went down and he appeared.
Orton took a gasoline can out of his bag. He then started throwing gasoline on The Fiend, while The Fiend didn’t even flinch. Although Orton grabbed a box of matches, he hit The Fiend with the RKO first.
Bliss then got in the ring, which caused Orton to hesitate yet again. This allowed The Fiend to stand back up after the RKO. The Fiend hit Orton with Sister Abigail.
We ended Monday Night RAW with Alexa Bliss pointing at the Wrestlemania sign.