Welcome at the Raw after WrestleMania
Okay, so I’ll just get this out of the way – this was quite a mixed bag for me. Some things were good, some things were bad. And some things were really bad. If you’ve seen the image for this summary, you know where I’m starting.
And I warn you now … you will not be happy if you are a fan.
I have said this repeatedly, but I will do it again – liking this will give you more power. I liked it when Alexa Bliss was first psychologically tricked into giving people the sister Abigail. It was cool!
And once the magic started, it lost me. But if it hasn’t lost you, that’s fine! In fact, that’s good! That means it works for some. Wrestling is subjective entertainment. We will not all love everything.
But I like you because you like wrestling.
Good thing that came out of this show, storylines move on to the next pay-per-view … WrestleMania Backlash
Yes.
So with that being said, let’s get into the hits and misses from this show. For a complete overview of Raw, check out Rev. Claire Elizabeth’s live blog!
Lily
Huh.
Alexa Bliss took us to her playground and said we are probably wondering why she did what she did.
A girl was lost, then rescued and taught by the darkness until the darkness disappeared. Then she realized she had never really needed the darkness. She could do it all on her own.
Ultimately, the purpose used what she had been taught to destroy the darkness. She asked if the female species was really the deadliest.
Then she introduced her new friend Lily. And then Lily snapped at us.
And then Corey Graves said, “Demented creepiness is a thing of the past, because the present is AMAZING!” while Miz’s music was playing.
You may not believe me, but I love Alexa Bliss. I do! WWE is who you really should hate. Serious. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
One minute a doll is snapping at the camera and then Graves pushes that “insane creepiness” aside because YAY MIZ!
Or a “box-like structure” appears on the ring side and everyone is amazed at what that is and “WHAT CAN IT MEAN?” Have you not been paying attention in the past 4 months, Byron?
I have a question for the creative team – Vince, if Alexa didn’t want the darkness anymore and wanted to end it, why did she torment the man who set the darkness on fire and killed him? Hadn’t she brought him back to life a few weeks later and done all of this?
And we’ll go to Orton in a minute.
I don’t like this. And what’s worse, it could be that Alexa is now breaking away from The Fiend and will be introducing this stuff to the women’s division with her new boyfriend. I was ready to do this again afterwards WrestleMania
Now it has just begun. Oh dear.
New friends?
MVP was in the ring saying McIntyre was a formidable opponent, but it’s okay to be number two for Lashley.
Drew came out and said he made a mistake, but he won’t make a mistake next time when he gets his rematch. Then Braun came out, and he said Drew hears in the back because he lost, and Shane McMahon lost by his hands.
And then Orton came out and said that the Fiend and Bliss are behind him and that he can now focus on what he does best: winning the WWE Championship. Adam Pearce came out to make the game official for the main draw.
Orton has just decided that all those months of physical torment and fear – smothering black goo, being shot with fireballs, seeing himself in a screen talking in a demonic voice, the ONE RKO on WrestleMania all that ended. Turn right. Huh?
So in the main draw, Orton and McIntyre teamed up to take down Strowman, but of course that didn’t last long. Orton did the RKO to Strowman and went for the pin, but McIntyre gave him the Claymore Kick and pinned Orton to win.
And then MVP’s music played and while McIntyre was distracted, Mace and T-Bar attacked him. Yes, Mace and T-Bar, former members of RETRIBUTION could potentially be new Hurt Business members with MVP and Lashley. Could be. We do not know yet.
IF that’s the case, it doesn’t make sense to me. But if Mace and T-Bar are now hired weapons, I might not mind, depending on how WWE does this. They would be a pretty good tag team for the brand, which I was hoping for them after the RETRIBUTION breakup.
Just you wait, I guess!
The queen returns and immediately goes back to work
The announcers told her she wanted to participate WrestleMania and don’t get on the map.
She talked about not smiling because she wasn’t on the big show. She said she was a real person. It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t there WrestleMania, it wasn’t her fault that Asuka needed a tag team partner, or that her dad was acting like an idiot, or even that Lacey Evans got pregnant.
She complimented Rhea Ripley for being the biggest snake in the locker room. And now Asuka got a second chance instead of getting a chance. She listed all the women who took part WrestleMania and said none of them could be compared to her.
Charlotte Flair is the opportunity for all women. She won’t apologize for being so damn good, and we’ll all bow to her.
This was a great promo from Charlotte for the return. She is in her element.
She also sounded very natural, which has always been critical in the past. She’s always been the best as a heel, and WWE likes to throw in baby-face runs. All the way back to when Becky first turned her on her, WWE thought they were going to get Charlotte like a baby face.
Asuka and Rhea Ripley had a rematch for the women’s championship, and the game was not that good. But what happened at the end was the most important thing you want to know.
Flair intervened and eliminated both women. It was kind of funny that the referee looked up at the slope and only realized Charlotte was there when she attacked Asuka, but hey … semantics.
She called Ripley overconfident and kicked her in the LED apron. She then went boo hoo and faked tears and said “I’m back!” That was amazing. I said last night that Charlotte and Rhea were going to be a great program, but now Asuka is still involved, so this could be really interesting.
Witches Be Wildin ‘
So I have no idea what to say about this.
Looks like, as I said in the Bliss section, Bliss has switched to the women’s division and Bray Wyatt is back at the Fun House looking for a new beginning?
Do I understand that correctly?
How does The Fiend just … continue? Kind of like Orton’s way of just moving on because hey, they split like this … other things to do!
I will say it was fun seeing Ramblin ‘Rabbit, Huskus, Abby and Mercy again.
Uh … yes. I am confused.
The rest
Bobby Lashley defeated Riddle
The show started with Lashley and MVP entering the building to applaud, and Riddle came up to him and challenged him to a match. So Lashley … just gave it to him. After calling him a loser, of course.
Lashley attacked Riddle before he could get into the ring and dominated the first half of the match. Lashley started throwing everything that belonged to the best riddle through the ThunderDome. First his scooter was forgotten, then Riddle himself was thrown over the barricade. After a few angry faces at Riddle, Lashley literally put his foot on Riddle’s neck and held the ropes for more pressure. Riddle began to gain momentum and Lashley immediately stopped. Finally, Riddle hit some MMA moves and hit Lashley with a high knee. Riddle went for the Floating Bro and Lashley went against the Hurt Lock for the win.
What a dominant show from Lashley. I didn’t really understand why this match was a thing, but it felt like they were determining that Riddle is moving on to a lower comedy / mid-card title feud. That’s fine. He is a man who fits that role perfectly. I hope Lashley gets a dominant post WrestleMania like Drew did. He has a legit Brock Lesnar appearance. This is the full timer holding the title and has to be killed by a rise and corner.
Miz and Morrison defeated Damian Priest
Before the game, Maryse was the guest of Miz TV and all they did was Miz and Mrs. but whatever happened was that Miz focused a little too much on Maryse and swept Morrison aside. Damian Priest came out to defend Bad Bunny from the Miz. So Miz and Morrison both thought about having a one-on-one match with him, and Maryse said they should have a 2-on-1 handicap. So they did.
And Priest lost. Already. Look forward to it!
The Viking Raiders defeated Shelton Benjamin and Carlo Alexander
This was a great return for Ivar from the Viking Raiders. This guy was off for about 7 months and that’s crazy. Ivar threw Alexander into the corner of Raiders and hit a flurry of punches. Benjamin fell in and knocked Erik down with his knees. A suplex got him a 2 count. Alexander went to work on the center section and Benjamin took a hit and got two more counts. Ivar got the hot tag and did the senton, but couldn’t get a pin when Alexander tapped back in. Ivar did a double clothesline and then the Viking Raiders did the Viking Experience for the victory.
New Day defeated Elias and Jaxson Ryker
Elias thought his guitar made trombone sounds. No seriously. Good win for the former tag champions, and I just noticed the new tag champions weren’t on the show. That’s a strange decision. Although it might have been better that way.
Mandy and Dana decided to get counted
Nia and Shayna joked about Mandy’s panties WrestleMania, and Mandy walked up to Nia and slapped her. So they had a match, and Nia slipped and got mad. Dana grabbed Mandy and they walked up the slope, while Dana said, “Relax, it’s not worth it.” HUH?!? They were in the middle of a game. Dana and Mandy just decided halfway through the game, she’s mad, it’s not worth it. Wow. Good job.
Grade B-
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?