Welcome to Happenabler's Raw Review of 22nd April 2019. There is a new Contender for Seth Rollins Universal Championship. And some bizarre new names and gimmicks have been introduced with Bray Wyatt. So here is the Raw Review.
Triple H and Seth Rollins opens Raw
Triple H comes out to open the show. While he is making his way to the ring we got informed that there are two triple threat matches tonight. The winner of both the matches will fight in the main event to determine Seth Rollins’ Money in the Bank opponent. As Triple H is still grabbing a mic Rollins also joins him in the ring.
Rollins said it is still surreal to him after all he had been through. He said he has brought the title to his home state. Triple H said now the landscape has changed after the superstar Shake-up. He should be ready for his next challenger. Triple H then just repeated what we already knew about how Seth’s title contender will be determined.
This brought out all the 6 superstars involved in two matches. They all said basically the same thing that they deserve the title shot. Rollins said that it doesn’t matter which one of them he faces at MITB because he is Seth Freakin’ Rollins and he is going to Burn it Down.
The promos were good here. All did their best but I am not a fan of everyone coming out one by one and taking turns to speak. That feel so much scripted and staged. It was good to see the crowd super hot in the beginning, cheering and booing very loud. We will see if they can keep up by the end of the night...
Segment Rating: 3/5
AJ Styles def. United States Champion Samoa Joe and Rey Mysterio
This was an awesome match. I really loved the chemistry between these three. Any combination worked in the ring. Even all three of them at the same time as we saw towards the end.
There were some awesome spots in the match like when Rey and Styles went over the top rope. It seemed like Rey was going for a suplex on the floor. But Joe joined them at the top and got each of them on his shoulder and tossed them down the ring.
Rey had both Joe and AJ in 619 positions. He delivered the 619 on Joe and went for a springboard hurricanrana on Styles. AJ caught him and delivered a powerbomb followed by a Styles Clash, both on top of Joe. Styles pin Joe to win the match. This is the only complaint I have. In my opinion, Rey took most of those moves and he should have been the one to get pinned instead of Joe. But anyways, a heck of a match.
Match Rating: 4/5
Naomi def. Billie Kay
The IIconics made some jokes before the match. Their laugh at their own jokes was funnier than the jokes itself. The crowd joined in on the IICONIC moment which was good to see.
The match was over in a blink. Peyton tried to interfere but Naomi takes both of them out and rolled Billie over for the win. I don’t know where they are heading with Naomi. She will just get a random partner in the Raw roster to challenge for the Tag Titles. The only good thing was IIconins’ promo before the match which always is.
Match Rating: 2/5
Baron Corbin def. The Miz and Drew McIntyre
Corbin and Drew teamed up for a while to beat down Miz. But Miz fought back.
There was a cool spot when Drew had got Miz in a white noise position on the ropes in the corner. Corbin joined in and got Drew in a powerbomb position. This was an interesting variation of the tower of doom.
At one point Miz Figure four locked in on Drew for a very long time but he didn't tap. Drew got out of the lock with a thumb to the eye. Drew delivered a Claymore from out of nowhere to Miz but before he could pin him, Corbin pushed him out to go for the cover himself. That was one way to protect Drew. Corbin got a lot of heat from the crowd. I think he is not a bad choice now.
The match wasn’t that good as it's counterpart but it still was a good match.
Match Rating:3.5/5
Sami Zayn Promo
Sami Zayn came out to say basically the same thing he has been saying for the past two weeks. He was very happy being away from the WWE Universe. It was the best time of his life. He went on to show his Instagram photos when he was injured, traveling around the world. Zayn told everyone, he was very happy but when he got cleared to wrestle again he got depressed. It wasn’t the corporate structure or other backstage superstars. It was the “WWE Universe”. He said he will rather be in Switzerland, Sweden or Mexico rather than the depressing town of Iowa. This got the most heat from the crowd. He went on and said that they should take a trip… to Hell!
This was a great promo. It dragged a little long but a great delivery by Zayn. I don't know where is it leading but we will see.
Promo Rating: 3.5/5
Cesaro def. Cedric Alexander
Cesaro is on Raw? Well OK. These two can really pull off a corker if given time and freedom. It was an interesting match to book as they both could have done something with a win under their belt. I hope Cesaro get a singles push on Raw and I feel the same about Cedric. Cedric didn't look weak in defeat so I have no problem with Cesaro winning here.
Match Rating: 2.5/5
The Usos are backstage with Charlie Caruso. They made some jokes about Raw Tag Teams and also on the drink & drive (a shot at thier real life arrest). They were interrupted by the Revival who said the Usos were undoubtedly the best tag team on SmackDown but this is Raw and they are the top guys around here. The tag team division on Raw has some potential bit we will see if they can capitalise on this.
Viking Raiders beat down Lucha House Party
Yes, they are called the Viking Raiders now. But don’t worry your favorite name isn’t going anywhere cause we have got it as their finisher name. Raiders delivered the Viking Experience which is the pop-up power slam, to Kalisto in the end.
I don’t know what is going on here. The Viking Raiders is much better than Viking Experience but they don’t have their NXT Tag Titles with them and they are heels in the main roster? I can’t wait to see the main roster to botch these guys.
Segment Rating: 1.5/5
Becky Lynch vs Alicia Fox
Before the match, Becky cut a promo saying she has beaten some blondes who are favored backstage. Evans came out to teach Becky some lessons. They basically said they will beat each other up. Nothing sort of note here
I thought it was going to be a squash match but Alicia Fox got a lot of offense in here. This dragged on for too long. Becky made Fox tap out to win. But as the Dis-Arm-Her was still in Lacy Evans came from no where to deliver a Woman’s Right to Becky and followed it with another one to keep her laying in the ring. Meh.
Segment Rating: 2/5
Ricochet vs Robert Roode
They changed Bobby Roode’s name to Robert Roode. It’s a little odd to suddenly change someone’s name but no major problems here. But there were problems when they didn't give any explanation to why he did it. There was a wwe.com interview with Roode but it doesn’t even mention the name thing. Names are changing without explanations here.
This was another match that dragged on for too long. Roode won with the glorious DDT to Ricochet. The only talking point was the name change of Bobby Roode. Many think it is terrible but I don’t think it is that bad. I just don’t like it being changed without any explanation.
Match Rating: 2/5
Fireflies Funhouse
Bray Wyatt is back! And he is a loving cheerful guy who loves kids now. It was skit with him introducing his new friends, the buzzard and the witch to the kids. He said he had been a very bad guy in the past but he had left it behind. He grabbed a chainsaw and cut the cardboard picture of his previous self. This was an interesting gimmick change for Bray Wyatt. There were some shades that he might lose it at any moment. I think this has some real potential with Bray’s past haunting him down.
Segment Rating: 3/5
AJ Styles def. Baron Corbin
This was the weakest match of the bunch. Styles kicked out of a Deep Six. Corbin stomped Styles head on the mat to get out of the Calf Crusher. Corbin went for a top rope move but Styles moved out of the way. And delivered a phenomenal forearm to win the match.
After the match, Rollins comes out to Shake hands with Styles. It will be a great match. Styles vs Rollins at MITB. Can’t wait. I really thought they may have Corbin win here with some shenanigans. And might hold off on Styles vs Rollins till summer slam. But no problems here. I just can’t wait!
Match Rating: 2.5/5
Raw Review - Final Opinion
Overall this was a average show. It had a great opener. A lot of talking points – new challenger being determined, some name changes, Bray Wyatt's new gimmick. But the wrestling was a little lacky after the opening match. The matches were too long. That’s what you suffer from when you have 3 hours to fill. But overall I am happy with the booking decisions and did I mention I can’t wait for Styles vs Rollins?
Raw Rating: 2.5/5
That was our Raw Review. Don't forget to read Raw reviews every week in here. Also, join us tomorrow for the SmackDown review.
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