RAW Review (February 24th)
Last night's edition of Monday Night RAW was held in Winnipeg, Canada and Super Showdown is just right around the corner! Ricochet prepares for his first WWE Championship opportunity against Brock Lesnar this Thursday so he must've had something in store for Lesnar right? Also the saga between Kevin Owens and the Monday Night Messiah Seth Rollins continues then we have another night of Randy Orton's supposed sorrow for what he did to Edge a couple of weeks ago. Super Showdown is this Thursday, Elimination Chamber is approaching soon. So much to look forward to! Let's recap Winnipeg RAW!
The start of RAW was yet again welcomed by The Viper, Randy Orton. Orton continued to basically beat around the bush as to why he attacked Edge a couple of weeks ago then he was interrupted by Kevin Owens! KO still has his issues with the Monday Night Messiah but just like everyone else, he wanted to know exactly why Orton attacked Edge. Orton didn't straight up answer the question so KO became impatient and challenged him to a fight. Orton accepted, but quickly didn't want to fight right then and there so he back away. This would set up a match for later on in the show.
The start of RAW was yet again welcomed by The Viper, Randy Orton. Orton continued to basically beat around the bush as to why he attacked Edge a couple of weeks ago then he was interrupted by Kevin Owens! KO still has his issues with the Monday Night Messiah but just like everyone else, he wanted to know exactly why Orton attacked Edge. Orton didn't straight up answer the question so KO became impatient and challenged him to a fight. Orton accepted, but quickly didn't want to fight right then and there so he back away. This would set up a match for later on in the show.
Angel Garza Vs. Humberto Carrillo
Long, competitive match between these two relatives! This was a good match as the two of them had some good back and forth action including some unique style moves. Angel Garza would make a mockery of his cousin throughout the match including stripping his tights off and throwing them in Carrillo's face. Garza of course was taunting everyone but Carrillo wasn't gonna take that too likely and brought the fight back to cousin Garza. Carrillo delivered his vintage lucha style moves, knocking down Garza one too many times. Both guys would exchange hard strikes and pin exchanges back and forth in a cool sequence before Garza would counter Carrillo's final pin attempt and secure the pin for the win! I'm sure this will continue between the two going forward.
Ricochet Vs. Luke Gallows
Fine match, but it was almost mainly a squash as Ricochet totally took down Luke Gallows. Gallows put up a fight against the quick man but Ricochet overcame the big man with his unique speed. Not much else to note other than Ricochet hitting the Recoil then since Gallows was near the middle of the ring, Ricochet hits a Shooting Star Press for the win!
Backstage, AJ Styles consults with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as they bicker over Gallows' loss to Ricochet. Styles straightens them up quickly, then notices Aleister Black walking by. The trio would then confront Black randomly and without further notice, they would attack him! They lay out Black but the man would stagger to his feet and walk off clearly wounded. This will sure led to some major consequences to The O.C. down the line.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman arrive next as Heyman hypes up Lesnar's championship defense against Ricochet this Thursday at Super Showdown. To spare you all the dialogue, Heyman simply states that Lesnar will not only tear through Ricochet at Super Showdown but will ruin Drew McIntyre's Wrestlemania dreams as well be conquering him at the big event and retain the WWE Championship. Lesnar would then pose on the announce table with the title as he sure looks confident in that he will walk in and out of Wrestlemania with the WWE Championship still in tact.
Backstage, AJ Styles consults with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as they bicker over Gallows' loss to Ricochet. Styles straightens them up quickly, then notices Aleister Black walking by. The trio would then confront Black randomly and without further notice, they would attack him! They lay out Black but the man would stagger to his feet and walk off clearly wounded. This will sure led to some major consequences to The O.C. down the line.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman arrive next as Heyman hypes up Lesnar's championship defense against Ricochet this Thursday at Super Showdown. To spare you all the dialogue, Heyman simply states that Lesnar will not only tear through Ricochet at Super Showdown but will ruin Drew McIntyre's Wrestlemania dreams as well be conquering him at the big event and retain the WWE Championship. Lesnar would then pose on the announce table with the title as he sure looks confident in that he will walk in and out of Wrestlemania with the WWE Championship still in tact.
Erick Rowan Vs. Aleister Black
Aleister Black came into this match with fatigue as he was beaten down by The O.C. earlier in the night. Erik Rowan was confident as all hell as he was actually throwing Black around for a little bit, hurting the man more than he already was. Black came back with his combs but overcame Rowan after all with the Black Mass for the win. Black emerged victorious but overall, he had his sights set on The O.C.
Next was R-Truth in the ring as he introduced everyone to a new segment called, "TruthTV". His first guests were WWE's supposed power couple Bobby Lashley and Lana, yes you can groan over that. Truth tried to ask Bobby a question but Lana insisted for the bell to be ranged as the two of them would have a match momentarily. Truth didn't want to compete against Lashley but Lana began yelling for the bell to ring. So much for TruthTV.
Next was R-Truth in the ring as he introduced everyone to a new segment called, "TruthTV". His first guests were WWE's supposed power couple Bobby Lashley and Lana, yes you can groan over that. Truth tried to ask Bobby a question but Lana insisted for the bell to be ranged as the two of them would have a match momentarily. Truth didn't want to compete against Lashley but Lana began yelling for the bell to ring. So much for TruthTV.
R-Truth Vs. Bobby Lashley
Quick match as Lashley wasted no time beating up Truth in quick fashion. Truth fought back for a bit and even hit the 5 Knuckle Shuffle on Lashley, dedicating this to his childhood hero John Cena! Lashley of course fought off Truth then nailed the man with a wicked Spear to gain the pinfall victory.
Next we had a contract signing for the Women's Elimination Chamber Match featuring all 6 participants for the match. 5/6 women were in the ring as Shayna Baszler wasn't present for this signing at first. Each woman signed the contract then Shayna finally arrives through the crowd and signed the contract last to officially confirm the matchup. Baszler would stare each woman down ending with Natayla and Natayla stood her ground as she got up in Shayna's face. Asuka grabbed a microphone and started shouting at Baszler after pushing Natayla down in order to get in Shayna's face as well. Asuka challenges Shayna to bite her then Natayla takes her down to brawl as Liv Morgan ran over to hop over the table to attack Ruby Riott! Interesting enough, Sarah Logan would break that up as she literally was trying to calm Liv down and prevent the two former Riott Squad members from fighting. Shayna Baszler was enjoying herself big time as she had no involvement in any of the brawls but that would soon change as RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch showed up and wasted no time by going straight for Shayna! The two would have a pull apart brawl that had the fans into every second of it and this made the Women's Elimination Chamber Match more hyped up than before!
Next we had a contract signing for the Women's Elimination Chamber Match featuring all 6 participants for the match. 5/6 women were in the ring as Shayna Baszler wasn't present for this signing at first. Each woman signed the contract then Shayna finally arrives through the crowd and signed the contract last to officially confirm the matchup. Baszler would stare each woman down ending with Natayla and Natayla stood her ground as she got up in Shayna's face. Asuka grabbed a microphone and started shouting at Baszler after pushing Natayla down in order to get in Shayna's face as well. Asuka challenges Shayna to bite her then Natayla takes her down to brawl as Liv Morgan ran over to hop over the table to attack Ruby Riott! Interesting enough, Sarah Logan would break that up as she literally was trying to calm Liv down and prevent the two former Riott Squad members from fighting. Shayna Baszler was enjoying herself big time as she had no involvement in any of the brawls but that would soon change as RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch showed up and wasted no time by going straight for Shayna! The two would have a pull apart brawl that had the fans into every second of it and this made the Women's Elimination Chamber Match more hyped up than before!
Murphy Vs. Angelo Dawkins
This match barely got going as when Angelo Dawkins hit a Spinebuster on Murphy, Seth Rollins came in and stomped on him and caused for the match to end in a DQ. Montez Ford was upset by this and quickly grabbed the microphone to challenge Rollins to an impromptu match.
Seth Rollins Vs. Montez Ford
Decent match that actually picked up near the conclusion of it. Montez was still upset at Rollins for costing Angelo Dawkins the match beforehand so he went straight towards punishing him. Rollins bounced back and would have Ford under control for a bit, bringing the man's momentum down and believing to have the match in his favor. Montez would literally bounce back on his own by applying big ariel attacks that would stagger Rollins. Rollins then tried to hit the Buckle Bomb but Ford countered it into a Hurricanrana in the corner then went for the Frog Splash, but Rollins dodged it at the last minute. Still, Montez Ford has to have possibly the BEST Frog Splash in WWE today! Such height does this man get when hitting the move. Rollins would then finish him off with the Curb Stomp for the win and celebrated with his disciples afterwards.
Kevin Owens Vs. Randy Orton
Good main event here that had some solid action in between. KO was on a roll during the first half of the match til he was distracted by arrival of the Monday Night Messiah and his Disciples! They all circled the ring to watch the match clearly with the motive to distract Owens but their plan would be foiled as The Viking Raiders and The Street Profits came out to even the odds! They all brawled through the crowd and the match would be one on one again but with Orton gaining the advantage this time. Both men would then end up on the top rope as Orton went for a Superplex but Owens got out of it and hits a Frog Splash. Unbeknownst to all of us, Seth Rollins hid under the ring during the melee between his Disciples and Viking Raiders/Street Profits as he popped up out of nowhere and tried to attack KO but would get knocked off the apron! Orton went for the Apron DDT but KO countered it and as the referee was distracted, Rollins grabbed his foot but Owens swiped him away. Next was a controversial finish as Orton finally hits the Apron DDT then actually won the match via pinfall as the referee completely fast counted the pin! Even Orton looked at the referee in shock but overall a win was a win and he accepted the victory. Rollins then grabbed two chairs and tried to persuade Orton to hit the Conchairto on KO, telling Orton to let the voices inside his head speak to him. Orton tried to set up for the attack but KO got up with one of the chairs in armed and had a stand off with him. The referee then yanked the chair out of KO's hands and that's when all eyes were on the referee as we all wanted to know what was his deal! KO ran after the ref then dragged him into the ring to rip his shirt off and sure enough, the ref had a Monday Night Messiah shirt on! Rollins pleaded that he had no idea about that but KO didn't believe him, so he gave the referee a Stunner then grabbed a table from underneath the ring and Powerbombed the referee through it to close out the show!
Show Rating: 6.9/10
Show Rating: 6.9/10
