Raw: The Dwayne Effect

I’ll admit it, peeps, this isn’t an easy task to recap Raw tonight. With all happening outside the ring, it’s hard to look at the product now. I’m running on some fumes here, so apologies if I’m not as detailed as you like.

Tonight starts with Seth Rollins and his visible knee brace (not sure why it was hidden last week, but sure). Rollins alluded to the events of Friday, which prompted a big “Cody” chant, and rightfully so.

Mr. Rhodes made his way to the ring as Cole and McAfee didn’t shy away from talking about the #WeWantCody movement. A “Rocky Sucks” chant filled the arena and again, to their credit, the broadcasters acknowledged the anti-Dwayne movement.

Rollines proceeded to nudge Cody into accepting a match for the WHC for ‘Mania, until Drew McIntyre made his presence known. Drew started with talking more about Punk but moved onto talking about the WHC. The exchange ended with a Glasgow Kiss and then led to a clusterfrick. Really good start, really good emotion. Surprised Cody didn’t get much in wordwise but if the end result is a Triple Threat for the title I’m all for it.

DIY vs. Imperium vs. New Day vs. Creed Bros.

Man, the Creeds became an afterthought quickly after their debuts eh?

Kaiser hits a series of moves on Kofi, and it reminds me that New Day has no business being in this mix. WCW Lucha cluster to the outside soon follows a couple times over.

This is a total mess with seemingly no rules at some points. Any time a team gains momentum a barrage of Superstars breaks things up. More cluster as we get the Tower of Doom spot which has just become too cliche.

Brutus hits an ugly Moonsault for two.

Creeds try to keep the win in their sights with Julius tossing anyone that moves while thee Ankle Lock is held on Vinci. But it gets horrible. The crowd chants “this is awesome” and no. It’s not.

Creeds try for the Brutis Ball but DIY interrupts. Meet in the Middle on Vinci with Ciampa as the legal man. Ciampa moves Gargano off a pin to secure the duke for his team. This was too much complication for what it was.

Winners: DIY

Backstage time! Shayna! Becky! Liking the new promo style.

Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler

This is an Elimination Chamber qualifier.

Shayna hasn’t looked like a threat in ages, even with the rub from Ronda.

Good reversal sequence to start but it slows to a botch quickly. I’m not blaming anyone here – this is not easy times for any of the Superstars.

Back and forth actin on the outside before Shayna tries to disfinger Becky with the steps. More domination on the inside but it’s just boring. Shayna needs a refresh somehow because the heel play just isn’t working anymore.

Becky starts to mount her offence. Front Missle Dropkick gets two. Goes for the Disarmer but no dice.

Running knee gets two for Shayna. Match continues horribly as Liv Morgan looks on from backstage.

Bottoms Out for Becks gets two. Ankle Lock by Baszler does nothing but losen some of Becky’s weave. Becky goes Christmas Story on Baszler to no avail.

Match is just plodding with nonsense at some points. Superplex by Becky leads to a Cross Armbreaker (NOT AN ARMBAR!). Gutwrench by Baszler gets two.

Baszler yells at Becky and they get into a slapfest. Kirikina is locked in. Another CROSS ARM BREAKER (god Cole, how long have you been doing this?) is reversed and after another long sequence Becky gets the Manhandle for the pin and win. Bad match.

Winner: Becky Lynch

More backstage time! Liv! She promises revenge and going for Rhea. Not a bad promo.

We then get video of Nakamura misting Cody during a weekend event.

More backstage! Drew! ADAAAAAMMMMM!

Rhea is out next and demands a match with Nia. ADAMMM interrupts and announces the two will square off for the gold at Elimination Chamber. Nia comes out and blows by Adam, the two come to blows. Pearce eats a couple shots by accident. We go into the pull-apart crap we get too many times. Jax gets the Banzai Drop to finish the segment. I’m so tired of Nia. And isn’t Rhea supposed to be a heel?