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?
Tozawa/Maxxine vs. Valhalla/Ivar
I don’t wanna. You can’t make me.
Seriosuly, this whole angle screams VKM garbage.
Tozawa is not funny. Stop thinking he is. Maxxine shows she still has a lot to learn as she botches a corner roll-up.
Match is a crudfest. I knew I should’ve fast-forwarded.
Ivar hits a World’s Strongest Slam from the second rope or the merciful end. BAD!
Winners: Vikings
For Part Two click the link below:
Back to the backstage! J-Day! Truth! This stopped being good a couple weeks ago. Time to move on.
JD McDonagh vs. The Miz
The feud hasn’t been around this long but I’m already bored with it. Miz should never be a face.
Miz has advantage for much of the match early. JD eats a suplex on the floor in a decent spot. Fighting continues on the outside and we get the inevitable Mysterio interference.
Back from break JD is in control. Standing Moonsault gets two. Soon after, Truth comes out and tosses shirts out to the audience which distracts JD. Miz starts to turn things around as a result.
Miz takes out both JD and Mysterio including a couple Lucha Miz spots. Truth takes care of Dom, seemingly hoodwinked J-Day. JD hits a Moonsault on Miz for two. It’s actually turning out to be an okay match between the two but Truth is making this bad. “Your cut” distraction from Truth leads to SCF and pin for Miz.
Winner: The Miz
Imperium is in the ring next for a celebration of Gunther’s 600 days as IC Champ. Gunther sounds off and says no one is at his level. Jey Uso then makes his presence felt, and quite honestly this is a match to look forward to. Interaction between the two works very well. Contrast in styles works beautifully. The two end up coming to blows with Kaiser and Vinci taking their shots before the Old Day comes out to help their former nemesis. God I want change for Xavier and Kofi so bad. Everything until the spat was fantastic.
Backstage! Nakamura!
Party People vs. Kabuki Warriors (Women’s Tag Team Title Match)
Meh.
Decent tag team stuff from KC2 but overall this just is boring.
After a break, heels are in control until Carter evades everything the Warriors attempt. Match has painfully little heat and I was anticipating Bayley coming out to cost her now enemies the gold. No such luck.
Party People hit the Afterparty for two before Kairi saves the belts. Kegstand attempt is interrupted by Kairi. Asuka hits the Buzzsaw on Chance and hit the tandem InSane Elbow for three. Bland as oatmeal.
Winners: Kabuki Warriors
Backstage… er I mean Bleacher Time! Sami!
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Cody Rhodes (Bullrope Match)
Nakamura attacks quickly. Cody strikes back soon after though. It’s a clubberin’ Tony!
Rope goes outside and it’s a Filibusterin, Tony!
More strikes. Cody stupidly goes for the Disaster Kick but Nakamura yanks him off the ropes.
Winner comes from pinfall or submission rather than the touch-the-corners format.
Nakamura goes for a pinfall after a knee to the back. Rhodes comes back soon after. Goes for a Figure Four. Nakamura breaks out using the cowbell.
Back from another break, Rhodes is in control. Hits Disaster Kick for two. Nakamura comes back with a Sliding German for two. Cody comes back and hits his Rebound Cutter for two. Boo-yays leads to Fip Flop and Fly. Nakamura with the Penalty Kick for Shin. Inverted Suplex leads to a reversal sequence. Cody with Pedigree for two.
Mist from Nakamura goes nowhere as Rhodes hits the Crossrhodes. It gets two surprisingly. Nakamura attacks with the Cowbell. Rohdes blocks the Kinshasa, crotches Shin with the rope and hits Crossrhodes for three. Decent match.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
Post-match, Drew McIntyre attacks, finishing things off with the Claymore.
The longer the show went, it was easier to close off from the controversy and just enjoy WWE for the entertainment value. The longer this goes, however, and more that’s exposed, the harder it will be to separate one from the other.
Until next time, Stay classy.