WWE Raw: Cena more dangerous than ever

Thomas Starr

“My Time Is Now”: Superstar Targets John Cena for 22-Year-Old Betrayal
Cena promises to ruin wrestling by retiring with the belt.

Another excellent show. Since the move to Netflix, they have been very consistent in delivering better programming.

Must-see moments:

John Cena promo

Another brutal promo, which raised the stakes for the WrestleMania main event. Cena is now promising to ruin wrestling by taking the title and retiring with it. Cody was great here as well.

El Grande Americano vs. Dragon Lee

The main event was good but had a flat finish. I enjoyed Grande vs. Lee more than the main event. It is the first time I have been into a Dragon Lee match. Chad Gable is a fantastic worker.

Quick Results:

  1. The Usos defeated A-town Down Under
  2. Lyra Valkyria defeated Raquel Rodriguez
  3. El Grande Americano defeated Dragon Lee
  4. Bron Breakker defeated Penta

Chronological recap:

John Cena opened with an in-ring promo. He covered some of the same ground as last week but went a little further. He mocked the fans and said while they were reacting, he was studying them. He mentioned the spinner belt and how fans thought it spit in the face of tradition. Cena said he was going to ruin wrestling for them again by winning the title for the 17th time. He said this would wipe Ric Flair from history. Then he promised to retire with the belt and be the last “real” world champion.

Cody interrupted the promo. One of the subtle things WWE is doing is shooting Cody in bright lights while capturing Cena in the darkness during Cody’s entrance. Good vs. Evil. Great stuff.

Cody said Cena must take the belt from him. He said Cena is more dangerous than ever. Rhodes said John made a mistake talking about retiring the belt. He put the title belt between him and Cena and told John to take it. The two men faced off, but then Cena walked out of the ring.

WWE aired a recap of Bron Breakker’s feud with The Judgment Day. Penta’s involvement was also highlighted as they setup the main event tonight, Penta vs. Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental Title.

Back in the arena we heard the worst sound in the history of wrestling. Jey Uso’s music played, which is bad because it means Pat McAfee’s juvenile jokes. Jey had Jimmy as his tag partner against A-town Down Under.

A-town Down Under vs. The Usos

The Usos dominated early. They cleared the ring and Jimmy hit a dive. Jey was holding the top rope down and Jimmy still barely cleared the rope. After Jey got caught up on the top rope, I winced when seeing it. I am wondering if they have knee issues. If they do stop with the dives.

These teams did a basic tag team match with the heels getting heat after the Usos dominated early. Then they built to the hot tag. Fundamental stuff and it worked.

The Usos hit a couple of great double team spots including the 1D for the win.

Winner: The Usos

Gunther attacked Jey after the bell. Jimmy made the save.

Judgment Day was in the back for their usual middle school chat.

WWE aired a vignette for El Grande Americano. It included legitimate historical Luchadores. They claimed El Grande Americano was an icon in Mexico. This was fantastic.

Chad Gable claimed he was not El Grande Americano and produced a doctor’s note saying he could not compete. That is hilarious. Instead, Dragon Lee is facing El Grande Americano tonight.

Lyra Valkyria vs. Raquel Rodriguez – Intercontinental Title

Early on, Raquel just picked up Lyra and threw her. She did the big swing as well. Lyra is bumping like crazy to try to make this work. Lyra jumped off the top rope and Raquel kicked her right in the chest. It looked brutal.

Lyra made a comeback with kicks but foolishly tried to lift Raquel for Nightwing and collapsed under Rodriguez’s weight. Lyra came back again with a beautiful leg drop off the top rope but again tried to lift Raquel for Nightwing and failed.

Liv Morgan got involved by placing Raquel’s leg on the ropes during a pin attempt. Lyra got payback by dropkicking Liv and then rolled up Raquel for the win.

Winner: Lyra Valkyria

Liv and Raquel attacked Lyra after the match. Bayley came and made the save. They teased a match between Lyra and Bayley with a stare down between the two.

Jackie Redmond tried to interview The New Day, but they shewed her away again. Both men took shots at the crowd. Woods said the children in Glasgow are ugly. Lame.

Adam Pearce made his way to the ring to clear up the situation with Rhea, Iyo, and Bianca.

Jimmy gave Jey a peptalk. Then he met Gunther in the hallway and challenged him for next week. Gunther said he hoped Jimmy does not trip like his brother. Uso then slapped Gunther.

Back to the ring, Pearce pointed out that the contract is for Bianca and Iyo. He explained that Rhea cannot just sign a contract that was not written for her. Adam said he would not add Rhea to the match at Mania. Iyo Sky interrupted.

Iyo said he does not matter who she faces or if she faces both. Bianca then heads out. Bianca protested the idea of including Rhea in the match.

Rhea interrupted next. Pearce threw his hands in the air in frustration. Ripley said she wanted her rematch. Bianca told her to wait. Once again, Bianca pie faced Iyo. Adam said Rhea could have her rematch next week and the winner faces Bianca. The three women brawled. It went on and on.

Dominik talked to Penta teasing that Penta may join The Judgment Day.

The New Day asked Pearce for a tag title match for WrestleMania. He said no.

Dragon Lee vs. El Grande Americano

Americano danced to the ring. He was announced from The Gulf of America. El Grande wrestled like Chad Gable (could it be?) but added a few lucha movements such as running in place before attempting a dive. He hit a nasty looking suplex to the floor.

Both men tried to remove each other’s masks. Cole pointed out that that is the height of insult in Mexico. Lee hit a nasty looking stomp off the top rope with El Grande hanging off the turnbuckle. Dragon sold his knee afterwards.

Dragon Lee had El Grande hung up on the top turnbuckle again and went for another stomp. Americano reversed it by pulling Lee’s mask off. Lee covered his face and quickly tapped out to an ankle lock.

Winner: El Grande Americano

Cult of Personality played and out came CM Punk. Punk said he is not in a good mood. He said he was not getting what he wanted, which is to main event WrestleMania. Punk mentioned having to work with children like Seth Rollins.

Punk told Roman that he should know that Paul Heyman is not just Roman’s wiseman, teasing that Paul works for him as well. He announced a contract signing for the WrestleMania triple threat. It is happening on Smackdown, which disappointed the crowd. He promised to take both Seth and Roman out of the wrestling business.

Bron Breakker vs. Penta – Intercontinental Title

I am a little bit surprised they gave this match away on Raw. It seemed like a match for WrestleMania but let us see where they go with it. Breakker hit his leap off the ring apron onto the announce table. He grabbed his hip. Not sure if he really hurt it or not. As he sold, The Judgment Day came to ringside.

Bron went for his spear off running the ropes, but Penta foiled it twice with superkicks. Bron went for a pop-up Samoan Drop, but Penta reversed into a Backstabber. Great spot.

Breakker hit a BreakkinSteiner for a near fall. He set up a spear, but Judgment Day interfered. Carlito ate a spear for his troubles. Then Dominik jumped Bron in front of the referee. What a cheap finish. Finn Balor joined in as well. Penta was down selling the whole time. Dom offered Penta a chair to hit Bron. Instead, Penta hit Dom with the chair. Finn beat both Penta and Bron with a chair and left them lying on the mat.

Winner: Bron by DQ

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