0 of 7
Credit: WWE.com
The entire week leading up to WrestleMania 37 is eventful, and it all started with Monday’s episode of WWE Raw.
Before fighting for the WWE Championship, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley had simple fights against someone with whom they had disagreements recently.
The Scottish Warrior faced Baron Corbin, and The All Mighty faced his former Hurt Business associate, Cedric Alexander.
New Day will defend the Raw tag titles against AJ Styles and Omos this weekend, so WWE booked a rematch between The Phenomenal One and Xavier Woods for Monday’s show.
We also saw future opponents Asuka and Rhea Ripley team up to face the women’s doubles champions, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, in an untitled fight.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened in the episode of Raw’s homecoming going to WrestleMania on Saturday and Sunday.
1 of 7
Raw opened with McIntyre making his way to the ring. We saw a clip of Corbin attacking him last week before The Scottish Warrior did a promo about his next fight with Lashley.
He was a little choked when he talked about the conversations he had with his mother over the years about his career and all the sacrifices he had to make. Lashley came with MVP to shorten his promotion.
Lashley called McIntyre a great champion, but said his time was up. McIntyre tried to provoke a fight, but MVP said he would have to wait. King Corbin joined the party and said he will prevent McIntyre from reaching WrestleMania.
note: C +
Analysis
This was a decent promotional segment, but it lacked the sense of urgency needed for the final show before WrestleMania.
McIntyre and Lashley were good at delivering their lines, but Corbin slowed things down. His presence was not necessary. In fact, his brief speech would have been more effective if it was done behind the scenes during an interview.
This segment did not cover any new terrain or made the match between Lashley and McIntyre more interesting. It was kind of boring, but the people involved did a good job with what they had.
2 of 7
The first fight of the night was a rematch last week with Styles facing Woods. Omos and Kofi Kingston were there to support their partners in the ring.
Styles attacked first with a few punches and a hip throw. Styles arrested Woods at Calf Crusher, but he was distracted when Kingston threw a microphone at Omos.
This allowed Woods to wrap Styles for the pin. The new day celebrated as its challengers looked on in anger.
note: Ç-
Analysis
This was a short game that did nothing to make the rivalry more exciting, but what we were able to see was fun.
Woods and Styles only had time to get a few moves right, but each one looked great. The deal with Omos and Kingston was planned and still managed to be fun.
Was that necessary? It was not good? It might be. It was funny? Yes.
3 of 7
Braun Strowman made a passionate promotion from inside a steel cage about his WrestleMania showdown with Shane McMahon. As soon as he finished, McMahon brought in Elias and Jaxson Ryker to face him in a handicap match.
After the break, the doorbell rang and Strowman immediately took control of the situation. He threw Ryker out of the ring before going after Elias. Ryker stopped him from hitting a Powerlam to save Elias.
They stomped The Monster Among Men on the carpet after hitting a double-sided suplex. Each took turns making movements of the upper rope, but Strowman kicked.
The great man recovered and hit the two with powers for victory.
note: Ç
Analysis
Strowman’s promotion may not have made much sense, but he delivered it with more heart than expected. He was convincing and did more to make this match important than all the previous moments he had with McMahon combined.
The game that followed was as predictable as possible. McMahon stacked the odds against Strowman, but he still came out on top as we all knew he would.
Elias and Ryker looked good during the few seconds they had the advantage. Even though this whole segment was at best, it was the best thing we saw during this feud.
4 of 7
Asuka and Baszler started in the ring with a heated exchange before The Empress scored the first fall. Asuka brought her to the corner for a tag, but Ripley refused.
Baszler broke up before Ripley decided to take a walk in the ring. She took the Queen of Spades and tossed it towards her corner. Jax came in and exchanged words with contender # 1 before they started punching.
Ripley put Asuka back against her will and watched as she put Jax on an octopus. The Irresistible Force counterattacked to escape, but Asuka hit a knee in the face.
Ripley and Baszler got the tag, and thanks to Reginald’s distraction, the Queen of Spades took it down with a chop block. We came back from a break to see Baszler focusing on Ripley’s leg.
Asuka took the hot spot and eliminated the two opponents with a series of quick moves. As the Empress climbed up to the upper tensioner, Ripley threw her to the floor. She threw Asuka back so that Baszler could hit a knee for victory.
note: B-
Analysis
It was a solid match with a logical result for everyone. Ripley and Asuka shouldn’t be getting along, and WWE made sure they were enemies when it was over.
Ripley cost his own team the game helped boost his storyline and keep the female champions looking strong with a win at the same time. Two birds with a stone.
WWE also announced a four-team match for WrestleMania’s first night, with the winners winning a women’s title fight on the second night.
5 of 7
Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander confronted MVP backstage at the beginning of the show. Before the match started, Benjamin and Alexander attacked Lashley to take him down.
As soon as Lashley managed to free himself, the referee asked for the bell and The All Mighty started beating Alexander in the corner. He hit a neckbreaker before launching his opponent through the ring.
Lashley dominated his former associate until the show went on commercial. Alexander tried to make a comeback when we got back and was able to push Lashley up the steps thanks to a distraction from Benjamin.
The flight pilot hit a pair of suicide dives. When they returned to the ring, The All Mighty countered a DDT attempt. Shelton begged Lashley to give in when he applied Hurt Lock for the win. When he refused to let go, Benjamin went to his partner’s aide.
Lashley grabbed The Gold Standard and placed it in the same basement until he passed out.
note: B +
Analysis
Lashley has two different feuds going on now, and he managed to make both of them look important. He has his storyline with McIntyre while still dealing with his former teammates Hurt Business.
Alexander and Lashley looked good together. Even though Lashley looked like a monster, Alexander was able to take offense enough to avoid looking like a jobber.
This was a strong segment for all four men. It is a pity that we can no longer see them as a stable.
6 of 7
Sheamus joined the commentary team to watch Mustafa Ali Riddle’s battle. The US champion almost strangled Ali in a triangle immediately, but was forced to break when Ali rolled into a pinned position.
Riddle sent Ali over the rope with a fall of the body backwards and followed with a kick from the apron. He grabbed Sheamus’s hat and danced until Ali took him outside.
We came back from a break to see Ali in control, but Riddle quickly started to attack. He got all his signature moves right as he prepared to execute his finisher.
Ali hit and hit a gutbuster for a count of two. Riddle recovered and scored the victory.
note: B-
Analysis
We need to address how WWE added a bird chart that seemed to fly out of Riddle’s ass while he took off his sandals. Well, we got that out of the way.
Ali and Riddle have good chemistry and had enough time to make a pleasant performance. Ultimately, Sheamus’ presence had no impact on the outcome.
7 of 7
McIntyre and Corbin fought and fought for control for several seconds before breaking up and braking again. Corbin tried a waistband before taking down the former champion with a shoulder tackle.
The king brought McIntyre down with a clothesline for a quick count. He smothered the Scottish Warrior against the rope until the referee pulled him back.
McIntyre started to get furious as he threw Corbin across the ring with a belly-to-belly suplex over his head. Corbin avoided the Future Shock DDT, but he ended up being thrown on the steel stairs.
We came back from a commercial to see Corbin trying to change his luck. He ran McIntyre to the ring post to send him flying out of his apron. He reversed a suplex from the former WWE champion to almost fall.
After the two men came close to winning several times, McIntyre hit Claymore for the win.
note: B-
Analysis
Corbin is a big guy who always tends to work better when he’s in the ring with someone the same size, so it’s easy to see why it turned out to be a decent combination.
It wasn’t great at all, but it highlighted the strengths of both men and gave Corbin something to do, as he doesn’t have his own rivalry at WrestleMania.
The MVP in the comments helped to sell because it was happening. He wanted Corbin to defeat McIntyre so that Lashley had an easier challenge to beat the King at WrestleMania. It was thin, but the MVP made it work.
For the final episode of Raw before ‘Mania, that was a bit lackluster. Let’s hope this weekend gives us a better show than what is happening.