WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 2/15: Welcome to the Most Must-See Talk Show in History Champ, Gauntlet Match for Elimination Chamber Advantage

WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
FEBRUARY 15, 2021
TAMPA, FL. AT THE THUNDERDOME IN TROPICANA FIELD
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Samoa Joe

Match Results and Exclusives from Last Week

• A.J. Styles defeated Jeff Hardy in a battle of Elimination Chamber participants.
• The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Retribution (Slapjack & T-Bar).
• Lacey Evans defeated Charlotte Flair via DQ when Charlotte refused to break a five-count.
• Damian Priest (w/Bad Bunny) defeated Angel Garza (w/John Morrison & the Miz).
• Keith Lee defeated Riddle.
• Lana defeated Nia Jax in a Tables match.
• Naomi defeated Shayna Baszler.
• Randy Orton defeated WWE Champion Drew McIntyre via DQ when Sheamus came in and attempted a Brogue Kick on Drew until Randy shoved him out of the way.

Items Advertised by WWE

Tonight’s edition of Raw will be the last before Elimination Chamber which takes place this coming Sunday. The card is mostly filled out with two Elimination Chamber matches, one for the WWE Championship and the other for the right to face Universal Champion Roman Reigns the same night. Tonight’s show will have implications on the chamber match for the WWE Championship. WWE doesn’t have their official preview up, but they have a few items advertised:

• Gauntlet Match will determine final WWE Title Elimination Chamber Match entrant.
• The Miz welcomes Drew McIntyre to “Miz TV” this Monday.

Gauntlet Match for Right to Enter Elimination Chamber Last: WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus vs. The Miz vs. A.J. Styles

Last week it was announced that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre would have to defend his title inside the Elimination Chamber against the above listed opponents. All are former WWE Champions and the Miz currently holds the Money in the Bank contract. In addition to their match last week, Drew had an extensive feud with Orton in 2020 that featured an Ambulance match and Hell in a Cell. He defeated A.J. in a TLC match and has had multiple matches involving the Miz. Sheamus betrayed Drew two weeks ago when he gave him a Brogue Kick after an in-ring conversation with 2021 Royal Rumble winner Edge.

Tonight, the chamber participants will wrestle in a gauntlet match to determine who will enter last on Sunday.

Tomorrow. The Main Event. Business as usual. #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/LDfkDp4C5H

— Drew McIntyre (@DMcIntyreWWE) February 14, 2021

Frank’s Analysis: What’s determining who will enter the gauntlet match last tonight? Seemingly, the final entrant in tonight’s match can wrestle one match against someone who’s wrestled four matches and earn an advantage in a high stakes (storyline) dangerous match. Also, why did nobody have to qualify for this match but four out of the six participants over on Smackdown had to qualify? Drew having to defend his title is remarkably interesting and suggests a possibility he may lose the title, but I’m by no means advocating for that.

MizTV: Guest WWE Champion Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre and the Miz will have a busy night as they are not only in the Gauntlet match, but Miz will have Drew on MizTV. Miz will most likely have John Morrison with him and they will address the current issues between Drew and Sheamus. Also, with Miz holding the Money in the Bank contract, he’ll remind Drew of the threat he is (lol) to take the WWE Championship.

Frank’s Analysis: It’s hard to come up with things to say about these talking segments. They do them just about every week it seems and most of them aren’t particularly good. Who has a match developing out of this segment? There’s a good chance for sure.

Other Expectation and Final Thoughts

It will be interesting to see when Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez get their title shot having won the first Women’s Dusty Tag Team Classic during last night’s NXT Takeover. I don’t see that being saved for WrestleMania, but it could happen at Elimination Chamber. There’s isn’t another match I’m dying to see unless they do something more with Big E and Apollo Crews on Smackdown for the Intercontinental Championship. Outside of that, the overlying issue is which champion Edge will challenge. A lot of balls are up the air but could take their place during and after the Elimination Chamber PPV.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!