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Coming off last Saturday’s Royal Rumble, this week’s Raw served as the next stop on the road to WrestleMania. After winning his second Rumble match, Roman Reigns made his first appearance on Raw since late November. In the show’s closing segment, Reigns came out to potentially decide which title he wants to challenge for at WrestleMania. Before he could make that decision, he was interrupted by World Heavyweight Champion C.M. Punk. Calling Reigns out for his part time schedule, Punk referred to him as a simply just a guest on his show.
By the time this segment was over, Reigns decision on which champion to challenge became much easier. In addition to that, we had Bron Breakker hold the show hostage to get Adam Pearce’s attention, Penta going one on one with Bronson Reed, and Stephanie Vaquer defending her Women’s World Championship against Raquel Rodriguez in a Philadelphia Street Fight.
Bron Breakker vs. Adam Pearce
Latest developments:
On the January 12 Raw, Adam Pearce suspended Bron Breakker indefinitely after Breakker physically put his hands on him. Last week, Pearce invited Breakker back on the show to inform him that he was reinstated and that he would be in the Royal Rumble match. However, it was later revealed by an angry Paul Heyman when he confronted Pearce at the Rumble Kick-Off Show that Breakker drew the number two spot. As Breakker was making his entrance for the Rumble match, he was attacked by a man in a black hoodie that laid him out with a Curb Stomp. Once Breakker got into the ring, he was eliminated immediately by Oba Femi.
Breakker showed up to ringside this week as the show started and flipped over the announce table, threatened Michale Cole & Corey Graves, and demanded that Pearce come out to face him. All of the other Vision members came out to try and restrain Breakker as Pearce showed up at the front of the stage with security guards standing in front of him. Pearce said that it was Breakker who drew his own number himself and mentioned the last time the man in the black hoodie appeared it was Austin Theory as Breakker suspiciously stared at Theory. Pearce said he would give Breakker a gift, which would be keeping his job after the poor performance he had in the Rumble. Breakker attempted to go after Pearce as Bronson Reed held him back and as this was going on, LA Knight attacked Theory & Logan Paul with a chair in the ring before he retreated.
Analysis:
Considering how predictable Raw can be for the most part, this was a very out of the box way to start the show. This is exactly the way Breakker needed to behave after what happened to him at the Royal Rumble. This segment in many ways was reminiscent of when Brock Lesnar destroyed the ringside area and the announcers the night after WrestleMania 31. The only thing that maybe would’ve made this better is if Breakker had actually Speared someone or beat up some of the security guards. As it seems like Breakker’s not going to be in the title picture going into WrestleMania this year, he needs to still be presented like a killer as he was here.
Now the question lingers on who the masked man was that attacked him at the Rumble. As polarizing of a decision as it was to do what they did to Breakker there, something good could still come out of it. If the masked man in the hoodie turns out to be Seth Rollins, then that’ll at least be some form of consolation prize for not being in the title match this year. Even though it wouldn’t be a title match, Breakker being in a match with Rollins at WrestleMania would still be a marquee match with an intriguing story attached to it. As Breakker was the one who turned on Rollins and forced him to vacate the title, it would be a huge let down if it turns out to be anyone else other than Rollins behind the hoodie.
Grade: B+
Gunther vs. Dragon Lee
Latest developments:
Three weeks ago, Gunther defeated AJ Styles despite initially tapping out to the Calf Crusher when the referee didn’t see it. The following week, Styles challenged Gunther to a rematch at the Royal Rumble. Although he rejected the challenge initially, Gunther agreed to the rematch if Styles agreed to put his career on the line. After thinking about it throughout the night, Styles agreed to the stipulation. At the Royal Rumble, Styles was unable to respond as he was trapped in Gunther’s Sleeper and as a result, he lost the match and was forced to retire.
Styles’ music hit this week but instead of Styles coming out like everyone expected, it was Gunther mocking him. Gunther cut a promo about retiring Styles as Dragon Lee came to the ring to attack him. Lee hit him with a Cross Body and a Suicide Dive but as he ran towards Gunther while he stood behind the timekeeper’s area, Gunther nailed him with the ring bell. Gunther then trapped him in the Sleeper before officials came out to intervene. Despite this, Gunther pulled Lee from the floor to the apron and trapped him in the Sleeper again as his body went limp.
Analysis:
Gunther hilariously coming out to Styles’ theme music just to mock him is another example of why he’s the best heel in the company. In addition to that, the beating he gave Lee is this segment was vicious and an effective way to keep him looking like an unstoppable force. As Lee was Tag Champions with Styles up until recently, there was no one better for Gunther to make an example of here than him. Other than how hard he hit him with the ring bell, what stood out most from this was the great visual of Gunther trapping Lee in the Sleeper as he hung from the top rope. Obviously, all of this is going to lead to a match between these two within the next few weeks.
While Gunther retiring Styles felt like the eventual outcome to their feud, it’s still odd that it happened so early in the year. Now that this feud is in the rearview, it doesn’t seem like Gunther has a clear direction for WrestleMania. After retiring three legends over the course of six months, doing another retirement match there would feel repetitive. The only two people who would seem like potential good opponents for him would be Brock Lesnar or Oba Femi. As either of those matches have tons of appeal on paper, it’ll be interesting to see if things actually go in that direction for him.
Grade: B
Penta vs. Bronson Reed
Latest developments:
On the December 8 Raw, Bronson Reed put LA Knight out of action after he hit him with a Tsunami on top of a car. On the January 5 Raw during the World Heavyweight Championship match between C.M. Punk and Bron Breakker, Reed, Logan Paul, & Austin Theory interfered on Breakker’s behalf. Several moments later, Penta along with Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee came out to fight them off. The following week during a Tag Team match pitting Penta & Lee against Reed & Theory, the match ended via disqualification after Breakker hit Lee with a devastating Spear. Several moments later, Reed hit Penta with a Tsunami.
This week, Penta went one on one with Reed in a match where Penta fought off interference from Theory & Paul as he accidentally knocked the referee down in the process. Penta then took them both out with a Cross Body from the top rope but as he went for the Mexican Destroyer on Reed, Reed caught him and hit him with a Death Valley Driver. Reed followed this with a devastating Tsunami, but the referee was still down. As Reed went outside to grab a chair, Knight appeared and hit him with the BFT on a chair. This led to Reed being counted out by the referee and Penta picking up the win.
Analysis:
Although these two are capable of having a better match than this one, it was still fine for what it was. This was all clearly designed to establish Knight’s being a thorn in the side of The Vision as opposed to putting on a five-star classic. While count out finishes are usually a let down and a finish we don’t see that often, it worked in this case. Considering the size and power that Reed possesses, having him lose this way believable. The finish was likely done this way in order to protect Reed before he eventually faces Knight.
Even though Elimination Chamber is the next major PLE, there’s a strong chance that this feud could stretch out longer. While WrestleMania is still over two months away, extending this feud until then could potentially work. With both men unlikely to be in title matches this year, facing each other would probably be the best use of both of them at WrestleMania. As Reed’s never been on a Mania before, having a ready-made story like this going into his first one would be good for him. In the meantime, the best thing to do is have Knight go through the other Vision members until he eventually gets to Reed.
Grade: B-
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez
Latest developments:
Last week after Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer demanded a match against Raquel Rodriguez, Adam Pearce announced that the two of them would face each other this week for the title in a Philadelphia Street Fight. During the Women’s Royal Rumble match, Raquel was eliminated by her Judgment Day stablemate and eventual winner Liv Morgan. This week as Liv came out to introduce Raquel before her title match, Raquel asked Liv why she eliminated her. Liv responded by saying that since Raquel already had a title shot lined up, doing that allowed them to both have title opportunities. Raquel agreed, but told Liv to stay in the back during her match and Liv complied.
As the match progressed, Liv ignored Raquel’s advice and came out to hand the title to Raquel to use as a weapon before Vaquer threw her into a chair as she was distracted. Roxanne Perez attempted to interfere moments later, but Vaquer hit her with a head butt as she fell through a table. Raquel was about to hit Vaquer with a Tejana Bomb from the top rope through a table, but Vaquer reversed it into a Hurricanrana. Vaquer then capitalized on this with the Corkscrew to win the match and retain the title. After the match, Liv laid out Vaquer with the ObLIVion and held up the title.
Analysis:
While clunky in certain parts, these two definitely beat the hell out of each other. Other than the brutal spots, what stood out most was the interference from Liv. Even though Raquel told her to stay in the back, it was obvious that she was going to get involved any way. While the moment she got involved wasn’t exactly what cost Raquel the match, it still played a factor in the outcome. After what happened at the Rumble between Liv & Raquel, the fact that Liv got involved after Raquel told her not to is only going to lead to more problems between them.
Although Liv said she would visit Smackdown this week to see if she wants to challenge Jade Cargill, it’s clear from everything that happened here which title she’s going to challenge for. While Vaquer vs. Liv is a fresh match we haven’t seen before, it still feels like Raquel is going to be involved in some way. After Raquel lost the way she did here, there’s no way that she’s going to take this loss lying down. There’s still a chance that Raquel could win the title before Mania or if that doesn’t happen, she could end up being added to the title match along with Vaquer and Liv. Regardless of which scenario plays out, all the ingredients are present for a compelling storyline to play out with these women over the next two months.
Grade: B-
C.M. Punk vs. Roman Reigns
Latest developments:
At WrestleMania 41, C.M. Punk and Roman Reigns wrestled each other for the first time in over a decade in a Triple Threat match that was eventually won by Seth Rollins. On the November 1 Saturday Night’s Main Event, Punk defeated Jey Uso to win the vacated World Heavyweight Championship. On the November 24 Raw, Reigns confronted Punk and at the time WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and made it known that he was coming for one of their titles. On the January 23 Smackdown, it was announced that Reigns would be in the Royal Rumble match. At the Royal Rumble, Reigns eliminated Gunther last to win his second Rumble and earn a shot at the champion of his choosing at WrestleMania.
In the main event segment of this week’s show, Reigns came out to potentially decide which title he would challenge for before he was interrupted by Punk. After Punk initially looked into the camera to send a warning to Finn Balor, he turned his attention to Reigns as he brought up various examples of how Reigns followed in his footsteps over the last decade. Reigns then brought up how the only reason why Punk’s back is because the company came to him for approval before they signed him and how he’ll never forget that Punk saying what he said about him on his best friends podcast a decade ago made his life harder than it ever should’ve been. Reigns said he could pick Punk for various other reasons but decided to pick him as the champion he’ll face at WrestleMania simply because he hates him. He ended the promo by stating that WrestleMania will be the best day of his life because that’s where Punk will finally acknowledge him as he dropped the mic and walked away.
Analysis:
For as much outrage as there was surrounding Reigns winning the Rumble, this segment pretty much wiped it all away. While it would’ve been great to see someone win it who needed it more, having Reigns win has now set up a huge main event for WrestleMania. Punk vs. Reigns is a fresh match with a lot of history behind it that is honestly the biggest match they can do this year. As Reigns vs. Cody wouldn’t have had the same spark that it did the last two times, going in this direction instead was a much better idea. With two months still to go until Mania, this segment succeeded as the first step in selling this match as a big deal.
While the jury’s still out on where the build goes from here, this already feels bigger than both title matches we got last year. For as much as history as there is between these two, the two of them throwing it in each other’s faces brought the kind of heat to this segment that Raw’s been missing lately. The parts that stood out most were Reigns bringing up the podcast Punk did where he talked about making Reigns look strong and when Reigns mentioned how the company came to him before they signed Punk again. From what we saw here, the build up for this match has loads of potential and feels like a main event in a way most of the marquee matches last year didn’t. With Reigns still part time, how many appearances he makes between now and Mania will make all the difference in how good the build for this turns out to be.
Grade: A
Je’Von Evans vs. El Grande Americano
Latest developments:
After their match two weeks ago was stopped due to an injury, Je’Von Evans went one on one with El Grande Americano this week. As the match progressed, Bravo Americano pulled Evans down from the top rope as the referee was distracted by Rayo Americano. As Rayo gave Americano the metal plate to put in his mask, Original El Grande Americano came out. As Americano was distracted by this, the referee caught him with the metal plate in his hand and that led to Evans kicking him down. Evans then capitalized on this with the OG Cutter for the win.
Analysis:
Seeing the return of Original Americano was one of the few good surprises we got during the Rumble match. While Ludwig Kaiser has done a good job in filling the Americano role since Chad Gable’s been out, the character just had a different charm when Gable played it. All of this succeeded in giving Evans another credible win and in adding more fuel to this feud between the two Americanos coming out of the Rumble match. All of this is going to lead to a Mask vs. Mask match between the two at WrestleMania. As entertaining as this storyline has been in parts since it started last year, Mania feels like the right place for it to end.
Oba Femi Attacks the War Raiders
As the War Raiders were in the ring for a match, new main roster call up Oba Femi suddenly came out. As he entered the ring, he knocked both Eric & Ivar down with vicious clotheslines. Femi then picked them both up with ease and dropped them down. Continuing to show his strength and dominance, Femi hit Eric with a Popup Powerbomb. Femi then stood tall over both of them to end the segment.
Analysis:
Coming out of his performance in the Rumble match and in this segment, Femi is exactly the kind of fresh face that this show needs. Similarly to the way Brock Lesnar debuted in 2002, what he did here was as effective as it gets in establish him as a monster. For as physically imposing as the Raiders are, there was no one better than them for Femi to make examples of. As disappointing as it was to see how anticlimactic his elimination from the Rumble was, this succeeded in getting things back on track with Femi. From how it looks now, it feels like he’s going to be doing more of this over the next few weeks until he has his first official match.
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