{"id":116427,"date":"2021-04-04T23:18:55","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T04:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=116427"},"modified":"2021-04-04T23:18:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T04:18:55","slug":"wwe-monday-night-raw-primer-4-5-wrestlemania-go-home-show-for-raw-woods-vs-a-j-asuka-rhea-team-up-against-shayna-nia-in-non-title-match-drew-vs-old-nemesis-king-corbin-lashley-vs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/04\/04\/wwe-monday-night-raw-primer-4-5-wrestlemania-go-home-show-for-raw-woods-vs-a-j-asuka-rhea-team-up-against-shayna-nia-in-non-title-match-drew-vs-old-nemesis-king-corbin-lashley-vs\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 4\/5:  WrestleMania Go-Home Show for Raw, Woods vs. A.J., Asuka &amp; Rhea Team Up Against Shayna &amp; Nia in Non-Title Match, Drew vs. old nemesis King Corbin, Lashley vs. Cedric"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2394969898\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER<br \/>\nAPRIL 5, 2021<br \/>\nTAMPA, FL. AT THUNDERDOME IN TROPICANA FIELD<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p>** Due to my personal schedule on Monday, I\u2019m posting this Sunday evening, much earlier than the usual Monday post-lunchtime timeframe. Since the show has already been taped, enough was advertised to write a real primer for a change. **<\/p>\n<p><em>Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and Samoa Joe? MVP? Dok Hendrix? (OK that was a stretch)<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Match Results from Last Week<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Sheamus defeated U.S. Champion Riddle in a non-title match. They are now scheduled to go at WrestleMania for the title. Sheamus last held the title back in 2014. Here\u2019s Sheamus in a WWE exclusive:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sheamus wants to take back the United States Championship: WWE Network Exclusive, March 29, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OaGXFPuxOao?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Braun Strowman defeated Jaxson Ryker after Shane McMahon attempted to humiliate him by showing an old report card showing grades of D+ and worse.<\/li>\n<li>After breaking up the Hurt Business, WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defeated Shelton Benjamin in a non-title match. Here\u2019s Shelton and Cedric Alexander in a WWE exclusive after the match:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Benjamin &amp; Alexander are glad to be done with Lashley: WWE Network Exclusive, March 29, 2021\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zin4HhTy_UE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Xavier Woods of the Raw Tag Team Champions New Day defeated A.J. Styles via DQ when Omos got involved in the match.<\/li>\n<li>Naomi defeated Shayna Baszler of the WWE Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions in two minutes. Shayna Baszler is a former two-time NXT Women\u2019s Champion.<\/li>\n<li>Drew McIntyre defeated Ricochet and then Mustafa Ali.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Items Advertised by WWE<\/h4>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s edition of Raw will be the go-home edition heading into WrestleMania. The episode has already been taped since WWE will now be leaving Tropicana Field and taking the Thunderdome to the Yuengling Center in Tampa, FL. WWE has advertised four matches:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Xavier Woods and AJ Styles set for rematch five days before WrestleMania title clash.<\/li>\n<li>Asuka &amp; Rhea Ripley to collide with WWE Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler &amp; Nia Jax.<\/li>\n<li>Drew McIntyre looks to overcome obstacle of King Corbin before WrestleMania.<\/li>\n<li>The Hurt Business continue to implode as Bobby Lashley takes on Cedric Alexander.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Xavier Woods vs. A.J. Styles<\/h4>\n<p>At WrestleMania, New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston) will defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against A.J. Styles &amp; Omos. This is a rematch from last week, which was mentioned earlier in the recap. Prior to the match, New Day and A.J. &amp; Omos took part in the first ever \u201cGame Night\u201d skit. They played Charades and Pictionary before Omos had enough, and then they got to the match.<\/p>\n<p>New Day does not have a good record at WrestleMania when they have been involved in tag team title matches. They are 0-3, losing at WrestleManias 31, 34, and 36. This will be Omos\u2019s in-ring debut alongside A.J. whose record at WrestleMania is 3-1 in actual in-ring matches. He took part in the Boneyard Match last year with the Undertaker, and so if you count that as an actual match, he\u2019s 3-2.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I don\u2019t expect anything more than shenanigans tonight in advance of the title match at WrestleMania. Even though they got to this in a weird way, I\u2019m actually looking forward to it to see what Omos does in the ring. A.J. could be doing something better, but what exactly do they have for him? I don\u2019t see the better option.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Non-Title Match: WWE Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler &amp; Nia Jax vs. Raw Women\u2019s Champion Asuka &amp; Rhea Ripley<\/h4>\n<p>Rhea Ripley makes her in-ring debut on Raw tonight. She teams up with Asuka, her WrestleMania opponent and the women she\u2019ll be challenging for the Raw Women\u2019s Championship. Last week they signed the contract for the match. As expected, tempers flared which led to Rhea throwing the table on Asuka. Before things could get any crazier, Shayna Baszler &amp; Nia Jax came out. They questioned why they didn\u2019t have a WrestleMania match, and then challenged Rhea and Asuka to a match next week (tonight). Rhea accepted on Asuka\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Rhea went into WrestleMania as the NXT Women\u2019s Champion and fell to 2020 Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair. This year, she goes in as the challenger for the Raw title. She was the last person eliminated in the 2021 Royal Rumble by winner Bianca Belair, who is challenging Sasha Banks for the Smackdown title. Here\u2019s Asuka in a WWE exclusive:<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-602042216\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Asuka cannot wait to defend her title: Exclusive, Mar 29, 2021, presented by Nissin Cup Noodles\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6yLTOcvk4cM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: WWE likes this formula of WrestleMania opponents involved with the tag team champions, considering we just went through this with Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks. I could see why they do it, since outside of Asuka &amp; Rhea there\u2019s nobody that feels like a star and worth watching either woman wrestle enroute to WrestleMania. That doesn\u2019t make this a good idea.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Drew McIntyre vs. King Corbin<\/h4>\n<p>WWE Champion Bobby Lashley was looking for someone to take out Drew McIntyre ahead of their title match at WrestleMania. In exchange, they\u2019d get a title match. Throughout the night Drew was daring anyone to step up including Humberto Carrillo, Riddle, Drew Gulak, and Ricochet. Ricochet didn\u2019t care about Lashley\u2019s offer, and as I mentioned earlier fell to Drew in a match that was just about him bringing a fight. After Drew\u2019s subsequent match with Mustafa Ali, he called out Lashley. He went so far as to say \u201cIf Drew McIntyre didn\u2019t exist, you\u2019d be the man in this whole company. But I do exist, and tonight sending everyone out to get me, you proved to me Lashley is afraid of Drew McIntyre.\u201d They went at it until old nemesis King Corbin made a surprise appearance from Smackdown to attack Drew. The show closed out after Lashley applied multiple Hurt Locks.<\/p>\n<p>Lashley, Corbin, and Drew formed an unofficial alliance in late 2018 during Corbin\u2019s time as G.M. of Raw. Things are obviously much different these days as both Drew and Lashley have been WWE Champions while Corbin won the 2019 edition of the King of the Ring tournament. Last year, Corbin utilized the \u201cquarterly cross-brand invitational\u201d rule to challenge Drew for the title but came up short. Tonight, they go one-on-one ahead of Drew challenging Lashley for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Here are some tweets from Corbin and Lashley showing their days as an unofficial trio:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We used to run <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WWERaw<\/a>, we destroyed monsters and punished everyone. <\/p>\n<p>Then one guy sold out and wanted to sell T-shirt\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fightbobby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fightbobby<\/a> made an offer and I showed up! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RKXeqTLjfC\">pic.twitter.com\/RKXeqTLjfC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Corbin (@BaronCorbinWWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BaronCorbinWWE\/status\/1376735765435138049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"qme\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWERaw?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WWERaw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XcUybe2ye7\">pic.twitter.com\/XcUybe2ye7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bobby Lashley (@fightbobby) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fightbobby\/status\/1376733871912390656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I\u2019m not sure in fact I\u2019m almost positive they won\u2019t acknowledge those days because they were not good. I don\u2019t hate Corbin like everyone else does, and this is a spot that makes sense for him since they\u2019re not doing anything with him on Smackdown. That said, this is nothing more than a victory for Drew that will lead to post-match shenanigans between Drew and Lashley.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Non-Title Match: WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Cedric Alexander<\/h4>\n<p>Speaking of Bobby Lashley, he goes one-on-one with former Hurt Business associate Cedric Alexander. Last week, Lashley ended the Hurt Business by telling Cedric and Shelton Benjamin he\u2019s worked too long and hard for the WWE title, and refuses to be associated with incompetents. He cited their loss to Drew in a handicap match a week earlier that got them barred from ring side at WrestleMania and losing the Raw Tag Team Championship. MVP said the Hurt Business was over. Later backstage, Cedric and Shelton told WWE executive Adam Pearce they each wanted a match with Lashley.<\/p>\n<p>Lashley defeated Shelton in about four minutes. Tonight, Lashley faces Cedric. Oddly, this is not the first time they\u2019re facing each other. They went at it ahead of Lashley \u201cmarrying Lana\u201d back in late 2019 (the not-so good old days). Here\u2019s a clip from that match:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Cedric Alexander vs. Bobby Lashley: Raw, Dec. 23, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A3isnIVi2VA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I know a lot of people were upset by the Hurt Business breaking up. It actually didn\u2019t bother me. Shelton and Cedric weren\u2019t adding to Lashley\u2019s act recently that I can remember. I\u2019m not saying I agree with them breaking up, I just don\u2019t see where they had to stay together. They looked the part and were cool, but let\u2019s be honest. Shelton is nothing more than a jobber and they don\u2019t see much in Cedric. This was more about occupying those guys. In the end, Lashley got elevated but they have to be careful. He doesn\u2019t have the mic skills and while I appreciate rough but authentic talking, leave the heavy lifting to MVP. That\u2019s why he\u2019s there.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3609413287\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2089685399\"><div id=\"pwtor-3163007060\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER APRIL 5, 2021 TAMPA, FL. AT THUNDERDOME IN TROPICANA FIELD AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR ** Due to my personal schedule on <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/04\/04\/wwe-monday-night-raw-primer-4-5-wrestlemania-go-home-show-for-raw-woods-vs-a-j-asuka-rhea-team-up-against-shayna-nia-in-non-title-match-drew-vs-old-nemesis-king-corbin-lashley-vs\/\" title=\"WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 4\/5:  WrestleMania Go-Home Show for Raw, Woods vs. A.J., Asuka &amp; Rhea Team Up Against Shayna &amp; Nia in Non-Title Match, Drew vs. old nemesis King Corbin, Lashley vs. Cedric\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":116431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4354,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-raw-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2021\/04\/MCINTYRE-CORBIN.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116432,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116427\/revisions\/116432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}