{"id":73461,"date":"2019-01-14T14:05:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T20:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=73461"},"modified":"2019-01-14T14:05:31","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T20:05:31","slug":"wwe-raw-primer-1-14-triple-threat-ic-title-match-ronda-sasha-team-braun-and-brock-the-revival-conspiracy-royal-rumble-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/01\/14\/wwe-raw-primer-1-14-triple-threat-ic-title-match-ronda-sasha-team-braun-and-brock-the-revival-conspiracy-royal-rumble-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RAW PRIMER 1\/14: Triple threat IC Title match, Ronda &#038; Sasha team, Braun and Brock, The Revival \u201cconspiracy,\u201d Royal Rumble matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1349451062\" 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><strong>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER<br \/>\nJANUARY 14, 2019<br \/>\nMEMPHIS, TENN. AT THE FEDEXFORUM<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Arena and Items Advertised by WWE<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Tonight, we inch a little closer to the Royal Rumble as Raw returns to the FedExForum in Memphis, TN.\u00a0 for the first time since October of 2013.\u00a0 It\u2019s crazy to think of the turnover in personnel over the last five plus years.\u00a0 At that time, we were getting ready for the Yes! Movement with now WWE Champion Daniel Bryan and CM Punk was on the active roster.\u00a0 The Shield were approaching one year of being on the main roster, and the two world titles were held by Randy Orton (WWE Championship) and Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Championship).\u00a0 Del Rio would soon drop the title to, you guessed it, John Cena.<\/p>\n<p>That was then and this now and as for Raw tonight, here\u2019s what is advertised by <a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\/\">WWE.com<\/a>subject to change as the day goes on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rivalries converge in Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match<\/li>\n<li>The Boss and The Rowdy One face common enemy<\/li>\n<li>Is Braun Strowman truly ready for Brock Lesnar?<\/li>\n<li>The Revival \u201cconspiracy\u201d continues<\/li>\n<li>Royal Rumble matches take shape<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Triple Threat Intercontinental Championship: Dean Ambrose (champ) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week was a busy week for former Intercontinental Champion \u201cThe Kingslayer\u201d Seth Rollins.<\/p>\n<p>At the onset of Raw, Rollins was seen brawling with \u201cThe All Mighty\u201d Bobby Lashley.\u00a0 As you may recall, two weeks ago, Rollins lost to Lashley via DQ when attacked both Lashley and his manager Lio Rush with a chair.\u00a0 This was following Triple H telling Rollins, his former fierce rival, he wanted to see \u201cthe guy that would do anything to win.\u201d\u00a0 Nevertheless, this led to an impromptu six-man tag team match which saw Rollins &amp; a returning John Cena &amp; Finn Balor defeat Lashley &amp; Drew McIntyre &amp; Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose.\u00a0 Rollins pinned Ambrose to score the win for his team.<\/p>\n<p>Rollins would demand a rematch for the IC title with Ambrose, of which Triple H was willing to oblige.\u00a0 He \u201cnearly defeated Ambrose\u201d when Lashley would interfere and allow Ambrose to score the win, retaining his championship.\u00a0 Lashley later put Rollins through a table.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, Ambrose defends against Rollins again plus Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 It was great to see a good old-fashioned brawl to start a Raw.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t seen something like that since the Attitude Era if memory serves me correctly.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the triple threat here should serve as a bridge to get Rollins and Lashley into a singles feud while squeezing some more juice out of the Rollins-Ambrose situation.\u00a0 If Rollins is expected to eventually de-throne Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, you need to get him out of the Intercontinental title picture but protect him at the same time.\u00a0 They need to do the same for Lashley, for whom WWE has done significant damage to since his return last year.\u00a0 His more determined &amp; intense ways in recent weeks is much better than the guy bending over to give us useless butt poses.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see the finish for this match tonight.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1645903736\" 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><em>It is important to note that even though the Rollins-Ambrose match was advertised throughout the show, viewership did drop in the third hour.\u00a0 I personally don\u2019t read too much into that considering people probably didn\u2019t expect Rollins to regain the championship, but it\u2019s a factor that shouldn\u2019t be ignored.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Raw Women\u2019s Champion Ronda Rousey &amp; Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax &amp; Tamina<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week, we had the debut of \u201cA Moment of Bliss\u201d hosted by former Raw &amp; Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Alexa Bliss.\u00a0 He first guest was current Raw champ Ronda Rousey.\u00a0 Ronda discussed how she wanted to face the \u201cunsung hero\u201d of Raw, Sasha Banks.\u00a0 This did not sit well with former champion Nia Jax, as you will see in the YouTube highlight:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The debut &quot;Moment of Bliss&quot; descends into chaos: Raw, Jan. 7, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vRTRCFhoDVk?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>Sasha would go on to challenge and defeat Nia to earn a championship opportunity at the Royal Rumble.\u00a0 Tonight, Sasha &amp; Ronda put their upcoming match aside and team to face Nia Jax and Tamina in a tag match.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 Did the McMahons deputize Sasha with authority to book matches all of a sudden?\u00a0 I have to admit I did like Sasha telling Ronda she would happy to teach her to lose with dignity and class.\u00a0 That could be planting a seed for a heel turn at some with Ronda considering her history with handling her losses in UFC.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to see Sasha involved in something a little more substantial than running around with Bayley and feuding with the Riott Squad.\u00a0 The question is what is to follow.\u00a0 With Women\u2019s Tag Team Championships on tap, one would expect Sasha and Bayley to be in the picture for that and thus the Sasha-Ronda feud is likely a one-off deal.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>WWE continues to feature Ronda in tag matches on TV to limit her exposure which for the most part is smart.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that shouldn\u2019t be overdone at risk of overexposure and making her appearances feel less special.\u00a0 The Ronda segment was also in the third hour that lost viewership, and was a segment advertised ahead of time.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman Continued<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe Beast\u201d Brock Lesnar will defend his Universal Championship against the \u201cMonster Among Men\u201d Braun Strowman at the Royal Rumble.\u00a0 Forgive me as I have said it will be Strowman\u2019s fourth televised attempt at dethroning Lesnar since SummerSlam 2017, where Strowman was part of a fatal four-way match.\u00a0 It will actually be his fifth attempt, as he was part of a triple threat match at last year\u2019s Royal Rumble which featured Kane &amp; he against Lesnar.\u00a0 His other attempts were singles matches at No Mercy in September of 2017, and Crown Jewel this past November (you know, that global event with\u2026.oh never mind).<\/p>\n<p>Strowman called out Lesnar last week, to which Lesnar responded on the Titantron with Paul Heyman.\u00a0 After much back and forth amongst themselves, they finally came out to the ring.\u00a0 We thought we were going to get a confrontation, but Lesnar blew off Strowman.\u00a0 If you really want to relive this segment, here you go:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Braun Strowman &amp; Brock Lesnar meet face-to-face before their Royal Rumble battle: Raw, Jan. 7, 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IC1pjlk9vTU?list=PLF0CB8E7B4C77DB61\" 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>Nothing is on paper for tonight between these two (thankfully\u2026oops did I say that), but we\u2019ll likely get more of a follow-up as we get ready for their championship match at the Rumble.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3960501809\" 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<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 This segment has been ripped to shreds enough, and rightfully so.\u00a0 I won\u2019t pile on, but I\u2019ll ask a few questions.\u00a0 If Braun is still hurt, why tease a confrontation? \u00a0Do a backstage interview or a sit-down and let\u2019s hear something other than \u201cLesnar is going to get these hands.\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019ve done plenty of sit-downs in the past with upcoming Lesnar matches.\u00a0 It works better for him and if they do it with Strowman, it could get us to see a different side of him other than the limited character we\u2019ve seen thus far.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/wwe.com\/\">WWE.com<\/a> has featured videos of his rehab and thus perhaps that\u2019s their way of doing that.\u00a0 Many have said they are not looking forward to this match, and I can\u2019t blame them.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>It doesn\u2019t help either that Lesnar had a look on his face that showed \u201cI get paid for this\u201d while doing absolutely nothing productive.\u00a0 I hate to repeat myself, but it\u2019s getting nauseating seeing Brock Lesnar on television with the Universal Championship.\u00a0 For me it\u2019s not because of how they told the story of how he\u2019s part time and doesn\u2019t care, as I was feeling that way long before WWE did significant damage to him during the Roman Reigns feud.\u00a0 You want Lesnar here from time to time that\u2019s fine but keep him out of the title picture.\u00a0 Reserve him for those specials matches against people like Drew McIntyre, Pete Dunne (maybe, eventually), A.J. Styles, Finn Balor, etc.<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Revival \u201cConspiracy\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Revival (Dash Wilder &amp; Scott Dawson) challenged Raw Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode &amp; Chad Gable in a lumberjack match last week.\u00a0 It was their second chance at the champs on TV since facing them on the Christmas Eve episode.<\/p>\n<p>Gable scored the pin on Dawson, but not without controversy as Dawson\u2019s foot was on the rope.\u00a0 By WWE emphasizing this, it\u2019s likely we get follow-up tonight perhaps in the form of a rematch or a path for the Revival to earn one.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t it make sense to do this to a babyface tag team, which theoretically would get the very astute announcers and fans angry that the fan favorites are being screwed and deserve justice?\u00a0 Doing this to a heel team makes no sense and it does Roode &amp; Gable no favors.\u00a0 They could be trying to turn Revival babyface.\u00a0 If they want to do that, just turn them but make it clear to the fans so they can get behind them and want to see them win the championship rather than doing whatever it is they are trying to do.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Royal Rumbles Matches<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week, John Cena opened Raw and announced his entrance into this year\u2019s Royal Rumble before competing in the six-man tag that was discussed earlier.\u00a0 Elias did the same before serenading the crowd and losing to Baron Corbin (who for some reason still hasn\u2019t gone back to wrestling gear).\u00a0 Jinder Mahal and Apollo Crew also announced their participation before Apollo &amp; Ember Moon defeated Jinder &amp; Alicia Fox in a mixed tag match.\u00a0 Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Finn Balor are also in from Raw.<\/p>\n<p>On the women\u2019s side from Raw Alicia Fox announced her entrance last week.\u00a0 She will join Ember Moon, Natalya, The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott &amp; Sarah Logan &amp; Liv Morgan), and Sasha Banks.\u00a0 It\u2019s unknown if Sasha will be pulled from the Rumble considering she is challenging Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women\u2019s Championship.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis:\u00a0 I have a short list for Rumble winners, subject to my changing my mind over the next few weeks:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>John Cena <\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Randy Orton<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Seth Rollins<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Drew McIntyre<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Andrade \u201cCien\u201d Almas<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Samoa Joe<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>I sadly have Cena and Orton on there because it\u2019s not out of the realm of possibility either of them wins, as sad as that sounds in 2019.\u00a0 Rollins or McIntyre would be more of my choice, as either one of them would be a logical opponent for Lesnar at WrestleMania, assuming Lesnar retains over Strowman.\u00a0 Almas is in their just because I like to throw a surprise winner.\u00a0 It would ring similar to Alberto Del Rio in 2011.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see Joe as very likely, but it not crazy to imagine him winning and challenging Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship as a babyface assuming Bryan retains until \u2018Mania.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Other Items from Last Week:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Hulk Hogan returned to pay tribute to his long-time friend \u201cMean\u201d Gene Okerlund, who sadly left us just after New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0 It was overall well done and appropriate for such an important figure in wrestling history.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NXT Callups<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No NXT callups arrived on television for either show; however, EC3 and Lacey Evans worked dark matches before Raw last week. It turns out they didn&#8217;t air on the Main Event TV show, though. EC3 defeated Curt Hawkins while Lacey Evans lost to Natalya.\u00a0 EC3 and Evans appear headed to Raw as I discussed in last week\u2019s primer.<\/p>\n<p>Heavy Machinery worked a dark match prior to Smackdown and defeated Primo &amp; Epico.\u00a0 They appear headed to that brand.<\/p>\n<p>There are conflicting reports regarding Lars Sullivan no-showing dark matches last week while WWE was in Orlando and Jacksonville.\u00a0 Some say he was a no-show and went home due to anxiety attacks, while some say he was never in the area whatsoever.\u00a0 We\u2019ll pay attention as this story unfolds in the coming days.\u00a0 Sullivan has been hyped as coming to the main roster since Survivor Series.\u00a0 Him not being at the last NXT taping and rumors of mental issues are an interesting combination.<\/p>\n<p>WWE still showed the video of all the callups \u201ccoming to WWE.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Trevor Lee<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I am excited to see that former Impact Wrestling and soon-to-be former CWF wrestler Trevor Lee has signed with WWE.\u00a0 He has completed his time with Impact; however, dates with CWF are still on his calendar.\u00a0 It is expected he will check in with NXT upon his arrival.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Start Time &amp; Matches Advertised on the Arena Website <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The FedExForum is advertising a start time of 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Intercontinental Championship match: Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose<\/li>\n<li>John Cena &amp; Finn Balor &amp; Elias vs. Drew McIntyre &amp; Baron Corbin &amp; Bobby Lashley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They show these matches as part of their \u201cupdate\u201d which came out last week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Follow me on Twitter @FrankPeteani or e-mail me at <a href=\"mailto:fpeteani@gmail.com\">fpeteani@gmail.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Questions and discussion are welcome.\u00a0 Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-4104958082\"><div id=\"pwtor-2177191172\"><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 JANUARY 14, 2019 MEMPHIS, TENN. AT THE FEDEXFORUM AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00PM EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young Arena and Items <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/01\/14\/wwe-raw-primer-1-14-triple-threat-ic-title-match-ronda-sasha-team-braun-and-brock-the-revival-conspiracy-royal-rumble-matches\/\" title=\"WWE RAW PRIMER 1\/14: Triple threat IC Title match, Ronda &#038; Sasha team, Braun and Brock, The Revival \u201cconspiracy,\u201d Royal Rumble matches\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57003,"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-73461","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\/2018\/03\/RouseyRonda-Entrance-3x2-600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73461","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73461"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73464,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73461\/revisions\/73464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}