{"id":95705,"date":"2020-04-06T15:05:13","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T20:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=95705"},"modified":"2020-04-06T15:05:13","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T20:05:13","slug":"wwe-raw-primer-4-6-spoiler-free-continued-audience-free-show-wrestlemania-fallout-and-expectations-going-forward-in-relation-to-new-champions-and-potential-roster-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/04\/06\/wwe-raw-primer-4-6-spoiler-free-continued-audience-free-show-wrestlemania-fallout-and-expectations-going-forward-in-relation-to-new-champions-and-potential-roster-moves\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RAW PRIMER 4\/6: (Spoiler-Free) Continued Audience-Free Show, WrestleMania Fallout and Expectations Going Forward in Relation to New Champions and Potential Roster Moves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-23875032\" 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 \/>\nORLANDO, FLA. AT THE PERFORMANCE CENTER<br \/>\nAPRIL 6, 2020<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Tom Phillips, Jerry \u201cThe King\u201d Lawler, Byron Saxton<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Top 10 Moments from Last Week\u2019s Show:<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Top 10 Raw moments: WWE Top 10, March 30, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sLH-bKUgFYw?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<h3>WrestleMania Results Pertinent to Raw<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Alexa Bliss &amp; Nikki Cross defeated the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka &amp; Kairi Sane) to win the WWE Women\u2019s Tag Team Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Becky Lynch defeated Shayna Baszler to retain the Raw Women\u2019s Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins via DQ. He then defeated Rollins in a no-DQ match.<\/li>\n<li>The Undertaker defeated A.J. Styles in a Boneyard match.<\/li>\n<li>Liv Morgan defeated Natalya (Night Two Kickoff Show).<\/li>\n<li>Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Aleister Black defeated Bobby Lashley<\/li>\n<li>Edge defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match.<\/li>\n<li>The Street Profits (Montez Ford &amp; Angelo Dawkins) defeated Austin Theory &amp; Angel Garza (with Zelina Vega) to retain the Raw Tag Team Championship. During a post-match attack on the Profits, Bianca Belair from NXT appeared and went after Zelina.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe Fiend\u201d Bray Wyatt \u2026. Defeated? \u2026 John Cena in a Firefly Funhouse \u2026 match? (I\u2019m still processing this one, sorry.)<\/li>\n<li>Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>WrestleMania Exclusive Videos:<\/h3>\n<p>There are a series of WWE.com exclusives in relation to WrestleMania. For simplicity, I\u2019ll just list the ones here pertinent to Raw and on Friday I\u2019ll give you the ones pertinent to Smackdown.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drew McIntyre:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Drew McIntyre soaks in first moments with WWE Title: WWE Exclusive, April 5, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/clBFeTwxoFY?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><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Get a first look at Drew McIntyre\u2019s WWE Championship plates: WWE Exclusive, April 5, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dLGrOoxFx1k?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>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Becky Lynch:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Becky Lynch shares a post-WrestleMania message with Shayna Baszler: WWE Exclusive, April 4, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s7DXo9p7eRc?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><strong>The Street Profits:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Street Profits walked out with the titles and Bianca Belair: WWE Exclusive, April 5, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nP8vOJH1KQ8?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><strong>Alexa Bliss &amp; Nikki Cross:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Alexa Bliss &amp; Nikki Cross celebrate WrestleMania victory: WWE Exclusive, April 4, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7NtN_q0MRpk?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<h3>Arena<\/h3>\n<p>The trend of audience-free shows continues as Raw will emanate from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. Tonight\u2019s episode was filmed on March 24 before the shelter-in-place order for Orange County in Florida, which affects WWE\u2019s use of the Performance Center. WrestleMania is now behind us and we face a very different \u201cnight after WrestleMania\u201d than what we\u2019re used to in the past. We\u2019re accustomed to the rabid crowds, debuts, and returns that typically come with this night.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll do this a little differently than how I do the primers. At the moment, WWE is not advertising what they\u2019re doing tonight (or what they did anyway). Let\u2019s look at the big takes from WrestleMania weekend and forecast what we may see not just tonight but going forward.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-341354741\" 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<h3>New WWE Champion: Drew McIntyre<\/h3>\n<p>An 11-year journey finally led Drew McIntyre to the mountaintop of WWE, as he captured his first world championship, defeating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Drew had won the Royal Rumble to earn the right to choose his opponent. Brock and Drew attacked each other on various occasions. Brock most notably went after Drew the night after the Rumble while Drew delivered several Claymore Kicks to Brock on Raw in Brooklyn, N.Y. before the coronavirus outbreak. We saw several standout promos from Paul Heyman, representing Brock as well as from Drew who talked about his journey which included failing in WWE during his first run from 2009-2014. He was deemed the \u201cChosen One\u201d by Vince McMahon upon his arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Drew now starts his journey as WWE Champion. Unfortunately, we won\u2019t get that promo in front of a crowd right away. We\u2019ll find out tonight how they followed up on his big win, and if they line up a challenger right away. Seth Rollins is a likely choice, given they\u2019ve worked together before when Rollins was a babyface and Drew was a heel.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: Not to speak in an echo chamber, but it is unfortunate that Drew didn\u2019t get this win in front of 70,000+ fans. I\u2019m glad they pressed on with him winning. Provided he holds the title until fans are allowed in the building, and who knows when that will be, it will be a special moment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Charlotte Flair New NXT Champion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The women\u2019s division on Raw got shaken up so to speak as Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley for the NXT Championship, effectively moving her to NXT and away from Becky Lynch, who retained her Raw Women\u2019s Championship over Shayna Baszler.<\/p>\n<p>Technically, on WWE\u2019s website, Shayna is listed as an NXT wrestler while Charlotte is listed as a member of Raw. I\u2019m sure it just hasn\u2019t been updated yet and we\u2019ll likely see changes over the next little while. I can\u2019t imagine Baszler going back to NXT after being on Raw for the past few months. Charlotte as NXT Champion moves her to NXT, unless she\u2019s going to float between both shows. With Bianca Belair arriving to help the Street Profits last night it\u2019s likely she\u2019s moving to Raw. By week\u2019s end, we should have a better idea of where people may be headed as things are usually shaken up after WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I was surprised to see Charlotte win the NXT Championship given how hot Rhea had been since the end of last year. I\u2019m guessing they think putting her back in chase mode is better than her being champion at the moment. Perhaps Charlotte works with a lot of the babyfaces they have in NXT such as Xia Li, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae, etc. If Baszler is staying on Raw, I guess they think they need an established top-end heel in NXT. This is all just me guessing and I don\u2019t necessarily agree with the thinking, if in fact this is what they\u2019re thinking. I wasn\u2019t surprised Becky retained. Truthfully, I don\u2019t know how invested they are in Baszler. If you ask me, they didn\u2019t give her enough to warrant a rematch. We\u2019ll see what they do. Everything is obviously up in the air with the coronavirus pandemic.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Kevin Owens-Seth Rollins Feud<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3275477839\" 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>It feels like the feud has been going on for quite some time, and it has, but Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins effectively \u201cended it\u201d this weekend when Owens defeated Rollins in a no-DQ match. It started as a straight-up match, but Rollins hit Owens will the bell getting himself DQ\u2019d. Owens demanded Rollins come back and do a no-DQ match, to which Rollins obliged. Owens hit a big spot as he dove onto Rollins off the WrestleMania sign. He later hit Rollins with a Stunner to score the pin and gave him his \u201cWrestleMania moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll find out if these men go their separate ways as they have been involved with each other one way or another since before Christmas. With Drew McIntyre winning the WWE Championship, I don\u2019t see babyface Owens going after him for the title, but I can see heel Rollins as I mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I thought the match was very well done. I\u2019m somewhat numb to the restarts, as WWE does them so often, but here I thought it worked. The match felt personal and the action kept me engaged. Don\u2019t sleep on Rollins moving to Smackdown, as they are lacking in heels at the moment. After all, do you want to see King Corbin or Bray Wyatt chase Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship? Ok then\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other Expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d keep an eye on Aleister Black. I can see him getting involved with Andrade, depending on his injury status, for the U.S. Championship. How ironic would that be considering Andrade\u2019s manager (I\u2019ll call her that) Zelina Vega is Aleister\u2019s wife in real life.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ll probably keep things going with the Street Profits and Austin Theory &amp; Angel Garza, if for the short term. I don\u2019t know if I see Theory &amp; Garza as a long-term team, but Zelina Vega managing them as a team or individuals works for me.<\/p>\n<p>Randy Orton and A.J. Styles have to be taking time off after their matches this weekend, although I wouldn\u2019t put it past WWE to bring Orton right back and have him be McIntyre\u2019s first challenger for the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if anyone cared, but people like Ricochet and Cedric Alexander were not on the card at all this weekend. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll move to Smackdown if they do a shakeup, but I thought it was interesting not to at least see Ricochet. He did challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship just two months ago, after all.<\/p>\n<h3>Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>I tried to avoid typing \u201cwe\u2019ll see what happens\u201d and mentioning the coronavirus pandemic as much as possible, but everything is truly up in the air. I don\u2019t believe they have Smackdown this Friday recorded yet. The \u201cshelter-in-place\u201d order is until April 9, so they\u2019d be able to use the Performance Center Friday provided the order isn\u2019t extended. If it is, who knows what they\u2019ll do. Tonight\u2019s Raw is in the can, so we\u2019ll at least have an idea of where things may be headed on that end. Overall, I enjoyed WrestleMania, but it did suffer from the lack of a crowd. It is tasking to get through these shows, but we press on.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/04\/05\/wwe-wrestlemania-36-results-night-two-kellers-report-on-lesnar-mcintyre-cena-fiend-in-firefly-funhouse-match-ripley-charlotte-edge-orton-otis-ziggler-lashley-black-more\/\">WWE WRESTLEMANIA 36 RESULTS \u2013 NIGHT TWO: Keller\u2019s report on Lesnar-McIntyre, Cena-Fiend in Firefly Funhouse match, Ripley-Charlotte, Edge-Orton, Otis-Ziggler, Lashley-Black, more<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-125856731\"><div id=\"pwtor-2701377540\"><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 ORLANDO, FLA. AT THE PERFORMANCE CENTER APRIL 6, 2020 AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EDT BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST Announcers: Tom Phillips, Jerry \u201cThe King\u201d Lawler, Byron <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/04\/06\/wwe-raw-primer-4-6-spoiler-free-continued-audience-free-show-wrestlemania-fallout-and-expectations-going-forward-in-relation-to-new-champions-and-potential-roster-moves\/\" title=\"WWE RAW PRIMER 4\/6: (Spoiler-Free) Continued Audience-Free Show, WrestleMania Fallout and Expectations Going Forward in Relation to New Champions and Potential Roster Moves\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95712,"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-95705","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\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-06-at-3.02.24-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95705","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=95705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95713,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95705\/revisions\/95713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}