Debroslink:
I laugh each time I watch this segment. It reminds me of when I was a child running away from my elder brother. grin



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uES5lsn18Uw

So these were the kind of shenanigans you used to pull
My jnr brothers did this to me alot

pu7pl3:
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS


I Must Breakk You
Bron Breakker showed up to Raw this week but not for the reason I figured. Bron got his rematch against Dolph Ziggler for the NXT title after getting screwed at Stand & Deliver. While not as good as their previous contest, this was a solid outing with a simple story at its heart.
Ziggler believed Bron wasn’t ready for the big lights of Raw. There’s a difference between wrestling on a Saturday afternoon and on a Monday night. Dolph talked a lot of trash during the match, being the best jackass version of himself. But Bron wasn’t hearing any of that BS.
Like most matches with Bron, it’s about learning from past mistakes. Big Bob Roode made an interference attempt because of course he did. Rather than let Roode stick around and ruin all of his fun, Bron showed an insane amount of hops and leapt over the rope to crash into Roode with a Swanton Dive. That’s a big man capable of doing things big men normally can’t.
With Roode neutralized, Ziggler went for a repeat of their previous championship match. Dolph removed the middle turnbuckle cover and, again, nobody saw it. From there, it was almost an exact repeat of Stand & Deliver: Bron managed to lift Dolph over his head, Dolph poked his eye, and then he pushed Bron into the turnbuckle. But Bron, again showing how much he learns, knew what was coming and put on the brakes before his head collided with steel.
Dolph’s two Superkick attempts went nowhere, and Bron eventually finished it with his Military Press Slam.
Bron regains his title and who knows whether Dolph and Big Bob go back to NXT or not. And the rest of my questions are NXT-related, so tune in tomorrow for those and more during my NXT recap!


The Punishment for the Guilty
I’m digging what Edge and Damian Priest are throwing down. Edge told us he didn’t expect Damian to come out at WrestleMania, but it makes sense. Priest, like Edge, hid his true self trying to appeal to the “sheep” known as WWE fans. Of course, when the fans started chanting “we are sheep,” Edge responded perfectly.
There’s a twisted minister vibe Edge has with this gimmick. He said Damian is someone who understands his message. He asked Damian what was it about his “pearls of wisdom” that inspired him. And Damian, in his explanation, sounded like a churchgoer explaining why he signed up. “I was lost,” said Priest. Edge’s message gave him direction. “Your message? It felt like you were speaking to me. Directly to me.”
Yup, all of that sounds just like something said in churches, cults, and treehouse clubs around the country.
Edge is on a mission to reveal any and every wolf in sheep’s clothing, and as far as he is concerned, the fans are the only obstacle in their way.
Oh, that and AJ Styles.
AJ was rightly upset after losing at WrestleMania, and Edge understands AJ will not stop. Right on cue, AJ made his way to the ring and did what he does best: fight.
But, to Edge’s point, a Pit bull knows only fight, not flight. AJ’s instincts to dive headfirst into a two-on-one situation wasn’t smart. And he paid the price for that lack of intelligence.
This is good and has the potential to be great. It will hit another level if Edge uses his words to entice AJ to join his crew. Will he do it? Probably not. But one can make an argument that bad guy AJ is more accomplished in WWE than good guy AJ.


The Rest
Cody is Here for Dad
Cody Rhodes opened Raw this week. It’s still crazy this is where we are in 2022, and even wilder Cody is opening the flagship show and given free rein to tell his story. Cody talked about rumors, talked about the past, and talked about WrestleMania. But his main point was about his motivation.
Cody is here for to win the WWE Championship. Not just for his fans, not just for his wife and kids, but for his dad.
That’s a great reason for coming back to WWE. Cody has unfinished business on behalf of his dad and wants to correct what he—and a lot of us—feel is an egregious error. The promo was a bit long winded but once Cody got to the emotional crux, it all clicked into place. Seth Rollins made his way to the ring and I figured all hell would break loose. But no, Seth welcomed Cody back and it was all peaceful. I guess that story about Dusty never winning the championship got to him too.
Same, Seth. Same.

VEER IS JUST HERE
Look, this was always going near the top of this list. Miz squashed Dominik Mysterio. Seriously, it wasn’t even a thing. That signaled a tune we’re all familiar with from video packages telling us of his imminent arrival.
Veer rolled to the ring with locks flowing like a Vidal Sassoon commercial. Rather than attack The Miz, he decimated The Mysterios. Veer is here. Hide your families because he’s out for all of the blood.

Roman Shows Up and Leaves
Speaking of the WWE Championship, the Undisputed WWE Universal champ was the main event this week.
Why is it here instead of getting a whole bunch of words up top? Because he really didn’t say much. Roman talked his talk, gloated about being Brock, and then told us all he’ll talk about the rest of his future later. Long and short of it?
Watch SmackDown this Friday. Meh.

The Champ is Here
I planned to write more for Bianca Belair before the show started, but it turns out there’s not much to write. Bianca came out, cut a dope babyface promo, showed the black eye courtesy of Becky Lynch, and told the world the crucible by fire made her better. She also threw a diss or two at Becky, setting up a rematch down the line.
The one disappointment is there was no challenger. It’s the Raw after Mania and we have no challenger for Bianca’s title. Maybe they wanted to give her this moment to shine while letting that eye heel, but it feels weird to not know what the immediate future holds for one of the red brand’s top stars.

Tornado Tag
Shocker, but The Street Profits and Alpha Academy put on a very good tornado tag match. That wasn’t the initial plan but since these four men have more disdain for the rules than each other, Adam Pearce called an audible and made it an anything goes tornado tag match.
The Alphas dominated this match for the most part. The Profits fought from underneath, a good way to bring back their babyface shine after flirting with the dark side for a few weeks.
The Texas crowd wanted tables and eventually, we got tables. While the Academy brought the tables to the dance, it was Motez Ford and Angelo Dawkins who benefited.
With Otis isolated and Chad Gable placed on the table, Montez took to the sky for Frog Slash that split the table, and Chad, in half.
Good match that didn’t overstay its welcome and was the right amount of chaos.

Rhea Ain’t Happy
Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan lost their championship contenders match to Boss x Glow. Because, of course they did. The champs weren’t losing their first match as champs, even if the titles weren’t on the line. That’s just silliness.
Once again, the story was Sasha and Naomi working like a well-oiled machine. That’s their advantage going into every match, especially since their friendship goes back years. And it showed itself in the last sequence. Rhea and Liv tried their hand at double team moves during the match and it was a success until it wasn’t. Rhea tried to alley-oop her partner onto Sasha, but they took just a tad too long and missed.
That opened the door for Naomi and Sasha to do what they do best, and get out of Dallas with the W.
Rhea though? Rhea isn’t feeling this tag team thing. She was dismayed after the match, didn’t want to talk to her partner or even walk out with her. Later, we found out Rhea convinced the worst managers ever to give her and Liv a tag team title match...even though they just lost a match to do just that. How, Sway?!
My guess? They lose the match and Rhea turns on Liv, then joins Edge’s new Omen-influenced group.

Walk With Ezekiel?
Kevin Owens is great. KO came out and did what great heels do: Made excuses for his L to Steve Austin. Owens talked about his bad back, his workout earlier in the day that aggravated said back, and how Austin is a sham for living with that win in the record book since it was against an unhealthy man. Hilarious. And he managed to give Austin his props in the process.
But then...weird music played and Ezekiel graced us with his presence. Now, far be it from me to call anyone a liar, but this Ezekiel cat looked remarkably like Elias. You remember Elias, right? The man who went away months ago, got a few vignettes about dying and resurrection, and then nothing.
Well, now he’s back. And the gimmick here is he’s obviously Elias but claiming he’s actually Elias’ brother. Ah, yeah, that makes sense. It’s incredibly silly and something the audience can have fun with, which Dallas certainly did.

Et tu, MVP?
MVP called his best friend, Bobby Lashley, to the ring this week. They celebrated Bobby’s victory over Omos and Lashley told the tale of finding a way to beat the monster. MVP said he was proud of Bobby for beating Omos without him.
Yeah, about that.
Omos made his way to the ring, demanded a rematch, and MVP shocked the world when he turned on his former Hurt Business partner.
Good that Omos has a mouthpiece now because talking isn’t his forte. Actually, a lot of the actual wrestling part of pro wrestling isn’t his forte either, but one step at a time.
Bobby vs. Omos just became a bit more interesting with MVP switching sides like water rides.

Poor Finn, Part Infinity
The Uso’s got into Austin Theory’s head earlier this week, motivating him before their six-man tag match against Finn Balor & RK-Bro. Austin vowed to prove everyone wrong and reward Mr. McMahon’s faith in him by destroying Finn.
And it was a solid tag match too. But then, yeah, Austin got another pin on Finn. The United States champ looks like a chump week in and week out. No matter how hype the match was, this result just sours everything for me.

Corey & Carmella
Sure, we can talk about Queen Zelina and Carmella breaking up. We can talk about Zelina saying Mella is more concerned with her fiancé than winning championships. Nor will we talk about Zelina shooting her shot at Corey.
This segment was all about Corey and Carmella making out. And to that I say “Not PG.”

This was a good episode of Raw. It moved, had a great rhythm, and never felt bogged down. The crowd was hot and the wrestlers delivered when it was their time to shine. So why good and not great? It was an anti-climactic ending, and I can do without the Carmella and Corey madness.
Oh, and of course the continuing mistreatment of the United States Championship. I cannot abide that.

Grade: B+

samistry:
After months of saving up his load for the wwe universe
Veer finally cum and it was glorious!

Bruh

ValeeLove:
People are saying good things about WrestleMania 38 asides the main event and McMahon's selling of the Stone Cold Stunner ofcourse.
And I like this...

ValeeLove:
Date one, marry one, become best friends with one. The choice is yours.
Those of you who want to marry Bianca, be ready to face Montez.

Have sex with 3 of them at once

ValeeLove:
Date one, marry one, become best friends with one. The choice is yours.
Those of you who want to marry Bianca, be ready to face Montez.

pu7pl3:


Have sex with 3 of them at once

Debroslink:


Charlotte Flair can't have a group pix with these stars.

ValeeLove:
you dislike her.

Debroslink:

No, I don't. I'm using her kayfabe status to judge her.

ValeeLove:
Has WWE gotten rid of the brand split? Cos we have guys crossing brands on a regular.

pu7pl3:
Still wondering why they changer Raquel's last name to Rodriguez instead of leaving it at Gonzalez

pu7pl3:
I didn't post NXT and SMACKDOWN REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS and nobody noticed

DanieBlinkz:



But why you no post??

DanieBlinkz:


WWE and changing of names, from Pete Dunne to Butch, Elias to Ezekiel now Gonzalez to Rodriguez. Make dem change Veer name to Geer

Geer makes sense seeing how long it took him to get here

DanieBlinkz:



But why you no post??

pu7pl3:


I watched them late, hopefully this week we get back to status quo

DanieBlinkz:
Raw is just blaaaah, I'm waiting for the Usos and RK bro to fight

pu7pl3:


Could be at Backlash

DanieBlinkz:


I guess and the Usos are winning

we'll have to wait and find out

pu7pl3:
WWE RAW REVIEWS RECAPS AND REACTIONS


Wrestlers x Superstars
Walk with me for a bit. Cody Rhodes and The Miz created an interesting angle for their match this week on Raw. Miz, jealous that Cody got all the social media attention during WrestleMania, didn’t take kindly to his guest hogging the spotlight on his show. This might be a shock Miz, but Cody is a little self-indulgent. Cody used that opportunity to, again, state his purpose: Getting the Undisputed WWE Universal belt.
Miz, in a line that sounds directly from Vince McMahon’s lips, noted it’s a “title” and a “belt is what holds up your pants.” Cody dismissed that and kept going. Cody talked about coming to WWE to battle the best “wrestlers.” Miz countered with “superstars!” Cody retorted with “superstar wrestlers.”
That one segment quickly established an AEW vs. WWE vibe without calling it that. On a larger scale, it established Cody is in WWE but not really a part of WWE. Miz symbolizes WWE. He is WWE. Miz is, more or less, everything Cody rebelled against when he started AEW. These two are diametrically opposed and see the game very differently.
It’s like Pusha T and Drake. Sure, they’re both rappers, but they have very different goals with Hip Hop along with juxtaposing views of what a good rapper does or doesn’t do. I love philosophical battles and Miz vs. Cody is, at its core, dripping in different perspectives.
The two put on a fine match. Nothing to write home about except the moment where Cody poked Miz in the eye. Is that Cody leaning into the heel aspects of his Homelander cosplay? Maybe. The WWE crowd is eating him up right now though, so displaying any heel tactics befuddles me. OR, it’s laying seeds for the future.
Either way, thee biggest moment was Seth Rollins challenging Cody to a rematch and Cody accepting. Not sure if we’ll get the same “wrestler vs. superstar” battle between these two cats, but they have an interesting story to tell as well.


Title vs. Title...Eventually
RK-Bro made relatively quick work of Alpha Academy. You know how these matches work at this point: Riddle works from underneath, Randy gets the hot tag, match over after Randy hits his big moves. Before RK-Bro walked out of the arena, The Uso’s arrived. The Bloodline members made their way to the ring and challenged RK-Bro to a title unification match.
But wait, there’s more!
After a lot of stalling from the four men, The Street Profits hit the ring. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins stated they should get title shots. In fact, they have no problem seeing Jimmy and Jey for a title unification match after defeating RK-Bro. Randy said “nah.” Instead, the Viper insisted the Profits and The Uso’s get it on this week.
And get it on they did.
This wasn’t about contrasting styles since both teams love to fly but can brawl with the best of them. But the match established Jimmy and Jey as a smarter tag team. Randy and Riddle keep winning because collectively, they outsmart everyone. If The Uso’s want any shot at those Raw tag titles, they have to be just as clever if not more so. It helps that they’re ruthless also, which is Randy’s calling card in Raw’s tag division.
To that end, The Profits had their chances. Once the match hit its third act and broke down—as most tag matches do these days—the Profits of the Street hit not one but two big moves. Their Doomsday Device finisher and Montez’s Frog Splash. The former resulted in a kick out while Jimmy broke up the latter.
Shortly after that, Montez missed The Uso’s make the quick tag. Losing track of the legal man, Montez found himself on the wrong end of the 1D.
Someday, soon I assume, RK-Bro and The Uso’s will defend their tag titles against each other. WWE didn’t announce the when, but WrestleMania Backlash seems appropriate.
The Uso’s and The Profits wrestled the best match of the night. But what to do with Angelo and Montez? How many shots at glory can they get before they either break up or fans stop believing in them? They see the two teams on top of their respective brands have an aggression they lack. Maybe adopting that puts them over the top. It’s just weird keeping them in this position for this long where they keep talking the best game around but can’t back it up.



The Rest
Here Comes a New Challenger...
Sonya Deville is Bianca Belair’s new challenger. After Bianca embarrassed Queen Zelina while the latter bides time until Carmella comes back form her honeymoon, Sonya came down to the ring. The WWE Official heaped praises and flowers on the Raw Women’s champ, and mentioned the litany of potential challengers to her title. Bianca, who fashions herself the EST, is wiling to fight whomever whenever. Sonya told her to sign on the dotted line and her unknown opponent will reveal themselves.
Bianca turned her back on Deville and got a beatdown for her troubles.
I’m digging this because it’s a new match with new-ish blood. Bianca being so over with the people primes her for a story against the establishment, and it’s not the first time Sonya abused her power.

Veer Keeps Coming
Quickness vs. power. That was the story when Veer and Dominik wrestled performed this week. Dom wanted revenge after Veer took out Rey Mysterio last week. For all of about five seconds, Veer dominated and young Mysterio’s quest for vengeance went unfulfilled. In fact, it was so unfulfilled that a stretcher carried Dom out of the arena after Veer kept choking him after the 1-2-3 ding. Why? Because he strikes fear into the heart of any man.
Hey, I didn’t say it, Veer did. You want to tell a man that big with hair that magnificent that he’s wrong?

Protocol Audible
If you watched last week, you know Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley talked their way into a tag title match even though they lost their title qualifier match. I almost threw a flag on the play but it looked like the prelude to Rhea turning on Liv and possibly hooking up with Edge’s disciples. So I allowed it.
But Rhea is in “protocol” this week, so Liv took on Naomi instead.
This was a fun match between two really athletic women who are also good wrestlers. It wasn’t a long match at all, but like I said, fun for what it was and the time it had. Naomi got the W and celebrated in the middle of the ring with Sasha Banks. Any time you put Sasha on my tv, I’m happy.

KO is Incensed
Tommaso Ciampa made his official debut this week! Elias Ezekiel interrupted Ciampa, and Kevin Owens wasn’t far behind. KO feels like Mugatu in Zoolander when it comes to Ezekiel: He’s the only one who notices the obvious and questions how no one else sees this is just Elias. Even Ciampa is in on the hustle!
Next week, KO is putting Ezekiel through a lie detector test. It sounds silly but these two will make it work.

Bliss
Props to WWE for dressing up their backstage area to look like a gentleman’s club. Kinda. But I take those props away for not shooting at a club in Detroit for at least an exterior shot. Seeing R-Truth, Reggie, and Tozawa walk out of a random door backstage into what is clearly the backstage hallway with one velvet rope looked cheap. WWE programming is better when they take things out in the real world or at least places that look like the real world.
Tamina and Dana Brooke’s bachelorette party faired a bit better, if only a bit. But it devolved into Nikki A.S.H. breaking the agreed upon truce, and going for a pin on Dana. All hell broke loose, R-Truth brought everyone back together, and announced he is officiating a dual wedding ceremony next week.
Dammit, this 24-7 stuff won me over. Especially on a show like this where the actual serious stuff fell flat. The double wedding should be insane in all the best ways.

Colossal Explanation
Bobby Lashley wanted an explanation for MVP’s treachery and he got one. MVP, accompanied by a dapper Omos, put it bluntly: It was MVP who made Lashley “All Mighty” and if not for MVP,” there is no Bobby Lashley. Lashley having a WrestleMania moment without him was insulting.
Lashley disagreed, obviously, had some harsh words of his own for MVP, then challenged Omos. But, the main course is MVP and Lashley is about due for a snack. This is right out of Streets of Rage 2, with Omos playing the role of a mid boss and MVP as the main boss. Will Lashley get through Omos to get to his version of Mr. Big?

Now You See a Match, Now You Don’t
This was the worst moment of the night for me. Edge sent Damian Priest to handle his light work in the form of AJ Styles. AJ focused on doing everything but kill Priest as a way to get to Edge. And Priest showed a newfound edge and comfort in the ring without worrying his silly darker half gimmick.
But right when Priest took control of the match and had AJ dead to rights, the lights went out and Priest kneeled in the middle of the ring. That blue spotlight hit the Priestly one, eliciting a devilish grin and then just like that, we go to commercial.
Match over. No explanation from commentary, no explanation from anyone. The match just ended. Did Damian walk out? No clue. Did he teleport like a Power Ranger? Maybe. Just nothing.
Whatever it was stunted Raw’s momentum for the night, while turning one of the brand’s most interesting angles into an annoyance.

What’s in a Name?
Austin Theory is now just Theory. Why? Mr. McMahon believes “Austin” doesn’t fit him anymore. And within the storyline, it makes complete sense. Outside of that storyline? It’s silly. Theory sounds like a Polytechnic course, not a wrestler. And next week, Theory takes on Finn Balor for the United States title. Guess who is losing that match? Poor Finn

Let’s not bury the lede: This was a boring episode of Monday Night Raw. There were a few bright spots but for the most part, it left me uninspired, unenthused, and underwhelmed. To answer that famous question from Gladiator, no, I was not entertained.
Also, not for nothing, but WWE needs to figure out what they’re doing about their Undisputed WWE Universal Championship situation. Another Raw without the main heavyweight champion is just unacceptable. We got plenty of those on the road to WrestleMania and at this rate, we might get a lot more. The show suffers without the main champion and it’s a void no one else can fill. Or, is given the chance to fill.

Grade: C-

ValeeLove:
I think that's just an early sign. Cody will have no option than too be fully indoctrinated back into the WWE system, else he loses his job. Too bad, there is no AEW vs WWE going on here, it's going to be just WWE at the end. He still seems to have the freedom to do what he wants. Let's see to the next 6 months from now.