Welcome to the Raw after WrestleMania.
Okay so I’ll just get this out of the way - this was a very mixed bag for me. Some stuff was good, some stuff was bad. And some stuff was really bad. If you’ve seen the image for this recap, you know what I’m starting with.
And I’m warning you now... you’re not going to be happy if you’re a fan.
I have said this repeatedly but I’ll do it again - if you like this, more power to you. I liked it when Alexa Bliss was first getting psychologically mind tricked into giving people the Sister Abigail. It was cool!
And once the magic started, it lost me. But if it didn’t lose you, that’s fine! In fact, that’s good! That means it’s working for some. Wrestling is subjective entertainment. We won’t all like everything.
But I like you because you like wrestling.
But a good thing that came from this show, storylines are progressing to the next pay-per-view... WrestleMania Backlash.
Yeah.
So with that being said, let’s get into the hits and misses of this show. For a full rundown of Raw, check out the live blog by Rev. Claire Elizabeth!
Lily
Huh.
Alexa Bliss took us to her playground and said that we’re probably wondering why she did what she did.
A girl was lost, and then rescued and taught by the darkness until the darkness went away. Then she realized that she never actually needed the darkness after all. She could do it all on her own.
In the end, the end used what she was taught to destroy the darkness. She asked if the female species was truly the deadliest.
She then introduced her new friend, Lily. And then Lily snarled at us.
And then Corey Graves said “Demented creepiness is in the past, because the present is AWESOME!” as Miz’s music played.
You might not believe me, but I like Alexa Bliss. I do! WWE is who you should really be hating on. Seriously. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
One moment a doll snarls at the camera and then Graves is pushing aside that “demented creepiness” because YAY MIZ!
Or a “box-like structure” appears ring side and everyone’s dumbfounded at what that is and “WHAT COULD IT MEAN?” Have you not been paying attention for the last 4 months, Byron?
I have a question for the creative team - Vince, if Alexa didn’t want the darkness anymore and wanted to put an end to it, why did she torment the guy who lit the darkness on fire and killed him? Couldn’t she have just resurrected him a few weeks later and did all this?
And we’re going to get to Orton in a little bit.
I don’t like this. And what’s worse, it may actually be that Alexa is now breaking away from The Fiend and will be introducing this stuff to the women’s division with her new pal. I was ready for this to be over with after WrestleMania.
Now it’s just getting started. Oh goodness.
New friends?
MVP was in the ring and said that McIntyre was a formidable opponent, but it’s fine being number two to Lashley.
Drew came out and said he made a mistake but next time he’ll not make a mistake when he gets his rematch. Then Braun came out, and he said that Drew belongs at the back because he lost, and Shane McMahon lost at his hands.
And then Orton came out and said that the Fiend and Bliss are behind him and he can now focus on what he’s best at - getting the WWE championship. Adam Pearce came out to make the match official for the main event.
Orton just decided that all those months of physical torment and anguish - choking up black goo, getting shot at with fireballs, seeing himself in a screen talking with a demonic voice, the ONE RKO at WrestleMania ended all of that. Right. Huh?
So in the main event, Orton and McIntyre worked together to put down Strowman, but of course that didn’t last. Orton did the RKO to Strowman and went for the pin, but McIntyre gave him the Claymore Kick and pinned Orton to win.
And then MVP’s music played and as McIntyre was distracted, Mace and T-Bar attacked him. Yes, Mace and T-Bar, former RETRIBUTION members could potentially be new Hurt Business members with MVP and Lashley. Maybe. We don’t know yet.
IF that’s the case, that makes less than zero sense to me. But, if Mace and T-Bar are now hired guns, I might not mind that, depending on how WWE do this. They would be a pretty good tag team for the brand, which was my hope for them after the RETRIBUTION break up.
Wait and see I guess!
The Queen returns and gets right back to work
The announcers talked up her wanting to be on WrestleMania and not getting on the card.
She talked about not having her smile because she wasn’t at the the big show. She talked up being a genuine person. It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t on WrestleMania, it wasn’t her fault Asuka needed a tag team partner, or that her dad was acting like a fool, or even that Lacey Evans got pregnant.
She gave kudos to Rhea Ripley for being the biggest snake in the locker room. And now Asuka got a rematch instead of her getting a shot. She listed all the women who were on WrestleMania and said none of them compare to her.
Charlotte Flair is the opportunity for all women. She’s won’t apologize for being that damn good, and we’re all going to bow down to her.
This was a great return heel promo from Charlotte. She’s in her element.
She sounded really natural too, which has always been a criticism in the past. She’s always been the best as a heel, and WWE likes to throw in babyface runs. All the way back to when Becky first turned on her, WWE thought that they would get Charlotte over as a babyface.
Asuka and Rhea Ripley had a rematch for the women’s championship, and the match wasn’t that good. But what happened at the end was the biggest thing you’ll want to know.
Flair interfered and took out both women. It was kind of funny that the referee was facing the ramp and only realized Charlotte was there when she attacked Asuka, but hey... semantics.
She called Ripley overconfident and kicked her into the LED apron. She then went boo hoo and faked tears and said “I’M BACK!” That was awesome. I said last night that Charlotte and Rhea would be a great program, but now Asuka still is involved so this could be really interesting.
Witches be wildin’
So, I have no clue what to say about this.
It would appear, as I said in the Bliss portion, that Bliss has moved on to the women’s division and Bray Wyatt is back in the Fun House looking for a new beginning?
Am I getting that right?
How does The Fiend just... move on? Sort of similar to Orton’s way of just moving on because hey they split so... other things to do!
I will say it was nice seeing Ramblin’ Rabbit, Huskus, Abby, and Mercy again.
Uh... yeah. I’m puzzled.
The Rest
Bobby Lashley defeated Riddle
The show started with Lashley and MVP entering the building to applause, and Riddle scootered up to him and challenged him for a match. So Lashley just... gave it to him. After calling him a loser, of course.
Lashley attacked Riddle before he could get into the ring and dominated for the first half of the match. Lashley started tossing everything that belonged top Riddle around the ThunderDome. First his scooter got tossed into oblivion, and then Riddle himself got tossed over the barricade. After some cross faces to Riddle, Lashley literally just put his foot on Riddle’s neck and held the ropes for more pressure. Riddle started to gain momentum and Lashley put a stop to it immediately. Finally Riddle hit some MMA moves and hit Lashley with a high knee. Riddle went for the Floating Bro and Lashley countered into the Hurt Lock for the win.
What a dominant showing from Lashley. I didn’t really get why this match was a thing, but it felt like they were establishing that Riddle’s going to move on to lower card comedy/mid card title feud guy. That’s fine. He’s a guy that fits in that role perfectly. I hope that Lashley gets a dominant run post WrestleMania like Drew did. He has a legitimate Brock Lesnar aura about him. This is the full timer that holds the title and needs to be slayed by a rising up and comer.
Miz and Morrison defeated Damian Priest
Before the match, Maryse was the Miz TV guest and all they did was promote Miz and Mrs. but what was also happening was Miz was focusing a bit too much on Maryse and brushing Morrison to the side. Damian Priest came out to defend Bad Bunny to the Miz. So Miz and Morrison both thought about having a one on one match with him, and Maryse told them to have a 2 on 1 handicap. So they did.
And Priest lost. Already. Looking forward to this!
The Viking Raiders defeated Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander
This was a nice return for Ivar of the Viking Raiders. This dude was out for about 7 months and that’s crazy. Ivar tossed Alexander into the Raiders corner and hit a flurry of punches. Benjamin tagged in and knocked Erik down with knees. A suplex got him a two count. Alexander went to work on the mid section and Benjamin did a slam and got another two count. Ivar got the hot tag and did the senton, but couldn’t get a pin as Alexander tagged back in. Ivar did a double clothesline and then the Viking Raiders did the Viking Experience for the win.
New Day defeated Elias and Jaxson Ryker
Elias thought that his guitar was making trombone sounds. No, seriously. Good win for the former tag champions, and I just now noticed that the new tag champions weren’t on the show. That’s an odd decision. Though maybe it was better that way.
Mandy and Dana decided to get counted out
Nia and Shayna were making fun of Mandy’s slip at WrestleMania, and Mandy walked up to Nia and slapped her. So they had a match, and Nia slipped and got angry. Dana grabbed Mandy and they walked up the ramp, with Dana saying “Calm down it’s not worth it.” HUH?!? They were in the middle of a match. Dana and Mandy just decided mid match eh she’s mad it’s not worth it. Wow. Great job.
Grade: B-
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?