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WWE Monday Night Raw Reaction (1/9)

Robert Lentini
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WWE Monday Night Raw Reaction (1/9)

This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw kicked off with Stephanie McMahon giving Mick Foley a performance review. Stephanie didn’t like the fact that Foley promised that The Undertaker would be at Raw tonight and is worried that The Undertaker won’t show up. Seth Rollins interrupted and announced that he was entering the Royal Rumble match. Braun Strowman then joined the party that he face either Roman Reigns or Goldberg. Rollins gets in Strowman’s face for interrupting him and the two Superstars start to fight. Their fight was short-lived as they were separated by referees.  The segment concluded with Foley guaranteeing that The Undertaker will show up tonight.

United States Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho

Strowman immediately interrupted and started to attack Reigns. Jericho and Owens then joined Strowman in beating Reigns down. Seth Rollins came out for the save and hits a Van Daminator on him. Stephanie McMahon emerged from backstage and stated that the United States Championship match will happen later tonight so that Roman Reigns can have enough time to recover from the attack.

Seth Rollins vs Braun Strowman

Strowman dominated the first several minutes of this match but eventually Rollins fought back. Rollins hit a big Frogsplash but Strowman kicked out. The action spilled outside the ring and the two Superstars continued to beat the hell out of each other. Strowman got the upper hand and beatdown Rollins. However, the referee counted to ten and both Superstars were counted out. Strowman went to continue attacking Rollings but Seth retrieved a chair and Strowman retreated.

Jack Gallagher vs Drew Gulak

This match was back and forth up until Gallagher did his handstand in the corner. Gulak kept trying to get to him but Gallagher kept lowering his boot whenever Gulak got close. Gallagher capitalized on this and hit the running kick in the corner for the victory. After the match, Gallagher once again called out Ariya Daivari.

Winner: Jack Gallagher 

Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley had a conversation backstage. Stephanie stated that Foley’s entire performance review now relies on his ability to bring The Undertaker to Monday Night Raw. Stephanie gave Foley an hour to get The Undertaker to Raw.

Reaction: The first hour of Monday Night Raw saw nothing great happen at all. Once again, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley kicked off a show. The Cruiserweight division match was still too short to accomplish anything. Rollins versus Strowman was decent but there was a lame finish to the match.

Shawn Michaels kicked off the second hour of Raw and came down to the ring. Michaels teased the crowd that his appearance on Raw may be related to the Royal Rumble. The crowd chanted “one more match!” but Michaels said that he was at Raw to promote his new film The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone. Rusev, Jinder Mahal and Lana interrupted and told Shawn Michaels to shut up. Rusev  requested that Lana be placed into the movie via CGI. Enzo and Cass came out and Enzo referred to Michaels as “the realest guy in the room”. They continued to make fun of Rusev until he snapped and called them all “American pigs”. Cass challenged Rusev to a match but Rusev made Jinder Mahal fight instead.

Big Cass vs Jinder Mahal

Jinder had control of the match for a second but it predictably fell apart for him. Rusev tried to help him out but instead got a Sweet Chin Music to the face courtesy of Shawn Michaels. Big Cass then connected with the Empire Elbow for the victory. Michaels celebrated with Enzo and Cass to close out the segment.

Winner: Big Cass

Neville vs Lince Dorado

Dorado got in some offense but his momentum was halted by Neville after he landed a Northern Lights Suplex. Neville applied the Rings of Saturn for the submission victory. Neville continued to attack Dorado after the match ended. Rich Swann came out for the save and connected with several kicks. The segment concluded with Rich Swann standing tall in the ring as Neville retreated.

Winner: Neville

Sheamus vs Luke Gallows

Cesaro and Karl Anderson joined commentary for this match. This match went back and forth for several minutes. Karl Anderson decided to attack Cesaro while they were both at the announce table. Gallows wound up being distracted by this and Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick for the victory. After the match, Cesaro annoyed Sheamus by raising his hands and celebrating with the crowd. Eventually, Cesaro raised Sheamus’ hand and the crowd cheered.

Winner: Sheamus

Mick foley was shown wandering around backstage looking for The Undertaker as Raw went to a commercial break. When Raw returned, Foley was in the ring and he called on The Undertaker to come down to the ring. The Undertaker didn’t show up and Foley continued to plead for The Undertaker to show up. The lights then went out but it was not The Undertaker who showed up. Stephanie McMahon came down to the ring and blamed Foley for not getting The Undertaker to show up. Stephanie also blamed Foley for Smackdown beating Raw in the ratings. Finally, The Undertaker showed up and took his time coming down to the ring.

The Undertaker announced that he will be entering the Royal Rumble. Braun Strowman was shown backstage watching The Undertaker. The Undertaker stated that he answers to no one and claimed that nobody controls. The Undertaker then got right in Foley’s face and said “no one” one more time. The Undertaker said that he has returned to the city where the streak ended but his focus is on the Royal Rumble match. The Undertaker stated that he will be bringing the dark side to the Royal Rumble and that he will win the match and once again main event Wrestlemania. Undertaker said that if anyone gets in his way, they will rest in peace.

Reaction: The second hour of Monday Night Raw was better than the first. I had a feeling that the Shawn Michaels return would be something like this so I wasn’t too disappointed by it. The Undertaker announcing that he is in the Royal Rumble match is big news. Some can argue that they would have rather it been a surprise but I’m fine with it this way.

Bayley & Sasha Banks vs Nia Jax & Charlotte

Nia and Charlotte attacked Bayley and Sasha Banks earlier in the night. Bayley was caught in the ring for most of this match and Sasha was a non-factor due to her injury. Nia Jax hit a leg drop on Bayley for the victory.

Winners: Nia Jax & Charlotte

Alicia Fox kissed Noam Dar backstage. Dar seemed shocked and Alicia Fox said that Cedric was right about Dar in the fact that he cannot handle a real woman. Fox stormed off as Dar had a creepy smile on face.

The New Day and Titus O’Neil had a promo. The New Day showed a video of Titus O’Neil in NXT tripping while trying to run with a beer keg around the ring. The New Day brought out another keg and offered a chance to do it again. Titus O’Neil didn’t trip this time but he dropped the keg right before he crossed the finish line. Kofi then proceeded to crack several jokes at the expense of Titus. Finally, Titus had heard enough and shoved Kofi. All of this led to a match between Kofi Kingston and Titus O’Neil.

Kofi Kingston vs Titus O’Neil

The match started out back and forth. Titus launched Kofi out of the ring but Big E and Xavier Woods caught him. Woods then played the trombone and it caused O’Neil to become distracted. Kingston then landed the Trouble in Paradise for the victory.

Winner: Kofi Kingston

United States Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho

Before the match started, Reigns tried to lock Jericho into the shark cage that I guess will just be on the entrance ramp until the Royal Rumble. It didn’t work and Owens and Jericho took control of the match. Jericho and Owens spent the next several minutes beating down Roman Reigns in the ring. Jericho went for a Running Bulldog but Reigns caught him and launched him into Owens on the ring apron. Owens and Jericho battled back and Jericho hit the Lionsault but Reigns kicked out at two. Reigns hit the Drive By on Owens and followed it up with a Superman Punch to Jericho. As Reigns tried to get into the ring, Owens grabbed his leg and Jericho hit a Codebreaker as he was caught in the ropes. Owens then hit a Powerbomb to Reigns onto the ring apron. Jericho hit another Codebreaker and won the match.

Winner & New United States Champion: Chris Jericho

Reaction: I’m sure Roman Reigns will get a rematch for his United States Championship but as of now he is heading into the Royal Rumble without a title. He faces Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble and Jericho will be locked in the shark cage to prevent him from interfering. Overall, I thought Raw was wasn’t anything special tonight. In my opinion, that is a big failure given the fact that both The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were on the show. I’m already tired of the Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho and Roman Reigns storyline but it is guaranteed to continue until at least the Royal Rumble.

What did you think of this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw? Let us know in the comments below.

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