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5 Takeaways From WWE RAW (1/7)

Hogan RAW

Written by

Robert Lentini

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The January 7th, 2019 episode of WWE RAW aired live from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Here are 5 takeaways from the show:

John Cena Will Be In The Royal Rumble

John Cena came down to the ring to his usual reaction from the crowd. Cena welcomed everyone to the Road to WrestleMania and said that he will be damned if he gets left out of WrestleMania again this year.

Cena announced that he will be in the Royal Rumble match later this month at the PPV. Drew Mcintyre interrupted and said that he doesn’t care about John’s stupid haircut or who he shares his bed with. McIntyre brought up Vince McMahon calling Cena the greatest of all time and claimed that he agreed with him.

McIntyre boasted about dismantling The Shield, Dolph Ziggler, and Kurt Angle. Drew referred to himself as the most dangerous man in WWE and stated that he has come for Cena now. McIntyre made his way down the entrance ramp as Cena said that he has heard this same promo over and over again. McIntyre said the rest of the Superstars that challenged Cena were all talk and he is going to show him.

Cena and McIntyre had a great promo tonight and I wouldn’t mind seeing that feud somewhere down the line. Unfortunately, the promo was immediately followed up with a 6-man tag match that felt meaningless and took up about 40 minutes.

Bobby Lashley Cost Rollins His IC Title Rematch

Rollins and Lashley had a backstage brawl at the beginning of tonight’s RAW. The two Superstars wound up fighting down to the entrance ramp until they were finally separated by WWE officials and the rest of the locker room.

Lio Rush and Lashley interrupted Cena & McIntyre and came down to the entrance ramp. Rush shouted that they were going to get a lawyer if something isn’t done about Rollins right now. Seth attacked Lashley from behind once again. Dean Ambrose joined the party and another brawl broke out. Finn Balor rushed down to the ring and took out everyone with a flip outside the ring.

This all led to a 6-man tag match with Balor, Rollins, and Cena teaming up against Lashley, McIntyre, and Ambrose. Seth Rollins picked up the win for his team by planting Dean Ambrose with The Stomp. After the match, Seth Rollins confronted Triple H backstage and said that he wanted to face Dean Ambrose tonight for the IC Title. Triple H made the match official and added that it will be a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Rollins battled Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship in the main event of this week’s RAW. Seth attacked Dean Ambrose during his entrance and the Falls Count Anywhere match quickly spilled into the crowd. Eventually, the two Superstars made their way back to the ringside area and Dean removed padding to expose the concrete floor.

Ambrose went for Dirty Deeds but Seth countered into a Back Body Drop onto the concrete. Back in the ring, Rollins hit The Stomp on Ambrose and went for the cover but Bobby Lashley broke it up. Lashley then hit Rollins with a Spear and Ambrose covered him to retain the Intercontinental Championship. After the match, Lashley and Lio Rush set up a table in the ring. Lashley slammed Seth through the table and posed in the ring as RAW went off the air.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1082487003877388288

I figured that Lashley would get involved in this match after the brawl kicked off the show. Lashley can certainly have a good match with Rollins, but can they get the crowd to care? I certainly don’t and the last thing I wanted to see in this “new era” of RAW and SmackDown was Lashley closing a show.

Hulk Hogan Paid Tribute To “Mean” Gene Okerlund

Hulk Hogan returned to honor “Mean” Gene Okerlund tonight on RAW. Hogan stated that Gene loved entertaining people more than anything and then introduced a highlight reel of some of Gene’s greatest moments.

The crowd chanted “thank you Mean Gene!” Hogan put his shades on and cut a promo claiming that Mean Gene was up in heaven while Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Roddy Piper, and Mr. Perfect were having a tag match with Andre the Giant as the special referee. Hogan then said, “whatcha gonna do when Gene-o-Mania runs wild on you”.

For obvious reasons, there were a lot of people that were not pleased to see Hogan back in WWE. There is damage done there that Hogan will likely never be able to repair. In the context of a tribute to “Mean” Gene, I thought this was well done, but I understand those that were distracted or bothered by Hogan’s presence. I have fond memories of Hogan as a wrestling character and Okerlund from back in the day, so I was able to just enjoy it as a tribute to the legendary “Mean” Gene. Hogan also inducted Gene into the WWE HOF, so it made sense to me that he would pay tribute to him following his passing.

The Strowman & Lesnar Rivalry Is Boring

Braun Strowman challenged Universal Champion Brock Lesnar to come down to the ring. Heyman and Lesnar appeared on the jumbotron instead and Paul said that the card is subject to change.

Heyman claimed that if Brock went down to the ring he wouldn’t have an opponent at Royal Rumble because he Strowman would be turned into another victim. Lesnar smirked at the camera as Braun said that he was standing in the ring waiting for him.

Strowman accused Lesnar of hiding behind his advocate and that he was afraid of him. Braun called Lesnar a coward and added that if Brock came down to the ring right now, he wouldn’t make it the Royal Rumble.

Lesnar handed Heyman the Universal Championship and started marching towards the entrance ramp as Heyman tried to stop him. Brock circled Strowman outside the ring before retreating up the ramp. Strowman grabbed the microphone and shouted at Lesnar to turn around. Braun vowed to become the new Universal Champion at Royal Rumble and that was the end of the segment.

I had very little interest in the Universal Championship match at Royal Rumble heading into tonight’s RAW and now I have absolutely zero. This segment was awkward as hell and did nothing for this feud. It was a gigantic waste of everyone’s time. It seemed like Strowman’s timing was off when Lesnar was on the jumbotron or Braun simply forgot his lines.

Here is a crazy idea, Strowman and Lesnar are freak athletes, how about just give everyone a preview of what is going to go down at the Royal Rumble? WWE has already screwed up Strowman’s booking in the past, and it is impossible to care about Lesnar and the Universal Championship at this point, so just have a brawl and call it a night. If I could trade lives with anyone in the world, it might just be Brock Lesnar. He made an absurd amount of money tonight to simply stroll around the ring.

Sasha Banks Earned A Shot At The RAW Women’s Championship

Alexa Bliss hosted the first episode of A Moment of Bliss tonight on the show. RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey was the first guest on the show. Bliss demanded coffee before rolling highlights of Rousey in 2018.

Rousey came down to the set and refused to shake Alexa’s hand. Bliss asked Ronda what is next for her and Ronda giggled at the crowd chanting her name before finally answering. Rousey claimed that she wanted to be a champion that everyone can be proud of.

Ronda complimented Sasha Banks and called her the heart of the RAW women’s division. Nia Jax interrupted and demanded another shot at the RAW Women’s Championship. Sasha Banks came down to the entrance ramp and thanked Rousey for the kind words. Banks stated that she would love to face Rousey for the RAW Women’s Championship and to teach Ronda how to lose with dignity and class.

Jax told Banks to get in line and Banks shouted: “bitch, what line?”. Sasha then challenged Nia to a match and then claimed that the winner would face Ronda Rousey. Tamina and Bayley were ringside for the match. Sasha won the match by tapping out Nia with the Bank Statement and will now face Ronda Rousey for the RAW Women’s Championship at Royal Rumble 2018.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1082476920393162753

Rousey vs. Banks should be an entertaining match at Royal Rumble, even though it seems pretty obvious that Ronda will retain. Ronda took a couple of shots at Charlotte and Becky Lynch during A Moment of Bliss under the guise of praise for Sasha Banks. She basically stated that Sasha was better than both of them out of nowhere during the segment. A match between Rousey, Lynch, and Charlotte seems to be where WWE is heading for WrestleMania 35.

Tonight’s RAW had its moments but it still felt like an ordinary episode of the show. The “new era” of RAW already seems half-assed. The tag division is still atrocious, as seen tonight with The Revival once again losing a boring title match. Corbin and Elias had a match that nobody cares about and there was the standard 6-man tag match at the beginning of the show. At least Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Ember Moon didn’t face The Riott Squad again tonight. Until RAW provides more than one hour of entertainment out of the three it airs, the show deserves to be criticized. WWE failed to do that tonight and the first RAW of 2019 was ultimately more of the same.

https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1082481325700014080

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