WWE RAW aired from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. It was the final episode of RAW before WrestleMania 36 this weekend.
WWE RAW Results (3/30)
- The Undertaker responded to AJ Styles
- Shayna Baszler attacked Becky Lynch
- Aleister Black def. Jason Cade
- Kevin Owens & Street Profits def. Austin Theory, Angel Garza, and Seth Rollins
- Asuka def. Kayden Carter
- Edge sent a message to Randy Orton
- Charlotte attacked Rhea Ripley as she arrived to the PC
- Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman closed the show with a promo
Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
The Undertaker Warned AJ Styles
The Undertaker cut a promo and referred to AJ Styles as “Allen Jones”. Taker stated that Styles’ mouth is writing checks that his ass cannot cash.
He added that he has heard a lot worse from far better Superstars than AJ. Undertaker claimed Styles was content being a big fish in a little pond because he knew he couldn’t hang with the likes of Undertaker, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, etc.
Undertaker said that AJ waited until they were all gone but he is still here. He claimed that AJ’s foolish pride is getting the better of him and he crossed the line when he mentioned his wife. Undertaker stated that Michelle McCool does the Faith Breaker (Styles Clash) better than AJ and he is jealous.
Taker dared AJ to try him at WrestleMania because he will make Styles famous. Undertaker added that he wants AJ to bring Gallows and Anderson with him so he can take them all out in the Boneyard Match. Undertaker closed the promo by saying that AJ will RIP as a gravestone with Styles’ name on it appeared behind him.
Opinion: I thought Undertaker delivered an excellent promo tonight and it got me more invested in this match. Up until this point, Styles versus Undertaker has felt underwhelming for what should be a dream match. That is not the case anymore and I’m hoping they deliver in their Boneyard match at WrestleMania.
Shayna Baszler Attacked Becky Lynch
RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch arrived in her truck and made her way to the entrance ramp.
Lynch cut a promo directly into the camera and pointed out that she defeated two champions at last year’s WrestleMania, Lynch and Ronda Rousey. WWE then rolled the entire Triple Threat match from last year’s WrestleMania.
45-minutes later, Becky was still standing on the entrance ramp and said that a lot of people have tried to take the title from her and failed. Lynch brought up Baszler claiming that taking the title from her would destroy her and said that Shayna was right.
Becky admitted that she doesn’t know who she is without being the champ and claimed that Shayna has demons too. Lynch said that Baszler is come in fighting with emotion to do the thing that Ronda Rousey couldn’t do. She added that if Shayna beats her and will finally step out of Ronda’s shadow. Shayna Baszler attacked Becky from behind and locked in the Kirifuda Clutch before brutally swinging her into the announce table.
Opinion: It was a pretty goofy setup to make it seem like Becky was just standing around on the entrance ramp for 45-minutes waiting to finish her promo. Having said that, the promo was still solid and Shayna’s attack to conclude the segment was awesome.
Kevin Owens Responded To Seth Rollins
RAW Tag Team Champions Street Profits team up with Kevin Owens to face Seth Rollins, Andrade, and Angel Garza. Before the match, Zelina Vega said that Andrade suffered a serious injury to his ribs and has been declared medically unable to compete. Vega announced Austin Theory will take his place.
Match Recap: Rollins immediately tagged in Austin Theory and Owens beat him down in the corner. Ford knocked Theory and Garza out of the ring and flipped onto them as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Garza hit a Dropkick before tagging Theory back in. Dawkins tagged in and planted Austin with a Suplex.
Angelo followed it up with a massive shoulder tackle but turned around into a Superkick from Rollins. Seth stomped on Angelo a few times while taunting Owens in the corner. Garza tagged in and locked Dawkins in the Camel Clutch. Seth tagged in and got distracted by Owens. Dawkins went for a roll-up but Rollins kicked out and planted him with a Slingblade.
Dawkins blocked a Superkick and absolutely leveled Seth with a punch to the face. Owens went right after Rollins but he cowered to the corner and tagged in Garza. Owens took out his frustrations on Garza and hit him with a Senton. Owens followed it up with a Cannonball and then a Senton off the top rope. Owens went for the cover but Theory broke it up at the last moment.
Montez Ford went for a flip onto Theory but wound up crashing on the entrance ramp. Back in the ring, Owens hit Garza with a Stunner for the pinfall victory. After the match, Rollins hit Owens with the Stomp.
Kevin Owens then cut a promo after the commercial break and said he has been thinking a lot about what Rollins said last week. Owens brought up Rollins claiming that the Performance Center was built on his blood, sweat, and tears. Kevin said he has heard that the PC was built in spite of Rollins and that Seth was a nightmare to deal with. He added that nobody could stand Rollins and that Seth has done an outstanding job of proving everyone right.
Owens called Rollins a dipshit and added that he was delusional and mocked him for referring to himself as a god. Owens admitted that while he doesn’t have the WrestleMania moments like Rollins, he was Universal Champion well before Seth. Kevin said he is man enough to admit that he didn’t all his achievements on his own because he had someone watching his back. He pointed out that Rollins has always had backup as well and that Seth needs to be honest with himself. Owens vowed to show Rollins that he is not a profit, or a god, and will take his first WrestleMania moment from Seth this Saturday night.
Opinion: The spot with Montez leaping over the ropes was tough to watch. It looked like Rollins tried to trip up Montez Ford but he just ran through it. I’m not sure if Theory was ready for the spot because he didn’t break his fall and Ford landed hard on his back on the entrance ramp. Last week, Seth Rollins cut an awesome promo on Owens and Kevin responded with a great promo tonight.
Edge Sent A Message To Randy Orton
Edge cut a backstage promo on tonight’s RAW in regards to his Last Man Standing match against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 36.
He admitted that Adam Copeland is a junkie for Edge because he loves the reaction from the crowd when he is music hits. Edge said that every superstar is a junkie for this and that those who are not are just in his way.
Edge said that clearly they have different definitions of the word grit and mocked Orton for resting on the laurels of his family name. He claimed that Randy is okay with being okay and having spurts of magic once in a while. Edge got fired up and stated that grit is forging your own HOF career and spending 9-years thinking about getting back to end it on his own terms.
Edge claimed that Orton was jealous of his passion because the only time Randy has it is when he is around. He added that the last time Orton was ever this good was 9-years ago and that scares Randy. Edge told Orton that he made a horrible mistake when he attacked Beth and uttered the names of his little girls. He closed the promo by saying that Randy has dug himself another hole but this time he isn’t going to dig him out. Instead, he is going to push him so far in that he will never get out.
Opinion: The build to this match has been excellent and Edge’s promo tonight was fantastic. He actually has good point too with Orton being the best when he is around. Orton’s feuds with Jinder Mahal and Kofi Kingston, etc have all been lackluster. This feud has the best story out of every match on WrestleMania’s card and is by far the match I’m most looking forward to.
Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Closed The Show
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman stood in the ring in the final minutes of this week’s show. Heyman said that he loves being in a business where they take larger than life personalities and market them to a global audience.
Heyman pointed out that this is the final segment of the final RAW before WrestleMania. Paul stated that we are all living through the most unique time in our lives and they call this the go-home segment for the go-home RAW before WrestleMania.
Heyman added that more often than not Brock Lesnar is champion and is featured in this segment because year after year, Lesnar is the one to beat on the biggest show of the year.
Paul complimented Drew McIntyre for stepping up and added that he is special compared to the locker room in WWE. Heyman said that The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin, The Undertaker, and John Cena were also special but Brock Lesnar wound up making them his bitch.
Heyman noted that the Claymore Kick is special but the People’s Elbow, the AA, the Tombstone couldn’t put Lesnar down. Paul said that we will find out if the Claymore Kick can take Lesnar down at WrestleMania. Heyman guaranteed that Brock Lesnar will be standing here on the go-home RAW with the title. He closed that show with saying Brock Lesnar is going to beat McIntyre “fugly” at WrestleMania and Drew McIntyre will walk out of the show just like everyone else, nothing more than Brock’s bitch.
Opinion: The best thing to come out of this awful situation for WWE is that their promos have been terrific the past couple of weeks. Heyman’s promo tonight was great and I’m looking forward to the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania as well. Overall, I really enjoyed this show and thought WWE did a solid job of hyping up this year’s WrestleMania.
