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With Elimination Chamber in the history books, WWE's Raw brand now has their sights set fully on WrestleMania. This Monday night showcased a clear direction for the Intercontinental Championship, an explanation of sorts from Kurt Angle to Ronda Rousey, and quite possibly the best promo of Roman Reigns career. Who knows, the lack of Brock Lesnar in WWE may be the elusive key Vince McMahon's searched years for to finally get The Big Dog over as a babyface once and for all?
While there was plenty of plot progression on the road to The Grandest Stage of Them All, there were also the usual share of mistakes that occur on a three-hour live show. In this article, there are noticeable misses from both Triple H and Asuka, a top rope slip by Seth Rollins, and a scary slam from Titus O'Neil. So get your WrestleMania sign pointing hand warmed up as we recap the biggest botches from this episode of Raw.
#5 Cameraman in the way
The mess that was started between Ronda Rousey and the McMahon-Helmsley regime at Elimination Chamber almost found resolution on Monday night... almost. Kurt Angle, who heavily implied that he'll say whatever it takes to keep his job, told the Rowdy one that his comments from the night before were made up.
As goofy as parts of this story might be, the reactions to everything have been strong from the live crowd and Angle has been endearing in his role. Fans are being drawn into the story - but not nearly as much as this cameraman! He got as close to the action as possible with no regard to if he was in the frame or not.
The man likely received an immediate dose of heavy scolding in his earpiece. He frantically ducked out of the way, but the damage was already done.
#4 Asuka whiffed the dropkick
The biggest drama from the opening 6-women tag team match was whether or not Sasha Banks and Bayley would continue their Mufasa/Scar-like falling out with each other. It didn't make much sense considering they already recreated the stampede betrayal scene off of a pod (who could still be friendly after that?!), but it's not the storyline inconsistency that's getting highlighted here.
The friend status of her teammates didn't stop Asuka from cleaning house off of a hot tag and eventually winning the whole thing. However, she botched on the first move after she entered for the final stretch. She went for a dropkick and missed by a substantial distance.
Usually, WWE does a quick camera cut the second the impact is supposed to take place. I'm not an advocate for more cuts but that probably would've covered this miss.
#3 Dumping Sheamus
What exactly was Titus O'Neil going for here? He lifted up Sheamus over shoulders, perhaps thinking of dropping him down for a Powerbomb. Instead, the Celtic Warrior rolled as if he thought he was going to land on his belly. In the end, Titus simply slammed him down as is, narrowly avoiding a terrible outcome.
Both Michael Cole and Corey Graves shrieked at what they saw from commentary. They even remarked on the awkward landing, pointing out that Sheamus got dumped on his shoulder.
As for the match itself, Titus Brand found themselves definitely removed from title contention when they lost this 2 out of 3 Falls contest 2-0.
#2 Seth slipped
After a brief battle on the top turnbuckle, The Miz shoved Seth Rollins off of the top. The Architect quickly collected himself and charged back up at him. He momentarily lost his footing but thankfully collected himself. He then connected with a Superplex/Falcon Arrow combo. Rollins went on to win this match then revealed his intentions for an Intercontinental Championship Match at WrestleMania.
Someone must've rubbed something slick on the turnbuckles because Sheamus got called out for a similar malfeasance at Elimination Chamber. And since he got a feature in that edition of this article, it's only fair that Seth Rollins' slip gets a feature as well.
#1 Just missed him
All seemed to be right between Ronda Rousey and friends as Raw was going off of the air. Kurt Angle confessed that he made up his previous comments and Stephanie McMahon apologized for her stiff slap. The show could've ended with everyone on reasonably good terms. Triple H went and messed that up by punching the Raw General Manager before exiting the ring.
The problem with Hunter's punch is that it blatantly didn't connect with Kurt's face. The highlight above accents this botch with a brief pause of the several inch gap between the fist and the chin. The point of pro wrestling is to not actually beat on your foes but to merely make it look like you are, but this was the big climax of the night. Maybe this should've been a tad more snug?
