WrestleMania 35 is right around the corner as WWE presented the penultimate episode of Monday Night Raw ahead of the biggest show of the year. Whilst many matches for the show of shows are still yet to be announced, many are picking up momentum at the right time but have suffered huge setbacks this week due to botches.
The pressure on WWE stars this time of year is much more apparent than any other time of year, but there are also more eyes on the product which means that there is no room for error. This week there were a number of superstars who made costly mistakes on the Road to WrestleMania and they were spotted by many members of the WWE Universe.
#4. Did Becky Lynch even beat the clock?
Monday Night Raw kicked off with the news that the women of WWE would be main eventing WrestleMania for the first time in history, which is why Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey competed in a Beat The Clock challenge to open this week's show.
Rousey set the pace when she defeated Sarah Logan in just one minute 25 seconds before Charlotte Flair was unable to put away Ruby Riott in time to beat the benchmark that was set by Rousey. Becky Lynch was the final star to step up and was able to defeat Liv Morgan with seconds to spare, but Morgan's shoulder was actually up, which means that it wasn't a legal pin.
There was also an interesting kick from Charlotte to Lynch to kick off The Man's match against Morgan that didn't even touch Lynch's face. The night got much worse for referees as well when Kurt Angle faced Samoa Joe since the referee was out of position once again and counted the pin whilst Joe's left shoulder was off the canvas.
#3. Kurt Angle rolled a suplex
Kurt Angle's farewell tour continued this week on Raw when he took on The Samoan Submission Machine Samoa Joe who made the trip over from SmackDown Live. Angle has his final match at WrestleMania against Baron Corbin in less than two weeks and given the match that he had against Joe on Raw, it's obvious that the former Olympic Gold Medalist is no longer at his best.
The beginning of the match saw Angle roll a suplex attempt by Samoa Joe in what was quite an embarrassing botch from the veteran. Angle later went on to deliver quite a shocking missile dropkick from the top rope, before he was able to pick up the win in what was a little bit of a screw over finish since it was made obvious that Joe's shoulder was still up.
#2. What was that Bobby Lashley?
Bobby Lashley is the current Intercontinental Champion and has Lio Rush by his side to help ensure that he is able to hold his title much longer. This week on Raw, Lashley needed Jinder Mahal, Rush, and The Singh Brothers to help even the odds against Finn Balor which shows the kind of Champion that he is.
This obviously didn't help Lashley since he went on to lose the match and then turned on Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers out of frustration when it was made apparent that five men were not enough to defeat The Demon. Mid-way through the match, Lashley was part of one of the funniest botches of his career when he essentially botched a slingblade and bumped off a slight tap to the head from Finn Balor.
#1. Was there a need to include Tamina and Nia Jax?
The Women's Tag Team Championship match for WrestleMania was announced this week on Raw after Nia Jax and Tamina interfered in Sasha Banks' match with Natalya to send a message to the current champions.
The match was going well for Natalya up until Jax and Tamina interfered and went on to botch almost every spot that they were part of. Tamina and Beth Phoenix had an awkward exchange where Phoenix had to wait for Tamina to remember to throw a line so that she could turn it into The Glam Slam, a move that Snuka was also able to mess up when she landed wrong.
It was an awkward feed into what will be the first Women's Tag Team Championship defense at WrestleMania and continues to beg the question of why Jax and Snuka are even included in this match since the two women already lost to Banks and Bayley at Fastlane.
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