If you’re still feeling the Royal Rumble hangover, then there’s only one solution to cure your symptoms, and that’s Monday Night Raw.
On a night featuring the Raw debut of Samoa Joe, a strong singles match between Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho and a Universal Title challenge by Braun Strowman, not everything was executed to perfection.
Among this round of botches and outrageousness are a couple of unfortunate slip-ups by Cesaro, a clip of the ropes while attempting a high-risk move by Rich Swann, and a bell ringer during the Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax match that seemed to have gone rogue.
Didn’t that person know that they are supposed to take their cues from the referee?
The 5 botchiest moments of the night have been selected, so proceed on to see who made our list this time for the Raw edition!
#5 Nice suit, Mick
Mick Foley has never been the epitome of fashion or anything, but what was up with his choice of suit on Raw? The loud explosion of green plaid that was such an outrageous standout that he even addressed it himself in a promo with Stephanie McMahon later in the show...
Here’s what he said to Stephanie:
“I’m going to grant you that on this particular night, I look stupid...[but] I can assure you, I am not.”
Kudos to Stephanie for not agreeing with him and actually choosing to do the opposite of verbally thrashing Mick on this occasion. She’s pretty famous for jumping on any chance she can to rip into someone.
#4 Almost didn't clear the ropes
Rich Swann lost the Cruiserweight Championship to the “King of the Cruiserweights” Neville at Royal Rumble.
The former champ came out during Neville’s coronation on Raw, informing him that he wanted a rematch. Things were pretty civil up until the point when Rich offered his hand for a shake, which prompted a brawl.
Swann won this scuffle but almost caused himself some serious damage. Running through the ropes for a suicide dive, Rich’s feet caught one of the ropes. It did cause a slight stumble, but thankfully he stuck his landing without incident.
#3 Cesaro springboard slip
Cesaro, Sheamus, and Bayley teamed up for 6-person tag team action against Gallows, Anderson, and Charlotte. The challenger team held their own against the threesome holding the titles, except for one minor slip up.
The Swiss Superman wanted to take out the Tag Team Champions late in this match with a springboard crossbody but couldn’t quite get his footing right on the first try. Being the wrestling machine that he is, he immediately gave it another go and succeeded.
Bayley pinned the Raw Women’s Champion immediately after this.
#2 Missed the head scissor takedown
It never feels good to pick on Cesaro more than once in an article.
Even though it doesn’t feel good to point out the mistakes of The Swiss Superman, it doesn’t change the fact that he jumped onto Karl Anderson for what looked like a head scissors takedown but didn’t quite get the clearance he wanted.
Being great at improvisation, he took advantage of the fact that he still had a firm grip on the current Tag Team Champion and turned this into more of an arm drag takedown.
#1 Who called for the bell?
Nia Jax continues to terrorise poor Sasha Banks’ injured leg, as was seen during their singles match on Raw. The beating was so bad that the ref had to call for the bell to end the match early... or did he?
The problem here is that the bell rang even though the ref didn’t call for it. He looked just as confused as everyone else.
Perhaps he simply missed his cue and everything happened as intended, because the ref never argued the decision and everyone proceeded as if that was what was supposed to have happened anyways.
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