Last night's RAW was an up-or-down show, with high highs and low lows. With no pay per view coming until the Royal Rumble, the red roster clearly has some time to kill, and it showed more than once last night. Even so, it came out as a decent program.
But who walked away with the most heat? Who got closer to the big stage at the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans and who only got closer to the locker room backstage?
Gained momentum: Seth Rollins
The first match of the night was a thriller between Seth Rollins and Cesaro. Making a point that neither Dean Ambrose nor Sheamus was in the building, both men were on their own.
Cesaro dominated most of the match but was never able to put away Seth Rollins, who would defeat him after hitting his knee finish.
Rollins and Ambrose vowed to get the tag team titles back last week. Thus far, in respective singles victories over Cesaro and Sheamus, they look to be much closer to their goal, and a title match has already been announced for next week.
Lost momentum: Cesaro
On the flip side, Seth Rollins' gain in momentum meant that Cesaro had to lose it, and this week was just a preview of things to come, as next week, he and Sheamus look certain to lose their championships again.
One must hope that Cesaro doesn't wind up winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal again in New Orleans. He's better than that.
Gained momentum: Absolution
In a decision that had some people scratching their heads, we were told that Paige and her new friends would take on Mickie James, Bayley, and Sasha Banks tonight in a tag team match.
This wound up being a bait and switch...for the good this time, as we saw Mickie James and Bayley laid out backstage. Paige and her friends then marched to the ring against the solitary Sasha Banks, with Alexa Bliss, who joined the commentary team, quickly retreating.
Explaining her motivations, Paige and her crew soundly destroyed Banks. Quickly, they've become the one of the most dominant forces in the women's division.
Lost momentum: Most of the RAW women's division
The champion, Alexa Bliss, retreated in fear. The regulars were laid out, and no one seems prepared to do anything about it yet.
With Absolution on the rise, the staple competitors on RAW seem to be in retreat. Where this goes from here is anyone's guess, but most of RAW's regulars may well have nothing to do in New Orleans come April 8th.
Gained momentum: Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy has been in flux for a long time. Without Jeff by his side, he largely has no purpose, or so it seemed until last night.
After suffering a defeat at the hands of the lowly Bray Wyatt, Matt Hardy retreated into the turnbuckle and began signalling for DELETION.
This was the strongest hint so far that Broken Matt could finally be coming. While I won't believe it until I see it, last night was the best he's had in a long while. The mere tease of Broken Matt's appearance had the crowd lapping it up.
Should he not arrive though, expect Matt Hardy to fall right back down the pecking order.
Lost momentum: Bray Wyatt
Only Bray Wyatt can make a victory look terrible.
Prevailing over Matt Hardy after another ridiculous, meandering promo that no one cared about, he won, and the crowd went silent for a good while after. His opponent, Matt Hardy, got way more buzz.
When will Vince get a clue that it's time to take this character behind the barn already?
Gained momentum: Rich Swann
The Cruiserweight division felt like more than an afterthought last night as we began the process of determining a new contender to Enzo Amore's title. In a solid fatal 4 way, Rich Swann eventually came out with the victory, setting up a match between him and the winner of next week's fatal 4 way.
Tiresome as these multi-person matches have become, at least the ball was set in motion for a meaningful program in the Cruiserweight division. The crowd really didn't seem to care though. One wonders how much longer this experiment can go on, as the division seems very unfair to the talent in it.
Lost momentum: Finn Balor
At first, it didn't seem like we would see Finn Balor on last night's RAW at all. Perhaps, I thought, it was punishment for his speaking out on social media about reports that Vince didn't think he was "over" enough to face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Vince should have listened to the crowd last night for the answer to that question.
We wound up seeing him alright, but it was for him to be destroyed by Kane for the third time. Whether it was punishment or lazy booking, Finn Balor's night would have been better for him if he stayed home. It's unclear where his WrestleMania season will go from here.
Gained momentum: Elias
Elias has been my choice for Intercontinental Champion for a long time now. Proving his worth once again, he drew massive heat from a largely unenthusiastic crowd, instantly gaining back the momentum he'd lost over the past few weeks. With loads of potential, he could easily be next year's breakout star if properly booked.
So when Elias was the first to challenge Roman Reigns for his newly-won Intercontinental Championship, I was a bit hesitant, but he walked away from the bout looking like a million bucks. Taking the "Big Dog" to his limit, Elias fell just short of winning the gold, unable to hit his Drift Away finisher in the match.
He has nothing to be ashamed about and the commentary team pushed that fact.
Hopefully, his time will come soon enough.
Lost momentum: Braun Strowman
Braun Strowman smashed Kane after his decimation of Finn Balor last night, doing to the "Big Red Machine" exactly what had been done to him the week before.
Yet, far from his usual thunderous pops, Braun Strowman only got a tepid response, as if the crowd was confused or bored with what was going on. That's the right response because this whole Kane thing just isn't compelling. Every week this feud drags out, Braun Strowman is wasting his time when he could do bigger and better things. He's over enough for it not to matter too much as he'll certainly be involved in a big WrestleMania program, but this isn't helping anyone.
Here's hoping he puts Kane out to pasture pronto.
Gained momentum: Samoa Joe
After holding on to his title, Roman Reigns' triumphant exit was cut short by Samoa Joe, who ambushed him with the Coquina Clutch and roared that he was coming for the champ. After a relatively flat destruction of the heatless Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews, this gave the "Destroyer" some major steam.
How long a potential title program lasts is anyone's guess for now, but there's no doubt that a series of matches between Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns will be compelling. The two were instrumental players in setting RAW's main event scene on fire this summer, after all. Joe would be a fine Intercontinental Champion should Roman eventually drop it to him somehow.
Gained momentum: Asuka
I rolled my eyes when we once again saw Asuka get between the ropes with the same Dana Brooke she destroyed so convincingly last week (and in NXT, for those who remember). She can only beat the crap out of jobbers for so long.
This time the squash was different though. Catching Brooke in a flying armbar, Asuka had her tapping seconds after the bell rang, for what must surely be one of the shortest matches in WWE history.
It was in the aftermath though, that things got really interesting. Absolution came out to confront her, but no fists flew last night. A stalemate, Asuka traded smiles with Paige as Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville looked a bit hesitant to take on the undefeated empress.
It was an excellent segment. Both Asuka and Absolution came out of it looking very strong and this tease was hopefully the declaration of a titanic war to see who's the true strongest force in the women's division, which would be a marquee WrestleMania program.
Let's just hope WWE doesn't fire the first shots too quickly. Paige and Asuka now officially know that each other exists. That's enough for now.
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