On the eve of Valentine’s Day, a day for love and friendship, Raw came to us from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Much like Elimination Chamber, it began slow and just when we were beginning to lose interest, it peaked one more time.
There was much to love about the show, there was much to dislike and there were also a lot of things that left us scratching our heads in confusion. In any case, as always, it’s time for our best and worst countdown of WWE’s flagship brand. Read on!
#1 Best: One of the best swerves in history
Yes, we’d all read the news reports. We knew that Jericho and Owens were on a collision course for Wrestlemania in Orlando. What we didn’t expect was for the split to happen in the manner we saw.
The much hyped ‘Festival of Friendship’ began on a comical note with silly gifts, and culminated with Gillberg.
When Kevin Owens unboxed his present, we presumed that something was amiss but did not anticipate the ‘ swerve’. Jericho will, very naturally, work great as a babyface against the dastardly Kevin Owens. Their Wrestlemania match will definitely be a barn burner.
#1 Worst: Goodbye to the best thing on Raw
If you’ve been reading this column regularly, you know that we enjoy Smackdown Live far more than Raw on a weekly basis. However, the silver lining each week for us as WWE fans has been the banter, the love and the camaraderie between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho.
Two absolute veterans, likeable characters and brilliant workers, they hooked us week after week even when the overall show did not deliver around their hilarious segments. Team Chris and Kevin will be missed by one and all in the WWE Universe.
No, we're not crying. We're just chopping onions.
#2 Best: Brand new women's champion
Have you noticed that when a heartbreaking segment transpires on Raw, WWE follows it up with a feel-good moment right after, to presumably numb the effect? Remember how, when the Undertaker’s streak was broken, Daniel Bryan picked up his legendary win at Wrestlemania 30?
Thankfully, Bayley persevered against ‘The Queen of Pay-Per-View’, picking up the win in a breathtaking main event at the conclusion of what was until then, an underwhelming show. The booking for the match was absolutely perfect, with ebbs and flows, as well as interferences from both Dana Brooke and Sasha Banks at critical junctures.
Sure, Charlotte will pick up her win soon, but until then, it’s Bayley’s time to shine bright!
#2 Worst: Emmalina’s debut
Emmalina’s debut left us all dumbfounded and rather baffled. For week after week, we'd heard about her transformation from a rocker chick (her NXT avatar) to a seductive temptress (as Emmalina, or so we had presumed).
While she looked absolutely gorgeous when she walked out, soon enough, Emma would swerve us all (too many swerves in one night).
Are the rumours true about her, in that case? Is creative prolonging her debut because they don’t have anything planned at this time? Will we see weeks of build promoting her return to her old character?
#3 Best: Samoa Joe means business
The show was incredibly boring until we saw Samoa Joe and Triple H arrive in their limousine. Soon, business would pick up and how! Samoa Joe was exceptional in his sit-down interview with Michael Cole, looking menacing.
He looks like a heel who can really do damage and means serious business. He also masterfully dropped a hint about his old nemesis Sami Zayn, starting, what we presume will be a fantastic feud.
After Sami Zayn and Rusev had the second best match of the evening (Sami Zayn simply cannot have bad matches), Samoa Joe’s music hit and Sami Zayn would be taken down to be put in the Coquina Clutch.
If they're heading into a program for Fastlane, we have no doubt that these two men will have the match of the night.
#3 Worst: The entire first hour of Raw
Couldn’t the better segments have been properly divided through the course of the show, so as to not make the first hour a complete drag to watch? We had Bo Dallas take on The New Day, fighting over an ice-cream recipe (possibly Booty flavoured).
We had a slow and lumbering Mark Henry take on Braun Strowman in a contest that made Henry look like the World’s Slowest Man and not the strongest. We had Roman Reigns take on The Club, in a match that proved that they have absolutely no chemistry when they're working with one another.
We had the Cruiserweights, and when is that ever exciting? Yawn.
In conclusion, Bayley saved the show and made us smile!
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