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The Red brand has been firing on all cylinders as the road to WrestleMania continues. RAW's booking team has done an incredible job of late. It's a dramatic turnaround from the show's fortunes for the past couple of years. This was the go-home show to the next major pitstop on that road, the next Super Showdown event in Saudi Arabia.
But who got the most and least out of the show last night? Who emerged closer to a good spot on the WrestleMania card? Let's take a look back at the action!
Winners: Kevin Owens and Randy Orton
This was a much better opening promo segment than the kind we're used to. Kevin Owens and Randy Orton both got their characters over here. The match between them later in the night was marred by an underwhelming finish that ultimately made it disappointing, but both men got their jobs done on the night.
Randy Orton advanced his rivalry with Edge and Kevin Owens got further embroiled with Seth Rollins' faction. You can be sure he'll be in some kind of WrestleMania match with those guys.
It wasn't perfect, but it came close at first.
Winner: Angel Garza
Angel Garza's push up the RAW midcard continues as he defeated Humberto Carillo last night without feeling like he was in too much danger. No longer gunning for the Cruiserweight Championship on NXT, he's free to focus all his energy on his main roster career now.
We still don't know the trajectory of that career. More questions should be answered once Andrade returns, but for now, Angel Garza is on the right track.
We'll have to see if this continues. There's still a little more than a month left to go before we get to Tampa Bay and WrestleMania itself.
Winner: Aleister Black
Finally, some progress for Aleister Black's character. It looks like the random squash matches are gone.
Before having this rematch with Erick Rowan, he was attacked backstage by The O.C. Nevertheless, he emerged from that beating and still defeated Rowan in the subsequent match, looking like a major star in the process. This is the kind of stuff that gets babyfaces over as legitimate fighters. We don't see it often enough in today's WWE.
The next step up the ladder is clear, because Aleister Black will have a match with AJ Styles next week. If this manages to become an extended rivalry, Aleister Black might just find himself stepping into the ring with AJ Styles in a WrestleMania singles match. That would be an incredible promotion and opportunity for the former NXT Champion.
We still have to see how it all goes, but Black's trajectory changed last night. Paul Heyman is clearly high on him. Now we need to see what he has in mind for the Dutch Destroyer in the next crucial month or so.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre had a sit-down interview last night. The Royal Rumble winner took us on a trip down memory lane, how he failed to live up to his "Chosen One" moniker in his first stint in WWE, and how he was so used to getting called "the future," that it seemed that the future never actually came.
This was well-done. It's the kind of stuff that makes characters relatable. It's especially important in McIntyre's case because he wasn't exactly a marquee name before his Royal Rumble match victory, which surprised a lot of people.
Let's see how he does in more segments over the next five or so weeks.
Loser: Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley defeated R-Truth yesterday in a squash match, but it did little for him. You can see how badly the whole rivalry with Rusev went for both participants. This was little more than a filler. Bobby Lashley has no obvious place on the WrestleMania card right now.
And, really, does anybody care if Bobby Lashley doesn't have a prominent match rather than being a participant in the battle royal on the pre-show? My guess would be no.
The Rusev/Lana/Lashley angle was a morass. Everyone involved probably won't recover from the damage in time.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Everyone brawled during this contract signing, but it was Shayna Baszler who cut the most presence during it. It's obvious she's going to be winning the Chamber match when it takes place, which is unfortunate for Asuka, who stood up to her during the signing, but that ship has sailed.
If you're gonna do Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, a match with huge risks as we saw at Survivor Series, you might as well make it as good as possible.
So far, so good.
Winner: Montez Ford
This probably won't lead to anything in time for WrestleMania, given Rollins' embroilment with Kevin Owens and others, but it was a huge opportunity for Montez Ford, and he took it for all it was worth.
For a while, he seemed like a real threat to the former Universal Champion. It was ultimately a losing effort, but one that showed real promise for his future.
And who knows, maybe I'm wrong and the Street Profits will wind up challenging for the tag team titles at WrestleMania, as it looked evident a few weeks ago?
