What’s the story?
The latest edition of RAW ended with Roman Reigns being laid out by a returning Undertaker. The Undertaker choke slammed Reigns to close out the show and pretty much confirmed the clash between the two at WrestleMania.
Sadly for the Chicago fans in attendance and unlike the shows from recent weeks, there was no dark match after the cameras stopped rolling. WWE had advertised a dark match between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, which for some reason didn’t happen
Reigns recovered and made his way backstage to end the show for good. We expect the merciless Chicago fans to have booed The Big Dog even more while he slowly walked down the ramp and disappeared into the back.
In case you didn’t know....
The Deadman returned to WWE TV in the main event segment of RAW to confront Braun Strowman, who kicked off the segment by calling out Reigns. Strowman claimed Reigns got lucky last night at Fastlane and wanted to set things straight.
The gong hit and Undertaker came out instead. Strowman retreated and garnered a chorus of boos for his actions, and just when everyone thought the segment was done, Reigns’ music hit and The Big Dog made his way to the ring.
Reigns took the mic and told The Phenom that he wasn’t the one Braun called out and that this was now his yard. They both stared at the WrestleMania sign before Taker choke slammed Reigns to end the segment and the show, amid Roman sucks chants of course.
The heart of the matter
The dark segments and matches after the shows have been a norm for quite a while now. Thus, it’s surprising that WWE didn’t give the lively Chicago crowd a bonus match or two. all they got was to see Reigns recover from the chokeslam and head to the back. We bet he must have been jeered to death all throughout the walk on the ramp.
As everyone knows, the post-show segments are more entertaining than RAW at times. For example, The Rock calling CM Punk during the shoot of the upcoming movie on Paige after RAW broke the internet. Brock Lesnar wrestled various dark matches against Big Shows on the lead-up to Fastlane.
What’s next?
Expect WWE to officially announce The Big Dog vs. The Phenom for WrestleMania 33 next week. As far as Strowman is concerned, it’s still not sure how WWE plans on utilising him, Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal maybe?
Reigns and Strowman could have a rematch next week to give both men something to do if Undertaker doesn’t show up.
Sportskeeda’s take
The dark match after RAW has been a customary gift from the WWE and it’s surprisingly sad that the ever so passionate Chicago crowd were deprived of it. Maybe they rebelled against Reigns way too much leaving Vince McMahon no choice but to pull the plug.
As if a 50-year-old champion headlining WrestleMania against another part-timer wasn’t enough, Reigns vs. Undertaker also looks to be locked in for the show of shows. It’s WWE and WrestleMania we’re talking about here, so we’re not surprised.
