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The latest Monday Night Raw was the go-home episode before Wrestlemania 35 from Washington, DC. It was a below average episode of WWE's main weekly show.
The major announcement that took place was that the winner of the main event at Wrestlemania 35 involving Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch would walk away with both the RAW and Smackdown Live women's championships.
The in-ring action was average at best, with the tag team match involving The Revival against Aleister Black and Ricochet being the best. Beth Pheonix also made her return to action and won the match.
Seth Rollins finally got some retribution on Brock Lesnar while Batista appeared on the show and progressed the feud with Triple H. The rest of the show was mediocre.
Here are 4 things that WWE got right and 2 things they got wrong:
#1 Right: Batista promo
Batista cut a small promo before the retirement match against Triple H at Wrestlemania 35. A video was aired showing clips of the feud that took place between the two former Evolution members. Batista won all three matches in that feud in 2005. The "Animal" was the face during that time while Triple H was the heel.
After the video, Batista said: "Hunter, kiss my a**" and the promo ended.
It was a simple way to build to the match. Not all feuds need a physical altercation to enhance it. Both Batista and Triple H are veterans who know what they are doing and a decent match can be expected between the two at the Show of Shows.
#1 Wrong: Rey Mysterio losing
Before the show took place, a match between Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio was scheduled. But after a segment where Mysterio and Corbin had an altercation, the match got changed to Corbin vs Mysterio.
The match itself was not very good. The crowd was dead for most of it. Corbin won the match after hitting the Deep Six, a move with which he rarely wins matches.
The problem with this booking is that Rey Mysterio is scheduled to face Samoa Joe for the United States championship at Wrestlemania 35. The high flier was booked like a jobber just to make Corbin look good. Mysterio has no momentum whatsoever going into the match against the Samoan Submission Machine.
Also, people do not really care about Baron Corbin vs Kurt Angle at Mania, so there was no point in Corbin going over Mysterio when the latter has a championship match in six days.
#2 Right: Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar segment
Brock Lesnar made a rare appearance on this week's edition of Monday Night Raw alongside his advocate Paul Heyman. Heyman went on his usual spiel while Lesnar just stood in the ring.
The segment got better when Rollins came down to the ring. The Architect said the things which many would agree about Lesnar not being wanted by the fans and how he only cares about himself.
After Rollins' promo, Lesnar bumped his chest and a fight broke out. Rollins hit Lesnar in the groin but Lesnar came back with a German suplex. The Beast went for an F5 but Rollins was equal to the task and hit a low blow followed by a superkick. Seth looked strong in the segment and showed that Lesnar is not the unbeatable force.
#2 Wrong: Squash matches
The in-ring this week was poor apart from maybe two matches. There were squash matches galore.
The trio of Wrestlemania 35 main eventers Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte squashed the Riott Squad.
Braun Strowman continues to be irrelevant on the show. Who decided that it was a good idea to put the second most loved face in the company in a feud with the SNL guys for Wrestlemania 35?
Also, Heavy Machinery basically squashed former champions Roode and Gable in three minutes.
Yeah, not good.
#3 Right: Tag-team match
RAW tag-team champions The Revival defended their titles against Aleister Black and Ricochet.
It was a very good match with the right team going over. Ricochet and Black are just starting their main roster stint and if they do happen to win the tag-team championships, a bigger and better occasion is required.
The Revival has been grossly underutilized in the company and has had an underwhelming title run. With the RAW titles supposedly not being defended at Wrestlemania 35, this was probably the next best thing.
#4 Right: Drew Mcintyre ambush
Drew Mcintyre continued to have the upper hand in the feud against Roman Reigns. Whilst a backstage interview, Mcintyre viciously attacked Reigns.
The attack helps to garner sympathy for Reigns and begs the question of whether he is ready for the Scottish Psychopath. Drew on the other has been booked like an absolute monster.
This feud has been decent till now based on the fact that maybe a month ago this was not even on the cards. So, kudos to WWE for pulling up this impromptu feud and making people care about it.
To see full results & highlights of Monday Night RAW (1st April) visit here
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