It was the Raw after WrestleMania and who wasn’t hyped? With returns, debuts, and the fallout of Mania looming, its bound to be a great show full of incredible moments.
Let’s jump right into the review for what is bound to be a great Raw.
Opening Segment
The show is opened by Stephanie McMahon, who walks gingerly to the ring with a cast on her left arm. Steph claims she’s proud of herself, then introduces Ronda Rousey to the ring. Steph claims “the better woman won.” Steph tells Ronda that she can’t wait to work with Rousey. The two go in for a hug, but Rousey put Stephanie in an Armbar.
Nia Jax & Partner vs. Mickie James & Alexa Bliss
Bliss calls Nia a bully. Bliss also claims that Nia doesn’t have a partner for their match tonight. Jax says that Bliss is wrong and introduces her partner for the night: Ember Moon. We come back from commercial to find the match already started. Moon gets the hot tag from Jax. Moon hits the Eclipse on Bliss to end the match in quick fashion.
Backstage Segment
Braun Strowman and Nicholas approach Kurt Angle and tell him they’re relinquishing the Raw Tag Team Championship because of a “scheduling conflict.”
No Way Jose vs. Local Talent
No Way Jose makes his debut in Adam Rose-esque fashion. Jose finishes the match quick in what was a dominating debut.
Backstage Segment
The Bar and Angle are backstage and Kurt announces the Tag Team Eliminator. The winner of the eliminator tournament will face The Bar at The Greatest Royal Rumble for the Raw Tag Team Championships.
The Revival vs. The Balor Club
This is the first match of the eliminator. We come back from commercial to find the match started. The teams go back and forth throughout the duration of the match. The Revival hit The Shatter Machine for the win.
In-ring Segment
Seth Rollins comes to the ring and thanks the fans for supporting him and is interrupted by Finn Balor. Finn congratulates Seth but claims he’s ready for another title shot because Finn was never pinned in the match. The Miz and the Miztourage come to the ring. The Miz claims he’s going to invoke his rematch clause at Backlash and challenges Balor and Rollins to a 2-on-3 match.
A returning Jeff Hardy comes to the ring and evens the odds and a six-man tag is made for later in the night.
Mandy Rose vs. Sasha Banks
Before the match, Bayley comes to ringside and stands in Sasha’s corner. Due to mixed signals, Bayley hits Sasha outside of the ring. Sasha recovers and gets back into the ring only to get a knee to the face by Rose followed by the pinfall.
After the match, Paige was left in the ring by herself and she announced that she has to retire due to injury. Paige thanked the WWE Universe, Daniel Bryan, and Edge and she said that she had to move on to something new.
Elias Segment
Elias begins his usual routine: singing, making fun of the audience. Elias is interrupted by a returning Bobby Lashley. Lashley hits a couple moves and seems to be done for the night.
Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. Mystery Tag Team
Rhyno and Slater issue an open challenge to any of the tag teams in the back and that challenge is met by a debuting Authors of Pain with Paul Ellering. AOP make short work of Slater and Rhyno. After the match, it seems as though AOP decide to leave Pail Ellering behind, sprouting a bounty of questions that need answering.
Roman Reigns Segment
Roman gingerly comes to the ring, still bandaged and stitched up from the night before. Reigns claims that there is a conspiracy against him succeeding. Roman is interrupted by a returning Samoa Joe.
Joe says that regardless of what happens in Saudi Arabia, he wants Roman at Backlash.
Titus Worldwide vs. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
The unlikely duo finishes Titus quickly and moves onto the next round of the Tag Team Eliminator.
Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
Earlier in the night, this match was made by Kurt Angle. The winner of this match gets a Raw contract since both men were fired from Smackdown on Sunday. It’s a typical Zayn-Owens match with great spots and good match quality, overall.
The long match was ended after a top rope Package Brainbuster. After the move, neither man could get back to their feet before the count of 10, meaning neither of them received the Raw contract.
Hardy, Rollins & Balor vs. The Miztourage & Miz
The match that ended the night seemed more like a finisher-fest rather than an actual match. Even though Hardy, Balor, and Rollins won, the match seemed out of place on the card.
The match was great but may have made more sense somewhere else on the card.
Conclusion
Playing to the hardcore fans’ interests, the night was a great success and introduced the casual fan to a flurry of fresh faces and a nice helping of returning ones. With great matches, returns and debuts, the night is bound to go down as a great post-Mania Raw.