Monday, March 1, 2021

WWE Monday Night Raw 3/1/2021

WWE Monday Night Raw 3/1/2021

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/wwe-monday-night-raw-2222021.html

They had a 5 minute rundown of the Miz and Lashley stuff from last week.

Drew came down to talk. He said he had a bad month. Sheamus turned on him and he didn't get why, but they were gonna beat each other up next. He didn't like getting screwed by Miz and Lashley at the EC. He called down Sheamus but Miz came out instead.

Miz asked the announcer to officially introduce him and he got pyro on top of it. Miz said Drew shouldn't be mad at Miz since he did exactly what he was supposed to do - cash in at the right time. He said Drew should blame Lashley. Drew didn't buy it and said he's not doing his dirty work tonight and Miz will be dealing with Lashley himself. Miz said he didn't want help from Lashley and said he was the victim of this situation. Miz said Lashley threatened him into that deal.

Miz said it didn't make sense for Lashley to get a title shot over Drew and said they should work together as a 3-person team with Morrison. MVP then came out.

MVP asked Drew if he was taking this seriously and Drew said he didn't need anyone. MVP said Lashley would beat Miz tonight promptly at 9PM Eastern time, which was an obvious way to get people to watch at that time. Miz then tried to get Drew to work with him again and Sheamus came out.

Sheamus said Drew only thinks of himself and Drew said the time for them to fight is now and they went at it outside. The refs tried to break it up but Sheamus was lariated over the rails.

Drew should follow the Lashley method here from last week and offer to work with Miz in exchange for a title shot, then get Shane and Pearce involved to force it.

They had a countdown timer up for Miz/Lashley.

Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus

Then went at it hard at the bell with strike flurries, then Sheamus dropped a knee of the 2nd rope on him. Sheamus grounds Drew. Drew tied Sheamus up in the ropes and did a bad version of his chest clubs. Sheamus brogue kicked Drew off the apron.

We went to break and came back with Sheamus dropping hard elbows on Drew. They called this one of the biggest moments in Raw history which was farfetched. Sheamus hit an irish cruse backbreaker on Drew then did his chest clubs to Drew. Drew and Sheamus started slapping each other and Drew overhead suplexed him.

Sheamus was clotheslined over the top and he pulled Drew down on the apron. Sheamus was then belly to belly suplexed into the table but it did not break. Drew then slammed him on the table but again it did not break.

Sheamus pulled himself up to the top from the mat and Drew did a kip up then he headbutted Sheamus. Sheamus was then belly to belly suplexed off the top as we went to a 2nd break during this.

We come back and they are holding each other's heads and punching, then they chop each other. Sheamus hit a brogue knee for 2 then hit white noise. Drew then hit a future shock ddt for 2.

They fight up top and Drew does his own white noise from the top for 2. Sheamus then hit a hard alabama slam on Drew for 2. Sheamus went for the brogue kick but got nailed with a brogue kick by Drew for the Drew in. Pretty good match. Hard hitting, they did some big moves and it was cool seeing them do each other's moves which you usually don't see in WWE. My only complaint was that this got interrupted by two commercials.

Naomi was dancing in the back and ran into Nia Jax. They stared each other down.

Naomi with Lana vs Nia Jax with Shayna Baszler

Naomi gets thrown early by her hair. Nia then headbutts her and samoan drops her. Nia does a rough looking chokeslam and wins it in a quick squash with Naomi getting nothing in.
 
Bobby is grinning menacingly into the camera and is about to come out.

Bobby comes out with MVP and we cut to the back where Miz is shown holding his stomach in the back. Pearce comes in and Morrison says Miz is sick. Miz says he can't make it. Lashley heads to the back as Miz says he needs more time. Lashley grans Miz by the throat and Miz continues to hold his gut. Pearce says Miz will defend the title at 10PM. Great, a bait and switch. Why was this not a forfeit? I'd be mad if I was waiting for this at 9PM.

Braun Strowman comes down. He says Shane and Pearce have something against him. He said they suspended him then wouldn't put him in the EC. He said the Chamber sucked without him. He was mad he was booked tonight in a tag match against The Hurt Business without knowing his partner. Shane McMahon and Pearce came down.

Shane said Braun was blaming his failures on him. Shane said he likes to help people and is helping himself by taking MBA courses. He said one of those is "Conflict Management". Shane said Braun needs to fix his issues with WWE management by working with WWE management. Braun asked if Shane would be his partner and Shane volunteered Pearce instead. Braun said "that sucks".

Shane then said he would sweeten the pot by making it a Raw Tag Team Title match. Braun said if Pearce screws up, he will get these hands, then he grabs him.

Complaining to Shane and Pearce really pays off. Braun almost got a heavyweight title shot last week now he gets a tag title shot for no real reason.

Raw Tag Team Championship - The Hurt Business (c) vs Braun Strowman and Adam Pearce

Braun won these titles once with a kid(the announcers later mentioned this) so he should have no problem with Pearce. Braun runs through THB early. Shelton gets clotheslined over the top and Alexander is thrown over. Braun then runs through THB on the outside. Pearce is wearing a suit and dress clothes.

Braun throws Cedric hard but Braun ends up ramming his shoulder into the post. Shelton runs up Braun's knee into a knee then Braun powerslams him. Shane gets on the apron to tell Braun to tag Pearce. Braun does reluctantly then Pearce gets rolled up for the loss. Pearce runs for it and Braun starts yelling at Shane. Braun says he will wreck this place and it will be in Shane's hands.

Bad Bunny and Damian Priest talk in the back then Elias and Ryker come up to them. Elias offers Bunny a business proposal, saying only they know what it is like to inspire people with their music. Elias says Bunny has potential for more and offers Bunny a chance to cut a single with him. Bunny talks in Spanish for some reason and tells Priest that it is a "no".

Elias is in ring with Jaxson Ryker. He said his album was snubbed from the Grammy's and said WWE stands for "Walk With Elias".

Bad Bunny comes out then Damien Priest follows.

Damien Priest with Bad Bunny vs Elias with Jaxson Ryker

They get off to a pretty boring start here. Priest hits a back elbow and a spinning heel kick before clotheslining Elias over the top. Elias says something to Bunny as we go to break.

We come back from break and Priest armdrags him. Elias tries a jumping knee but misses and takes another armdrag. Elias comes back and beats up on Priest in the corner, then bangs his upper hest off the apron and hits a big knee to his head. Elias distracts the ref and Ryker gets a cheapshot on Priest. Priest makes a comeback a little later with some kicks then does a back elbow to him in the corner. He hits a big falcon arrow where he throws Elias, but it's only for 2.

Priest jumps off the 2nd rope and runs into a jumping Elias knee. This is only for 2 though. Priest misses a charge in the corner then takes some elbows to the lower back. Priest then hits a high kick and Cross Rhodes for the win. This went a long time and was a little boring. Elias was shockingly competitive with Priest, who has mostly just been squashing people. This did more for Elias than Priest.

We get a package for the Miz/Lashley feud which maybe will happen in 5 minutes at 10PM. Skeptical of it though.

It's 10:02PM and Randy Orton gts interviewed. He said he doesn't know what happened last week when black goo came out of his mouth but he knows Bliss was involved. Orton says he wishes Bliss just moved on and said if she doesn't, there will be no compassion. Bliss then appears on a video with a jack in the box. She says "bring him back" or "bring it back". Someone with a hoodie then appears and it is Randy Orton talking in a weird voice. This fake Orton says orton will soon face everything he has ever done and Orton starts coughing again, though we don't see if its black goo or not. This feud just gets worse and worse.

WWE Championship - The Miz (c) with John Morrison vs Bobby Lashley with MVP


The smart move would be for Miz to DQ himself. The announcer goes to talk and Miz cuts him off. Miz says he wants to talk. Miz says Bobby has been waiting 17 years for this, but this isn't the stage. He says Bobby needs to do this at Wrestlemania. MVP doesn't go for it.

Miz immediately runs to the back with the belt and is counted out. Lashley and MVP aren't pleased. This was a double bait and switch as we didn't get the match at 9PM either.

Lashley and MVP go to Shane in the back. Shane said technically Lashley got his match and won. Shane said this won't fly though and promised a title match tonight. MVP said this was bs and it is. Shane says he will consider stripping Miz of the title tonight though they don't go into any more details and Lashley says he wants to beat up Miz. Shane tells him to start looking.

Charlotte Flair comes out. She says the last few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster. She said she noticed Asuka doesn't have a title match yet for Mania and says she wants the shot. She should probably accuse Shane McMahon of something to get it. Charlotte says Asuka is at home injured and they show her losing a tooth after Shayna kicked her last week. She said she is challenging Asuka when she returns.

Shayna comes out with Nia. She says Flair should stay partners with Asuka because without her, she will be outnumbered by Shayna and Nia. Nia says no one in the locker room likes her and it's a shame she sent her dad home, when she should have went home. Nia says she doesn't deserve a random shot at Asuka at Mania and says either her or Shayna should get a shot instead. Charlotte replies saying people don't call her the GOAT, just Charlotte Flair.

Charlotte Flair vs Shayna Baszler with Nia Jax

Flair flurries on Baszler then Nia and Shayna double team her. Flair's robe feathers go everywhere then Nia legdrops her.  We go to break and then the match continues as we return.

We get a 3rd counter for Miz/Lashley tonight. They until about 10:49PM to make this happen.

Lana and Naomi watch this on the monitors. Shayna works over Charlotte's arm. Shayna hits some leg kicks and is backdropped by Flair, then hit with chops and forearms. Charlotte fallaway slams her and chopblocks her. Nia charges at Charlotte on the outside and goes into the steps. Flair then hits natural selection for the win. We didn't get to see too much of this as most of it was cut off by commercial most likely.

Shane and Pearce talk in the back. Shane says that Miz will be stripped of the title if he doesn't show up and Lashley will be awarded the belt.

Lucha House Party and Riddle vs Retribution (T-Bar, Mace and Slapjack)


No intro for Retribution. Riddle runs into a T-Bar chokeslam on the knee to start. Mace hits a sideslam on Riddle and T-Bar does a backbreaker on Riddle. Riddle gets out with a jumping knee and Mace goes over the top. Riddle dives on Mace and Lince crossbodies Slapjack from the top. Metallik stands on Lince's shoulders then splashes Slapjack to win a very short match. Mustafa Ali is upset and says he wants Riddle 1v1.

Riddle vs Mustafa Ali

Riddle hits a nice gutwrench early then a nice right hand on Ali. Ali hits a neckbreaker and works on Riddle's arm. Riddle catches ali coming criss-cross off the ropes and then puts him in a choke. Riddle exploders Ali then senton's him. Riddle hits a big knee and Slapjack distracts the ref. Riddle goes up top and Mace follows then Ali botches a super back cracker from the top, landing on Riddle awkwardly. This was short and there wasn't much to it. Ali poses at Retribution after and says "follow my lead, you might be something one day".

The Miz goes up to Shane and Pearce in the back, saying he is there. Miz said he defended his title, even though it was a countout. Shane says Miz will defend the title tonight and they hint at it maybe having a stipulation. Miz says they need him as champion and says he deserves respect and to go to Wrestlemania. Miz says he is a main event champion and says Shane should have protected hin. Miz asks what kind of champ does Shane think Bobby will be? Shane says we are about to find out.

WWE Championship - Lumberjack Match - The Miz (c) with John Morrison vs Bobby Lashley with MVP

We are on attempt #3 for this tonight and attempt #4 in two weeks.

The ref holds up the belt and Miz grabs it. Shane McMahon then comes out. He says he wants this to be contested fairly and introduces lumberjacks. Miz tries to hit Bobby with the belt, but Bobby catches it. Miz escapes to the post outside and Bobby turns his back, then nails him. Miz goes back out to make deals with the lumberjacks and gets thrown back in. Lashley beats up on Miz then throws him.

Miz begs for help from Ali, who doesn't want to help. The Hurt business throws Miz back in. Miz takes a reverse STO then is mounted and pounded on. Bobby gorilla presses Miz and throws him onto the lumberjacks, who throw him back in. Miz then takes a very high spinebuster. Lashley then puts Miz in the hurt lock and Miz taps! Bobby Lashley is the new WWE champion! This was what it needed to be with Lashley dominating Miz.

MVP tells Lashley to hurt Miz more, then Lashley puts Miz back in the hurt lock. Lashley does so then throws him, then poses on top of him.

Overall thoughts: Drew/Sheamus was good and Lashley winning was good but the fake promises of title matches that didn't happen until later sucked and the Orton/Bliss/Fiend angle continues to suck. I also hated Braun being awarded a tag title shot without winning anything.

No comments :

Post a Comment