WWE Monday Night Raw 3/29/2021
Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/wwe-monday-night-raw-3222021.html
We were shown video of Drew McIntyre arriving earlier today. He was made aware of Bobby basically putting a bounty on him. He said he doesn't know what will happen tonight and dares anyone to come at him as they will get a "good old fashioned Scottish @ss kicking".
The Hurt Business come out to talk. They said Wrestlemania is only 3 weeks away. MVP says they just want to give someone a shot and show Drew being up Cedric and Shelton last week. Bobby said they are tarnishing his image. He said he can't count on them and calls them incompetent. Shelton fights back saying they wouldn't champ without him. MVP says something to Shelton and he pushes on him, then they all fight. Bobby takes a german suplex and Shelton goes after Bobby but takes a flatliner. MVP says they should be ashamed of themselves and Bobby says The Hurt Business is over.
The Hurt Business have been a pretty good faction for the most part and this break up flopped without the crowd around. They did do some build to it a month or two back but haven't built much on it since. I have no faith in Cedric or Shelton going onto better things after this.
Riddle was riding his scooter in the back. He said he thought Sheamus was having a bad day when he attacked him with his scooter last week. Riddle said he pissed him off and he doesn't like to be pissed off. Riddle runs into Titus O'Neil and starts asking dumb questions. Riddle thought he was the "roast" of Wrestlemania and Titus ran to get away with him after a dumb exchange. Sheamus thankfully ended this segment by running his shoulder into Riddle, who landed in a box. It's one thing for Riddle to be a hippie who is out there mentally but he's morphing into R-Truth.
We're 15 minutes into this and this is awful already.
Shelton and Cedric go up to Adam Pearce in the back. They said Bobby wouldn't be champ without them and Bobby is nothing without them. Shelton said he wants Bobby tonight and Cedric wants him next week. Pearce asks him if he is sure and Shelton gets mad and says to make the match. Cedric asks if he has to consult Bobby like this like he does with Roman and basically tells him to man up.
Sheamus vs Riddle
MVP is at the commentary booth. Riddle had a flying bird cartoon when he flicked off his sandals. This show gets dumber by the week.
They go on the mat a little to start. Riddle goes for a leapfrog but gets caught and rolls around Sheamus' body for a sleeper. They trade shots. Sheamus hands onto the middle rope and Riddle dropkicks him off. He then does his floating bro corkscrew moonsault on him as we go to break.
Back from break and Sheamus has the Dublin Smile on Riddle. Riddle does a nice strike combo and is backbreakered. They go up top and they do a nasty belly to belly or spanish fly from the top. Riddle had an awful landing right on his head.
Riddle got a bunch of strikes and exploder in and Riddle hits some chest kicks and a senton. Riddle gets a triangle on and is powerbombed, then hooks it back on as Sheamus hits the ropes. Sheamus then comes back with a White Noise on the apron for only 2. Sheamus then hits an alabama slam but it is only worth 2 again. Sheamus hit a stiff pumping knee after and won it. They did too much here for a throaway opening match but it was entertaining. The selling also wasn't there for the abuse they took.
Sheamu posed on the 2nd buckle and Riddle pushed him over to the floor. The announcers explain him doing that as revenge for getting jumped earlier and that's fair, but he comes across as being a sore loser.
We see some clips from the Braun/Shane feud and well, some things are better left forgotten. Shane is with Elias and Ryker in the back. He claims to air an expose on Braun tonight and is asked about it. All he says is that we will hear some very interesting things about Braun. This is not what we need right now to turn this night around.
Drew McIntyre is in the back and crosses AJ Styles and Osmos. Drew accuses him of accepting Bobby's offer. AJ said they have bigger plans for Mania.
Shane, Elias and Ryker are in the ring. Shane says he knee injury last week was legit and it was adrenaline that allowed him to run away. Shean showed a supposed report card from Braun in the 5th grade with him falling his classes. Shane then showed some dump photoshopped picture of Braun with a dunce cap on saying 2 + 2 = 5. They said maybe Braun needs to get a hug to get through this.
Braun came out soon after. Shane and Elias left the ring though didn't really run as he entered.
This segment was awful.
Braun Strowman vs Jaxson Ryker
Bruan throws Ryker to start and chases Shane. MVP is still on commentary here for some reason. Braun gets distracted then speared in the knee by Ryker. Ryker misses an axe handle off the 2nd rope and had a silly landing and got knocked outside. Braun then asked for the train sounds to go off as he ran over Ryker. Bruan then hit a running powerslam to beat Ryker. The train sounds were dumb as usual but maybe it's a little more believable if Braun is signalling for them?
Braun chased Shane around and Elias hit Braun with a knee in the back. Then Braun was beat up on 2v1. Shane hits some awful weak strikes and Shane ran for it as a pile of spit sat in Braun's beard. Braun asked where Shane was running to then reminded him that he(Braun) can pick any match he wants he want for Mania. Braun said he is picking a steel cage match since Shane can't run or get help in that match. Makes sense.
The Dirt Sheet with John Morrison and The Miz
They are promising us the World Premiere of "Hey Hey, Hop Hop" tonight. Miz ripped Bad Bunny and said he was out of line attacking him last week.
They showed their music video and it was impossible to hear any of it. The lyrics were too low and the music was very high. Oh well, they probably did a favor by not letting us hear most of it. The video had them dancing and video of recorded audiences. The music chosen for this wasn't bad actually, but I could barely hear any of the words.
Bad Bunny and Damian Priest then came out. Priest said they should laugh now because they won't when Bunny handles then at Mania. Bunny said something in Spanish. Priest claimed Bunny said that he would make Miz "his b!tch".
They fought on the outside and Bunny destroyed Miz's set.
Randy Orton did a promo. He said he fought a lot of people but nobody like The Fiend. He said no man could survive him burning them. Orton said he will dig down deep to get rid of The Fiend at Mania for good.
Bobby Lashley with MVP vs Shelton Benjamin
MVP is still on commentary here. Shelton takes down Bobby early. Bobby pounds on him some and throws him out. Bobby puts him in a fireman's carry and rams his head into the post. Bobby chases Cedric away and when he comes back in, Shelton hits a paydirt for 2.
Shelton runs up the corner to hit Bobby with a knee in the face then takes a hard and high spinebuster. Bobby then hits another spinebuster which is closer to a chokeslam. He then beats him with The Hurt Lock in a quick one.
The New Day runs into AJ and Omos in the back. They want to have game night where they can ask trivia questions about how much AJ likes Omos. AJ talked about how he will beat them and New Day said they were more interested in Game Night.
The New Day's Game Night
AJ Styles vs Xavier Woods
MVP still is on commentary. AJ leapfrogs Woods and dropkicks him to start. Woods dropkicks AJ and he flies out then Woods flip topes him and comes back in to stare at Omos. We go to break and return with Woods in full control. They almost botch a back body drop. AJ neckbreaker's Woods over the knee for 2. Woods comes back with a tornado ddt. Woods goes up top and Omos moves AJ over to the apron to avoid the dive. Woods goes over to him and Omos grabs Woods' foot and throws him into the ring. He then catches Kofi and throws him over the barricade. Omos then beats up on Woods and puts his foot on him while AJ makes a 3 count. This was a short match and I don't get why they did the DQ finish.
We are shown Alexa Bliss riding a swing and are told Alexa's Playground is up next.
Alexa is playing with a jack in a box. She said they used to be known as "the devil in the box". She said they used to be a demonic present. She said you can't trap people forever and now it's time for The Fiend. Alexa said Randy doesn't know what is next but she will give him a hint - the legend killer dies at Mania. The Fiend is then seen sitting next to Bliss on the swing to close the segment.
Drew is sitting in the back and then goes into the locker room. He asks who is going to step up? He said he is disappointed nobody wants some and dares anyone to come and drop him. He yells at Braun and tells him to step up. Braun says he will once he beats Shane at Mania, provided he is champ. Drew grabs Humberto Carrillo and throws him. Riddle said he is stuffed. Angel Garza then jumps Drew and is thrown onto a couch. Gulak teases that he will nail Drew but Drew headbutts him first. Drew then goes up to Ricochet. Ric said he doesn't trust Lashley's word, but accepts the challenge. Obviously the whole locker room looked like geeks and this had to be a shot at them. A second issue here was that when Drew and Braun went face to face, they were about the same height which is odd since Braun is supposed to be a lot bigger.
Shayna Baszler with Reginald and Nia Jax vs Naomi with Lana
Mandy and Dana are at the booth. Naomi gets put on the top rope but comes back with a kick. Shayna then stomps her arm. Naomi makes a comeback and does a split drop on her on her. Naomi goes up top and Reg gets on the apron. Lana takes a shot at Reg, but he avoids it and Nia grabs Lana. Lana pushes Nia into Mandy then Dana grabs Lana and gets kicked. Shayna kicks off Lana and is rolled up by Naomi. This was a nothing match, but I appreciated them sticking to the story here of these teams all wanting tag title shots.
Asuka runs into Riddle in the back. Asuka likes his scooter and asks if people in Japan would like it. Then he says he forgot what he was saying and leaves. Did he actually forget what he was supposed to say here?
Rhea Ripley talks to someone in the back.
We have a contract signing with Rhea Ripley, Asuka and Adam Pearce. Asuka says Rhea is over confident. Rhea says she is confident she will beat her for the title. They sign the contract and Asuka says Rhea's confidence is not earned. Asuka says something and Asuka gets the table flipped hard into her face. Nia and Shayna come out with Reg. They talk about both of them being bad. Shayna asked where is there Wrestlemania match? shayna says she can beat up Asuka anytime she wants and can't wait to do that to Shayna. Rhea then asks "what's stopping you?". They then agree to a tag match with Shayna and Nia vs Rhea and Asuka for next week.
MVP goes up to Ricochet in the back. He puts him over for taking up Lashley's offer. Ric said this has nothing to do with Lashley's offer as he doesn't know when he will get another shot. He then flicks MVP's chain.
Ricochet vs Drew McIntyre
Ric takes a gigantic back body drop early and Drew throws him so far he almost falls out. Lashley is shown watching in the back. Ric gets thrown again but lands on his feet and hits a nice jumping knee. Ric then hits a springboard enzugiri.
They fight outside. Ric is thrown into the steps, jumps off of them onto the barricade then runs the barricade to hit a dropkick. Drew moves on a 630 and hits a big claymore kick for the win. I don't know why they had Drew win this so fast as it makes Ricochet look bad. This was fun for what we got.
Mustafa Ali then attacks Drew and gets thrown out. Drew challenges him to fight him.
Mustafa Ali vs Drew McIntryre
Ali took the offer during the break and we come back with Ali working the knee. Lashley walks away from the TV in the back. Ali splashes Drew's leg from the top. Drew hits a snap belly to belly out of nowhere and launches him on another. Drew goes for a 2nd rope cutter but gets swatted down. Drew then hits a claymore kick and wins it in another short one.
Drew then calls out Lashley. He tells him to step up and finish him himself. Lashley comes out as we go to break. Lashley says he never needed anyone's help and he almost ended his career with the beating he gave him at Elimination Chamber. He said it's going to be nothing compared to what happens at Mania though. He said Drew's time is up and it's the almight era.
Drew said Lashley is afraid of him and they fight. Drew gets the better of Lashley taking him out of the ring. King Corbin then comes from behind and nails Drew. He backdrops him but gets belly to belly suplexed. Drew goes for a claymore kick but takes a deep six. Lashley then puts Drew in the hurt lock and Corbin eggs him on to do more. Drew gets put in the hurt lock twice more to close the show.
It's not clear what happens with Corbin but that was definitely unexpected. I don't know why Bobby let Corbin go out there though if he could handle this himself.
Overall thoughts: A bad Raw with the first half being atrocious.
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