Raw is in DC and with the coronavirus nixing my plans to go live, at least I’ll be able to enjoy it via TV. Sucks to not see Edge live though. Becky comes out and Shayna is hyped up as the only person in Chamber history to take out everyone in the match. Becky cues up a recap of the match. Becky says that Shayna took out Asuka and she struggled to beat her ever – let alone in mere minutes. Shayna’s a cage fighter, top-ranked for a decade, and is a scumbag and a black hole of charisma. She may be a bitch – but she’s the bitch who runs the division. She remembers Shayna not shaking her hand after WM last year and now she sees Shayna as the biggest threat she’s had since her buddy Ronda, whose hand she shattered. They’ve done a great job with this feud so far and this kept the momentum rolling.
Rey preps to face Angel Garza. We get a recap of Rey being taken out with the hammerlock DDT from Garza last month. Garza lulls Rey into the corner by laying down in the buckle, but sends Rey in before eating the buckle himself. Rey avoids a powerbomb by backflipping onto his knees…maybe don’t do that a lot. Rey pops-up on the buckle and eats a superkick. THE PANTS ARE OFF! Garza lands a pop-up punt to the chest before eating a rocket kick from Rey. Rey sends him out and hits the slip and slide splash. Rey hits the springboard senton, the basement version and a basement buzzsaw kick for 2. Slingshot reverse suplex by Garza gets 2. Enzuiguri into a 619 is avoided and Garza lands a wicked superkick. They fight up top and Rey goes for a destroyer before Garza avoids that, but eats a 619 and drops the dime to win. This was a fantastic TV match.
KO arrives, but is met by AOP, Seth, and MURPHY. Murphy with giant silver lines on his tracksuit jacket for…some reason makes him look like a mid’-90s C-list comic book character. They kick his ass and throw random metal boxes and trays on him. Rhea Ripley roams around the stadium for Mania. From the coconut loop to WrestleMania – cool deal for Rhea. They try to go with this Jericho-HBK comparison for her and Charlotte, which is quite odd. Charlotte comes out in a terrible-looking green dress and tons of pyro.
Charlotte mocks Rhea and calls her a new shiny toy. Rhea will never be Charlotte and there’s only one of her. Then she woos. This was a misfire and thankfully Rhea comes out to stand up for herself. Rhea gets massive pyro when she stomps her foot – which is a bit too cute by one. Rhea starts to talk and Charlotte shuts her down and insults her more before knocking Charlotte on her ass. This was still a misfire – Charlotte comes off terribly. Ryder’s mid-ring to be sacrificed to the All Mighty. Ron Simmons spinebuster hits for Lashley before the Yokosuka Cutter ends it.
Someone knocks on Aleister Black’s door – Seth and Murphy are in the echo chamber. Seth wants him to join the Movement. Black rejects it and Seth says you’re with him or against him. Black says those are fighting words and they knocked on the right door – he accepts the challenge. Rowan’s out to face Drew. They brawl on the floor and Drew overhead belly to belly suplexes him on the floor. Drew smashes the crate with the steps, headbutts Rowan and nails him with Future Shock. The countdown to the claymore ends it – this was effective.
Recap airs of Beth eating an RKO last week, now with photos and video to support the claims Orton had of Edge making him a better person. Kabuki Warriors come out to face Nattie and Liv Morgan – okay, it would’ve been so much fun to see the Kabuki Warriors’ intro live. Aleister vs. Seth is official for later. Asuka and Kairi strut around in an amazing manner. Kairi screeches for a bit after asking Asuka about her wrist injruy. Asuka says she wants to beat someone, so Kairi stomps around like a tiny Godzilla. Nattie puts her cat ears on a fan just like Bret did with his shades.
Liv dropkicks Kairi’s back on the ropes for 2. Ruby walks down and stands in the aisle. Liv hits Asuka with a double-jump dropkick. Kairi and Asuka exchange double sledges on the arm of Nattie. Sarah Logan is down too while Asuka has a front choke on Nattie. Logan and Ruby fight and Morgan dives onto them. Nattie gets a discus lariat, but Asuka blind tags in and takes out Nattie from behind to win.
AJ and the OC are out and he complains about Taker making him lose to Black, which we see. AJ says three years ago at WrestleMania and he lost to Reigns and he thought he’d retired. He thinks he should’ve done it at WM 30. He doesn’t see a legend – he sees a broken down old man named Mark Calaway. Now he blames his wife Michelle McCool and she’s the reason he keeps wrestling – because she’s got a lavish lifestyle. Michelle’s gonna run Taker into the ground and AJ’s gonna help her when he makes sure Taker dies in the ring at WrestleMania. He’ll take his soul. Taker has nothing left to lose – he already lost his mystique and his legend. This was some of AJ’s best promo work ever.
The Fiend vs. Cena is hyped up as a first-time ever match…um no? Bray battled Cena at WM 30 and while it was a different gimmick, it’s the same guy. Randy sulks in his warehouse room. Riddick Moss comes out to the most generic CAW theme in history. They tell this tale of him COMPLETELY REDEFINING THE 24/7 TITLE. He defends it against Cedric to complete silence. Moss hits a fallaway slam to the buckle and through the ropes. Cedric eats a long chinlock while Byron talks about him being a former 24/7 AND cruiserweight champion. Moss swats Cedric off the top and wins with his fall-forward neckbreaker that somehow looks worse than Curtis Axel’s back to front-neckbreaker finish from a decade ago.
MVP comes out and mocks DC for not being a state. He says he’s going from in-ring career to a brainiac and it’s time to lead others to title status. He wants a foundation like Edge – and he’ll take him back to the top. Edge rolls into the building with his blonde and grey hair looking so badass. Edge tells Randy to grow a set and come down. MVP tells him he’s focusing on the wrong things and spears MVP before Orton runs down and Edge RKOs him. Edge takes MVP down with a standing triangle before RKOing MVP onto the chair. MVP is doing more to get guys over in the build to WM this year than he ever did as a full-time guy. Conchairto to MVP leads to a “one more time” chant and another one. This was great stuff – makes me wish WM was closer, because they have a habit of messing up the builds to otherwise well-crafted matches in the final two weeks.
HHH gets an Arnold award because of course he does. Heyman cuts a tremendous promo about just why Drew vs. Brock is a big deal at Mania. For 18 years, Brock Lesnar has shown that he is the most dominant force in history. Flair, The Rock, Austin, The Undertaker, Roman Reigns, and John Cena have all fallen to him. Drew says that all of that is true. Now, he’s out to show that the Rumble wasn’t a fluke – and he did that on Raw taking him out with three Claymores. He is going to Claymore Brock Lesnar and knock him out to win the title. Drew HAS TO WIN THIS. They need to just pull the trigger on him. They didn’t do it with Roman and they need to do it with Drew.
Charly runs into Edge and tells him that Randy left. Seth comes out to face Aleister Black, whose theme remains incredible. They start this match off with a nice, friendly wrestling match and then break out some strikes. Seth eats a striking combo, but gets a slingblade for 2. Black lands a running back elbow and another striking combo before Seth schoolboys him for 2. Snap German hits, but Murphy breaks it up for a DQ. They all beat up Black and the Viking Raiders make a save. Street Profits come down and they want it to be an 8 man tag.
Montez flips around before dropkicking Murphy before we get BEEF with Hanson and Rezar. Rowe comes in and out with more corner clubs. Montez eats a beating and makes a fine babyface in peril. LOTS of chinlocks here in this large multi-man match for some reason. Montez tags in and hits a springboard high fly flow and a dropkick on the apron. Seth tosses him in the corner and we get another long Murphy chinlock. All the faces do dives before Seth stomps Montez and beats him. Owens runs down and brawls before hitting a stunner on Murphy with a somersault sell before Seth stomps him twice.
