Rate Raw 3/19/2018

[Jacob Fox]

Rate this evening's episode of Raw and leave comments to let us know what you thought of the show!

Spoiler: Raw Results

Opening

Kurt Angle said that Roman Reigns was suspended and Brock Lesnar hadn't shown up yet. Roman showed up and Angle tried to get him to leave because of his suspension. Roman told Kurt he didn't care and that he wasn't leaving until he faced Brock Lesnar tonight. US Marshalls came out and put Roman in cuffs and he initially went along with it. However, he didn't like when the marshalls put their hands on him. Roman resisted and violence broke out between the marshalls and Roman. But then Lesnar showed up and beat down Roman with a chair while he was cuffed. Lesnar came back several times, attacking Roman and eventually knocking him over off a gurney when the paramedics had him strapped down.

Alexa Bliss vs Asuka

Alexa Bliss and Mickie James came out to make an apology to Nia Jax for the comments they made about her but she revealed she was only sorry she didn't speak the truth about Nia earlier. She declared she would end Asuka's undefeated streak.

Asuka won by count out when Bliss gave up and left. Nia then came out from behind and Bliss threw Mickie to her. Nia caught Alexa and Mickie saved her before Nia took Mickie down and then chased Alexa out of the arena.

Afterwards, Kurt Angle gave Nia the championship against Alexa and Wrestlemania since Alexa wasn't a good role model as champion.

Braun Strowman

Strowman came out and insisted he could win the tag team championship on his own. The Bar came out and confronted him as they didn't care who his partner was because they would win. Braun let them know one of them had to face him. Sheamus tricked Cesaro into getting in the ring.

Braun Strowman vs Cesaro

Braun Strowman won by pin fall

Titus Worldwide vs the Revival

The Revival won by pin fall

WWE HOF

Mark Henry was announced as the newest inductee into the WWE Hall of fame

Sasha Banks and Bayley vs Absolution

Before the match, Sasha Banks criticized Bayley for leaving her twice but then forgave her and offered her hand. Bayley revealed she couldn't get over what and how Sasha did what she did at the Elimination Chamber. She said the look on Banks' face when she turned on Bayley and knocked her off the pod was disturbing. They were interrupted by Absolution..

At one point Bayley had a member of Absolution pinned but Sasha had the referee distracted. Bayley and Sasha argued, which allowed Bayley to be attacked from behind and pinned.

John Cena

John Cena came out and he mentioned how the Undertaker never answered his challenge. He called Undertaker a coward and asked Taker to prove him wrong and give him a sign, or a yes or no. He also told Taker he let the crowd down. Then Kane came out and Cena assumed that Kane was sent by Taker to give the response. Cena asked Kane what the answer was and Kane chokeslammed him and left.

Miztourage vs the Balor Club

The Balor Club won by pin fall but was beaten down by the Miztourage, who was then taken down by Seth Rollins and Balor.

The Ultimate Deletion

With a distraction from Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy defeated Bray Wyatt and pushed him into the Lake of Reincarnation. He told Benjamin to retrieve his carcass but of course Bray was not in there. Matt declared Bray deleted.

 

[The Sheik]

Brock Lesnar returns to RAW and beats the shit outta Roman Reigns, not sure how that's going to get Brock over as a heel, the fans love shit like that. Wrestling fans don't have sympathy anymore.

Bliss cut a good promo like she always does, I liked how she walked away from the match rather than tapping out when she has to defend her title at WrestleMania.. Again though, the bumping Alexa, work on it.

Strowman looks very underutilized in this feud with The Bar.. After the amazing year he has had, you would think he would have a better spot at Mania, i guess they didn't have anything for him and wanted to get him on the card somehow.

John Cena's promo was the best i've seen in a long time.. A lot might disagree, i just really enjoyed it, personally. Kane coming out and chokeslamming him seemed an odd way to end it, hopefully something more happens next week.

The Miz and his goons vs. Balor Club.. I'm really done with all 6 of these guys, even Miz's promo's are getting stale to me. I don't like any of them, they're all boring, just fuck off.. Rollins on commentary was the saving grace for this match.

Ultimate Deletion was fun, hopefully this means the end of the Bray Wyatt character and is "reincarnated" as someone else.

6/10

 

[Death Walker]

I rated the show a 2 and even though I didn't care for the "Ultimate Deletion" match/segment, it saved the show from a -0 (yes, WWE somehow managed to rate that).

 

[Jacob Fox]

This was a weird show and I really have to think about it before I rate

 

[Rosie]

7/10, the Ultimate Deletion gave it +1.

The opening segment, I was kind of mixed on. In some ways, great to finally have interaction, and the mauling was fun, but no matter what, they can't get the reaction they want with fans cheering THE BIG DAWG and booing the Beast.

Then Alexa vs Asuka was alright, but the angle afterward was perfect in that Alexa faked an ankle injury to get out of the match, Nia came down, nearly got her hands on Alexa, and that set up the match. Just, I fear they have Alexa win, which would be a terrible mistake. Alexa has been champ most the time for almost a year, and with the nature of the storyline, to have Nia lose would be a shame.

Braun and the Bar, fun promo beforehand, and the match was fine. Cesaro got some stuff in but Braun kept strong.

Revival vs Titus Worldwide didn't mean much. It was filler just to get Revival in the Royale.

Mark Henry in the Hall of Fame? *golf claps*

Sasha vs Bayley, the match did what it needed to do, and the promo before wasn't amazing but did its job.

Cena's promo was solid, with an underwhelming ending of Kane. If it brings out Undertaker, cool, but them facing off next week, meh.

Miztourage vs Balor Club was an alright TV match, but the angle after the match was the important part as Seth sort of hesitated to save Finn which works into the storyline.

Then the ULTIMATE DELETION!

I overall liked it. I understand if the ending was a little underwhelming in that there was not a crazy stunt ending like the others (I mean, a Volcano going off...hard to top it), but it had a good mix of laughs and occasional seriousness. It was nice because it was different compared to what we typically see on Raw or Smackdown (even if Impact/TNA did it first) Plus the Brother Nero jump scare was cool, and the knocking Bray into the Lake of Reincarnation does leave a "Happy Ending" for now and leaves the future open for Bray. Just...please don't have him dress in drag as Sister Abigail...

 

[Grievous 3D]

So...for this weeks RAW I thought I'd do something a little bit different...

+ Hey Grievous...why don't you care about Lesnar vs. Reigns II? +
Because I find Lesnar lazy & overrated while being given a free pass from
a lot of wrestling fans because of who he is & what he has done and not
what he doing RIGHT NOW.

And I find his opponent a boring generic action figure with the personality of
a dead tree stump who has been over pushed to a near comical degree.

SKIP!!!

+ Hey Grievous...why have you stopped watching the women's division on RAW? +
Because frankly Alexa Bliss has made me hate women's wrestling. She is a terrible
worker & I don't care how good she is on the mic or how much of her butt cheeks
are visible.

Mickie James has no memory, Nia Jax is boring & frankly dangerous in my opinion,
Paige shouldn't be on TV if she can't wrestle, Mandy & Sonya lost their direction
without Paige & Bayley's career is dead.

Asuka will likely be on SmackDown after Wrestlemania (although she should be there
now) & Sasha...well...more on her later.

+ Hey Grievous...what about Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax at Wrestlemania? +
The fact extremely talented workers like Sasha, Becky & Ruby Riott will not get
to have a one on one match at Wrestlemania while these two do...pisses me off...
but Total Divas needs a match a guess.

This match could possibly be one of the worst women's matches in Wrestlemania
history.

But its okay...because Alexa has mic skills.

Fuck her mic skill!

I'll care when she inserts a microphone into a bodily orifice below her belly button & I get to watch!

FUCKING SKIP!!!

+ Hey Grievous...What do you think about Braun Strowman vs. The Bar at Wrestlemania? +
I think its a terrible idea and will basically bury the entire tag team division if Strowman
wins the titles 2 on 1. He needs a partner whether it is Bray Wyatt, Elias or even a returning
Big Show.

The only reason Strowman is being booked this way is to keep him away from Lesnar &
Reigns...because the WWE is desperate to get Reigns cheered & Strowman has already
proved to be more popular.

A popularity he gained by beating the shit out of Reigns.

Funny that...

Anyone would think the fans would be happier seeing Strowman go over Lesnar in the
Wrestlemania main event...but fuck what the fans want I guess.

+ Hey Grievous...What do you think about the Revival? +
They were better off in NXT & the injuries they suffered shortly after their main roster
debut severely hurt their careers. Their recent treatment by a bunch of old has-beens
was also fucking terrible & should never have happened.

+ Hey Grievous...What were you going to say about Sasha before? +
I can honestly not express how much I respect Sasha Banks as a wrestler. She may be
a complete bitch (ever wondered why she does heel so well?) but I respect her to no end...
and this secondary "storyline" & a possible heel turn is a year too late.

I don't care what happens...I just want Sasha to be a winner...not be made to make
everyone else look like a winner.

+ Hey Grievous...What about John Cena vs. The Undertaker? +
Its a match that should have happened 5 or 6 years ago...but now...I don't care. I
won't watch the Undertaker in another match after watching him stumble around in
the 2017 Royal Rumble.

SKIP!!!

+ Hey Grievous...what about the Intercontinental title triple threat? +
I'm a big fan of all 3 men & believe they all have the potential to be in the "top
spot" in the WWE (Of course we know that won't happen). I'm sure it will be a
great match & hopefully Demon Balor gets to have an epic Wrestlemania entrance.

+ Hey Grievous...what about Ronda Rousey? You should be excited about her! +
Call me when she's booked in an actual wrestling match against a member of
the women's division & not involved in a pointless feud with some old has-beens
& the owners daughter.

SKIP!!!

+ Hey Grievous...what did you think of the Ultimate Deletion? +
Well...I won't get a chance to watch it for a few days...but I'm hoping it will at
least be entertaining. I personally think the WWE dropped the ball with this entire
feud & its a shame that due to injury & the brand split they couldn't book Woken Matt,
Brother Nero & Demon Balor vs. Wyatt, Harper & Rowan...but what do I know.

Well...I know I enjoyed the Final Deletion & the Hardy/Decay War on Impact...but that
may have just been because it was fresh & interesting at the time. Plus Rosemary was
involved & I LOVE me some Rosemary.

+ Hey Grievous...why do you watch/follow the WWE product? +
Because despite my complaints I do like wrestling & the WWE has many fine wrestlers
working for them...I just find it frustrating when I can't be invested in the performers I
like because others are pushed ahead of them.

Still...

Charlotte vs. Asuka is going to be fucking amazing...

& NXT is always great.

 

[SWL]

man this Mania card is looking filthy long. Almost 14 matches all around!

• It's like I was hoping it wouldn't be, Braun now has to find a partner which just makes it a regular boring tag team match. They'll probably go the Elias route and let them win the titles because the only way Braun could have lost would have been through the numbers game of Sheamus and Cesaro.
• Interesting to see how Lesnar/Reigns isn't depended on the fact that they wrestled before at Mania 31. It's like a completely different angle this year, even though it would have also worked to sell it on just being a rematch.
• Nia vs Bliss is ok, they're not gonna tear the house down or anything but they've been telling the story between them well enough and people are intrigued given that Nia got a huge pop last night, which surprised me because in my eyes she just looks like a big baby after crying in the locker room last week lol.
• the Ultimate Deletion was fun and probably did more for Bray than anything in the past couple of months. The whole thing actually made Bray look a bit more human than anyone else in the video and that was a nice change of pace for once

 

[Grievous 3D]

Nia vs Bliss is ok, they're not gonna tear the house down or anything but they've been telling the story between them well enough and people are intrigued given that Nia got a huge pop last night, which surprised me because in my eyes she just looks like a big baby after crying in the locker room last week lol.

Yep...I second that...

They finally developed her as a character...by having her cry.

Why would they do that?

Nia should be the one making the other women cry by way of pain.

Face or Heel...she's boring & a dodgy worker & I just hope she
doesn't injure Alexa or herself at Wrestlemania.

 

[SWL]

Yep...I second that...

They finally developed her as a character...but having her cry.

Why would you do that?

I guess it's a perfect "be a star" type of feud for them where the fat girl gets bullied and now gets her payback on said bully. So I'm looking forward to Bliss going over at Mania lol

 

[Grievous 3D]

I guess it's a perfect "be a star" type of feud for them where the fat girl gets bullied and now gets her payback on said bully. So I'm looking forward to Bliss going over at Mania

I honestly won't be shocked is Bliss does go over...

She's gone over everyone except Charlotte, Asuka
& Naomi & she did drop a title at Wrestlemania last
year.

I'm hoping Carmella shows up during this match to
breath some life & excitement into it...but I'm not
expecting much...I might even just skip it to be
honest as I won't get to watch Wrestlemania till
the day after on my laptop.

 

[alexb]

Subpar show at best, found it impossible to go past a 4/10 rating and that's mostly because the Final Deletion saved it in the end, otherwise this would have been a 2/10 tops. Thoughts:

- Sorry but I for one was not really excited about the opening segment. I understand the idea behind it (sympathy for Roman) but like SWL already noted, Roman getting his ass handed to him is something fans mostly cheer for so not so sure this was the right idea. Anyway, don't want to go over this entire angle again so, whatever....who cares?

- Still on the opening segment, interesting that we go an "upgrade", if you will. Usually in these situations it's the "local PD" that takes over but I guess this being Roman Reigns, we moved up to the US Marshals. Should we expect the State Department and CIA next week?

- While aware that they rarely give Brock a live mic for obvious reasons, I feel this segment could have used one line. In other words, after the beatdown was over, I feel it would have been a nice touch if Brock grabbed the mic and said something along the lines of "who's the bitch now punk?".....Idk, I just think it would have helped this segment but perhaps thats just me....

- Absolution boring, Bliss promo boring, Revival vs. Titus worldwide filler and boring, Braun vs. Cesaro fine but meh, nothing spectacular....Balor Club vs. Mizterage, been there, done that....meh....

- The Cena promo was nothing different from last week but still a great one overall. Now, Kane coming out kind of added an interersting twist but I think we all can agree this is WWE just trolling us cause there can be no fucking chance in hell it would be Kane vs. Cena at Mania.

That being said, I won't deny I'm a bit intrigued to see where they are go with this. To be honest, one of things that first came to mind was the angle back in the day when Taker once upon a time came out dressed as Kane, attire mask and all...and we all know how WWE loves rehashing old angles...The only problem though, I'm not so sure this would be fitting for a Taker return or introduction on RAW after all these months but who knows...Maybe Cena comes out next week - which he certainly will - and call bullshit on what happened yesterday, Kanes music hits, Cena (and us supposidly) think it's Kane coming down only for the mask to be revieled and...there you go.

Again, not the ideal way to do this but that's all I could come up with for now, say 30 minutes after just finishing watching the show...

- Final Deletion I enjoyed. Good to see all those characters back, Reby playing the piano and also liked the attention to detail in certain situations. The ending was probably a bit flat but perhaps this...wasn't the end? I'll reserve judgemtn for until we see where they go from here....I would assume starting next week...

- A ton of backlash last week in regards to the announcement of the Moolah Battle Royal for the women or whatever the fuck they called it. To be honest, I completely neglected to make any comment about it last week so all I say is I'm glad they scratched the Moolah part. Doesn't matter how or why; at this point, it is what it is. Bottomg line is shit hit the fan, WWE acted and at the end of the day....fuck Moolah....
[doublepost=1521572232][/doublepost]....Oh, and by the way, what was up with that line Cole dropped right before the Final Deletion segment?

"I'm sorry for what you are about to watch"? Seriosuly???? What the fuck was that about?

 

[Jacob Fox]

Okay, so the show starts and looks to have promise. I liked that Roman confronted Kurt. Then it got dumb. First the use of "US Marshalls," which they probably did because they were in Texas. However, it was rather clear in rewatching the scene that Roman was the instigator with the Marshalls. If a US Marshall arrests you, then they have EVERY legal right to put their hands on your and guide you the way they were doing with Roman. And so what does Roman do? He beats up three US Marshalls... again IN TEXAS. Regardless of whether you like Roman or not, having him attack three US Marshalls was stupid if you're trying to get the crowd behind him. And then, on top of everything else, they have Lesnar come to the ring after Roman beats down the Marshalls. Afterward, on Twitter, people were giving hundreds of tweets about how it seemed that WWE was trying to make Lesnar look like the hero by coming down to "help" the Marshalls. Although this was NOT what WWE intended, it came across to people. And then, they have Lesnar beat the crap out of Roman, using the same method that got Strowman over.

So WWE, are you trying to make people like Roman or trying to piss more people off when he beats Lesnar. Honestly, I don't think they know.

The show loses two points simply for Mickie James' hair.

As someone who has never liked the Broken/Woken gimmick, I have to say, "The Ultimate Deletion" was probably the highlight of this show.

It's also time to put Michael Cole out to pasture.

2/10

 

[Redboy123@]

I would give Raw a 6 or a 7/10. I know people have opinions and rating stuff out of 10 is inherently inconsistent. But I don't see how this show could be a 2/10. A 2/10 for me would be the equivalent to someone shitting on my face. Aka. Anything Vince Russo writes. But hey I guess people have different interpretation of rating stuff out of 10.

As for the show, it was good. The Final Deletion wasn't crazy enough for me and lacked that big spot, like a volcano erupting. But the finish to the match was great. Bray holding that globe and realizing that he isn't a God was fucking great character development. I'm very optimistic for the future for Bray. Looks like he will come back revitalized back to what made him great in the first place. Bray Wyatt should of never been supernatural or a God in the first place. Bray looking at that globe and releasing the reality of he's insanity is a step in the right direction.

The Bayley and Sasha promo was really uninteresting. Don't give these two a microphone again.

Even though it wasn't anything special, the Asuka v Alexa was booked perfectly with Bliss running away from Nia. You would think that this would be the end of Asuka's time on Raw, since this fued has been wrapped up. Alexa v Nia has good story...Charlotte v Asuka...not so much.

Cena had a good promo. But why is Undertaker a coward? He's kayfabe retired. Being retired makes you a coward? Wtf lol. I'm interpreting that Cena doesn't actually think Taker is a coward, he is trying to anger Taker. Oh and we are getting Kane v Cena next week...cool.

Why did Roman get arrested? I completely missed this. Why was he arrested? And who called the cops? I did like Brock beating up Roman though. Also why didn't that cop know he's lines off by heart? Im surprised that they haven't mentioned Mania 31. Cuz that's the main reason why I wanna see this match. To finally get a decisive winner. But I appreciate this current story tho.

I don't really care about the IC title feud. Its just three random guys with no story. But when that bell rings I am going into be into it. I just don't care about it as of right now.

Cesaro v Braun was unsurprisingly good. I'm looking forward to see who Braun teams with. If its James Ellsworth, I'll tip my hat to the creative team. Imagine if Braun is like I dont need a partner, so The Bar pick one for him. And out comes...James Ellsworth.

The Revival have not been buried on the main roster imo. They are a tag team that shouldn't be instantly successful. They are all about smart tag team wrestling, so why not watch them figure stuff out and adapt. I think that's better then them winning the title prematurely.

So yeah...Raw was ok.

 

[bullyballmm]

6/10.

Roman/Brock segment - meh

Asuka/Alexa match - meh. Mickie was looking FINE tho so that was nice

Balor Club vs Miztourage - meh. Nice to see Seth Rollins look strong at the end. I hope he wins at Mania.

John Cena segment - meh I guess. I like how old school competitors like Goldust and Kane are trying to put Cena down, especially given the context of what Undertaker said on the RAW 25 episode.

Ultimate Deletion - was not as good as I was expecting. Nice to see Jeff appear, and also like the twist at the end. Also nice to see it main event.

All in all, a very forgettable "meh" episode. But nothing was particularly bad per se, so I'm giving it a 6/10.

 

[Jacob Fox]

I would give Raw a 6 or a 7/10. I know people have opinions and rating stuff out of 10 is inherently inconsistent. But I don't see how this show could be a 2/10. A 2/10 for me would be the equivalent to someone shitting on my face. Aka. Anything Vince Russo writes. But hey I guess people have different interpretation of rating stuff out of 10.

.

I don't think it has as much to do with people having a different interpretation of the rating system as much as just there are so many varying opinions as to what people find entertaining. For me, the show just wasn't entertaining. In fact, not only was it not entertaining, it was poorly executed.

Why did Roman get arrested? I completely missed this. Why was he arrested? And who called the cops? I did like Brock beating up Roman though. Also why didn't that cop know he's lines off by heart? Im surprised that they haven't mentioned Mania 31. Cuz that's the main reason why I wanna see this match. To finally get a decisive winner. But I appreciate this current story tho.

Trespassing. He was suspending and therefore not allowed in the arena. And Angle told Roman that they were prepared in case he broke his suspension, which meant the marshalls were already there.

Reading the rights was silly as cops normally won't even do that at the point of the arrest. Miranda Rights are normally read before questioning and most times are done at the jail. But often the police, in the jail, will read the rights from a written version of them because they have to read them precisely, word for word, or it gives the defense attorney grounds to demand a dismissal (it won't always work but it does happen).

This segment was also a major reason the show lost points for me. I enjoyed Brock beating up Roman too, but if they're trying to get Roman over with the crowd, the way they did it was pretty bad.