When:
United States: LIVE, Monday Night, April 9, at 8/7c on the USA Network
United Kingdom: Tuesday Morning, April 10, at 1AM on Sky Sports 5 HD
Where:
Smoothie King Center
New Orleans, LA
Raw preview: April 9, 2018: The Era of Lesnar continues
At WrestleMania 34, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar obliterated Roman Reigns, Nia Jax finally silenced Alexa Bliss, and a kid named Nicholas became Raw Tag Team Champions with Braun Strowman. As the [HASHTAG]#RawAfterMania[/HASHTAG] approaches, what lies ahead for the Team Red Superstars?
The Beast came marching in
Paul Heyman said it would be a spoiler, and a spoiler it was. Brock Lesnar defeated Roman Reigns in one of the most shocking WrestleMania main events in history to retain the Universal Championship.
The Beast and Reigns threw down in the barbaric contest, which saw broken tables, a busted open Reigns and six F-5s, which led to The Anomaly standing tall. What new challenges await Lesnar as he continues his now seemingly unstoppable reign atop the red brand? And what does Roman Reigns do now that he’s come up short in his quest to finally tame The Beast?
Blaze of glory
Seth Rollins burned it down at WrestleMania 34 — “it” being The Miz’s Intercontinental Championship reign — in a show-stealing Triple Threat Match that landed The Kingslayer his first Intercontinental Championship (and with it, a Grand Slam accolade to boot). The Architect will face no shortage of obstacles as champion. Miz will want his title back, and Finn Bálor seems to have made it his personal mission to hunt Rollins down of late. Suffice it to say, winning the title may turn out to be the easiest part of this chapter in Rollins’ career.
Not like most champions
What went around did indeed come around at WrestleMania, as Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss to claim the Raw Women’s Championship and pay The Goddess back for weeks of insults that cut to the bone of The Irresistible Force. Having come into her own as a confident powerhouse should make Jax enough of a threat for the Raw roster. Having the title, however, makes her a target. Still, given the advantages she possesses over most of her fellow Superstars, it remains to be seen how vulnerable she is, if at all.
Will Braun Strowman really defend the Raw Tag Team Titles with a kid named Nicholas?
In one of the most inexplicable moments in WrestleMania history, Braun Strowman not only picked a young child named Nicholas out of the crowd to be his partner for his Raw Tag Team Championship Match against The Bar at WrestleMania, but he also won the titles with the young man.
Now, with Strowman and Nicholas officially reigning as Raw Tag Team Champions, several questions emerge. Will Nicholas continue to be The Monster Among Men’s tag team partner? And, even if yes, will WWE management allow an innocent kid to compete on Raw?
Raw gets rowdy
Ronda Rousey emphatically thwarted The Authority in her WrestleMania debut, submitting Stephanie to earn a victory for herself and Raw General Manager Kurt Angle in Mixed Tag Team action. The win cements her — finally — as a bona fide Superstar, and a path forward will need to be determined. Will she mix it up with the likes of Sasha Banks and Bayley, still spoiling for a fight after the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal? Will she run afoul of Asuka, whose precious undefeated streak was broken at The Showcase of the Immortals? Or will she go right for the top and challenge Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Title? The future seems to be Ronda’s for the taking, and it begins tonight at 8/7 C live on USA Network.
