WWE: Monday Night RAW was LIVE from The Nassau Colosseum in Long Island, NY on 4/10/17!
I’m a little late to the party after having to take care of some things late night here in OKC, but we had some very good and some very “meh” moments from the “Superstar Shake-Up”. We start off with the good and point with the first two picks. The good being the arrival of the incredibly underrated Miz and Maryse, the bad being in the form of the many disappointed little tykes who actually thought John Cena and Nikki Bella were there to address them as they cheered, clad in their bright purple and orange regalia. The Miz and Maryse are a welcome addition to a RAW show that seems likely to lose Kevin Owens to Smackdown and Jericho to road touring. The Miz can straight up work the mic and he’s been putting on quality matches in the ring. He was quickly interrupted by another new arrival, the IC Champ, “The Unstable” Dean Ambrose! “The Lunatic Fringe” came out and had a fun interaction with a man he’s had history with and he quickly issues him a Dirty Deeds, getting a nice reaction in the process. Ambrose bringing the IC Title over pretty much means that Owens is headed to Smackdown, but that’s okay, strictly because it allows for fresh feuds on both brands.
Sami Zayn is backstage with the RAW GM, Kurt Angle, and he’s rambling on about wanting to stay on the red brand. Kurt looks visibly bored, but he reassures Zayn that he wants to keep him on Monday’s nights, but they are interrupted by the Miz and Maryse and it leads to them being booked in a program for later in the show.
The New Day are out next after a break and they bring a Kofi Kingston blow-up doll with them, tomfoolery ensues and we get the arrival of their opponents, who are clad in some darn funny shirts that commemorate the passing of the New Day Ice Cream Cycle and Kofi’s ankle at the same time. Classic heel stuff from “top guys”.
The Revival defeat The New Day via pinfall following a Shatter Machine on Woods. This was a good contest that saw Dash and Dawson getting another clean win over the former tag team champions. Woods looked a little off on the finish, but to his credit, he sold it beautifully and I wondered for a moment if he actually might have been hurt, but it was a tremendous sell job. Dash and Dawson picking up a huge victory here and it seems that it will lead to the New Day representing big blue on Tuesday Nights. We’ll see tomorrow how that all pans out.
We have a backstage segment which seems to tease a future heel turn for TJ Perkins as he has words with “The King Of The Cruiserweights”, Neville. The champ clues him in to how turning on the fans has done wonders for his career and it leaves TJP contemplating what he’s said. Austin Aries shows up, and this is after Neville also stated that Aries has been taking all the title shots, having been there for a short time. Aries has a banana and tries to tell TJP not to buy into the bologna that Neville is selling.
We get another member of Smackdown heading over to Raw and it’s Curt Hawkins. I suppose they’ll be trading enhancement talent, because all this segment led to was The Big Show coming out, feeding Hawkins a knockout punch and leaving him laying in the ring where he might take the time to “face the facts”. Welcome to Raw Curt.
TJ Perkins defeats Austin Aries via pinfall after a rollup. TJP pulls up the upset victory after Neville appeared at ringside and Aries took his eye of his opponent and it led to him taking the L. They got a few minutes and put it some good work with their signature spots. There was a moment where I chuckled where Aries, lounged atop the corner turnbuckle and mocked the dab that TJP does. After the match, the heel turn took shape and TJP attacked Aries from behind. He made a statement following a detonation kick and hopefully, this heel turn will bring some credibility back to the talented former champ. I like TJP, he just needs a ton of work with his interviews.
Seth Rollins is talking to Enzo Amore and Big Cass backstage before he makes his way out to the ring for a long promo about having to climb the mountain because of what happened at Wrestlemania with Hunter and Steph. Kurt Angle comes out to reassure him of his place and the opportunities he’ll have on Monday Nights. The crowd enjoys it, and Samoa Joe eventually makes his way out to further their feud and it leads to Seth disposing of Joe, getting the upperhand on the “Destroyer” for the first time in a while. Joe retreats up the ramp and towards the back as Seth stands strong and they seem headed to a singles bout at Payback. I’m definitely okay with that.
The US Champ, Kevin Owens, is backstage and he’s asked about the Shake-up. He puts down his former best friend and the former US Champ, Chris Jericho, and says that maybe Jericho should head to Smackdown to get away from him. It leads to Dean Ambrose showing up, the two have words, and it leads to the booking of the main event.
Somewhere during the program, they announced that Apollo Crews, Kalisto and Heath Slater and Rhyno have been traded to RAW as well. They didn’t even get screen time so that always bodes well for their futures as prominent talent on the brand.
Nia Jax defeats Charlotte via pinfall after a Samoan Drop. This might have well have been via knockout. Holy crap folks, when I say that Jax nearly killed Charlotte on not one, but two separate occasions, I am not even remotely joking. First of all, Jax was very sluggish in the ring and looks like she could have enjoyed some more time in NXT, honing her craft. She has an amazing look and should be a player, but to quote Steve Austin somewhat, she’s still greener than goose you know what. She botched a shoulderbreaker, yes that’s correct, a shoulderbreaker, and dropped Charlotte on her head. Th ref interceded because it was ugly without an alibi. She then was out of place for a moonsault by Charlotte from the top rope to the outside. Charlotte caught her with the knees, but face-planted on the mat. I watched this and got legitimately angry, because Nia is still going to get pushed towards the title despite issues with the safety of the other talent. If this is what is going to be allowed, then why is the blue hell was Ahmed Johnson never a world’s champion? It’s frustrating and even moreso because I like Nia and I want her to succeed. It just can’t happen at the expense of other talents health.
We have a video package hyping Finn Balor after his successful return last week and he’ll be in action next against “Hardbody” Mahal.
Finn Balor defeats Jinder Mahal via pinfall with the Coup De Grace. There was a spot during the match where I hearkened back to the Nia botches earlier against Charlotte. Balor and Mahal were putting in work when Jinder got a little too snug and he belted Finn with a forearm that appeared to momentarily knock him out. Others are saying it didn’t happen, but watch the hit, Balor literally lands face first on the mat and had forehead and nose burns from the mat after the contest. Kudos to both men for being professionals and keeping things going, despite the fact that Balor might have been concussed. Balor hit his signature spots including the delayed corner dropkick, before Mahal “did the favors” and took the L following a Coup De Grace from Balor!
Monday Night Raw…I’M HERE! Yes, the lamp was blown out and in the most shocking switch of the night, Bray Wyatt, who literally just held world title gold heading into ‘Mania several weeks back, has made the jump to Monday Night’s. I’m stoked as a writer of Raw for the Scrum and I’m a little worried that a guy as talented as Wyatt is going to get lost in the shuffle again. He and Balor working a program however is going to be something fantastic. The glossy-eyed Balor watched the video wall and listened intently as Bray spoke about ending his program with “The Viper” Randy Orton during their “House Of Horrors” match in three weeks time. At Payback? Cool. He then issued Balor a stern warning and got a great reaction from Long Island fans. Good stuff here for sure.
Sami Zayn defeats The Miz w/Maryse via pinfall after a rollup. I’m not as angry about Miz losing his first match back on Raw as others are only because I think Zayn is headed to Smackdown and it gives him some momentum on the way out the door. They had a great bout as expected and several near falls were teased including a false finish following a Blue Thunder Bomb from Zayn. Miz almost hit the Skull-Crushing Finale, but Zayn countered into the rollup for the victory.
What happened after the break led to two of the best visuals I’ve ever seen on WWE TV. This was up there with Mr. McMahon getting hit with a bedpan as far as incredible absurdity. A great many of us are smarks or “in the know” if you will, but sometimes, to quote the father of Triple H, it’s nice to just be a faaaaaaan. Braun Strowman interrupted a sitdown interview segment between Michael Cole and Roman Reigns and he beat the holy hell out of “The Big Dog”. Roman sold it like a champ, getting slung through tables, powerslammed on a crate and then having to watch helplessly as Braun pushed a crate into his face. After Reigns was loaded onto a gurney, Braun came back into the scene and literally pushed the gurney off a loading dock and we watched as “Roman” tumbled several feet down. A great switch and good camera work, but it still looked awesome. Just when you thought it was over, and Reigns was loaded into an ambulance, which by this point, I fully expected Kane to be driving, Strowman came back and showed us his former strongman background as the son of a gun actually hoisted up and tipped the ambulance on it’s side. Even if he had help off camera, that was single-handedly one of the greatest visuals I’ve ever seen on WWE television. Strowman legitimatelly looked like a monster and this is how he should be booked. Mercifully, Roman was finally taken away to get the care he’s surely going to need following that assault. Go check that segment out folks, it is truly something special.
The Hardy Boyz/Sheamus and Cesaro defeat Gallows and Anderson/The Shining Stars via pinfall following a Swanton Bomb from Jeff Hardy. This what exactly what it was meant to be. The former champs and the Stars got the ole’ waiting in the ring after the break treatment and this was done to tease the uneasy alliance between Shecesaro and “Broken” Matt and Brother Nero. Both face teams looked great as they head towards their imminent clash at Payback. It seems that Gallows and Anderson are Smackdown bound, hopefully to reunite with AJ, and perhaps The Stars are headed that way as well. We’ll find out tomorrow.
Dana Brooke is backstage reading a book on “How To Be Your Own Protege”. Emma shows up and tells her to get in line and to accompany her for the future. Dana says no and Emma isn’t pleased. I assume Dana is heading to Smackdown, it might be Emma. Either way, Dana’s face turn is a thing that is going to stick.
“The Boss” Sasha Banks heads to the ring and she says some positive things about her good friend and the women’s champion, “Just” Bayley. They exchange pleasantries, but just as Sasha teases the heel turn we’ve all been expecting, leading to a program with her and Bayley, we’re gonna have to wait, because here comes Little Miss Bliss! That’s right folks, the jump has been made by the former two time Smackdown women’s champion and one of my favorites on the roster, Alexa Bliss. She shuts down the love fest between Sasha and Bayley, calling it weird, and she stakes her claim on the title. We’re not done, Mickie James has also made the jump! The former six time women’s champion and the great veteran, has also moved to Monday Nights to help bolster their women’s division and both she and Bliss get great reactions from the passionate fans. All is not well however as Nia Jax barrels through James on her way down to the ring. She handles everyone but Alexa, even going so far as to grab the women’s title and lay claim to it before tossing it down onto Bayley. Seems like we have the makings for some truly great television over the next few months!
Dean Ambrose defeats Kevin Owens via pinfall with a Dirty Deeds. As expected, these two put on a very watchable match. They had a long running feud before the brand split and they reignite it here, probably their last bout for a while as it appears the KO is taking his talents to Smackdown. Chris Jericho comes out after the match and gives KO a well deserved Codebreaker to end the show. We found out after the broadcast that Byron Saxton and David Otunga have been traded to the opposite shows. If Otunga is coming to Raw, I hope he brings the coffee back, that was awesome. Saxton is a rising star in the broadcast booth, and I’m one of the few people who really likes JBL, but I certainly hope they investigate this bullying that’s been discussed, because I really adored Mauro Ranallo and I like Saxton. Basically, I don’t want his work life to not be something that he looks forward too because of unnecessary headaches. Nevertheless, Ambrose picked up a huge win to send Raw off the air, and the Shake-up continues tomorrow night on Smackdown!
