5 things that could happen on RAW next week: The Night After WrestleMania
Here we are, it’s WrestleMania week! This week’s episode of WWE RAW was the “go-home” show before the biggest event of the year, and it was a pretty quick watch but more than a little bit disappointing. No partner for Strowman, no answer from The Undertaker, they announced that the Cruiserweight Title match is on the pre-show again, and outside of a great Rollins vs. Balor match, there was zero wrestling worth watching. It wasn’t a bad show, but man, I was so excited going in, and with every passing hour my excitement waned. Last week I predicted 5 things and I didn’t do so well. The word disappointment is my word of the week, Coach.
- Sheamus and Cesaro demand an answer, Braun delivers Big Show
The Bar did indeed come out and cut a promo, but they actually said they didn’t even care who Braun chose, because at this point there’s no way they can be a cohesive tag team like the tag team champions. It may have been an attempt at reverse psychology. In any event, Braun came out and teased his partner, but then they just made a joke. It would have been a really good one if they didn’t do it 6 days before WrestleMania. “Brains” Strowman is something they should have done a week or two ago. Their last chance to build to the tag title match and they used the opportunity to make a joke? I chuckled, but the timing was awful. Either they still haven’t figured out who Braun’s partner is going to be or they are waiting for the “WrestleMania Moment” surprise? I’d be much more excited for the match if I knew the partner going in.
- Finn Balor defeats Seth Rollins, protects him from Miztourage, then Rollins attacks
They did indeed get a good amount of time to work with and the two challengers for the IC Title on Sunday definitely made the most of it with a great match. I still think that Balor getting the win would be better for the story, but now I’m actually leaning towards The Miz actually retaining the belt. Either that or Finn wins the title and possibly turns heel, and maybe they try another Miz face run? I doubt that.
- Lesnar and Reigns have a good, old-fashioned pull-apart brawl
For the entire evening the scene was set for a big brawl to happen at the end of the show. Kurt Angle asked both Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns to stay cool, which obviously meant that they wouldn’t. No pull-apart, but Roman got a bunch of good shots in and knocked Brock down with 5 Superman punches, thwarting every attempt from Brock to use the steel chair. I think that’s how they should have ended the show. If they needed to have one guy get the advantage of the other, it should have been Roman, with Brock running away after taking all of those punches instead of blindsiding Roman and hitting the F-5 to leave as the victor of their scuffle. Did you notice that the Atlanta crowd was ON FIRE for Roman? I don’t think he’s ever gotten a positive reaction like that at any point in his career.
- Triple H and Stephanie get the better of Angle & Rousey
This went about as expected. They threw jabs at each other verbally, then the staredown turned physical. Triple H blindsided Kurt, and Ronda went right after Triple H. The only thing I didn’t get right was that Stephanie would get such a good shot in. I thought it would be a slap, but instead we got Rousey going through a table. It was a pretty good segment, but I’m not interested in the match. I just hope it’s short.
- The Undertaker’s career flashes before Cena’s eyes
Yeah, so no Undertaker. That’s interesting. I guess Cena is going to be in the crowd, and at some point they will interview him, and THEN the lights go out and The Undertaker appears. If they are indeed doing Cena vs. Undertaker (I assume they will be doing something even if it isn’t a match) I would love to have Undertaker come out during Kid Rock’s performance. I assume that he will perform. My plan would be to have him do a quick medley starting with the WM theme song, going to Bawitdaba, then Cowboy -- and then he starts American Badass, there’s a huge explosion, and The Undertaker flies past on his bike. That would be pretty sweet.
Overall, I went 1.5 out of 5. I hope I do better for the fallout next week. It’s going to be tough to predict the RAW After WrestleMania, but I’m going to try.
#5 Bayley’s Battle Royal trophy gets destroyed
This week’s episode of RAW featured Bayley giving Sasha Banks a receipt from last week’s locker room attack. Banks saved Bayley from an attack by Absolution only to essentially demand that Bayley publicly thank her.
Instead of thanking her, Bayley punched Banks and tackled her. They brawled before Absolution came back in and laid both women out. It was a find building segment for the battle royal and good for the progression of the Bayley/Banks saga.
I am thinking that Bayley wins the battle royal on the WrestleMania Kickoff, and on RAW the following night, she will be officially presented the trophy. Banks, who will be the final woman eliminated, will interrupt and the awful genital trophy will get destroyed during the ensuing brawl.
When was the last time a trophy was demolished? In the history of WWE, there has almost never been a time in which a trophy appeared on TV and left unscathed. It’s been quite a while and I think next week will see that happen. There’s no way that they use that thing as the real yearly trophy for the battle royal.