WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 09/02
- Linus O'Howell
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
Becky Lynch Gets Interrupted, The Usos VS Alpha Academy: World Tag Team Championships
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw kicked off with Becky Lynch coming down to the ring to cut an absolute fit about seeing AJ Lee backstage! This brought out AJ Lee, who reminded Becky of all of the times she’s beaten her over recent months, and that another win against her would make her the Number 1 Contender! Becky rejected this claim, stating that she wants to get rid of her for good at the Elimination Chamber, but Lee’s response was to make it clear to Lynch that she’d only fight The Man if the Women’s Intercontinental Championship was on the line! I’m very confused about all of this, because we were literally talking about being a win away from being the Number 1 Contender literally 2 minutes ago?! Anyway, having the match at the Chamber makes sense given that the show is in Chicago, but I’d expect them to fight again at WrestleMania! Also, I thought Becky’s acting was very strong here!
Grade: B-
We then headed straight into the first match of the night as The Usos finally reunited to put their World Tag Team Championships on the line against Alpha Academy! I thought this was a decent matchup; Alpha Academy came across as credible challengers, even if you knew what the eventual outcome was going to be! There was a terrible Superkick during this match from Jey Uso, but other than, I felt like things ran pretty smoothly! I particularly liked the fact that Akira Tozawa was actually able to land his amazing Senton (which delivered a pretty good near-fall, too), but in the end, it was The Usos who were able to successfully retain their Gold after nailing Otis with a 1D! After the match was over, all four Babyfaces embraced before Jimmy Uso told Jey to go and win the Elimination Chamber!
Grade: B-
Stephanie Vaquer Interrupts Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley VS Lyra Valkyria VS Ivy Nile: Women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match, Finn Balor Challenges CM Punk
Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio were in the ring next as WWE’s top couple were fully in the Valentine’s Day mood! Liv put Dominik over as the Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time, whilst she also claimed that both Stephanie Vaquer and Jade Cargill are scared of her! This brought out Stephanie, who spoke Spanish to Liv, and I personally quite liked that, as Dom really didn’t want to translate what was said! Eventually, some more fiery words from Morgan resulted in Vaquer slapping Mysterio, and personally, I think this feud could be great!
Grade: B
After a video package aired with all three women putting themselves over, Rhea Ripley, Lyra Valkyria, and Ivy Nile clashed in a Triple Threat Match to join Tiffany Stratton in this year’s Women’s Elimination Chamber! I thought Ivy Nile was great in this match; I thought she got a ton of offense in, and this sort of showed why WWE should be doing a lot more with her! Speaking of doing a lot more with her, what is going on with Lyra Valkyria? She has all the talent in the world, and yet, it feels like Lyra’s been going backwards ever since her feud with Becky Lynch ended (and maybe even started)! As expected, Rhea Ripley scored the win with a Riptide to Valkyria, and whilst I get the need to have big stars on the show, Rhea didn’t need this win at all!
Grade: C+
Dominik Mysterio told Finn Balor that all would be fine again once JD McDonagh returns, making it clear that he very much views Finn as a “Tag Team guy”! This angered Finn so much that he stormed down to the ring, interrupting Michael Cole’s upcoming interview to state the fact that he’s not done with CM Punk and the World Heavyweight Championship! This brought out Adam Pearce who was very much against this, with Pearce making it clear that he will not jeopardise the WrestleMania Main Event (by not having the Champion defend his Title for 2 months, right okay)! Anyway, someone who didn’t agree with this motion was CM Punk, as the World Heavyweight Champion accepted Balor’s challenge to a match at Elimination Chamber! What I quite liked about this story is the fact that we had the first match between these two on Finn’s home turf, and now the second match is going to go down in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, Illinois!
Grade: B-
Nattie VS Maxxine Dupri, Los Americanos VS Je’Von Evans and ?
Paul Heyman was impressed with Adam Pearce’s “actions” that led to Bron Breakker injuring himself in training, whilst Pearce made it clear to Heyman that The Vision best not get involved in the Main Event! Maxxine Dupri and Nattie were then set to go one-on-one in what felt like one of the most lacklustre matches that WWE could ever book! Clearly, WWE knew that too, so they decided to book 30 seconds of Nattie destroying Maxxine on the announce table before the referee called for the bell! I’m honestly not sure whether this was for a disqualification or a count-out, but anyway, AJ Lee then ran down to make the save, only to get sent into the ring post by Becky Lynch! Please, whatever you do, do not book a Tag match!
Grade: C
After LA Knight said he’s made it his mission to take down each member of The Vision one by one, The Original El Grande Americano showed up to be Je’Von Evans’ mystery partner against Los Americanos! I absolutely love this Americano storyline; I think it’s fantastic! On Raw, the O.G. Americano is cheered whilst the other El Grande Americano is completely disliked, whilst in Mexico on AAA, the real Americano is a cultural icon whilst the other guy receives nothing but disdain! Anyway, I really enjoyed the “O.G. pairing” of Americano and Je’Von, with Evans hitting the most incredible cutter to Bravo! Literally perfection! This then led into the finish, with the Original El Grande Americano getting the win, which “the real” El Grande Americano didn’t take too kindly to post-match!
Grade: B
Men’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Austin Theory VS Penta VS LA Knight
After promos for/from both Oba Femi and Gunther, it was Main Event time as Austin Theory, Penta, and LA Knight squared off in a Men’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match! What I quite liked about this match was the swerves that we got, because it felt like this was LA Knight’s match to lose, until you remember that it is LA Knight! Knight looked good for the most part, up until when the rest of The Vision got involved, with Paul Heyman later pleading his innocence to Adam Pearce! This almost led to Austin Theory getting the win, with Penta having to pull him out of the ring, before the masked man then reappeared to deliver one heck of a stomp to Theory (Austin sold this like a star)! All of a sudden, Knight was back up, as The Megastar was able to drop Theory to get the win with a BFT, and this was certainly a rollercoaster end to this week’s show!
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