WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 27/04

Linus O'Howell
Apr 28
6 min read

Seth “Freakin” Rollins Calls Out Bron Breakker, Penta VS Rusev

This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw started with a cinematic video between Roman Reigns and The Usos! Jimmy Uso made Roman see where Jacob Fatu was coming from, whilst Jey Uso reminded Reigns that actions have consequences! Seth “Freakin” Rollins was then the first man to enter the arena as The Visionary wanted to quickly get on with calling out Bron Breakker after what went down at WrestleMania (and also last week’s Monday Night Raw)! Bron arrived, flanked by Paul Heyman, to deliver a great back-and-forth promo segment, with Breakker stating that he only joined The Vision because he needed Paul Heyman, not because of Seth Rollins! Seth then responded by telling Bron that he’s not ready, and whilst betting on himself has always led to Main Events and Championships, all it’s done for Breakker is give him Austin Theory and Logan Paul (which is quite the line)! The Badass then fired back with a killer line of his own, calling Rollins the very best professional wrestler in the world, at being second (words that have an awful lot of weight to them), before Seth ended his segment by telling “Baby Steiner” that he’s not even second in his own family! This was genuinely one of the best segments of the year so far; both men cooked!

Grade: A-

After Stephanie Vaquer got jumped by The Judgment Day backstage, Penta arrived to face Rusev in the opening match of the night! However, before the match could even start, Ethan Page’s music hit as All Ego wanted to watch from ringside! The match between Penta and Rusev was pretty decent, with a good amount of back-and-forth action! I feel like WrestleMania showed that the current Intercontinental Championship scene is stacked, and it’s important that WWE builds part of Raw around them! Eventually, one single mistake proved costly for Rusev, opening the door for Penta to nick the win with a roll-up, before Ethan Page attacked the IC Champion from behind, only for Je’Von Evans to run down to make the save! I’m assuming that this was to set up a Tag Team match for next week’s show, with the plan to build to a Fatal 4-Way at Backlash?!

Grade: B-

Becky Lynch’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge, Joe Hendry: Live in Concert, El Grande Americano VS Rey Mysterio

With a future Mask VS Mask match being the biggest in the career of El Grande Americano, “The Real” Americano wanted to face Rey Mysterio as a way to prepare for his eventual match with “The Original” El Grande Americano! Becky Lynch was then out next to celebrate becoming a 3-time Women’s Intercontinental Champion, as The Man listed off a bunch of records that she broke at WrestleMania 42! Becky then stated that she wants to be a fighting Champion, with Title defences in “dumps” like Laredo, Texas, proving how great she truly is! However, I don’t think Lynch was expecting her challenge to be answered by Iyo Sky, as Adam Pearce quickly signed off on a Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match! Becky VS Iyo is actually kind of a dream match, with Lynch’s resume and Sky’s ability being almost unmatched! However, this wasn’t much of a match, and more of an angle to continue the storyline between Asuka and Iyo Sky! Now, since last week’s Raw, Kairi Sane has been released, a decision that feels incredibly baffling and stifles a lot of this storyline, but WWE is seemingly sticking with it anyway! Eventually, after interference by The Empress of Tomorrow, Becky Lynch delivered a second Manhandle Slam to get the win, before Sky was forced to pass out in the Asuka Lock!

Grade: C+

After a bizarre segment between Rey Mysterio, the two El Grande Americanos, and Los Americanos, LA Knight gave The Usos a little warning as to what’s going to happen once The Bloodline explodes again! I would have to assume that we’ll see Roman Reigns VS LA Knight at some point before Summerslam! Joe Hendry was then ready to make his official Monday Night Raw debut: Live in Concert! Some of Joe’s songs are great, some are not, but this has to have been one of his best yet! Joe said he respects The Ruler, that he acknowledges The OTC, but that he feels like Adam Pearce should fire Logan Paul! The crowd then sang along like it was an official concert, before Logan stormed out to say that he’s “unfireable”! This was so much fun, and after The Vision attempted to jump Hendry, The Street Profits ran down to once again deal with Paul and Austin Theory! Honestly, singing a song about wanting to fire someone after what happened last week is pretty insane!

Grade: B+

Grayson Waller isn’t impressed with the lack of opportunities that Adam Pearce has handed his way, but Waller probably shouldn’t have opened his mouth, as all it did was get him a match with Oba Femi! Joe Hendry then thanked The Street Profits for coming to his aid, and whilst Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins were pretty polite towards Joe, they were definitely less friendly towards Seth “Freakin” Rollins! Rey Mysterio was then back wrestling on Monday Nights as he went one-on-one with El Grande Americano! I’m not really sure what the point of this match was; like I know it was supposed to be part of El Grande Americano’s preparation for his big May 30th bout with “The Original” El Grande Americano, but it didn’t really do much of anything for Rey Mysterio! The crowd are starting to get more behind “The Real” Americano, but that didn’t stop them from cheering when “El Fraud” Americano made the save, allowing Mysterio to score the 3 count!

Grade: C

Oba Femi VS Grayson Waller, Bayley and Lyra Valkyria VS The Judgment Day

After Asuka cut another promo challenging Iyo Sky, Grayson Waller was in for the fight of his life when he faced Oba Femi! Obviously, that sentiment was not shared for Oba, who absolutely destroyed Grayson, winning relatively quickly with a Fall From Grace! After the match was over, Femi announced the start of the “Oba Femi Open Challenge”, calling out any man who’s brave enough to face him! Firstly, Michael Cole saying that this is a very different Oba Femi from the one who Grayson Waller faced down in NXT is wrong; he’s exactly the same! Secondly, I said before the Brock Lesnar feud that it felt like Oba was just treading water, and it feels like we’ve now gone back to that now that Lesnar isn’t around anymore! WWE needs to find the balance between letting Femi put on great matches whilst also looking dominant (something he was very good at doing in NXT)!

Grade: C+

Liv Morgan finally got the chance to explain to Roxanne Perez why they had to get rid of Finn Balor, with Liv claiming that Finn put himself before the family! Morgan then told Roxanne that she wants to be there for her like Perez has been for her, something I’m not exactly sure that Roxy was convinced by! The Prodigy then needed a moment alone, allowing Finn Balor to sneak into the Clubhouse to tell Roxanne that Liv can’t be trusted! This segment certainly created intrigue! It also then led straight into the Main Event match of the night as The Judgment Day were tasked with taking down Bayley and Lyra Valkyria! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more opposite Tag Team Division across two brands, with the Raw Women’s Teams being miles better than the ones on SmackDown! Whilst Bayley and Lyra haven’t been allowed to do much of anything character-wise, they’re both incredibly talented in-ring performers, whilst I’ve always been a fan of The Judgment Day! This show was also in Roxanne Perez’s hometown of Laredo, Texas, and my goodness me was the crowd loud for her! This took me back to the 2.0 days where Roxanne was the big Babyface against Cora Jade and Toxic Attraction, something that could well happen again down the line in the form of Perez VS The Judgment Day! Anyway, this match really was just all about Perez, with The Prodigy scoring the win after nailing Bayley with a Pop Rox!

Grade: B-

Roman Reigns Closes the Show

After a video package highlighting Sol Ruca’s rise through NXT to the Main Roster, the closing angle on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw was once again focused on Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu! Roman was delighted with how much the Texas crowd acknowledged him, whilst Reigns then went on about finally making the World Heavyweight Championship matter! This then led to Jacob Fatu coming out to make it clear to Roman that he didn’t need a week, and that he wants what Reigns has! Jacob also brought up the fact that Roman didn’t give him a chance in the WWE; it was Solo Sikoa, something that clearly got under the skin of The Tribal Chief! Roman Reigns then made it clear that he can’t give Fatu a shot at his WHC, that it would be nepotism, something that made Jacob snap as he choked The OTC out in the middle of the ring! Roman then told Jacob Fatu that he’d see him at Backlash, and I have to say, Roman’s selling was once again great throughout!