Each week I'll be recapping the previous episode of Monday Night Raw in preparation for tonight's episode. Check it out below and let me know what you think in the comments section!
From the moment Vince McMahon stepped out of the limo to open Raw, you knew big things were in store for the night and they didn’t disappoint…
Braun Strowman’s opening promo was interrupted by Baron Corbin leading to a chase through the backstage. Elias pointed Braun in the direction of Vince’s limo and The Monster Among Men proceeded to demolish it in his attempts to get to Corbin. This would have major ramifications as Vince stripped Braun of his Universal Championship match at the Royal Rumble!
The night’s opening match saw Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, and Number One Contender Sasha Banks, team up to take on Nia Jax and Tamina. As expected Rousey and Banks picked up the win when Sasha made Tamina tap to the Bank Statement. The Royal Rumble opponents had a short interview after the match and things got a little heated between the two.
Backstage we see a whole queue of superstars outside Vince’s office looking for a Universal Title opportunity and an argument between Bayley, Natalya and the Riott Squad leading to a match later on.
In the next match, The Revival finally got some revenge on Lucha House Party when they picked up a win, with Wilder pushing Metalik’s foot off the bottom rope before the referee could see it.
Vince McMahon came out to announce the contender for Brock Lesnar’s Title at the Royal Rumble but was interrupted first by John Cena, then Drew McIntyre, then Baron Corbin and finally Finn Balor. Vince announces a Fatal-4-Way to decide the Number One Contender later in the night. We then see McMahon backstage with Jinder Mahal who says he should be in the match later. Vince gives him the choice of any of the 4 competitors and if Jinder beat them, he would take their place. Mahal chose Balor and the match was set.
The Riott Squad come out to face Bayley, Natalya and their mystery partner who turned out to be Nikki Cross. After a strong showing from cross, Bayley grabbed the win for their team with the elbow off the top.
Finn Balor faced Jinder Mahal next to see who would be the fourth man in the Fatal-4-Way match later in the night. Balor picked up the win with the Coup de Grace to get his opportunity.
Lio Rush cuts a promo backstage for Lashley ahead of the Triple Threat Intercontinental Title Match, before Seth Rollins does the same. In the match, we saw a great performance from all three men including a number of close calls for each of them. After a frantic 13+ minutes, Lashley got the win after a Spear on Ambrose to become the new Intercontinental Champion.
After a bizarre backstage segment where a crew member walked in on Alexa Bliss getting changed, Alexa comes to the stage to present a Moment of Bliss. During this, the brand new Women’s Tag Titles are revealed and Paul Heyman comes out to hype Brock Lesnar ahead of the Number One Contender’s Match next. Otis Dozovic appeared confused by the Women’s Tag Titles and was ushered offstage by his Heavy Machinery partner, Tucker Knight.
In the night’s main event, the competitors picked up right where the Triple Threat left off with a lot of high paced quality action. All four men came close to getting the win but in the end it was Finn Balor who got the all-important pin fall on John Cena. After the match, Cena gave Balor his endorsement and encouragement for his match at the Royal Rumble.
Verdict: Two big surprises in one show is a very welcome change to what we’ve seen for a long time now. Bobby Lashley as IC Champion makes sense as it frees Seth Rollins to go after the Universal Title and Dean Ambrose to find something new for his new character. Finn Balor replacing Braun Strowman to face Brock Lesnar is a great move in my opinion. We’ve seen Braun v Brock enough now to know what it’s like and we know Braun isn’t going to beat him – yet at least. Finn Balor offers so much more. We’ve seen the matches Lesnar has had with AJ Styles & Daniel Bryan and I think he prefers working with the smaller guys who can make him look like the dominant beast. Also, will Balor summon the undefeated Demon? If this happens, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Finn walked away with the title.
Man, I really hope Finn either beats Lesnar or, failing that, surprises everyone by entering the Rumble and winning