By Jason Powell
WWE Raw on the USA Network
Live from Chicago, Illinois at Allstate Arena
[Q1] Raw opened with a recap of Goldberg defeating Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship with a distraction from Chris Jericho at Fastlane. A graphic touted Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania… Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton were on commentary…
Chris Jericho made his entrance to a strong reaction while Cole said the building was sold out with 13,135 fans in attendance. Jericho said Chicago is the birthplace of Y2J and the home of the resurrection of Chris Jericho. Jericho said he screwed Kevin Owens out of the championship.
Jericho said Owens betrayed him during the Festival of Friendship. He said he stuck his knife into the back of Chris Jericho “and he twisted it in, man.” Jericho said he was angry and confused and wanted to know why Owens did what he did. Jericho said he wanted Owens to come out and tell him why.
Kevin Owens’ music played and he walked onto the stage with a mic in hand. Owens asked if Jericho really thought he was going to give him the answer he was looking for after what he did at Fastlane. Jericho told him to be quiet and demanded an answer.
Owens said he didn’t stab his best friend in the back because Jericho was never his best friend. The fans booed loudly. Owens said Sami Zayn was once his best friend and he stabbed him in the back and would do it again and again. Owens said Jericho was just a tool and he used him.
Owens said Triple H told him that everyone would be coming for him once he became WWE Universal Champion. Owens said he needed a person who knew what it took and also to be gullible. “You were a perfect tool,” Owens said. He added that Jericho outlived his usefulness when he accepted the match against Goldberg on his behalf.
Owens said he would have outsmarted Goldberg at Fastlane had it not been for Jericho. Owens said Jericho outsmarted him. He said that if Jericho thinks what he did to him at the Festival of Friendship was bad, he actually spared him. Owens said he could have made sure he never walked again. Owens said he let Jericho walk away for his family because Owens is a good person. He said that sympathy cost him the title.
Jericho said he would have done the same thing to Owens eight years ago, but he liked having a best friend and was complacent. Jericho said he has friends and played to the crowd, which chanted Y2J. Jericho said costing Owens the title doesn’t make them square, rather it was just the beginning of the road and it leads to the two of them meeting at WrestleMania.
Owens said he was promised a rematch for the Universal Championship whenever he wants one. He said he will take it back in time, but all he could think about was taking Jericho’s U.S. Championship. Owens told Jericho to put the title on the line. “Okay, done,” Jericho said without hesitation. Jericho challenged Owens to come to the ring and face him. Owens took him up on it and they traded punches in the ring.
[Q2] Samoa Joe showed up and helped Owens in attacking Jericho. The fans booed as they put the boots to Jericho. Sami Zayn ran out for the save and hit both heels with chair shots before he was outnumbered. Jericho got the chair and cleared the heels from the ring… [C]
Powell’s POV: A good segment with Jericho coming off a bit sappy, yet mostly endearing when it came to wanting a best friend. The crowd was hot for Jericho as a babyface, and the rebuttal of Owens labeling him a tool he used was great. I assume this leads to a tag match on the show.
1. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. The match was joined in progress. So much for the tag match. Cole said Mick Foley made the match during the break and banned Owens and Jericho from ringside. Zayn was the early aggressor and performed a nice flip over the top onto Owens.
Once they returned to the ring, Owens hit a Popup Powerbomb, but didn’t make the cover. Owens threw punches at Zayn. Owens performed a summersault legdrop to the back of Zayn’s head. Owens hit a second Popup Powerbomb and pinned him…
Kevin Owens beat Sami Zayn in 4:00 of television time.
Cole announced Jericho vs. Samoa Joe for later in the show. Saxton hyped Goldberg appearing and there were some boos. Graves hyped Neville vs. Rich Swann for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship… [C] An ad for Smackdown focussed on the No. 1 contender match between AJ Styles and Randy Orton…
Powell’s POV: A good win for Owens with the usual dose of Sami putting up a good fight. The broadcast team did a good job of recapping their history. Owens was violent and sadistic. Don’t look now, but Raw suddenly has some great money drawing heels in Owens, Joe, and Braun Strowman. Meanwhile, I’m convinced that there will be a big payoff for Sami one day.
[Q3] The broadcast team thanked Pitbull for providing one of the WrestleMania theme songs.
Powell’s POV: Maybe Pitbull can show up and perform that fist shake thing he does repeatedly during his performances. Is that his only move? If so, I can totally relate.
Austin Aries joined the broadcast team for the cruiserweight match and had them play his video package again complete with his usual package jokes…
2. Neville vs. Rich Swann for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. JoJo delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. Swann jumped out to a quick start while the broadcast team spoke about how tough Neville had it in defending the title on back to back nights. Neville recovered and ran Swann into the side of the ring heading into a break. [C]
Swann came back after the break and performed a flip off the top rope and onto Neville on the floor. Back inside the ring, Swann caught Neville with a kick for a two count. Neville recovered and performed a superplex at 7:45. The broadcast team praised Swann for being aware enough to roll to ringside to avoid a pin attempt. [C]
[Q4] Neville performed a German suplex, but Swann landed on his feet and then suplexed Neville. Swann blasted Neville with a kick that led to a two count. Swann caught Neville with another kick and then went for a Phoenix Splash, but Neville moved and then covered Swann for two. Neville applied the Rings of Saturn for the submission win…
Neville defeated Rich Swann in 13:50 to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Powell’s POV: It was good to see a cruiserweight title match get so much time even if there were multiple commercial breaks. The cruiserweights click when there’s actually something at stake. Neville is carrying the division on his back at this point. By the way, there’s a serious tone to Michael Cole’s commentary tonight that is standing out as a major positive. I don’t know if it’s because he’s engaged in the matches or if it’s a more serious approach for the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, but he has been really good thus far.
After the match, Austin Aries interviewed Neville in the ring. He noted that Neville had two big wins over the last two nights and asked Neville how it felt to stand on top of the mountain. The fans chanted for Aries. Neville took exception. Aries thanked the fans and tried to quiet them down before asking Neville about the last 24 hours.
Neville said he did what he said he would do. Neville said to everyone who has overlooked him, “Look at me now.” Neville said he has laid waste to pretender after pretender. The fans gave him the “What?” treatment. He said there’s no one on 205 Live who can hold a candle to the King of the Cruiserweights. Aries asked for clarification that Neville didn’t think anyone was at his level.
The fans chanted for Aries, who said it sounded like the fans disagree with Neville. “You cannot seriously be suggesting yourself,” Neville said. “You must be delusional if you think you’re even close to being on my level.” Neville told Aries to go back to the announcers desk where he can make cheap jokes to entertain the universe. Neville said it’s his ring and told Aries to get out before he rearranges his orbital socket.
Aries removed his shades and said he’s just trying to do his job. Neville asked Aries what he as going to do about it. Aries said he had one more question. He said it wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement. Aries punched Neville, then ran the ropes and nailed him with a running forearm…
Powell’s POV: A very good angle. Even earlier today I was questioning whether there was enough time to set up this match properly for WrestleMania. They answered the question here. I’m already looking forward to it.
Backstage, Enzo Amore and Big Cass traded verbal jabs with Shemaus and Cesaro Sheamus accused Enzo and Cass of choking. Cass told them to watch their match tonight because they will win the tag titles. Enzo mocked Cesaro for losing to Samoa Joe last week. Sheamus held Cesaro back from going after Enzo Amore, then Cesaro said, “He’s so annoying”…
Graves hyped Goldberg for after the break as a shot aired of his nameplate on his locker room door… [C] A WrestleMania video aired. We are 27 days away…
[Q5] Goldberg made his entrance to a favorable reaction that included the usual Goldberg chants. He was shown walking through the backstage area dressed in street clothes and wearing the Universal Championship.
Once in the ring, Goldberg held up the championship and received more of a mixed reaction. Goldberg told the fans that the title belongs to the fans as much as it belongs to him. Goldberg said he couldn’t have done it without the fans. Goldberg said he stood before the fans as a very humbled man as the Universal Champion. There were more boos than cheers.
Goldberg said he had information that he had never made public. A CM Punk chant started. Goldberg nodded his head along with the chant and said, “Yeah, I hear that.” Paul Heyman interrupted Goldberg’s promo and walked onto the stage. Heyman said he didn’t come to Raw alone.
Heyman said he was there to introduce his client Brock Lesnar, whose music played. Lesnar walked out with an intense look and glared at Goldberg. Lesnar and Heyman headed to the ring. Lesnar entered the ring and went face to face with Goldberg, who didn’t back down. Lesnar looked at the title belt (which has Goldberg side plates already) and Goldberg.
Heyman stood by Lesnar and introduced the two of them. Heyman said his client was willing to shake Goldberg’s hand because he’s proven to be every bit the conquerer that Lesnar has proven to be. Heyman said both men need to win at WrestleMania, but only one man will walk out as the winner and the other will walk out the loser.
Heyman said he doesn’t make predictions, he reveals spoilers. Heyman said that at the end of the match, there will be a new champion and his name is Lesnar. Brock held out his hand. Heyman said that when the match is over, everyone can look at Goldberg and say, “There he is, Brock’s bitch.” Goldberg turned his focus to Heyman momentarily, and Lesnar hoisted him up and put him down with an F5. Lesnar and Heyman left the ring while Goldberg reached over and grabbed his title belt…
The broadcast team recapped Roman Reigns beating Braun Strowman at Fastlane. They showed footage of Strowman power slamming Reigns through the broadcast table. They showed a still shot of Strowman’s top rope splash attempt. Graves said he wouldn’t say Reigns defeated Strowman as much as survived him. Cole said Strowman plans to finish what he started. They also hyped the Raw Tag Title rematch from Fastlane for after the break… [C]
Powell’s POV: Mixed reaction at best. Promo interrupted quickly. Yes, this was Goldberg, not Roman Reigns. Chicago is a tough town and they went from chanting Goldberg’s name during his entrance to booing him, mostly when he referenced being champion. I don’t get the feeling that the average WWE fan has turned on Goldberg. After all, the Milwaukee crowd went nuts for him the night before. Even so, this may have been a preview of how the WrestleMania live crowd will react to Goldberg. Hey, you know who would beat the hell out of Goldberg and Lesnar? John F’n Wick.
[Q6] Cole hyped that John Cena will host the Kids’ Choice Awards on Nickelodeon on Saturday night… Ring entrances for the tag title match took place. Graves groaned when Enzo and Cass’s music played. Graves said Cass is like the Cubs in that it may take him 100 years to win a championship, and Enzo is like the White Sox in that if he does win a championship a scandal will be involved. Funny. Enzo and Cass did their pre-match mic work and Cass listed Michael Jordan’s championship years. Gallows and Anderson made their entrance…
3. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass for the Raw Tag Titles. The broadcast team recapped the tag title match finish from Fastlane. Sheamus and Cesaro walked out before the cut to an early break. [C]
Anderson worked over Cass coming out of the break with multiple fallaway slams and then an Empire Elbow. Gallows broke up the pin attempt. Enzo dove onto Gallows. Enzo spazzed out on the floor and knocked Cesaro’s coffee out of his hands. Cesaro chased him into the ring and ducked a clothesline attempt, causing Cesaro to hit Anderson instead. The three teams fought after the bell. Sheamus and Cesaro stood tall…
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson fought Enzo Amore and Big Cass to an apparent no-contest in 7:05.
[Q7] The Rick Rude Hall of Fame video aired. The Chicago crowd gave a polite round of applause (should have been a standing ovation!). A graphic showed the remainder of the Hall of Fame class…
Graves said Bayley should be thanking her lucky stars after her controversial win at Fastlane. He said she will address her potential title defense at WrestleMania… [C]
Powell’s POV: Gallows may have saved the career of Enzo by reaching out to catch him on that overshot suicide dive. It looks like they are setting up a Triple Threat tag title match for WrestleMania, but it’s possible they will do something to remove a team or even add teams between now and WrestleMania.
Enzo and Cass had to be held apart by referees from brawling with Sheamus and Cesaro. Mick Foley got them to calm down and said they don’t settle things backstage. He booked the two teams in a match to determine which one of them would challenge for the tag titles at WrestleMania. Foley said he was going to try to have a nice day. An angry Stephanie McMahon showed up and said that if Foley wanted to have a nice day he should follow her to her office…
4. Akira Tozawa vs. Ariya Daivari. The broadcast team recapped the Neville and Aries angle. Cole noted that Aries was not with them on commentary. Tozawa dominated and performed a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Daviari caught him with a kick. Tozawa came right back with a snap German suplex for the win.
Akira Tozawa defeated Ariya Daivari in 2:15.
After the match, Tozawa called out Brian Kendrick to face him. Kendrick came out and said he couldn’t make any promises about facing Tozawa, but he would have an answer for him on 205 Live. Kendrick said lesson number five is be careful what you wish for…
Cole hyped Jericho vs. Joe for later in the show…
Powell’s POV: And we’re back to normal with the cruiserweights with a lopsided two minute match. Kendrick’s tease of a verbal response on 205 Live wasn’t much of a hook for the Tuesday night show. Someone should really rewrite the lyrics to “Did I Shave My Legs For This?” and make it an Ode To WWE Production by calling it “Did I Tape The Ropes For This?”
[Q8] New Day headed out with their ice cream cart bicycle. They played up their ice cream again. Yawn…
5. Kofi Kingston and Big E (w/Xavier Woods) vs. The Shining Stars. Big E and Kingston hit the Midnight Hour for the quick win…
New Day beat The Shining Stars in 1:15.
It’s women’s history month. Cole said they would be honoring women throughout the month. They aired a video on Trish Stratus and Lita… Graves hyped Bayley for after the break and said she would let everyone know who her opponent will be… [C] An ad for NXT TV hyped the return of Shinsuke Nakamura…
Powell’s POV: The first hour of the show was excellent. The second hour went downhill after Goldberg and Lesnar.
Mick Foley stood in the ring and introduced Bayley. The broadcast team recapped the women’s championship and played up the involvement of Sasha Banks despite Bayley asking Charlotte to leave Dana Brooke backstage. Foley congratulated Bayley for successfully defending the championship.
Bayley thanked Foley, but said she wished she could say she felt like a champion. She spoke about Sasha getting involved. She said she is trying to wrap her mind around what happened and now she needs to move forward to WrestleMania.
[Q9] Foley said that at this time of the year, it doesn’t matter how you get there it only matters that you are going, and Bayley is going to WrestleMania. Foley said the question now is who will be her opponent at WrestleMania.
Sasha Banks made her entrance and said just because Charlotte sent Brooke backstage it didn’t means that she was going to stay there. She said she didn’t want to talk about them, she wanted to talk about WrestleMania. She said they used to talk about tearing down the house at WrestleMania. She said instead of talking about it they should make it happen.
Foley said he wanted a second opinion from the fans. The fans cheered. Graves asked since when the fans get to make the matches. Charlotte and Broke made their entrance. Charlotte said Sasha couldn’t get another title shot because of the Roadblock: End of the Line stipulation. Charlotte said Sasha didn’t think Bayley could beat Charlotte, and she used Bayley by pretending to be her friend.
Charlotte said she was robbed of the title and her pay-per-view streak. Charlotte said Foley doesn’t even care as long as his favorites are going to WrestleMania. Foley said he does care, but Charlotte lost her contractually obligated rematch. Huh? Charlotte pointed out the controversy. Foley started to say he was aware of it.
Stephanie McMahon made her entrance and said she is The Boss, not Foley or Banks. The fans chanted CM Punk. Steph called them predictable and said they are just like Punk. “That’s right, you’re all losers,” she said. Steph said they always cheer for the wrong person just like Sasha Banks.
Stephanie said Sasha is the most manipulative person in the locker room. She accused her of cozying up to Bayley. The fans continued with the Punk chants, but Stephanie spoke quickly and spoke over them. Stephanie said Charlotte was robbed and deserved the title match. Foley tried to protest.
Stephanie announced Bayley vs. Charlotte for the championship at WrestleMania. Foley said Stephanie couldn’t leave The Boss out in the cold. Stephanie asked who the boss is. Foley said Steph is his boss, and Sasha is The Boss. Foley proposed Sasha vs. Charlotte in a No. 1 contenders match for next week. Stephanie said Sasha would get a chance to earn a spot in the title match – if Sasha wins it’s a Triple Threat. Stephanie booked Sasha vs. Bayley for this show…
Powell’s POV: It was nice to see Bayley finally show a sense of right and wrong by not being proud of the way she won. It’s odd that her character was all smiles about it after the match and even on Raw Talk. Still, it’s a step in the right direction even though I believe the character has suffered significant damage because of the oddball approach they took. She’s great at what she does and hopefully they have finally figured this out.
A candy bar sponsored video spotlighted the original WrestleMania…
[Q10] 6. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks in a non-title match. Banks earns a spot in the title match at WrestleMania with a win. They women shook hands before the match. Charlotte sat in on commentary and agreed that Sasha is the most manipulative person in the women’s division. Cole said it was a slow start to the match with two friends feeling each other out (shut up, Kid Mojo).
At 4:45, Sasha threw a hard slap to Bayley’s chest. Cole noted that the feeling out process was over. Cole said the Boss was taking over heading into the break. [C] Sasha threw a couple of clotheslines at Bayley coming out of the break. Charlotte and Brooke got up and headed to ringside.
Sasha avoided a cross body block and then applied the Bank Statement at 10:00. Bayley quickly reached the ropes to break it. Banks reapplied the Bank Statement. Bayley reached for the ropes and nearly made it. Brooke distracted the referee. Charlotte apparently tried to break the hold, but Sasha kicked her off the apron and then reapplied the hold. The referee turned and Bayley tapped out…
After the match, Charlotte entered the ring and delivered a big boots to the head of both women. She held up the title belt. Graves said it was 27 days until the Queen reclaims her crown. Charlotte held up the title belt…
Sasha Banks defeated Bayley in 10:45 to earn a spot in the Raw Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania.
The broadcast team hyped Braun Strowman and the Seth Rollins rehab workout video and an interview with Triple H…
Powell’s POV: Man, this is such a mess. The live crowd sat on their hands during the match with no real incentive to cheer for one woman over the other. Bayley was close enough to the ropes to break the hold, so it seemed like Charlotte interfered on her behalf for no good reason. As bad as all of this has been, I guess we now know the mystery is whether Sasha has been conspiring against Bayley. They took a really odd path to getting there.
[Q11] [C] Backstage, Roman Reigns was interviewed by Charly Caruso about Strowman saying he would finish what he started. Reigns said Strowman could find him in the middle of the ring at the end of the night… A video package recapped the Triple H and Seth Rollins segment from last week…
The new Rollins footage showed him working out. He said he would be at WrestleMania no matter what. He said he wants it more than anything and would do whatever it takes to make it a reality. He said he would be at WrestleMania one way or another. He said he couldn’t miss it again this year. “I want it more than anything else,” Rollins said…
Triple H was interviewed by the broadcast team “live via satellite.” Hunter said you have to take your hat off to WWE for providing world class care to athletes. He pointed out that Kevin Wilkes was in the video and called him the best in the world. Hunter said they just have to hope Rollins listens to the experts and utilizes that advice.
Hunter said that when you have the best doctors in the world telling you not to do it and you do it anyway it’s just stupidity. He said Rollins claimed he’s the man. He said that’s a lie. Hunter said he’s been called a lot of things. He listed his nicknames and claimed other people came up with them because it was obvious. Hunter said that if Rollins makes it to WrestleMania all that’s waiting for him is a nightmare. Hunter said that if Rollins shows up and calls him out, it will be the last thing he ever does in a WWE ring…
Samoa Joe made his entrance for the match with Jericho… [C]
Powell’s POV: Rollins came off like he was taking part in a feel good documentary. He didn’t act intense about getting his hands on Triple H. Rather, he was in nice guy mode and seemed like he just wanted to get to WrestleMania. Hunter’s response was more focussed and effective.
[Q12] An Emma video package aired and showed photos of her wearing her cop shades. It said Emma was coming soon… “Not this again,” Cole said… Chris Jericho made his entrance…
7. U.S. Champion Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe in a non-title match. Joe caught Jericho with an early enzuigiri. Cole reminded viewers that Owens and Zayn were banned from ringside for the match. Jericho came back briefly, but Joe cut him off and performed a senton for a two count.
At 3:10, Jericho caught Joe with a springboard dropkick. Graves pointed out that Joe was still on his feet. Jericho slid out of the ring and Joe caught him and applied the Coquina Clutch on the floor. Joe released the hold when the referee’s count reached seven. Joe returned to the ring and left Jericho on the floor for the count-out win…
Samoa Joe beat Chris Jericho by count-out in 3:55.
After the match, Joe tossed Jericho inside the ring. Jericho caught him with a Codebreaker, which sent Joe to ringside. Jericho’s music played while Joe held his jaw on the floor…
Powell’s POV: It’s odd that I have really enjoyed the careers of Joe and Jericho, yet I’ve never really viewed them a dream match opponents for one another. Did creative use the match as a hook just to keep viewers watching due to both characters feeling hot? I’m not really sure what other purpose it served, though perhaps it will make sense in the weeks ahead. I’d rather see Joe destroy undercard wrestlers than get a forgettable count-out win over Jericho.
[Overrun] Graves said his “former broadcast partner” Austin Aries would have a message for Neville on 205 Live on Tuesday. Saxton and Cole hyped the tag team No. 1 contenders match for next week’s Raw…
Braun Strowman made his entrance and said Reigns got lucky at Fastlane. Strowman said he didn’t need a match, he needed Reigns to come out like a man so he could rip him limb from limb. Strowman said Chicago doesn’t like Reigns and neither does he. Reigns’ entrance music started and then stopped.
Undertaker’s entrance music played and the fans came to life. Taker headed to the ring and went face to face with Strowman. The fans chanted “holy shit.” Braun nodded, then backed up and left the ring to boos. Taker’s music started to play again, but it was cut off by the music of Reigns, who was booed heavily as he made his entrance.
“Braun didn’t call you out, Deadman, he called out me,” Reigns said. “So with all due respect, this is my yard now.” Taker looked at the WrestleMania sign. Fans chanted Roman sucks. Reigns looked at the sign. They looked at each other. Taker chokeslammed Reigns to cheers. Taker’s music played and he left the ring…
Powell’s POV: A good final segment. Strowman leaving the ring came off like it was meant as him showing respect. Throw in the line from Strowman about Chicago disliking Reigns and it left me wondering if a double turn is in the works. Of course, there have been a million times when Reigns could have been turned heel and they haven’t budged, but maybe this time will be different.
Overall, the first hour was really strong. That second hour was really rough after the Goldberg and Lesnar segment. The third hour was up and down, but they closed the show on a high note with Taker and Reigns. It was certainly a newsworthy show with the announcement of several WrestleMania matches. I will have more to say about the show and those matches in my member exclusive Raw audio review later tonight. Thanks for watching along with me.
“Goldberg said he had information that he had never made public.”
Did we get that information?
Nope, Heyman interrupted.
You full of Crap Sasha vs Bayley was a good match who gives a Crap about the Stupid crowd