Monday’s here again, everyone’s favorite day. And it’s of course inextricably linked to Monday Night Raw. I’m the One Zeel One of 1Z1ProWrestling,com and I’m here for another round of written play-by-play, as the WWE Raw Recap is soon at hand! Watch this space.
Drew McIntyre makes his way out to open the show, coming off a two week quarantine. He says he was lucky with the symptoms he got with COVID. Voices his support for everyone suffering from the sickness. Moves on to Goldberg, says he’s been watching him since he was a teenager. He ran through opponent after opponent to defeat Hulk Hogan for the championship. Ran through the Rock and everyone else like they were nothing, then he disappeared for years.
McIntyre says the last thing to go for a Heavyweight fighter is their power. Goldberg returned as the same animal he used to be and he started a new streak. But this Sunday at the Royal Rumble, Drew McIntyre ends that streak and remains WWE Champion. (For the record Goldberg’s last appearance was losing to Braun Strowman in underwhelming fashion, not sure what streak he’s talking about really.) Miz and Morrison make their way out and as always they’re very upfront about their sneaky plan to cash in on whoever wins at the Rumble.
Finally, out comes Bill Goldberg.
Goldberg gets into his face and says “You’re next”. Miz and Morrison try to egg them on to fight each other. McIntyre and Goldberg grab the heels and force them into the ring. Spear to Miz, Claymore to Morrison! McIntyre kips up and the champion and contender come face-to-face.
First segment of the WWE Raw Recap done, an unfortunate many more to go! Charlotte Flair backstage says she always defies the odds, that’s right, when you think of underdogs you think of Charlotte! “They” apparently call her Ms. WrestleMania. When asked about Ric’s relationship with Lacey Evans, Charlotte says she’s seen her dad in a lot of dark places and this may be the darkest. One of the most blatant lies I’ve ever heard on Raw and that’s saying something.
Charlotte Flair vs. Shayna Baszler
Lock-up, Charlotte forces Shayna to the corner. Nia with a distraction, Baszler looking for a sleeper, Flair tosses her with a judo throw, big boot, Figure Four locked in. As she wants to transition to the Figure Eight, Nia Jax rushes into the ring for a legdrop, quick DQ.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (by DQ)
This was evidently the first time Charlotte and Shayna had ever squared off one-on-one. Safe to say this was a massive waste of that. Afterwards a big brawl kicks up, Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose make the save but then Lacey Evans gets involved as we go to commercial and this will have definitely turned into an impromptu six-woman tag in progress when the WWE Raw Recap returns.
Charlotte Flair, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke vs. Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax & Lacey Evans
Lacey Evans and Mandy Rose are in the ring, chain wrestling sequence. Mandy gets the advantage, Dana tags in, snap suplex for 2. Irish whip into a shoulder block, 1 count. Whip again, arm drag, cartwheel into a stomp. Cover for 2. Lacey skirts away and tags in Shayna, Charlotte back in. Fight spills to the corner, Baszler with a combination of strikes takes Flair to a knee. Baszler wants a running knee but Charlotte ducks and starts a-chopping. Exploder Suplex into a Kip-Up.
Tag to Mandy, they both do a stereo cartwheel kick, Rose covers for 2. Faces now isolating Shayna. Baszler with clubbing shots to the back, whip to the corner but Flair counters and sends her to the floor and into the steps. Charlotte stares down Nia Jax and Lacey Evans at ringside, Shayna throws her into the ring eventually but slides in too late, gets counted out.
Winners: Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose (by countout)
Two very lame finishes in a row help assure that this achieved absolutely nothing other than filling time, cool. I seem to be in one of my moods today, sorry. WWE Raw Recap to continue after this.
Charlotte Flair, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke vs. Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax & Lacey Evans
Aaaand after a commercial break, we see the match has been restarted, holy crap are we back in the era where you can’t have matches go through commercial breaks without doing this crap? Shayna does her arm stomp to Dana, it’s a totally normal move now, cool. Nia tags in, has her in a choke. Dana escapes with a sunset flip, rolls out of the way as she sits out. Tag to Mandy Rose, who goes hogwild as Lacey comes in too, eats a Flapjack and a solid Pump Knee, Baszler breaks up the pin.
Flair with a spear to Shayna, Nia with a forearm to Flair. Pulls Evans over for the tag. Lacey pulls Charlotte out of the ring and Charlotte chases her out of the arena. Dana Brooke tags in, Flip Neckbreaker to Jax for a nearfall! Jax with a big Swinging Chokeslam and a legdrop for good measure, gets the pin.
Winners: Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax & Lacey Evans
After being threatened with a screwy finish, the heels finally valiantly overcome.
Ali has a promo about how the greatest moment of Kofi’s life happened because of the worst moment of his own. He took his moment from him and he’s very bitter about it.
Slapjack vs. Xavier Woods
Woods with a running dropkick out of the gate, chops to the chest. Whip to the corner, off the rebound, back body drop! Slapjack takes him to the apron but Xavier holds on. Forearm, Slapjack with a knee to the face, Discus Forearm, springs to the apron and back for a cool Bulldog, nearfall. Slapjack pins Woods’ arms down and stomps his head! Up to the second rope, Xavier rolls out of the way of a double footstomp. Series of strikes, chops to the chest, punches to the face.
Whip reversed, Woods with a big Russian Legsweep, Basement Dropkick. Slapjack with an uppercut to the face, Woods with a boot up, Honor Roll for a nearfall. T-Bar with a distraction, Slapjack with a roll-up but Woods rolls through for the Shining Wizard! He finally gets a win.
Winner: Xavier Woods
I was really thinking we were doing the Ricochet gauntlet all over again but nope he won this one. However they beat the Hell out of him afterwards, Slapjack and Mace with a very delayed and showy Double Chokeslam. Ali brings a chair into the ring. As the others hold him in place Ali is about to swing the chair at his head but he stops short, sits it down and takes a seat.
Grabs a mic, says for all his talk of wanting to be King of the Ring, Woods looks like a real peasant right now. But like a real king he will show mercy. Tells Woods he’ll do exactly what he says and deliver a message to Kofi Kingston. He heard the sad unfortunate news that he won’t compete at the Royal Rumble match but tell him not to fear. A replacement has been found and his name is Mustafa Ali. I GET IT~!
WWE Raw Recap continues, R-Truth meets up with Riddle. Truth thinks the Hurt Business are setting up a surprise party for him. He thinks they’re giving him 24 golden carrots.
The Hurt Business make their way out for a VIP Lounge segment.
MVP says he is stoked for the Rumble and the afterparty will be lit. Says Lashley wanted this segment as there was something very important to bring to his attention but first, he wants to address their gauntlet match with Riddle. Says he’s a braindead moron but luck is on his side more often than not and he can get crafty.
Lashley says one of his favorite quotes is that sometimes you have to believe in those who believe in you. We believe and we’ve only just begun. Shelton says when you look at their accomplishments, it’s hard to think that only a year ago – Cedric interrupts to say they’ve been on a roll as of late. Shelton is annoyed. Bobby has gifts for them. MVP opens up the little box and it’s a blinged out necklace with the initials THB. Says it’s not often he’s at a loss for words, but he doesn’t have the words. Cedric says he was working with the designer and it’s 24 karat gold!
Benjamin starts to take exception but R-Truth comes out.
MVP demands they cut off his music and asks why he’s here. R-Truth says they were gonna be throwing him a surprise party. THB – Truth Happy Birthday! Asks where the 24 golden carrots are. Shelton says this is not the time. Bobby says actually, they do have a gift for him and they invite him into the ring. Truth hesitates, 24/7 guys come to chase him down, there’s some failed pin attempts, Shelton goes out to deal with this. In the ring, Riddle sneaks into the ring and hits MVP with a Final Flash knee. As he tends to, he follows up by just running away.
After a quick Edge vignette we learn that he’ll be giving us an injury update tonight.
R-Truth backstage trying to convince Adam Pearce that he should be in the Rumble. AJ Styles wants an opportunity himself so Pearce books them against each other to give Truth a chance to prove himself.
John Morrison vs. Sheamus
Lock-up. Sheamus with a hip toss, short arm scissors of sorts, Morrison with a waistlock. Knees to the torso, Sheamus blocks and gets a single leg takedown. Front facelock as he takes him to his feet, hammerlock. Morrison up to his feet, Sheamus with a shoulderblock. Morrison with a roll-up for 2, charging kick for a 2 count, now Sheamus has him in a short arm scissor again. John fights to his feet, backs him to the corner for the break and unloads with a combination of kicks.
Whip, Sheamus reverses, Morrison with a boot off a back body drop, charges but Sheamus gets him with a back body drop this time! Morrison fights back, kick to the throat drops him. Morrison with a cartwheel to get past his guard, kicks to the back and ribs! Sheamus reverses a corner whip, charging back elbow, clubbering shots. Pulls him out for the Irish Curse Backbreaker for a nearfall! Sheamus up top, comes flying, Morrison with a dropkick to the knee out of the air. Sheamus pulls himself up in the ropes, Morrison with a charging knee takes him to the apron. Wraps his legs around the bottom and middle ropes, dropkicks him to the floor.
Back into the ring, Morrison working over the legs, cranking on them, elbow drops and submissions. Sheamus fights back, big biel toss. Looks for White Noise but Morrison slips out, chop block! Looks for the Flying Chuck but Sheamus catches him out of the air, Black Hole Slam for a nearfall! Sheamus tries a Cloverleaf, Morrison makes it to the ropes for a break. Morrison on the apron, Hot Shot to Sheamus! Back in the ring, Sheamus surprises him with a Pump Knee, hoists him up for White Noise! And that is that.
Winner: Sheamus
Boy after the first hour of this show, a good no frills match does me a lot of good. But of course immediately after Miz says at the Rumble you need to keep your head on a swivel, he challenges Sheamus to an immediate Handicap match and Sheamus accepts!
John Morrison & The Miz vs. Sheamus
Heels converge on Sheamus, he quickly deposits Morrison and tries a White Noise on Miz but Morrison pulls him free. Chopblock from Morrison, leads to a Miz Snap DDT. Charging kicks in unison, Morrison with a Standing SSP for a nearfall. Sheamus with shots from his knees as he rises, Morrison with a roundhouse kick and a clothesline to the outside, Miz with a Baseball Slide! Miz holds Sheamus in place for a Morrison tope! They toss Sheamus into the barricade, Morrison with a wicked Spin Kick! Miz with a running kick to follow-up.
They take him into the ring. Morrison holds Sheamus in place for a Double Axe Handle off the second rope. Sheamus trying to fight back but Morrison with a combination of blows and a stomp to the face as he falls against the buckles. They grind against him. Miz whips Morrison into him in the corner, Sheamus with a back body drop taking him to the outside, clothesline to Miz! Morrison back in but Sheamus with a powerslam to him, Regal Roller sends Miz onto his own partner!
Takes Miz to the apron for Ten Beats of the Bowery! Ducks a line from Morrison and starts the Ten Beats on him instead! Throws Morrison to the floor. He goes up top slowly, Flying Double Clothesline to Miz and Morrison on the floor! Back into the ring, heels gang up on him, Sheamus tosses them both away, Brogue Kick to Morrison – Miz with a Skull Crushing Finale as he gets back up and that is that.
Winners: The Miz & John Morrison
The people that have lost to Miz and Morrison in handicap matches has now grown to include Keith Lee, Coli Delaney and Sheamus.
Ric confronts Charlotte backstage. She says she’s not the bad guy, when she was young this was cute but she’s the only one looking out for him. He’s gone from legend to old man. She’s the one saying it to his face. Lacey Evans sneaks up behind her and just nails her with a big shot. Ric wants to check on her but Lacey pulls him away and they walk off. Eventually you hear a ‘woo!’ from off-screen.
R-Truth vs. AJ Styles
AJ with a kick to the chest, slams his face into the buckle. Power whip to the opposite corner! Styles with a kick to the leg, singles it out and elbows him in the hip. Pendulum Backbreaker! Styles is about to dump him but Truth reverses and sneds him over the top rope instead, as an audition of sorts for the Rumble match. Styles rushes back in, drop toe hold. Truth looks up and realizes Omos is right in front of him. He gets spooked and rushes to the corner, AJ tries to take over but Truth counters with the Five Moves of Doom. Five Knuckle Shuffle, looks for the Scissor Kick but Styles avoids it, reverses the Attitude Adjustment into the Calf Crusher for the tap.
Winner: AJ Styles
‘Kay.
Replay of the Randy Orton promo last week. Yeah they just uh, just show just about the whole thing again it seems like. Guess they were proud of it.
We then see Alexa Bliss in her playground, this time on the random unexplained interview ring it looks like. She says last week was so much fun. Asks the not-present Bray if he saw the look on Randy’s face after what she did. She laughs at his new look. Agrees that he looks better. She just wanted to have some fun with Asuka in her playground but she didn’t want to play nice. But neither did she. We see clips of Alexa’s last couple of weeks throughout this promo as well, capped off with her beating Asuka.
She really wants to talk to ‘him’ again, but tonight she has a chance to win a shiny new toy! She wants the title. Alexa says just like last week, she doesn’t feel like playing nice. Sings ‘ring around the rosies’ and we see some screen glitches. Growls “Let me in” in Fiend’s voice again.
Up next on the WWE Raw Recap…
Riddle vs. The Hurt Business (Gauntlet Match)
We begin with Riddle against Benjamin. Riddle with a charging knee, taking it to Shelton in the corner until he reverses with a waistlock. German but Riddle flips to his feet! Pele Kick! Aaaand PK but Shelton avoids it, rolls him through, catches the Final Flash and nails him with a Deadlift Spinebuster! 2 count right there. Hoists him up and takes him up top. Clobbers him until he falls to the floor. Riddle slides back in, Shelton with a bodyslam, rear chinlock. Riddle fighting back up but Shelton cuts him off and stomps him to the mat. Pulls him up for a suplex, Riddle is blocking it.
Shelton with a quick knee lift, follows up with a running knee to the face! Covers for 2. Benjamin with a chinlock, then waistlock. Riddle with a guillotine reversal! Shelton tries a Vertical Suplex but Riddle with a knee to the face to escape! Cedric distracts, Shelton rolls him up but Riddle reverses, Cedric keeps distracting the ref for too long though. Riddle kicks out, Shelton bickers with Cedric and when he turns around a Victory Roll catches him for 3. Shelton Benjamin has been eliminated.
MVP makes Cedric stay behind and slides into the ring. MVP is next in. But Cedric and Shelton continue to bicker. MVP is still trying to separate them when the bell rings, Riddle with an O’Connor Roll into a Kneebar for the quick submission! MVP has been eliminated! Just like, only one left.
Commercial break, WWE Raw Recap will continue when we come back with Riddle vs Cedric Alexander.
We come back to see Cedric hit a snapmare for a 2 count. Riddle with some forearms, hits the ropes, Alexander with a knee to the gut. Hoists him up, Gutbuster for a nearfall! Alexander gets him into an armbar. Riddle fighting his way up, chops and forearms as he takes him to the corner. Roundhouse kicks, charging elbows – Alexander cuts him off with a big dropkick! Cover for a nearfall. Abdominal Stretch, Riddle grabs the second rope for the break. Cedric grinding his knee into Riddle’s chin. Cover for 2. Waistlock.
Riddle with a back elbow to the face to escape. Hoists him onto his shoulders – Cedric escapes for a WILD DDT spiking him, nearfall! Riddle fights up, deflects some shots, Pele Kick takes him to the corner. Charging elbows in the corner leads to an Exploder Suplex! PK ducked, Standing Moonsault avoided and Cedric gets the knees up on the follow-up Broton as well! Exchange of strikes but Riddle nails him with a German Suplex! Pulls him up for a vertical, Cedric reverses for a Brainbuster! Nearfall!
Cedric starting to look frustrated. Mounted forearms, big stomps. Pulls off the elbow pad, starts going up top. Looks for a Double Footstomp but Riddle rolls out of the way, leaps at him to roll him into the Triangle Choke! But Cedric with the Backlund Bomb to break it! Only momentarily though as he latches it right back on! Riddle pops to his feet, Cedric ducks the enziguri, grabs the arm but Riddle front flips into the Victory Roll for the win!
Winner: Riddle
That last block was awesome, I could watch Cedric and Riddle wrestle for hours. Afterwards Bobby Lashley jumps Riddle from behind on the ramp and puts him in the Hurt Lock! Tosses him into the side barrier.
We see a replay of Edge being written off at Backlash last year. We’ll be hearing from him up next on the WWE Raw Recap.
Now we see Edge sitting in a WWE ring with a promo.
Says if 2020 taught us anything it’s that you can’t sleep on tomorrow. You gotta fight for it everyday because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Sometimes you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep walking forward, always forward. Ten years ago after WrestleMania 27 he went to sleep as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion on top of the world. Within a week he had to give it up and his entire career. Gave up the dream.
When he told his mom he wanted to be a wrestler, she just said to go do it. Simple words but they were the jet fuel for him, to work for nine years to get back. Randy gave him another reminder that it can be torn away just like that but you can’t live in that space. You gotta fight and he knows what his mom would say. She’d say you gotta just go do it. So with that in mind, he is entering the Royal Rumble. He knows it won’t be like last year. And the stakes are higher because he knows the window closes for him more and more everyday.
He needs to win the Rumble and main event WrestleMania to take back what he never lost. When you have a dream at some point you have to fight to make that dream a reality. He will fight with everything left in his body to make that dream come true. If you’ve been with him on this ride you know he has to try because a world without dreamers and fighters is a much less magical place. Henry Ford once said if you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. Well he thinks he can. See you at the Rumble.
WWE Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Alexa with a waistlock. Asuka kicks her away, big tosses. Kicks her into the buckles. Armbar. Alexa seems to enjoy the pain. Asuka kicking at her shoulder, cinches it in deeper. Bliss laughs it off and fights up to her feet. Body shot, high kick, whip to the opposite corner – Asuka up to the second rope for a missile dropkick! Hip attack avoided, Bliss kicks her to the floor. Suddenly music is playing and after a jumpcut Alexa is riding on a hobby horse. I openly laughed. Commercial break, the WWE Raw Recap continues after this.
After we come back, Asuka with a back elbow off a charge in the corner. Alexa avoids a second rope dropkick, Double Kneedrop, Basement Dropkick for a nearfall. She chokes her with the boot against the bottom rope. Pulls her up, snapmare and gets her into a chinlock. Alexa just has the greatest Cheshire Cat smile. Asuka fights to her feet, roundhouse kick drops Bliss. Asuka with a shoulderblock, Pop-Up Knee to the face. Hip Attack in the corner, back kick, German Suplex! Sliding Kick for a nearfall.
As Asuka starts to charge, Alexa’s music suddenly hits and she has an attire change to look like the Alexa from before getting in with the Fiend. Asuka looks bewildered and terrified. Alexa seems confused. Asuka charges and Alexa trips her into the middle buckle! Alexa walks over to the opposite corner nad grabs the second rope.
Lights start to fall and creepy music plays. When we come back Alexa’s in her goth getup and doing the Bray pose in the corner. She deflects Asuka’s pucnhes and kicks just like last week. Pop-Up Knee but Bliss just absorbs it! Rolls her into the Asukalock, Bliss just rips her arms away and reverses into the Mandible Claw! But as she has her, we see Randy Orton appear behind her! She slowly turns around, into an RKO.
Winner: N/A
No bell there, but the show was just about to go off the air anyway.
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