Raw Review 02/20/2017

Tensions are running high this week on Monday Night Raw. Last week Kevin Owens took out Chris Jericho. With JeriKO over now what direction will both men head? Also last week Bayley Captured the Women’s Championship from Charlotte. How will The Queen feel after facing defeat? On the same note what will Bayley do now that she has realized her dream? Plus Samoa Joe has been on a tear since arriving on Raw. Who or what will he destroy next? Speaking of destroying tonight The Monster Among Men Braun Strowman will take on The World’s Largest Athlete The Big Show. With only a few weeks left until FastLane and being on The Road To WrestleMania you never know what will happen on Raw!

Raw is live tonight from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Raw kicks off with us being welcomed to the show by Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton.

In Ring Segment: Kevin Owens
Owens says that now that the spotlight is finally where it belongs he can answer the question of why Kevin Owens thinks he will walk out of FastLane still the champion. The crowd chants Goldberg and Owens says there is the chant that makes Goldberg think he is invincible and everyone believes the hype. Owens says even as a kid Goldberg didn’t impress him and he never has. Owens says that Lesnar took Goldberg lightly and Bill got lucky but it won’t happen to him. He says he knows what to expect and what to do. He says no one thinks he has the chance to keep the title but he will walk still the champion. He says that at FastLane he just has to outlast Goldberg because the longer a Goldberg match goes the more the opponent is favored. Owens says he just has to outsmart him and that everyone knows in that department Goldberg doesn’t come close to him. Owens says that now that he is champion there is nothing he won’t do to keep it that way. Owens says that Goldberg wants to use his title as a prop in his super hero fantasy. He says that he will show everyone superheroes don’t exist. Owens says that at FastLane the crowd can chant for Goldberg but they are wasting time because as far as he is concerned Goldberg is nothing. Owens says as far as Jericho goes and then drops the mic and leaves the ring.
My Opinion:
I think Owens could have done better in that setting. He had the whole Universe watching him and I don’t think the promo was as effective as it should have been. It seemed repetitive and I think he could’ve got more personal. I did like the Jericho part and that he is all about himself. I think he needs to use it to his advantage that people don’t believe in him and make everything all about himself.

Match 1: Big Cass & Enzo vs Sheamus & Cesaro:
Number 1 Contender’s match
Sheamus takes it to Cass with right hands in the corner. Cass reverses it and hits rights on Sheamus. Cass pulls Sheamus over the top rope. Sheamus fights back and tags in Cesaro. Cesaro lands his shots and Sheamus comes back in. He takes it to Cass but Cass fights back and Enzo gets the tag. Cass uses Enzo to take out Cesaro. Enzo goes on the outside and is taken out by an uppercut by Cesaro as Raw goes to break.
As Raw returns Sheamus has Enzo in a chinlock. Sheamus hits a backbreaker. Sheamus hits a knee to the face and goes for the pin but Enzo kicks out. Cesaro gets the tag and knees Enzo. Him and Sheamus double team Enoz. Enoz fights back but Sheamus takes him out. Cesaro lands a dropkick on Cass. Enzo is able to land a drop toehold and tag Cass. Cass lands the shoulder tackle and a fall away slam. He lands a stinger splash but Cass doesn’t realize Cesaro is the legal man. Cesaro lands a crossbody and goes for the pin but gets two. Cesaro lands a springboard corkscrew uppercut. Cesaro looks for the wing but Enzo breaks it up. Cesaro sends him out of the ring but off the distraction cass lands the east river crossing and picks up the win.
**8 After the match Sheamus takes out Enzo.
Winners: Enzo & Big Cass:
New Number 1 Contenders
My Opinion:
It will be interesting to see what happens here. It has been a while since Enzo and Cass have gotten a title shot. It doesn’t really interest me, the tag team division needs help in a big way. I think the teams are just boring and don’t have that much character. I don’t really see how this rivalry will be exciting.

Backstage Segment:
Owens is going to leave but is stopped by Foley who tells him he has a match with Sami Zayn. Owens says he needs to be careful because he will end up with more guys on the injured list than in the locker room.

Backstage Segment:
Mick tells Roman that braun has a match. He says that if he wants Braun he has to wait until FastLane. The Club interrupts and tells roman they need to finish their business tonight. Mick tells him to get a partener but Roman says he doesn’t need one.

Match 2: Brian Kendrick vs Akira Tozawa
Kedrick takes a cheap shot before the match. He exposes the steel of the turnbuckle and drives Tozawa’s ear into it. Kenrick locks in the Captain’s Hook and the ref pulls him off. Kendrick leaves the ring before the match even beings.
Winner: match didn’t happen
My Opinion:
The only problem I have is that if you don’t watch 205 Live ou are not invested in this. They tried to explain the situation but it is ultimately meaningless and I don’t think they are doing well with this division. I think it’d be cooler to have a light heavyweight title and stop making this literally a side show.

Backstage Segment:
Kendrick is asked about his actions. Kendrick says no one will disrespect him and tonight the lesson was respect and it is only the first one.

Match 3: Roman Reigns vs The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
Anderson goes right after Roman. Roman quickly takes him down. Hr gets him in a wrist lock but Anderson gets away and tags Gallows. Roman knocks Gallows off the apron and takes out Anderson. He hits a drive by on Gallows. Anderson distracts the ref and Gallows takes out Roman with a boot. Gallows hammers on Roman in the ring. Gallows hits a suplex and gets a one count on the pin attempt. Gallows gets a chinlock in and works Roman. Roman fights out but Gallows hits a right and plants Roman. Gallows and Anderson looks for the boot of doom but Roman sends them to the outside. Anderson pulls Roman out and they double team him. Gallows grabs a chair but Roman fights them off and gets disqualified. Roman grabs the chair and lays out The Club with it.
*** After the match Anderson gets up and stops Roman but Roman counters and hits ten clotheslines in the corner. Gallows comes over and hits rights in the corner but Roman takes him out. Anderson looks to fly but Roman hits a spear while Anderson is in mid air.
Winners: The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows)
My Opinion:
I like that the match highlighted both parties in the match. Roman got to show he is the man and can take on all comers. At the same time The Club showed they can lay the beatdown as a team and overall this match was a good. It doesn’t mean much but they used their time well and it helps Roman to be believable when he faces the unstoppable Braun Strowman as he is taking on two good wrestlers so you know he can handle it.

Hosts of WrestleMania: The New Day

Match 4: Rusev & Jinder Mahal vs The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston)
As Raw returns Rusev has Kofi in a bearhug. Kofi fights out of it using his elbows but Rusev hits a massive dropkick. Rusev tags in Mahal and Mahal drives his knee into Kofi’s face. Rusev comes back in and lands a cheap shot to Kofi. Kofi fights him off with a kick and lands a tornado ddt. Big E and Mahal get the tags. He tosses Mahal three times and lands a big splash. He looks for the big ending but Rusev hits a big kick to the jaw. Kofi sends Rusev over the top rope and takes him out on the outside. Big E takes out Mahal with an elbow. Kofi gets the tag and they land the midnight hour and Kofi picks up the win.
Winners: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston)
My Opinion:
Good win for The New Day. The fans were happy and it helps continue to build up The New Day and keeping them as the funny and hottest tag team. As the hosts of WrestleMania they need to be everyone’s favorite tag team so this keeps that going for them.

In Ring Segment:
Cruiserweight Championship Contract Signing
Austin aries welcomes everyone to the contract signing. He congratulates Gallagher on being the new Number one contender for the Cruiserweight Title. Gallagher says they are here to get the contract signed. Gallagher signs the contract and Aries welcomes Neville.
Neville ruses to the ring and signs the contract quickly. As he tries to lead Gallagher asks why he is leaving so soon. He claims he was hoping they could put their differences aside. Neville tells Gallagher to look at himself and says Gallagher is what Americans expect and Englishman to be. Neville says he is a cartoon and a stereotype. Neville says the real men of the English look like this. He says gallagher is what the WWE Universe wanted him to be. Neville says these people aren’t laughing with you, they are laughing at you. Neville says he will be the only one laughing at fastLane. Gallagher says this is the way he is and that Neville’s problem is he believes he is a king and he won’t stand for it. Neville pushes over the table and the two square off. Neville asks Gallagher what he is gonna do and Gallagher attacks him. He lands a big headbutt to neville’s jaw and Neville gets out of the ring. Neville tries to go back in but Gallagher fends him off with the umbrella.
My Opinion:
Neville being angry still makes no sense. He is trying to come up with reasons why the crowd hates him and they don’t. The crowd was quiet and it says a lot. No one cares about this and WWE really needs to fix what is going on. To be honest I don’t think anyone would even miss the cruiserweight Division if it wasn’t on Raw. It just all feels forced and is boring to the overall product.

Match 5: Nia Jax vs Sara Pearce
Nia swats her down and throws her across the ring. Nia picks her up and lands the Samoan Drop for the win.
*** Nia is asked about bayley winning. Nia says the only controversy is that she hasn’t gotten a shot at the title. She says those girls could never do to her what they did to Charlotte. She says she is putting the champ on notice.
Winner: Nia Jax
My Opinion:
Nia is dominate as always but I think they need her to be in competitive matches and stop trying to keep having her do squash matches. It is not helping her. I liked the interview at the end. Nia Jax needs to just move into the title picture and have it stay that way for her sake because no one is caring that she can toss a jobber around. They want to see what Nia can do in a title match and how she can handle being the champion.

In Ring Segment: Bayley
Bayley says she grew up in California and it is full of dreams. Bayley says her and her friends had the biggest dreams and all she wanted to do was be in the WWE and be able to call herself the champion. She says that came dream last week and she can not put into words how it felt but it was awesome. Bayley says the first thing she did was call her dad. She tells her dad that she did it as he is in attendance. She says how Charlotte tried to ruin it but she is the Raw Women’s Champion. Out comes Stephanie McMahon.
Steph shakes Bayley’s hand and asks her if she ever imagined that she would be competing for the title as the main event of Raw. She asks if she envisioned almost losing and having her win tainted. Steph says that Bayley is good and honest and she is just Bayley. She asks if Bayley is willing to throw away who she is to hold a championship that she didn’t ear. She says the Bayley that she knows would relinquish the championship. Steph tells her she doesn’t want to win that way. Steph tells her to win the championship on her own terms for the right reasons. Out comes Sasha Banks.
steph questions Sasha for always being involved in bayley’s business. Sasha tells Bayley to not listen to this. She says she won’t let Bayley give up everything she has worked for. She tells her to listen to the WWE Universe. Steph asks if Sasha is out here for Bayley or because she knows she can’t beat Charlotte but knows she can beat Bayley. Bayley says the title means everything to her and it is bigger than everyone. She says that she didn’t work to be a champion to look like it was handed to her. Bayley says the title should represent happiness and competition and not controversy. She asks the crowd if she should give up the title and they say no. Bayley says she is not giving up the title. She says she pinned Charlotte for the third time. She says it was because of the WWE universe. Bayley says she will fight for everyone and she will defend the title anytime anyplace and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Out comes Charlotte.
Charlotte apologises to Steph for the disrespect of Sasha and Bayley. Charlotte says she is going to take back what is hers at FastLane. Sasha tells her to shut up and that Bayley will prove she is no queen. She then challenges Charlotte to a match tonight. Charlotte tells her to shut her mouth and says she accepts Sasha’s challenge. Steph says the match is going to start right now.
My Opinion:
A long segment but it was very good. I think all points got across and ba;ley finally got her time that she deserves. I think Charlotte and Sasha do it like no other and their rivalry is super entertaining. They were my highlight of the segment of how they went at each other. I think we could see that triple threat or fatal four way at WrestleMania and I can’t wait to see all the working parts in this. I think the women can really create something special.

Match 6: Charlotte vs Sasha Banks
Charlotte backs Sasha into the corner. Sasha pushes her off but Charlotte kicks her in the gut. Charlotte tries to slam down Sasha but Sasha fights her off and is able to get a roll up but Charlotte kicks out. Charlotte sends Sasha into the corner but Sasha reverses. Charlotte gets on the offensive and hits Sasha with knees. Charlotte gets Sasha locked up with her legs. Charlotte sends Sasha into the corner and takes her out with a boot. She sends Sasha out of the ring as we head to break.
As we return charlotte gets the dragon sleeper locked in. She lands a few backbreakers and continues the choke. Sasha knees Charlotte in the face and rolls her up but gets a two count. Charlotte is taken down by Sasha. Sasha is able to hit a bulldog and goes for the pin but doesn’t get the win. Sasha hammers the forearms down on Charlotte. Charlotte is able to get out of the way of double knees but Sasha comes back and hits it on the outside. Bayley takes out Dana Brooke who tries to get involved. Sasha is able to hit the backstabber and lock in the Bank’s statement. Charlotte taps out.
Winner: Sasha Banks
My Opinion:
My problem is that this rivalry was so hot and personal that this match didn’t live up to it. The match was normal and it shouldn’t be. For these two to go at it it should’ve been big time and built up. It should have been chaos when they got their hands on each other again. If you didn’t let them fight until WrestleMania it would be huge if they squared off. It just felt like all that work was wasted just like that. I would have rather seen Sasha vs Dana or Bayley vs. Dana rather than Charlotte vs Sasha Banks on free TV again like it’s not a big deal.

Hall Of Fame Announcement: Diamond Dallas Page

Backstage Segment:
Charly welcomes Sami Zayn. She asks if Sami wants to scream I told you so to Jericho. Sami says he is not happy he is right. He says he knows Owens very well and feels he knows Samoa Joe very well. He says that they will do anything to make a name for themselves. Sami says that eventually time will catch up to them and his story with Samoa Joe is far from over.

Match 7: Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
*** As Sami comes out Samoa Joe comes from behind and attacks him. Samoa joe pounds on Zayn and drives him face first off the post. Joe lands hard rights to Zayn and sends him off the post again. He then lands the running senton. He throws Zayn into the ring as Owens looks on.
Owens goes right at Zayn as the match starts. He lands a splash and a cannon ball and stomps on Zayn. He lands another cannon ball and hammers on Zayn. Owens lands the pop up powerbomb for the win.
Winner: Kevin Owens
My Opinion:
I loved everything that happened. First this gives Sami the chance to come back and be the underdog everyone loves. Owens and Joe both need this. Joe needed to keep this ruthless streak going and Owens needed to go into this new level so he can not be funny anymore and now be another destroyer. I hope eventually we see Joe and Owens go at because that would be a fight.

Backstage Segment:
Steph tells Mick that his behavior is nothing short of insubordination. Mick tells Steph not to treat him like he is stupid. Mick ridicules Triple H’s actions. Mick says he refuses to let Steph’s greed get in his way of what he thinks is right. Step tells Mick she doesn’t want him to have an accident.

Michael Cole Interview With Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman
Cole asks Lesnar about Goldberg’s match at FastLane. Heyman says his client is anxious and he needs to lower his voice and adjust his tone. Heyman says that people say that Owens vs Goldberg affects Lesnar but he disagrees. Heyman says Lesnar disagrees that Owens is the most devastating champion in recent history. Heyman says he thinks Owens has a shot to keep the title but Lesnar disagrees. Heyman says if Goldberg hits the spear and jackhammer he goes to WrestleMania as champion and it will be one more thing that Lesnar will conquer at WrestleMania and Lesnar agrees.

Match 8: Braun Strowman vs Big Show
The two stare at each other. They lock up but no one gets the advantage. Big Show gets a wrist lock and takes Braun down. Braun blocks and reverses it. He backs Big Show into the corner but he forces a break. Big Show pushes Braun down but Braun gets a side headlock. He takes him down and wrenches it in. Big Show punches Braun and sends him off the ropes but braun comes back with a right to take down Big Show. Braun drives the shoulder into Big Show and then follows up with a splash. He then lands a big boot. He headbutts Big Show and kicks him in the side. Braun punches Show again and again. He goes for another splash but Show catches him. Braun turns it around and hits a ddt. Braun lands a right. He lands a forearm and another splash. Braun sends Show to the ground again with a blow to the back. Show sneds Braun off the ropes but Braun hits a boot and a massive clothesline. Show is able to suplex Braun. Braun gets up and runs into a boot from Show. Big Show takes down Braun with a shoulder tackle. Show calls for the chokeslam. He lands it and goes for the pin but Braun kicks out. Show goes to the second rope but Braun knocks him off. Braun looks for the powerslam but Show fights out. Show sets Braun on the top rope. Braun fights off Show and flies. Show hits the KO punch in mid air but Braun is able to kick out of the pin attempt. Show tries to go to the top again and goes for the splash but Braun gets out of the way. Braun hits the powerslam but Big Show kicks out of the pin. Braun fights off the chokeslam and slams Show down again and this time picks up the win.
*** As soon as the pin is counted out comes Roman. Roman takes it to Braun. He hits the Superman Punch and Braun goes down after a second attempt. Braun takes out Roman with a dropkick. Braun lifts Roman and hits the running powerslam.
Winner: Braun Strowman
My Opinion:
A very good match between them. They both pulled out moves I didn’t think they could do. Braun was very impressive and this match will help him continue to be the monster. I loved that he kicked out of The Big Show’s moves. I know the point is to makes Braun look unstoppable and it worked. It also helped Big Show in showing he can hang with the giants still.

Final Thoughts:
Not the best Raw. I thought things didn’t help and were just thrown out there. The main event was great. Big Show and Braun really showed a lot tonight. Braun proved he has a lot in the tank and many moves to show. Big Show also showed he is in great shape and can hang still. Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens both showed that they are the destructive ones on Raw. it makes it awesome because now we really know whoever they face it will be a fight. I liked the Women’s segments. I believe heading into WrestleMania if they do Bayley against Sasha, Charlotte, and Nia it will be huge. The Brock Lesnar interview was awesome. I think everyone is back to believing in The Beast and I know at WrestleMania he will be The Beast and walk away victorious. It will be interesting to see next week and if more things will come to be will FastLane right around the corner.
Overall Rating: 6/10