RAW Review! February 12th, 2018
It’s RAW time, live from San Jose! John Cena starts off the show to the usual crowd response. He gets hyped for WrestleMania, saying how important it is to every superstar, even throwing in a small line about bringing Legends back from the dead. (*cough* Taker) He says how important it is for him to win Elimination Chamber this year, or he may not have a place on the Grandest Stage of them all! He goes on a little more about EC before being interrupted by The Miz and Co (Curtis Axel is back!) Miz gives a very passionate promo about wanting to be the first to hold the Intercontinental And Universal Title at the same time. John reminds the Miz that he has to go through him before that happens and challenges Miz to a match, loser goes first in the Elimination Chamber. Bo and Curtis then attack Cena. Miz says he’s smarter than Cena and calls for a referee. Out comes Kurt Angle. He says he likes John’s challenge but sends Curtis and Bo to the back and a Ref runs out.
The Miz vs John Cena:
Miz starts a ground and pound game then goes right for the pin. John kicks. Both go back and forth for a while and keep a good pace to the match. Overall this match was exciting, with a few near falls, a nasty DDT from the Miz, and a top rope AA that had the crowd going wild. John Cena gets the pin and the win. He gets up and points to the sign, the first of many such appearances of the Mania sign tonight.
Next we get a very Matt Hardy promo about his match tonight and Elimination Chamber, which he’s renamed the Deletion Chamber. I smell T-shirt ideas!
Break to the Good Brothers standing backstage. They cut a promo on the Revival, with a clever little “nerd-o-meter” graphic at the bottom of the screen. It fills up, Gallows yells nerds, and that’s about it.
We next see Gallows and Anderson get attached as they go down to the ring by the Revival. The Revival slips into the ring and waits for their opponents who they just laid out. When they finally do get in the ring Gallows start clobbering people. He has some really good offensive for a while that’s eventually stopped by a chop block to the knee from Dawson. The Revival control things going into the commercial and out of the commercial. Gallows finally gets a small opening, reverses, and tags in Machine Gun Anderson. He has some great offense, even getting in his HIYAH! Corner face kick. Revival eventually get the better of him and hit a Shatter Machine for the win. Good match with all parties involved showing some good offensive moments and the Revival getting a much needed win.
After another commercial we come back to Kurt Angle in the ring. He announces that Ronda Rousey will have her contract signing at Elimination Chamber then goes right into the news about his boy, Jason Jordan. He says he’ll be out for a while with a serious injury and chastised the crowd for cheering that. Out comes Seth Rollins. He says he’s been in Jordan’s position and says he’s sorry. He went on to say how he shocked the world and lists some accomplishments, finishing with the fact that he might not even have a spot at EC. Kurt realizes this and says he can find him a new tag partner. Seth stops him and says he wants more. He goes on to say he wants to be the man again. He wants to be Monday Night Rollins! He wants to be added to the Elimination Chamber last chance match. Kurt agrees and now it’s a Fatal-five way.
Bray Wyatt appears on the screen to do his match promo. He says he will win the Elimination Chamber match for the second year in a row and go on to face Brock at WrestleMania.
Sasha vs Bayley
This match had a slow pace to start and the crowd was having trouble getting behind it. Towards the middle the heat intensified to a great finish with a few near falls and a top rope Bayley to Belly. Bayley picks up the win in her home town!
After the match it looks like Bayley is going to hug Sasha, when all the sudden Nia Jax comes through and steam rolls then both. The curly haired Jax lays waste to both then walks back up the ring. -insert random backstage reporter- stops her to ask why she did that and she goes on to say those too took Asuka to the limit and she just destroyed them. She’s the only one that can break Asuka’s streak and she’ll do it at Elimination chamber.
We now go to Rollins back stage. Roman walks up randomly and they go back and forth about the match tonight, trading little barbs towards each other before Sheamus and Cesaro walks up. They poke fun at Seth for his string of failures, then start talking about Dean Ambrose and Jason Jordon being in physical therapy together. Roman chimes in, making fun of Cesaros braces (Be a Star Roman, not a bully) and starts trash talking Sheamus, now for a commercial break.
We come back to Titus WORLDWIDE! Backstage with the sweetest of angels that is Renee Young. They send her off *rage intensifies* and talk about tonight’s match. Apollo and Titus are really hyped while Dana pretends to do stuff on the edge of the screen. The biggest take away from this promo is that “Crews can’t lose.” We know that’s not true but it’s catchy and fun so I’ll allow it.
Break to Alexa wandering backstage and she runs into Mickie James. She apologizes to James and Mickie just isn’t having it. Short promo but builds uncertainty for their match…NEXT!
Mickie James and Alexa Bliss vs. Absolution
This was a really short match. Maybe 5 minutes? Either way Mandy rose hit her finish on James for the pin. They proceed to beat Mickie down after the bell and Alexa clears the ring. Short match that’ll probably culminate with Mickie turning on Alexa or something to that degree.
After the commercial we get Elias! He has a very snazzy shirt on and does his usual sing about the town your in bit. The crowd loves Elias so it’s loud and people chant along at the appropriate times. -Side note- at one point you hear the crowd getting particularly worked up for some reason. Turns out, Braun Strowman is on the stage in a chair with a microphone. He goes over and grabs a standup bass and tries to strum, breaking the strings with his massive hands. He sings a song with all his usual catchphrases in it much to the joy of the crowd. This was my favorite segment of the night. Braun eventually goes to the ring, carrying the bass, and delivers the hands that he’s always talking about to Elias. Elias crawls away as Braun stares at him. In true Braun fashion, he stalks Elias while carrying the standup bass. The crowd is elated at the impending murder of Elias. Braun catches up and smashes the bass over Elias while he’s on the ground. He is dead. RIP Elias.
We have a short Finn Balor Selfie Promo about his match tonight. No different from the others delivered by everyone else. Move along, nothing to see here.
Next is Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
This was a good match but nothing out of the ordinary for either man. Roman got the usual spots in, Sheamus did lots of kicking, and Cesaro was there to run interference and give support to his Bar brother. Roman picks up the win after a killer spear.
Ivory is announced as the next WWE HOF Inductee!
Fatal-Five way time!
The match starts during a commercial so we come in seeing Matt already laid out. This match is chaotic as to be expected. LOTS of near falls, lots of good spots, Apollo Crews still shows off how athletic he is. The important thing is that both Balor and Rollins get the pin on Wyatt. This one left me scratching my head, especially since they just went off the air afterwards. Turns out, Kurt Angle announced on Facebook later that BOTH men will be added to the Elimination Chamber match. That’s right…7 people in the chamber.
Be sure to check out RAW replays (wherever you can), check out more content on WrestlingwithWrestling.com, follow me on twitter @buuurch1, and as always take care. See you tomorrow for the Smackdown review where we’ll talk more about Shane McMahon vs. the world, who the Bludgeon Brothers will squash next, and the returning Dolph Ziggler!
It’s RAW time, live from San Jose! John Cena starts off the show to the usual crowd response. He gets hyped for WrestleMania, saying how important it is to every superstar, even throwing in a small line about bringing Legends back from the dead. (*cough* Taker) He says how important it is for him to win Elimination Chamber this year, or he may not have a place on the Grandest Stage of them all! He goes on a little more about EC before being interrupted by The Miz and Co (Curtis Axel is back!) Miz gives a very passionate promo about wanting to be the first to hold the Intercontinental And Universal Title at the same time. John reminds the Miz that he has to go through him before that happens and challenges Miz to a match, loser goes first in the Elimination Chamber. Bo and Curtis then attack Cena. Miz says he’s smarter than Cena and calls for a referee. Out comes Kurt Angle. He says he likes John’s challenge but sends Curtis and Bo to the back and a Ref runs out.
The Miz vs John Cena:
Miz starts a ground and pound game then goes right for the pin. John kicks. Both go back and forth for a while and keep a good pace to the match. Overall this match was exciting, with a few near falls, a nasty DDT from the Miz, and a top rope AA that had the crowd going wild. John Cena gets the pin and the win. He gets up and points to the sign, the first of many such appearances of the Mania sign tonight.
Next we get a very Matt Hardy promo about his match tonight and Elimination Chamber, which he’s renamed the Deletion Chamber. I smell T-shirt ideas!
Break to the Good Brothers standing backstage. They cut a promo on the Revival, with a clever little “nerd-o-meter” graphic at the bottom of the screen. It fills up, Gallows yells nerds, and that’s about it.
We next see Gallows and Anderson get attached as they go down to the ring by the Revival. The Revival slips into the ring and waits for their opponents who they just laid out. When they finally do get in the ring Gallows start clobbering people. He has some really good offensive for a while that’s eventually stopped by a chop block to the knee from Dawson. The Revival control things going into the commercial and out of the commercial. Gallows finally gets a small opening, reverses, and tags in Machine Gun Anderson. He has some great offense, even getting in his HIYAH! Corner face kick. Revival eventually get the better of him and hit a Shatter Machine for the win. Good match with all parties involved showing some good offensive moments and the Revival getting a much needed win.
After another commercial we come back to Kurt Angle in the ring. He announces that Ronda Rousey will have her contract signing at Elimination Chamber then goes right into the news about his boy, Jason Jordan. He says he’ll be out for a while with a serious injury and chastised the crowd for cheering that. Out comes Seth Rollins. He says he’s been in Jordan’s position and says he’s sorry. He went on to say how he shocked the world and lists some accomplishments, finishing with the fact that he might not even have a spot at EC. Kurt realizes this and says he can find him a new tag partner. Seth stops him and says he wants more. He goes on to say he wants to be the man again. He wants to be Monday Night Rollins! He wants to be added to the Elimination Chamber last chance match. Kurt agrees and now it’s a Fatal-five way.
Bray Wyatt appears on the screen to do his match promo. He says he will win the Elimination Chamber match for the second year in a row and go on to face Brock at WrestleMania.
Sasha vs Bayley
This match had a slow pace to start and the crowd was having trouble getting behind it. Towards the middle the heat intensified to a great finish with a few near falls and a top rope Bayley to Belly. Bayley picks up the win in her home town!
After the match it looks like Bayley is going to hug Sasha, when all the sudden Nia Jax comes through and steam rolls then both. The curly haired Jax lays waste to both then walks back up the ring. -insert random backstage reporter- stops her to ask why she did that and she goes on to say those too took Asuka to the limit and she just destroyed them. She’s the only one that can break Asuka’s streak and she’ll do it at Elimination chamber.
We now go to Rollins back stage. Roman walks up randomly and they go back and forth about the match tonight, trading little barbs towards each other before Sheamus and Cesaro walks up. They poke fun at Seth for his string of failures, then start talking about Dean Ambrose and Jason Jordon being in physical therapy together. Roman chimes in, making fun of Cesaros braces (Be a Star Roman, not a bully) and starts trash talking Sheamus, now for a commercial break.
We come back to Titus WORLDWIDE! Backstage with the sweetest of angels that is Renee Young. They send her off *rage intensifies* and talk about tonight’s match. Apollo and Titus are really hyped while Dana pretends to do stuff on the edge of the screen. The biggest take away from this promo is that “Crews can’t lose.” We know that’s not true but it’s catchy and fun so I’ll allow it.
Break to Alexa wandering backstage and she runs into Mickie James. She apologizes to James and Mickie just isn’t having it. Short promo but builds uncertainty for their match…NEXT!
Mickie James and Alexa Bliss vs. Absolution
This was a really short match. Maybe 5 minutes? Either way Mandy rose hit her finish on James for the pin. They proceed to beat Mickie down after the bell and Alexa clears the ring. Short match that’ll probably culminate with Mickie turning on Alexa or something to that degree.
After the commercial we get Elias! He has a very snazzy shirt on and does his usual sing about the town your in bit. The crowd loves Elias so it’s loud and people chant along at the appropriate times. -Side note- at one point you hear the crowd getting particularly worked up for some reason. Turns out, Braun Strowman is on the stage in a chair with a microphone. He goes over and grabs a standup bass and tries to strum, breaking the strings with his massive hands. He sings a song with all his usual catchphrases in it much to the joy of the crowd. This was my favorite segment of the night. Braun eventually goes to the ring, carrying the bass, and delivers the hands that he’s always talking about to Elias. Elias crawls away as Braun stares at him. In true Braun fashion, he stalks Elias while carrying the standup bass. The crowd is elated at the impending murder of Elias. Braun catches up and smashes the bass over Elias while he’s on the ground. He is dead. RIP Elias.
We have a short Finn Balor Selfie Promo about his match tonight. No different from the others delivered by everyone else. Move along, nothing to see here.
Next is Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
This was a good match but nothing out of the ordinary for either man. Roman got the usual spots in, Sheamus did lots of kicking, and Cesaro was there to run interference and give support to his Bar brother. Roman picks up the win after a killer spear.
Ivory is announced as the next WWE HOF Inductee!
Fatal-Five way time!
The match starts during a commercial so we come in seeing Matt already laid out. This match is chaotic as to be expected. LOTS of near falls, lots of good spots, Apollo Crews still shows off how athletic he is. The important thing is that both Balor and Rollins get the pin on Wyatt. This one left me scratching my head, especially since they just went off the air afterwards. Turns out, Kurt Angle announced on Facebook later that BOTH men will be added to the Elimination Chamber match. That’s right…7 people in the chamber.
Be sure to check out RAW replays (wherever you can), check out more content on WrestlingwithWrestling.com, follow me on twitter @buuurch1, and as always take care. See you tomorrow for the Smackdown review where we’ll talk more about Shane McMahon vs. the world, who the Bludgeon Brothers will squash next, and the returning Dolph Ziggler!
Burch
This article was written by @Buuurch1 please follow me on twitter.
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