WWE RAW Review (2/13): Who Is This Week's MVP?, Standout Moments, Emma, Bayley Wins Women's Title
Standout Moments
1) Rough Start ? Stephanie opening the show is never a good sign as she always brings something cringe worthy to any segment. This time around it was Steph doing her best (which was actually the worst) Teddy Long impression, she's become that Mom who can't help but be embarrassing in any social situation. Roman Reigns trotted out and demanded he get Strowman right now, which obviously Stephanie wasn't down with, instead he received a 2-on-1 match against Gallows and Anderson. It was incredibly random, although, the initial outcome of Gallows/Anderson losing via DQ for beating up Reigns was solid. That was short lived though as Reigns hulked up and sent both guys running for the hills, way to make your tag champs look like chumps. The tag division is floundering as is, I don't see how this helped things any.
2) The waiting game ? After seventeen weeks of waiting, we finally got Emmalina to come out and grace us with her presence! Her message was simple, that we are going to wait just a bit longer, for Emma. Clearly, WWE had no idea what to do with Emmalina, and maybe they heard enough fans say "Just keep her 'Evil Emma!'" Even though the long wait was beyond stupid, I'm happy WWE came to their senses and will (hopefully) bring back the Emma we knew and loved. The music alone is worth bringing her back.
3) Actually laughed... ? When they announced Strowman was going up against Mark Henry. I get it's a good way to build up Strowman by having him beat up another big man, but really? Mark Henry? Everyone who works with him has nothing but nice things to say, but there has to be someone else who can take over his spot on the roster.
4) Strong Strowman ? There were back-to-back weeks when Braun actually backed away from his opponents, which made absolutely no sense, considering his gimmick and size. Last night, he stood in the ring and demanded Reigns come in and face him! The two battled, Braun got the best of the exchange, it was a much better look for one of WWE's biggest monsters.
5) Sami, Crush ? After a tough loss against Jericho last week, Zayn got back on track with a win over "Handsome" Rusev (nice to see him this week, after being missing in action). He followed that up with a great promo where he called out Samoa Joe about his earlier comments. It wasn't long before Joe made his way out and beat Zayn senseless, continuing to show fans, he's not just all talk. This feud will be a lot of fun as it will get Joe plenty of heat and (most likely) a win on a PPV.
6) Jericho and Owens are no longer best friends ? I don't want to talk about it...
.@FightOwensFight and @IAmJericho's partnership was blown to smithereens at the #FestivalOfFriendship. #RAW pic.twitter.com/fKa1XS90fx
? WWE (@WWE) February 14, 2017
Trending Up
Kevin Owens ? Okay, fine, I'll talk about it. After Jericho went so far over the top with his gifts, "Friendship" the Magician, and his outfit, Owens decided to give his own simple "gift." Most fans expected Jericho to add Owens to his list, but instead, it was Jericho who was put on a list (in heartbreaking fashion too, "How come my name's on this list?") and proceeded to get absolutely destroyed by his former best friend. Social media collectively lost their minds, the live crowd actively booed the heck out of Owens as he went backstage, and it was all beautifully done. As many have talked about, Owens had lost his "mean streak" during his championship run, but that looks to be back in full force after powerbombing his pal on the apron and throwing him through a TV. Okay, that's all I can handle, the pain is still too real.
Samoa Joe ? First, he made a big splash by literally taking out Seth Rollins at the behest of Triple H. Then he cut a solid in-ring promo and match against Roman Reigns, which he eventually won. This week, he did a sit-down with Michael Cole and absolutely kills it! Totally believable in everything he said, if you missed it, be sure to find it. "I beat Roman Reigns...for two weeks, two weeks I beat "the man" and I beat "the guy" and for 18 years prior, I've beaten everyone they've put in from of me...I'm here to wreck shop." It was an absolute clinic put on by Joe that should continue to remind everyone that he belongs not only in the WWE, but at the top. Also, he got in that funny dig against Sami Zayn, "I'm not some Sami Zayn, who's just 'happy' to be on Raw."
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New Day ? It's tough to really put this on New Day since they haven't changed up much since losing the titles; it's been the downgrade booking. They went from breaking a 20+ year record to being annoyed by Titus O'Neil for about a month. Now they are angling for ice cream merchandise (unless the plans that Bo Dallas ripped up were their only copy!) and beating up low card guys, like Bo. Again, it just shows how weak the tag division is at the moment. Speaking of Bo, when is WWE just going to put him with Bray? He's got that beard going and Bray is probably going to be in need of some new followers in the very near future.
Enzo - *Checks expiration date*
This Week's MVP
Bayley ? Initially, I had Samoa Joe here, then Kevin Owens, which showed how solid this episode was on Monday night. With a little help from a friend, Bayley was able to capture her first title since jumping to the main roster. The main event was fantastic, it was engaging, and had the live crowd buzzing with anticipation. Say what you will about Bayley's promo abilities, but when she's in the ring the physical charisma takes over in a big way. I try not to pay attention to whenever a wrestler is "supposed" to win a title (in this case, it was thought she would win at WrestleMania), so this victory was a nice surprise for me. WWE has been playing hot potato with the title though, we'll see how long it stays around her waist.
Overall Thoughts
Looking back, I think I rated last week's Raw a bit too high, but this week was much better, so it needs to have a higher grading. Even though the first hour or so was pretty rough, between Samoa Joe, Zayn/Rusev, the main event, and one of the most soul crushing break-ups that we've seen in a long time, Raw delivered last night. Oh, also, Gillberg showed up.
Grade (out of 10): 8 (Last Week: 7.5)