WWE RAW Review (2/27): Who Was This Week's MVP?, Goldberg, Seth Rollins, Standout Moments
Standout Moments
1) No sir, I don't like it ? To put it very plainly, that opening did not get me hyped for Raw or the upcoming match between Kevin Owens and Goldberg. After Goldberg's incredibly long walk to the ring, he gave a robotic, run-of-the mill promo that honestly didn't inspire the crowd all that much. Some even tried to give him the "What?" treatment. Owens then came out to the ramp, flubbed his first line and continued where Goldberg left off, where did all that heat go? Oh that's right, I should mention this off the top, Raw was in Green Bay, a place notorious for not reacting to very much the WWE gives them. Anyways, there's just no spark between these two, it's been a vanilla feud (if you can even call it a feud) that seems very likely to have an ending where Goldberg takes the title. Some might look forward to that, but can't say I'm one of them.
2) You could hear a pin drop... ? When the Shining Stars came out. Those poor guys, why does WWE continue to keep them around? What do they know? Why did they get two appearances in the show? That goes for Enzo, as well, cap him at one.
3) Boom. Roasted. ? Mick Foley got completely flattened by Stephanie McMahon backstage, she said a lot, but most devastating about picking him for General Manager, "I apologize, that the man who could stand up to anyone and anything, can hardly stand at all." I know fans tend to hate that Stephanie talks down everyone, but this was done in a much better way, no needless yelling and a slap to the face, just cold and calculated. Mick was left with a tear in his eye and his night didn't get much better with both Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman getting under his skin later in the night. It seems very likely his time is limited.
4) Hit the bricks, Dana ? She had to stand there for the entire segment while Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley all got their time to talk. Then when the tag match was announced, Charlotte gave her the boot for Nia Jax! What exactly is keeping this woman with Charlotte? Protégée or not, she has been made to look like a complete fool for a really, really long time. So much so that her credibility will take quite awhile to rebuild, a face turn probably would help expedite that process.
Getting to the champion, Bayley is fun, she's got great mannerisms, in-ring abilities and charisma, but her promos are a struggle to get through. Obviously, the only way to get better is to practice, but long promos are not her friend, Sasha didn't fare much better tonight either. During the tag match, Dana didn't find much luck as she was sent to the back after a Bayley-to-Belly on the floor, while Nia Jax looked great as she thoroughly destroyed Sasha and Bayley, getting the pin on the Women's champion. Sasha, Charlotte, Bayley, and Nia will likely meet at WrestleMania, WWE just has to drag things along until we get there in about forty days.
5) Pin the loss on the champions ? Both Bayley and Luke Gallows (granted, it was a singles match) were pinned last night. It's not a big deal for this to happen from time to time, but it's become a trend that just makes the title holders look weak. Sasha could have easily taken the pin by Nia, and why not have a DQ finish or give Gallows the victory? He and Anderson could definitely use every one they could get.
6) Sympathy for Rollins ? Well, Seth did his best to come off as a likable guy who is down on his luck with the doctors not clearing him for WrestleMania. He clearly had a different tone in the first half of this segment. Props to Corey Graves who brought a nice personal touch to the interview, hope we see more of these from him in the future. Out came Triple H (and somehow Samoa Joe), who put together a fantastic promo that Rollins totally dismissed, saying the he will be at WrestleMania, because he's got nothing left to lose. Kind of weird Joe did nothing though, maybe just a reminder of who he's linked with?
Trending Up
We were all very impressed, @AustinAries. pic.twitter.com/Bix3gcHSJG
? TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) February 28, 2017
Austin Aries - After showing a video promo on Aries, he instantly said, "You like my package, Cole? It was massive, wasn't it?" That line and getting Michael Cole to crack up on-screen is enough to get him in this section.
Trending Down
The New Day ? Between the lame push for ice cream (or is it pops now?) and the drawn out Oscar joke, this became an incredibly painful segment that made me wish I could just sit in complete silence for the next few hours. The "wrong tag team" joke fell completely flat among the live crowd as New Day tried to talk their way through the rest of the segment. It's a shame WWE has basically nothing for them all the way until WrestleMania, it's going to be a long, bumpy ride.
This Week's MVP
Braun Strowman ? The the top rope exploding off was a nice touch, laughing/yelling at Foley was cool, and he got the best of Reigns, again. A weak show with not a lot of choices, Braun get the nod for back-to-back weeks.
Overall Thoughts
I've been doing these reviews for almost two months and those first two hours were among the worst I've had to sit through, so far. The third hour was a slight improvement, but I still found myself staring off into the distance for a good chunk of it. Even Cesaro/Samoa Joe couldn't bring me back with Cesaro getting "hurt" very quickly and Joe was able to win pretty easily, to me, the match was rushed. As I mentioned at the top, the live crowd did no favors to the show, even during good moments (like Rollins/Triple H) their reactions were horrendous. WWE really needs to stop doing televised events in Green Bay. For a PPV go-home show, this one was a real sleeper, a very disappointing performance that sent my optimism out the window. I'm giving a grade indicative of what Raw took from me last night.
Grade (out of 10): 3 (Last Week: 7.5)