This week’s show, filmed in Indianapolis, Indiana, opens with a podium in the ring, and Triple H comes down to speak. Placing his belt on the podium, he addresses his attack on Roman Reigns on RAW and how people like Reigns have to bow to his authority. Unsurprisingly, he plans on retaining his title at Wrestlemania.
All this is fine, but fans have to wonder what the plan is for Wrestlemania. Clearly, it’s going to be difficult – if not impossible – to get Reigns cheered as the babyface victor after all the mistakes that have been made with his booking.
Monday, Triple H got cheered during his brutal beatdown of the two-time World Heavyweight Champion, despite years of working as a heel Authority figure.
Next, we’re told that Chris Jericho, AJ Styles, and a mystery partner are going to face the New Day later. Why are Styles and Jericho suddenly tag team partners? That’s tough to answer, but it seems to be working for now.
League of Nations def. Neville/Dolph Ziggler/Lucha Dragons
Surprisingly, Wade Barrett gets a healthy stretch of the ring time for the heel team here before taking two Red Arrows from Neville. Sheamus overcomes the memory loss that gravity had, though, and Brogue Kicks Neville for the win. Afterward, the League celebrates by carrying Barrett out on their shoulders.
Who knows what’s going on with the League of Nations right now?
They’ve gone from holding two of the three singles titles to being nearly irrelevant in just a couple months, and now they’re back to bigger storylines and wins again. If nothing else, it would be nice to see Barrett get a decent run if he’s really leaving the company when his contract is up.
Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens is up next for a backstage interview with Renee Young. Owens offers Dean Ambrose his customary rematch for the white and gold belt, but Ambrose is not present for the show.
Owens then goes on to brag about beating everyone and issues an open challenge to the locker room. Big Show, claiming that Owens has never beaten him, accepts the challenge for later in the show.
D-Von Dudley def. Jimmy Uso
This match lasts less than a minute after interference from Bubba Ray.
The heel Dudleys add an interesting element to the tag team division, but we need to see more consistent structure for the teams. Who are the top contenders? Who is vying for a title shot at Wrestlemania, and who are the “enhancement” teams who will just be a part of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale. It seems that the Dudleys and Usos are in for a feud, but surely one or both of those squads will be facing New Day for the belts in Dallas.
After a video recap from Raw, where we see Shane McMahon’s return, it is announced that Undertaker will be in attendance for next Monday’s show. This is a huge deal for that story because we need to hear Undertaker’s reaction. Will he gladly accept his role in the match, which will decide who controls Raw, or will he need convincing from Vince McMahon?
Backstage, Styles, and Jericho pick Mark Henry as their teammate for their battle against the New Day. At this point, it’s really just kind of sad that Henry’s career has come to this. He’s nothing more than an extra man when a team needs one, or he jobs for larger athletes. That’s great that he’s accepted that role, but it would be nice to see him win a match of significance at some point.
Kevin Owens def. Big Show
The Intercontinental Champion earns the count out victory after a solid match by getting Show straddled on the top ropes. Show falls out and can’t answer the count in time.
This match is fine for now for Owens, but he obviously needs a more impressive match for Wrestlemania. With Ambrose involved with Brock Lesnar, perhaps Styles would be another good option given the history between Owens and Styles at Royal Rumble and in other promotions.
Natalya def. Becky Lynch (Disqualification)
This was a wild finish, as Naomi and Tamina Snuka get the run in and kick Natalya first before attacking Lynch. Sasha Banks, inexplicably still working with Lynch despite their tag match at Fastlane being over, comes in to make the save.
From there, Divas Champion Charlotte comes out with her famous father to announce that Lynch and Banks will be facing off on Raw. Presumably, that match will have a tie to the Divas title picture.
There have been rumors of a Triple Threat between Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky at Wrestlemania, and perhaps Monday’s match will be another step in that storyline. If that’s the path they take for Mania, it could be one of the better matches on the card.
R-Truth def. Heath Slater
Goldust comes out to help the man he’s hoping to pick up as a tag-team partner get the victory.
These Golden Truth segments have been entertaining but have already gone on too far. Here’s to hoping the eventual payoff is a quality team that at least gets a title shot or two, if not a run with the belts.
Styles/Jericho/Henry def. New Day
The result comes when Xavier Woods taps to Styles’ Calf Crusher submission hold. Expectedly, the crowd gets into the match early, particularly for Styles and the tag team champions. Highlights include dual springboards by Styles and Jericho, and of course, dancing shenanigans.
This victory somewhat suggests we could see Jericho and Styles involved in an increasingly clogged tag division. Perhaps their teamwork is just temporary, but whatever the case, Styles should be injected into a title picture soon.
