WWE Raw – April 8, 2019 (Review)

The Best of Monday Night Raw

An Appearance By The New WWE Champion

Going into last night’s episode of Raw, I was thinking what a shame it was that we’d have to wait another day to see the coronation of Kofi Kingston. It just felt like, after the emotion of his WrestleMania victory, a Kofi celebration is something we should be getting to open the next night. Turns out, I wasn’t alone in that thought.

And so Kofi, flanked by his New Day pals Big E and Xavier Woods, made a surprise appearance midway through Seth’s opening promo. But this wasn’t just a party. Channeling his inner Becky Lynch, Kofi challenged Seth to a ‘Winner Take All’ match later in the night, pitting WWE Champion against the Universal Champion.

More on that later.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwBQVa5Fr76/

The Crowd

Too often WWE crowds are blamed for a lack of passion when shows play out to mostly silent indifference. Most recently, Lafayette caught the brunt of this criticism – even being the subject of a lengthy hit piece put out by WWE themselves for the express purpose of running down the city.

But the simple truth is that you can’t expect crowds to get excited for a show that’s been pretty poor in recent months. You need to give them something to cheer for… and last night Raw did just that. And the crowd responded. Brooklyn was hot throughout, making every segment and each wrestler feel big time.

We even got a “Hey, Bayley” chant for the first time in about two years! Good on ya, Brooklyn.

Alexa Bliss’ Return to the Ring

We haven’t seen the ‘Five Feet of Fury’ compete in a while and it was just awesome to see her in the ring again. Hopefully that means that her injuries are behind her and that we won’t be forced to sit through any more Moments of Bliss. Classic win / win situation.

Maybe she’ll get back to cutting some of those scathing heel promos too, making it a win / win / win.

The Debut of Lars Sullivan

I have reservations about old Lars, but I was relieved to see him finally make his main roster debut following months of promos and a reported bout of anxiety. Mental health is a delicate matter and his debut seems to indicate that he’s in a better place. While having Lars destroy a 50-year-old man wasn’t the best way to introduce him to a new audience, there remains a ton of potential feuds for Sullivan to step into from here. Roman Reigns? Drew McIntyre? Finn Bálor? Braun Strowman? Each of those present something enticing to look forward to.

On an important side note, I’m even more relieved that he appeared to take it easy on Kurt Angle when delivering the Freak Accident. The giant man confronted Angle after the Olympian had mercifully interrupted a long-winded Baron Corbin promo, and the ensuing attack could’ve been far worse.

A New Challenger for A New Champion

Becky made her way to the ring covered in more gold than Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger. Please understand that reference.

While her victory lap on the mic was full of great one-liners directed at Ronda and Charlotte, it was the interruption that elevated this segment. Lacey Evans has taken a lot of strolls in recent months, but none have taken place on ‘The Man’s watch. On this occasion, the ‘Southern Belle’ walked right up to ‘Becky Two Belts’ before decking her with the Woman’s Right.

What could’ve been an impactful moment had Becky been knocked down for a few seconds was somewhat undercut by the fact that the Champ barely sold the punch before launching herself at the very inappropriately dressed Evans. With Lacey battling to hold onto her fashionable hat and fairly restrictive gown, this brawl resembled a late-90s catfight more than a modern day wrestling angle.

But I will applaud Raw for immediately jump starting a fresh feud for Lynch and hope that this gives Evans a platform to show us what she can do in the ring. Lacey doesn’t exactly instil a ton of optimism in most fans, but I’m going to give this feud a chance. She’s a fresh challenger to Becky’s crown, and let’s face it, she’s had months to prepare for this. I’m going to choose to believe.

😱 Did #TheMan just meet the #WomansRight? 😱@BeckyLynchWWE @LaceyEvansWWE #BeckyLynch #RAWAfterMania #RAW pic.twitter.com/93T5hOE7Rf

— WWE (@WWE) April 9, 2019

Elias is a Dead Man

After the debacle that was his performance at WrestleMania, Elias was in no mood for interruptions last night. He issued a warning to anyone who dared meddle with his performance, whether they be legends, Hall of Famers, NXT call-ups or Vince McMahon himself. He went so far as to say that anyone who got in his way would be “a dead man”.

And then the Undertaker’s massive gong struck.

I must admit that after being conspicuously absent from Sunday’s event, I was not expecting to see the ‘Dead Man’ on Raw. So this really did come as a surprise – so much so that I actually stood up out of my seat when it happened.

Of course, all he did was beat up Elias for a bit – which pretty much everyone who’s ever appeared on the red brand has done at some point – but this was nevertheless a classic ‘Raw after Mania’ moment.

What'll it be, @IAmEliasWWE? Want to take a step into Death Valley? #RAWAfterMania #RAW #Undertaker pic.twitter.com/RggK2gkE9x

— WWE (@WWE) April 9, 2019

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