Kurt Angle and Jeff Jarrett wrestle on the same show in 2019. EC3 makes his in-ring debut, but not his speaking one. And Becky Lynch has been suspended by WWE!
I’m Oli Davis – give us a subscribe, press the thumbs up button, tell me if you think Ronda Rousey is turning heel in the comments below because I’ll be replying to people FROM OUTTA NOWHERE, and click the ‘i’ above my head to give your rating – where you can choose from: RawSome, Cor, AVRAWGE, Poor and RawFul – as I review the 4th February, 2019 edition of Monday Night Raw …in about 4 minutes.
Becky Lynch On Raw
Raw opened with Becky Lynch interrupting Stephanie McMahon’s in-ring introduction of her because a) she’s The Man, and 2) Brand Split, LOL.
But as much as Stephanie wants to see Becky beat up Ronda Rousey, she’s understandably concerned about Lynch’s apparent knee injury – and she’ll have to suspend Becky until she agrees to see a doctor.
This was some great character work for Lynch, building on the real-life Survivor Series concussion, which stopped her from having the biggest match of her career. She’s been so emotionally scarred by that, she’s become her own worst enemy by covering up her current injury with bravado and anger.
Becky never said any of this, of course, leaving it to the subtext of her beating up Stephanie – where it was later shown in a slow motion replay that McMahon kicked Lynch’s injured knee.
In a presumably intentional parallel, the first ever Stone Cold Stunner on Mr McMahon came when Vince tried to stop Austin from wrestling because he wasn’t medically cleared either.
And to cap off a very effective opening segment, Becky ran into Ronda backstage when she was being escorted out, where Rousey cut a fiery, almost heelish promo, made much better without the live crowd booing to fluster her. She showed intensity, anger and badass rage…
Ronda Rousey beat Liv Morgan
Which was immediately undermined by her smiling and high fiving fans when she walked out to face Liv Morgan, whom she made tap in a few moves.
Ronda Rousey beat Sarah Logan
And then also her Riott Squad teammate Sarah Logan. I can’t wait to see that team in the women’s Elimination Chamber match
The Revival beat Heavy Machinery, Lucha House Party & B-Team
Another brand, another four-way match with Heavy Machinery to decide a tag team title’s No.1 contenders . Brand split, lol. The Revival pinned Bo Dallas for the win.
Kurt Angle Doesn’t Address His Future
Kurt Angle was out next to seemingly start his retirement storyline. Which might’ve registered more on an emotional level, if actual stars were watching on from backstage.
We never got to hear what Angle planned to announce, as both Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre interrupted, because they’re still weirdly a faction. One Braun Strowman rundown later, and we’ve got a tag team main event, players.
Black History Month
Nia Jax made her 48th career heel/face turn appearing in a Black History Month promo.
Seth Rollins Video Package
Seth Rollins only got a video package this week, supporting reports he’s out injured for at least a month.
Bayley & Sasha Banks beat Alicia Fox & Nikki Cross
With Renee Young now made terrible on commentary, ‘Mean’ Charly Caruso is now WWE’s best backstage interviewer. ‘Hey Bayley and Sasha Banks, how do you feel about being stupid losers who stupidly lose all the time?’
Despite Sasha not getting physical at all in this match, as she’s also reportedly working injured, a worked over Bayley managed to pin Alicia Fox to qualify for the Chamber.
Elias beat Jeff Jarrett
Having Road Dogg in his corner wasn’t enough to help Jeff Jarrett overcome Elias next, which the Drifter won easily. They got the better of him afterwards, though, with a brutal guitar shot to the back that didn’t break. Must’ve been made of Japanese wood.
Finn Balor beat Lio Rush
Finn Balor cut a promo next about how he’s going to take the fight to Bobby Lashley, just like he took the fight to Brock Lesnar. He does know he lost that match, right?
Instead, he ended up taking the fight to Lio Rush, beating him once Bobby was banned from ringside.
Paige Returns
PAIGE HERE! Not now, Pai-oh, you’ve got a movie about your life to promote . Roll that trailer.
Moment of Bliss: EC3
Because one crappy gimmick wasn’t enough, Alexa Bliss’ awful talkshow segment A Moment of Bliss had the weirdly mute EC3 on as a guest, who were later joined by Tamina and Nia Jax (now a heel again).
The segment was completely saved by Dean Ambrose in full ‘I don’t care because I’m leaving the company soon’ mode. Dean dropped his various heel characters from the last half a year and just dished out zingers. ‘So you’re EC3? What happened to EC1 and 2?’ What are you, a mute chippendale dancer?
EC3 beat Dean Ambrose
This turned into a quick debut victory for EC3 over Ambrose, where he was either very good at selling, or legitimately injured his shoulder.
Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin vs Kurt Angle & Braun Strowman
The main event was given to the Tall Man Division, with the many meters of Braun, McIntyre and Corbin meat to marvel at.
Unfortunately, the person I most cared about was the least focused on. After a run of losses, Angle still wasn’t booked as the grizzled veteran making a comeback, just some old geezer who can barely hang with a man who wrestles in a waistcoat.
And even though the show ended with Strowman and Angle standing tall, the DQ finish of Braun beating up Drew and Corbin was lame, and left the crowd cold.
Don’t let the headlines from this show mislead you. Despite Becky Lynch getting suspended and EC3 making his in-ring debut, this was very much a filler episode that lacked star power – with both Royal Rumble winners in Becky and Seth currently written out because of injury. This week’s Raw is a low AvRAWge.
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