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WWE Raw TV News & Notes 4/25
– Mid-way through the third hour of Raw, WWE ran a tribute video to Chyna (Joanie Laurer) following her death last week.
– Raw closed with a teaser of whether A.J. Styles will use help from Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows against WWE World Hvt. champion Roman Reigns at the Payback PPV on Sunday.
Styles continued to try to keep Anderson & Gallows in check throughout the show as part of their introduction on WWE TV, carrying over from the (unnamed) Bullet Club in New Japan.
Anderson & Gallows also made their WWE TV in-ring debut, defeating The Usos in a tag match.
– Stephanie McMahon returned to WWE TV for the first time since WrestleMania to confront Shane McMahon. This set up a situation at Payback for their dad, Mr. McMahon, to decide which one gets to run Raw going forward. Shane ran this week’s Raw.
Triple H did not return to Raw TV with Stephanie. Hunter has not appeared on TV since losing the WWE Title to Reigns at WrestleMania.
– Chris Jericho was arguably the star of the show as part of a confrontation with Dean Ambrose setting up their grudge match at Payback.
– WWE highlighted the long-time friendship and feud between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens ahead of their grudge match at Payback.
Zayn went on to defeat Rusev in a singles match. All three members of The League of Nations (Rusev, Alberto Del Rio, and Sheamus) lost singles matches on Raw.
Rusev, who was re-joined by Lana, lost to Zayn, Sheamus lost to A.J. Styles in the opener, and Del Rio lost to Reigns in the main event. WWE still used the “League of Nations” label for the individual wrestlers, but they did not come out together for any of the three matches.
– The Wyatts remained completely off TV for the second consecutive week since Bray Wyatt’s injury on the first night of the European Tour. WWE has not addressed the Wyatts’s absence in the two episodes since Bray was the focal point of Reigns’s post-WrestleMania situation.
– The Social Outcasts did not appear on Raw after teasing Viktor of The Ascension being a new member on the European Tour.
– The tone of Primo & Epico’s re-packaging vignettes completely shifted from tourism and pretty flowers on the island of Puerto Rico to nightlife and fast-paced dancing. Primo & Epico went full heel telling viewers that people watching are fat and ugly, unlike in Puerto Rico.
– Twice during the show, WWE highlighted John Cena returning to Raw in one month on the Memorial Day episode.
– Twice during the show, WWE highlighted Samoa Joe’s NXT Title victory over Finn Balor over the weekend. WWE noted they will air the match (or highlights) on this week’s NXT episode on WWE Network.
– The Dudleys, who did not appear on Raw, were announced for Tuesday night’s ESPNews SportsCenter segment.
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