SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
BROOKLYN, N.Y. AT THE BARCLAYS CENTER
MARCH 2, 2020
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST
Announcers: Tom Phillips, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Byron Saxton
Arena, Top 10 Moments of Last Week’s Show, Items Advertised by WWE
WWE Raw returns to a familiar destination in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The nearly eight-year old building, which is about an hour drive from my home (depending on traffic), hosts the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and was hosting the NHL’s N.Y. Islanders before it was announced that they’d be heading back to their long time home in the NYCB Live at Nassau Coliseum for the playoffs and next year’s regular season. WWE has been a frequent Barclays Center tenant with Raw and Smackdown and hosted SummerSlam from 2015-2018. It’s bittersweet when any show is here or at Nassau Coliseum and I can’t attend, which applies to this evening due to my early work schedule tomorrow.
Here are the top 10 moments from last week’s show:
We head towards Elimination Chamber this Sunday, which will be the last PPV prior to WrestleMania. Three matches are signed including both chamber matches. From the Raw side, they’ll determine Becky Lynch’s challenger for the Raw Women’s Championship at ‘Mania. For Smackdown, they’ll go for their tag team championship currently held by Miz & John Morrison. Braun Strowman defends the Intercontinental Championship in a three-on-one handicap match. I’ll expand on those matches in the Smackdown primer last this week. Here’s what advertised for tonight’s show thus far:
- Mysterio and Andrade make Raw returns for highly anticipated tag team match
- O.C. sneak attack leads to Black vs. Styles on Raw
- Beth Phoenix returns to Raw with a medical update on Edge
- Shayna Baszler and Asuka collide six nights ahead of WWE Elimination Chamber
- “Now or Never” for the Street Profits against Seth Rollins & Murphy
- Riddick Moss puts the 24/7 Title on the line Monday
Matt Hardy
Before I talk about tonight’s Raw, I want to talk about Matt Hardy. He announced, via his YouTube show Thoughts from the Throne, that he let his WWE contract expired as of midnight this morning. He says he will be exploring all of his options by watching WWE, AEW, NWA, MLW, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan Pro Wrestling, etc. and seeing what he wants to do. He also said there will be a finale to Free the Delete. Here’s is that clip:
Frank’s Analysis: I don’t know how much Matt has left in the tank from an in-ring standpoint, but I believe there’s some creativity left in him. I’m not sure he’d be able to delve into that under the employ of WWE. A lot of people feel AEW is his next stop as the leader of the Dark Order, and that probably makes a lot of sense. I’m just 100% sure it does for me, and I don’t know if that’s something Matt would want to do. For now, I wish Matt all the best and will look forward to seeing where he pops up next.
Rey Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo vs. U.S. Champion Andrade & Angel Garza (with Zelina Vega)
It’s been round and round the dance floor for quite some time for everyone involved in this tag team match. Angel Garza has won two straight televised matches against his cousin Humberto Carrillo, beating him on Raw last week and at Super Showdown this past Thursday. When Garza debuted several weeks ago, he went after Carrillo and later took on Rey Mysterio. Mysterio won via DQ when Garza DDT’d him onto the exposed concrete floor. Garza paired with Bobby Lashley to defeat Carrillo and Rusev a few weeks ago on Raw. Zelina Vega has been paired with Garza since he has debuted on Raw.
Vega’s other client, U.S. Champion Andrade, returned from suspension at Super Showdown and failed to win the coveted Tuwaiq Trophy. He has a long-standing feud with Mysterio which goes back to late 2018. Tonight, feuds get combined as Mysterio pairs with Carrillo to face both of Vega’s client in Garza and Andrade.
Frank’s Analysis: I did notice in one of the losses recently that Carrillo had a real sinister look on his face. I still wonder if a heel turn is in the offing for him with maybe Andrade going babyface. They could pair cousins Carrillo and Garza together managed by Vega. I don’t know if that’s really even a thought for WWE, but the thought crossed my mind. Right now, I see Carrillo being a good hand, which is fine, but I wonder if there’s more ground to mine with a turn. As far as the match there aren’t a ton of talking points other than it should be a good match with solid action.
Aleister Black vs. A.J. Styles
It’s been an interesting few weeks for A.J. Styles. A few weeks ago, he talked about being the greatest and put himself over several WWE Hall of Famers. Last week, he along with Karl Anderson accompanied their O.C. “brother” Luke Gallows as he took on Ricochet. After Ricochet defeated Gallows, the O.C. were seen arguing in the back. Fortunately, the camera was there at the right time as in walked Aleister Black. They attacked Black ahead of his match with Erick Rowan. This past Thursday at Super Showdown, A.J. thought he had the coveted Tuwaiq Trophy in the bag when the Undertaker showed up and replaced Rey Mysterio in the gauntlet match for said trophy. ‘Taker pinned him off of a choke slam.
Later on, Black would defeat Rowan. While being interview by Sarah Schreiber, he clearly trolled all of us here at PWTorch and said, “if anyone thinks I’m being too cryptic, next week we fight.” Tonight, Black goes one-on-one with A.J.
Frank’s Analysis: If A.J. can be pinned off of one choke slam, Black ought to not waste any time. He should go right to Black Mass and get out of dodge. A.J. has been so defined down since pairing with Gallows and Anderson. I don’t know how Thursday did him any favors. Considering Black is on the rise, it’ll be interesting to see the finish they have planned for tonight.
Beth Phoenix Returns to Give Medical Update on Husband Edge
We’re a little over a month since Randy Orton took out long-time friend Edge with multiple chair shots to the head. He has tried to give an explanation but is constantly conflicted and has been interrupted by Matt Hardy and Kevin Owens. Last week Owens talked about his disappointment seeing as he grew up watching Edge and always dreamed of facing him. That dream was taken away as a result of Orton taking out Edge. Orton defeated Owens later on with the help of a referee who turned out to be aligned with Seth Rollins
Tonight, we hopefully get no interruptions as Edge’s wife, WWE Hall of Famer and current NXT commentator Beth Phoenix, makes an appearance to give us an update on Edge’s medical condition.
Frank’s Analysis: The Brooklyn Bridge is about a five to ten-minute drive from the Barclays Center. I’ll sell you that bridge if you think they’re not running some kind of angle tonight. They’re going to provide extra security for Beth given how Orton has been acting lately, right? (Yeah, I tried that with a straight face but no dice. If you could see my face now.)
Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka
Last week the participants of the Elimination Chamber match to determine Becky Lynch’s challenger for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania signed a contract. Asuka, Natalya, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, and Liv Morgan were all present with Jerry “The King” Lawler moderating (really WWE? Send the world’s biggest dirty old man to do that?) Conspicuous by her absence to start out was Shayna Baszler, the sixth participant. Asuka made issue with it, but they continued with the signing. After everyone signed, Baszler came out. Asuka got in Baszler’s face and then everyone brawled. Later on, Baszler brawled with Becky after she made her way out.
Tonight, Asuka and Baszler go one on one. These women at different times were two of the most dominant champions in NXT. They never crossed paths, but Asuka’s Kabuki Warrior partner Kairi Sane sure did. They swapped the women’s championship and had a long-standing feud throughout 2018.
Frank’s Analysis: It’s odd to have two heel characters go at it, especially including one who hasn’t been a heel for very long in Asuka. What babyface should Baszler take on that’s worthwhile? I suppose Natalya would be the choice. There’s no other babyface on the Raw side that’s worth a minute of your time. Most likely there will be shenanigans setting up whatever they have planned, but the match leading up to all of that should be good.
“Now or Never” Raw Tag Team Championship: Seth Rollins & Murphy (champs) vs. Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)
This past Thursday at Super Showdown, Rollins & Murphy retained the Raw Tag Team Championship over the Street Profits. In the run-up to that match, last week on Raw we saw Angelo Dawkins beat Murphy via DQ. Next, we saw Montez Ford go about 15 minutes with Seth Rollins, ultimately falling to his Stomp.
Tonight, the Street Profits somehow get a rematch for the Raw Tag Team Championship. Only this time it’s a “now or never” match, which suggests the Profits will never get a shot at Rollins & Murphy for the titles if they can’t win them. Here’s Rollins & Murphy in a WWE.com exclusive following their retaining of the titles at Super Showdown:
Frank’s Analysis: Now or never? Does that mean they’re switching the titles? That would make sense if they’re setting the stage for a feud with Rollins and Kevin Owens or whatever else they may have planned for Rollins & Murphy. For me though, it doesn’t feel like the Street Profits’ time, but when does it feel like time for any tag team on the roster?
Riddick Moss Defends 24/7 Championship
Two weeks ago, on Raw, Riddick Moss retained the 24/7 Championship over former champions Mojo Rawley and 20+ or 30+ time champ R-Truth. Earlier that day he retained the title at the Funko Store:
WWE is advertising that he will defend the title tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: Isn’t the idea of the 24/7 Championship that it’s defending anywhere, anytime and unannounced?
Other Match Results and Segments from Last Week
- Paul Heyman cut a promo with his client, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, ahead of his retaining the title over Ricochet at Super Showdown. He looked ahead to the “spoiler” of retaining the title over Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania. Speaking of Drew, he spoke backstage with Charly Caruso regarding his career in WWE. He talked about how things went the first time around when he was the “chosen one” to getting fired, coming back and becoming the NXT Champion, coming to the main roster, and eventually winning the Royal Rumble. They highlighted his time in 3MB (I get the willies thinking about that awful stable) but didn’t talk about the alliances with Dolph Ziggler and eventually Shane McMahon.
- Bobby Lashley defeated R-Truth ahead of Truth defeating him in the Tuwaiq Trophy gauntlet match at Super Showdown. That match would eventually be won by the Undertaker, who defeated A.J. Styles.
Final Thoughts
Despite some issues with the show recently, I’m still overall intrigued by the storylines much more so than I am with Smackdown. Even though I’m positive on it, Asuka vs. Baszler feels a little soon. I’ve just hot a point in my WWE viewing that no matches are big and it’s better just to watch and see how things unfold. Given we have Elimination Chamber next week, tonight should be good considering it’s the go-home Raw episode. New York shows tend … I say tend to be more exciting than others.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.
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