HEYDORN’S RAW RECEIPT 3/29: Bad business in breaking up the Hurt Business ahead of WrestleMania

This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw has wrapped. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and relive some of the madness.

-So, it takes Bobby Lashley all these years to finally find his perfect character in WWE and then 12 days ahead of the biggest match of his career they remove elements of the character that helped it click? Smart. Very smart. Eye roll.

-Riddle and his scooter … Just be a bad ass or don’t. Seeing him deliver in the ring and then ride around backstage on a silly scooter hurts my brain. Knowing he can be a legitimate threat, but seeing him used differently instead is maddeningly disappointing.

-That’s a quarter in the jar, WWE. What did we say about pinning champions ahead of PPV events in non-title matches in attempt to find a challenger? Shame.

-We saw the best Strowman/Shane segment to date. It was a top 3 worst moment of the show. This tells you all you need to know about that feud.

-Ok, I’ve been a pretty stark defender of the Bad Bunny vs. Miz stuff to this point. It’s impossible to get behind that music video, though. Not only was it juvenile in nature, but it simply was an unnecessary step in building this feud. Bad Bunny showed off a decent working punch, but ultimately, this program needs WrestleMania to happen before it runs out of steam.

-Omos teasing the audience with what he can do in the ring was the end goal of all things Styles/Omos and New Day this week. That was enough. The tease was enough storyline progression to move things along between both teams. The game show didn’t help and emphasized a different side of Omos than the payoff at the end of the segment. Omos is a new act and needs consistency. That said, very much looking forward to seeing what he does at WrestleMania.

-Riddle forgets his lines and it comes across like just another Riddle promo. Yes, that works to mitigate a disaster on live television. Also, it’s telling in regards to the nature of Riddle’s silliness.

-It was a tale of two segments inside the Asuka and Rhea Ripley contract signing. When it was just Asuka and Ripley, thumbs way up. Both looked like legit stars and Ripley conveyed a believable sense of ownership over the championship match she demanded at WrestleMania. The moment Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax walked out, it all pivoted in the wrong direction. Not only was nobody selling the tremendous table spot between Ripley and Asuka, but the ensuing angle was identical to what we’re seeing between Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks on Smackdown. Can Asuka and Ripley co-exist? Who cares! They’re fighting each other in 12 days for a major championship anyway.

-I was a fan of the Drew McIntyre locker room promo. He looked like a star in addressing those guys, but didn’t cross the line of being arrogant and overbearing either.

-Ricochet and Mustafa Ali shined on this show. They both took losses in glorified squash matches, but they looked tremendous in doing so. Their ability to sell for Drew McIntyre showed their skill level in the ring and made Drew look like a million bucks ahead of WrestleMania.

-It was time for Bobby Lashley to look physically dominating over McIntyre. The closing angle on Raw worked in that it showcased the power of the Hurt Lock, but did so in a clearly heelish manner due to the involvement of King Corbin. Plus, McIntyre has a mountain to climb now, too. Smart booking.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S RAW RECEIPT: HEYDORN’S RAW RECEIPT 3/22: Rhea Ripley succeeds in official debut on Monday Night Raw