SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
RAW TALK REPORT
JANUARY 25, 2021
AIRED ON WWE NETWORK
REVIEW BY NICK MORGAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Hosts: Charly Caruso, R-Truth
This week’s guests: Charlotte Flair, Elias & Jaxson Ryker, MVP & Bobby Lashley
– Charly welcomed us to the go home Raw Talk leading into the Royal Rumble and spent a few moments playing around with the 24/7 title and dogged Truth for not beating A.J. Styles in his bid to win a slot in the Rumble. Truth, of course, sold the fact that Omos is really tall.
– They spent some time discussing the Alexa Bliss/Asuka/Randy Orton angle that ended Raw. Truth was totally hung up on the burns on Randy’s face. Charly hinted at the fact that nobody quite knows what is going on with the Fiend. They also spent a little bit of time reviewing the opening events with Goldberg and Drew McIntyre. While saying that she respected Goldberg she said she was picking McIntyre to win at Royal Rumble. Truth picked “Gillberg.”
– Charlotte Flair was the first guest.
Morgan’s Analysis: I just have to say this, they really have to figure out the guest list for Raw Talk. It’s the same people week after week and quite frankly is getting a bit boring and predictable.
– As Charly complimented Charlotte on her look and how shredded she is, Charlotte noted that she has her own personal trainer at home in Andrade.
Morgan’s Analysis: Oh, so that is where he has been, because he hasn’t been on television in months. Weird. Maybe he’s coming back soon?
Charly started to bring up the Lacy Evans angle, but switched instead to the night’s aborted battle with Shayna that really didn’t happen on Raw after interference. They quickly started talking about the upcoming Tag Team Championship fight with Shayna and Nia Jax. Charlotte put both opponents over and was actually relaxed, coherent, and dare I say it, relatively unscripted.
– Charly moved onto the Lacy Evans – Rick Flair angle and all the platitudes came out. Charlotte basically said what she has been saying all along in that all she wants to do is protect Flair’s legacy and keep him from being made a fool of. Surprisingly, Charlotte totally threw Lacy Evans under the bus, noting that she is one of those people who will do “anything” to get to the top. Charly tried to frame the situation as Lacy trying to use Ric to distract Charlotte. Charlotte responded that there are no worries there. She said, come Sunday, she is ready to get the job done.
– Next up was Elias and Jaxson Ryker. In an effort to show that Elias and Ryker can be on the same page, Charly asked them what kind of BBQ they like and they both said Carolina. Elias then started talking about their match on Main Event with Jeff Hardy and Ricochet.
Morgan’s Analysis: They are trying to build up these two joke acts, but they are touting that Jeff Hardy and Ricochet have been relegated to Main Event. I will give Elias some credit for being able to talk a bit, but what he says is just so nonsensical that I just tune him out. Th only good part of this segment was when Elias’ chair started sinking down. They really have to work on getting better on set furniture.
– This segment ended after Elias and Ryker said that they would win the Royal Rumble.
– The show proceeded to say hello to the Hurt Business as MVP and Bobby Lashley arrived on set. Charly noted that it had not been the greatest night for them. MVP immediately went after Truth and told him to watch very carefully what came out of his mouth tonight as he would hurt him. This angle played off of what happened a couple of weeks ago when things, as Charly said, “got out of hand.” Charly said that she wouldn’t allow that to happen and MVP got angry again. Bobby Lashley calmed things down and went to stand between Truth and MVP.
– Lashley took over the interview and commented on how he has faced Riddle before and will take care of things again. Charly noted that things were not going particularly well and Bobby noted that there have been some small issues, but they are all being discussed and rectified. MVP who was still really hot (mostly at Truth) called it a “speed bump.”
Morgan’s Analysis: It was an interesting dynamic as MVP was taking on the “crazed-wrestler” persona and Lashley was doing most of the talking and calming things down. He was doing a very good job of it. He spoke well and really projected his presence into the space. Lashley has not been asked to do a lot of talking since teaming up with MVP, but this showed that he can still get it done.
– The segment ended with MVP trying to intimidate Truth and Lashley smiling broadly and proclaiming that the Hurt Business is fine. He said that they still have and will continue to have, “all the gold”.
FINAL THOUGHTS: At a little under 26 minutes tonight, the show was good. However, they shouldn’t have Elias and Jaxson Ryker on again. Elias can talk, but doesn’t say anything worth hearing. Ryker can barely put two words together. Regarding Charlotte, it’s so strange that here on Raw Talk, she comes across as likable, loose, conversational, and unscripted and yet WWE does not let her be this person on the main show. It’s frustrating because what they do with her on Raw is so detrimental. I hope someone from the main show is watching Raw Talk and has a head-slap moment that lets this Charlotte shine through on the main show. I also want to commend Bobby Lashley tonight. He really stepped up and with the angle setup for MVP to be almost incoherently upset. Lashley did a great job being arrogant, yet clear and focused. If he was tightly scripted, he came across authentic.
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS RAW TALK REPORT: 1/11 WWE RAW TALK: Nia Jax comments on the Royal Rumble, Garza talks championships, Truths tests MVP’s patience, and more
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