WWE RAW Surprises & Stuns: Makes Up For Lackluster WrestleMania With Cena, Rollins, McAfee

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On Monday nights, the Raw program on Netflix leaves audiences spellbound with its intense performances, outdoing some people’s perception of a less exciting WrestleMania. Notably, John Cena, Seth Rollins, and even Pat McAfee deliver breathtaking shows that have everyone cheering.

John Cena Kicks Off RAW

Following the contentious victory on Sunday night, RAW commences with John Cena appearing in the ring, saying “you can’t see me”. For nearly 15 minutes, he declared that he intends to leave with the WWE title once everything wraps up. This could signal a potential soft restart for the WWE, if Cena indeed decides to retire with the title. However, obstructing Cena’s path is none other than the Legend Killer, Randy Orton! Orton delivered an RKO to Cena, which might be leading to a rivalry between these two long-standing WWE legends. Excellent segment.

Women’s tag team title rematch

Next up is the women’s tag team championship bout, which took an unexpected turn when Becky Lynch made a shocking return last Sunday. In this rematch, Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan squared off against Valkyria and Lynch. Stirring up more surprises, Valkyria and Lynch reclaimed the titles in a swift victory, making them four-time champions. They’ll be seen defending their titles on NXT soon.

Rusev returns

In the ring next, it’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods making their way. Following them are Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri. It seemed like another rematch was imminent, but then, unexpectedly, Rusev reappeared in WWE! Kingston and Woods quickly scrammed, but Rusev took down Otis and Tozawa mercilessly. Sporting a fresh entrance and an all-new, shaved-headed look, Rusev has bulked up even more, making him an even more intimidating figure!

Women’s champ match

After the advertisement break, Iyo Sky is found in the wrestling arena, having successfully defended her title in a triple-threat match at WrestleMania. In another unexpected turn of events, NXT Women’s champion Stephanie Vaquer made an appearance in the ring. The two began to wrestle, but a twist came when Roxanne Perez attacked Sky, resulting in a disqualification. Giulia then entered the fray, targeting Vaquer. Rhea Ripley soon followed suit to subdue Perez.

Yeet! Yeet! Yeet!

The audience explodes with excitement as Jey Uso strides towards the ring amidst the throng of spectators. Following him, Sami Zayn emerges, praising Uso for his well-deserved victory, and so on.

McAfee choked out

Following Jey Uso’s submission victory over Gunther at Wrestlemania, an incident even more contentious than Cena vs Rhodes ensued. The fallout saw Gunther angrily confronting Michael Cole, seemingly irked by Cole and McAfee’s commentary. The audience erupted, chanting “He tapped out!” Cole defended himself, asserting it wasn’t his fault Gunther tapped out. This led to Gunther shoving McAfee to the ground and attempting to choke Cole. In retaliation, McAfee attacked Gunther. However, the tables turned as Gunther managed to put McAfee in a chokehold and refused to release him. The chaos escalated as McAfee’s entourage tried to intervene, but WWE security had to step in. By the end of it all, McAfee was visibly injured and did not appear on RAW for the remainder of the night. Cole resumed commentating alongside Joe Tessitore.

Intercontinental Title match

After that embarrassing incident, Dominik Mysterio faced off against Penta for his Intercontinental Title, while Finn Balor and Carlito stood by his side. During the match, Balor got involved, allowing Penta to execute a hurricanrana on him. Suddenly, JD McDonagh intervened, which led to Dominik Mysterio performing a Frog Splash on Penta for the victory.

The Next Paul Heyman Guy

The Monday Night RAW finale sees Seth “Crazy” Rollins and Paul Heyman striding towards the ring, ready for a chat. But just as they’re about to speak, CM Punk’s theme song blares! Punk sprints into the ring, instigating a brawl. As Punk beats down Rollins, he seizes Heyman. Rollins recovers and retaliates with a curb-stomp. Heyman grabs the mic, proclaiming Rollins as the top WWE star. Roman Reigns’ music booms! Reigns demolishes Rollins, wallops Heyman with a Superman punch, setting up Heyman for a spear… but then gets speared himself! The culprit? Mysteriously clad in black hoodie – Bron Breaker! He spears Punk next! Reigns is out of the ring as Breaker and Reigns engage in combat. In an unexpected move, Breaker runs around the ring to spear Reigns through the wall! With Rollins, Breaker, and Heyman standing triumphant in the ring, Bron Breaker emerges as the new Paul Heyman protegee!

The Verdict

Among the outstanding Monday Night RAW episodes I’ve seen in quite some time, this one certainly stands out as the most impressive, especially considering it’s part of the new Netflix era.

I found WrestleMania to be alright, but the women’s triple threat and the three-way match involving Rollins, Punk, and Reigns were undeniably the highlights of the weekend for me. Honestly, I was let down by the Cena vs Rhodes bout. To be fair, it turned out pretty much as Cena predicted, but it just didn’t live up to my expectations. By the way, have you seen The Rock anywhere? He’s usually a crowd favorite. As for Travis Scott, well, some might find him amusing… or not (laughs).

So an at best mid WrestleMania, but RAW was electrifying!

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2025-04-22 09:31