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I understand all of the issues that WWE is facing at this point in time. But even with that considered, I would have to say that this was probably the worst RAW after WrestleMania episode that I have seen in quite some time.
What makes RAW after WrestleMania special is the WWE Universe and one can't really fault the company for not having a crowd because of current circumstances. One realizes that if they could, they would fill the audience with members of the audience.
And so, I will keep this element out of my review when I write the 'Best and Worst' aspects of RAW. I invite you to do the same and do feel free to voice out whatever you may wish to say.
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#1 Best: Lashley wants a change in his management
Bobby Lashley is unhappy with Lana as his manager and as his wife too. The drama of who can take her place and if this means that she will go back to Rusev's side will play out in the following weeks, and I genuinely think that it could be a very interesting twist indeed.
Maybe we could see a return from Lio Rush that could reignite the partnership that Bobby Lashley had with him, and we could see Rush pushing Lashley all the way to the top. Maybe we could even see Lashley becoming a sort of a playboy character where he hunts for a new wife on RAW, and it leads to some really dramatic moments indeed.
But I'm guessing that the best-case scenario in this regard is if he gets a new manager in someone like Paul Heyman, who hones him to be a fighting machine and then, eventually, when Brock Lesnar isn't happy with his manager dividing his duties, it leads to the long-awaited Lashley vs. Lesnar match.
Well, one can hope.
#1 Worst: Liv Morgan loses her WrestleMania momentum
So, Night 2 of WrestleMania 36 kicked off with a match between Liv Morgan and Natalya that indicated a big push for the former. Liv Morgan would stun Natalya by picking up a big win and I was pretty much convinced that this meant that she would become a much bigger deal on RAW.
And why wouldn't she be pushed in a big way considering that she is young, drop-dead gorgeous and has a ton of potential to become a big player in the RAW Women's Division in time?! And so, I assumed that when she faced off with Asuka, she would score yet another victory and it would mean a rise to the top for this young woman.
Except this was an ordinary and mundane match and ended with Asuka picking up a victory, pretty much derailing all of the steam that Morgan had leading into the said contest.
I also thought that this was pretty much the weakest way to start off the RAW after WrestleMania 36.
#2 Best: The return of Nia Jax
Listen, it's always great to see a star come back from injury. Nia Jax is back and not a moment too soon, considering all the months that she has missed, sitting on the sidelines until now. But at the same time, her return is also necessary and I will tell you why.
Becky Lynch is out of opponents to face and while it does seem like she has unfinished business with Shayna Baszler, that is bound to end very soon indeed. So, unless Sasha Banks comes over from SmackDown to RAW, she wouldn't have had a realistic opponent who could snatch the title from her until Nia Jax finally came along. Nia Jax and Becky Lynch have unfinished business and she could be the one to finally end the dominant streak of 'The Man'.
Nia Jax is someone who, much like King Corbin, gets a massive amount of heat when there's a crowd present, so I think she would do far better as a heel than a babyface anyway in the weeks ahead.
#2 Worst: Coming from SmackDown only to lose?
If Apollo Crews is supposed to be a big signing, who's making a fresh new start on RAW, then he should win his first match on the Red brand. It makes no sense at all to bring him in just to lose to Aleister Black.
Yes, if it's a contest between these two men, then Aleister Black should have won because he's a person who's obviously being protected and groomed for a bigger role on RAW. But the fact of the matter is that Apollo Crews could have faced off against someone else in the roster, someone who could have afforded to take a loss and picked up a win.
I know that some of you will counter my argument by saying that he put on a good showing against Aleister Black and that's all that matters in the long run for any performer. I assure you that's a very weak argument when Goldberg is one of the top stars in pro wrestling in the year 2020, based on his winning record.
#3 Best: A very exciting tag team unit
Just when RAW was beginning to drag, the pace picked up. Ricochet and Cedric Alexander would arrive and show us just how exciting they can be as a tag team unit if they're given a chance to shine.
It makes a lot of sense to have these two men in the tag team division because they can work in tandem to create some really thrilling aerial moments and almost be like WWE's version of Private Party, in a sense. It's especially a step up for Alexander who has not yet found his footing in WWE thus far.
And sometimes being paired with a star is exactly what your career needs. Bianca Belair became an instant sensation when she was called up to be paired with her husband Montez Ford and her good friend Angelo Dawkins in the Street Profits, who are the current RAW Tag Team Champions.
I know that WWE generally doesn't do babyface vs. babyface matches. But The Street Profits vs. Alexander and Ricochet would be amazing.
#3 Best/worst: Shocking footage
Listen, I'm not going to say that the match between Drew McIntyre and Big Show was bad, but one can hardly call it 'shocking footage', quite honestly. If you're building an entire show around shocking footage, the least you can do is ensure that the footage is truly shocking.
An easier thing to do would be to have Drew McIntyre show up on the RAW after WrestleMania in the final segment of the night and be confronted by The Big Show. I mean, with all due respect to WWE, everyone in the world knows that the show was taped, and all they needed to do was switch the presentation around so that it seemed like this was happening live.
In any case, it was probably the weakest RAW after WrestleMania in quite some time, even if you leave the no-audience aspect of the show aside, but as an episode of RAW, it was eventful enough to the point where it can be classified as an above-average effort. I wonder what the future holds.
