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On certain weeks, I thank the stars that it's my job to review sports entertainment and well, earn a living from it. This was not one of those weeks, I'm afraid.
I thought that it was one of the weakest RAWs that I can remember watching, and there was way too much talking and not enough action across three hours. I don't think that there has been a weaker episode of RAW since Paul Heyman assumed control.
That said, there was some good during the show, and I shall elaborate upon the same in this week's 'Best and Worst' feature. As always, this is an open forum and if you disagree with me, or even if you don't, you have the right to leave a comment in the section below.
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#1 Best: Challenge made to The Undertaker on RAW?
Shawn Michaels was hailed as Mr. WrestleMania because he would always put on the best match on the card, come what may! AJ Styles made a triumphant return this week on the show and he usurped this nickname from the Show Stopper, lending credence to the rumors that he is on a collision course with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 36.
Whether or not it will be a match as good as the ones The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels has had, remains to be seen for sure. But this is certainly a huge match and one with massive stakes too. It is definitely hard to call because one wonders if The Undertaker will put over the younger man or choose to reign supreme at WrestleMania.
One of the few good developments from this week's show, I thought.
#1 Worst: Ruining the 24/7 Championship picture and how!
The whole purpose of the 24/7 Championship is to have the title change hands somewhere in the arena. Why would WWE actually have a match in the ring for it and suspend the rules of the Championship that make it unique and special for the duration of it?
I hate to say this because he's a very talented young man, but the 24/7 Championship picture has been a disaster ever since Mojo Rawley won the title. I don't think the situation is any better with Riddick Moss as Champion either.
I do hope that WWE decides to bring Drake Maverick back into the fold so that we can go back to the comedic skits and the feeling that anything could happen once more. Even the stint with Jinder Mahal as the Champion felt like it was far more worthwhile than what we have to sit through on TV.
Maybe have the women recapture the title once again and have Sarah Logan have a stint with it?
#2 Best: The best heel in the business
If you watch All Elite Wrestling or NXT, I'm certain that you see heels that do moves that get a pop from the audience. This is also the case with SmackDown where John Morrison, who is one of the most gifted and athletic performers in the history of the business, performs moves that gets the audience to cheer him on. Such is not the case with Randy Orton, who is visceral, who is lethal and who is the definition of a Viper.
The opening segment with Matt Hardy may have been difficult to watch but that was the purpose of it. Matt Hardy will not be re-signing with WWE, as has been made quite clear, and this was a segment to write him off RAW, once and for all. Randy Orton did it in such a manner that it was absolutely savage and one wondered if it crossed the threshold of what a PG show is supposed to be.
Randy Orton is certainly the best heel in wrestling today.
#2 Worst: The Monday Night Sermon
I don't know why but I just think that the gimmick of the Monday Night Messiah is just not cutting it for me personally. Maybe Seth Rollins does not have the charisma to pull it off in the manner that CM Punk did back when he led his Straight Edge Society. Maybe his disciples, in The AOP and Murphy don't seem like they're necessarily on the same page as Seth Rollins is.
The Monday Night Sermon segment this week was a huge disappointment. It was just an ordinary promo and nothing more, and Rollins said absolutely nothing that advanced the storyline in any way at all. It would lead to the same mix of people in the main event segment coming together to wrestle in the main event again, in another combination. The best thing that happened during the show was that The Street Profits showed up to make the save.
I really wish WWE remembers just how confident and fluent Kevin Owens is on the microphone and lets him trade barbs with The Monday Night Messiah.
#3 Best/Worst: Shayna Baszler
So, Shayna Baszler is not a vampire as I had assumed initially, but she's supposed to be an animal. While this week's drama did not measure up to what we saw from WWE last week, I was shocked when Baszler used a certain word that has been banned from the WWE vocabulary on live television.
There is a big fight feel to the proceedings when it concerns Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler, and I would be very surprised indeed if Baszler is not the winner coming out of the Elimination Chamber match at the pay-per-view. I really cannot imagine a bigger match for Becky Lynch at WrestleMania.
In many ways, I love the new gimmick because of how different it is and how Becky Lynch will have to dig deep to defeat the 'animal' in combat. Had it been another MMA star, Shayna Baszler would have been no different from Ronda Rousey.
Maybe Liv Morgan has a chance to go all the way in this storyline, but my money is on the Queen of Spades on this occasion.
