After bringing the biggest WrestleMania hours ago, Raw opened with ‘No Chance In Hell’. Vince McMahon was, of course, welcomed gallantly by the audience. The only time he gathered boos was when he said anything against his son Shane McMahon, who by all means, gave a hellacious performance last night.
Also read: [Video] WWE Raw Results, 25 April, 2016, Full Show with Video Highlights
McMahon had a sense of respect for Shane even if he thought it was foolish for him to go through so much pain to achieve his goal of running Monday Night Raw. He was ready to head backstage, when Shane O Mac’s music hit and got the audience charged up.
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Bruised, battered and barely walking, he clearly upstaged his father by gaining all the attention. While he was simply there to say thank you and congratulate his father on winning, Vince McMahon refused to get upstaged and seeing the reaction from the crowd with their resounding ‘No’ chants at Shane leaving, he, for this crazy night only, gave Shane McMahon the opportunity to run Raw. To see what he’s got.
So here are the 5 points to note from a show brought to you (kayfabe) by Shane McMahon-
1) Not here to Fade Away
A night after what seemed like a needless win for Jericho at Mania, in hindsight was a build up for something bigger for AJ Styles. Styles went into the fatal four-way match to face Owens, Cesaro and the man he lost to at Mania.
The match was wonderful with Cesaro’s spectacular offence and Owens trash talking and fighting spirit and the fact that not many in the audience wanted a Jericho victory. There were near falls, especially when Y2J hit the codebreaker on Styles- the ghost from Mania. But Styles survived and hit the Styles Clash on Jericho and earned the pinfall.
This was a wonderful way to end Raw.
2) Back to wrestling
So, continuing on that Zayn vs Owens rivalry, the former was talking to Renee Young in a backstage interview about himself and why he’s called the Underdog from the Underground until sworn enemy Kevin Owens attacked him and rendered him unfit to face in the fatal four way match set to determine the new contender to Reigns’ title.
That led McMahon to get a replacement and we got a Cesaro return on a Raw after Mania. The audience gave him a hero’s welcome and Cesaro ripping off his suit to reveal his in-ring gear was much better than what The Rock did a night before at Mania. By miles.
3) The Realest Guys in the Room take over
This was a night when most fans thought that Enzo and Cass were going to show up. The fans waited with bated breath when the League of Nations gave a promo and disowned Wade Barrett. But nothing happened. They waited during the Dudleys match against the Usos and it seemed like nothing would happen.
We went to a backstage segment instead and it was all but over until they got back to the ring and The Dudleys were somehow still there. And then it happened. The most over-the-top tag team from NXT was raining its awesomeness on the main roster.
They verbally took out the Dudleys and gloriously stood over the new place they sure have the ability to conquer.
4) Raw after Mania Moment
Zack Ryder’s WrestleMania moment will live on in history but his Intercontinental title reign came crashing down at Raw. The Miz got a shot at the title and then teased a new manager.
He is so good at being a heel that even a hardcore audience won’t cheer him on for the spectacular work he puts in. The match was fun and then we had a Maryse return. Maryse, who is married to Miz, came to create a distraction and that led us to a title change. Miz is now a five-time Intercontinental Champion
5) More NXT on Raw
NXT’s given us many splendid TakeOvers as pay-per-views and on Monday, it was present in live and living colour to take over Raw. It was surreal to see so many NXT stars present on the show. Apollo Crews made his debut and won.
Baron Corbin debuted on Raw a night after winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He did not win, neither did his opponent Dolph Ziggler since it was a double count out but Corbin being a heel was getting cheered by the extraordinary Raw after Mania audience.
So, after the match, he beat down babyface Ziggler just to get his character across.
6). Bad update on Sami Zayn
The fatal four-way main event to determine the no.1 contender or the WWE title originally had Sami Zayn as a part of it, but he was pulled out of it at the very last moment.
The reason for the same is said to be a legit shoulder injury that he sustained during Kevin Owen’s attack on him in the earlier segment on RAW. Zayn launched himself on Owens on the outside and landed badly, which may have aggravated his injury.
Zayn landed on his bad shoulder, further aggravating his age-old injury. The fans in attendance claimed that Zayn was seen holding onto his shoulder in immense pain as he rushed backstage. It could be a storyline injury or a legit one, but we aren't sure which one it is at the moment.
In an update, the injury and backstage assault at the hands of KO was all decided from the start to facilitate a Cesaro return. Zayn and his shoulder are said to be in fine shape.
