WWE Raw Review and Results – Feb 20, 2017
Feb 21, 2017 at 3:05 PM
The show started with the highlights of last week’s festival of friendship incident and we think it was a great decision to start things with it as it was arguably the best segment of Raw ever since the brand split.
Kevin Owens was introduced who was sitting inside the ring and the fans booed him like anything. Finally, some heel wrestler apart from the Miz is now able to generate the ultimate heat. That segment from last week changed a lot of things. He started with promoting his match with Goldberg at Fastlane. No mention from him of Chris Jericho and last week’s incident at the beginning. And finally he mentioned Chris Jericho, something that fans were dying to hear, but he did not say anything about him as he threw the mic away and left the ring.
Match 1 – No 1 Contender’s match for the Raw Tag Team championships – Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Enzo and Cass
Entertaining match up, Cesaro once again showed why deserves to be on the main events. He performed really great in this match. But it ended with Big Cass takes winning via pin fall on Cesaro for his team. After the match, Sheamus nailed Enzo Amore with a Brogue Kick.
Winners – Enzo and Cass
Bayley’s Raw Women’s championship win was promoted in the next segment. Still, Bayley’s title win is not perfect, it could be a way bigger deal. They showed that Charlotte demanded her title back earlier on twitter. Bayley was scheduled to address Charlotte regarding her demand later tonight.
Match 2 – Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa
Kendrick attacked Akira Tozawa before the start of the match and the referee forfeited it.
Match 3 – Two on One Handicap match – WWE Raw Tag Team champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Roman Reigns
Another match where Reigns was presented as the Superman, he completely manhandled the Tag Team champions, which is seriously not good for Gallows and Anderson as it is a disrespect towards their Tag Titles too. Reigns got disqualified after he hit them with a steel chair.
Winners – Gallows and Anderson by DQ
Match 4 – The New Day vs. Rusev and Jinder Mahal
This match was rather a comic competition where the main propaganda behind this match was to promote the New Day Ice Cream. It had never been the best wrestling match on card. It ended after Kofi pinned Jinder to earn victory for his team.
Winners – New Day
Next was the official contract signing for the WWE Cruiserweight championship between Neville and Jack Gallagher. Jack signed the contract first then the host Austin Aries welcomed the champion Neville.
Neville entered the ring, wasted no time as he signed the contract and prepared to leave the ring. Jack stopped him and asked him to share some tea and biscuits. Neville showed no care for it as he disrespected Jack by saying a real English lad should look like Neville and not Jack. They fought after the confrontation as Jack Gallagher came out on top.
Match 5 – Nia Jax vs. Local Jobber
Nia totally manhandled and destroyed the jobber. After the match, she said she’s coming for the Women’s title next.
Winner – Nia Jax
The new Raw Women’s champion Bayley came out next. Bayley started talking about her childhood dreams and how she grew up in California. She said that her biggest dream was to be in a WWE ring as a champion which finally came true last week. Stephanie McMahon interrupted her. Stephanie reminded her about Sasha Banks’ involvement last week and she said that Bayley was not the type of person to win the title in a cheap way like that, people admired her, so she wanted her relinquish the title. Sasha Banks interfereed and asked Bayley not to listen to Stephanie as she says Bayley deserved all this. At a point, it looked like Bayley was going to give the title away but at the end she denied to give it away. Charlotte interfered now and she said that Bayley did not have to give the title away because she would take the title away. Stephanie made a match between Charlotte and Sasha with the stipulation that winner would face Bauley at Fastlane for the title.
Match 6 – Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks
Certainly not the best match between the two but it was okay. Dana Brooke tried to interfere whom Bayley prevented. Sasha ended the match with making Charlotte submit with the Bank Statement.
Winner – Sasha Banks by submission
Diamond Dallas Page got inducted into the Hall of Fame class of 2017
Match 7 – WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
The match never started as Samoa Joe once again attacked Sami, this time during his entrance. Kevin Owens beatdown Sami after that.
Michael Cole interviewed Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman backstage as Heyman talked about Goldberg’s Universal title match at Fastlane. He said if Goldberg wins the title, Lesnar is coming after both Goldberg and the title at WrestleMania.
Main Event – Big Show vs. Braun Strowman
The match was made to present Braun as an unstoppable force. Even though Big Show dominated the match most of the times, but Strowman kicked out of the Chock slam and the knockout punch separately which was really a huge push for Strowman. Finally Strowman pinned Big Show after two Oklahoma slams, Big Show kicked out of the first one which is a little botched up too. This match was a great push for Strowman and he performed well. Fans enjoyed the match throughout. Strowman’s improvement could notbe overlooked seriously. After the match, Roman Reigns attacked Strowman and nailed him with two superman punches. Strowman avoided the spear with a drop kick and beat him down with a Oklahoma Slam.
Winner – Braun Strowman
Final Verdict – This week’s Raw was an average show and certainly nothing compared to last week. With very less involvement of Samoa Joe and absolutely no involvement of Triple H, the show is a downfall comparing some of the previous weeks.
Sportzwiki Rating – 2/5