This week’s Monday Night Raw had seven total matches booked. During the event, a number of matches had been announced for WrestleMania. The event was okay. Let us discuss it in details;
Match 1 – WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defeated Sheamus via submission
WWE Raw Full Results & Ratings 22.03.2021
Nice and entertaining match to kick things off for the night. The match was going well as Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin made interference during the match which Lashley did not like. They beat down Sheamus during the match while the referee was distracted. After Lashley beat Sheamus with the full nelson submission hold Cedric and Shelton attacked Sheamus. Drew McIntyre came out for the rescue. He confronted Lashley and tried to provoke Lashley to fight him. But MVP took Lashley out and stopped him from fighting.
Randy Orton – Bray Wyatt angle was shown through a promo where it was also shown that Orton would summon Bray Wyatt later on the night.
Match 2 – WWE Raw Women’s Champion Asuka defeated Peyton Royce by submission
Peyton Royce was given a good break in this match as she dominated in the part of the match. But she could not escape a sudden Asuka Lock. This may seem like a potential push for Peyton Royce but such match times were given to tons of jobbers in past. So this would not make much difference to her career. Rhea Ripley made her long-awaited debut after the match and she challenged Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. Asuka accepted the challenge.
The Miz and John Morrison arrived inside the ring and they complained about not being featured in the official poster of WrestleMania 37 and they also complained about Bad Bunny is a part of it. They mocked him with various taunts and other things, then the Miz challenged Bad Bunny at WrestleMania 37.
Match 3 – The Miz defeated Jeff Hardy
This match was not very long as it was booked for around 5 minutes. It was an average match and Miz pins Jeff Hardy with a Skull Crushing Finale. The most important thing is, Miz pinned Jeff Hardy clean in this match. After the match, Bad Bunny interfered and hit Miz with a guitar on his back. It knocked Miz out, and he accepted Miz’s challenge. And he addressed Miz as ‘Bi*ch’.
AJ Styles and Omos arrived in the ring where AJ Styles cut a promo on their match against the New Day for the Raw tag team championship at WrestleMania 37. New Day joined the frame and had some words in exchange.
Match 4 – One-half of the Raw tag team champions Kofi Kingston defeated AJ Styles
The match was given a ten minutes booking and overall it was an entertaining match. There is not much to talk about this match. AJ Styles attempted to hit a phenomenal forearm which Kofi Kingston reversed into a roll-up pin.
Backstage Sheamus was shown where he was expressing his anger at what happened to him earlier. WWE United States champion interrupted to tease him and Sheamus knocked him out.
Match 5 – Drew McIntyre defeated Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin in a 2 on 1 handicap match
This was one of the more entertaining matches of the night. It was given a booking for around ten minutes. Drew was presented as a dominant force as he single-handedly beat two guys down. Drew knocked out both guys with Claymore he pinned Cedric Alexander to secure the victory.
Backstage Bobby Lashley was seen disappointed with Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander because they could take the two on one advantage. He went to the men’s locker room and announced that if anyone could knock Drew out would get a WWE championship opportunity.
Match 6 – WWE Women’s tag team champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose
The match was booked for only three minutes and it was totally dominated by the women’s tag team champions. Nia Jax pinned Dana Brooke with Samoan Drop to secure the victory for her side.
Match 7 – Braun Strowman defeated Elias
This was the only rematch from WWE Fastlane last night. And it was almost the same match booked in the same way. Braun totally squashed Elias and Shane McMahon attacked Braun with his crutch but it did not do any damage on Braun. As Braun tried to attack Shane he ran away. So the injury was fake. Braun challenged Shane at WrestleMania 37. Shane McMahon accepted the challenge.
Randy Orton came out in the ring with a black bag in his hand. Later it revealed to be gasoline. He reminded everyone how he burnt Bray Wyatt alive a couple of months ago. Alexa Bliss entered the arena and the lights went off. The signature red lights got turned on and the Fiend was seen standing inside the ring. Orton sprinkled gasoline all over Fiend and he did not move an inch. He attempted to use the match but hit Fiend with an RKO. Alexa stood on the ring apron as Fiend attacked Orton and knocked him out with a sister Abigail. Randy Orton vs. the Fiend Bray Wyatt announced for WrestleMania.
Overall, it was a good event with some small loopholes. But it did a nice job to promote WrestleMania. They tried to fill every minute of it by offering at least something but it may seem a little boring sometimes.
Sportzwiki Rating – 2.5/5