Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.04.20

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 5.04.20

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– MITB Qualifying Ladder Match: AJ Styles won @ 37:45 via submission [**]
– Shane Thorne & Brendan Vink defeated Ricochet & Cedric Alexander @ 4:40 via pin [**]
– Non-Title Title Match: The Viking Raiders defeated Champions The Street Profits @ 16:45 via pin [**¼]
– Non-Title Title Match: Champion Charlotte defeated Liv Morgan @ 11:25 via submission [***]
– Non-Title Match: Champion Drew McIntyre defeated Murphy @ 6:20 via pin [***]

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The VIP Lounge: I know it’s rough times and WWE is pinching pennies with the cuts and all, and I like MVP, but it’s hard to have the VIP Lounge with futons as the centerpieces. Nia, Shayna, & Asuka are his guests tonight. Nia says she dominates and destroys, and will do the same on Sunday. Asuka talks mad shit to Jax, I believe saying Jax has a big booty. Shayna says that she does her talking with her actions, Asuka is angry now and they then attack Nia as MVP holds them back. That was certainly an opening segment.

– We get highlights of last week ‘s injury to Apollo Crews, which took him out of MITB.

MITB Qualifying Gauntlet Match: Lashley and Titus O’Neil begin. They lockup, trade strikes and Titus takes early control until Lashley spears and pins him @ 0:45. Tozawa is next and attacks with kicks the missile dropkick and is speared and pinned @ 1:35. Shelton is in next, he flies in with a blockbuster and dumps Lashley. Lashley cuts him off, works him over on the floor, and back in, Shelton battles back until the spear finishes him @ 3:45. Humberto Carrillo is next. Post break and Lashley controls, beating own Humberto until he fires back, but is quickly cut off with tackles. Humberto counters back, hits a missile dropkick and rolling moonsault for 2. He heads up top and Lashley cuts him off and press slams him. He follows with a clothesline, chokes out Humberto and gets DQ’d for kicking too much ass @ 10:40. He hits the spear and Angel Garza is next. Post break and Garza controls with chops, a corner dropkick and THE PANTS ARE OFF. Garza runs wild and covers for 2. He grounds things, attacking the arm and following with body shots. Lashley & Lana argue backstage while Vega looks like a complete dish at ringside. Garza then hits a superkick for 2. Humberto fires back, hits a RANA and covers for 2. Garza counters the moonsault, and then grounds things with the camel clutch, thusly humbling Humberto. A sloppy pendulum follows and Garza then delivers strikes, covering for 2. The springboard moonsault follows for 2. Garza looks for the wing clipper, but Humberto counters out and sunset flips him for the pin @ 22:05. Austin Theory is next. He takes control right away, picking up near falls. Theory follows with kicks, strikes and grounds Humberto, covering for 2. Theory keeps things grounded, the dropkick follows and he picks up another near fall. He takes Humberto up top, and follows with the superplex but Humberto cradles him for the pin @ 26:58. AJ Styles is back from the dead and enters the match. Post break and Humberto hits a dropkick and Styles cuts him off. He grounds things and follows with a suplex, before covering for 2. He grounds things, working the ribs of Humberto. He then attacks the knee and is in firm control as he targets the leg. He follows with strikes, but Humberto counters into a DDT. The enziguri follows as Humberto makes the comeback. Humberto then cradles him for 2. They work into a double down, Styles hits a gut buster and the calf killer follows as Humberto taps @ 37:45. AJ Styles won @ 37:45 via submission [**] Long gauntlet matches are hard in front of a crowd, and putting one in an empty arena was really risky and didn’t really pay off. The middle portion was dreadfully boring, just dying a death. I liked Styles winning, and at the end, it was OK.

– Styles then kicks his ass some more post match, and then proclaims he’s alive and the Undertaker won’t steal his spotlight his time. He got buried, so what, he didn’t lose. There are no rules in a bone yard match, and will do anything to win MITB.

– We start looking back on the top 10 MITB moments.

– Seth Rollins arrives for interview time with Charly. Seth says what ever will be will be, and he has confidence in Murphy beating Drew tonight. He puts over Drew, but adds that he’s not a leader. Seth is the champion that will take us into the future, and while Drew will put up a fight, Seth will sacrifice himself for the greater good. Being a champion and leader are more than what you do in the ring, you represent an industry you are responsible for; Drew isn’t ready for that but he can save him. On Sunday, he will win the championship again and reign as champion. Seth was fine, Charly looked amazing.

– Shane Thorne & Brendan Vink meet with MVP, and he hypes them up for their match tonight.

– Edge & Orton are back next week.

-Murphy comments on tonight’s match with Drew, He’s loyal to Seth because Seth took him under his wing, he’s learned and evolved and will hopefully get on Seth’s level or better one day. He thinks Seth can beat Drew, but he knows he can.

Ricochet & Cedric Alexander vs. Shane Thorne & Brendan Vink: Vink and Cedric to begin, Cedric gets cut off and Thorne tags in and covers for 1. Cedric hits a dropkick, tags in Ricochet and double teams follow for 2. Cedric back in and gets distracted and cut off. Vink tosses him to the barricades, and back in, grounds things. Cedric fights, hits the back handspring kick and Thorne and Ricochet tag in, Ricochet runs wild and the RANA follows. Cedric in and double teams follow for 2 as Vink makes the save. Cedric cuts him off, and Ricochet tags in as Vink fights, Thorne in and it breaks down as Vink hits the big boot for the win, Shane Thorne & Brendan Vink defeated Ricochet & Cedric Alexander @ 4:40 via pin [**] This was ok, but I don’t like the booking at all, as just as Ceddy & Ricochet get momentum, they cut them off every time. There’s way more upside with them as a team but who knows if we’ll ever see it. Remember when Ceddy & Ricochet were going to overcome losses and get a proper push and defeat AJ Styles for the US Title?

– More MITB moments.

– The Profits get promo time, talking about their history in the PC. They also want the smoke.

Non-Title Match: Champions The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders: Ford and Erik begin as they work into counters. Erik takes out Dawkins and Ford does random flippity doos but the Vikings attack and take control. The Vikings dominate, as the powerbomb and top rope splash gets 2. Ford battles back, tags in Dawkins and he runs wild as Ford joins in and double teams follow until Ivar cuts off Dawkins. The challengers take control with double teams, isolate Ford and pick up a near fall. Ivar grounds things, but Ford counters back and tags in Dawkins, he take control, cutting off Erik and then Ivar on the floor. Post break and Dawkins is in control, grounding Erik. Ford in and follows with the dropkick for 2. Erik cuts off Dawkins, Ivar in and he picks up the pace, takes out Ford and picks up a near fall on Dawkins. Erik back in and they work double teams and cover for 2. Dawkins counters back with a suplex, tags in Ford and Ivar joins him. Ford controls, Dawkins tags in and they double team Ivar and cover for 2. Ivar battles back with the back handspring elbow, Erik tags in and it breaks down until Dawkins cuts off Thor’s hammer and Ford DDTs Ivar. The sky high and frog splash connects for 2 as Erik hits a knee strike and Ford is dumped. Thor’s hammer finishes Dawkins. The Viking Raiders defeated Champions The Street Profits @ 16:45 via pin [**¼] The opening moments were really off and completely disjointed, but it thankfully got better, although, I wouldn’t call it good. It was ok, felt oddly structured and didn’t flow extremely well, meandering around throughout and was just likely the cliché set up for a PPV rematch.

– Charily interviews Drew. He will slaughter Seth’s sheep tonight.

– More MITB moments.

– Charly interviews the Vikings. They are dominant, and while they respect the Profits and even like them, they are just better.

– Aleister Black cuts a promo on Styles, his return, and MITB. Black says is Styles can throw him of the building, pray he doesn’t get back up. Black plans to climb the adder, win the contract and Styles will wish he were still buried.

– Rey comments on competing in MITB, guess what? He also plans on winning.

– NXT women’s Champion Charlotte arrives, making sure to put herself over as the hardest working woman in creation. She defends against Io in Wednesday, and will make Io’s dreams come true when she bows down to Charlotte. Liv Morgan arrives and they share some banter, with Liv running down Charlotte for his father’s influences on her career. Charlotte says she knows who she is, she is proud of being Ric’s daughter and being born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She’ll make Liv bow down.

Champion Charlotte vs. Liv Morgan: They lockup, Charlotte overpowers her and talks some shit. Charlotte just toys with her, grounding things and is just dominating her. Charlotte misses a charge Liv finally fires back, hits a dropkick and a head scissors. Charlotte quickly cuts her off, but Liv battles back with another dropkick. Charlotte cuts that off and lays the boots to her. Post break and Charlotte works the skull fucker. Liv fires back, hits clotheslines and a face buster. The corner double stomp follows for 2. Charlotte cuts her off, lays the boots to her but Liv counters into the springboard code breaker/oblivion. Charlotte no sells that, powerbombs her and that gets 2. She follows with chops, and crab. Liv makes the ropes, Charlotte takes her down but Liv cuts her off up top and hits the code breaker/oblivion off the ropes for 2. Charlotte cuts her off, figure eight, tap. Champion Charlotte defeated Liv Morgan @ 11:25 via submission [***] So Liv was building some nice momentum in recent weeks, which means the obvious move was to have her lose to Charlotte for reasons when they could have had one of the other 50 lady wrestlebots at the PC do it instead. Charlotte winning a match on Raw isn’t problematic in and of itself, it’s sacrificing Liv to do so that is. They also destroyed Liv’s finish here. While I think it was the wrong match to book, Liv looked great and this was the best match on the show so far.

Non-Title Match: Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Murphy: Seth is at ringside. They trade a bit but Drew dominates early on. To the floor and Drew continues the beating until morale improves. He talks shit to Seth, brutalizes Murphy and then gets distracted, allowing Murphy to make a comeback. Murphy posts him and back in, hits meteora and that gets 2. Seth gets closer to the ring, Murphy delivers kicks and then gets cut off with chops. The head butt follows and the claymore is countered as Murphy battles back with an enziguri and heads up top. Drew quickly dumps him and Drew then follows with a flying clothesline off the top. He takes Murphy up top and Murphy counters and hits Cheeky nandos and a sit out powerbomb for 1. Murphy mocks Drew, eats a claymore as his soul leaves his body. Champion Drew McIntyre defeated Murphy @ 6:20 via pin [***] This was an entertaining close to the show, with some nice final hype for Sunday’s title match.

– They tease a confrontation as Seth bails…only to sneak back in and superkick Drew. Drew makes the comeback, but Seth powders before he can hit the claymore.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 112. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Steve Cook go retro, looking back on the first NWA Clash of the Champions events. Jerome Cusson then joins for a Dark Side of The Ring: David Schultz and The Slap Heard Round the World review. The show is approximately 156-minutes long.

* Intro
* Clash of The Champions I Review: 4:09
* Clash of The Champions II Review: 41:36
* Clash of The Champions IIII Review: 1:13:30
*Dark Side of The Ring: David Schultz and The Slap Heard Round the World Review: 1:38:14

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

This week’s episode of raw was a lethargic show, feeling like it had a 33-hour run time. Here just wasn’t much to it, the MTB build wasn’t very ho or focused, and there was some highly questionable booking.