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Csonka’s WWE Raw 25 Review 01.22.18

January 22, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
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Csonka’s WWE Raw 25 Review 01.22.18  

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 01.22.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, & Mickie James defeated Nia Jax, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, and Alicia Fox @ 13:03 via submission [*]
– IC Title Match: The Miz defeated Champion Roman Reigns @ 13:30 via pin [**½]
– Bray Wyatt defeated Matt Hardy @ 5:55 via pin [*]
– O’Neil & Crews vs. Slater & Rhyno went to a no contest at 5:45 [DUD]
– The Good Brothers defeated The Revival @ 2:15 via pin [NR]

– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– My Top 23 EVOLVE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 24 ROH Matches of 2017.
– My Top 8 Matches of December 2017.
– My NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 Takeaways.
– My Top 38 WWE Matches of 2017.
– My Top 25 Matches of 2017.

PRE-SHOW
– Raw 25 is so big we’re getting a pre-show for it.

– Renee Young, Peter Rosenberg, & David Otunga are the hosts from Barclays. We head to the Manhattan Center, with JR & The King.

– Back to Brooklyn for more hype of all the guests that are going to be here tonight. They talk favorite Raw moments, including Tyson & Austin, the Triple H & Stephanie wedding, and the Nexus debut.

– Charly interviews the APA, who have their office set up. They talk about opening up the office for one more night. Unfortunately, they locked themselves out of the office.

– Renee hypes the Rumble on Sunday.

– We now get highlights from the first Raw, including Bobby Heenan trying to get into the building dressed as a woman.

– Sam Roberts is outside with the fans. This leads to footage of the Austin zamboni moment.

– Renee, Rosenberg, and Otunga reflect on Steve Austin moments.

– They now hype tonight’s IC Title match.

– Next is footage from Mick Foley’s first WWF title win on Raw.

– We now get footage of the night Eric Bischoff was named Raw GM.

– Bischoff joins the panel. He’s happy to be back, and puts over WWE. He says becoming Raw GM in 2002 was surreal. He says people were shocked, and some didn’t like it, but the locker room was gracious to him. He met with Undertaker, and everything went well. He knew he could work with Vince and was excited to work for him and they had a mutual respect.

– We get hype for the women’s Rumble, and Bayley meeting with Trish Stratus.

– Tonight we get Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, & Mickie James vs. Nia Jax, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, and Alicia Fox on Raw

– We then get highlights of Lita vs. Trish main eventing Raw.

– Back to JR & King at Manhattan Center. They go back to Raw one and Undertaker’s Raw debut and his history on the show.

– Back to Brooklyn as they hype Undertaker’s appearance tonight.

– Cena, Styles, Charlotte, & New Day will be here tonight. We get a video from New Day, hyping Raw 25.

– We now talk famous Raw debuts, focusing on Chris Jericho.

– Next up is footage on DX invading WCW.

– The panel talks factions on Raw, and brings up Evolution & The Nation. This leads to footage of the Shield breakup.

– Christian is bringing back the Peep Show tonight.

– Also, this…

– They run down the Royal Rumble card.

– Next are highlights of Brock Lesnar’s Raw return, where he kicked John Cena’s ass. That leads to highlight’s of Strowman’s recent rampages.

– After some Raw hype, we get footage of New Day & Triple H & Stephanie doing lip synch battle on The Tonight Show. Triple H killed it.

– Shane arrives as the pre-show ends…

– We start off at Manhattan Center with JR & The King before transitioning to Barclays center.

STEPHANIE & SHANE TALK: Shane and Stephanie thank the fans, wrestlers and behind the scenes people that made Raw a success and helped them get to 25 years. We now get a Raw greatest moments video package. Stephanie says they are just getting started, and thanks Vince McMahon, and Vince struts and power walks his way to the ring. Vince gets a god like reaction from the fans as they sing along to his music. He hugs Shane and Stephanie, and gets “thank you Vince” chants. He doesn’t like to pat himself on the back, but tonight he will. Vince goes to leave, but Shane & Stephanie have a gift for him, a plaque to celebrate Raw 25. Vince says it feels cheap, Stephanie says they tried a go fund me, and they didn’t get a lot. Vince then calls Brooklyn cheap, and mocks the gift. He heels on the crowd for the cheap gift. And says he has one person to thank, and that’s himself. Steve Austin arrives to an insane pop, and Stephanie wisely bails. Vince immediately begs off, because he knows what’s coming. He praises Austin, and says he’s now a member of AARP and has a heart condition, arthritis, and lives in a retirement community. Times have changed, and he’s a senior citizen. But Shane’s in his prime. Vince and Austin shake hands, and Austin stuns Shane. Vince calls for beers, and wants a toast with Austin. Vince says Shane had it coming. They toast and Vince gets beer on his suit. They hug. Vince knows what’s coming, turns around and begs off. They toast again, kick, wham, stunner! Austin gives Shane a beer, KICK, WHAM, STUNNER AGAIN for Shane, complete with spit take. That was a fun and fitting opening segment. The reaction for Austin was insane.

Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, & Mickie James vs. Nia Jax, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, and Alicia Fox: Paige is at ringside with Absolution. Jax attacks Asuka as we get the big brawl to begin. Things settle down and Asuka and Deville officially start off with Asuka running wild. Asuka lays in the kicks, and we take a break. Post break, and Asuka is still in control until Rose cuts her off with a knee strike. Asuka quickly fires back, and Jax and banks tag in. Banks attacks Jax’s injured knee, but Jax quickly cuts her off and covers for 2. The heels work quick tags, isolating Banks. Fox hits the northern lights suplex for 2. Fox grounds the action, slowing things down greatly. Banks fights to her feet, escapes, but Fox cuts her off, covering for 2. Fox maintains control, and we take… another break. Post break, and Fox is still working over Banks, we get a big brawl on the floor and Banks hits the banks statement for the win. Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, & Mickie James defeated Nia Jax, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, and Alicia Fox @ 13:03 via submission [*] This was about 7-minutes minus commercials, and nothing happened, It was boring, bland and didn’t need two commercial breaks. The best part was the post match.

– Post match, Asuka cleans house on her teammates and tosses them all to the floor.

– The Coach meets with Angle. Harvey Whimpleman and the Brooklyn Brawler arrive, and then Teddy Long, who dances. Brother Love now arrives, he loves them. The Boogey Man then arrives, eating worms. He gives some to Coach and laughs.

– We get an Undertaker video package.

THE UNDERTAKER RETURNS: We go to the Manhattan Center, and The Undertaker now arrives, looking like he’s sporting a nice wig. He talks about taking souls and digging holes. For 25-years he’s taken down legends, Stone Cold, his own brother Kane, they all tried to take him out and failed. And now, on this day, he declares that for all those have fallen, for you to rest in peace. Well that was a nothing promo, hopefully we get something more later on.

– We head to the APA protection agency, where they are playing poker with Slater & Rhyno. The Million Dollar Man arrives and drops cash on the table. He wants to play.

– Big Johnny, William Regal, Eric Bischoff are announced to the live crowd. Finally, they bring out Daniel Bryan. Where is the anonymous GM laptop? No Vickie Guerrero? The Miz now arrives and stares down with Bryan.

IC Champion Roman Reigns vs. The Miz: Axel & Dallas are out with Miz. The IC Title has changed hands 51 times on Raw. Reigns overpowers Miz to begin. Miz heads up top, but jumps into a big right from Reigns. Reigns then takes out Dallas and starts working Miz over again. Axel distracts Reigns, allowing Miz to attack. He slams Reigns to the steps. Post break, and Reigns hits clotheslines and take control. Reigns follows with corner clotheslines, and follows with a big boot. Reigns then hits the drive by kick, and rolls Miz back in. Reigns charges and posts himself as Miz sidesteps him. Miz follows with kicks, but Reigns cuts him off and hits a sitout powerbomb for 2. Reigns now takes out Dallas & Axel on the floor. That allows Miz to attack from behind, rolls Reigns back in. Reigns hits a superman punch for 2. Reigns fires up, but Dallas gets involved allowing Miz to attack. The ref sends Dallas & Axel to the back. Reigns attacks them, and Miz hits the skull-crushing finale for 2. They work to their feet, Reigns counters the finale and lays in elbows. Reigns misses another charge, hitting the exposed buckle (done when reigns was taking out Dallas & Axel earlier) and Miz hits the skull-crushing finale for the win and the title. Miz has been watching his Toru Yano tapes.The Miz defeated Champion Roman Reigns @ 13:30 via pin [**½] The crowd was into the near falls, and they needed to get the title off of Reigns, but the match was paint by numbers and extremely average at best. Miz and his lackeys play their role well, but it just didn’t make for an entertaining match.

– MVP, The Usos, and Jeff Hardy have joined the APA poker game.

– Check in from the Manhattan Center…

THE PEEP SHOW: Christian is here, to host the Peep Show. Jason Jordan & Seth Rollins are his guests. Christian seems to be happy to see Rollins, considering that Rollins tried to kill him that one time. Jordan is annoying right away, cutting off Rollins. The crowd hates Jordan. Christian as had some solid work done on his hairline. Jordan praises his dad, asking fans to give Kurt a round of applause. He’s getting great heat here. The Bar arrives. They rundown Jordan and say all of the legends are here to see them. They plan to win back the titles on Sunday, and tell Jordan he sucks. This leads to a brawl, Rollins clears the ring and hits a suicide dive. Back in and Rollins accidentally wipes out Jordan as Cesaro bails. This was ok, continuing the build to Sunday’s tag match and Jordan’s heel turn.

– Charly interviews Alexa Bliss. They discuss the women’s Rumble and Bliss says that she will be champion at Mania, and a goddess to boot, Charlotte arrives, and says that Bliss is only champion because she is on Smackdown. Charlotte then brings in Ric, but says that Charlotte will be champion until she decides not to be.

– Back to Manhattan Center with a pissed off crowd…

– More have joined the poker game, and they all make fun of Slater for being a loser.

– Bray Wyatt now arrives at Manhattan Center as the show finally goes back there.

Bray Wyatt vs. Matt Hardy: Wow, they’re doing the first match here on Raw huh? They work some back and forth, Matt takes control and hits an elbow off the ropes. Wyatt wipes out Matt with a running cross body and we take a break. Post break, and Matt makes his comeback with a jawbreaker. He works over Wyatt in the corner, Wyatt misses a charge and they stare down. Mat hits a side effect and that gets 2. Wyatt counters the twist of fate, and hits sister Abigail for the win. Well, matt’s broken for sure now. Bray Wyatt defeated Matt Hardy @ 5:55 via pin [*] So that was a match that happened tonight. The match was completely flat, had no sense of urgency and the crowd really didn’t care. Despite Matt saying the gimmick needs time, it feels like Vince has already given up on Woken Matt, dropping a nothing 5-minute match to Wyatt here.

– They now bring out the Bellas, Maryse, Kelly Kelly, Lilian Garcia, Jacqueline, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Terri Runnels, Maria Kanellis, and Trish Stratus.

– Elias walks. He runs into NJPW star Chris Jericho. Jericho mocks Elias for wearing scarves and says he wrote a song for him. Elias is a stupid idiot and made the list.

Elias Sings, Cena Arrives: Elias arrives in the arena. He plays a tune, and says it took WWE 26 years to find him, and they got it right. The WWE “Walk With Elias” deal is over. He teases not singing but says the legends need to hear his song. He points out Jimmy Fallon in the crowd and plans to show him how it’s done. Elias runs down various legends, like HBK, Jericho, The Rock, and Austin. John Cena now arrives to a chorus of “John Cena sucks.” It’s Christmas all over again. We get asshole chants as Cena puts over 25-years of Raw. Elias tells him to shut up because no one wants to hear Cena. Cena dares Elias to do something about it. Elias says that’s not how it works, because he doesn’t take orders from Cena. Elias fails to attack, Cena runs through the five moves, but Elias low blows Cena. Elias gets the guitar and lays out Cena with it. He then hits drift away and stands tall. Good segment for Elias, his crowd control has gotten really good and it was nice to see him stand tall and walk into the Rumble with some momentum.

– Back to the poker game and everyone goes all in. They catch Slater cheating and JBL yells at everyone. DiBiase won the game and all of the money. Ron drops a damn to complete things.

– Mark Henry meets with the Godfather. He lady with Godfather is his wife, and Henry is impressed with her.

O’Neil & Crews vs. Slater & Rhyno: Rhyno and O’Neil to begin. O’Neil takes control as Crews tags in, but Slater tags in and cuts him off. Crew shits the dropkick, and then a delayed suplex. Post break, and everyone’s brawling and the ref calls the match off. O’Neil & Crews vs. Slater & Rhyno went to a no contest at 5:45 [DUD] Crap.

– The Dudleys arrive now. Slater gets tossed into the ring and eats the wazzup head butt. Thy get the table and Rhyno is a dick and doesn’t even try to stop them. Slater eats the 3D through the table. Post match, Rhyno (still a dick), Titus, and Crews celebrate with the Dudleys. That really should have taken place at the Manhattan Center, due to the connection with ECW. But hey, why use the Manhattan Center?

– Charly interviews AJ Styles. But AJ brings in Mean Gene to interview him instead. Styles busts out a little “let me tell you somethin Mean Gene,” and then runs down Kevin & Sami, using the horrible “Kami” name; Styles promises to retain at the Rumble. AJ was totally marking out for the Mean gene interview.

– Back to the Manhattan Center.

Time For The 500th DX Reunion: HHH and HBK arrive, and talk about old times. HBK keeps trying to tell stories, and HHH says he can’t tell those stories now. HJBK says he used to be the boss, but HHH is now the boss of everything. HBK shills the network to jeers. HHH thanks the fans, and brings up the old days, namedropping Rick Rude & Chyna and the old days of DX. He then does the “Are You ready” deal, and the New Age Outlaws arrive. Billy Gunn is jacked beyond belief, he is not wellness approved. Road Dogg does the old into, and introduces X-Pac. Pac then brings out Scott Hall to join the celebration… and we take a commercial break. I think they got played off the stage like at the Oscars. Ok, we’re back with Hall in the ring. Hall says that the show has been too sweet. Balor Club now arrives. They all too sweet, and The Revival arrive. JR & King sound like they have no clue who any of these “new” guys are.

The Good Brothers vs. The Revival: The Revival attack before the bell. They then attack Anderson, and take the early advantage. Gallows finally gets the tag as they work to a crowd that doesn’t care. The magic killer finishes it. The Good Brothers defeated The Revival @ 2:15 via pin [NR] It happened.

– Post match the Revival eat the finisher buffet, including the Pedigree (way to protect your guys Paul), Balor finishes with the double stomp. Gunn says if you’re not down with that, suck it. No sir, I will not.

TALKY TIME: Angle is out with the APA, various legends, mid-carders, and jobbers surrounding the ring. Angle brings out Strowman, Kane, and Brock (Heyman gets his cameo to introduce Brock). Brock, Kane, and Strowman all brawl, Brock hits Kane with an F5, and Strowman sends him to the floor and then slams Brock to the barricade. Strowman then powerslams Brock though the announce table. And that’s your final hype for the Rumble, Strowman killing fools is great, and the segment worked for what it was, but not exactly the hot go home segment I’d hoped for after such a disappointing show.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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~GLORIOUS~

3.0
The final score: review Bad
The 411
I was really excited for tonight’s show, as I was hoping for a great mix of nostalgia, fun, and Rumble build. But as they say, it seems I worked myself into a shoot, and believed the hype. WWE Raw 25 was a disappointing and overall bad show. The layout was atrocious, and they failed to use the Manhattan Center well, leaving fans there live bored and pissed off. The show peaked with the opening segment, which was a ton of fun and absolutely fit of this kind of show. Vince got treated like a hero, heeled on the crowd until they hated him, and then Austin got a God like pop and hit stunners to make everyone happy. But from there, the show went off a cliff. I didn’t expect any great wrestling on this show, but what we got was largely bad. After the opening segment, the only things that were good or worth your time was the Elias/Cena segment and the closing segment with Strowman killing Brock. WWE banked too heavily on nostalgia, and tons of media hype that the show would be better and bigger than the Raw after Mania. But all of the fun cameos in the world didn’t turn a poorly laid out and executed show into something worth my time.
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