RAW In A Nutshell: Next Stop, Grandest Stage Of Them All

Ladies and gentlemen, it is basically here. We are just six short days away from WrestleMania. It is the final RAW before the big show…yes, that is true, it is the go-home show. It’s all over but for the final hype. Expect the entire show to be used to put the finishing touches on the biggest night of the year. Next stop, Grandest Stage of Them All…so let’s crack open this Nutshell!

Best Match of the night:

Almost by default, I am going with the main event, if only on the strength of the rare Rey Mysterio RAW match.

I did like the story that was told in the women’s 6 person tag match, too.

Worst match of the night:

While it was entertaining and served it’s own purpose…seeing Strowman with the jobbers wasn’t really a good match.

Crowd Chants of the Night:

Burn it down

You suck

Thank you Kurt

Cena

Star of the Night

Too many good options, no one really stood out above the rest.

Spot of the Night:

Numerous awesome ones in the tag title match. The double Hurricanrana, for one, was slick. Take your pick really…Ricochet and Black are fun to watch.

Or, we could just enjoy the three women in Sunday’s main event, beating each other up while in handcuffs? Sure, why not.

Jobber of the Night:

We have quite a few options here.

The first dozen or so? That would be the black shirt security and then the DC Metro cops (or, the actors portraying them…I can’t tell). They all took a beating Monday.

Then we have our fake Colin Jost and Fake Michael Che, who were just play things for Braun Strowman this evening.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

I’d go with the level of commitment WWE showed in the triple threat main event…having all three women beat each other up, going so far as to involve the regular security and DC’s finest, it was impressive. Maybe a bit overkill too, but the segment worked all the same.

LOL Moment of the night:

What the heck were they thinking? I mean, you handcuff three women who are beating the snot out of one another-scripted or not. And then you put two of them in an unmarked car, together. No shock that they started to beat the heck out of each other. Also, there was no barrier between front and rear seats, so eventually Rousey got into the driver’s seat and crashed the car…sort of.

Noteworthy Moment:

For the first time in over five years, Rey Mysterio was in a match on RAW. Mysterio came out to keep Baron Corbin from avoiding a challenge from Kurt Angle.

Overall, nice move, considering Angle is on his way out and just does not have a lot of spots left in him. Mysterio is a bit more fit, and it gave us fans another moment we won’t get to have anymore. Bummer that Rey’s appearance wasn’t announced, but at the same time, these cool surprises are always fun.

More of something that makes me wonder…but I shall throw it out there.  Once again, Elias is on the road hyping his performance at WrestleMania. Tonight he was in New Jersey at Metlife Stadium. I put this here because the ground looked like it has been pouring in New Jersey. I live in the area, and we haven’t had rain all day. Only thing I could imagine is if they hosed down the area for a better visual, as has been done before for other shots…but it would still be funny to me if true. Alternatively, the stadium crews could have cleaned ahead of the big show this Sunday, I suppose.

Overall lowlights:

I get the idea of making the trio in the main event come off as though they hate each other. Honestly, felt like they’ve done a good job of it thus far. Having them walk off RAW in handcuffs, however…I don’t know…just felt like it was a bit over the top.

Overall highlights:

I will say this, right off the bat-it was not a bad go-home show. It hit all the major storylines, and did so well enough. That said (and yes, I know this is the highlights section)…it just didn’t feel like the last RAW before a WresleMania. Lots going on tonight, so we have some time to figure out next steps.

After the final bell:

All told, it was a good RAW…but not a great one. I question the placement of Angle in the closing segment, too. I get it, it’s his final RAW ever (or, at least until they bring him back for a guest stint). That said, his final match has not honestly been a huge draw. Closing RAW with Rollins and Lesnar would have been fine. Closing with Batista and Hunter? Makes sense. Closing with the women? Logical.

Closing with Angle was respect, but I honestly figured since it was given the final segment, we were going to see an indication that Cena was going to get involved. No such luck…