It’s a big Brooklyn RAW In A Nutshell, and after this we start heading home to Elimination Chamber.
So, if that word play isn’t clear enough, tonight’s RAW is our go home show for the red brand. Saturday gives us Elimination Chamber in Montreal.
That show, of course, is stacking up nicely.
We have Sami Zayn getting his shot at his former Tribal Chief and all the gold.
Plus, you know, a couple Elimination Chamber matches.
So tonight is all about heading home to the Elimination Chamber.
There will be the expected final hype, of course. And what’s not to love about a Lashley–Lesnar contract signing?
I mean…those things always go smoothly, right?
In any event, it is time for us to get into…
RAW In A Nutshell: Heading Home To Elimination Chamber
source: @wwe, twitter, screenshot
Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out how things go!
Best Match of the night:
I have to give a nod to a couple segments tonight.
Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn…makes me believe that perhaps we could see Zayn-Rhodes as a WrestleMania main event.
source: @wwe, twitter, screenshot
Lesnar and Lashley remains a violent and nasty feud, and I struggle to think it ends on Saturday. Could we see these two in a Cell in Hollywood?
For the match itself, the main event triple threat match.
I for sure felt like we’d get one more Superstar added into the women’s Elimination Chamber match…but we did not.
Curious where we see this Becky Lynch angle go. As it stands, barring some change, she has no shot at either major title at WrestleMania.
source: @wwe, twitter, screenshot
Could we see Lynch find a partner and go after tag team gold as a plan B?
Worst match of the night:
I totally get why they booked it this way, but I hate that they used Mia Yim in this spot.
That said, Piper Niven squashing someone makes total sense too.
I love building Niven back up as a monster-think Nia Jax size, but safer (from what I’ve seen) and more talent.
Could Niven be the next monster heel to challenge for women’s gold?
I could also go with Miz/Boogs, just because Miz was beaten up before the match, and it was really short to sell the beating.
Crowd Chants of the Night:
Not calling out specific chants, but the Brooklyn crowd was hot for quite a few segments, including the contract signing.
Also ate up Rollins and The Miz, and of course Cody and Sami.
Star of the Night
For me, I have to give this to Cody and Sami.
Not sure if I am seeing this for real, or I just want to, but in some way I see parallels to both Kofi and Daniel Bryan’s big WrestleMania moments.
WWE had plans, but certain Superstars had so much fan interest behind them, WWE had to pivot.
Seems likely WWE had the Rhodes/Reigns clash penciled in for some time…but Sami Zayn may have flipped that script.
Spot of the Night:
Do we go with the super kick using those monstrous boots? Or the curb stomp, also with said boots?
Jobber of the Night:
Mia Yim for one.
The Miz for another.
source: @wwe, twitter, screenshot
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
For a moment, it seemed we might start the women’s Elimination Chamber with a triple threat. Did not happen, but it was on the table.
Lashley and Lesnar had some seriously hard bumps tonight.
LOL Moment of the night:
Those boots from Seth Rollins.
Seth got the boots ??????? #WWERAW pic.twitter.com/I2RvJR8Dbc
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) February 14, 2023
Noteworthy Moment:
Big energy from the Brooklyn crowd, which generally does not disappoint us.
Rollins did what he had to do to further a Logan Paul match story line. Not sure I love the idea…but Paul can hang, so I also don’t hate it.
Overall lowlights:
Too short a match for Mia Yim…don’t like to see her jobbed out so fast.
Could say similarly for The Miz, but with his quick loss, there were more moving parts and it made sense in context.
Overall highlights:
Rhodes and Zayn.
Lesnar and Lashley.
The teaser of adding a 3rd woman to the Elimination Chamber.
Nice to see Edge and Beth.
source: @wwe, twitter, screenshot
After the final bell:
As RAW goes home to the Elimination Chamber, this was not the worst show.
Solid action from bell to bell, with some definitely standing out.
Saturday in Montreal should be…hopefully will be…special.
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