Leave us your quick feedback and questions following Monday’s Raw after WM.
RATE TONIGHT’S RAW:
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0 voters
Enjoyable RAW as usual after Mania.
Liked Hardy+Wyatt and the interaction with Jeff. I could see them winning the tag belts.
Same goes for Triple R … even though I really hate pushing the “Rowdy” part. I hope they don’t plan on doing a singles match vs Steph even though it looks like this is the direction they’re taking.
The Paige segment made me really sad even though we already knew that this was going to happen. Hopefully Paige won’t continue to make bad life choices and finds something meaningful to do that is not wrestling.
The whole Reigns story is really boring to me. I don’t want to see Lesnar as Champ nor Reigns. This feels like a neverending story and I cannot wait until this is finally over.
Pushing Lesnar over the moon makes the Universal title uninteresting to me. It feels like it’s unattainable for anyone.
The NXT call ups will have trouble making any impact on RAW. The roster is already too big (or the creative is just not able to tell enough interesting stories with the talent on hand).
I thought they will have KO join RAW and move Sami to 205 
Oh well their story will be continued tomorrow with them bagging for their jobs back.
Where does Strowman fit? Could see him moving to SmackDown since there doesn’t seem to be any meaningful spot for him on RAW right now.
Same goes for everyone in the IC title picture … Miz back to SmackDown would make sense with Bryan in mind.
Oh hey no real 50-50 booking for Rollins … 3 wins for him in a row 
1 Like
Sam from Glasgow
A shockingly good ‘Raw after Mania’, it’s past 4am in Scotland and I’m not regretting being awake still.
Only issue is the leaked script being all over twitter so the returns and debuts were spoiled, I hope that’s not a regular occurrence.
1 Like
Sean from Toronto
Other than the usual NXT call-ups and returns, this was probably one of the weaker post-Wrestlemania Raws I could think of. That said, Paige’s sudden retirement speech was the highlight of the show for me and I truly felt sad about how her career was cut short so young, especially since she was one of the first female wrestlers in recent years to move past the “Divas” image and she remained one of my favourites.
1 Like
Dustin from Maui
It was a great Raw tonight. With all of the surprise debuts tonight, who do you see making their debut tomorrow, on Smackdown?
Jesse from the 6
Next year after I am inevitably disappointed by WrestleMania, I must remind myself to calm down because I’ll probably be entertained the next night. Raw was very good tonight. It was so refreshing to see the WWE work with its audience instead of against it like last night.
Do you think they’re ditching Ellering because he doesn’t want to be on the road? It would be a silly decision otherwise, IMO.
About the idea that the crowd were disrespecting the main event last night: why are people so quick to morally censure the audience when it was Vince McMahon who booked a 260-lbs former UFC champion to legitimately strike another man in the head in the hopes he would create a laceration and that this would somehow make this wholly rejected, multi-year story he’s been trying tell more popular? That was really reckless and irresponsible.
Take Care
P.S. I still hate that fucking Nicholas thing, but oh well.
2 Likes
Burney from Chicago
I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I really did not like this episode of Raw. It was the weakest Raw after Mania in recent memory. The few highlights for me were Owens/Zayn, Paige’s retirement speech and the promo Samoa Joe cut on Roman. In my opinion, Ember Moon needed more time in NXT and No Way Jose has another Adam Rose like feel, that I think the fans will turn on very quickly. Just an average Raw, hoping for a better Smackdown, but I don’t think we will get too much story telling until after the Superstar Shake Up is complete.
Vish from Victoria
Great show! Early on, gave a reason to watch for next week to see the shake up. I just hope after that they continue to put as much effort into writing, and building to the next weeks show! I think angle was supposed to say NXT but said TNA…guess we’ll find out if the edit it online. Also loved the end to the tag reign…done perfectly…very entertaining! Shows the quality difference when they put some effort into the show! 9/10
Tony from South Dakota
So many surprises and call ups… it’s going to be very difficult to feature so much more talent without losing others.
Opening segment was fantastic. Stephanie had amazing heat.
Paige’s promo was very emotional and I’m glad they saved it for a crowd who could really appreciate it. It’s very sad to hear someone in their 20s retiring.
Really glad to see Samoa Joe coming right back into the main event picture. Do you think Roman will win the Universal Title in Saudi Arabia? If not will Lashley move into the number one contender slot?
P.S. how ridiculous is it that they had wall decals that said RAW 25 backstage at Barclays?! What a waste!
Jay from Colorado.
I’ll keep this short and sweet. Everything tonight was near perfect. Lot’s of great debuts, interesting new angles and returning greats. Even Bray Wyatt is interesting again. I’m thoroughly sports entertained.
Also, I wanted to give some quick thoughts on the WWE VR experience. It’s pretty cool for the most part. You get to see the action up close from all sorts of different and unique angles. You really feel like you are there in the middle of the action! But sometimes it puts you right above the ring post, and it’s disjointing to look down and see a post protruding from your abdomin. Also during the Fastlane clips there’s and awkward part where you are inches away from Randy Orton’s gyrating crotch. It made me consider whether Virtual Reality was a good idea, maybe we as a species aren’t ready for this level of immersion. Still, I’ll continue to watch it, Orton crotch or not because it’s really very cool.
Mark from Vaughan
A lot to like on this show between the debuts and returns. It didn’t have that top level new face like when Brock came back. It could’ve been Lashley but he didn’t interact with a top guy. It was nice to see Brother Bray in a refreshed role where he wasn’t speaking for 10 minutes. The team with Hardy could be a lot of fun.
Question: Do you think there’ll ever come a breaking point with Roman where they just try someone else? I hated the Russo-esque promo he cut as if we were about to shoot on the creative, brother. The stuff he was saying made no sense as if Brock used his pull to change the Mania finish. My hope is after he wins the title in Saudi Arabia, Joe takes it from him. That guy just has the aura of someone you’d pay to watch on PPV.
Well didn’t fall asleep this week. Curiosity kept me awake wondering who will show up next. Great idea to start with Rousey. I do like No Way Jose just feel he will be lost in the mid card. Good to see Joe back. Jeff Hardy will make the IC title matches intersting now. Good for Seth to showcase his talent. Page promo was heart felt like so many before her. Good show and good to see that WWE is not leaning on Cena as much anymore.
James in Japan
A solid post WM RAW.
Nice opening segment. Hilarious heel turn by JoJo asking for respect haha.
Enjoyed the NXT call ups of Moon and AoP but unfortunately see No Way Jose disappearing into jobber territory soon.
Emotional promo from Paige. Its always sad when a performer has to quit early due to injury. Interesting that she seems to be leaving as opposed to sticking around as a manager type.
7 Lego Modulars out of 10
Steve from BC
This was a middle of road edition of Raw for me. I think the wrestling burnout was really starting to set in. The opening segment was great and really got the crowd going. I assume we don’t see Stephanie for a while now. But after that the show was just OK. The returns/call-ups just seemed to be overkill. And at the end of the night I think guys like No Way Jose and Bobby Lashley, and sadly even Paige’s retirment speech were mostly forgotten about. It would make more sense to have the NXT debuts saved for next week when the rosters are getting shuffled up anyways. I guess we can expect more of the same tomorrow night as well.
5 “You deserve it” chants out of 10
Thomas from Charlottesville
Not a lot of great wrestling but the returns and debuts made this one of the better raws in a while. 8/10.
I get that he was stagnant in NXT, but realistically, what percent chance would you give No Way Jose to actually win a title on the main roster?
Chris from Florida
Well after a really really subpar Mania, we have a fantastic RAW after Mania that did most everything right. A stark contrast to the contrarian booking we saw last night. We had great call ups, great returns. We had some great wrestling in the last hour.
Paige’s Farewell was memorable and to be honest tough to watch. Hope she can find something that keeps her somewhat in the business as there is no doubt she loves it.
Joe’s promo was fire. Great stuff from him.
The match with Owens and Zayn was great as always but was there really a point to that?
Ember Moon looked incredible in her debut.
Lastly, this crowd was just incredible, RAW after Mania crowds are always great but this crowd was just red hot throughout the whole show to the point that they even got Elias to break character for a moment. Terrific.
9 TNA burns out of 10
Derek from Chicago
I wasn’t as overwhelmed by the post-Mania Raw as I usually am. Not a bad show but nothing really blew me away.
I’m glad Paige got to go out and thank the crowd. It is awful that she has to retire at such a young age, but kudos to her for a very heartfelt speech.
The callups were good but not too shocking. Out of tonight’s batch, Ember should be a nice addition to the roster, the Authors of Pain feel like they should have been called up some time ago, even though I worry about them without Ellering, and I didn’t even realize No Way Jose was still under contract.
Elias felt like such a huge star. His command of the crowd is excellent. As a pure character, he’s shocked me in how much he’s grown over the last year. Shame he isn’t just a little better in the ring.
Samoa Joe’s promo was fantastic and I welcome him back with open arms. Also a small little detail I noticed during his exchange with Roman. Has Roman always worn a giant gold watch? It’s a small detail, but it caught my eye. If I recall correct, during his NXT run eons ago, wasn’t he a cocky playboy character who would wear giant gold watches and sunglasses? Am I reading too much into nothing? Most likely.
Also glad to see Nicholas graciously vacate the tag team championship. I was worried after Mania that they wouldn’t sign him to a contract and he’d take the belt to a rival promotion. WWE dodged a bullet with that one.
Six scumbags out of ten.
Louis from Long Beach
The Raw after Wrestlemania always has some major moments and the crowd is always lively however the moments this year didn’t seem nearly as big. In particular the call ups I felt were lackluster. Ember Moon has a great finisher but she never really took off in NXT like they wanted and now she’s on the main roster, and no way Jose? I can see him being in the Heath Slater role as the designated Raw jobber within the next 6 months, look at what happened to Tye Dillinger and No Way Jose was never as over as him. Finally AOPis ready to be the Bludgeon Brothers of Raw. Even without Ellering who I thought was great; I was hoping he’d at least have a little time on the main roster before they inevitably turned on him.
Ronda’s stuff was great, Kurt’s segment with Owens and Zayne was hilarious and for once he wasn’t the joke, and the return of Samoa Joe was fantastic. Putting Roman into a feud with Joe after he wins the title seems like a really good program. Bobby Lashley is still in incredible shape but I was never much of a fan during his original WWE run and I’m unfamiliar with his work in Impact so I’m interested to see how much he’s progressed.
Overall this was a good Raw but since this was the Raw after Wrestlemania I left a little dissapointed but there’s still the superstar shakeup next week.
6 out of 10.
Andrew from New Orleans
Super fun Raw tonight. After spending 8 + hours in the Superdome yesterday, 3 hours in the Smoothie King Center felt like the shortest Raw in years. Crowd was involved but respectful. Biggest pops were for Ronda Rousey, Bobby Lashley, Samoa Joe, Elias, and Kurt Angle’s joke about TNA. Also people really enjoy yelling “Adam Cole Bay Bay!” The Owens-Zayn match was outstanding but I think most of the crowd’s silence I was based on not knowing for who they should cheer.
The Paige retirement was moving and poignant. It felt real and I hope that she finds a way to utilize her talents while continuing to improve her health.
After the show went off the air Seth Rollins got on the mic and asked if anyone had a beach ball. He said the fans have had all the fun the last few years and he wanted to get in on it. Dozens of beachballs started flying (had only seen one that night). Rollins, Balor and Hardy spent about ten minuted batting around beachballs and taking pictures with fans.
It was great meeting y’all Sunday. Hope your time in New Orleans was pleasant. Thanks for the stickers.
Harley from Melbourne
I felt this was maybe the weakest RAW after mania dealios. Going into the show I was only really interested how they would try and spin the Roman thing and i think he actually came off looking worse than he did yesterday of no fault of his own. This as well as having no real anticipation of any realistic NXT call ups 90% of this show just fell flat. Some positives however were Seth and Joe being great and it was cool seeing Lashley back.
P.s. How could i forget, this might have been Coach’s worst night yet and Cole wasn’t much better.