Posted on 4/21/126 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
The show started with a long recap video of WrestleMania 42,
which included a clip of Brock Lesnar removing his gloves
and boots in the ring. Michael Cole said Lesnar “has called
it a day,” and they would look back at his career tonight.
Also announced for tonight is a tag match with Rhea Ripley
and Iyo Sky facing Asuka and Kairi Sane.
Oba Femi kicks off the Raw after WrestleMania 42
Oba Femi entered wearing a suit. He received a big ovation
and chants of his name. Femi stated, “The ruler has
arrived.” He dropped the mic and basked in the crowd chants.
That was that.
********
Asuka and Sane cut a pre-taped promo on Sky and Ripley.
Asuka took credit for Sky’s success and told her it didn’t
have to be this way. Asuka claimed that Sky had corrupted
Sane and that, along with Ripley, she would face the
consequences tonight.
WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. Asuka & Kairi
Sane
Ripley entered to a big reaction. During a break, they
showed a replay of Ripley beating Jade Cargill for the
title, and Sky gave her a big hug. As the match began, there
was a single male chanting, “Rhea sucks,” so everyone around
him started booing him.
Asuka distracted the referee so Sane could attack Ripley,
but Ripley knocked Sane off the apron without a problem.
Asuka used that distraction to kick Ripley in the head and
knock her out of the ring, and Sane followed with an Insane
Elbow to the outside.
The heels had control during a break, but Ripley fought back
by knocking Asuka off the apron and hitting Sane with a
running kick. Sky made the hot tag and hit Asuka with
strikes before hitting both opponents with a double
dropkick. Sky woke up the crowd by doing her pose and
hitting both opponents with running meteoras.
Ripley gave Asuka a Razor’s Edge, and Sky followed with a
missile dropkick, but Asuka kicked out at two (Sane flew in
to break it up, but she was late, and Asuka kicked out).
Asuka and Sane double-teamed Ripley, but Sky broke up a
cover.
Sky hit Asuka with a suicide dive (basically landing on her
head again), and Ripley headbutted Sane. Ripley gave Sane a
Rip-tide, and Sky followed with a moonsault for the pinfall
win.
Match result: IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley defeated Kairi Sane &
Asuka (11:37)
A decent match. The crowd was pretty quiet for the actual
wrestling.
Sky picked up an expected win here after being left off of
WrestleMania.
********
Adam Pearce congratulated Penta on his win and called the
ladder match incredible. He wasn’t sure how Penta could
possibly follow that performance. Je’Von Evans congratulated
Penta but said he planned to become the IC champion soon.
Penta said the title wasn’t leaving him any time soon. Penta
left.
Pearce introduced Ethan Page to Evans as the newest member
of Raw. He got a pretty good pop. Page mocked Evans for
thinking he deserved another title shot. Page said he always
gets what he wants, and he wanted the Intercontinental
Championship. Unlike Evans, he wouldn’t need a second shot
at it.
Evans got in his face, so Pearce put them in a singles match
tonight. Evans told Page nobody was taking his spot,
“especially not you.”
********
They showed a picture of CM Punk, and people booed. He’s up
next.
El Grande Americano, Bravo and Rayo cut a promo during the
break.
Royce Keys was shown in the crowd. He didn’t get much of a
reaction.
CM Punk and Cody Rhodes segment
Punk walked through the back and onto the stage with no
music. He got a mixed reaction (probably more booing). He
entered the stage, and Cult of Personality hit as he made
his way to the ring. Punk was booed in the ring, but there
were louder chants of his name. (More people liked him than
not, but the people booing were louder.)
Punk said he’s been dealing with a lot of loss the past six
months or so. He was overseas in Japan and got a phone call
that his friend Duke Roufus didn’t wake up that morning.
Larry passed away not long after that.
That was followed by the losses of WWE staffers Kerwin
Silfies, Jim Shank, and Davey Coates. These were the people
behind the scenes who made this place a well-oiled machine.
(Fans gave this a big round of applause.) These people were
with him so often that they considered each other family.
(Punk encouraged the fans to give them an ovation, and they
did.) On top of that, his friend Bo Leuders passed on April
1st.
Punk also lost last night. All of the aforementioned losses
stung a little more than losing the title did. Every week,
the fans helped him heal and get through all of these
losses. Being the champion gave him an anchor that kept him
from slowing down or reducing himself to a puddle of tears,
even when he wanted to. He thanked them for helping him
process all the grief. Something told Punk they’d help him
get through his loss last night.
Punk said he wasn’t even supposed to be the heavyweight
champion. He barely survived Gunther before being cashed in
on by Seth Rollins. He was only champion for a few minutes,
and maybe that would be enough, but he stayed ready and
poured his heart and soul into this.
Because he stayed ready, he became the number one contender
after Rollins got hurt. If he didn’t stay ready, they’d be
Yeeted and talking to Jey Uso right now instead. (Some
people booed this because they missed Punk’s point, so Punk
told them that he liked Jey Uso.)
He doesn’t know when another opportunity would arise, but he
was still smiling because he was still the best in the
world. He had a dream since he was a kid, and he proved it
last night by main-eventing WrestleMania. It wasn’t his
night, but he wasn’t going to cry about it. He was going to
stay ready, because you never knew when a title opportunity
would fall out of the sky.
Punk was about to leave, but Cody Rhodes entered. Rhodes
walked out with a limp. He removed his shades to reveal a
nasty black eye. He also received a mixed reaction.
Rhodes said this wasn’t quite what he was expecting from
Punk. Punk asked if he thought he would crash out after
losing. Rhodes said yes. Rhodes said he knew Punk and how he
handled things. Punk said he understood why Rhodes felt that
way about him crashing out.
Rhodes said Punk was buttoned up, and he was glad that Vegas
gave Punk his flowers. (Even though they weren’t.) Rhodes
said he (Rhodes) was the one standing there looking and
feeling like a loser.
Punk asked if Rhodes thought he (Punk) should feel like a
loser. Punk said Rhodes shouldn’t feel like a loser. He beat
a future Hall of Famer and legend on Saturday. Fighting his
old friend must have been tough. Punk fought someone he
hated, which was easy. Punk enjoyed stomping on Roman
Reigns’ face and stomping on his sweet pepper necklace.
Punk said Rhodes was a winner. The crown was heavy for
Rhodes, but Punk felt free right now without the title. Punk
wanted Rhodes to keep defending his belt. Punk said he would
be ready. He looked at Rhodes’ title belt and said you never
know when a title opportunity would fall out of the sky.
Rhodes responded, “Just say when.”
(This was an obvious tease for down the road. It was a bit
of an odd segment, because it was laid out as if Punk would
get a big ovation. But both he and Rhodes received mixed
reactions.)
********
Finn Bálor pre-taped promo
Finn Bálor said Dominik brought out the Demon, and the Demon
put down Dom. Bálor wasn’t finished with Judgment Day. Dom
was the first to fall after drawing first blood. He expected
this from Dom, but not from JD McDonagh.
He remembered when McDonagh was a 12-year-old kid when he
walked into the gym in Ireland. Bálor helped him grow into
one of the best performers in the world. He knew McDonagh
would have his back no matter what. But the moment of truth
came when McDonagh chose to stick with Dom. Bálor would take
out McDonagh tonight.
Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans
The announcers acknowledged their NXT feud.
This went through a break after Evans hit a dive. Evans
fought back late in the match and dumped Page from the ring.
He went after Page near the announce table, but Rusev
suddenly appeared behind the barricade.
Rusev took a swing, but Evans ducked and punched him
instead. Evans leaped at Rusev and knocked him into the
barricade. This all happened in front of the referee, who
did nothing.
Back in the ring, Evans went to the ropes, but Page tripped
him and hit Twisted Grin for the pinfall win.
— Rusev attacked Evans and put him in the Accolade. Page
smirked and left the ring. Penta ran out to make the save,
but Page tripped him off the top rope, and Rusev followed
with a Machka Kick.
Page applauded Rusev. Rusev wasn’t interested, so Page
backed off before Rusev put Penta in the Accolade. There
were light chants of “Rusev sucks” as he posed with the IC
title belt.
Match result: Ethan Page defeated Je’Von Evans (9:45)
I believe this was Evans’ first pinfall loss on Raw since
November, when he lost to Gunther.
********
Danhausen entered during the break. He was sort of dressed
like John Cena. He said he was the new GOAT after Cena
passed the torch to him. He had a new list of demands: a
Danhausen animated series (perhaps a nod to the new AEW
animated web series), a Danhausen cereal, and his face on
the side of the truck.
Tyrese Haliburton and Funny Marco were in the crowd. Also in
the crowd were Paige, Brie Bella, and Nikki Bella, who all
got a nice pop.
********
Liv Morgan segment
Liv Morgan entered with Judgment Day. She called herself the
greatest Women’s World Champion ever. She thanked her
Judgment Day teammates and said she loved them. She also
thanked Stephanie Vaquer for reminding her that she was the
most talented woman in WWE. This was her ring, her division,
her show, and her championship. If everyone thought she was
messy and trouble before, just you wait—
Sol Ruca interrupted. She got a pretty good reaction. Ruca
called Morgan an inspiration for her after everything she’s
done over the past decade. Morgan was the top woman in the
division, and Ruca congratulated her.
Morgan said Ruca had some nerve interrupting her
celebration. But since Ruca was so nice to her, Morgan would
say this as nicely as she could: “You are no Liv Morgan,
sweetie.” Morgan told Ruca to get out of her ring right now.
Ruca said she wasn’t out there for a fight, but she wasn’t
about to back down from one.
Peace entered and made a match between the two of them right
now. (Did he have nothing planned for tonight?)
Non-title match: Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan (w/
Raquel Rodriguez & Roxxane Perez) vs. Sol Ruca
Ruca used her athleticism early on to catch Morgan off
guard, hitting an X-factor followed by a springboard
moonsault to the outside. Morgan took advantage of a
distraction to hit a backstabber and take control during the
break. (They didn’t show any replays and the announcers
didn’t mention it, so you’d have no idea this happened if
you don’t get to see the action during commercials.)
Morgan went for three amigos, but Ruca countered with a
suplex of her own. Ruca followed with strikes, a German
suplex, a missile dropkick, and a running knee for two. Ruca
came off the top, but Morgan caught her with a Codebreaker
for two. Morgan went for Oblivion, but Ruca escaped by
rolling right through onto her feet.
Ruca followed with a superkick and a Sol Snatcher. The crowd
buzzed before she did it because they saw it coming, and
they popped big for the move itself. However, Morgan managed
to roll out of the ring before Ruca could make a cover. Ruca
did a handspring dive over the top and to the outside to
wipe out the heels.
As the ref checked on Morgan in the ring (for a very long
time), Zaria ran out and shoved Ruca into the ring post.
Zaria also hit a spinebuster while the ref was still
checking on Morgan. The idiot ref turned around and saw Ruca
down, but somehow didn’t see Zaria on the ramp.
Ruca avoided a countout, but as soon as she slipped in the
ring, Morgan hit Oblivion for the pinfall win.
— After the match, Vaquer entered and faced off with Morgan
on the ramp.
Match result: Liv Morgan defeated Sol Ruca in a non-title
match (11:54)
This was a good showcase for Ruca—until she lost. Losing to
the world champion isn’t the worst thing, but the finish
still sucked. The referee was distracted for an unbelievably
long time. It’s also silly that Vaquer, who was completely
screwed out of her title by Morgan, waited until after all
the shenanigans to come out and confront her.
********
Fabolous, Maino, Dave East, and Jim Jones were in the crowd.
There was a big Brock Lesnar career video package. (I could
be wrong, but I don’t think they ever used the word
retirement all night when referring to Lesnar.)
The Vision segment
Paul Heyman entered with tag team champions Logan Paul and
Austin Theory. Heyman said he had a speech prepared, but he
was thrown off guard. His favourite thing about WrestleMania
was expecting the unexpected. Yesterday was a moment so
unexpected that it will live in his heart—and he suspects
the hearts of many—for the rest of his life.
Despite the fact that, earlier tonight, Punk kissed the
asses of everyone backstage, this supposed greatest
production team of all time still had his beast in the “Now”
portion of the “Then, Now, and Forever” signature that
starts the show. Heyman freaked out and wanted them to put
Lesnar in the “Forever” portion because he would forever be
the baddest man that has ever been in a WWE ring.
Heyman did want to talk about the now. He claimed WWE was
experiencing a resurgence in the tag division thanks to Paul
and Theory.
Paul tried to talk, but the crowd booed him out of the
building. He said the only reason the Usos and LA Knight won
at Mania was because of the ungrateful IShowSpeed. Paul was
sick of these YouTubers and streamers coming into their
business and doing what they do. He hated the outsiders.
Nothing that happened at WrestleMania mattered because
IShowSpeed left with a piece of Paul’s fist in his face,
while he still left the show with Theory as the world tag
team champions.
Heyman wanted to acknowledge the favour that Gunther did for
him. Heyman knew he owed him one, and whenever Gunther was
ready, Heyman would repay. The best assist of the weekend
belonged to the man who cut Rollins in half—Bron Breakker.
Breakker entered. He said it was one year ago that he became
the leader of the Vision in this same arena because Rollins
was too weak. (I don’t know if he misspoke, because that
happened in October and not in Vegas.) Breakker’s favourite
part of the weekend was ruining everything for Rollins after
he came this close to beating Gunther.
Rollins’ music hit, and he attacked Breakker from behind
with a chair. Paul and Theory attacked Rollins, but Montez
Ford and Angelo Dawkins ran out to make the save. Ford wiped
them out with a dive, and the Street Profits chased the
champs away through the crowd.
Back in the ring, Breakker went for a spear, but Rollins
nailed a superkick. Rollins went for a stomp, but Breakker
avoided it and hit the spear anyway. Breakker screamed at
Rollins before hitting another spear. Breakker stood over
Rollins as the segment ended.
(Breakker was somehow bleeding from the forehead. He was
bleeding at ringside when the Profits entered, but the only
thing that happened to him at that point was Rollins hitting
him from behind.)
********
McDonagh cut a pre-taped promo on Bálor. He didn’t
appreciate Bálor taking cues from Punk and talking down to
Judgment Day like he was the leader. Turning on Bálor was
easy, and he would do it again. McDonagh would prove that
the Bálor we all knew and loved was dead.
Finn Bálor vs. JD McDonagh
Bálor attacked McDonagh during his entrance and wiped him
out with a dive. Bálor attacked him through the crowd before
heading back to the ring, where the match began.
Despite all of that, McDonagh took over clean with a simple
back elbow. McDonagh held control through a break, tossing
him around ringside. McDonagh hit a corkscrew splash and
seemed to land right on Bálor’s mouth. McDonagh checked on
him before making a cover, and Bálor came up bleeding from
the mouth moments later.
Bálor hit a spinning headlock elbow drop and a slingblade,
but McDonagh avoided a dropkick and hit a headbutt for two.
McDonagh went for a moonsault, but Bálor got his feet up,
hit a dropkick and followed with a Coup de Grace for the
pinfall win.
— Dom attacked Bálor after the match, but Bálor fought him
off and hit a dropkick. Bálor went for Coup de Grace, but
McDonagh pulled Dom to safety.
Match result: Finn Bálor defeated JD McDonagh (6:14)
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed Gunther. He said he felt great
and proved every word he said about Rollins. He wanted to
make it clear there was no “we” when it came to him and
Heyman. Heyman simply owed him a favour. Redmond wanted to
know more. Gunther said the only thing people should expect
is the world title back around his waist.
LA Knight interrupted. Knight informed Gunther that he
wasn’t the only one eyeing the world title, and unlike
Gunther, Knight didn’t need help to win at WrestleMania.
Knight left. Gunther didn’t appreciate this.
*******
Next week on Raw:
Becky Lynch appears
Joe Hendry concert
Follow-up to the main event segment
When they announced Hendry, Corey Graves asked whose name
he’d have to say to make Hendry disappear.
*******
Ripley and Sky say goodbye
Ripley and Sky had an emotional goodbye backstage. Ripley
didn’t want it to be forever, but she told Sky to handle her
business on Raw, while she went to SmackDown to be the
champion. They said they loved each other and parted ways.
As Ripley walked through the back, she walked past Morgan.
Morgan said, “See you around,” and Ripley responded, “I’m
looking forward to it.” Ripley left.
********
Roman Reigns main event segment
Reigns entered with Jimmy and Jey Uso. He told Las Vegas to
acknowledge him. They did.
Reigns said he was going to keep it simple tonight: talk
about the title and the future. But then he ran into his
cousins, so it made sense to discuss family business first.
Reigns looked at them and said he missed this. He missed
having their full trust, respect, and admiration. He missed
doing business with them.
When they were separated, people like Punk could disrespect
them. Some washed rapper from the 90s (Cam’ron) ran his
mouth to Jey, despite Jey changing the whole environment
(with Yeeting). They belonged together. They were the power,
and when they were together, they ran the business. They did
it for four years straight. Reigns wasn’t asking the Usos to
serve him, he was asking them to be his blood and stand with
him.
Jimmy said Reigns would always be their Tribal Chief, and
they would always have his back. Jimmy and Jey held their
fingers in the air. (Jey did not say anything.) Reigns was
about to join them, but they were interrupted.
Jacob Fatu entered. Reigns said it’s been a while since he
saw Fatu, so he figured there were only a couple of reasons
why he would be out there. Reigns said, “I must assume it’s
to acknowledge me,” and Fatu quickly responded, “Nah, that
ain’t it.”
Reigns then assumed it’s because Fatu wanted the title. Fatu
said he didn’t want the title—he needed the title. Fatu
wasn’t out there to be the Tribal Chief, but he needed
everything the Tribal Chief had.
Fatu said, “I need the shoe deal, I need the private jets, I
need that Rolex, I need more vehicles, I need a bigger
house, I need to put my children in better schools, and I’ll
do anything for my family—even if I gotta go through you. So
at Backlash, I’m upgrading. At Backlash, I’m levelling up my
household. At Backlash, you gonna know, Jacob Fatu is all
gas, no brakes with it.” The crowd chanted along as he did
his catchphrase.
Reigns said he wanted all of those things for Fatu as well.
Maybe Fatu could beat him, but could he handle the burden of
the title? And if Fatu couldn’t beat him, “Can you handle
the burden of having to acknowledge me?” Reigns warned that
it was thin air at the top with little footing to stand on.
Reigns would give Fatu a week to think about it, because he
would answer him next week on Raw. Reigns left with the
Usos.
(Jacob Fatu was great here. I don’t love Reigns’ promos in
general, but he was good here too, and this was a nice,
simple setup for Backlash. Reigns is obviously insanely
popular, but I wonder how much people will want to see the
Bloodline back on top as the focus. It should work for now,
as Reigns has a few new potential opponents to keep him busy
this summer.)