Since I was working on my Backlash & Draft Histories, I didn't finish my weekly Column, so I will do a 2-Week Column next week.
Here's my Draft History.Here are my Raw Thoughts:
Excellent video package on the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Participants. It makes it so important & special. I agree with everyone in the Tournament but The Miz. He's 0-8-0 on TV & PPV in 2023 & hasn't won since he defeated Dexter Lumis on December 19, 2022. At least the others have won this year, though the top W/L Records aren't part of the Tournament. This is who I would pick for the Tournament as I think Wins & Losses should matter: (W/L are prior to Raw)
1) Solo Sikoa 12-3-1
2) Damian Priest 10-7-0
3) Cody Rhodes 9-1-0
4) Dominik Mysterio 9-5-0
5) Austin Theory 9-1-1
6) Seth Rollins 9-4-0
7) Ricochet 9-6-0
8) Jey Uso 8-2-0
9) Bronson Reed 8-3-1
10) Sami Zayn 8-5-0
11) Montez Ford 8-9-0
12) GUNTHER 7-3-0
I originally wanted a Single Elimination Tournament with the entire Roster with matches on Main Event, but the 4 Triple Threat Matches that they are doing will be incredible. Cody Rhodes' promo was a good way to start the tournament, though his match is later. And I love his AEW Mention.
Too many recaps before the match began. But Damian Priest's promo was very good. This could be his breakout moment.
They should have done the 2 Triple Threat 1st Round Matches tonight & save the Semi-Final Match for next week instead of rushing everything. It would give WWE 2 weeks of great matches.
Also, stop with the BS. This isn't Shinsuke Nakamura's Raw debut. Yes, this is the 1st first time that he's a full time member of the Raw Roster, but he wrestled 3 times on Raw in the past during the Brand-to-Brand Invitational days when he teamed with Cesaro.
Shinsuke Nakamura VS Damian Priest VS Seth Rollins was incredible. I loved the finishing sequence. Priest was awesome selling his injury from Backlash. And it's fine that Nakamura got pinned. He will be OK. The Semi-Final Match later will be awesome.
Excellent segment with Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn & Imperium. Owens & Zayn VS Imperium will be a great feud for the Tag Titles. And Owens or Zayn VS GUNTHER down the line will be fantastic.
Mustafa Ali VS Otis was atrocious. Ali's new character is stupid. Otis being stuck between Maxxine Dupri & Chad Gable is awful. What a waste of great wrestlers.
OK promo by The Miz, though he shouldn't be in the Tournament.
Finn Balor VS The Miz VS Cody Rhodes was a fun match and of course Brock Lesnar attacked Cody. Stevie Wonder saw that from a mile away. Cody can't win the World Heavyweight Title. It's not part of his story. That's not the Championship that eluded his Dad. Balor VS Rollins will be awesome & should be the Raw Semi-Finals after their history wrestling for the Universal Title. I don't like heel Brock Lesnar. He was better as the fun loving cowboy. I hope their Night of Champions match will be better than Backlash.
As much as it's great to see Dana Brooke, as no one has seen her improve as a wrestler since no one watches Main Event, it sucks that she was treated as a enhancement talent VS Rhea Ripley.
I like the idea of Natalya as Rhea Ripley's next challenger. Nattie deserves a shot at the Women's Title. And they only wrestled a few times back in 2021.
Great look at all of the NXT Wrestlers that have been drafted to Raw.
Good segment with Nikki Cross & Zoey Stark to set-up Stark's 1st match on Raw later as they re-match their match on Main Event on 4/13, which also had an amazing match between Tyler Bate & Dolph Ziggler.
Stop treating us like idiots. This isn't Imperium's Raw debut. They & GUNTHER lost to Seth Rollins & The Street Profits on 1/23/23 & wrestled a few times last year on Raw too.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn VS Imperium was a great match. And even though Imperium lost, I wouldn't mind a re-match for the Tag Team Championship.
As much as the stuff with Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville is stupid, it's great to have The Way back together. And weird cameo by Xia Li. Love Johnny Gargano's tease as the return of Tommaso Ciampa.
Nikki Cross VS Zoey Stark was good, but their match on Main Event was better.
Fun segment with Dominik Mysterio, Rhea Ripley, Xavier Woods, & Akira Tozawa (who's getting a lot of TV time tonight).
By the way, I don't like that that the NXT Women's Title Tournament. It is only 8 participants. I get there's not enough time to do a longer 1 since the Finals are at Battleground, but half of the women that were brawling at the end of last week's show won't be in it.
Awful Trish Stratus promo. Trish should have stayed retired. She was never good on the microphone. She's good in the ring & she's still pretty, but that's it. Go back home & take care of your family. Becky Lynch's return was good.
Xavier Woods VS Dominik Mysterio was a tremendous match. Both guys looked great. And it didn't hurt Woods to lose. He still looked good in losing.
Nice, Seth Rollins VS Finn Balor should be getting a lot of time. Earlier I said that they should drag the Semi-Final to next week, but a World Champion should be wrestling twice in the same night to prove how tough they are. That's the whole point of a Tournament. Another one of Triple H's bad decisions bringing Indus Sher to Raw. It didn't work last time, they bombed in NXT, & it's not going to work now.
More time wasting segments with The Miz & Shinsuke Nakamura and Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville & Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez. No one wants to see another match between them.
Come on, already, get to Rollins VS Balor. Enough of this crap.
Come on. We don't have to hear from Cody Rhodes again. I wanted a long match between Seth Rollins & Finn Balor. Now, it's not going to happen.
BS. Next week is not GUNTHER's Raw debut. He wrestled 5 times on Raw (he lost to Rollins by DQ (11/8/19), he & Imperium lost to Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, & The Street Profits (11/8/19), defeated R-Truth (7/4/22), Imperium lost to The Street Profits & Seth Rollins (1/23/23) & he defeated Dolph Ziggler (3/27/23)).
Seth Rollins VS Finn Balor was another classic match but it could have been much better if it they gave it more time & we saw the action during the commercial. Rollins is now 1 step closer to winning the World Heavyweight Title, adding to his Grand Slam.
Here are my RAW Match Rankings:
1) Seth Rollins VS Finn Balor
2) Shinsuke Nakamura VS Damian Priest VS Seth Rollins
3) Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn VS Imperium
4) Xavier Woods VS Dominik Mysterio
5) Finn Balor VS The Miz VS Cody Rhodes
6) Nikki Cross VS Zoey Stark
7) Dana Brooke VS Rhea Ripley
8) Mustafa Ali VS Otis
Ends an awesome Raw. Besides Ali VS Otis, treating Dana Brooke as an enhancement talent, & the stuff in the back that took time away from the main event, I enjoyed Raw. Night of Champions is shaping up to be great which a lot of people won't watch because of its location.