RAW took over the Barclays center last night in Brooklyn and while the crowd was into themselves more than the actual event taking place, it was a great night of action.
WWE’s flagship show hit the penultimate edition before WrestleMania and finally answered the will he/won’t he questions we’ve all had about Seth Rollins’ ‘Mania plans.
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We learned that the Women’s Championship match was adding another dance partner and that Mick Foley’s second stint as a RAW GM was sadly coming to an end.
And while Twitter had a field day with Roman Reigns‘ confrontation with The Undertaker the previous week’s retirement threat was barely mentioned this week.
But those are only the things we learned on the surface. Click through the slides to find the five biggest takeaways from last night’s RAW.
5. We’re all marks
Before Bayley defeated Charlotte to become the RAW Women’s Champion, The Queen posted her childhood superfan photosย on the jumbotron. At the time the photos were used brilliantly to endear the WWEย Universe to the fan who was living out her dream.ย
Last night, the same thing happened, except Kevin Owens was roasted for a photo that showed a younger version of him posing with a Y2J shirt on. ย
This will be the new normal. With a generation of superstars who will have grown up onย Facebook/Instagram/Twitter, you can bet there will be no shortage of embarrassing fan photos to pull from in the future.ย
4. Non-title matches = Non-wins for the Champions
No surprise here, but in both non-title matches last night, the champions were cleanly pinned. What did it accomplish? In the case of Nia Jax and Bayley, it added Niaย to the Championship mix for WrestleManiaย while making Bayleyย look weak. Could Niaย have wrestled her way into the match in some other way? Of course, and it could have protected Bayley’sย run as Champion.
The Club had finally started to look impressive in their last few weeks as Tag Team Champions, but they got manhandled by both of their WrestleManiaย challengers last night, taking the 3 count from an Enzoย splash.
Call me old fashioned, but champions should not be pinned until they lose their championship. Period.ย
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3. Mick Foley will be missed
I never understood why Stephanie would have picked Mick Foley as GM. It seemed particularly strange coming off her role as Queen of the Authority, but I assumed WWE was hitting the reset button and going in a completely different direction after the brand split.ย
Here we are less than a year later and The Authority is right back where they’ve been for years; on top of RAW.ย
Foley may not have seemed like a typical GM, but anytime he turned on one of his passionate Foley promos he could sell the hell out of a storyline.
Bonus points if his teeth came flying out during said promo.
2. Triple H has surpassed Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon’s Mr. McMahon was the greatest heel in the history of wrestling. Not only was he underhanded and loathsome, but he had the money and power to back up his wishes. For weeks I’ve been wondering if Triple H hadย surpassed his father-in-law and after last night I’m ready to give him the title.ย
Not only is Triple H asย vile as his mentor, but he has the ability to back it up in the ring. The Game still looks like a dude who can kick ass. No matter how jacked Vince got, he never looked like he could go.ย
The other thing Trips has going for him is that because we all remember how much we loved him back in the day, there’s still this part of us that wants him to love us again, which makes his evil tactics that much more painful.ย
1. I’m genuinely worried for Undertaker’s health
For those who missed it, The Undertaker gave usย a brilliant moment before he took thatย spear from Roman Reigns. Afterย Taker made the choice to chokeslamย Braun Strowmanย he turned around with the same look on his face that I have when I realize I’ve lock my keys in the car.
Doooooofย
But that’s not what I learned. I learned that I’m no longer comfortable watching Taker take bumps. It looks painful and I’m legitimately concerned for his health.ย
Look, I don’t ever want him to leave the WWE, but more than anything, I want him to be able to actually walk away when he does.ย
