Monday Night Raw Review - April 12, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE Champion Bobby Lashley def. Riddle (Non-Title)

It was nice to see the show kick off with a match for a change, one featuring the WWE Champion for that matter. Lashley and Riddle have proven these year that they work well together, so I appreciated that they finally had a chance to have a match that was more than a few minutes long. Granted, it was essentially a squash for Lashley, but given who won and who lost between the two of them at WrestleMania 37, I can't say I'm surprised. Lashley's domination continues.

The Viking Raiders def. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin

Ivar had been out injured with a neck injury since the fall. I thought he was going to be out for close to a year, so this was a pleasant surprise. Viking Raiders couldn't have come back at a better time seeing as how the Raw tag team division could desperately use them right now. I feel like we're going to be seeing a lot of these teams against each other because of how few tandems Raw has at the moment, but this was fun for what it was. It's crazy how far Alexander and Benjamin have fallen in such a short span of time, for absolutely no reason, either.

Charlotte Flair Returned

You had to know Flair would be back after missing WrestleMania and here she was. I honestly thought this was one of the better promos she's cut since initially returning late last year. It felt more realistic and she spoke with conviction. She never actually explained why she was off the show, but whatever. My only issue with her character is how inconsistent WWE is with turning her face and heel every few months.

Raw Women's Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka Ended in a No Contest

I saw mixed opinions online regarding Ripley vs. Asuka at WrestleMania. I could understand some people not enjoying it as much as others, but there's no doubt that this rematch was a definite disappointment. They weren't on the same page, it never reached that next level, and the non-finish was underwhelming. Yes, it sets up a Triple Threat with Flair likely at WrestleMania Backlash, but they could have gone about that differently. Flair's return also would have meant more had it happened here and not in the segment before.

Damian Priest Crashed Miz TV with The Miz, John Morrison and Maryse; Miz and Morrison def. Priest in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match

I know Maryse was on the show to promote the return of Miz & Mrs. on USA Network, but I'd love for her to be a regular on Raw again alongside Miz and Morrison. Speaking of Morrison, Miz and Maryse acted odd toward him here, which made me think Miz could turn on Morrison after the Handicap match. Alas, that didn't happen. The Handicap match was fine, but it didn't do anyone any favors. Miz and Morrison score the tainted win while any momentum Priest picked up from his WrestleMania win is gone. This rivalry needs to end so everyone involved can move on.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler def. Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke by Count-Out (Non-title)

I don't say this often, but everything involving these teams on this show sucked. First, Jax and Baszler were shown backstage mocking Rose for falling at WrestleMania, only for Rose and Brooke to attack Jax like heels. They made fun of her again during the match before Jax feigned falling. If that wasn't terrible enough, Rose and Brooke ran off and got counted out because they were scared of Jax and Baszler. You can't make this shit up. This was one giant waste of time.

Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman and Randy Orton Interrupted WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP

When WWE advertised a championship address from Lashley on this show, the first name that came to mind to interrupt it was Brock Lesnar. Of course, that didn't happen, and instead we got the same three faces we usually do: McIntyre, Strowman and Orton. It served to set up the Triple Threat for later in the night with the winner earning the next WWE Championship shot, but I can't say I was able to muster up any excitement for this segment.

The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. Elias and Jaxson Ryker

I used to be a big Elias fan, but it couldn't be more obvious that the guy is undercard fodder at this point. Thus, I immediately lose interest in almost anything he and Ryker are involved in at this point. I have no idea where new Raw Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos were on this show, but it didn't seem like New Day were too bothered by losing the titles at WrestleMania. This was pure filler and it was hard to care.

Drew McIntyre def. Randy Orton and Braun Strowman in a WWE Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Match

You'd think a Triple Threat match featuring three of Raw's biggest stars right now would last longer than 11 minutes. I'm not complaining because this wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was absolutely underwhelming. Of the three, I'm glad McIntyre picked up the win, but it's weird WWE is already going back to that bout despite Lashley winning clean as a sheet at WrestleMania. I'm honestly worried they'll just put the belt right back on him at WrestleMania Backlash, but we'll see. T-Bar and Mace attacking McIntyre was pretty flat as far as post-WrestleMania Raw endings are concerned.

Overall Show

This absolutely has to be in the running for the worst post-WrestleMania Raw of the last decade. This would have been a bad show by normal Raw standards, but it was especially awful when you consider not much of note happened. It was cool to see Viking Raiders return and Flair being back is a positive, but T-Bar and Mace teasing an alliance with The Hurt Business is garage and the rest of this Raw was a chore to get through. It was among the worst television this company has produced in recent memory and that's certainly saying something. Typically, the post-WrestleMania Raw is when WWE likes to reshuffle the deck and incorporate some fresh faces, but that was far from the case on this episode. Rather, it was more evident than ever that Raw is going to remain in rough shape until some drastic changes are made.