Monday Night Raw Review - April 3, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Triple H Addressed the Audience; Brock Lesnar Aligned with Cody Rhodes Against The Bloodline

WWE never formally announced that Triple H would have an announcement, but it was reported earlier in the day. Unfortunately, he had nothing of note to say other than thanking everyone for a successful WrestleMania. In other words, it served no purpose. The interaction between Rhodes and Reigns indicates their rivalry isn't over yet and will be revisited eventually, which is a positive. I don't agree with Rhodes beating Reigns in a rematch when he could have just become champion at WrestleMania, but whatever. This set the stage for what should have been an massive main event before it didn't actually happen, but I'll address that later.

Omos def. Elias

I can't think of more exciting ways to kick off the the post-WrestleMania Raw from an in-ring standpoint than an Omos match! Yes, I'm kidding. I thought he would lose to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and that would be the last we'd see of him, but apparently not. He's not as awful as he once was, but I just don't know what you do with him at this point. I appreciated that this was kept brief, but it still felt like a waste of time.

United States Champion Austin Theory def. Rey Mysterio (Non-Title)

Theory got good heat when he came out for his pre-match exchange with Rey, but it doesn't feel like much has changed coming off his cheap win over John Cena. I'm happy he beat him, but with the way it was executed, did he really gain anything? And was it worth Cena verbally destroying him last month? In my opinion, the answer is no. I enjoyed Mysterio vs. Theory and thought Dominik costing Rey was a smart way to resume their rivalry. Better yet, Damian Priest putting Bad Bunny through the commentary table was really well done and presumably sets up the Rey and Bunny vs. Dominik and Priest tag team match for Backlash.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens def. The Street Profits (Non-Title)

This was an impromptu match after Owens and Zayn came to celebrate winning the tag titles at WrestleMania. With it being a post-WrestleMania Raw, I'm surprised the titles weren't on the line, though it didn't matter anyway with Owens and Zayn retaining. It was a battle of two babyface teams, but the crowd was into the action and it was an entertaining match. Some people suspected we might see a Street Profits split afterward, but it was not to be.

Seth Rollins Appeared But Stayed Silent

This segment was so pointless that I ordinarily wouldn't devote a full paragraph to it, but I had to vent my frustration regarding how ridiculous this was. The live crowd loved singing along to Rollins' song, but Rollins stood in the ring through a commercial break only to say nothing. There have been rumblings that Rollins was told before the show came back from break that his segment was being cut short, and if that was true, I wouldn't be surprised. We were given no indication what was next for Rollins following his WrestleMania win over Logan Paul.

Bobby Lashley def. Mustafa Ali

Lashley and Bronson Reed had an interaction backstage and I am all in on that feud if that's where we're headed. Reed has been impressive so far on Raw, but he needs some popular babyfaces to work with and Lashley is the perfect person. Lashley has been directionless for a while due to various circumstances, so it feels like a win-win for both of them. Lashley vs. Ali was a total squash that I'm not sure needed to happen, even though it was likely designed to remind viewers how dominant Lashley is.

SmackDown Women's Champion Rhea Ripley Confronted Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair

Belair and Ripley had two of the best matches all WrestleMania weekend. Ripley has plenty of possible challengers waiting in the wings over on SmackDown, but I can't say the same for Belair. That's why I was pulling for Asuka to become champion, and maybe she still will, but there was no tease for that here. Ripley and Belair had a solid exchange that seemed to plant the seeds for a WrestleMania match next year. That would definitely be worthy of the main event spot.

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez def. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai and IYO SKY)

It makes no sense that the winners of the women's WrestleMania Showcase, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, were not involved in this number one contender's match. I assume that's because Rousey is still hurt and they'll get a shot when she's good to go. This was a nice match, but it's a shame that the crowd couldn't have cared less. Interestingly, Bayley didn't accompany Kai and SKY to ringside, so the end of Damage CTRL could be near (and it should be).

Matt Riddle Attacked The Miz

Miz faced surprises on both nights of WrestleMania, so it was only fitting he was laid out by one more returning star to end the weekend. This was the only return of the night (no debuts, either), so it was better nothing. Personally, I've missed Riddle on WWE TV and hope he got the help he apparently needed. This was a short and sweet segment to bring Riddle back into the fold. Fingers crossed he can stay serious this time and not fall into strictly comedy.

Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar vs. The Bloodline (Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa) Went to a No Contest

I think we all assumed Lesnar would turn on Rhodes based on how over-the-top he was in the opening segment, but I didn't think it would happen before the bell rang, so that was disappointing. I would've been fine with it normally, but this was the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak for this subpar show. Although it was a pretty aggressive attack, I can't help but fear that fan favorite Lesnar could get cheered over Rhodes when they eventually go one-on-one. Their program has potential and it's encouraging that Rhodes will be working with another top talent, but the crowd was certainly not sent home happy.

Overall Show

I haven't expected much from the post-WrestleMania Raw in recent years because that magic has long been gone, but forget about it being a post-WrestleMania Raw. This was way worse than even an average episode. It started out well enough, but it was an extremely weak effort on the whole with very little to look forward to in the weeks ahead. If the reports are true and this show was indeed influenced by the returning Vince McMahons, then fans absolutely have reason to worry. We can only hope that they'll correct course quickly and Raw won't revert to the terrible state it was in previously, but I assume we'll get a better idea after Friday's SmackDown. Regardless, WWE failed to capitalize on the excitement and enthusiasm of WrestleMania weekend by producing a bad show that just may drive away many people that gave WWE another chance after Triple H took over.

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