Monday Night Raw Review - February 1, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre Was Confronted by Edge and Attacked by Sheamus

McIntyre and Edge showed signs of chemistry when they were going back and forth on the mic, but I assume WWE wants you to think Edge will choose to face McIntyre at WrestleMania 37 when he'll end up going with Roman Reigns instead. That's the match that makes more sense in my opinion. We then got Sheamus' long-awaited betrayal of McIntyre. I'd prefer to see WWE hold off on that until WrestleMania, but it's entirely possible we get it before then at either Elimination Chamber or Fastlane.

Riddle def. United States Champion Bobby Lashley by Disqualification

I was looking forward to this championship clash after their original encounter was cut short about a month ago. Unfortunately, this was equally brief, except this ended in a non-finish due to Lashley intentionally getting himself disqualified. The only upside to this was that Lashley came across like a complete killer by battering Riddle all around ringside. I don't know where this is going (aside from an obvious rematch), but I really hope Lashley ends up in a meaningful match at 'Mania for all the good work he's done this past year.

Xavier Woods def. Mustafa Ali

Mace and Reckoning were missing from RETRIBUTION at ringside, though Reckoning a.k.a. Mia Yim already confirmed on Twitter she tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend. I don't know where Mace was. Kofi Kingston was in Woods' corner to help combat T-Bar and Slapjack and help him pick up the victory via a roll-up. It was a well-wrestled match while it lasted, and as little as I care for RETRIBUTION, Ali feuding with Kingston over what happened in 2019 makes perfect sense.

The Miz and John Morrison Hosted Miz TV with Bad Bunny; Damian Priest def. Miz

I still have no idea who Bad Bunny is (other than an artist) and I don't care to find out more about him following his forgettable performance at Royal Rumble. Is WWE trying to get more mainstream attention by having him appear on Raw now, too? We'll see how that goes. I'm happy Priest is finally on the main roster, but being programmed with Miz and Morrison from the get-go isn't an encouraging sign considering how low they are on the card at the moment. On the bright side, Priest won and that's all that matters.

Raw Tag Team Champions The Hurt Business (Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander) def. The Lucha House Party

Lucha House Party will be competing in the quarterfinals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, so there wasn't much doubt that they would lose here. That said, there were some close nearfalls down the stretch and the dissension between Benjamin and Alexander gave the babyfaces a slight chance of winning. I'm glad Lucha House Party's win over Hurt Business in early January wasn't ignored and this was a very fun match, even though it had its fair share of botches and awkward moments. Raw's tag team division remains on life support.

Naomi & Lana def. Raw Women's Champion Asuka & Charlotte Flair and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke in a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Naomi and Lana cut a pre-taped promo together before the bout, but they didn't really explain why they're a pairing all of a sudden. Naomi deserves to be in the Raw Women's Championship picture, not fighting for the pointless tag titles just because Lana needed a partner and her feud with Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler apparently isn't over yet. Hell, Naomi pinned the Raw Women's Champion here, so that should earn her a shot at that title, not the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. This was a decent Triple Threat designed to tease tension between Asuka and Flair with Flair focused on her father and Lacey Evans.

Jeff Hardy and Carlito def. Elias and Jaxson Ryker

The commentators couldn't stop talking about Carlito's physique and rightfully so. The dude came back in fantastic shape at Royal Rumble. I don't know if he's sticking around or if this was meant to be a one-off before he potentially transitions into a backstage role, but he looked great here and I wouldn't be opposed to one more run for him, assuming he's used correctly for a change. This was an enjoyable tag team affair with Hardy getting a measure of revenge on Elias and Ryker. Now, please put the rivalry to rest so he can move on to bigger and better things.

Alexa Bliss def. Nikki Cross

I feel like most fans either love or hate this stuff with Bliss. She won't be able to do all of her usual editing tricks when crowds return at some point, but personally, I'm digging it for now even if it will get old at some point. The match was what it was and allowed Bliss to bounce back a bit following her quick elimination from the women's Rumble on Sunday. If you've been wondering where Cross has been since her feud with Bliss ended last year, she's been pulling Main Event duty and teasing frustration by cutting in-character promos on Twitter.

Edge def. Randy Orton

I was shocked that WWE didn't advertise Edge's first Raw in almost a decade in advance. It's clear they wanted to give this long-running rivalry over with so they can resume the rivalry between Orton and The Fiend (I think Orton should move on from all of it, to be honest), but they could have waited to blow it off. Nonetheless, this was pretty good. It wasn't "the greatest wrestling match ever" (then again, nor was their Backlash bout), but it was a quality main event. Edge winning with a distraction wasn't ideal, but I understand it was done to protect Orton in defeat and to progress his storyline with Bliss.

Overall Show

Needless to say, this was an above-average show, at least by recent Raw standards. I somewhat expected that given it was a post-pay-per-view episode, but you never know with Raw nowadays. It benefited from having a few fresh faces back in the mix (Edge, Naomi, Priest and Carlito) and the fallout from the Rumble was well done. We also finally got the kickoff to McIntyre vs. Sheamus (which sounds like it's happening sooner rather than later) and the resolution to Edge vs. Orton. Other rivalries were furthered and it was a good night for Raw on the whole. Whether the red brand can maintain this momentum for the rest of the road to WrestleMania remains to be seen, however.